- Inflation is back to 2%. So the economy is fixed now, right?
Saturday, September 21st 2024
This episode first aired on September 19, 2024 over at In This Economy?!, our sister show at the Frequency Podcast Network. The show helps Canadians understand the systems behind their money problems so they can make informed decisions about their personal finances. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a follow!
It's been quite a long (and expensive!) journey, but the latest numbers show that the inflation rate in Canada has finally fallen to the Bank of Canada's "target rate" for the first time in more than three years. So does that mean all our troubles are over? Why is two percent the ideal target for the BoC? And what does this data tell us about the economy we'll be living in for the next several months?
GUEST: Mike Eppel, 680 News Sr. Business EditorWe love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
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- Ontario now sells beer in convenience stores. The world has not ended. Yet.
Friday, September 20th 2024
This is a province with a long and strange history of alcohol regulation. But when Ontario premier Doug Ford announced plans to allow convenience stores to sell beer, wine and coolers beginning in September, it seemed like a modest step—one in keeping with similar provinces and states which have long allowed this.
However, this being Ontario and alcoholic beverages, it is not that simple. The move has cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars, sparked a discussion about the availability of intoxicants, incited outrage from various advocacy groups and has lived up to Ontario's reputation as a province who cannot simply be normal about its booze.
GUEST: Matt Gurney, journalist, commentator and co-founder of The Line
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
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- Racism, lies and cat memes. American politics in 2024.
Thursday, September 19th 2024
An Ohio town is thrown into chaos from bomb threats that stem from racist lies. Immigrants across the United States are demonized for political gain. Women are dying from a lack of access to reproductive care. Donald Trump promises to jail his enemies. And on the internet, the cat memes proliferate...
For some reason, in the current presidential campaign, cats have played an outsized role in the political conversation. From Trump's morals, to "childless cat ladies" to unfounded rumours of their consumption by Haitian immigrants in Springfield, there's something strange going on right meow in America...
GUEST: Igor Bobic, senior HuffPost reporter covering Congress, the White House, and political campaigns
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- Six unconnected stories. The same tragic ending.
Wednesday, September 18th 2024
Over 11 days recently, six Indigenous people were killed in separate encounters with police departments across the country. The outcome of any one incident isn't surprising, but so many, so quickly, is shocking. And there are hopes amidst the loss that this might, perhaps, be the thing that shocks the country's leaders to action.
On Monday, MPs in Ottawa held an emergency meeting. Indigenous leaders across the country are desperate to see some action. There are community groups on the ground ready and able to help deescalate these situations. It just isn't happening. Why not? And what would it take to create impactful change?
GUEST: Joanne Roberts, filmmaker, reporter at CityNews Winnipeg
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- What we know about a Canada to New York terror plot
Tuesday, September 17th 2024
A few days before Sept. 11, police arrested a Pakistani man living in Canada with allegedly planning to travel to New York to commit a large-scale terror attack on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. Since laying charges, police have been tight-lipped about the case, and haven't revealed how they found the suspect, or who he may have been talking to.
But reporters have been digging and a picture is emerging—and it's one we're going to have to wrestle with further in the months to come. So what do we know about this suspect? What can we surmise about how the alleged plan was to come together? And how does a young man allegedly end up in a car, headed to the border, to attempt a massacre?
GUEST: Peter Edwards, crime, courts and justice reporter, The Toronto Star
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