The Big Story

We asked our listeners what their key issues were in this election, and this week we'll tackle the top five. Every day we'll go deep on the major party platforms with an expert immersed in that field. Today, the economy. How far back from pre-COVID levels has Canada's economy come? What do the parties propose to take us the rest of the way? In a world as rapidly changing and volatile is the current one, should we worry about balancing the budget? Is childcare the most important economic investment? And who is best suited to watch over an economy in transition?

GUEST: Ben Dachis, Director of Public Affairs for the C.D. Howe Institute

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We asked our listeners what their key issues were in this election, and this week we'll tackle the top five. Every day we'll go deep on the major party platforms with an expert immersed in that field. Today, health care. The pandemic has exposed what we thought were cracks in our health care system for the wide gaps they really are—does any party have a reasonable plan to fix it? What kind of leadership role can the federal government take in improving a system under massive pressure? Where does provincial jurisdiction end and how could a Prime Minister get around it—if they were committed to taking action?

GUEST: Dr. Katharine Smart, President, Canadian Medical Association

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We asked our listeners what their key issues were in this election, and this week we'll tackle the top five. Every day we'll go deep on the major party platforms with an expert immersed in that field. Today, the housing crisis. By now it's more than a bubble, and the lack of affordable of housing has spread from cities to small towns and everywhere in between. Each of the parties claims they can solve this. Can they? How do they propose to do it? And does anyone have a real solution?

GUEST: Mike Moffat, Senior Director, Smart Prosperity; Assistant Professor, Ivey Business School

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Hate crimes have risen. Racialized Canadians have been attacked and killed. Angry protests follow the Prime Minister around the country and have come close to turning violent. Protesters scream at healthcare workers outside hospitals and, as if to quantify this anecdotal evidence, Maxime Bernier's People's Party rises in the polls—with one recent survey putting the PPC at nine percent support.

Where did this anger and hate come from? How has it grown? And what is there in the platforms of the major parties that could do something about it?

GUEST: Evan Balgord, investigative journalist, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network

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What agents are selling around the world is the value of a Canadian education—and people are buying in droves, especially in places like Punjab, India. But they're not buying it for the value of the degree. Many international students have families who sacrifice everything to get their children into a Canadian post-secondary institution because it is seen as a pathway to permanent residency and a better life. And for some students it is—but only for some of them.

Is this an ethical system? Is it regulated—and by whom? Who helps these young people and makes sure they don’t fall through the cracks? What happens to them when they do?

GUEST: Nicholas Hune-Brown

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It's no secret that our elders were the people hit hardest by COVID-19, but all the pandemic did was shine a deadly light on a system that has been broken for years. Canada's population is aging. Our long-term care facilities are passable at best, and we don't have enough of them. And we're staring down a critical labour shortage among caregivers. So does any party have a plan for this? And are any of them realistic?

GUEST: André Picard, Health Reporter, The Globe and Mail

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You thought you were helping someone  when you put that bag of old clothes in a donation bin. But you probably didn't. A striking number of clothes donated in Canada and other wealthy countries end up clogging landfills in African nations. While a good suit or jacket might make a real difference to someone who needs one, the vast majority of donated clothes are cheap, fast fashion — and often totally unwearable. And the rise of disposable clothes has swamped the system, turning a process once intended to help into one fraught with inequality and pollution.

GUEST: Linton Besser, Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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This week, Hurricane Ida rampaged through the gulf coast, leaving power grids and water lines strewn in its wake, and when it reached New York it caused massive flooding that has already resulted in at least two dozen deaths. Most North American cities — including Canada's — simply weren't built for the weather extremes we're now facing with regularity. And even 'safer' cities like Toronto and New York are now seeing massive floods. Can we adapt cities to handle this weather? What will it cost and do we have the will to do it?

GUEST: Alex Steffen, The Nearly Now

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For more than a year, protesters have been keeping industry away from old-growth forest on this site, and for months there have been RCMP on the scene attempting to remove them. But the story of Fairy Creek is about much more than just police against Indigenous protesters. What's really at stake as the police up their aggressiveness to attempt to clear the site, and why should all Canadians be watching closely?

GUEST: Jerome Turner

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Sunny Ways aren't going to work for Trudeau and the Liberals any longer. People are tired and angry and wondering why we're even having an election right now. Trudeau is being confronted at rallies and the Conservatives have pulled even in the polls. So what can he run on this time? Will calm leadership and a caring attitude in a crisis convince Canadians that he's the guy to look out for them when things get tough? Or has he squandered too much of his electoral goodwill?

GUEST: Max Fawcett, political columnist at the National Observer

(This is the third in a series of episodes examining how the major party leaders could each become Prime Minister.)

We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:

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