Prime Minister Mark Carney made big promises to transform the Canadian economy, fast track national building projects and secure a trade deal with U.S. He also set Canada Day this year as a deadline for some key goals. How has he done so far and what are we learning about what he’s willing to do to make things happen?

Plus, where do trade talks stand now that Ottawa has dropped the Digital Services Tax, a major sticking point for their American counterparts? How has Pierre Poilievre been handling his time away from Parliament and the byelection race in Alberta? Catherine Cullen, host of CBC’s The House, joins us. 

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

For at least the last decade U.S. President Doanld Trump has discussed his desire to end the practice of birthright citizenship. On his first day back in office Trump passed an executive order looking to exclude the children of undocumented people from birthright citizenship completely: an action that was immediately challenged in lower courts across the country. 

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered Donald Trump a major victory, limiting the power of lower courts to challenge the President’s executive actions. 

Isabela Dias is an immigration reporter with Mother Jones, and has reported extensively on birthright citizenship. She joins the show to discuss the impact of the Supreme Court's decision, Trump’s changing definition of ‘citizen,’ and what the end of 160 years of birthright citizenship would mean for all American citizens. 

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

The Outlaw Ocean is an anthology podcast that plunges you into the vast and often lawless world of the open seas. Today we're featuring an investigation from S2 called The repo man of the seas. 

In this episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ian Urbina joins Max Hardberger. Depending on who you ask, Max is either a seagoing James Bond or a swashbuckling pirate. Hardberger runs a rare kind of repo service, extracting huge ships from foreign ports. His company is a last resort for ship owners whose vessels have been seized, often by bad actors, and over the years he’s built a reputation for taking the kinds of jobs others turn down. Hardberger’s specialty is infiltrating hostile territory and taking control of ships in whatever way he can – usually through subterfuge and stealth. Whatever part of the world his missions take him, Hardberger thrives in its grey areas.

More episodes of The Outlaw Ocean are available here: https://link.mgln.ai/oo-FB

After a transformative 13 years, it was announced that the Toronto Raptors and longtime President Masai Ujiri would be parting ways. Across his time with the Raptors Ujiri became a figure central to Canadian and international sport — capping his time with the Raptors’ lone NBA championship in 2019. 

The years since then have been slower and gave way to a team in purgatory, as well as executive level disagreements about Ujiri’s place in the Raptors hierarchy. 

We sat down with Masai Ujiri in 2021 for a conversation about his career to that point. About revolutionizing basketball in Toronto, life after a history-making NBA title, his African roots, and his bid to internationalize the game of basketball.

Canada’s energy and natural resources minister Tim Hodgson is in charge of an extremely important file for the federal government.

That’s because Prime Minister Carney campaigned on getting big energy and resources projects done, boosting Canada’s economy and extracting us from our close relationship with the U.S.

The stakes are pretty high for Minister Hodgson, who is new to politics but has extensive experience in the private sector, including time as CEO of Goldman Sachs Canada. He was also an adviser to Mark Carney during his time as governor of Bank of Canada.

He talks to host Jayme Poisson about the controversial piece of legislation, Bill C-5, that would allow the government to fast track projects, but also exempt them from environmental laws and with some exceptions, acts of Parliament.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

On Tuesday, Donald Trump angrily swore about his frustrations with Israel and Iran after both countries exchanged missile fire just before the ceasefire Trump helped negotiate.

So far, the fragile ceasefire has held. However as more information comes out about the extent of the damage done to Iran’s nuclear facilities and their plans to continue their nuclear program, will it last? Will the U.S. be able to engage in diplomacy with Iran after joining Israel’s bombing campaign? And after Trump publicly chastised Israel, what does it tell us about the U.S.’s relationship with Israel right now?

Our returning guest is Gregg Carlstrom, longtime Middle East correspondent with The Economist and author of the book “How Long Will Israel Survive? The Threat From Within”. 

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has just launched a constitutional challenge against legislation in the city of Vaughan known as a “bubble zone” bylaw. It restricts protest within 100 metres of a place of worship, school, daycare, hospital or care facility. Advocates say that in a time of rising extremism and hate crimes, the bylaws are necessary to protect vulnerable groups’ access to these spaces.

Toronto and the nearby town of Oakville also passed bubble zone bylaws last month, and several other Ontario municipalities, including Ottawa, are considering similar legislation of their own.

But the CCLA argues the bylaws are unnecessary and infringe on free expression rights, while other critics have argued they’re being used to silence dissent — in particular pro-Palestinian protest. 

Today, producer Allie Jaynes looks at the surprising history of bubble zones, the cases for and against them, and whether they’re being used to chill peaceful protest.

This episode references another Front Burner episode, from May 2024, on protests outside a synagogue in Vaughan, Ontario. You can find that episode here: Apple / Spotify

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Over the last week, as the exchange of missiles between Israel and Iran intensified, Donald Trump’s supporters have found themselves in two camps: the hawks, like Lindsay Graham and Ted Cruz who support America joining Israel in its fight against Iran. And the isolationists, like Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson, who urge the president not to plunge the U.S. into yet another protracted war in the Middle East. 

Now that the U.S. air strikes on Iran have been met with a retaliatory strike on a U.S. military base in Qatar, are the MAGA factions digging in their heels or falling in line with the White House?

Adam Wren, senior politics correspondent at Politico and a contributing author to POLITICO Playbook, breaks it all down. 

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Days into the Iran-Israel war, the United States has carried out a series of limited strikes centered on three Iranian nuclear sites. U.S. President Donald Trump has referred to the strikes as a “spectacular military success” and the Israeli government has made clear there was “full co-ordination” on the operation. 

Iranian officials claim to have removed enriched uranium from the facilities before they were bombed. 

Negar Mortazavi is a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy, and the Host of the Iran Podcast. She joins the show to discuss the American strikes on Iran and whether this escalation from Trump was about addressing Iran’s nuclear capability, clearing a pathway to regime change, or something else.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

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 frustrated with the federal government.

People in Three Hills will also be voting in a provincial byelection this Monday, where a separatist party – the Alberta Republican Party – is running a candidate. So in a way, separatism is already on the ballot.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Read Jason Markusoff's piece here: How voters in rural conservative heartland wrestle with Alberta separatism