Front Burner - podcast cover

Front Burner

CBC•www.cbc.ca
News

Front Burner is a daily news podcast that takes you deep into the stories shaping Canada and the world. Each morning, from Monday to Friday, host Jayme Poisson talks with the smartest people covering the biggest stories to help you understand what’s going on. We’re Canada’s number one news podcast and a trusted source of Canadian news. 


We cover Canadian news and Canadian politics, Pierre Poilievre, Mark Carney, the Donald Trump administration, the upcoming 2025 Canadian election, provincial politics from Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and politicians Danielle Smith, David Eby and Doug Ford. We cover Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary as well as other municipalities across Canada. 


In this Canadian election year, Front Burner will be focusing more on Canadian politics. We will take a close look at Mark Carney’s first few weeks as Prime Minister-Designate, the Conservatives and Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre as well as other leaders like Jagmeet Singh from the NDP and Quebec’s Yves-François Blanchet from the Bloc Québécois during the 2025 Canadian federal election. The podcast goes beyond Ottawa and digs deeper into major election issues like U.S.-Canada relations, jobs, the economy, immigration, cost of living, housing and rental costs, taxes and tariffs, democracy and technology. 


The Front Burner daily podcast covers Canadian news from every province and territory: Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Yukon. We cover news from major cities like Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. 


When U.S. President Donald Trump declares he wants to make Canada the 51st state, and decides to implement tariffs, Front Burner has an analysis into what is happening. We cover Elon Musk’s DOGE. We cover the latest in technology from the rise of bitcoin and crypto, the future of TikTok, Meta, artificial intelligence, influencers, and more.


Look to our archives to see fact-checked stories about infrastructure, fascism, border security, immigration, Pierre Poilievre, Justin Trudeau, the Republican Party, American politics, Canadian politics, India, China, Trump’s tariffs, Mark Carney, Elon Musk, Toronto, technology, artificial intelligence, international students, healthcare, and inflation. We cover global news like the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the ceasefire, the Ukraine-Russia war, and the U.S. economy and U.S. politics. 


Front Burner is a part of your morning news routine. Whether you’re in Toronto or Vancouver or Washington, this is the news that matters to Canadians. We take a look at the economy and break it down from the budget to interest rate hikes to inflation to recessions to jobs to the cost of living. We look at the policy around housing, Canadian housing supply, and what this means for first-time home buyers, renters, and those with a mortgage. We look at technology, from AI to the manosphere to social media like Meta, Twitter, Facebook, and more. We look at influential newsmakers like Elon Musk and influential technology industries like crypto and AI. 

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Episodes

A 'hijacking' in Belarus, a dissident arrested

After the shocking interception of a commercial flight to arrest a dissident journalist, CBC’s Moscow correspondent explains Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko’s escalating crackdown on opposition.

May 26, 2021•21 min

U.S. forces tackle sex assault: lessons for Canada

As Canada’s military continues to fail victims of sexual misconduct in its ranks, the U.S. may be on the cusp of reform. CBC reporters Murray Brewster and Alex Panetta discuss a just-introduced U.S. Senate bill that says it will address the “sexual harassment epidemic” in the military, and what that might mean for Canada.

May 25, 2021•22 min

Habs vs Leafs: A short history

As the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs face off in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 1979, CBC Montreal reporters Jonathon Montpetit and Antoni Nerestant break down the historic rivalry between the two teams.

May 24, 2021•28 min

The divestment from Alberta’s oilsands

As pressure mounts to address global warming, some financial institutions are grappling with whether or not to divest from the Canadian oilsands. CBC’s Kyle Bakx explains.

May 21, 2021•22 min

A mother, and a doctor, in Gaza

Najla Shawa is getting her young daughters to count the sounds of bombs at night — turning it into a game to try to soothe their fears. Dr. Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb is navigating rubble-strewn streets to deliver medical aid — made harder now that one of his clinics was damaged in an airstrike. Today, a view from the ground in Gaza.

May 20, 2021•24 min

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole (part two)

Would Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole support a union at Amazon? Why isn’t he resonating with younger Canadians? Ahead of a looming federal election, hear more in part two of a wide-ranging interview.

May 19, 2021•29 min

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole (part one)

Erin O’Toole says he supports a ban on conversion therapy, but that doesn’t mean everyone in his party has to share his beliefs. Ahead of a looming federal election, hear more in part one of a wide-ranging interview with the federal Conservative party leader.

May 18, 2021•25 min

“Bamboo ballots”, UV light and a bizarre election recount in Arizona

How do a treasure hunter, claims of bamboo fibres in ballots and QAnon-related conspiracies all come into play in the official “audit” of the 2020 U.S. election currently underway in Maricopa County, Ariz.? The Daily Beast’s politics reporter Will Sommer explains.

May 14, 2021•22 min

Understanding the latest Israel-Hamas fighting

As violence escalates between Israel and Hamas, we’re joined by journalist Irris Makler for a run-down of some of the major events of the past few days, as well as some context on the last month of tensions that led to this week’s eruption.

May 13, 2021•18 min

Metro Vancouver’s gang wars

Gang violence is on the rise again in Metro Vancouver, fueling worries about recruitment in the region’s South Asian community. Today on Front Burner, host Jayme Poisson talks to two people working in anti-gang intervention, with a focus on South Asian youth and families.

May 12, 2021•21 min

Summer 2021: Expectations vs. reality

Canada's vaccine rollout is speeding up, raising the possibility of COVID-19 restrictions loosening in the next few months. Today on Front Burner, infectious disease epidemiologist Dr. Lynora Saxinger talks about the kind of summer we could expect to have.

May 10, 2021•22 min

The debate over vaccine passports is here

As European countries make plans to reopen tourism, this week the federal government promised certification to get Canadians travelling again. We look at the massive practical and ethical implications of vaccine passports with help from Maclean’s writer Marie-Danielle Smith.

May 07, 2021•22 min

Big money is buying up big songs. Lots of them

Some of the best-known names in music are selling the rights to their entire catalogues of songs, netting tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars. Today, why so many artists are cashing in now, and why investors are betting billions on music.

May 06, 2021•21 min

Regulating streamers and a free speech fight

Could your YouTube videos be subject to government regulation? A change to a bill designed to bring online streaming services under the purview of the Broadcasting Act has sparked controversy. The Logic’s Murad Hemmadi explains.

May 05, 2021•24 min

Inside a slaughterhouse COVID-19 outbreak

Today, an inside look at a COVID-19 outbreak that tore through an Alberta slaughterhouse, as seen through the eyes of the plant’s employees — and what their stories reveal about the situation facing essential workers across Canada.

May 04, 2021•38 min

Meet Vaccine Hunters Canada's volunteers

As multiple websites, crowded waiting lists and lines hundreds of people long impede some Canadians' attempts to get COVID-19 vaccine appointments, a community of volunteers is stepping in to help. Today, Vaccine Hunters Canada co-founders Andrew Young and Josh Kalpin on guiding thousands through the rollout.

May 03, 2021•30 min

Introducing: Life Jolt

Life Jolt - prison slang for a life sentence - examines the lives of women navigating Canada’s correctional system. The team gained unprecedented access to the Grand Valley Institution prison, the federal pen for women in Ontario, for a full year. They followed women going into prison for the first time, spoke with lifers who have been there for years, and parolees as they left. Hosted by Rosemary Green, a former inmate herself, Life Jolt focuses on individual women’s stories and the realities o...

May 01, 2021•36 min

Rare COVID-19 vaccine blood clots explained

With the news that a woman in Quebec died of a rare blood clot after receiving the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, some people may feel concerned about the vaccine. Epidemiologist Maria Sundaram unpacks what you need to know about these extremely rare blood clots and the COVID-19 vaccines.

Apr 30, 2021•19 min

The fight over paid sick leave

As the third wave dominates ICU across the country, this week Ontario and B.C. each finally buckled to pressure and announced the introduction of, at least some, mandated paid sick leave. But the urgent call remains in other provinces. So why is it such a fight to get it? CBC senior writer Aaron Wherry explains.

Apr 29, 2021•25 min

What led to Alberta’s enormous COVID-19 surge?

Alberta leads Canada with a COVID-19 case rate nearly twice that of Ontario, and doctors warn Alberta is headed for a similar crisis in its ICUs. Today, what’s keeping Premier Jason Kenney from imposing tougher restrictions.

Apr 28, 2021•23 min

The fight against Big Pharma's grip on vaccines

Led by South Africa and India, more than 100 mostly developing countries are calling on the World Trade Organization to temporarily waive vaccine makers’ intellectual property protections. Today, science writer Stephen Buranyi on why he believes this could boost global supply of COVID-19 vaccines, and save lives.

Apr 27, 2021•21 min

‘Absolutely harrowing’: India’s calamitous second wave

In India, COVID-19 has reached catastrophic levels. The health-care system is so overwhelmed that the sick are lying on the ground outside hospitals, and doctors are begging online for oxygen. Amy Kazmin, the New Delhi-based South Asia bureau chief for the Financial Times, joins us for a view from the ground, and explains how things got this bad.

Apr 26, 2021•21 min

Russia vs. Ukraine, the latest chapter

For weeks, tens of thousands of Russian troops have been within striking distance of Ukraine’s border. And then on Thursday came a sudden announcement of a partial de-escalation. Today on Front Burner, Moscow correspondent Chris Brown on the politics behind these moves.

Apr 23, 2021•23 min

Universal child care: Is it for real this time?

Advocates have been calling for a national child care program for decades. Governments have even gotten close to enacting it a few times. Is this finally the moment the idea becomes reality? We’re joined by Martha Friendly, executive director of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, for a look at the long, winding road toward universal child care in Canada.

Apr 22, 2021•28 min

Rodney King lawyer on George Floyd, Derek Chauvin

Today we cover the Derek Chauvin guilty verdict in the killing of George Floyd and hear from a civil rights lawyer, who represented Rodney King, about the long history of police violence in America against Black people.

Apr 21, 2021•25 min

$10-a-day child care and a big-ticket budget

After two long years, the Liberals have finally delivered a federal budget and boy is it a big one. Today we dissect the biggest ticket items, from a national childcare plan to a bucket full of green future promises with help from CBC’s Vassy Kapelos.

Apr 20, 2021•26 min

How Ontario was led into a COVID-19 crisis

Military-style field hospitals in the middle of Toronto. A children’s ICU filling up with dying adults. Medical advisers at the end of their rope. Today, host Jayme Poisson looks at the choices Premier Doug Ford made in recent months and how they led Ontario down the path to what many doctors are calling a catastrophe.

Apr 19, 2021•28 min

Liberals, Bloc silence military sex assault hearing

A parliamentary investigation into sexual misconduct in the military has been shut down, despite three high-ranking members of the Canadian Forces having allegations against them. Today on Front Burner, NDP defence critic Randall Garrison on why he thinks this lets the government off the hook.

Apr 16, 2021•21 min