- Election! Foreign meddling, Poilievre's premier problems
Thursday, March 27th 2025
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
- ‘Professors are the enemy’: Trump’s war on higher education
Wednesday, March 26th 2025
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
- Pierre Poilievre’s Donald Trump problem
Tuesday, March 25th 2025
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
- An election in a polluted media environment
Monday, March 24th 2025
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
- What is this new Canadian patriotism?
Friday, March 21st 2025
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
