The Big Story

There's still some debate over a possible recession in Canada, but less and less of it every day. If Canada's economy does slide, however, what will be the root causes? What are policymakers doing—and not doing—to prevent it? Where will Canadians feel it worst, and what can we look at right now to judge where we'll be in six months?OH, and how does the whole "recession" thing work, anyways?GUEST: Jim Stanford, economist and director of the Centre for Future Work We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

This is the fifth episode in a weeklong collaboration between The Big Story and The Narwhal, an award-winning non-profit publication that provides in-depth coverage of climate issues across Canada.You’ve heard of Coastal GasLink: it’s the name of a fracked-gas pipeline under construction in northern B.C. The project, spearheaded by Calgary-based TC Energy, spans 670 kilometres and crosses mountain passes, salmon rivers and Indigenous lands. Those lands include around 190 kilometres of Wet’suwet’en territory, where Hereditary Chiefs have long opposed this project that’s being built without their consent. A year after the RCMP conducted raids and arrested more than 30 land defenders and two journalists, TC Energy is now drilling and laying pipe under a sacred Wet’suwet’en river — and tensions are as high as ever. The Narwhal’s northwest B.C. reporter Matt Simmons shares his first-hand view of what’s happening on the ground.Read Matt’s story about the latest tensions on Wet’suwet’en territory here.Read Matt’s explainer on the route of the Coastal GasLink pipeline here. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

This is the fourth episode in a weeklong collaboration between The Big Story and The Narwhal, an award-winning non-profit publication that provides in-depth coverage of climate issues across Canada.Indigenous Peoples have long taken care of the land — in fact, they still steward 80 per cent of remaining global biodiversity. With the world facing an extinction crisis, one solution gaining momentum is the creation of more Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. As Montreal prepares to host COP15, the United Nations conference on biodiversity, experts say Canada has a responsibility to take the lead on implementing Indigenous-led conservation practices. Will it? B.C. reporter Steph Wood and biodiversity reporter Ainslie Cruickshank dig deep.GUESTS: Stephanie Wood, B.C. reporter; Ainslie Cruikshank, B.C. biodiversity reporterRead Stephanie's story about Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas hereRead Ainslie's story about British Columbia's lack of protections for at-risk species here We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

This is the third episode in a weeklong collaboration between The Big Story and The Narwhal, an award-winning non-profit publication that provides in-depth coverage of climate issues across Canada.More than 200 million people could be displaced from their homes worldwide in the next few decades as extreme weather events become more frequent and intense. The biggest climate change risk in Canada? Flooding. Just last year, floods in B.C. wiped out roads, killed five people and left thousands stranded without food and water. In the Prairies, reporter Drew Anderson talked to people in the tiny, flood-prone community of Lehigh, Alta., who are being bought out of their homes before rising waters destroy them. Government reports say that Canadians need to learn to live with water — but what exactly does that mean?GUEST: Drew Anderson, Narwhal’s Prairies reporter, based in CalgaryYou can read Drew’s story, “This was our forever home”: floods, climate change and the end of one Alberta community, here.Read more of Drew’s stories here. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

This is the second episode in a weeklong collaboration between The Big Story and The Narwhal, an award-winning non-profit publication that provides in-depth coverage of climate issues across Canada.For decades, Canada’s environmental policy has been greatly influenced by the interests of oil, gas and mining industries. And the close-knit bonds between these companies and government officials have been detrimental to climate action — they’ve successfully persuaded governments to weaken emissions regulations and commit billions toward pipeline projects. Oh, and both fossil fuel companies and Canada’s banks are pushing to delay climate transparency rules, climate investigations reporter Carl Meyer tells Fatima. So how do we make sense of this dark underbelly of Canadian politics? Tune in to find out.GUEST: Carl Meyer, The Narwhal's climate investigations reporter Read more about Brock Harrison and his move to the private sector hereRead about oil and gas companies lobbying against climate financial transparency hereRead Carl's coverage of efforts to regulate methane emissions here We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

This is the first episode in a weeklong collaboration between The Big Story and The Narwhal, an award-winning non-profit publication that provides in-depth coverage of climate issues across Canada.Ontario Premier Doug Ford just broke his promise to not open up the protected Greenbelt to development. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bleak news these days for the province’s environmental protections: conservation authorities are being gutted, flood-mitigating wetlands are at risk and citizens are losing their voice at the table. Plus, cities that don’t want sprawl are being ordered to grow beyond their boundaries. So what’s driving Ford’s decision-making? In a word: housing.GUEST: Emma McIntosh, Ontario reporter at The NarwhalRead Emma's Greenbelt coverage hereRead Fatima's coverage of Doug Ford's sprawl policies hereRead Emma and Fatima's coverage of Ontario Conservation Authorities here, and their writing on Doug Ford's overhaul of environmental protections here We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Recently Bruce Willis's digital likeness was licensed for use in a Russian telecom commercial. And as both technology and acceptance of 'deepfakes' like this are improving, opportunities will soon abound for people with value attached to their names and likenesses. But who controls a digital instance of someone? Can an actor sell his or her likeness in perpetuity, to star in films when they're long dead? Can a celebrity endorse products without ever going near them or consuming them?And what happens to the aspiring actors and musicians who would otherwise have gotten the less-publicized gigs that could now go to the mere image of someone way more famous than they are? The possibilities are endless...GUEST: Will Bedingfield, London-based staff writer at WIRED We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Yesterday, Canada's new Indo-Pacific strategy specifically targeted China's human rights abuses, its threats against Taiwan and Hong Kong and increasing aggression in dealings with the west. Earlier this year, there were reports Canada would not even mention the country's name for fear of provoking retaliation.The new strategy comes on the heels of changes to the rules around foreign takeovers of Canadian businesses, and divestment orders given to three Chinese companies who purchased critical minerals businesses in Canada. Put it all together and it seems Canada has decided now is the time to push back against China. Why now? And how might China push back against Canadians?GUEST: Stephanie Carvin, former national security analyst, Associate Professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, author of Stand on Guard: Reassessing threats to Canada's National Security We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

This is Mia's story, but she is far from the only one. When the BC government decided to take her from her band and her closest family, and ship her halfway across the country to non-Indigenous foster parent, the Gitxsan fought back. What happened offers a glimpse into a system that supposedly has learned the lessons of residential school horrors, but somehow hasn't learned enough to stop taking kids from Indigenous communities that want to care for them...GUEST: Amy Romer, writing in The Walrus We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Ontario kids will be back in school Tuesday, after the provincial government backed down on its use of the notwithstanding clause to force CUPE workers into a contract. That's the simple part. But this fight was important well beyond a few days of school—with unions across the country threatening solidarity strikes, sending money to support Ontario's education support workers and generally creating a show of force not seen in decades.So will the two sides at the heart of this now find a solution? How will Doug Ford's government handle other upcoming labour battles, now that they know how hard the pushback can be? What does this one fight mean for labour in Canada this month and beyond?GUEST: Cynthia Mulligan, Queen's Park reporter, CityNews We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Nearly three years of into the on-going pandemic and there's still plenty of unused office spaces in most downtowns right now.The City of Calgary is leading the trend of office to residential space conversion projects. So much so that American media in San Francisco and other places has picked up on it. This kind of urban revitalization is called "adaptive re-use," and it turns out, it's not actually as inexpensive or easy to do as it seems. So, what's required to get office conversion projects off the ground, in terms of legislation, but also, just, practically? And could this plan scale up quickly, to solve a housing crisis?Guest: Tracy Hadden Loh, Fellow with the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking at Brookings Metro. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

If you listen to the show with any regularity, you know that we recently concluded a TBS listener survey. We appreciate all of you who took the time to give us your feedback, and with this special Saturday release we're hoping to show you that we've taken all of your suggestions to heart. In this episode, Jordan and TBS producer, Ebyan Abdigir, discuss some of the more revealing results of the survey, and the ways in which your comments and thoughts will influence the way we do things moving forward. They also provide a small sneak peek into some of the more exciting projects we've got coming down the pipe. We hope you enjoy! We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

There are roughly 300 wild horses left, and sometimes Aaron Stelkia has awful decisions to make as he tries to ensure their survival. But this is his job, and he's been doing it his entire life. Stelkia is a member of the Okanagan Syilx community. He's known locally as "the last Syilx cowboy". And his story is what happens when one person takes on a task because the land and its animals need him. But what happens when he's gone?GUEST: Kate Helmore, writing in the Globe and Mail We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Between Meta (formerly Facebook) losing $80 billion and Elon Musk's fumbling start to his Twitter acquisition, it's been a pretty good week for anyone who hates social media. But today's guest argues that even if you never use these platforms, what happens to them impacts your life, simply because they've grown too influential to remain in the digital world.So what does Mark Zuckerberg's relentless pursuit of the Metaverse and Musk's plans to shake up Twitter mean for the future of social media in general? And what does it mean for the future of the world that it influences? GUEST: Jesse Hirsh, technologist and futurist We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

It's the kind of hyperbolic claim usually made by partisan contenders: "This is the most important election of your life" or "This year, democracy is on the ballot". But with candidates who deny the results of the 2020 presidential election running in races across the United States—and some of them poised to take over posts literally overseeing vote counting in future elections—non-partisan institutions and journalists are sounding the alarm.What should Canadians expect from our neighbours on November 8 and beyond? Is political violence at the polls a real possibility? What does it mean for our own political future if America continues to slide away from democratic norms?GUEST: James McCarten, Washington correspondent, The Canadian Press We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

When someone steals your credit card information and uses it to buy or order things, you almost always get your money back. It's one of the reasons people trust credit cards, and policies have been in place for decades. But now a new form of payment is on the rise — the e-Transfer — and with it money can be sent between accounts in seconds.The kicker? There are none of the policies that credit cards have in place with e-Transfers. If some can gain access to your account, or convince you to send them money ... that money is gone. And this opens up a whole new can of worms for people figuring out finance policy, as well as a new world of opportunity for scammers. So what are we going to do about it?GUEST: Alex Vronces, executive director of Paytechs of Canada, an industry association of technology companies that move money. He blogs at https://themox.substack.com. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Every day, Covid mutates. Many times. Most of the mutations are harmless or ineffective. Some—as everyone knows by now—are not, and can evade immunity and change the virus to better infect humans. Right now, doctors in Canada are worried about emerging variants spiking infections this fall. But how worried should they be?Today we'll go inside the network of scientists that coordinate their efforts to better understand each emerging variant, how much of a threat it might pose, and what we need to watch out for. Before you read about a new rise in infections in the news, these are the folks sounding the alarms.GUEST: Dr. Sarah Otto, evolutionary biologist, professor at the UBC’s department of zoology, expert at the Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

So are women, by the way. So is everyone, regardless of gender. For years, studies have shown that young people aren't having as much sex as in generations past. So it's not a surprise. But a recent study sparked a discussion around what young men, in particular, might do if they can't find a partner. The numbers were used as the basis for the increasing number of shootings in the United States, and even a proposal of a "right to sex". But what do the numbers actually say? And why, when everyone is having less sex, are young men the focus here?GUEST: Jude Ellison S. Doyle, feminist author of Trainwreck and Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Interest rates have risen again. Inflation has not declined. Almost everything costs more right now, especially groceries. Meanwhile, in the wake of two major companies announcing temporary price freezes within hours of one another, Canada's competition bureau has announced its intention to study why grocery prices are so high, and if having more players in the market would lower them.Are higher prices a result of inflation, profiteering, or both? How can we tell, anyway? Did the price freezes spur this investigation, or was this something planned all along? And is raising interest rates to combat inflation really our best option? What else could we try if this doesn't work?GUEST: Jim Stanford, Economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

It seemed like there was a fight for the soul of the party that also governs the province. Until there wasn't. A week before the vote, the challenger with all the momentum was disqualified from the race, paving the way for longtime MLA David Eby to become leader, and the province's premiere.So what happened? What was the split dividing the party, and how did the contest come to such an abrupt end? What happens now to challenger Anjali Appadurai and the thousands of new members she'd recruited? And what does this do to Eby's forthcoming attempts to govern a province on the front lines of Canada's climate crisis?GUEST: Arno Kopecky, BC-based environmental journalist, covering the race for Canada's National Observer We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Our friends across the pond are about to have their third Prime Minister in two months, without an election. Boris Johnson was finally ousted, only to be replaced by Liz Truss, who managed to tank the economy before resigning last week. Now Rishi Sunak is set to take on the role, and the Conservatives hope he'll hold it until a general election that's still ... 18 months away.But why is an election so far away? How exactly did Johnson manage to resign and then almost get his old job back? Exactly how did Truss screw things up so badly so fast? And just ... in general ... what the hell is going on over there?GUEST: Professor Matthew Flinders, Politics, University of Sheffield; Founding Director, Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

There's a reason OnlyFans almost banned the content that drives the vast majority of its revenue last year. It's the same reason sex workers who sell content online speak in code on social media and sometimes call themselves "accountants". If identified as someone who sells adult content, all of a sudden any financial transaction can become ten times harder, even simple things like banking or buying airline tickets.A new case that will make its way to the Supreme Court of Canada may decriminalize all sex work in this country, but even that may not stop financial discrimination. In the year 2022, why are creators who sell perfectly legal content and services still facing this discrimination?GUEST: Maggie MacDonald, PhD candidate, University of Toronto, research focus on pornography platforms. Read her article in The Walrus here We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Covid is only part of the problem. For any musical act that hasn't hit 'star' status, the current reality of putting together a tour, and keeping it on the road, is basically a highwire act. And one that can very easily lose money rather than make it.Why is it so tough to perform live music right now? Who's cancelling tours and why? And what happens to Canadian music if only the superstars can afford to show up for the fans? How do artists stay afloat?GUEST: Kyle Mullin, writing in Exclaim We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

A week into an inquiry looking into the so-called 'Freedom Convoy''s occupation of Ottawa, and the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act, and we've already heard several stunning revelations. It's clear there's a whole lot more to come.So what do you need to know about how this works? Who will testify? What we have learned so far and what are we still hoping to find out? And what, if anything, will come of this whole process?GUEST: Cormac Mac Sweeney, Parliament Hill reporter, CityNews We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Mahsa Amini was not the first woman, not even close, to be arrested by Iran's morality police for how she wore her hijab But when she died in police custody, a 22 year old, full of life, snuffed out. A spark was lit.More than one month later, protests continue to rage across the country, and the regime's brutal crackdowns have not stamped them out. What happens next is unclear, but the situation is not tenable, and change is coming, fast or slow. So what should Western democracies be doing to help the protesters? And what happens if they succeed?GUEST: Maziar Bahari, Iranian Canadian journalist and filmmaker, editor of IranWire.com and author of Then They Came For Me We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Last week, a Swiss bank's annual ranking put Toronto No. 1 and Vancouver No. 6 on its list of the world's top housing bubbles. And although both cities have seen home prices decline this year, it's nowhere near close to matching their recent gains. So ... is this really a bubble, or will we not know until, oops, it pops?What does a popped housing bubble actually look like in cities with limited supply? What would it do to homeowners who have their life savings in their property? And what would it mean to those who currently feel like they will never be able to own a home in these cities?GUEST: Ari Altstedter, Reporter at Bloomberg News We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

The world needs Canadian grain more than ever. And they are buying it, providing a huge boost to prairie economies. This year, a bumper crop could be even better than 2021. If only we can get it all to market.For the past few weeks, train companies have not been able to provide enough cars to move all the grain that's needed to port. And when the beginning of the supply chain stalls, it creates huge problems down the line. So how did this happen, who is at fault, and how do we fix it, fast?GUEST: Lindsay Campbell, reporter at iPolitics.ca We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

All across North America, malls are vanishing. Some are simply being demolished, others are turning into condo complexes or Amazon warehouses. The rise of online shopping has made them less necessary for simply acquiring goods, but that was never all that malls were for.When was the last time you just browsed? Wandered a store with no particular purchase in mind, hoping to find something cool? Or spent some time aimlessly "just looking"? In a hyper-focused digital world, we're spending less and less time free from a specific task or goal—which is what an afternoon at the mall accomplishes, at least while they're still around.GUEST: Jason Guriel, author of On Browsing We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

When Laura Robinson began reporting about violence and sexual assault in Canadian junior hockey, resistance was fierce, including from the country's top commentator. But the years have obviously proven her correct, and exposed for all to see just what happens in locker rooms, buses and hotel suites.Now that Hockey Canada's leadership has resigned, Robinson explains the long road to what she hopes will finally be real change, the challenges and opportunities facing those who guide the game, and where Canada's relationship to the game it loves goes from here.GUEST: Laura Robinson, reporter and author of the 1998 book Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada’s National Sport We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Toronto will vote in less than two weeks. Well, some of Toronto will vote. Less than a majority of citizens, that's for sure. And the outcome of the most important race is all but guaranteed already. Why don't more Canadians care about municipal politics? Even when their vote directly impacts the services they get? Even when the winners will be tasked with reshaping the biggest city in the country, and the fourth biggest in North America?GUEST: David Rider, City Hall Bureau Chief, Toronto Star We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

It's not a crime to claim asylum in Canada. It's a process. But that hasn't stopped the Canadian Border Services Agency from using an agreement with several provinces to put some of these people directly into provincial jails, where they are housed with, and treated the same as, convicted criminals and those charged with serious crimes and awaiting trial. The asylum seekers describe inhumane conditions, especially for people who face no charges or accusations. Human rights agencies say it's a violation of international law. The federal government disagrees, but won't say much beyond that. How did this happen, and how do we fix it?GUEST: Brigitte Bureau, award-winning investigative reporter, CBC Radio-Canada We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

It's the morning of June 16th, 1987, in Nashville, Tennessee. Shortly after midnight, firefighters are called to a blaze at Emmanuel Church of Christ. What they find in the ashes would change this small Pentecostal congregation forever. Thirty-five years later, Tara Jean Stevens begins to unravel this shocking crime.On the journey with her is Sharon Edwards. She was just a kid when the fire tore apart her church family. Today, she wants to know the truth about what happened. Listen to the rest of Heaven Bent: Death in Emmanuel here. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Bananas are the cheapest fruit around, and Canadians eat them by the millions. In fact during the pandemic and our current spike of inflation, bananas have only become cheaper—one of just a handful of foods to do so. But even still, some Canadians are choosing to pay more for their bananas. Why?The answer involves a long and difficult history of the banana trade, and a Montreal company with one goal and a slick marketing team trying to change how we buy our bunches...GUEST: Deborah Aarts, reporting in the Globe and Mail's ROB magazine We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Canada has promised to reach Net Zero emissions from our grids by 2035. At the same time, as ordinary Canadians transition to things like electric vehicles and home heat pumps, we're going to need more power. Like, a lot more. So how do we scale up the system at the same time as making it cleaner? How much time do we have?What sacrifices might we have to make? And who pays the bill in the end?GUEST: Colin Guldimann, economist at RBC, author of The Price of Power report We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Almost two weeks after Fiona hit Atlantic Canada, many communities are still picking up the pieces. In others, there are very few pieces to pick up—because homes and businesses are just ... gone. Thousands are still without power, and don't know when or if they'll return to their communities.As the scale of the destruction becomes clear, what does the rest of Canada need to know about what happened here? What's being done to help those who have lost everything? What's to come in the next few weeks and months? And the real question: What's it like to live your life next to the sea, only to realize it won't be the same in the years and decades to come?GUEST: Greg Mercer, Atlantic Canada reporter, The Globe and Mail We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Asked to picture the hottest economy in the country, your mind goes to one of two places—the skyscrapers of Toronto's financial district, or the oil fields and towns of Alberta. But not this time. Over the past couple of years, and particularly since this February, global events have made certain industries more precarious; certain commodities harder to easily obtain.And into that breach has stepped an unlikely winner, a province that is now pushing to figure out how to sustain its success for the next decade and beyond ...GUEST: Jason Childs, associate prof of economics, University of Regina We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Last week, the creative AI DALL-E opened to everyone wanting to use it. The program, which returns images based on text prompts provided by the user, has created mesmerizing tableaus from the gorgeous to the obscene, and it gets better all the time. But is this art? If not, why not? Creative AI is simply the most visible aspect of an AI revolution that has taken major steps over the past couple of years. But how does it work? What else can it be used for and ... ummm ... should we be concerned?GUEST: Stephen Marche, writer and cultural critic, has reported on Creative AI for The New Yorker and The Atlantic We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Indigenous artists are some of the world's most talented, and their unique pieces are highly valued for their creativity and culture. Unless they're not unique at all. Fraud is a huge problem, particularly in tourist areas where visitors will often want to bring home a mask or carving, and will be sold a fake duplicate of an artist's original work.Today we'll meet a man who has taken on the thankless job of trying to fight back against the fraudsters, and make people aware of how to ethically purchase real Indigenous art.GUEST: Jason Hunt, artist specializing in traditional Kwagiulth carvings We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

As Canada's health-care system fails, more and more people will be willing to pay up to avoid the most overcrowded and underserviced parts of it. While no politician will come out in favour of privatizing health care, you do here a lot about "looking for innovative solutions"—which can often mean a second, paid tier.Is this a viable solution to some of the system's burden? Or is it the beginning of a downward spiral we need to be very careful about?GUEST: Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, Ontario Health Coalition We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

As stretched as our health-care system is right now, it may be nothing compared to what will test it in the years to come. Even if we've handled the worst of Covid, and no new disease emerges, Canada still has to reckon with an aging population. And a new landmark study details just what we'll be grappling with.As our elders age, many of them will develop symptoms of early dementia. And thanks to a lack of resources, many of the early signs will go unnoticed or untreated. Eventually, these people will need a lot of care, and as things stand right now, we don't have the people, or the facilities, to provide it. So how long do we have and what should we do? Unlike Covid, this is a crisis we can clearly see coming. So are we going to meet it?GUEST: Dr. Brian Goldman, Host of The Dose, ER physician, author of the foreword for the landmark study We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

When Canadians can't get family doctors, walk-in clinics are backlogged and there are no nurses available to provide long-term care in homes or facilities, it doesn't take much for a patient to arrive at an emergency room as a last resort. But even there, they may not find help, unless they're willing to wait, and wait, and wait.A doctor who works in emergency rooms describes lines of ambulances, waiting but unable to drop off patients. Patients in chairs waiting for beds. And in the middle of it all, fewer doctors and nurses to care even for the critically ill patients that do make it to a bed. Emergency rooms were in trouble before the pandemic. Now they are about to collapse. But there are solutions, if we have the courage for them.GUEST: Dr. Kashif Pirzada, emergency room physician We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

If everyone in Canada had a family doctor, we could prevent hundreds of thousands of emergency room visits before they happen. But millions of Canadians don't have one, and can't find one. And as family doctors get older and retire, while the population continues to grow, this is only going to get worse.Why are family doctors in Canada an aging population? How can we attract more young doctors to take up family practices? And what kind of strain does it put on the system when millions of us have no first option when something is wrong, other than the local ER?GUEST: Dr. Alika Lafontaine, President of the Canadian Medical Association and rural anesthesiologist We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

(This is part one of a five-part series examining Canada's health care crisis. How we got here, what comes next, and what we can do about it.)Nurses are almost everyone's first point of contact with our health care system. And if you need extensive care, they will be your most reliable caregivers. But they're quitting. In droves. And without them, well, things like hospitals and long-term care facilities don't actually work.What's causing the mass exodus? What can we do to stop it? And what do people hoping to enter the nursing profession need to make an impact when they get here?GUEST: Natalie Stake-Doucet, former practicing nurse, Faculty Lecturer and PhD, Université de Montréal We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Polls show a lot of support among Canadians for reexamining, and perhaps even ending, our relationship with the monarchy. This is clearly an opportunity to do something. But what does that something actually entail? What would happen if Canada tried to reopen the Constitution to become a republic? If that's not feasible, what other steps could we take to distance ourselves from the royal family? And in 10 years, who will be on the Toonie?GUEST: Stephen Maher, journalist and author, writing in ipolitics.ca We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

In recent years many conservative politicians have catered to the more extreme parts of their base to get elected, only to find that once in power they are obliged to continue to serve them. In the CPC leadership race, Pierre Poilievre managed to peel support away from would-be PPC voters and others on the fringe.He needs these votes to beat Justin Trudeau and the Liberals in the next election. But the challenge he will face is harnessing their support without falling prey to their worst tendencies. Can he do it? How?GUEST: Justin Ling, investigative journalist, author of the Bug-Eyed and Shameless newsletter We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

As they choose a new leader and prepare for a looming 2023 election, Alberta's United Conservative Party is looking ... anything but. Never mind leadership hopefuls taking shots at one another, outgoing leader Jason Kenney is still premier and is openly deriding some of the proposals from his would-be successors.Meanwhile, Albertans care about the rising cost of living more than they do about picking yet another fight with Ottawa, so who among the UCP hopefuls is ready to help them, and how? And what is the leadership fight doing to the UCP's prospects in the next election, which will come no later than next May?GUEST: Jason Ribeiro, political commentator and doctoral researcher at the University of Calgary We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Three people, including a police officer, were killed. The gunman dies as well. The crimes stretched over three cities, five police agencies and hours of the middle of a day in Southern Ontario. But more than a week after the shooter was killed by police, there still isn't much to explain why this happened.What do we know about the victims and the suspect? Why would he begin his attack by ambushing a cop in a coffee shop? What will we learn in the weeks ahead? And, once again, without a proper trial, how much of what police do eventually discover will they share with the public and the media?GUEST: Wendy Gillis, crime and police reporter, Toronto Star (Read a minute-by-minute account of the shootings right here.) We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

As September begins, many companies are making a big push to bring their employees back to the office. But new data shows that employees are getting even more comfortable working from home, and are reporting improved mental health as a result. Meanwhile, the labour market favours workers, and employers are struggling to retain talent—which leaves them with little leverage when employees say they'd rather work remotely.So what happens now? Because one thing is becoming clear: If employers can't get their workers back at the start of a new school year, with no pandemic restrictions and office space begging to be used ... they're probably not coming back to the office, ever.GUEST: Vanmala Subramaniam, Future of Work reporter, The Globe and Mail We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

Queen Elizabeth II is at rest, but history is moving forward. This weekend, hundreds of thousands will say their final goodbyes to the monarch. On Monday tens of millions around the world will watch her funeral, attended by royals, world leaders and other dignitaries. And then, sometime soon, the world will have to grapple with King Charles III, the legacy of the monarchy and what commonwealth countries like Canada want to do next...GUEST: Lisa LaFlamme has covered almost every major moment in the monarchy over the past 20-plus years. She joins The Big Story from London, where she is covering the Queen's death for CityNews. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky

We learned earlier this summer just how vulnerable our connected services can be. It seems like the government did, too. With a new memorandum of understanding and revisions to the competition act, it looks as if the federal government is trying to stabilize what many consider an essential service. But will new regulations have any teeth? And how could it change what services Canadians receive, and how much they pay?GUEST: Vass Bednar, executive director of the Masters of Public Policy in Digital Society program at McMaster University We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky