Front Burner

In recent public and media appearances, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole has talked up the need to fight inequality through labour rights, and lamented the decline of unionization in the private sector. He's also blamed the Liberals for favouring elites over workers, and trade deals over jobs in Canada. These issues have become recurring themes as he introduces himself to Canadians after being elected leader of the Conservatives back in August. Today on Front Burner, CBC senior parliamentary reporter Catherine Cullen on the reaction to this political shift, and what might be behind it.

Today on Front Burner, we’re bringing you updates on three stories we’ve been following: the latest vaccine news, a new twist in the Mi’kmaq lobster dispute, and a Canadian company embroiled in a major U.S. voter fraud conspiracy.

The second wave of the coronavirus is battering much of the country right now. Over the weekend, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec all had record-breaking new case numbers. As some familiar issues re-emerge, like deadly outbreaks at long-term care homes, we're talking to Globe and Mail health columnist Andre Picard about what Canadians learned from the first wave, and what lessons we've missed.

It was one of the most harrowing attacks in recent Canadian history. Alek Minassian plowed into pedestrians on a busy section of Yonge Street in Toronto with a rented van, killing 10 and wounding 16. Just before his attack on Facebook, he wrote of an 'incel rebellion,' aligning himself with the ideology of involuntarily celibate men who blame women for the fact they are alone. Minassian has admitted he carried out the attack. But this week, as he faces trial for murder and attempted murder, his lawyers are expected to argue that their client was not criminally responsible for his actions. CBC's Ioanna Roumeliotis tells us how it could unfold.

This week, Britney Spears lost a legal battle to remove her father as her conservator — a court-ordered agreement that has put him and a lawyer in charge of her finances and daily life since 2008. Her conservatorship has spawned #FreeBritney, a sometimes-conspiratorial movement whose adherents believe Spears is essentially a prisoner in her own life. But it has also attracted the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union, who have offered Spears legal support and consider her guardianship a disability rights issue. Today, Constance Grady, a culture writer for Vox, joins us to talk about Spears' conservatorship, how she got here, and why some people feel that this story is about a lot more than one pop star.

For some time now, Ottawa Citizen journalist David Pugliese has been digging into the so-called ‘weaponization’ of the Canadian military’s public affairs branch. He’s recently obtained documents suggesting that the military had wanted to set up this new organization to influence Canadians using propaganda and other techniques. According to the office of the Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, this plan will not go forward. But it’s just the latest in a story that involves everything from dossiers on journalists to a fake pack of wolves. Today, David Pugliese explains what he’s learned.

This week, as COVID-19 cases continue to climb across the country, there is a glimmer of hope for returning to normal life: a vaccine. Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech say that results from a Phase 3 study of their vaccine candidate look promising and that immunity could last a year. Today, we hear from CBC science and technology reporter Emily Chung on what we know about the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that early results suggest is 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19.

Joe Biden is now U.S. president-elect. But Donald Trump is still in the White House. And there are no signs of a co-operative transition on the horizon. Today, longtime CBC Washington correspondent Keith Boag returns to explain the uphill battles Biden is facing on everything from the coronavirus response to uniting a divided country.

For 36 years, Alex Trebek hosted the trivia show ‘Jeopardy!’ with gravitas and wit. On Sunday morning, Trebek died of pancreatic cancer. He was 80 years old. Today, we discuss Trebek’s legacy and what he meant to his fans with Andy Saunders, a ‘Jeopardy!’ superfan and the operator of TheJeopardyFan.com.

It’s been an eventful week following the U.S presidential election, as we continue to await the final results. From Trump’s demands to stop the vote count, to the lawsuits contesting ballots in several states, one key theme that’s emerged is that America’s democratic system is being tested. This is an issue that Lawrence Lessig has been studying for a long time. He’s the author of “America, Compromised” and “They Don't Represent Us: Reclaiming Our Democracy”, and the founder of Equal Citizens, a non-profit dedicated to democratic reform. He joined host Jayme Poisson to reflect on what the 2020 election says about the state of democracy in the U.S.