Front Burner

Last week Senator Lynn Beyak was suspended by her colleagues without pay for the remainder of this parliamentary session. Her punishment came after posting letters on her official Senate webpage that many, including the Senate's ethics watchdog, deem racist towards Indigenous people. Beyak says she's being punished for exercising freedom of speech. CBC's JP Tasker has been following this story from the very start and today on Front Burner he gets us up to speed.

This week, hearings were held on Quebec's secularism bill - which aims to ban public workers in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols. There were fiery exchanges: some say the bill institutionalizes discrimination, while others think secularism is crucial to keeping Quebec's distinct identity. Today on Front Burner, the CBC's Jonathan Montpetit brings us highlights from the debate - and we hear from a young Muslim woman who worries her livelihood will be affected by the bill.

Canadian co-author of the new UN report on extinction, Kai Chan, on how the loss of one species can ripple out to affect an entire ecosystem in ways that we often "don't know until it's too late"

Today on Front Burner, CBC Queen's Park reporter Mike Crawley on the cascade of cuts in Doug Ford's Ontario and how they might be felt in the province.

CBC defence reporter Murray Brewster on the upcoming trial of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, and why it might turn into a political circus, right before the next federal election.

As Huawei's Meng Whanzou returns to court, CBC Vancouver's Jason Proctor on the repercussions from her arrest in December.

Olympic gold medallist Caster Semenya, from South Africa, has lost her appeal against proposed rules from track's governing body that require some female runners to lower their naturally high testosterone levels. It's a ruling that's expected to have huge implications on the future of women's sports. Today on Front Burner, Katrina Karkazis helps us understand why. She's a bioethicist who's been studying the regulation of hormone levels in women's elite sports for years.

Today on Front Burner - we speak to the CBC's Evan Dyer about an attempt to oust Nicolas Maduro as well as Columbia University Professor, Jeffrey Sachs, who says the United States, and others, need to stay out of this conflict.

Journalist Harvey Cashore on the revelation of SNC Lavalin employees who made illegal campaign donations worth more than $100,000 to the Liberal Party of Canada.

"We can't go through this again." Thousands of people across Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick are dealing with serious floods this week. And not for the first time. Today on Front Burner, we hear from one Quebec mother on her family's difficult decision to leave their flood-ravaged home for good -- and a disaster prevention expert who thinks governments should buy homeowners out of their flood-prone houses.