Front Burner

"In the context of this song it seems weird to not engage a little bit with the words and the lyrics," says writer Stacy Lee Kong after broadcasters, including the CBC, pull the song 'Baby It's Cold Outside'. The song is being criticized for what some believe to be problematic lyrics, in the wake of the #MeToo movement. But is taking the holiday tune off the radio the right call? Alan Cross, a longtime music journalist also joins the discussion.

"If we were doing something killing thousands of Chinese, we would hear from them loud and clear," says former Canadian ambassador to China, David Mulroney. He argues that Canada needs to pressure China to do more to stop the flow of fentanyl, and questions why PM Justin Trudeau didn't apply more diplomatic pressure at the G20 this week.

As COP24 tries to set rules for how the world deals with environmental issues, we look at why the Canadian government has chosen carbon pricing as a key tool in addressing climate change. CBC reporter Nahlah Ayed gives us an overview of what's happening at COP24, and energy economist and Simon Fraser University professor Mark Jaccard explains why carbon pricing is a costly political move.

On Nov. 22, Raj Grewal said he would resign from his seat as the Liberal MP for Brampton East for 'personal and medical reasons'. Since then, new information has come to light...including a gambling problem, and a RCMP investigation into Grewal's finances. On Friday, Raj Grewal posted a video that addressed many of these allegations, and how he may not be resigning after all. Toronto Star parliamentary reporter Alex Ballingall explains what we actually know about the case.

This week, lawmakers all over the world sat down to grill Facebook about privacy and fake news. Canada's reps were especially harsh on the tech giant and one MP posed a tough question: Is Facebook just way too big? Breaking up a major American company isn't common. But in the past - banks, telecom companies, and even an oil giant were broken up by the U.S. government. Could that happen with tech giants today? Tim Wu, professor at Columbia Law School and author of The Curse of Bigness, breaks it down.

Hassan Al Kontar is now safe in Canada. But for seven long months, the Syrian refugee was stuck inside the transit area of Kuala Lumpur Airport, terrified of being deported back to Syria. Today, Hassan shares how he survived being stranded, the psychological toll of two months in detention in Malaysia, and how a group of Canadians changed this life by raising money to bring him to Whistler, B.C., as a privately-sponsored refugee.

There's a lot of evidence to suggest that social media accounts tied to the Kremlin tried to meddle in the 2016 US presidential election, the Brexit vote, the last French election, and several elections across Europe. Turns out, they've been active in Canada too. Journalist Justin Ling tells us how Russian accounts have tried to spread misinformation and propaganda here, and how the Canadian government is responding, with the election one year away.

On Monday, General Motors announced it is pulling out of Oshawa, Ontario, where it employs more than 2,500 people. This comes years after a major Canadian bailout pulled GM back from the brink. The National's Jonathon Gatehouse breaks down corporate bailouts the Canadian auto sector has received and explains how that fits into Canada's broader relationship with buoying big business.

Reconsideration hearings for the proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline continue this week in B.C. This is the same pipeline that the federal government bought for $4.5-billion, only to have a Federal Court of Appeal delay construction because the review didn't consider oil tanker traffic, or consult enough with Indigenous groups. UBC professor Kathryn Harrison lays out what it might take to get the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion through, and what it could take to stop it.

As the political fallout of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's brutal murder becomes clearer, we look into Canada's response to Saudi Arabia with help from Canadian Press reporter Andy Blatchford.