The Big Story

Yes, sports betting has technically been around for a long time in this country. But it's only been a little more than a year since single-game sports betting arrived to change the landscape completely. Now it's difficult to watch any kind of sporting event without commercials urging viewers to get in on the action.  What does that mean for the industry, for viewers and, perhaps most importantly,...

Last week, a judge in Ontario ruled that Iran's Revolutionary Guard was in fact a "terrorist entity". This is a move that politicians on all sides have advocated for, as well as human rights groups and ordinary Iranian and Jewish Canadians. So why was a judge making the call and not the federal government, who has so far declined to do so? What makes the IRGC a terrorist organization, by our stand...

Canadians are using credit cards to pay for purchases more than ever before. Why wouldn't they? Cash has been on the decline and rewards programs are better than ever. But small businesses say these programs are killing them, and it has become almost impossible to understand the complex system of fees that go into these payments.  Right now, Ottawa is asking card companies and retailers to come to...

Anytime any government misplaces taxpayer money, it's a bad thing—whether that's wasteful spending, overpaying, mismanaging the budget or losing track in a spreadsheet. But when the government in question presides over a small municipality in rural Manitoba where a) $500,000 is an awful lot of money and b) the government is comprised of neighbours and business owners, friends and enemies, and ever...

There has been no shortage of political mudslinging regarding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's testimony at the Emergencies Act Inquiry last week—but perhaps the most important thing was that he took the stand at all. Beyond the Prime Minister answering questions, Canadians also got looks at emails, text messages, phone calls and all sorts of communications between governments and police services,...

It's the "Death Dilemma". When someone we love is at the end of their life, unresponsive in the ICU, our natural instinct when doctors ask us is to tell them to "do everything" to save them. But should it be? How has our changing relationship with the end of life altered the medical system? Do we prioritize quantity of life over quality? Are we costing both our loved ones and the medical system ad...

Right now, Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board is barely functional. The backlog of eviction challenges, both legal and illegal, is miles long, and currently the board is focused on rent increases. Meanwhile, in landlord Facebook groups, some are asking about penalties for illegal evictions, perhaps planning to simply do that and pay for it later. While tenants, tossed by the hundreds for potentia...

Depending on who you ask it will either help Canadian creators level the online playing field, or wreck their business model. The bill is intended to apply Canadian Content rules to online streaming—but it's incredibly complex and difficult to judge how it will work in practice. So what's in the bill? Why are some independent creators critical of it? What does it do in an ideal world, and will it...

It goes without saying that police services often have their own version of events—which are often revealed in press releases or in conversation with reporters. But with public opinion turning against them as abuses of power are continually revealed, some police forces are going much further than that in an attempt to burnish their image. Should cops write newsletters on Substack with their side o...

Surgeries for children are being cancelled at paediatric hospitals as staff race to care for a huge surge in kids arriving in the ER, or needing ICU space. This fall it seems like every child is coming down with something. What's going on? Can our children's hospitals handle it? What should parents be doing to keep their kids safe? And if you do need to take a child to the ER, what do you need to...

It's only Team Canada's second time ever in FIFA's crown jewel tournament. They will be looking for their first goal. Making it to Qatar for the World Cup is the culmination of years of hard work, sacrifice and program building from Canada Soccer. For them, and the players and fans, it's a celebration. But this World Cup was ugly before it began, and has become uglier still since it kicked off. In...

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...

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 mountai...

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 moment...

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...

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 hav...

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...

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 lon...

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...

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 k...

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 creatin...

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 actu...

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 su...

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....

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 relentle...