Retail analyst Bruce Winder joins Shane to unpack two big Canadian business stories. First, Zellers makes another attempt at revival with a single store opening in Edmonton. Then, Calgary-based underwear company Devon + Lang halts shipments to the U.S., citing the “Minimus law” and tariffs that make cross-border sales unsustainable. Bruce explains what these shifts reveal about Canadian retail, consumer trends, and the challenges homegrown companies face in competing globally.

Guest: Bruce Winder — brucewinder.com

Originally aired on2025-09-02

Retail analyst Bruce Winder joins Shane to unpack two big Canadian business stories. First, Zellers makes another attempt at revival with a single store opening in Edmonton. Then, Calgary-based underwear company Devon + Lang halts shipments to the U.S., citing the &ldquo;Minimus law&rdquo; and tariffs that make cross-border sales unsustainable. Bruce explains what these shifts reveal about Canadian retail, consumer trends, and the challenges homegrown companies face in competing globally.
Guest: Bruce Winder &mdash; brucewinder.com
Originally aired on 2025-09-02

Shane Hewitt & The Nightshift is your late-night companion for real talk, bold ideas, and unfiltered conversations that matter. Hosted by Canadian radio veteran Shane Hewitt, each episode dives into the headlines, human stories, and hidden truths shaping our world—always with curiosity, compassion, and a sharp edge.

From politics and pop culture to mental health, technology, and everyday life, this podcast is where night owls, deep thinkers, and curious minds come to connect. Featuring expert guests, passionate callers, and Shane’s signature style—thoughtful, fearless, and refreshingly real.

If you crave meaningful dialogue, smart perspectives, and late-night radio energy in podcast form, subscribe now and join The Nightshift.

Shane Hewitt &amp; The Nightshift is your late-night companion for real talk, bold ideas, and unfiltered conversations that matter. Hosted by Canadian radio veteran Shane Hewitt, each episode dives into the headlines, human stories, and hidden truths shaping our world&mdash;always with curiosity, compassion, and a sharp edge.
From politics and pop culture to mental health, technology, and everyday life, this podcast is where night owls, deep thinkers, and curious minds come to connect. Featuring expert guests, passionate callers, and Shane&rsquo;s signature style&mdash;thoughtful, fearless, and refreshingly real.
If you crave meaningful dialogue, smart perspectives, and late-night radio energy in podcast form, subscribe now and join The Nightshift.

Shane Hewitt and The Nightshift

Shane Hewitt is known for his engaging and relatable on-air personality, which captivates listeners. His ability to blend insightful commentary with humour and empathy creates a genuine connection with listeners.  Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift provides relatable content, informative discussions and expert insights – along with a balance of anecdotes and entertainment.

Shane Hewitt is known for his engaging and relatable on-air personality, which captivates listeners. His ability to blend insightful commentary with humour and empathy creates a genuine connection with listeners.  Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift provides relatable content, informative discussions and expert insights – along with a balance of anecdotes and entertainment.

SHIFTHEADS Zellers Relaunches in Edmonton Bruce Winder Explains the Stakes

Mark Carney's communications have a specific blind spot, and you see it most clearly when the stakes are highest. You fill your tank and pay nearly double what you paid a year ago. You watch Parliament hold an emergency debate on Canada's role in the Iran war. You notice the Prime Minister is not there. And you still don't have an answer for why.

What does it feel like when the person holding the levers finds out they aren't connected to anything? Carney is blunt and direct when the answer will land well. When it won't, you get the India trip: CSIS telling media one thing, senior officials telling reporters the opposite, and a week of increasingly acrobatic evasions from the minister responsible. The same pattern plays out on Iran. Cover every possible position simultaneously and hope nobody notices the gap.

The figure skater and the hockey player are both exceptional athletes on the same ice. They are not interchangeable. The skills Carney brings are real. Whether they are the ones Canada actually needs right now is the question nobody in Ottawa seems ready to answer yet.

Topics: Mark Carney communications, Iran war Canada, parliamentary debate, domestic policy leadership, Canadian foreign policy

GUEST: Matt Gurney | http://readtheline.ca

Originally aired on 2026-03-10

Mark Carney's communications have a specific blind spot, and you see it most clearly when the stakes are highest. You fill your tank and pay nearly double what you paid a year ago. You watch Parliament hold an emergency debate on Canada's role in the Iran war. You notice the Prime Minister is not there. And you still don't have an answer for why.
What does it feel like when the person holding the levers finds out they aren't connected to anything? Carney is blunt and direct when the answer will land well. When it won't, you get the India trip: CSIS telling media one thing, senior officials telling reporters the opposite, and a week of increasingly acrobatic evasions from the minister responsible. The same pattern plays out on Iran. Cover every possible position simultaneously and hope nobody notices the gap.
The figure skater and the hockey player are both exceptional athletes on the same ice. They are not interchangeable. The skills Carney brings are real. Whether they are the ones Canada actually needs right now is the question nobody in Ottawa seems ready to answer yet.
Topics: Mark Carney communications, Iran war Canada, parliamentary debate, domestic policy leadership, Canadian foreign policy
GUEST: Matt Gurney |<a href="http://readtheline.ca"> http://readtheline.ca</a>
Originally aired on&nbsp;2026-03-10

Shiftheads - Canadian Government: The Levers Aren't Connected to Anything

Video game benefits rarely get the headline, but the numbers make the case before the conversation even starts. More than 61 percent of Canadians play. The average age of a gamer is 36. You are not watching a niche hobby. You are watching the majority of the country do something together that most people still treat as a problem to manage.

 

What does it feel like to build a friendship with someone you have never met, then travel across the border years later to finally shake their hand? Bernard Mafei did that through Super Smash Brothers. One of those online friends turned out to be a rocket scientist. Another path led to competing internationally, running a varsity e-sports program, and watching indigenous communities in Canada use Minecraft to build digital replicas of significant spaces. None of that looks like wasted time.

 

The toxicity is real and the parental responsibility is real. But so is everything being built inside those games that nobody thought to put on a resume.

 

Topics: video game benefits, social gaming Canada, e-sports career, gaming soft skills, Minecraft education

 

GUEST: Bernard Mafei | bernardmafei.com


Originally aired on 2026-03-10

Video game benefits rarely get the headline, but the numbers make the case before the conversation even starts. More than 61 percent of Canadians play. The average age of a gamer is 36. You are not watching a niche hobby. You are watching the majority of the country do something together that most people still treat as a problem to manage.
&nbsp;
What does it feel like to build a friendship with someone you have never met, then travel across the border years later to finally shake their hand? Bernard Mafei did that through Super Smash Brothers. One of those online friends turned out to be a rocket scientist. Another path led to competing internationally, running a varsity e-sports program, and watching indigenous communities in Canada use Minecraft to build digital replicas of significant spaces. None of that looks like wasted time.
&nbsp;
The toxicity is real and the parental responsibility is real. But so is everything being built inside those games that nobody thought to put on a resume.
&nbsp;
Topics: video game benefits, social gaming Canada, e-sports career, gaming soft skills, Minecraft education
&nbsp;
GUEST: Bernard Mafei | bernardmafei.com
 Originally aired on&nbsp;2026-03-10

ICYMI - What You Need To Know That Your Kid Is Actually Learning By Online Gaming

Video game addiction in kids might not be what you think you're looking for. Your kid plays 15 hours a week. So does their friend down the street. One sleeps, socializes, keeps up at school. The other is up at 2am, cancelling plans, falling behind in class. Same hours. Same screen. The research says the hours are almost irrelevant.

What does it feel like to discover that the screen you have been fighting about might be the only place your kid feels like they belong? When young people are socially isolated or bullied at school, they are drawn toward gaming. Not because the screen created the problem, but because it offered something the school hallway was not giving them. That changes where you need to look.

Age 12 and 13 is not a random data point in this research. It is the exact window when identity and peer belonging are forming, which means what happens in that bedroom with the controller carries consequences well past the weekend. The question worth asking is not how many hours. It is what those hours are solving for.

Topics: video game addiction kids, problematic gaming, screen time teenagers, adolescent development, gaming mental health

GUEST: Dr. Vincent Paquin

Originally aired on 2026-03-10

Video game addiction in kids might not be what you think you're looking for. Your kid plays 15 hours a week. So does their friend down the street. One sleeps, socializes, keeps up at school. The other is up at 2am, cancelling plans, falling behind in class. Same hours. Same screen. The research says the hours are almost irrelevant.
What does it feel like to discover that the screen you have been fighting about might be the only place your kid feels like they belong? When young people are socially isolated or bullied at school, they are drawn toward gaming. Not because the screen created the problem, but because it offered something the school hallway was not giving them. That changes where you need to look.
Age 12 and 13 is not a random data point in this research. It is the exact window when identity and peer belonging are forming, which means what happens in that bedroom with the controller carries consequences well past the weekend. The question worth asking is not how many hours. It is what those hours are solving for.
Topics: video game addiction kids, problematic gaming, screen time teenagers, adolescent development, gaming mental health
GUEST: Dr. Vincent Paquin
Originally aired on&nbsp;2026-03-10

SHIFTHEADS Zellers Relaunches in Edmonton Bruce Winder Explains the Stakes

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