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The Big Story

The Big Story

An in-depth look at the issues, culture and personalities shaping Canada today
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Big Headlines: Canada's new Governor General sworn in and a 7.8-magnitude earthquake slams the Philippines

Episodes (1798)

Ep 1880Big Headlines: Canada's new Governor General sworn in and a 7.8-magnitude earthquake slams the Philippines
Plus: Pierre Poilievre is expected to call for a shift in federal policies with rising separatist movements in Alberta, Iran's military says it's stopping offensive operations after exchanging fire with Israel, and looking ahead to the World Cup - security and the top-ranked stadiums.
Today 6m 13s
Ep 1875Canada gets a new Governor General
Louise Arbour, a former lawyer, Supreme Court Justice, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, is being inducted as Canada's next Governor General. It comes at a nuanced time for Canada's global identity. Host Catherine Jette speaks to Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto about the Governor General's role in Canada, whether or not Canadians feel connected to the monarch, and how Arbour could use this precarious geopolitical moment to capture the country's appetite for unity and identity.
Today 19m 39s
Ep 1877Weekend Listen: Are we in a recession? Not technically
Enjoy this special feed drop of our sister show "In This Economy?!" Following a negative performance for economic growth in the first quarter of 2026, the Canadian economy fell into what's been described as a "technical recession". While the headline was pounced on for political debate, with such a small decline (just a 0.1% contraction) and some parts of the economy still doing quite well, economists are downplaying the significance of all this recession talk. Nevertheless, under the weight of the trade war with the U.S., there are a lot of questions around the recent signals by the Bank of Canada even talking about hiking interest rates and whether the central bank will be changing its message to the markets next week with it's policy announcement on June 10th. Host Mike Eppel speaks with Royce Mendes, the managing director and head of macro strategy at Desjardins, about this so-called "recession", and what the consequences of reading too much into it might be.
2 days ago 23m 18s
Ep 1879Big Headlines: Select Canadians could receive a financial top-up today and the country's unemployment rate has dipped
Plus: can Albertans actually be dual citizens if the province separates from Canada, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has requested a face-to-face with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the Ontario government is going after illegal ticket resellers again, and could B.C. see its first Conservative premier in a century?
3 days ago 6m 2s
Ep 1878Could BC see its first Conservative Premier in 100 years?
The British Columbia Conservative Party hasn't won an election since, and hasn't won a seat in 50. As recently as the 2020 provincial election, the party earned just 36,000 votes. But in 2024, the party surged in popularity, nearly toppling the long-thought invincible BC NDP. Then came interparty turmoil, which led to the ousting of their leader, John Rustad, and a leadership election that went on for months. In the end, it was narrow, and the BC Conservatives elected Kerry-Lynne Findlay. Today on the Big Story, host Caryn Ceolin is speaking with Mo Amir, host of This is VANCOLOUR, a daily politics and news show, to find who she is and what she'll bring to the party.
3 days ago 26m 14s
Ep 1876Big Headlines: Carney's attention on AI and the WHO says to lift travel restrictions on Ebola-affected countries
Plus: Carney's responding to the latest tariff threats from the U.S., Toronto Police have arrested four more in connection with suspected hate-motivated assaults, a Vancouver ski resort could be setting a Guinness World Record, and what's killing the oysters in P.E.I.?
4 days ago 5m 51s
Ep 1873What's killing PEI's oysters?
A pair of parasitic diseases are wreaking havoc on Prince Edward Island's oyster industry, forcing farms across the province to throw out close to all of their supply. MSX and Dermo are to blame. They're fatal to the mollusk but not harmful to humans. Host Maria Kestane speaks to James Power, general manager of Raspberry Point Oysters in PEI to discuss what farmers are left to do with ambiguous government assistance programs, and what comes next for one of the province's most lucrative industries.
4 days ago 26m 5s
Ep 1874Big Headlines: Canada-U.S. trade tensions could be cooling off and FIFA reprimands a B.C. charity
Plus: a pill that could double survival time for patients with pancreatic cancer could soon be coming to Canada, Zellers is continuing to accelerate its comeback in Canada, the latest on CBS's firing of veteran news correspondent Scott Pelley, and how can provincial Liberals make a comeback?
5 days ago 6m 46s
Ep 1870Can provincial Liberals make a come back?
While the Federal Liberals remain historically popular under Prime Minister Mark Carney, that isn't the case for their provincial counterparts. By the end of 2016, more than half of Canada's provinces and territories had Liberal governments. Today, that's down to one, as Liberal premiers fell one by one to largely conservative-- but some NDP-- replacements. Liberal parties faced especially historic collapses in BC, Ontario, and Quebec. But despite that, recent polls have shown the provincial liberals gaining some ground in a couple of provinces. Host Caryn Ceolin is speaking with John Ibbitson, journalist and author, about what happened to provincial liberals, and if there is any hope for their future.
5 days ago 21m 8s
Ep 1871Canada's latest obsession: data centres
If you've noticed that data centres are having a moment in Canada right now, you wouldn't be the only one. As Ottawa looks to maintain a sovereign digital footprint amid the current AI rush, building its own data centres has the potential to do so. But the question is who actually funds these centres, and what are they doing to the environments around them? Host Maria Kestane speaks to Shion Guha, information professor at the University of Toronto's department of computer science to discuss why Canada is in a rush to build all these data centres and what Canadians need to know about them.
6 days ago 26m 16s

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An in-depth look at the issues, culture and personalities shaping Canada today.

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