Episode Details

A pipeline deal that may cost more than it delivers, a $25 billion fund with no legislation, no governance and no disclosed borrowing costs, and a Buy Canadian policy with no enforcement deadline and no Canadian ownership requirement. B.C. is furious it was cut out of the Alberta pipeline negotiations entirely. The Liberals' own caucus is in revolt over climate concessions. And while Carney tells Canadians to prepare for sacrifices, the Department of Foreign Affairs spent $32.5 million on an iceberg pavilion in Osaka, including $164,000 to ask visitors about their gender identity.Jim Csek and Iain Burns discuss it all and examine the Canada-U.S. relationship, the state of Canadian institutions, and whether any of the big promises of this government are built on anything real today on The Really Big Show.We cover:- B.C. Premier Eby accuses Ottawa of rewarding Alberta's "bad behaviour" with pipeline concessions that other provinces were never consulted on, as Alberta's effective carbon price had collapsed to $17 per tonne while Ottawa chose not to enforce its own $95 federal backstop.- CBC sources confirm Carney is managing growing Liberal caucus unrest over climate policy concessions made in the Alberta pipeline deal, with the carbon price now set to rise to $130 per tonne by 2040.- Finance Minister Champagne describes the $25 billion Canada Strong Fund as "not a tax play" while refusing to disclose borrowing costs, investment criteria, governance structure or what assets it will hold, with no legislation introduced and the fund financed entirely by borrowed money.- Statistics Canada reports food inflation eased to 3.5% in April, down from a recent peak of 7.3%, with Canada dropping from the highest food inflation in the G7 to second behind the U.K.- Public Safety Canada admits Bill C-22 has created "misunderstanding" over encryption and mass surveillance fears and says the government is open to amendments, as Apple, Meta and Signal warn the bill as written would conscript tech companies into government surveillance.- Corrupt baggage workers at Toronto Pearson have been swapping innocent travellers' luggage tags onto drug-filled suitcases bound for countries where drug smuggling carries the death penalty, with 6 airport workers arrested and at least 17 passengers detained abroad in the past year.- Carney's Buy Canadian policy has no enforcement deadline, requires no Canadian ownership to qualify, targets only 30% Canadian content in housing, and excludes all overseas federal procurement, with the Housing Minister admitting it was "not meant to be taken literally."- The Department of Foreign Affairs spent $32.5 million on an iceberg-themed pavilion at the Osaka World Fair, including $50,000 for creative concept options, $164,279 for gender identity questionnaires, and $541,653 on janitorial services, days after Carney told Canadians to prepare for sacrifices.- Statistics Canada is revising its Consumer Price Index basket on June 15 but refuses to disclose what items are being added or removed, raising transparency concerns about the benchmark used to set wages, benefits and government spending across the country.- Energy Minister Hodgson declared Hope Bay Mine a federal win at a Nunavut groundbreaking ceremony, while Ottawa's sole financial contribution to the $2.4 billion redevelopment was $25 million for a wind power project at the site, with the investment entirely Agnico Eagle's private sector decision.- Former NDP MP Peter Julian warns that privatizing Canada's airports would eliminate a revenue stream that currently flows directly to taxpayers, as cross-party opposition to the Carney government's airport sale proposal continues to grow.- Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand declined to give direct answers on Al Jazeera when pressed on U.S. reliability as an ally, Arctic security, Chinese foreign interference and Israel's nuclear arsenal.