Front Burner

Most businesses and consumers expect a recession is on the horizon, according to a survey put out on Monday by the Bank of Canada. Next week, the central bank is expected to hike interest rates — again — to bring down inflation. But continuing to hike interest rates could actually help provoke that feared recession, leaving some wondering what the alternatives are. Jim Stanford is an economist and...

It's been eight months since convoy protesters took over downtown Ottawa and obstructed trade at U.S. border crossings. And now, over just six weeks, as commissioner of the Emergencies Act inquiry, Justice Paul Rouleau has one job — to get to the truth behind the federal government's unprecedented use of emergency powers that were used to clear anti-vaccine mandate protesters from the capital. Jus...

Even though the Kremlin has been pummeling Ukrainian cities and towns with relentless air and missile raids over the past week, many observers say Russia is losing its war with Ukraine. Last month, Ukrainian forces retook a reported 6,000 square kilometres of territory in the south and east of the country, reversing months of Russian gains in a matter of weeks. But given those setbacks for Russia,...

This year, the number of Central and South American migrants trying to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border reached a record two million people. Whether people wade through the Rio Grande or trek across the desert for days, the trip is becoming more treacherous. Nearly 750 people have died trying to cross the border this year so far. Now, some are trying a different route through Canada. A CBC i...

Last month, Hans Niemann, a 19-year-old grandmaster chess player and rising star, defeated the reigning five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen in a round robin tournament game. After the match, Carlsen, who is also a grandmaster, dropped out of the competition and posted a tweet insinuating that Niemann had cheated. The accusation has rocked the chess world, and Niemann has confessed that he has...

The Oath Keepers are a far-right militia, founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes. He’s one of five members currently on trial in Washington, facing charges of seditious conspiracy and other felonies related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Prosecutors say they planned to stop the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden following the 2020 election. Explosive, secretly r...

After months of pressure by MPs, corporate sponsors and its own members across the country, Hockey Canada announced on Tuesday that its CEO and entire board was stepping down. A parliamentary committee has been probing Hockey Canada’s handling of 2018 sexual assault allegations since July. During that time, further allegations of group sexual assault have emerged, and Hockey Canada has confirmed a...

In her first month as leader of the ruling Conservatives, U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss plunged the British economy into chaos. A major tax cutting plan for top earners and corporations — meant to stimulate the economy as energy costs soar — terrified financial markets so deeply, it sent interest rates skyrocketing, drove the pound into the ground, and required an urgent intervention from the Bank...

The high seas are beyond the reach of international law – and beyond the beat of most reporters. But Pulitzer-Prize-winner and former New York Times journalist, Ian Urbina, has sailed into uncharted territories. Urbina sets out on a years-long quest to investigate murder at sea, modern slave labour, environmental crimes and quixotic adventurers. Part travelog, part true-crime thriller, this 7-part...

Drax Power Station is Britain's largest power plant, burning wood pellets to create electricity. In 2021, the company received two million pounds a day in subsidies from the U.K. government. But while the industry pitches the pellets as a renewable source of energy, critics say the fuel source is making the climate crisis worse. A new investigation by CBC’s The Fifth Estate found Drax catapulted a...

Since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police on September 16th, protests have erupted throughout Iran and in some 160 cities around the globe — with some of the biggest protests happening here in Canada. Despite violent crackdowns on the demonstrations in Iran, protesters are still coming out to the streets. And women have remained at the forefront, at times...

What do the Houston Astros, the Saudi state-owned oil company Aramco, the makers of OxyContin and the Quebec government all have in common? They’ve all hired McKinsey & Company, a prestigious management consulting firm that has been around for nearly a hundred years. It’s a firm with a client list as long and rich as its history and has a lot of power. McKinsey promotes itself as a values-driven o...

In an election that's divided Brazil, Sunday’s vote ended up even more split than polls predicted. Many pollsters had signalled that incumbent Jair Bolsonaro would lose the election on the first ballot, but the far-right populist far outperformed their predictions. Meanwhile, his leftist nemesis, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, failed to reach the 50 per cent of votes needed for victor...

The fall sitting of parliament is in full swing, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau facing off for the first time against new Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre. And the hottest topic for debate remains how to deal with the affordability crisis. Today, Power & Politics host Vassy Kapelos is back on the pod to talk about what’s on the agenda in Ottawa, and the shape this new session is taking.

For decades, Quebec voters made the choice between the provincial Liberal Party and the Parti Québécois (PQ). But in 2018, that changed. François Legault led the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) to a landslide victory by offering voters an option between the Liberals' federalism and the PQ's focus on sovereignty. On Monday, the province heads back to the polls for its first election after the pandemi...

There have been some gloomy economic headlines lately as stock indexes like the TSX and Dow drop and Canada’s unemployment rate goes up for the first time in months. This, as central banks continue to raise interest rates to combat inflation, which — while showing signs of slowing — remains high. Today, CBC business reporter Pete Evans brings us a closer look at whether a recession is near, and th...

NBA superstar Fred VanVleet had a long road to becoming a beloved Toronto Raptor. He suffered a terrible loss growing up in Rockford, Ill., when his father was shot and killed when he was just five years old. As a young man coming out of Wichita State University, the point guard went undrafted in 2016 and had to fight his way onto the roster of the lone Canadian franchise in the league. But only a...

From rare, violent protests to long lines at the border — and even a shooting at a draft office in Siberia — Russia remains gripped by anger over its first military mobilization since the Second World War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the draft of hundreds of thousands of men last Wednesday, following significant military defeats in Ukraine's northeast. Simultaneously, Putin renewed...

After Hurricane Fiona lashed the Caribbean last week, it landed in Canso, N.S., Saturday morning as a post-tropical storm. It then began its path of destruction through Atlantic Canada. While the level of devastation in Canada doesn't compared to places like Puerto Rico, Fiona has still caused significant damage throughout parts of the Maritimes. It’s torn through homes, flooded streets, toppled p...

The public hearings into the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history end today. Since February, the Mass Casualty Commission has heard evidence about the gunman and the warning signs reported to the RCMP in the years leading up to April 18, 2020, when he went on a rampage, killing 22 people in Nova Scotia while disguised as a Mountie. The inquiry has encountered multiple delays and controversi...

You’ve probably heard about Hunter Biden’s laptop. The laptop and the trove of data on it belonging to U.S. President Joe Biden’s youngest son first surfaced publicly just weeks before the 2020 presidential election. At the time, it was largely discredited as foreign meddling and a disinformation campaign intended to sway the presidential race. Since then, several media outlets have verified that...

Notorious stalking and harassment site Kiwi Farms has been hacked and taken offline again, less than a month after the website security and hosting provider Cloudflare dropped it, citing an "unprecedented emergency and immediate threat to human life." Kiwi Farms had risen to prominence after Canadian trans activist and Twitch streamer Clara Sorrenti was swatted in her London, Ont. home this past s...

In Alberta, the centrepiece of United Conservative Party leadership hopeful Danielle Smith’s campaign is a controversial proposal called the Alberta Sovereignty Act. Smith says the act would allow the Alberta legislature to choose not to enforce any federal law or court order it believed ran counter to its interests. But many legal experts have decried the proposal as unconstitutional, and some cr...

People in London waited in kilometres-long lines for the chance to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest reigning monarch who died on Sept. 8, during her lying-in-state. Hundreds of leaders, dignitaries and royals travelled from around the world to attend her funeral. Queen Elizabeth II was just 25 when she took the throne in 1952. At 73, King Charles III — the Queen's son an...

Earlier this week, U.S. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a bill that would place a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks. While the bill isn’t believed to have a high chance of passing in the immediate future, it does further crank up the heat around the abortion debate ahead of the November midterm elections. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — which protected the con...