In the mid 1980s, the Canadian government tasked a commission to investigate whether a considerable number of alleged Nazi war criminals settled in Canada after the Second World War.

The Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals was headed by retired Quebec judge Jules Deschênes. It looked into this issue, but for decades, many of the commission’s findings were not made public.That includes a list of 900 names of alleged Nazi war criminals who lived in Canada, and the files and documents about them.

Last week, Ottawa rejected the freedom of information request to get it released. Officials at Library and Archives Canada said that after a comprehensive review, they decided to withhold the list because it could cause harm to Canadian interests, and international relations.

David Pugliese is the Ottawa Citizen’s defence reporter. He helps us understand who might be on that list, how so many suspected Nazis entered Canada after WWII, and why the Canadian government has not released the names.

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

For decades, conservatives worried about losing the fight for cultural relevancy. 

During his campaign, Donald Trump aggressively courted Gen Z and young millennial men — appearing on podcasts, streams and alongside influencers, discussing everything from combat sports to cocaine use. A PR campaign which many have credited, in part, for his election victory. 

Hasan Piker is a rare political streamer on the American left; on election day, his coverage garnered 7.5 million views overall. He joins the show for a discussion about why many young men have drifted rightward, and he addresses what that appeal is fundamentally about.

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

In Canada, we've spent a lot of time and money studying the prospect of high-speed rail, as enjoyed by many other countries — transit infrastructure that has transformed countries like Japan and France. This week, the federal government is expected to announce plans for a high-speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City, which could finally make that prospect a reality.

But are Canadians — and their politicians — ready to spend the billions of dollars it would take? Does this particular line even make sense? And even if the answers are yes… is Canada even capable of building this kind of megaproject anymore?

Reece Martin — a transit planner and creator of the YouTube channel RMTransit — explains the boon high-speed rail has been around the world, and the reasons why it continues to elude us here in Canada.

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

Murray Sinclair — an Anishinaabe lawyer, judge, senator, and, most consequentially, the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation commission — died last week at the age of 73. 

Sinclair helped bring to light the stories of thousands of Indigenous residential school survivors, and provided Canada with a roadmap towards reconciliation.

Today we have a documentary featuring the voices of three people who knew Murray Sinclair well, about the personal lessons he taught them and how he transformed the country.

We’ll hear from journalist and filmmaker Tanya Talaga; Phil Fontaine, the former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations; and Kim Murray, the Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools.

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide support for survivors and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour service at 1-866-925-4419.

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

The election of a new U.S. president reverberates around the world, but none of America's partners are as intertwined economically, politically and culturally as Canada. 

With respect to trade, the future of NATO, immigration, and the culture wars, both Canada and the United States are inextricably linked. 

Today, CBC Washington correspondent Alex Panetta and CBC senior business reporter Peter Armstrong on the longstanding political relationship between Canada and the U.S., and what a second Trump presidency is likely to mean for the country's closest ally, Canada.

As the dust settles and Donald Trump celebrates a remarkable victory, we examine what went wrong for the Democrats this time around. How did they fail to speak to working class voters of all backgrounds? Should President Biden have left the race sooner? And where does the party go from here?

After a long night of covering the election, Alex Shephard, senior editor at The New Republic, joins us for a post mortem.

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

For months, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris rallied voters with a message: "We're not going back."

But as the election was finally called in the early hours of Wednesday morning, it's now clear that America does in fact want to go back.

Back to Donald Trump.

Keith Boag, longtime CBC Washington correspondent, joins us to break down how this happened, and what a second Trump presidency could hold.

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

It’s been an incredibly tight race between presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump ahead of today's U.S. election. 

The winner is expected to be decided by razor-thin margins in seven battleground states: Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona.

From understanding the path to victory, to the value of the blue wall states, to the final stretch of the campaigns, CBC Washington correspondent Paul Hunter guides us through what to consider while watching the U.S election results come in.

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

With the U.S. election just a day away and a Canadian one that could be called very soon, we’re all spending a lot of time talking about polls.

But how exactly do they work and what happens when they get it wrong? Last week, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe won another majority government for the Saskatchewan Party despite some polls beforehand showing the NDP in the lead. And famously, the polls highly underestimated Donald Trump’s voter base in both 2016 and 2020.

So to better understand the ins and outs of the polling business and the challenges of adapting it to changing habits and politics, we’re talking to David Coletto, founder and CEO of Abacus Data.

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

Donald Trump takes the style, tactics, and issues straight from the right-wing radio playbook. The only question now is: Where does it go from here?

This is episode 6 — the final episode — of The Flamethrowers, the story of how radio energized and then radicalized a conservative base. Hosted by Justin Ling.

Listen to the full series here.