Front Burner

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 pandemic, amid a health-care crisis and two very controversial bills about individual rights. While Legault is still projected to win a majority, the bigger question is who will form the official opposition. Today, CBC's Jonathan Montpetit takes us through what happened in the campaign for premier, and what the results could say about the consolidation of conservative nationalism in the province.

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 the role that central banks — including the Bank of Canada — play.

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 few years later, VanVleet was a key member of the team that won the 2019 NBA championship. Now, VanVleet is the undisputed leader of the Toronto Raptors. In this special episode of Front Burner, we meet VanVleet at the OVO Athletic Centre in Toronto to hear about his unexpected journey from underdog to all-star, and why he's partnered with the University of Toronto's undergraduate business program to launch a needs-based scholarship for Black and Indigenous students.

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 threats of nuclear retaliation. And soon after, the Kremlin orchestrated referendums over independence in Eastern Ukraine which Western leaders have denounced as a sham. Today, the Guardian's Moscow correspondent Andrew Roth untangles why Putin is betting on this even more aggressive strategy in Ukraine, and what it could mean for his grip on the home front.

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 power lines and caused at least one death. Today, Halifax-based CBC reporter Brett Ruskin joins us to talk about Fiona’s devastation in Atlantic Canada, and how people are coping.

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 controversies, leaving some victims’ family members to say they now have more questions than answers. Today, CBC Nova Scotia's investigative reporter, Angela McIvor, takes us through what the commission hearings have revealed and what questions remain.

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 at least some of the data on the laptop is real. Meanwhile, the laptop has taken on a life of its own. Depending who you ask, it's either a distraction, or the key to unlocking untold stories of political corruption and shady dealings overseas. New York Magazine journalists Olivia Nuzzi and Andrew Rice spent six-months looking into the laptop: what’s on it, the cast of characters responsible for its public release, and the legal investigations that have followed. Today, Andrew Rice joins us to share what they found.

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 summer. Sorrenti organized a pressure campaign to remove Kiwi Farms from the internet, calling it "a matter of public safety for every single person online." Today, Alejandra Caraballo of the Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic explains how Kiwi Farms was able to operate for so long, and outlines the efforts to keep it offline.

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 critics — including members of her own party — have claimed that it would unleash economic chaos in the province. While Smith’s proposal is new, resentment with Ottawa is not — and for decades, provincial politicians have been promising action to protect Alberta’s interests from federal political intervention. Today, we speak to the CBC’s Jason Markusoff about the Alberta Sovereignty Act and the enduring appeal of that concept.

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 and longtime heir — is the oldest monarch to assume the British throne. Today on Front Burner, Stephen Bates, author and former religious affairs and royal correspondent for The Guardian, takes us through what's shaped King Charles's character and what his reign could mean for the future of the British monarchy.