9 big vibe shifts before turning a page in Canada

And a debate about David Brooks

Social Studies 2024: Phoebe Maltz Bovy’s year in nine big vibe shifts

What happened in the past 12 months? Rather a lot! So to pare it down, I’m limiting this end-of-year recap to things that kept popping up on my own finite radar, with an emphasis on those with relevance to Jewish Canadians. I will not ask whether I missed anything; assume that I have missed—or skipped over—a ton. These are just a handful of the stories about our society I see as relevant going into 2025 and beyond.

---

Chrystia Freeland joins a long list of Canadians losing faith in this Liberal government—including many Jews

This week’s abrupt resignation of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland from cabinet has rocked the federal government. It happened the same day Sean Fraser, the minister of housing, infrastructure and communities, stepped down; both he and Freeland join a long and growing list of cabinet members and Liberal backbenchers either resigning their cabinet positions, deciding not to run again in the next election, or outright calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down.

They’re not alone: all signs point to the federal Conservatives crushing the Liberals in next year’s election. Multiple recent byelections, including the heavily Jewish Toronto-St. Paul’s in midtown Toronto, have swung from red to blue in recent years. And it’s against that backdrop that Hal Niedzviecki, the author and founder of the recently-in-the-news, now-defunct Broken Pencil magazine, posted on social media, “For the first time in my life I’ll be voting Conservative.”

One week after discussing the Israel-induced implosion at Broken Pencil on this very podcast, we invite Niedzviecki to discuss the changing political climate, how the progressive left is losing support, and his side of what happened at the indie publication he founded in 1995.

---

David Brooks, Please Stop Saying You Are Jewish

The incidentally Toronto-born conservative columnist from the New York Times shared his feelings on faith after a decade-long journey into Christian beliefs—while also claiming a continued connection to Judaism. Mark Oppenheimer responded with multiple thoughts in writing and on a podcast, while David Brooks himself also offers an audio version about how he found this faith in a crowded subway car. Well, this oughta be enough culture war material to tide you over until 2025. Happy Hanukkah!