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Front Burner

Author: CBC

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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. 

1752 Episodes
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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 Management, which moved its headquarters from Toronto to New York during his tenure.Meanwhile, comments from Alberta premier Danielle Smith to American conservative media, as well as a continued cold shoulder from Ontario premier Doug Ford, raise the question of whether the country's two most prominent Conservative premiers are going to be bigger liabilities than assets for Poilievre in this campaign.Catherine Cullen and Jason Markusoff — the hosts of CBC's politics podcast House Party, which you can find here — break it all down.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 international students and permanent residents that have been involved in protest. Joseph Howley is a professor at Columbia and joins the show to discuss the last year and a half on campus, at a time students are being hunted, and some feel the university has capitulated to the demands of a hostile government.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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, that Poilievre is endorsed by Elon Musk, who is leading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.In a country where the majority of people have negative views of Trump, this start to the campaign likely wasn’t an ideal one for Poilievre and his team.CBC parliamentary bureau reporter J.P. Tasker, who’s currently on the campaign trail with the Conservatives, outlines Pierre Poilievre’s Trump problem, and what it might mean for the campaign moving forward.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 principal investigator at the Media Ecosystem Observatory.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 do you build a forward-looking and also inclusive, patriotic society? We wade through the good, the bad and the ugly of Canadian patriotism with David Moscrop, a freelance journalist and political scientist, and Jeet Heer, author and national affairs correspondent at The Nation.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 story went.But a new film by legendary documentary filmmaker Errol Morris asks the audience to reconsider that. It's inspired by a book called "CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties" by journalist Tom O'Neill, which makes the case that Manson might have been connected to the CIA's mind control program, MK-Ultra.Errol Morris talks to host Jayme Poisson about "Chaos: The Manson Murders", unpacking the many theories about Charles Manson, and the culture of paranoia from that era of American history. The film is out on Netflix now.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 what separates this from previous immigration crackdowns, and where this all might lead. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 workers. This was a wide ranging conversation and dealt with Trump's tariff war, the threats towards Canada and the recent arrest and attempt to deport a Columbia student who helped lead protests against Israel's war in Gaza last year. The conversation was recorded in front of an audience. It was part of a conference put on by McGill's Media Ecosystem Observatory and the Max Bell School of Public Policy.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 food. As Omar witnessed the destruction from afar, he kept track of how the war was being framed and talked about by Western media and governments. He spoke to host Jayme Poisson about how his frustration with all of that prompted, in part, his latest book: "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This".For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 Poisson, they parse through your concerns and queries and do their best to make sense of this moment.  For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 on the call last week between Prime Minister Trudeau and Trump, and has been in constant communication with Finance Minister Dominic Leblanc.So, who is Howard Lutnick? What kind of negotiator is he? What does he believe?Dan Alexander is a senior editor at Forbes Magazine. He recently wrote a profile on Lutnick titled "The most hated guy on Wall Street: the unspoken story around Howard Lutnick, Trump's pick for commerce secretary".
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: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 seat in Parliament, to arguably the most significant challenge of all: managing Canada’s response in a trade war with the U.S. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 administration’s plan to overwhelm the attention of the public, and whether people are, today, too overburdened to care.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 Energy and Natural Resources, joins us to talk about the latest on how talks are going between the two governments and why he thinks the U.S. won’t be able to hold out without Canadian resources for long. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 all last?For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 as we know it come to be? And if it comes to an end, what could the future look like? Dominic Sandbrook, co-host of The Rest is History, takes us through the last 70 years of global politics and how we got to this turning point. For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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’s sovereignty and security.David Pugliese is the longtime military and defence reporter for the Ottawa Citizen. He explains why the Arctic is both so valuable and vulnerable, whether the region’s sovereignty is at risk, and what Canada could do about it.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
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 remembers who he was before – forgetting his parents’ faces, his birthday, his own name. But before he dies, Alex is determined to find the identity and family stolen from him during the Holocaust. This is the story Alex would tell the world decades later, but doubts quickly took hold and wouldn’t let go. Could a story so unbelievable be true? Or is this a con to profit from the Holocaust? Eighty years on, is it possible to uncover who Alex really is? Host Dan Goldberg unravels the true story.Get lost in someone else’s life. From a mysterious childhood spent on the run, to a courageous escape from domestic violence, each season of Personally invites you to explore the human experience in all its complexity, one story — or season — at a time.More episodes of Personally: Toy Soldier are available at: https://link.mgln.ai/PVBRcQ
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Comments (186)

Anthony Famularo

I was originally rooting for Freeland because of Ukraine, but now that the Americans have gone full crazy-pants chaotic-evil and threaten the world's economy with their insane Nazi garbage, the guy who literally rescued the Bank of England is probably the best choice to deal with these psychos.

Feb 26th
Reply (4)

zeek

us boomers are worried about our health care and CPP if Poilivere wins.

Feb 17th
Reply

Weather or Not

I have no clue how to be a fentynol czar. but I remember studying stuff like Czars at schools and it didnt end well. I believe based on my lack of credentials, I would be a perfect counterpart for the USA border czar eh? which way is that one blowing? let me know ~Weather or Not

Feb 6th
Reply

Paz Ibarra-Muñoz

Love him or hate him, Justin Trudeau is an amazing public speaker.

Feb 3rd
Reply

Paz Ibarra-Muñoz

Hilarious to think ChatGPT could lose its job to AI.

Jan 30th
Reply

Kelsey B

Yikes, how many times did he unironically use the term "Trudeau pesos"?

Jan 25th
Reply

Weather or Not

I would love to make a suggestion. at the end of each episode it would be imeasurablynmore helpful for the overall experience if you were to mention Jim and his last name and credentials and perhaps even where to find him online or maybe not but knowing his name even though I may have missed the broadcast. it's about 10 seconds of radio that could change the world. this was a wonderful broadcast though Jamie. I only suggest this because it is si doable. peace for 🇨🇦

Jan 22nd
Reply (1)

zeek

what an a$$hat. I never voted jt either but he was elected by the majority of Cdns to represent us. just cause this jerk has $$ and connections doesn't mean we want him speaking for us. leary should be charged as a meddling Traitor. he did try to run and didn't have support. take a seat buddy.

Jan 20th
Reply

Paz Ibarra-Muñoz

After political life, I hope Justin Trudeau can find more time to do the types of activities he enjoys (blackface)

Jan 7th
Reply

km

no.

Dec 23rd
Reply

zeek

poilivere is OUR warning sign. a vote for pp us a vote for putin/modi

Dec 21st
Reply

zeek

you could at least Try to be less bias. Freeland was asked to shuffle - which is normal in gov - she didn't like it and took it out on the PM. yes he handled things badly - can you truly be the one to throw stones at missteps?? I rather doubt it.

Dec 21st
Reply

Evan Ferris

yes. yes they are.

Dec 19th
Reply

James Knight

what? you just noticed the genocide in Gaza?

Dec 18th
Reply

Paz Ibarra-Muñoz

Honestly I feel safer with the shooter at large

Dec 9th
Reply (3)

zeek

the right wingers need to be called out on a LOT more than just vaccines imo.

Nov 25th
Reply

zeek

I'm appalled you could say Poilivere isn't the same as trump. they are both products of the IDU that harper runs. they both dislike Trans ppl (many other similarities with groups of ppl) Mike Roman (up on Rico charges with Guiliani) worked on both campaigns. they are BOTH in bed with foreign governments. I always knew you were bias but this stmt is ridiculous imo.

Nov 13th
Reply

zeek

why don't you do a cast about Poiliveres reluctance to get a security clearance AND his connection to Modi/Putin.

Oct 31st
Reply

ID23204779

Such absurd bias. How is this considered journalism in any way?

Oct 31st
Reply

Paz Ibarra-Muñoz

Yeah, break up Rogers

Sep 23rd
Reply