In 2007, Stephen Harper was leading a conservative minority government, George W. Bush was in his second term, and Afghanistan was dominating the news. Politicians were speaking about Arctic sovereignty without calling each other names. Nothing was done about it then either.

The average Canadian home cost $300,000. Weekly groceries ran $140 to $170. Gas was a dollar to a dollar ten a litre, which felt steep. June 2007 is when the smartphone launched and rewired everything that followed.

At the movies, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End led the summer. Knocked Up and Shrek the Third rounded out the season. Nineteen years later, the prices are unrecognisable and the Arctic conversation is still unresolved.

Topics: Canada 2007, Stephen Harper, Afghanistan, smartphone launch, Canadian home prices 2007

Originally aired on2026-06-04