Front Burner

CBC•www.cbc.ca

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

Trump's trade war goes global

In the culmination of countless speeches, tweets and campaign promises, U.S. president Donald Trump has finally unveiled sweeping tariffs on goods imported into the country — from nearly every country it does business with. He dubbed it "Liberation Day," calling it the start of a new era of economic independence for the United States, saying it will bring jobs and industry back to the country. But some economists say the tariffs will throw international trade into chaos, with unpredictable knock...

Apr 03, 2025•29 min

Yale fascism expert on fleeing to Canada

Last week one of the U.S.’s leading scholars and thinkers on fascism announced his intention to leave his country, which he said was “tilting toward authoritarian dictatorship.” Jason Stanley will be leaving Yale and taking up a post at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs.  Stanley has been warning about the threat and rise of fascism in the United States since Donald Trump’s first term – his work notes the throughline between American Jim Crow and the Third Reich, fas...

Apr 02, 2025•30 min

Is the NDP about to get wiped out?

As the Liberals ride strong, support for the NDP is collapsing. Most polls now show their support at less than 10 per cent — half of what it was just three months ago. Some data suggest they could lose three quarters of their seats in the house, and that they’re at risk of losing official party status. How did the New Democrats get here? Why hasn’t leader Jagmeet Singh been able to turn policy wins for the party into electoral success? And where do they go from here? Today we’re joined by two pe...

Apr 01, 2025•28 min

Election! Trump and Carney talk, Conservative 'civil war'

Just over one week into the federal election campaign and there's lots to talk about. From Mark Carney's first call with Donald Trump, after which the U.S. President pulled a dramatic change in rhetoric about Canada, to infighting and chaos in the Conservative ranks. CBC's Chief Political correspondent Rosemary Barton breaks down week one of campaigning in this pivotal election. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit:  https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts...

Mar 31, 2025•28 min

Elon and the Tesla backlash

Across the world an anti-Tesla campaign has been growing since Elon Musk began his work dismantling U.S. government institutions, and meddling in other country’s democracies.  The protests, dubbed “Trash Tesla,” are seeing regular folks and former customers selling their cars, dumping stock and picketing dealerships. Others are torching Tesla vehicles. As a result the U.S. attorney general says they’re looking into the incidents as potential domestic terrorism. Today on the show, Wired writ...

Mar 28, 2025•24 min

Election! Foreign meddling, Poilievre's premier problems

The federal election has only been officially underway since Sunday, and a few stories are dominating the headlines. Both the Liberals and the Conservatives are facing allegations of foreign interference, which has once again resurfaced questions about why Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre refuses to get his security clearance to be briefed on such issues. Liberal leader Mark Carney continues to face scrutiny for his time in the private sector, in particular his role at Brookfield Asset Manag...

Mar 27, 2025•35 min

‘Professors are the enemy’: Trump’s war on higher education

In a 2021 speech entitled ‘The Universities are the enemy,’ Vice President JD Vance laid out a plan for America’s universities saying in part “we have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country.” Columbia University has become ground zero for the Trump administration's war on higher education. Following a year of pro-Palestinian protest on campus, Trump revoked $400-million in funding and has instructed federal agents to oversee raids on campus, looking to deport intern...

Mar 26, 2025•35 min

Pierre Poilievre’s Donald Trump problem

With the federal election underway, Pierre Poilievre’s political opponents have intensified their accusations that the Conservative leader is like U.S. President Trump. On Sunday, Liberal leader Mark Carney said that Poilievre mirrors Trump in language and intention, and that he followed the administration’s lead in proposing foreign aid cuts. For weeks now, the party has been putting out ads focusing on the similarities between Poilievre and Trump. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said, also on Sunday,...

Mar 25, 2025•29 min

An election in a polluted media environment

With trust in journalism eroding, disinformation — once fringe — is now mainstream. Much of it is spreading on social media. Today’s guest says the online media environment in Canada is more fragile and vulnerable to manipulation than ever before. A dangerous situation at the best of times — even more so during an election. Taylor Owen is a professor at McGill University, the Chair in Media, Ethics and Communication, the founding Director of The Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy and pri...

Mar 24, 2025•29 min

What is this new Canadian patriotism?

Canadian pride reached a fever pitch after the NHL 4 Nations Cup last month and it hasn’t showed any signs of slowing down since. Sales of the Canadian flags are up. American liquor and beer have been pulled off the shelves in stores throughout the country. “Elbows Up”, a war cry and tribute to Gordie Howe’s signature defensive move, has been trending on social media.  But in a country that, according to polls, saw declining national pride for decades, what is our national identity? And how...

Mar 21, 2025•27 min

Errol Morris on Charles Manson, mind control and the CIA

On August 9th and 10th of 1969, a series of brutal murders took place in Los Angeles. Seven people were killed, including actress Sharon Tate, who was married to director Roman Polanski. Members of the Manson family, a kind of cult, were found guilty for the crimes. Manson and four of his followers were convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. The prosecutor at the time said that Manson wanted to start a race war and trigger the end of the world. For decades, that was how the sto...

Mar 20, 2025•27 min

Trump’s expanding immigration dragnet

The Trump administration is continuing to expand its mass deportation of immigrants, and more and more people are getting caught up in its dragnet — from green card holders to Canadians, and even U.S. citizens. Court orders to block many of these actions are mounting, but the Trump administration is pushing back hard — going so far as pushing for the impeachment of a judge involved in one case. Today, we’re speaking to Arelis Hernandez, a border reporter for The Washington Post, for a look at wh...

Mar 19, 2025•28 min

Nobel winning economist Joseph Stiglitz on Trump, tariffs and democracy

Last week Jayme had the opportunity to interview Nobel Prize winning economist, and former staffer and advisor to Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Joseph Stiglitz. Stiglitz also worked as the chief economist at the world bank, is a bestselling author many times over and remains one of the towering economic thinkers of our time.  He has long been a sharp critic of neoliberalism, and trade policies like NAFTA that he believes privileged the rich and corporations, but disenfranchised ...

Mar 18, 2025•32 min

Mark Carney’s first days as PM

On Friday, Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister. He wasted no time in appointing a new cabinet, getting rid of the carbon tax, and heading off on a diplomatic trip to Europe. Today, Rosemary Barton, CBC’s chief political correspondent, joins us to talk about what Carney’s first days in office indicate about his political priorities, how the Conservatives are responding, and when we might expect an election. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit:  https://www.cbc....

Mar 17, 2025•24 min

Omar El Akkad on Gaza, and 'breaking up' with the West

On October 25th, 2023, after weeks of Israeli bombardment on Gaza, Canadian novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad posted this on X: "One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this." Israel had declared war on Hamas after the Oct 7 attack. On top of the bombardment, there was a full siege in place – civilians in Gaza were cut off from water, electricity, and f...

Mar 14, 2025•26 min

Burner phone! A trade war call-in special

There's been a flurry of news and uncertainty around tariffs and Canada-U.S. relations lately so we thought we'd open the floor to you in case you have any burning questions. Turns out a lot of you do! So, we took some of your questions to five incredible experts: Economist Armine Yalnizyan, CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton, CBC Washington correspondent Alex Panetta, energy economist Andrew Leach and Ottawa Citizen national security reporter David Pugliese. Together, with Jayme ...

Mar 13, 2025•39 min

Canada vs the ‘most hated guy on Wall Street’

By the end of Tuesday, day eight of the Canada-U.S. trade war, Ontario Premier Doug Ford had backed down on a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity going to the U.S. that was supposed to go into effect that day.  It came after a "productive conversation" between Ford and U.S. commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, who agreed to meet Ford on Thursday.  Lutnick has been making the rounds on U.S. cable networks selling Trump's tariffs and ripping into Canada's response. He was also o...

Mar 12, 2025•26 min

Trade war: The view from Mexico

As Canadians grapple with the ongoing threat of American tariffs, south of the U.S., Mexicans are dealing with the same thing. Today we look at the similarities and differences in the situations both countries are facing, the different ways our leaders are dealing with Trump, and the surprising impacts the tariff threat may be having in Mexico’s war on drugs. Elías Camhaji, a reporter with the newspaper El País based in Mexico City, joins us. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit:  ...

Mar 11, 2025•25 min

Liberals enter the Mark Carney era

After a two-month race, the Liberal Party of Canada chose Mark Carney as its new leader on Sunday night. It was an overwhelming win – Carney won with 86 per cent of the vote. The Prime Minister-Designate is expected to be sworn in, in the coming days. Paul Wells has written about Canadian politics for decades. He also has a substack under his own name. He looks ahead to the challenges facing Carney. From figuring out the pros and cons of calling a federal election straight away, to not having a ...

Mar 10, 2025•22 min

What happened to ‘The Resistance’?

Donald Trump’s first four years in office were met with protest and obstruction — a popular movement which came to be known as ‘The Resistance.’ It featured a coalition that included members of the media, establishment Republicans, figures on the left, celebrities and business leaders.  Forty days into his second term, many are wondering: what happened to ‘The Resistance.’  Franklin Foer is a staff writer at The Atlantic and joins us to discuss ‘Resistance Fatigue,’ the Trump administr...

Mar 07, 2025•32 min

Is Canadian energy our tariff war trump card?

Two days after U.S. tariffs were imposed on Canada and Mexico, the trade war rages on. While an exemption has been made for three major automakers, President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau still appear to be at an impasse. As Ottawa imposes counter-tariffs and the provinces announce further retaliatory measures, what are levers can Canada pull on to get the Americans to walk back? Some of the biggest include our crude oil and wide range of critical minerals. Jonathon Wilkinson, Minister of Ene...

Mar 06, 2025•25 min

The tariff trade war escalates

After months of back-and-forth, will-he-or-won’t-he, it’s officially on: U.S. President Donald Trump has slapped 25% tariffs on most Canadian goods, and 10% on Canadian energy. Canada has hit back with tariffs of its own — which Trump says will cause further retaliation. CBC Washington correspondent Alexander Panetta joins us for a look at what happens now. Will measures from the federal government, or any of Canada’s premiers, make any difference? What are the offramps? And how long could this ...

Mar 05, 2025•33 min

An obituary for the post-war order

Humiliating the president of Ukraine in the Oval Office. Admonishing European leaders about migration and free speech. Voting alongside Russia against a UN resolution to condemn the invasion of Ukraine. Withdrawing from the World Health Organization and UN Human Rights Council. They are all signs from the Trump administration that point to a massive shift in America’s foreign policy and alignment with the very “rules-based” international order the U.S. led after WWII. But how did the world order...

Mar 04, 2025•30 min

Is Canada's Arctic sovereignty in danger?

U.S. President Trump has been talking about wanting to gain control of Greenland, and expand American influence in the Arctic. It’s a region rich in minerals and oil. It’s also an important potential trade route being opened up by climate change.   The U.S. is reportedly in talks with Russia about possible collaboration on energy projects there. This has a lot of people in Canada – from Northern premiers, federal politicians, and members of Canada’s military – worried about our country...

Mar 03, 2025•24 min

Weekend Listen: He owes his life to a lie, now will anyone believe what he calls the truth?

As a child, Alex Kurzem faced a choice: be killed or join the killers. In the midst of the Second World War, he was separated from his family and taken in by a group of soldiers as one of their own. He was made a member of Hitler’s army – a toy soldier with his own rifle and miniature SS uniform. But what the soldiers didn’t know and what no one would know for decades: he was a Jewish boy masquerading as a Nazi to save his life. Alex lives with this false identity for so long, he no longer remem...

Mar 01, 2025•34 min

The big problem of 'car bloat'

SUVs and pickup trucks make up more than four out of every five new cars sold in the U.S., and in Canada, they represented 86 per cent of all vehicles sold in May of last year.  Lots of these vehicles bill themselves as “safe,” but safe for who? The drivers and passengers? Or everyone else? David Zipper, a senior fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative and a contributing writer at Vox and Bloomberg CityLab, has coined the term “car bloat” to describe the ever-expanding size of the average aut...

Feb 28, 2025•21 min

Trump, apartheid and the PayPal mafia?

Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to end all future funding to South Africa claiming that in the country, “certain classes of people” were being treated “very badly.” Trump went on to announce a new specialized refugee program which would facilitate the entry of White South Africans — Afrikaners — into the U.S., as a result of “government sponsored race-based discrimination.” It’s left many wondering exactly why Trump has taken up this new interest in South Africa? ...

Feb 27, 2025•33 min

Is Mark Carney ready for the real fight ahead?

The four Liberal leadership candidates - Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland, Karina Gould and Frank Baylis - had a chance to make their case to voters and challenge each other over two debates this week. The winner of the race will go on to be the next Prime Minister and will head directly into a tariff war with Donald Trump and an imminent federal election. But with so many points of agreement, did any of the four prove they were up to the task? Especially Carney, the front-runner? Aaron Wherry, se...

Feb 26, 2025•24 min

Ukraine and Europe: A pivotal moment

The world marked the third anniversary of Russia’s brutal full scale invasion on Monday. This milestone in the deadliest conflict Europe has seen since World War Two comes as U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration have moved closer to the Kremlin and sidelined Europe and Ukraine.  A lot happened on Monday on multiple fronts, as rival leaders scrambled to try and shape the course of this pivotal moment in Ukraine and Europe’s history. Will there be a peace deal and what could it ...

Feb 25, 2025•29 min

Ontario votes amidst tariff crisis

People in Ontario will head to the polls on Thursday, in an election that was called more than a year ahead of schedule. Doug Ford, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party is on track to win a third mandate. He says he needs the province’s confidence to deal with U.S.President Trump’s tariffs. The latest from Abacus Data puts the Conservatives at 41 per cent of the vote share. CBC Queen’s Park reporter Mike Crawley talks to host Jayme Poisson about the campaign so far, including the fight t...

Feb 24, 2025•28 min