Front Burner

It’s no secret the Liberal Party is Canada is unpopular. Poll after poll shows the Liberals between 15 to 20 points behind the Conservatives, led by a surging Pierre Poilievre.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t faring any better, hitting record low approval ratings after nearly ten years in power. Is it time to replace him? And if so, who can take over the sinking ship?

David Herle, a partner at Rubicon Strategy and chief campaign strategist for the Liberals under Paul Martin, joins us to answer those questions and gives us his thoughts on the politicians whose names are floating around to take over the party.

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Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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Four years ago, George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His death sparked a massive movement in the U.S. and around the world as protestors passionately rallied against police violence and systemic racism. Not only that, but companies and politicians promised to enact change.

But since that reckoning, has progress really been made? Or is there now a cultural backlash that’s cutting down progress? Washington Post journalist Tolu Olurunnipa, who wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning book on Floyd’s life, joins us to talk about Floyd’s legacy.

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced the province will pay at least $225 million to get beer and wine into corner stores over a year ahead of schedule. But why does the province need to pay at all, and why has Ford spent so much time and energy on this issue over his six years in power?

Our Ontario provincial affairs reporter Mike Crawley joins us to explain the massive payment, Ford’s political history with alcohol sales and how the new announcement may tie into rumours that an early election is on the horizon.

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A New York jury has found former U.S. president Donald Trump guilty of 34 charges of falsifying business records to conceal payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

This makes Trump the first American president to be found guilty of a felony.

Just six months out from election day, voters are left with an unprecedented scenario in which a convicted felon could become the next President of the United States.

Perry Stein is a justice reporter for the Washington Post, where she is also the co-author of the Trump Trials newsletter. She's here to talk about the conviction and what comes next for Trump and America. 

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Earlier this week, an Israeli airstrike that set off a huge blaze in a tent camp in Rafah killed dozens of Palestinians and prompted outrage around the world. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident a “tragic mistake,” and promised a thorough investigation.

His words echoed previous pledges of investigations and accountability, after past incidents involving the Israel Defense Forces that caused similar global outrage. 

But when Israel investigates itself, what happens? Who is held to account, and what kinds of changes are implemented?

Today we’re speaking to Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, about the results of previous Israeli investigations, and whether he believes they are sufficient.

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You might be hearing some positive-sounding headlines about Canada's economy recently. Inflation is coming down, and we've (so far) managed to avoid the recession many were predicting following the pandemic. So why do so many Canadians still feel like they're struggling to get by?

In a word: productivity. The Bank of Canada has called the country's economic productivity situation an "emergency," and economists say there's a direct link between productivity and standard of living.

BMO chief economist Doug Porter explains.

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It’s been six years since Jaskirat Singh Sidhu crashed a truck into a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos hockey team — killing 16 people, injuring 13 others and forever changing the victims’ families.

Sidhu, a former permanent resident of Canada, has spent years in prison. Now, he’s been ordered to be deported to India — which critics say is a systemic problem in our legal and immigration systems that leaves noncitizens facing a ‘double punishment.’

The Narwhal’s Prairies Bureau Chief, Sharon J. Riley, joins us to discuss Sidhu’s case and how it's raising questions over fairness and justice, including whether Sidhu has faced enough punishment for his actions.

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As Alberta struggles to navigate several years of dry conditions in the province, its historic water license system has come under scrutiny. In short, whoever got water rights first has first dibs on the water today.

One of the small towns that really benefits from this system is Magrath, established in 1899 by Mormon settlers from Utah and Idaho. But its senior water rights are becoming more contentious as other communities are forced to buy water amid an increasingly taxed supply.

We hear from CBC Calgary reporter Joel Dryden, who visited the town and tells us what the water rights debate is like today and whether any changes to those rights are on the table.

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Standing in the pouring rain, and drowned out by protest music, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stood in front of 10 Downing street with an announcement: the British public would be heading to the polls for a snap election on July 4th. 

British Politics has been a whirlwind for the last decade, with several conservative governments, and the polarizing passage of Brexit. And after nearly 15 years in the political wilderness, the Labour Party looks primed to deliver a historic election victory. 

The BBC’s UK Political correspondent Rob Watson joins the show to discuss an election that stands to deliver change, however moderate, to the British public. 

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For months, Haiti has been ravaged by out-of-control gangs, especially in the country’s capital of Port-au-Prince. But international forces are expected to arrive any day now, led by Kenya.

Getting in and out of Haiti is dangerous — and for many, impossible. But CBC’s Paul Hunter managed to go inside the gang-controlled capital and tells us what life is like for Haitians struggling to escape the brutal conditions and how they feel about the looming international intervention.

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