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

The unknown cost, and political price of the ArriveCan app

Canada’s Auditor General has found the government overpaid for the ArriveCan app. And poor record keeping has made it impossible for her to figure out that final total. Catherine Cullen, the host of “The House” joins Front Burner to talk about how an app that was supposed to make pandemic travel easier has ended up costing millions. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workda...

Feb 13, 2024•23 min

Organized crime's system for stealing cars

Auto thefts have been spiking in Canadian cities, with criminals using and disposing of the vehicles or selling them to fund organized crime, even exporting them overseas. . Why have cars become so easy for thieves to steal? What systems are organized crime using to take vehicles in large quantities? Will the federal Liberal’s national summit on auto theft last Thursday provide lasting solutions? Peter Edwards is a crime reporter with the Toronto Star and the author of numerous books on organize...

Feb 12, 2024•20 min

Down the Super Bowl conspiracy rabbit hole

The Super Bowl is this Sunday, and the teams on the field are no surprise. What is surprising is that the off-field mania around Taylor Swift dating a Chiefs player has gotten deeply, deeply weird. Some American networks have been stirring up conspiracy theories that Swift and Kelce’s relationship is a deep-state psy-op. The Super Bowl has morphed into a sort of singularity-level conspiracy, pulling in everything: vaccines, the CIA, light beer, billionaire investor George Soros, and President Jo...

Feb 09, 2024•21 min

Why did Trump tank a border bill Republicans fought for?

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate was set to vote on a sweeping national defense bill. It included reforms to immigration, in reaction to a surge in migration across the U-S southern border. It also included military support for the war in Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. It came together through months of bipartisan meetings. But the vote failed. Why? The CBC’s Alex Panetta is here with the answers. He’s a reporter with our bureau in Washington D.C. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https:/...

Feb 08, 2024•23 min

Are trans youth a 'political football' in Alberta?

Alberta premier Danielle Smith has frequently said that she doesn't want to politicize issues around the rights and personal decisions of transgender youth. But then, last week, she unveiled the toughest set of policies affecting trans teens in the country. The proposed rules would have wide-ranging impacts for gender-affirming medical care, sports, sex education and the use of preferred pronouns in schools. Today, CBC Calgary's Jason Markusoff joins us for a look at the reaction in Alberta to t...

Feb 07, 2024•23 min

What’s going on at Neuralink, Musk’s brain implant company?

Elon Musk says a person has had a computer chip implanted in their brain as part of Neuralink’s first human trial. The billionaire’s company is racing to develop a device, in an attempt to catch up to competitors in the brain-computer interface industry. Marisa Taylor, an investigative journalist with Reuters, joins Front Burner to separate fact from fiction, as Neuralink tries to revolutionize brain implants. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/tr...

Feb 06, 2024•23 min

Why are men fleeing Ukraine, and the war?

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly two years ago, most men have been banned from leaving Ukraine. That hasn’t stopped thousands from making illegal border crossings to escape. Why are so many Ukrainian men risking these journeys? How is Ukraine trying to stop them? What could the crossings signal about Ukrainians’ attitudes toward a new phase of this war? CBC’s Briar Stewart went to neighbouring Moldova to find answers. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/rad...

Feb 05, 2024•24 min

Weekend Listen: Hollywood Exiles

From the BBC World Service and CBC Podcasts comes Hollywood Exiles. Host Oona Chaplin tells the story of the decades-long campaign to root out communism in Hollywood. It’s a campaign that eventually drove her grandfather, Charlie Chaplin, and many others out of tinseltown. Hollywood Exiles is a tale of glamour, duplicity and political intrigue that reverberates to this day. It’s the story of how Tinseltown became an ideological battleground. The toll of the fight was enormous – reputations, care...

Feb 03, 2024•36 min

Former Canadian world junior hockey players face sex assault charges

Four NHL players, and one pro European player, are charged with sexual assault, in a troubling story that began years ago. The charges relate to the alleged group assault of a woman in 2018, that took place when the accused were members of Canada’s world junior hockey team. Katie Strang is a senior investigative writer with The Athletic and walks us through these new charges — and whether anything has actually changed in hockey since this scandal first came to light. For transcripts of Front Bur...

Feb 02, 2024•21 min

Is $10 daycare in trouble?

The Trudeau government’s announcement in 2021 that they would bring daycare fees down to $10 a day within five years was a massive relief to many parents across the country. But two years after all the provinces signed on, this extremely popular program is clearly facing some bumps in the road: staffing shortages, massive wait lists, and daycares that can’t cover their costs. Today, Martha Friendly, executive director of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, speaks to us about the growing pa...

Feb 01, 2024•22 min

Oilsands pollution 'vastly underestimated': study

According to a new study published in Science, operations in Alberta’s oilsands are pumping out as much as 64 times more air pollutants than officially reported. How could industry estimates be missing these huge amounts of chemicals? What could the health and environmental consequences be? How does this study add to other concerns that don't we truly understand the impact of the oil sands? Drew Anderson is the Prairies reporter for The Narwhal, whose team of investigative journalists report on ...

Jan 31, 2024•20 min

Is Palworld more than ‘Pokémon with guns’?

Pokémon is the single biggest grossing media franchise on the planet. So when a game best described as "Pokémon with guns" was released earlier this month, it's perhaps no surprise that it quickly became one of the most played — and talked about — video games in the world. Washington Post video game critic and reporter Gene Park explains why the game has blown up, and whether the developers might find themselves in Nintendo's legal crosshairs for copying their homework. For transcripts of Front ...

Jan 30, 2024•19 min

What’s at stake with Canada’s foreign interference inquiry

The public inquiry into foreign electoral interference begins today. The independent commission was sparked by allegations that China had interfered in Canadian elections — a bombshell accusation that ignited a major political battle in Ottawa. The inquiry is already facing hard questions about who gets to take part and how, and how much of the findings can actually be shared with the public. CBC parliamentary reporter Catharine Tunney on what’s ahead, and what’s at stake with the inquiry. For t...

Jan 29, 2024•23 min

Death at the border and a search for the smugglers

A new investigation by the CBC’s Fifth Estate sheds light on who might have been responsible for a devastating and fatal human smuggling case two years ago. On January 19, 2022, police found four people frozen to death, just metres away from the US border in Manitoba. RCMP confirmed all four were Indian citizens, and all from the same family. Today, Fifth Estate co-host Steven D’Souza on his search for answers about the smugglers that sent that family, the Patels, into a blinding snowstorm.

Jan 26, 2024•32 min

A fake CEO, a failed investment scheme, and millions lost

A scheme called HyperVerse attracted more than a billion dollars in investments and endorsements from celebrities including Chuck Norris and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. But a Guardian Australia investigation found that the CEO of HyperVerse didn’t even exist. Sarah Martin, a senior correspondent with Guardian Australia, explains how the scheme worked, who was behind it, and how regular people lost a lot of money. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontbu...

Jan 25, 2024•25 min

Invasive strep A: what you need to know

Invasive Group A strep is a rare form of infection that happens when the usually harmless bacteria invades parts of the body where it's not normally found. This can lead to complications like flesh-eating disease, meningitis and even death — and case numbers are on the rise in Canada, with 10 children dead of the disease since October. CBC health reporter Lauren Pelley breaks down what you need to know about invasive strep A and the multiple factors that could be behind the recent surge in cases...

Jan 24, 2024•20 min

After Siakam, what's next for the Raptors?

Pascal Siakam was traded to the Indiana Pacers in a blockbuster deal last week that, for many, marked the end of the team’s 2019 championship era. So, what direction are the Raptors headed in? And how are fans feeling about saying goodbye to one of the most beloved players in franchise history? Freelance NBA writer and author of “Prehistoric: The Audacious and Improbable Origin Story of the Toronto Raptors”, Alex Wong, explains. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/r...

Jan 23, 2024•22 min

Mass stabbing inquest hears horror, heroism

Less than a year and a half after a mass stabbing devastated James Smith Cree Nation and surrounding communities in Saskatchewan, a coroner’s inquest began last week into how Myles Sanderson killed 11 people and hurt 17 others. What happened in the days prior to the attacks? What do police analysts say the motive could have been? What supports do community members need now? Jason Warick is a reporter with CBC Saskatoon. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/fron...

Jan 22, 2024•21 min

Police crackdown and a homelessness emergency

The prairies are just emerging from a record-breaking cold snap, with multiple days of temperatures well below -30. But that didn't stop the City of Edmonton from proceeding with its plan to dismantle eight homeless camps across the city. CBC Edmonton's Wallis Snowdon explains why the city is so keen to remove the camps, in a city where more than 300 people died in connection to homelessness in the last year alone. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburn...

Jan 19, 2024•25 min

Sex workers, a rural property and an alleged serial rapist

The trial of Richard Mantha, 59, is set to begin this week in Calgary. Mantha is charged with more than two dozen counts related to seven women, including drugging, kidnapping, and sexually assaulting his alleged victims. In this episode, CBC Calgary reporter Meghan Grant walks us through the troubling case, and the allegations levelled against Mantha by women working in the sex trade. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts Transcripts of ...

Jan 18, 2024•20 min

Immigration and housing costs. What’s the link?

After mounting political pressure, last weekend Immigration Minister Marc Miller acknowledged that the number of non-permanent residents in Canada is putting a strain on housing. As Canada brings in a historic number of temporary residents and population growth sets records, some of the country’s top bank economists and even the Bank of Canada say that the federal government’s immigration policy is significantly affecting housing affordability. So how did we get here? What is Canada’s immigratio...

Jan 17, 2024•22 min

Chaos, gang war erupts in Ecuador

For over a week, Ecuador has been in a state of emergency. Armed gang members have set cars on fire, taken people hostage, and attacked staff at a major TV station during a live broadcast. These acts of violence came after the disappearance of a notorious gang leader with ties to the illegal drug trade. Today, freelance journalist Carolina Loza León, based in Manta, Ecuador, on what’s been happening on the ground, the gangs at the heart of escalating violence, and whether the government’s approa...

Jan 16, 2024•23 min

Israel faces genocide case at UN’s top court

In hearings at the International Court of Justice last week, South Africa accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. A potential final ruling at the court could take years, but within weeks, judges could order Israel to stop its military operations So what's behind South Africa’s argument? Why is Israel saying the case should be dismissed? And in a court without a mechanism to enforce orders, why would a ruling really matter? Canadian academic William Schabas, a professor of international law at Middle...

Jan 15, 2024•27 min

The downfall of the NRA's Wayne LaPierre

For more than three decades, Wayne LaPierre has led the National Rifle Association — turning gun policy into a deeply partisan political issue. But now, facing a civil trial on corruption allegations, he's announced his resignation. With membership and revenue dropping, could this be the end of the NRA? New York Times investigative reporter Danny Hakim explains the rise of one of America's most influential lobby groups — and how, even if this is the end, the NRA's biggest battles may have alread...

Jan 12, 2024•28 min

Why are Canadian churches being burned?

Thirty-three churches have burned to the ground across Canada, since the discovery of possible unmarked children's graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in May, 2021. In most cases, officials have blamed arsonists. CBC’s Terry Reith details his investigation into the pattern of arson, and how it’s tied to Canada’s dark residential school history. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts Transcripts of each episode will be m...

Jan 11, 2024•23 min

Is Trudeau in dire need of a new story?

While Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has been campaigning across the country, gaining momentum in the polls, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s message of positivity and progress is failing to connect. After eight years in power, is the long-time Liberal leader in dire need of a new story? What political narrative could captivate Canadians in 2024? And what story is Poilievre betting on? CBC’s Aaron Wherry explains. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/front...

Jan 10, 2024•22 min

Life and death at a Gaza hospital

A few weeks ago, Syrian-Canadian doctor Anas Al-Kassem, along with 5 other doctors from the U.S and Canada, went on a medical mission to southern Gaza. They were stationed at two hospitals in Khan Younis. With explosions nearby, they closed wounds, amputated limbs, and saved the lives that they could. Today, Dr. Anas Al-Kassem on what he saw during the mission, the state of the hospitals in Gaza, and the continuing health and humanitarian crisis in the region. For transcripts of Front Burner, pl...

Jan 09, 2024•22 min

High tension on the Red Sea

Yemen’s Houthi militias are attacking commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea, and say the attacks will continue until Israel ends its “crimes in Gaza.” Who’s backing the Houthi rebels? Why is the U.S. sinking Houthi ships and sailing naval destroyers in the region? What could the attacks mean for fears of a broader regional conflict? Iona Craig is an investigative journalist who’s been covering Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula for over a decade.

Jan 08, 2024•24 min

The ‘Epstein list’ explained

Jeffrey Epstein died in a New York prison cell in 2019, before he could stand trial for allegedly running a sex trafficking ring involving underaged girls and dozens of high-profile clients. Now, court documents including names of Epstein's known associates are being unsealed, shedding new light on the nature and scale of his network. Senior Washington Post editor Marc Fisher walks us through the list so far — which includes Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump — and why further document...

Jan 05, 2024•26 min

A new dawn for women’s pro hockey

The brand new Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) kicked off its inaugural season this week, with Toronto hosting the team from New York. Hailey Salvian, a senior writer for The Athletic, walks us through the promise of the fledgling new league — but also the challenges ahead for the organization, which is hoping to succeed where others have failed. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts Transcripts of each episode will be made avail...

Jan 04, 2024•22 min

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