Front Burner

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

For months now, agents working for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, have been carrying out raids, arresting people on the street, at work and at immigration courthouses. Often they are wearing plain clothes and masks.

As U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown intensifies, so have the instances of arrests and detentions by ICE, sometimes without warrants or due process. Despite mass protests and pushback from opposition politicians and immigrants rights groups, the Trump administration has vowed the arrests will continue as they aim for one million deportations a year.

But how, exactly, does ICE operate? How did the agency come to be and how does it compare to immigration enforcement in America’s past? To help us dive deep into ICE’s history and put it all into context, we’re joined by Adam Goodman, an associate professor at the University of Illinois Chicago and the author of The Deportation Machine: America’s Long History of Expelling Immigrants.

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

In this politics roundup, we first check in with the CBC’s Aaron Wherry in the Alberta Rockies about the main takeaways from the G7 summit, which wrapped without Donald Trump after he left to deal with the escalating Israel-Iran conflict. 

Then, we speak to Toronto Star national columnist Althia Raj about C-5, an omnibus bill which is moving through parliament at breakneck speed. The bill’s intent is to speed up approval for resource projects, but it’s been panned by critics as dangerous and undemocratic.

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

Palantir’s technology has been used by everyone from the CIA and Mossad to Airbus and Morgan Stanley. The multi-billion dollar big data software company is at the centre of many of the major issues of our time. 

Michael Steinberger is a reporter with The New York Times Magazine and the author of a forthcoming book on Palantir’s CEO entitled ‘The Philosopher in the Valley.’ He joins the show to discuss Palantir’s wide-reaching technology, and what it tells us about the future of government and surveillance.

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

Longstanding tensions came to a head last week when Israel launched a missile attack on Iran, targeting the country’s nuclear facilities and killing several high-level military personnel and nuclear scientists. In the days following the two countries have exchanged missile strikes, killing at least 78 in Iran and 13 in Israel. 

As the conflict continues to escalate, what will it mean for the region? And as the bombardment derails Iran-U.S. nuclear talks, will the U.S. be pulled into an active war? To discuss this perilous moment and its dangerous implications, we’re joined by Gregg Carlstrom, a longtime Middle East correspondent with The Economist and author of the book “How Long Will Israel Survive? The Threat From Within.” 

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