Front Burner

29-year-old Tyre Nichols was on his way to his mother’s house when Memphis police pulled him over. Police body cam footage and other video show officers punching, pepper-spraying, hitting him with a baton, and kicking him. He died three days later in hospital.

Officials in Memphis have fired the five officers who were involved, who are all Black, and charged them with second-degree murder. They’ve also disbanded the special unit the officers were part of that had been created to bring down crime in certain neighbourhoods.

Today we’ll be talking about how Americans have reacted to yet another police beating of an unarmed Black man. We’ll also talk about what needs to happen to fix the ways police treat Black Americans.

This week, it was announced that Everything Everywhere All At Once was leading the Oscars with eleven nominations in total. It’s a mind-bending movie about a Chinese-American immigrant family with a laundromat that’s facing a tax audit.

It’s a high-concept science fiction with a multiverse storyline, but it’s resonating with people for touching on issues like intergenerational trauma, the experiences of queer children of immigrants, and even existential nihilism.

Today we’ll be talking about why this movie has so much significance, especially for people in the Asian community, with three guests. Frankie Huang is a freelance writer and illustrator. Mallory Yu is a producer and editor for NPR's All Things Considered. And Jeff Yang, is the co-author of RISE: A Pop History of Asian America From the Nineties to Now and author of the upcoming book, The Golden Stream: The Movies that made Asian America.

WARNING: This episode contains disturbting details about the deaths of two women and an Indigenous girl, in addition to allegations of sexual assault.

Key First Nation member Noelle O’Soup died at just 14 years old.

Police found her body in an apartment in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where they also found the bodies of an unnamed woman and a man immigration officials deemed a “danger to the public” – but released from custody anyway.

CBC Vancouver reporter Michelle Ghoussoub has been investigating that man’s nearly three-decade criminal history, including selling fentanyl and accusations he used drugs to lure women for sex. She found the man had received an order for deportation, and that this wasn’t the first time a woman had died in his presence.

Today, Ghoussoub discusses why O’Soup’s family is outraged at authorities' responses before and after her death, and how the case fits into a surge of violence against vulnerable women in the Downtown Eastside.

In the weeks following the 2020 killings of 22 people in Portapique, Nova Scotia — the deadliest shooting rampage in Canadian history — the federal government began introducing steps to limit the types of guns people can own and use. There were orders in council, which began with a list of more than 1,500 firearms, before more were added, and later a piece of proposed gun control legislation, Bill C-21.

That bill had two readings in the House of Commons, before a major 478-page amendment was added. The changes have drawn more criticism to what was already a contentious bill, as some question whether it’s too broad and will affect too many types of guns.

On today’s episode, we’re joined by Kieran Oudshoorn, a producer with CBC’s audio documentary unit, to walk through Liberal government’s plans for gun control.

Wagner Group is a private army that's been violently advancing Russian interests internationally – but in the shadows – for years.

Now as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has stalled, the fighters-for-hire have taken centre stage to fight on Russia’s side. The mercenaries have been involved in some of the bloodiest battles of the entire war.

Mary Ilyushina is a reporter covering Russia for the Washington Post. Today on Front Burner, she joins guest host Jodie Martinson to explain the evolution, and growing influence, of the Wagner Group in Russia and other parts of the world.

Since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took power, the federal government has awarded consulting firm McKinsey over $100 million dollars in contracts.

Early this month, Radio-Canada reported that Ottawa’s use of the firm has skyrocketed since 2015, and that sources inside Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada were concerned about McKinsey’s growing influence on their policy without public knowledge.

Since then, a parliamentary committee has voted for a probe into the contracts. Opposition MPs have raised concerns about the Liberals’ relationship with Dominic Barton – the former global head of McKinsey who advised Ottawa on the economy, and was later appointed ambassador to China.

Today on Front Burner, a comprehensive look at the revelations from Radio-Canada’s reporting on McKinsey. Then, a conversation with journalist Paul Wells about the global trend toward governments relying on consulting, and what it means for our democracies.

World news, local voices. Nothing is Foreign is a weekly trip to where the story is unfolding. Hosted by Tamara Khandaker. Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, there has been a crackdown on the rights and freedoms of women in the country. This episode of Nothing is Foreign shares the courageous story of a teacher in Afghanistan and her students — a secret class of girls between grades 7-12 in Kabul — who are defying Taliban laws that prevent girls and women from getting an education. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/zMgUEUti

According to the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, people should limit their alcohol consumption to just two drinks per week to avoid certain cancers and other health issues. The new health guidelines significantly reduce the number of drinks considered risky — the previous recommendation capped weekly consumption at 15 drinks for men and 10 drinks for women.

On today’s episode, Tim Naimi, director of the Canadian Institute For Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria and a member of the scientific advisory panel that contributed to the new guidelines, tells us what’s behind the changes.

In 2017, Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, and its aging electrical grid. In the hurricane's aftermath, and after decades of neglect and underfunding, the island's public electrical utility, PREPA, went bankrupt. In 2020, the government made the controversial choice to hand control of the grid over to the private sector. They awarded a 15-year contract to a new Canadian-American company, LUMA Energy.

And since LUMA Energy took over the electrical grid, the company has been a source of controversy, and faced harsh criticism on the island. There have been weekly protests against LUMA Energy, reggaeton star Bad Bunny has called the company out at concerts, and the governor of Puerto Rico has called on the CEO to resign.

Today, CBC senior investigative reporter Jonathon Gatehouse and Front Burner producer Allie Jaynes explain how Luma Energy and its Canadian co-parent became embroiled in controversy and what it all means for Puerto Rico's access to reliable electricity.

Update:

After this episode was released, five changes were made to the content. We originally reported that a penalty leveled at the Canadian co-parent company ATCO was described as the largest of its kind in Canadian enforcement history. The penalty was among the largest of its kind.

We also reported that a company called ASL could have made up to $100 million on a contract. The $100 million figure represents the capital costs of the project and not the profit. Additional information provided by Luma after publication was added at the end of the episode.

The headline was changed in the online and podcast version of this story. When published, the headline was "How a Canadian company became a public enemy in Puerto Rico." The headline is now, "How a Canadian-led company became a public enemy in Puerto Rico," to better reflect the leadership of the company.

Two sentences were altered following the receipt of additional information provided by LUMA Energy, after publication, that specified when a private firm was hired to make electrical repairs at Escuela Rafael Rivera Otero, and by whom.

This week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a plan to significantly increase the number of surgeries being done outside hospitals, which are struggling with a major backlog of operations. Many of the procedures — including things like cataract, hip and knee operations — will be performed by for-profit clinics.

The plan has drawn criticism from several groups, including five major Ontario health care unions, which say it will divert frontline staff and funding away from the public health care system.