Front Burner

Profitable companies have accessed the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy while increasing dividend payouts to shareholders. And now both the companies and the program are under fire. Today, CBC’s Jonathan Monpetit explains how CEWS works, and Liberal MP Nathan Erskine-Smith who wants to see some companies pay part of that money back.

As COVID-19 cases go down, pandemic restrictions are loosening across the country, including in Ontario, but concerns about variants remain. Today on Front Burner, what that means for the safety of kids at school.

Jeff Bezos made Amazon into one of the world’s biggest retailers, but critics argue he did it at the expense of his workers. Now, one Alabama warehouse is voting on whether to unionize, a move that could spark major change, even here in Canada. Recode’s Jason Del Rey on how Amazon got here.

Donald Trump is facing an historic second Senate impeachment trial. Will the former U.S. president avoid conviction once again? Politico reporter Andrew Desiderio explains why all signs point to an acquittal.

Strong corporate ties. A lot of attention paid to make sure donors were happy. Those were just some of the concerns that former employees had about WE Charity, as told to the CBC’s The Fifth Estate. Today, more on that investigation.

The Canadian government recently listed the Proud Boys and three other far-right organizations as terrorist entities. They also moved to list nine other militant Islamist groups. For some people, this is a huge win. But others worry it's a sign that the war on terror is continuing to expand, and they're concerned about who might get caught up in its dragnet. Today, Ben Makuch a national security reporter for Vice, and Michelle Shephard, author of Decade of Fear: Reporting from Terrorism's Grey Zone, wade through the complex ramifications.

The Brazilian city of Manaus has been dealing with a raging outbreak of COVID-19, one that has left hospitals overrun and oxygen supplies dwindling; and not for the first time. The city was hit so hard by the coronavirus in the spring, that researchers estimated that 75 per cent of the population had been infected, which makes the severity of this recent outbreak unexpected and concerning. Today, Atlantic writer and Yale University public health policy lecturer Dr. James Hamblin explains the potential threat posed by new variants of the coronavirus popping up around the world, how they could upend expectations about herd immunity, and the need for a truly global vaccination response.

In the summer of 2019, newly elected Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said he was determined to blow the lid off of what he called a "shadowy," foreign-funded campaign to crush Alberta's oil and gas industry. He mentioned Russia, OPEC and the Rockefeller Foundation as possibly playing a role. And he announced an inquiry to get to the bottom of it. But three delays and $3.5 million later, evidence of a shady international campaign has yet to materialize. And the still-ongoing inquiry has been mired in allegations of cronyism, climate denialism and conspiracy theories. Jennie Russell and Charles Rusnell — investigative reporters with CBC Edmonton — join us to explain how the inquiry into "anti-Alberta energy campaigns" started and how it's going.

On Friday CBC announced it was ending Trickster, a well-received television show that aired both here and in the U.S. There will be no second season as previously planned. The cancellation follows scrutiny over showrunner Michelle Latimer and questions about her Indigenous identity. Today, Anishnawbe playwright and humorist Drew Hayden Taylor joins us to share his thoughts on the cancellation and what it means to be Indigenous.

As of Sunday, Canada had fallen to 27th in the world in vaccines administered, behind the U.S., the U.K. and smaller countries like Poland and Serbia, according to data aggregated by the University of Oxford. Canada was one of the first countries in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for use and have reserved record doses per person — but the country is facing significant shipment delays. There are also growing questions about whether the vaccine contracts signed by the federal government are in the country's best interest, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assures the public that Canada is on track to meet its vaccination goals. Today on Front Burner, CBC News senior writer J.P. Tasker discusses why Canada is falling behind and what might be done about it.