Épisodes

  • Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1429 - How Modern War Has Changed with Olena Kryzhanivska

    Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1429 - How Modern War Has Changed with Olena Kryzhanivska
    Jul 25 2025
    Tonight on The Brian Crombie Hour, Brian interviews Olena Kryzhanivska about her weekly newsletters “Arms Trends in Ukraine” and how modern war has changed. Olena is a Ukrainian policy analyst and senior editor at the NATO Association of Canada. She has provided expert analysis for the Norwegian Embassy in Turkey and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. Currently, she authors the weekly Substack newsletter Ukraine’s Arms Monitor, which covers weapons transfers, military cooperation, defense technology, and drone warfare in the context of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Some topics of discussion include the main technological challenges Ukraine faces today, the top priority areas in Ukraine’s defense production and innovation, and what ways Ukraine and Canada, along with other NATO countries, can cooperate to enhance each other's defense capabilities.
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    49 min
  • Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1428 - The Housing Crisis, & Luxary Rental Buildings with Darryl Frankfort

    Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1428 - The Housing Crisis, & Luxary Rental Buildings with Darryl Frankfort
    Jul 24 2025
    Tonight on The Brian Crombie Hour, Brian interviews Darryl Frankfort about the current housing crisis and his Luxury Rental buildings, which he believes are the one positive opportunity in today’s market and Brian closes with his ten point solution to the current Housing Crisis.

    Darryl Frankfort, President and Founder of DealCore Properties is hailed as one the best property developers in the city, focused on high end luxury developments. Together Brian and Darryl discuss real estate development in Toronto, focusing on housing challenges and future directions, including policy changes, community building, and the role of leadership in shaping the future of urban development. Darryl discusses his two high-end luxury development projects in Toronto, one in Forest Hill and another in Bridle Path, both targeting an undersupplied market segment with large suites. While luxury housing has become marketing-driven, with many small units, there is a gap in the market for large, high-end luxury rentals, which he aims to fill with his new development on Bayview, targeting suites of 2,500-3,000 square feet with premium amenities.

    Darryl discusses the design and amenities of luxury residential buildings, emphasizing the demand for spacious walk-in closets, bathrooms, and bedrooms, along with concierge services and a valet system. He describes a project inspired by New York high-end condo living, featuring brick facades and turnstile doors, and predicted that brick construction might be more cost-effective in the long run than curtain wall systems, which he believes may face maintenance issues in the future. Darryl highlights the current state of the Toronto condo market, highlighting how issues with financing, the introduction of assignment sales, and speculative behavior led to an overheated market with small, expensive units that many buyers didn't intend to keep. He notes that the market's reliance on flipping properties rather than actual occupancy contributed to the current challenges, including a surplus of undesirable units and falling prices. Development charges, fees, and conversions to purpose-built rentals have created issues. He notes that developers who initially targeted the condo market faced difficulties when converting to rentals due to size and cost differences, as well as a mismatch between investment expectations and market realities.
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    48 min
  • Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1427 - Trump's Big Spending Agenda with Sam Sivarajan

    Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1427 - Trump's Big Spending Agenda with Sam Sivarajan
    Jul 23 2025
    Tonight on The Brian Crombie Hour, Brian interviews Sam Sivarajan about his article “Why Trump’s big spending agenda is a worrying sign for investors on both sides of the border”.
    Sam Sivarajan is a speaker, independent wealth management consultant and author of three books on investing and decision-making. Sam discusses the significant impact of rising debt and deficits in the United States and Canada, highlighting the unsustainable nature of current spending.

    Sam emphasizes that the U.S. could soon spend more on interest than on defense, while Canada and Ontario are also facing substantial debt-related costs, which could limit funding for essential services like healthcare, education, and infrastructure. They agreed that now is not the time to increase deficits, as it resembles "spiking the punch bowl" rather than "taking it away”. Sam also covers the qualities needed in leaders today, emphasizing the importance of understanding complexity and interconnection rather than just managing risk. He highlights the need for leaders who invest in people, rebuild trust, and embrace reform, while also noting that citizens can influence their leaders. Sam uses the analogy of experienced mountain climbers who stop respecting the mountain to illustrate how leaders should maintain respect for complexity.
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    54 min
  • Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1426 - The Canadian Economy with Don Wright

    Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1426 - The Canadian Economy with Don Wright
    Jul 22 2025
    Tonight on The Brian Crombie Hour, Brian interviews Don Wright about his article on the Canadian economy and gravitation pull of trade with the US. Don Wright, a former Deputy Minister to the Premier of British Columbia, discusses Canada's economic challenges, focusing on wage stagnation, demographic shifts, and the impact of immigration policies on the labor market. He emphasizes the need for balanced generational policies, addressing the "gravity problem" in Canadian business growth, and supporting natural resource industries while encouraging research and development. Wright also highlights the importance of infrastructure improvements and housing affordability to attract skilled workers and boost economic growth, expressing optimism about ongoing economic discussions in Canada.
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    51 min
  • Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1425 - Canada's Future Growth with Murtaza Haider

    Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1425 - Canada's Future Growth with Murtaza Haider
    Jul 21 2025
    Tonight on The Brian Crombie Hour, Brian interviews Murtaza Haider who is the executive director of the newly established Cities Institute at The University of Alberta’s School of Business. Murtaza was at Toronto Metropolitan University and has spent 30-plus years “studying cities, building bridges, working with industry, and being an engineer who researches real estate markets, bringing together disciplines, engineers, planners, computer scientists, people who specialize in machine learning.

    Murtaza discusses the need to focus on Calgary and Edmonton as key cities for Canada's future growth, highlighting their affordability and potential for expansion compared to Toronto and Vancouver. He emphasizes that building affordable housing in high-cost areas like downtown Toronto is ineffective and suggested developing new cities or populating underutilized areas. Murtaza also notes that Calgary's successful conversion of office buildings to residential units was a result of city planning and incentives, contrasting with other cities' inaction.

    Additionally, Murtaza covers the decline in single-family home construction in Canada, attributing it to urban planners' preference for high-density developments and the high cost of building and land for single-family homes. He highlights the need for Canada to grow its population to 60-80 million to enhance economic prosperity and resilience, particularly in light of trade challenges with the United States. He suggests reducing reliance on trade with the U.S., which currently accounts for 80% of exports, by increasing domestic consumption and exploring new trade opportunities with Europe, China, and Asia.
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    49 min
  • Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1424 - Benjamin Franklin's North American Impact with Madelaine Drohan

    Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1424 - Benjamin Franklin's North American Impact with Madelaine Drohan
    Jul 18 2025
    Tonight on The Brian Crombie Hour, Brian interviews Madelaine Drohan about her book: "He Did Not Conquer - Benjamin Franklin's Failure to Annex Canada". Throughout his long and illustrious career, Franklin nursed a not-so-secret desire to annex Canada and make it American. When he was not busy conducting scientific experiments or representing American interests at home and abroad, Benjamin Franklin hatched one plan after another to join Canada to the American colonies and then later to the United States. These were not solely intellectual efforts. He went to Montreal in 1776 to try to turn around the faltering occupation by American forces.

    As lead American negotiator at the 1782 peace negotiations with Britain in Paris, he held the fate of Canada in his hands. Ill health and other American priorities then forced him to abandon his decades-long campaign to possess Canada. Franklin's elevation to the status of an American icon has pushed this signal failure into the far reaches of collective memory in both Canada and the United States. Yet it shaped the future of North America and relations between the two neighbours over the next two and a half centuries.
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    57 min
  • Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1423 - The War in Ukraine with Elena Davlikanova and Sargent Yevheniy Malik

    Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1423 - The War in Ukraine with Elena Davlikanova and Sargent Yevheniy Malik
    Jul 17 2025
    Tonight on the Brian Crombie Hour, Brian interviews Elena Davlikanova and Sargent Yevheniy Malik about the war in Ukraine. Yevheniy, a veteran of the 36th Marine Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and Elena Davlikanova, Senior Fellow with Sahaidachnyi Security Centre in Ukraine and Centre for European Policy Analysis in DC, discuss Ukraine's resilience in the face of the Russian invasion.

    Yevheniy shares his experiences fighting in Russian regions and being held as a prisoner of war, describing it as the worst period of his life. He shared his experiences during the battle of Mariupol, where his unit, alongside the Azov Regiment, held off Russian forces despite being surrounded. He explains that the city was eventually destroyed by Russian airstrikes, and the remaining defenders were captured. Yevheniy notes that the Ukrainian military's resilience and strategic actions, including creating a new front line, have hindered Russian advances, leading to a stalemate.

    Elena explains that Russia's intensified drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian civilians aim to break Ukrainian spirit and force a government compromise on Russian peace terms, which would threaten Ukraine's existence. She emphasizes that despite the attacks, Ukrainian forces are holding firm on the front lines, and the country is developing anti-drone defenses like the Clear Sky project in Kiev. Together Elena and Yevheniy discuss the historical context of Russian-Ukrainian relations, highlighting how Russian propaganda has fueled anti-Ukrainian sentiment, and Elena stressed that Ukrainians are determined to resist Russian occupation and maintain their way of life.
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    51 min
  • Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1422 - Canadian Values and Indigenous Rights with Kate Kempton

    Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1422 - Canadian Values and Indigenous Rights with Kate Kempton
    Jul 16 2025
    Tonight on The Brian Crombie Hour, Brian interviews Kate Kempton. Kate is a Senior Counsel Woodward & Company LLP. She discusses the implications of two laws, Bill 5 (Unleashing Ontario's Economy Act) and the Building Canada Act, on Canadian values and Indigenous rights. Kate criticizes the bills for potentially undermining constitutional rights and called for a balanced approach that addresses both economic needs and indigenous concerns. She says they grant sweeping powers to cabinets, similar to the "Henry VIII clauses" that allow laws to be suspended at the discretion of the government. Kate also covers the importance of including First Nations in decision-making processes and the need for reconciliation.
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    50 min