Front Burner

In the spring of 2020, the Cargill meat-packing plant in southern Alberta became the site of the largest COVID-19 outbreak tied to a single facility in all of North America. Approximately 950 workers were infected, and three died. A year and a half later, COVID-19 appears to be under control at the slaughterhouse. But workers say the underlying working conditions that were laid bare by the pandemic are still there. And now, they’re demanding changes. Workers are currently negotiating a new contract with management, and if their demands aren’t met by Dec. 6, they’re prepared to strike. And since this one facility is responsible for 40 per cent of the beef processing in Canada, that’s put a lot of people on edge. Today, CBC reporter Joel Dryden on what Cargill workers want, and what it could mean beyond this one facility.

British Columbia is still struggling with the fallout from record-breaking rains that caused floods and mudslides that killed six people and displaced thousands more. This, after the fatal heat dome of the summer, and the third worst fire season on record. While experts say it’s impossible to determine whether this year’s extreme weather resulted directly from climate change, they will say climate change made these events worse. Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier John Horgan agreed to strike a joint provincial-federal committee to address disaster response and climate resilience. Today, environmental journalist Arno Kopecky on how B.C. is experiencing so many of the big climate change issues of our time.

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in one of the most important cases on reproductive rights in decades. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the last remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi, has challenged a state law that would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The Supreme Court case could determine not just the fate of the clinic, but of the monumental 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide. Today, legal historian Mary Ziegler breaks down the Mississippi case, and explains what its potential impacts could be for reproductive rights across the United States.

Throughout its reign, the British Empire stole a lot of stuff. Today those objects are housed in genteel institutions across the U.K. and the world. They usually come with polite plaques. This is a series about the not-so-polite history behind those objects. Hosted by Marc Fennell. More episodes are available at: smarturl.it/stuffthebritishstole

Since the first pediatric Pfizer vaccines landed in Canada last weekend, provinces have been moving fast to get them into arms. Children got their first jabs in Ontario on Tuesday; more kids started being vaccinated in Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan on Wednesday; and the rollout continues to expand. Today we’re joined by Dr. Fatima Kakkar, an infectious diseases pediatrician at the research centre of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine and an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Université de Montréal. She breaks down what’s happening with these shots, how they work on kids and what to expect from the rollout.

After Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai posted a sexual assault allegation against a former top Communist Party official on social media, the post — and Peng — disappeared. In the weeks that followed, the Women's Tennis Association and the sport's top athletes joined the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai, including Naomi Osaka, Roger Federer and Serena Williams. Even the UN called for proof of her safety. Now, Chinese state-run broadcasters have tweeted a supposed email along with photos and videos as evidence of her safety. The International Olympic committee says it had an interview with Peng where she reassured them of her wellbeing. Today on Front Burner, Racquet publisher and co-founder Caitlin Thompson explains why China's moves have done little to calm fears for Peng's autonomy, and why this is a crucial moment for sports to re-examine their relationship with China.

Marc and Craig Kielburger's WE Charity routinely misled school-aged children and wealthy philanthropists across North America for years as it solicited millions for schoolhouses in Kenya in its Adopt-A-Village program, an investigation by CBC's The Fifth Estate has found. WE denies it has misled donors. Today, Mark Kelley explains what the team found over the course of the investigation, and the obstacles they faced while reporting the story.

Yesterday, demonstrators and journalists appeared in a northern B.C. court after spending the weekend in jail for their presence at a resistance camp in Wet’suwet’en territory. The RCMP arrested dozens of people and cleared the camp last week. It had been blockading a key work site for the Coastal GasLink pipeline project. Hundreds of workers had been stranded after the blockade was erected. The police were enforcing an injunction from a civil court that said Coastal GasLink should be able to continue its work. Today, attorney Kris Statnyk explains that the legal battle happening over the land is incredibly complex, because even the Canadian legal system holds contradictory positions on this issue. And the Tyee’s northern B.C. reporter Amanda Follett Hosgood explains what’s been happening on the front lines.

The Conservative Party is objecting to Parliament’s new mandatory vaccination policy. Its leader, Erin O’Toole, is fending off attacks on his leadership. And the Liberals are being accused of benefiting from unfair advantages in the House. This is just some of what’s playing out as Parliament returns for the first time since June and the federal election. CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton breaks down the new political season for us.

Canada’s men’s soccer team is closer to going to the World Cup tournament than it has been in decades, after a historic win against heavyweight team Mexico. The last time they qualified was in 1986. They didn’t score a single goal. But now with coaching from John Herdman and star players like Alphonso Davies, the team has started to believe in itself — and this week, won an important qualifying event against Mexico. After scoring their second goal, team members leaped into a snowbank in the –10 C Edmonton weather to celebrate. This iconic moment comes only a few months after Canada’s women won their first Olympic gold for soccer in Tokyo. Shireen Ahmed is a regular contributor to TSN, and a co-host of the Burn It All Down podcast. Today, she takes us through the game, what it means for Canada, and what comes next for soccer in this country.

British Columbia declared a state of emergency Wednesday after days of extreme flooding and mudslides destroyed major highways and cut off entire communities in parts of the Lower Mainland. Mass evacuations were ordered in places like Merritt, Princeton and parts of Abbotsford, a city of nearly 100,000 people, but the full scale of the devastation still isn't known. These kinds of climate events are becoming all too familiar in B.C. It was just four and a half months ago that a crushing heat dome killed nearly 600 people in the province, and a wildfire burned the town of Lytton to the ground. Today on Front Burner, how this week's weather event, known as an atmospheric river, unfolded, and how other recent extreme climate events may have made it worse. If this is the new normal for B.C., what does the future look like for the people in the province? Finally, a conversation with CBC Vancouver reporter Justin McElroy about how the B.C. government responded and what needs to change moving forward.

Since the end of October, a cyberattack on the health-care system in Newfoundland and Labrador has caused thousands of delays and cancellations for services. Patients have missed appointments and procedures, including chemotherapy. With their IT networks knocked out, facilities resorted to pen and paper. The CEO of a cybersecurity firm in Fredericton, David Shipley, called it “the worst cyberattack in Canadian history.” Disruptions to health services are easing. But while the province has now confirmed that both patient and employee data was stolen, it is still offering little information on the attack. Today on Front Burner, St. John’s-based CBC reporter Peter Cowan joins us to explain what this attack was, why the province isn’t saying more, and why health breaches like this are happening so often.

A crisis is unfolding at the border of Poland and Belarus, where thousands of migrants are stranded in freezing temperatures, hoping to reach Europe. Belarus, under authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, is accused of deliberately creating this crisis by shepherding migrants from the Middle East to the Polish border as revenge for sanctions imposed on his regime. Poland, with the support of the European Union, has responded by fortifying its border in a massive show of force. Almost 20,000 police and soldiers have been deployed to the area, and there are claims that they have illegally pushed people back across the border into Belarus. Today, Guardian correspondent Lorenzo Tondo on the geopolitical standoff and the people trapped in the middle of what is increasingly looking like a humanitarian disaster.

COP26, the UN’s annual climate summit in Glasgow, was touted by many as the “last best chance” for the world to come together and make a plan to stave off the worst of climate change. Today, Time magazine senior correspondent Justin Worland delves into what the summit did and didn’t achieve.

From David Ridgen, the creator of Someone Knows Something, comes the new investigative podcast The Next Call. Tackling unsolved cases through strategic phone calls. In the case of Terrie Dauphinais, a 24-year-old Metis woman is found dead in her Calgary home in the spring of 2002. New investigative efforts have held out promise, but the case still remains cold almost two decades later. More episodes are available at: smarturl.it/thenextcall

In Ontario, COVID-19 cases are rising again — but unlike before, the Greater Toronto Area isn’t bearing the brunt of this wave. Dr. Sumon Chakrabarti explains why.

As lawsuits, a criminal investigation and social media try to assign blame for the fatal crowd surge at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival, a look at the warning signs before the concert, and the long history of festival disasters.

Ethiopia’s deadly war in Tigray province is now threatening to engulf the entire country as rebels move toward the capital and a humanitarian crisis intensifies. Reporter Zecharias Zelalem explains how the conflict got to this point and where it could go from here.

Less than 10 months into his presidency, Joe Biden’s popularity is plummeting, Democratic in-fighting has put some of the most ambitious parts of his agenda on life support, and recent elections in several states are spelling even more bad news for his party. Susan Ormiston joins us to take the pulse of the Democratic party.

As the international climate change conference COP26 continues, we take a look at Canada’s 2030 emissions reduction target, and whether or not we’re actually on track to hit it.

A CBC News investigation into a prominent University of Saskatchewan professor found no evidence to support her claims to Indigeneity. Reporter Geoff Leo breaks down the story, and Veldon Coburn tells us how to address the issue.

At Kyle Rittenhouse’s homicide trial, which began this week, there are two very different versions on display of what happened in Kenosha, Wis., on the night of Aug. 25, 2020.

Over 50 nations arrived at COP26 with net-zero emissions targets, but many rely on high hopes for carbon capture tech. Today, a reality check — will carbon capture help us, or provide excuses for more pollution?

The fallout and the calls for accountability continue in the NHL's Chicago sexual assault scandal. Lawyer and abuse survivor Greg Gilhooly on how the league needs to change so its players are protected.

Suspected neurological illness is debilitating and even killing patients in New Brunswick, but provincial health officials are questioning whether a mysterious brain disease is really behind it.

The new investigative series White Hot Hate follows the extraordinary case of young Canadian journalist Ryan Thorpe who infiltrated an international neo-Nazi extremist network. While host Michelle Shephard explores the rise of white supremacist accelerationism: the ultra-violent ideology that drives believers to create chaos, in order to seize ultimate control. More episodes are available at: hyperurl.co/whitehothate

Jean Chrétien says he never heard about abuse in residential schools when he was minister of Indian affairs. As Jorge Barrera and Cindy Blackstock explain, documents suggest otherwise.

Canada’s worker shortage in industries like retail, food and tourism is more complex than it’s been chalked up to be. We hear from those fighting their way back from unemployment and from economist David Macdonald.

The family behind the telecom giant Rogers Communications is in a bizarre public spat over control of the company. Today, CBC business reporter Pete Evans explains the unusual infighting.

As Amazon’s profits soar during the pandemic, The Fifth Estate’s Mark Kelley gives us an inside look at the dire conditions inside its warehouses that are driving workers’ to unionize.

An inquiry into alleged anti-Alberta energy campaigns wasn't able to determine if foreign funding had an impact on derailing energy projects in the province, and found no evidence of wrongdoing. Today, we look at how that final report differs from the province’s rhetoric — past and present.

Carrie Low trusted police when she reported her horrific rape. But she says they failed to investigate properly, and only succeeded in traumatizing her further. Now she’s setting out on a mission to hold these institutions to account. This all-new investigation is hosted by award-winning investigative journalist Maggie Rahr. More episodes are available at: smarturl.it/carrielow

The anti-vaccine movement has long revolved around children. As the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine rollout approaches, what can we learn from this phenomenon to improve uptake in kids? Sociologist Jennifer Reich shares her insights.

When the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, much of the foreign aid to the country was suspended. Today, CBC’s Susan Ormiston tells us about what she heard on the ground about the looming humanitarian crisis.

After traces of fuel were confirmed in Iqaluit’s drinking water last week, the city has been under a state of emergency. Journalists Pauline Pemik and Jackie McKay explain what it will take to get the city’s taps flowing safely — for good.

CBC’s Margaret Evans tells the stories of a coroner, a mufti and a fisherman all living through a border crisis in northern Greece — a country taking steps to keep refugees out.

Cryptocurrency traders are relying on a stablecoin — a digital cryptocurrency backed with real-world assets — with ties to a Mighty Ducks star and the co-creator of Inspector Gadget. Today, we look at the search for the supposed billions of dollars backing its value, and what a shortfall could mean for the entire financial system.

Unearthed journals that were once the top-secret communications of the KGB — the Soviet Union’s secret police — shed new light on an early chapter of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s life, and give us a window into the dying days of the USSR.

As Canadian Catholic bishops say they will give $30 million to support survivors of residential schools, CBC’s Jason Warick explains why some are skeptical about the pledge.

Today Brian Hioe explains how Taiwan became a pawn in a global competition between China and the West — and what that means for the island’s people.

CBC’s Salimah Shivji takes a closer look at India’s farmer protests, where a fatal collision has ignited more anger in the 300-day standoff with the government.

Miami Herald reporter and author of Perversion of Justice Julie K. Brown on Ghislaine Maxwell’s upcoming trial — and her bombshell investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s 2008 plea deal that brought global attention to the case. This episode originally aired on July 20, 2021.

After a major outage and stinging whistleblower testimony, NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn breaks down Facebook’s bad week.

Today we’re digging into the massive Pandora Papers leak: What it reveals about how the world’s wealthy and powerful are benefiting from tax havens — and whether Canada is doing enough to rein it in.

The survival drama Squid Game has gotten international attention for its focus on economic inequality. But UCLA’s Suk-Young Kim explains that this globally relatable horror show is also uniquely Korean in its approach.

New York Times journalist Ben Smith discusses his bombshell investigation into U.S. media organization Ozy Media and its defiant founder, Carlos Watson.

Journalist Matthew Remski explains why new age spirituality is such fertile ground for anti-vaccine movements.

What if there were a pill that could add decades to your life? Would you take it? For thousands of years, people have searched for elixirs that could delay death and extend human life. Could new advances in medicine finally make this a reality? From madcap medicine to cutting-edge science, the quest to unlock the fountain of youth is teeming with dreamers, skeptics and charlatans alike. More episodes are available at: hyperurl.co/unlocking

The views from two Canadian cities where the opioid crisis is driving a new movement for decriminalization, with the Ontario Harm Reduction Network’s Nick Boyce and Chief Const. Mike Serr of the police force in Abbotsford, B.C.

On the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the story of a quest to find the true identity of a boy who died at residential school, and was identified only by a cruel nickname.