Last week, Front Burner spent a few days in Three Hills, Alberta, a small town northeast of Calgary. We attended an event about Alberta independence, and spoke to a wide array of people about separation from Canada, and the possibility of an upcoming referendum on the issue. CBC Calgary’s Jason Markusoff came with us. Why Three Hills? Because while separatist sentiment does exist in the province’s cities, it runs deeper in rural small towns, where people tend to feel more disconnected and frustr...
Jun 20, 2025•51 min
For months now, agents working for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, have been carrying out raids, arresting people on the street, at work and at immigration courthouses. Often they are wearing plain clothes and masks. As U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown intensifies, so have the instances of arrests and detentions by ICE, sometimes without warrants or due process. Despite mass protests and pushback from opposition politicians and immigrants rights groups, t...
Jun 19, 2025•28 min
In this politics roundup, we first check in with the CBC’s Aaron Wherry in the Alberta Rockies about the main takeaways from the G7 summit, which wrapped without Donald Trump after he left to deal with the escalating Israel-Iran conflict. Then, we speak to Toronto Star national columnist Althia Raj about C-5, an omnibus bill which is moving through parliament at breakneck speed. The bill’s intent is to speed up approval for resource projects, but it’s been panned by critics as dangerous and unde...
Jun 18, 2025•29 min
Palantir’s technology has been used by everyone from the CIA and Mossad to Airbus and Morgan Stanley. The multi-billion dollar big data software company is at the centre of many of the major issues of our time. Michael Steinberger is a reporter with The New York Times Magazine and the author of a forthcoming book on Palantir’s CEO entitled ‘The Philosopher in the Valley.’ He joins the show to discuss Palantir’s wide-reaching technology, and what it tells us about the future of government and sur...
Jun 17, 2025•33 min
Longstanding tensions came to a head last week when Israel launched a missile attack on Iran, targeting the country’s nuclear facilities and killing several high-level military personnel and nuclear scientists. In the days following the two countries have exchanged missile strikes, killing at least 78 in Iran and 13 in Israel. As the conflict continues to escalate, what will it mean for the region? And as the bombardment derails Iran-U.S. nuclear talks, will the U.S. be pulled into an active war...
Jun 16, 2025•34 min
Starting Sunday, political and economic representatives of a world order that Donald Trump is intent on shattering are gathering in Kananaskis, in Alberta's Rocky Mountains. That on its own would be high stakes. But add to it Mark Carney's aggressive national to-do list, and you've got two days that could show us how much Canada and the world have changed since Trump became president a second time. Aaron Wherry, a senior writer with CBC's Parliamentary Bureau, joins the show to unpack what he'll...
Jun 13, 2025•26 min
For years now Canada's been badgered to pony up, and spend more money on the military. Those calls have come from our actual military itself, our NATO allies, and more recently the U.S. President. Well it looks like Mark Carney is going to pull out the credit card, and commit to spending an extra $9.3-billion on the armed forces by March, bumping our military spending up to two per cent of Canada's entire GDP. Carney has also pledged to end this country's reliance on the U.S. for equipment by di...
Jun 12, 2025•26 min
As many as 40,000 Canadians are out of their homes right now with evacuation alerts and states of emergency in effect across much of western Canada, from B.C. through northern Ontario. Many, especially those from Saskatchewan and Manitoba, have been away from home for weeks, with no indication of when they'll return. CBC Thunder Bay's Sarah Law brings us the story of evacuees from Sandy Lake First Nation, making their way to Thunder Bay, Ont., as fire bears down on their fly-in, fly-out communit...
Jun 11, 2025•27 min
The city of Los Angeles has been embroiled in protests for days after a series of ICE raids rounded up dozens of people. Now, after President Donald Trump sent in 2000 members of the National Guard, the city finds itself in the middle of a fight between the White House and state and local governments over the rights of undocumented immigrants. Jeannette Zanipatin is a lawyer and the Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), an L.A.-based organization ...
Jun 10, 2025•26 min
A feud between Elon Musk and U.S. President Trump escalated and exploded over the course of 72 hours last week. It started off with Musk’s criticism of Trump’s new spending bill, calling it a “disgusting abomination.” Trump later criticized Musk during a press conference in the Oval Office, saying that he would have won the 2024 election without the millions of dollars Musk spent to support him. From there, a barrage of attacks ensued over social media, and threats to cancel government contracts...
Jun 09, 2025•29 min
What is Canadian content? And why does it matter? The Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission has been hearing very different answers to that question — as they try to come up with new CanCon rules. Commotion's Elamin Abdelmahmoud talks with storyteller Jesse Wente, policy expert Vass Bednar and showrunner Anthony Q Farrell about why getting CanCon right has never been more important. Big laughs. Smart takes. Every day. Commotion is where you go for thoughtful and vibrant conversations ...
Jun 07, 2025•40 min
On Sunday, Ukraine launched Operation Spider’s Web, a surprise drone attack that went deep inside Russia, reaching as far as Siberia for the first time. Ukraine says 117 drones were smuggled into Russia, hidden in the roofs of wooden sheds and later loaded onto the backs of trucks then launched remotely. The result was an enormous blow to Russia’s strategic bomber fleet. Cheaper than traditional weapons and commercially available, drones have become increasingly important to both sides of the Uk...
Jun 06, 2025•23 min
The Liberals have tabled new legislation that would significantly expand law enforcement powers and tighten immigration of all kinds, including refugee claims, in a move to appease the Trump White House — but critics say it raises major concerns for Canadians' civil liberties. Meanwhile, Mark Carney met with Canada's provincial and territorial premiers this week in his first ever first ministers' meeting, and the post-meeting vibes have been extremely positive. There seems to be a general agreem...
Jun 05, 2025•30 min
A little over five months ago, few outside of the New York City real estate scene knew who Steve Witkoff was. Now, as the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, he’s not only been tasked with trying to end the war in Gaza but he’s also at the centre of negotiations with Russia over the war in Ukraine and with Iran to secure a new nuclear deal. To understand how one of President Donald Trump’s closest friends came to spearhead negotiations in some of the most complex foreign policy files of the l...
Jun 04, 2025•28 min
Since October 7, access to food in Gaza – and its systematic restriction by Israel – has been the subject of international condemnation. The most recent incident is the killing of dozens of Palestinians attempting to obtain food from an aid distribution centre. Israeli settlers have blocked roads, and aid delivery. Aid convoys and workers have also been targeted with violence. And as of March, Israel established a full scale blockade on aid into the Gaza strip. Today a trickle has been allowed i...
Jun 03, 2025•40 min
Alex Shephard, senior editor at The New Republic, is on Front Burner to break down a few of the big developing news stories coming out of the Trump administration in recent weeks. He talks to host Jayme Poisson about Elon Musk’s exit from the White House, U.S. President Trump’s war with Harvard, and where we are right now with the on again, off again tariffs as they get kicked around the courts. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts...
Jun 02, 2025•27 min
The use of generative AI has become rampant on college and university campuses across North America. KPMG - who surveyed over 400 Canadian students about this in the fall — found that around 60 per cent use AI models like ChatGPT in their assignments. James Walsh recently wrote a piece in New York Magazine called Everyone is Cheating Their Way Through College, where he spoke to dozens of students, professors, and administrators about the AI cheating surge, and how it’s ratcheting up a debate abo...
May 30, 2025•25 min
The Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act – also known as Bill 5 – aims to fast track mining projects in Ontario and gives the government the power to create 'special economic zones' that would grant the government the power to exempt companies from still-unspecified laws. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has framed these measures as necessary to protect the province against the threat of Donald Trump's trade war. But the sweeping power it affords the government has Indigenous groups, the Civil...
May 29, 2025•23 min
For the third time in Canadian history, the head of the British monarchy delivered the throne speech before ushering in a new session of parliament. It comes at a time when Canada could use some help protecting its sovereignty in the face of threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. But how does this moment fit in with King Charles’ reign so far, which has been marked by political turmoil, royal rifts, calls for reparations and cutting ties with the British monarchy? We break it all down with El...
May 28, 2025•25 min
Last June, during the first presidential debate of the 2024 U.S. election campaign, Joe Biden stumbled and struggled to find the right words. His performance was described as disastrous and incoherent. At that point, many Americans had already come to the conclusion that Biden was too old for the job. But for those who hadn't yet, the debate was the moment that fact became impossible to deny. Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again is a new b...
May 27, 2025•30 min
Donald Trump’s 'Golden Dome’ is a proposed defense program that will feature the use of space lasers, satellites and interceptors designed to provide 24/7 space based defence. It’s advertised as a bulwark against missiles and nuclear attacks from the likes of China, North Korea and Russia. Mike Stone is a Reuters reporter covering the U.S. arms trade and defense industry and joins the show to discuss Donald Trump’s trillion dollar sci-fi inspired project, Canada’s potential involvement, and its ...
May 26, 2025•27 min
On May 25th 2020, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes. The whole thing was caught on video and once it got out, it set America on fire. Protests spread across the country and then the world. Promises of sweeping changes to policing and greater commitment to racial justice and equity were made. Fast forward to now, five years later, and the outlook is very different. There are more Americans killed at ...
May 23, 2025•28 min
It’s been a year and a half since the R&B singer Cassie Ventura first accused hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs of rape and repeated physical abuse over the course of their decade-long relationship. Those initial allegations unleashed a torrent of accusations from others, more than 70 sexual assault lawsuits, and federal raids of his homes. Now, Diddy’s high-profile criminal trial is underway in a Manhattan court. He faces charges of sexually trafficking three women, as well as transportation...
May 22, 2025•34 min
Today on the show is historian Timothy Ryback. Timothy is an author and writer with The Atlantic. He’s the director of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation in The Hague. Last year he published ‘Takeover’ which documents the ways Hitler and his enablers in the German establishment cleared the pathway to Nazism through constitutional means. He’s on the show to discuss - what he refers to as the “disturbing echoes” between Nazi Germany and contemporary America. Particularly betwe...
May 21, 2025•32 min
Hundreds of people filled a banquet hall in Calgary last week to hear from the Alberta Prosperity Project, a group that wants Alberta to separate from Canada. They're trying to drum up support for a petition and earn enough signatures to trigger a referendum on separation in 2026. One of the reasons the petition is picking up steam is because Premier Danielle Smith's United Conservative Party has just passed legislation that would lower the bar for holding a referendum vote. Jason Markusoff is a...
May 20, 2025•29 min
It's not you — the internet really does suck. Novelist, blogger and noted internet commentator Cory Doctorow explains what happened to the internet and why you're tormented by ads, bots, algorithms, AI slop and so many pop-ups. Spoiler alert: it wasn't an accident. In Understood: Who Broke the Internet, Doctorow gets into the decisions made by powerful people that got us here, and most importantly, how we fix it. More episodes of Who Broke the Internet are available at: https://link.mgln.ai/DkvH...
May 19, 2025•38 min
Measles case numbers in Ontario are now higher than the total registered cases in the entire United States. This week’s report from Ontario Public Health puts the total at 1,646 cases of the disease since January. In Alberta, measles is spreading even quicker, outpacing Ontario in growth per-capita. Nearly three decades ago Canada had declared measles completely eliminated. But now the country is facing a situation where public health experts say, without prompt action, the disease could become ...
May 16, 2025•29 min
Content warning: this conversation contains graphic details of an alleged sexual assault so please take care while listening. Proceedings began late last month in a trial that has been seven years in the making. It involves five former members of Canada's gold medal winning 2018 world juniors hockey team. They've been accused of sexually assaulting a woman who is known as E.M. All five have pleaded not guilty. This same alleged assault made headlines a few years back when it was revealed that Ho...
May 15, 2025•26 min
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new cabinet was sworn in at Rideau Hall. Among them are 24 new faces but also a solid handful of the same big names from the previous government. What does it tell us about the government’s priorities? Is it enough of a change from the Trudeau years? Plus, the Liberals gained a seat after winning a recount in the Quebec riding of Terrebonne by a single vote. It’s fuelling conspiracy theories and misinformation about the electoral process. CBC’s chief poli...
May 14, 2025•27 min
Israel is planning a major escalation of its military campaign in Gaza — one that the government says is necessary to eradicate Hamas, but which rights groups have said amounts to the annexation of the Palestinian territory. It comes amid apparent rifts between the U.S. and Israel. Trump is currently on a tour of the Middle East which won’t include a stop in Israel; he has conducted talks with a number of countries in the region without notifying Israel; and the U.S. has just secured the release...
May 13, 2025•29 min
