What’s the greatest comeback Canada has never seen?  According to special guest Carol Ann Hilton, Founder and CEO of the Indigenomics Institute, it’s re-centering Indigenous economic power and Indigenous participation. But part of that re-centering requires acknowledging that Canada was formed through Indigenous economic and cultural exclusion and that this exclusion has an impacted all Canadians, even generations far removed from the Indian Act. In this episode, host Marwa Abdou and Carol Anne Hilton unpack Indigenomics: a framework for redesigning economic systems around reciprocity, responsibility, and relationship to land. Together they explore how 150 years of exclusion produced today’s inequalities, why corporate Canada has a duty under Truth and Reconciliation Call to Action 92, and what it means to build economies where land is law, stewardship is strategy, and growth is measured through shared prosperity. Their conversation flows from examples of how Indigenous businesses operate from fundamentally different values, prioritizing community, future generations, and responsibility, all the way to the radical concept of "land as law" — starting with responsibility rather than impact assessment — and its role in reshaping infrastructure development. From clean energy and procurement reform to “land as governance,” this episode challenges listeners to rethink what reconciliation looks like — not as ceremony, but as economic design. Links- Carol Anne Hilton, Indigenomics Institute  - Indigenomics: Taking a Seat at the Economic Table (2021)  - The Rise of Indigenous Economic Power (2025) Other Resources:- Sharing the Wealth: How Resource Revenue Agreements Can Rebalance Canada’s Economy by Ken Coates - Living Rhythms: Lessons in Aboriginal Economic Resilience and Vision by Wanda Wuttunee - Upholding Indigenous Economic Relationships: nehiyawak narratives by Shalene Jobin - Resilience, Reciprocity and Ecological Economics Northwest Coast Sustainability by Ronald Trosper - What Can Tribes Do? Strategies and Institutions in American Indian Economic Development by Stephen Cornell and Joseph P. Kalt  - Economic Aspects of the Indigenous Experience in Canada by Anya Hageman and Pauline Galoustian  

Does your favourite social media app or e-commerce site’s algorithm hold more power than your country’s elected government? Do regulators really have to choose between innovation and security? Can algorithms be neutral? Listen as host Marwa Abdou and guests Vass Bednar (Executive Director, Canadian Shield Institute) and Kaylie Tiessen (Chief Economist, Canadian Shield Institute) discuss the profound and often invisible influence digital platforms and algorithms have on our society and economy. In this extended episode, explore how a handful of digital platforms act as “shadow regulators” — setting the rules of the game through opaque code and recommendation systems that shape markets, work, and opportunity far from democratic oversight. From gig work to competition law, the conversation reveals how Canada’s regulatory frameworks are racing to keep up. But it doesn’t stop at diagnosis. Together, Marwa, Vass, and Kaylie discuss what it would take to fill Canada’s “regulatory vacuum” — smart, adaptive rules that serve the public good while supporting innovation, trust, and competitiveness in the digital age. Links:- Canadian Shield Institute - Vass Bednar - Regs to Riches Newsletter - Vass Bednar – Center for International Governance Innovation - Kaylie Tiessen  - Kaylie Tiessen – Social Capital Partners - OECD Digital Economy Outlook (2024) - World Bank – World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives 

Did you know that nearly half of the world’s trade moves through the Asia-Pacific? That your blueberries in January, the anime you stream, and your kid’s hockey gear are all part of a system quietly shaped by economies as varied as Chile, Japan, Mexico, Korea and Vietnam? Listen as host Marwa Abdou peels back the layers on the forum that keeps much of that world running smoothly: APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). It isn’t a trade deal or a bloc — it’s a voluntary sandbox where 21 economies test ideas, build trust and scale what works. In this extended episode, Marwa is joined by Eduardo Pedrosa, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, and Carlos Kuriyama, Director of APEC’s Policy Support Unit. Together, they explain how non-binding cooperation can deliver real outcomes — from single-window customs and cross-border privacy rules to AI guardrails to greener supply chains to pathways that help informal and micro firms step into the formal economy. They also dive into APEC’s new focus on the creative economy, and why digital trust is now part of trade infrastructure. For a trade-heavy country like Canada, this is more than theory — it’s jobs, competitiveness and inclusive growth. The question isn’t whether rules will be written, it’s whether we’ll help write them. Links - Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation- APEC publications & policy briefs- APEC Internet & Digital Economy Roadmap (AIDER)- Global Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) Forum- Lima Roadmap to Promote the Transition to the Formal and Global Economies (2025-2040)- APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040- APEC Environmental Goods List (54 items)

In this special back-to-basics episode of Canada’s Economy, Explained, host Marwa Abdou cuts through the alphabet soup of GDPs, CPIs, and BoC rate cuts to tackle the real questions Canadians keep asking.Why is it easier to trade with the U.S. than across provinces?Why is climate policy so expensive?Why are interest rates cooling inflation but putting the freeze on housing?Why is youth unemployment so high?And what’s really at stake in Mark Carney’s first federal budget?As James Carville once quipped on the campaign trail, “It’s the economy, stupid” — and more than three decades later, the line still rings true (especially north of the border). Packed with sharp insights and plain-language explanations, this episode unpacks the economic forces shaping our paycheques, prices, and future prosperity — and why, in 2025, it’s still the economy.

Once a pillar of middle-class security, affordable homeownership has slipped out of reach for millions of Canadians. But economist Mike Moffatt (Missing Middle Initiative, Smart Prosperity Institute, Ivey Business School at Western University) argues the housing crisis isn’t just about sky-high prices; it’s the result of a system-wide failure.In this episode, Moffatt joins host Marwa Abdou to trace how that failure emerged from the collision of well-meaning but clashing policies: greenbelts that preserve farmland while choking supply, immigration targets that fuel growth but strain capacity, and zoning laws that shut out the “missing middle” homes families desperately need.The conversation goes beyond affordability, exploring the so-called “housing theory of everything” — how the effects of broken housing markets ripple through entrepreneurship, fertility rates, and even political stability. From building codes to taxation, Moffatt and Abdou unpack the tough trade-offs ahead and ask: Can Canada fix housing before it undermines our economic future?Links-  Mike Moffatt, Smart Prosperity Institute-  Mike Moffatt, Medium  -  Mike Moffatt, the Hub.ca-  Mike Moffatt, the Globe and Mail