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

B.C.’s ‘staggering’ money laundering problem

Jun 20, 2022•21 min

Front Burner Introduces: Someone Knows Something: The Abortion Wars

Host David Ridgen joins victims' family members as they investigate cold cases, tracking down leads, speaking to suspects and searching for answers. In Season 7 of Someone Knows Something, Ridgen and investigative journalist Amanda Robb dig into the 1998 murder of her uncle, a New York doctor killed for performing abortions. They uncover a network of anti-abortion movements linked to violence in North America and Europe. Twenty years later, with debates about reproductive rights heating up in th...

Jun 18, 2022•33 min

Toronto police more likely to use force against people of colour, data suggests

Toronto police are more likely to use force against people of colour, especially Black residents, according to race-based data released this week. The internal data on use of force and strip searches from 2020 also showed Indigenous people were, proportionally, more likely than any other racial group to be strip-searched after being arrested. Some academics, journalists and activists have been saying for decades that systemic racism is a problem in policing. Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, a researcher and...

Jun 17, 2022•24 min

Did Google make conscious AI?

Earlier this week, Blake Lemoine, an engineer who works for Google’s Responsible AI department, went public with his belief that Google’s LaMDA chatbot is sentient. LaMDA, or Language Model for Dialogue Applications, is an artificial intelligence program that mimics speech and tries to predict which words are most related to the prompts it is given. While some experts believe that conscious AI is something that will be possible in the future, many in the field think that Lemoine is mistaken — an...

Jun 16, 2022•26 min

Jacob Hoggard and consent in Canada

On June 5, after six days of deliberation, a jury found former Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard guilty of sexually assaulting an Ottawa woman. The jury also acquitted Hoggard of sexually assaulting a fan who was 16 years old during a separate encounter, and of a sexual interference charge related to accusations he touched her when she was still 15. What happened in the jury room is a secret, but consent and the credibility of the accusers were key points in the proceedings. Today, a summary of what...

Jun 15, 2022•30 min

Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf controversy

Golf's new breakaway tour, LIV Golf, is throwing the world of golf into chaos. LIV held its first tournament this week and is gunning to eclipse the PGA — golf's premier association and gatekeeper for almost a century. LIV's mantra is "golf but louder." The organization is flashy, more visible on social media, and is promising to be a new way for players and fans to experience the traditionally stuffy sport. The tournament has lured in some big names, including Phil Mickleson, Sergio Garcia and ...

Jun 14, 2022•28 min

Unpacking Canadian airport chaos

If you've been to an airport in Canada recently, there's a good chance you've dealt with more than your average level of chaos. Some of the issues include hours-long security lineups, delayed or cancelled flights, passengers stuck on the tarmac and major congestion at border security. Many say most of the blame falls on two short-staffed government security entities, but some have also pointed fingers at COVID-19 testing rules, airlines and even out-of-practice travellers. Today on Front Burner,...

Jun 13, 2022•26 min

Front Burner Introduces: The Village Season Three - The Montreal Murders

In the early 1990s, as AIDS tightens its grip on major cities around the world, the relative safety of Montreal’s nightlife becomes a magnet for gay men. But when they start turning up dead in hotel rooms, beaten lifeless in city parks, and violently murdered in their own homes, the queer community has more to fear than the disease. While the city’s police force dithers over the presence of a serial killer, a group of queer activists starts making connections, and rises up to start a movement th...

Jun 11, 2022•46 min

Solving the mysteries of long COVID

Shortness of breath, fatigue and brain fog. Those are just some of the symptoms that many COVID long-haulers are still facing, even months after they first caught the virus. According to studies on the condition, one-third of people who’ve had COVID-19 could develop long-term problems related to the virus. Today, Dr. Priya Duggal, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, talks about the research she’s doing into the impacts of long COVID, who’s most likely to get...

Jun 10, 2022•24 min

The reality of intimate-partner violence in rural Canada

On Sept. 22, 2015 in Ontario's Renfrew County, Nathalie Warmerdam, Anastasia Kuzik, and Carol Culleton were all killed by the same man — Basil Borutski. All three women knew Borutski or were intimately involved with him for a period. Their murders became one of the worst cases of intimate-partner violence in Canada's history. Even though Borutski sits behind bars — with likely no chance of getting out — a coroner's inquest into the murders is finally taking place. A panel of experts, community m...

Jun 09, 2022•24 min

Boris Johnson survives ‘partygate,’ for now

On Monday evening, the U.K. Conservative Party held a vote to determine whether it should oust its leader, Boris Johnson. More than 40 per cent of his own MPs voted against him. This, after a damning report from senior civil servant Sue Gray, which added to a long list of revelations about the so-called ‘partygate’ scandal. The report details several parties with dozens of participants, excess drinking and physical altercations at 10 Downing Street — all during the height of COVID-19 restriction...

Jun 08, 2022•20 min

Why conspiracies surround the World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum, and its annual summit for the rich and powerful in Davos, Switzerland, have long been targeted by criticism from the left. But since the start of the pandemic, the forum has become a huge concern for many people on the right, including those who view the WEF as shadowy puppet masters at the centre of a complex web of conspiracy theories. Today, journalist Justin Ling — host of the CBC podcasts The Flame Throwers and The Village — joins us to unpack many of those conspir...

Jun 07, 2022•26 min

Young Thug and lyrics on trial

Atlanta rappers Young Thug and Gunna are among 28 people that a U.S. grand jury indictment accuses of being part of a criminal street gang. The alleged members of the Young Slime Life gang are charged under Georgia's racketeering law known as RICO, which is similar to federal laws introduced in the 1970s to combat the mafia. The 56-count indictment includes allegations of murder and attempted armed robbery. Some of the evidence of gang activity cited by prosecutors are lyrics from artists like Y...

Jun 06, 2022•22 min

The millionaires on a mission to pay more taxes

Last week, political leaders and elite business people gathered at the World Economic Forum's annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss solutions to problems such as climate change, the war in Ukraine and the growing global food crisis. But outside, among the usual crowds of protestors, were some unusual participants: members of the wealthy one per cent. They're part of a growing movement that is calling on governments to impose wealth taxes on the world's richest people. Today, Front Burn...

Jun 03, 2022•21 min

Grief, outrage after killing of Punjabi music icon Sidhu Moose Wala

The wildly popular Punjabi artist Sidhu Moose Wala was a pioneer in his genre, fusing traditional folk sounds with contemporary rap and trap music. Sidhu shaped his career in Brampton, Ont., calling the city his second home. Through his rich, soul-filled melodies, and his socially conscious and sometimes politically charged lyrics, he gave Punjab's youth, and the youth of the Punjabi diaspora, a new way to connect to their roots. On Sunday, Sidhu was gunned down near his family's home in his hom...

Jun 02, 2022•23 min

Why Quebec's new language law is stirring controversy

Bill 96, Quebec's newly adopted language law, is meant to protect the use of French in areas such as education, government services, courts and the workplace. But there has been a fierce backlash against it from some Indigenous communities, advocates for immigrants and refugees, business owners, and experts who say it infringes on an array of human and legal rights. Some analysts have criticized the Quebec government for invoking the notwithstanding clause, which allows provinces to override Can...

Jun 01, 2022•26 min

Collecting evidence of war crimes in Ukraine

An enormous effort is underway to gather evidence of alleged war crimes by Russian forces in Ukraine. Investigators from the International Criminal Court, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are on the ground, collecting accounts of extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances and torture, among other abuses. Today, Belkis Wille, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, talks about what she and her team have found so far, and why she believes it’s important that “people around the worl...

May 31, 2022•25 min

Everything is expensive. Why?

Inflation is obvious in Canada, but the reasons for it are a little more complicated. Prices at gas stations rose above $2 a litre in many parts of the country, while the cost of pasta is up 20 per cent at grocery stores. Canada’s official inflation rate hit a three-decade high in April, rising at a 6.8 per cent annual pace. But what’s behind these sticker-shocking prices can’t be explained by any one factor; the ongoing war in Ukraine, climate change and even some unprecedented monetary policy ...

May 30, 2022•22 min

Texas, guns and America’s political paralysis

The gun debate in America is cycling through its usual motions in the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas. Today on Front Burner, a look at the state of the U.S. government, and its unwillingness or inability to confront the large problems facing the country, from gun violence to climate change to income inequality. Canadian writer Stephen Marche's most recent book is called The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future. He thinks that the gun control debate is j...

May 27, 2022•23 min

A Sandy Hook mother on another school shooting

On Tuesday, an 18-year-old shooter barricaded himself in an elementary school classroom in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers. This, nearly 10 years after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. In the years between the shootings, no meaningful national legislation on gun control has passed in the United States. Veronique De La Rosa's son Noah was the youngest victim at Sandy Hook. She tells Jayme Poisson that she had hoped what happened at her son's ...

May 26, 2022•20 min

Monkeypox: Everything you need to know

Monkeypox was first detected in humans in 1970, but it has rarely spread beyond Central and West Africa, until now. As of Tuesday, 17 countries where the virus is not endemic have reported at least one case, including Canada. Given that COVID-19 is still a part of our day-to-day lives, the threat of another infectious disease spreading at a rapid rate feels unsettling at best. While there are many reasons to be aware of monkeypox, its symptoms and how it spreads, there are also plenty of reasons...

May 25, 2022•23 min

How ‘carbon bombs’ could blow up climate action

A new investigation from the Guardian’s climate journalists shows that oil and gas investment continues globally on 195 projects that would each release more than one gigaton of carbon if the reserves were fully exploited. This, despite the fact that scientists say 60 per cent of oil and gas reserves will need to stay in the ground if we want to avoid heating the Earth by 1.5 C. If you add up all of the carbon that could be released from these oil and gas “carbon bombs,” Canada is in sixth place...

May 24, 2022•23 min

Front Burner Introduces: Kuper Island

Kuper Island is an 8-part series that tells the stories of four students: three who survived and one who didn’t. They attended one of Canada’s most notorious residential schools – where unsolved deaths, abuse, and lies haunt the community and the survivors to this day. Hosted by Duncan McCue. More episodes are available at hyperurl.co/kuperisland

May 23, 2022•33 min

A victory for equal pay in women’s soccer

On Wednesday, the United States Soccer Federation reached a landmark agreement that ensures the U.S. women’s and men’s national soccer teams are paid equally. The first of its kind, the deal puts an exclamation point on a wildly successful run for the U.S. women’s team, including four FIFA World Cup titles that date back to 1991 — and Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012. But it only came about after a hard-fought battle led by the team’s star players. Today on Front Burner, staff writer at The ...

May 20, 2022•25 min

Jason Kenney resigns as UCP leader

He won a majority of his party’s support in the United Conservative Party leadership review, but it wasn’t enough for Jason Kenney to remain leader of the party he co-founded. Kenney stepped down last night after the results were announced, despite winning 51.4 percent of the vote, saying "it clearly is not adequate support to continue on as leader." Today, CBC Calgary Opinion producer and analyst Jason Markusoff walks us through Kenney’s spectacular fall from power and what this shocking result...

May 19, 2022•22 min

After the attack, a Black community in Buffalo grieves

On Saturday, a white gunman drove to the only supermarket in a predominantly Black area on the east side of Buffalo, N.Y. He shot 13 people — 11 Black, two white. Ten people died. Law enforcement officials have labelled the massacre a racially motivated hate crime. Many of those killed were pillars of a tight-knit community shaped by decades of segregation. Today on Front Burner, we talk to former Erie County legislator and former Buffalo city councillor, Betty Jean Grant, about how community me...

May 18, 2022•24 min

Can Canada cut ties with the monarchy?

This year is the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which marks her 70 years on the throne and as our head of state. But as Elizabeth ages, she’s been stepping back and paving the way for her son, Charles, to become King. This week, Charles and his wife, Camilla, are coming to Canada — visiting St. John's, Ottawa and Yellowknife — on a trip they say will focus on Indigenous reconciliation and climate change. Today we’re exploring whether we should follow in the footsteps of other Commonwealth nations tha...

May 17, 2022•24 min

Controversial Michelin Guide comes to Canada

Right now, undercover inspectors from France’s prestigious Michelin Guide are visiting Canada for the first time, to decide if any of Toronto’s restaurants are worthy of a coveted Michelin Star. Getting that designation from the de facto gastronomical authority can propel a chef and their restaurant to stardom. But the Michelin Guide has also been plagued with allegations of bias, elitism, putting dangerous levels of strain on chefs, and ignoring how the workers making the food are treated. Toda...

May 16, 2022•24 min

How Shein dominates ultrafast fashion

Chinese fashion retailer Shein isn't just fast — it's ultrafast. The $100 billion company has captivated young shoppers by using social media to market its dirt-cheap clothing. However, despite all the success, not much is known about Shein's sales, supply chains or algorithms. Critics are now sounding the alarm over the environmental and social impact of Shein, and what its rise means for the future of fashion. Today, Vauhini Vara, a journalist who has written for the New Yorker, Wired and the ...

May 13, 2022•35 min

Conservative leadership candidates spar in debate

Last night, six Conservative leadership hopefuls squared off in the first official debate of the race. Conservative MPs Pierre Poilievre, Leslyn Lewis and Scott Aitchison; former Quebec premier Jean Charest; Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown; and Ontario MPP Roman Baber shared the stage – and while they’re all supposed to be playing for the same team, things still got a bit scrappy. Power and Politics host Vassy Kapelos was in Edmonton for the event and she joins Jayme Poisson to recap the night.

May 12, 2022•23 min

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