Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney have made another stride in their important MOU: A new carbon pricing agreement that is far less than the targets set by Justin Trudeau. Is the deal enough to calm down separatists? Could it anger environmentalists within Carney's team? Ottawa bureau chiefs Tonda MacCharles of the Toronto Star and Stuart Thomson of the National Post lay out the stakes.

Plus, the House takes an in-depth look at whether the government should ban social media accounts for kids. We visit a high school to hear how teenagers feel about a ban; Anxious Generation research partner Ravi Iyer lays out what’s at stake if restrictions are not put in place; Meta’s Rachel Curran defends the company’s practices; tech company CEO Steve Borza describes how age verification technology works (or doesn’t); then Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew explains how his province’s social media and AI Chatbot ban for kids could work.

This episode features the voices of:

• Stuart Thomson, parliamentary bureau chief for the National Post
• Tonda MacCharles, Ottawa bureau chief for the Toronto Star
• Ravi Iyer, managing director of the University of Southern California Marshall School’s Neely Center and research partner with the Anxious Generation Movement
• Rachel Curran, head of public policy for Meta Canada
• Steve Borza, CEO of Bluink Ltd
• Wab Kinew, premier of Manitoba

Alberta is experiencing a political earthquake after the provincial NDP claimed they had a video showing a separatist organizer showing people how to use a database that included leaked voter information. The House Party podcast team — Catherine Cullen, Daniel Thibeault and Jason Markusoff — reunite to discuss the fallout and how seriously Carney needs to take the separatist movement.

And, in a rare and wide-ranging interview the director of Canada’s spy agency, Dan Rogers, sits down with host Catherine Cullen to talk about foreign interference in Alberta, the presence of the IRGC in Canada, and what the government’s efforts to re-engage with India and China mean for Canadian security.

Plus, you've probably heard of Kalshi and Polymarket — online platforms that let users effectively bet on just about anything, even Canadian politics. Now, two Canadian companies have gotten regulatory approval to launch their own prediction markets. Werner Antweiler, an associate professor at UBC and national security expert Wesley Wark join The House to discuss whether these markets could exacerbate gambling concerns and if they pose a risk to Canadians' security.

This episode features the voices of:

• Daniel Thibeault, parliamentary bureau chief for Radio-Canada and host of Les Coulisses du Pouvoir
• Jason Markusoff, CBC Calgary
• Dan Rogers, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
• Werner Antweiler, associate professor at the UBC Sauder School of Business
• Wesley Wark, senior fellow at at the Centre for International Governance Innovation

This week, the Carney government released its first spring economic update — which painted a better-than-expected picture of Canada's finances despite a long U.S. trade war and instability in the Middle East.

The question on many Canadians' minds is: How does this update help them? Host Catherine Cullen visits an Ottawa grocery store to hear from owner Eli Njaim and his customers about the rising cost of food. Then, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne explains what the government's latest spending plan does to alleviate the affordability crisis.

Also in the update is a new "national savings and investment account” that will help grow wealth for future generations of Canadians. The Conservatives are calling it a “Sovereign Debt Fund.” Bloomberg News’ Laura Dhillon Kane and Mark Rendell of The Globe and Mail break down what the new fund is — and if it will work.

And, bestselling historian and fascism expert Timothy Snyder joins The House to discuss how Canada is navigating the Trump presidency, the risks of American influence in Alberta’s sovereigntist circles, and the health of Canadian democracy.

This episode features the voices of:

• Eli Njaim, owner of Mid-East Food Centre
• François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance
• Laura Dhillon Kane, Ottawa bureau chief for Bloomberg News
• Mark Rendell, economics reporter for the Globe and Mail
• Timothy Snyder, historian and bestselling author