Front Burner

The federal election has only been officially underway since Sunday, and a few stories are dominating the headlines.

Both the Liberals and the Conservatives are facing allegations of foreign interference, which has once again resurfaced questions about why Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre refuses to get his security clearance to be briefed on such issues.

Liberal leader Mark Carney continues to face scrutiny for his time in the private sector, in particular his role at Brookfield Asset Management, which moved its headquarters from Toronto to New York during his tenure.

Meanwhile, comments from Alberta premier Danielle Smith to American conservative media, as well as a continued cold shoulder from Ontario premier Doug Ford, raise the question of whether the country's two most prominent Conservative premiers are going to be bigger liabilities than assets for Poilievre in this campaign.

Catherine Cullen and Jason Markusoff — the hosts of CBC's politics podcast House Party, which you can find here — break it all down.

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

In a 2021 speech entitled ‘The Universities are the enemy,’ Vice President JD Vance laid out a plan for America’s universities saying in part “we have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country.”

Columbia University has become ground zero for the Trump administration's war on higher education. Following a year of pro-Palestinian protest on campus, Trump revoked $400-million in funding and has instructed federal agents to oversee raids on campus, looking to deport international students and permanent residents that have been involved in protest. 

Joseph Howley is a professor at Columbia and joins the show to discuss the last year and a half on campus, at a time students are being hunted, and some feel the university has capitulated to the demands of a hostile government.

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

With the federal election underway, Pierre Poilievre’s political opponents have intensified their accusations that the Conservative leader is like U.S. President Trump.

On Sunday, Liberal leader Mark Carney said that Poilievre mirrors Trump in language and intention, and that he followed the administration’s lead in proposing foreign aid cuts.

For weeks now, the party has been putting out ads focusing on the similarities between Poilievre and Trump.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said, also on Sunday, that Poilievre is endorsed by Elon Musk, who is leading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.

In a country where the majority of people have negative views of Trump, this start to the campaign likely wasn’t an ideal one for Poilievre and his team.

CBC parliamentary bureau reporter J.P. Tasker, who’s currently on the campaign trail with the Conservatives, outlines Pierre Poilievre’s Trump problem, and what it might mean for the campaign moving forward.

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

With trust in journalism eroding, disinformation — once fringe — is now mainstream. Much of it is spreading on social media. Today’s guest says the online media environment in Canada is more fragile and vulnerable to manipulation than ever before. A dangerous situation at the best of times — even more so during an election.

Taylor Owen is a professor at McGill University, the Chair in Media, Ethics and Communication, the founding Director of The Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy and principal investigator at the Media Ecosystem Observatory.

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

Canadian pride reached a fever pitch after the NHL 4 Nations Cup last month and it hasn’t showed any signs of slowing down since. Sales of the Canadian flags are up. American liquor and beer have been pulled off the shelves in stores throughout the country. “Elbows Up”, a war cry and tribute to Gordie Howe’s signature defensive move, has been trending on social media. 

But in a country that, according to polls, saw declining national pride for decades, what is our national identity? And how do you build a forward-looking and also inclusive, patriotic society? We wade through the good, the bad and the ugly of Canadian patriotism with David Moscrop, a freelance journalist and political scientist, and Jeet Heer, author and national affairs correspondent at The Nation.

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

On August 9th and 10th of 1969, a series of brutal murders took place in Los Angeles. Seven people were killed, including actress Sharon Tate, who was married to director Roman Polanski.

Members of the Manson family, a kind of cult, were found guilty for the crimes. Manson and four of his followers were convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death.

The prosecutor at the time said that Manson wanted to start a race war and trigger the end of the world. For decades, that was how the story went.

But a new film by legendary documentary filmmaker Errol Morris asks the audience to reconsider that. It's inspired by a book called "CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties" by journalist Tom O'Neill, which makes the case that Manson might have been connected to the CIA's mind control program, MK-Ultra.

Errol Morris talks to host Jayme Poisson about "Chaos: The Manson Murders", unpacking the many theories about Charles Manson, and the culture of paranoia from that era of American history. The film is out on Netflix now.

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

The Trump administration is continuing to expand its mass deportation of immigrants, and more and more people are getting caught up in its dragnet — from green card holders to Canadians, and even U.S. citizens. Court orders to block many of these actions are mounting, but the Trump administration is pushing back hard — going so far as pushing for the impeachment of a judge involved in one case.

Today, we’re speaking to Arelis Hernandez, a border reporter for The Washington Post, for a look at what separates this from previous immigration crackdowns, and where this all might lead. 

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

Last week Jayme had the opportunity to interview Nobel Prize winning economist, and former staffer and advisor to Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Joseph Stiglitz.

Stiglitz also worked as the chief economist at the world bank, is a bestselling author many times over and remains one of the towering economic thinkers of our time. 

He has long been a sharp critic of neoliberalism, and trade policies like NAFTA that he believes privileged the rich and corporations, but disenfranchised workers. 

This was a wide ranging conversation and dealt with Trump's tariff war, the threats towards Canada and the recent arrest and attempt to deport a Columbia student who helped lead protests against Israel's war in Gaza last year. 

The conversation was recorded in front of an audience. It was part of a conference put on by McGill's Media Ecosystem Observatory and the Max Bell School of Public Policy.

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

On Friday, Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister. He wasted no time in appointing a new cabinet, getting rid of the carbon tax, and heading off on a diplomatic trip to Europe.

Today, Rosemary Barton, CBC’s chief political correspondent, joins us to talk about what Carney’s first days in office indicate about his political priorities, how the Conservatives are responding, and when we might expect an election.

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

On October 25th, 2023, after weeks of Israeli bombardment on Gaza, Canadian novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad posted this on X:

"One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this."

Israel had declared war on Hamas after the Oct 7 attack. On top of the bombardment, there was a full siege in place – civilians in Gaza were cut off from water, electricity, and food. 

As Omar witnessed the destruction from afar, he kept track of how the war was being framed and talked about by Western media and governments. He spoke to host Jayme Poisson about how his frustration with all of that prompted, in part, his latest book: "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This".

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