The Big Story

About the podcast The Big Story

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

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2021
Where The Parties Stand: The Climate Crisis
We asked our listeners what their key issues were in this election, and this week we'll tackle the top five. Every day we'll go deep on the major party platforms with an expert immersed in that field. Today, the climate crisis. This was our listeners' top issue, and it wasn't particularly close. For the first time in a federal election, every major party has a legitimate plan to deal with the climate crisis. But those plans are wildly different. Which plan is ambitious enough to be effective, but rational enough to be achievable? What do we know about the climate now that we didn't know in 2019? How much time do we have left to act, and where do our targets need to be to make a difference? GUEST: Fatima Syed, climate and environment reporter, The Narwhal Ontario
September 17, 2021
31 min
Where The Parties Stand: Truth and Reconciliation
We asked our listeners what their key issues were in this election, and this week we'll tackle the top five. Every day we'll go deep on the major party platforms with an expert immersed in that field. Today, truth and reconciliation. A few months ago, when news of hundreds of unmarked graves at residential schools was horrifying Canadians, it seemed unimaginable that dealing with Canada's legacy of racism and implementing meaningful reconciliation would not be a leading issue in the next election. Now here we are and ... is it? Every party has a plan to tackle the darkest element of Canada's history and culture — but what are those plans, and how do they sound to Indigenous people who have been promised so many things, and let down so many times? And speaking of that: How many boil-water advisories are still in effect, and why should any party that has held power in the past four decades be taken seriously on this issue while they remain? GUEST: Jaida Beaudin, Indigenous journalist, currently at the Waniska Research Centre
September 16, 2021
23 min
Where The Parties Stand: Economic Recovery
We asked our listeners what their key issues were in this election, and this week we'll tackle the top five. Every day we'll go deep on the major party platforms with an expert immersed in that field. Today, the economy. How far back from pre-COVID levels has Canada's economy come? What do the parties propose to take us the rest of the way? In a world as rapidly changing and volatile is the current one, should we worry about balancing the budget? Is childcare the most important economic investment? And who is best suited to watch over an economy in transition? GUEST: Ben Dachis, Director of Public Affairs for the C.D. Howe Institute
September 15, 2021
24 min
Where The Parties Stand: Health Care
We asked our listeners what their key issues were in this election, and this week we'll tackle the top five. Every day we'll go deep on the major party platforms with an expert immersed in that field. Today, health care. The pandemic has exposed what we thought were cracks in our health care system for the wide gaps they really are—does any party have a reasonable plan to fix it? What kind of leadership role can the federal government take in improving a system under massive pressure? Where does provincial jurisdiction end and how could a Prime Minister get around it—if they were committed to taking action? GUEST: Dr. Katharine Smart, President, Canadian Medical Association
September 14, 2021
23 min
Where The Parties Stand: The Housing Crisis
We asked our listeners what their key issues were in this election, and this week we'll tackle the top five. Every day we'll go deep on the major party platforms with an expert immersed in that field. Today, the housing crisis. By now it's more than a bubble, and the lack of affordable of housing has spread from cities to small towns and everywhere in between. Each of the parties claims they can solve this. Can they? How do they propose to do it? And does anyone have a real solution? GUEST: Mike Moffat, Senior Director, Smart Prosperity; Assistant Professor, Ivey Business School
September 13, 2021
22 min
As the PPC rises in the polls, what are parties proposing to combat the rise of hate in Canada?
Hate crimes have risen. Racialized Canadians have been attacked and killed. Angry protests follow the Prime Minister around the country and have come close to turning violent. Protesters scream at healthcare workers outside hospitals and, as if to quantify this anecdotal evidence, Maxime Bernier's People's Party rises in the polls—with one recent survey putting the PPC at nine percent support. Where did this anger and hate come from? How has it grown? And what is there in the platforms of the major parties that could do something about it? GUEST: Evan Balgord, investigative journalist, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network
September 10, 2021
33 min
Is Canada's international student system ethical? Or exploitative?
What agents are selling around the world is the value of a Canadian education—and people are buying in droves, especially in places like Punjab, India. But they're not buying it for the value of the degree. Many international students have families who sacrifice everything to get their children into a Canadian post-secondary institution because it is seen as a pathway to permanent residency and a better life. And for some students it is—but only for some of them. Is this an ethical system? Is it regulated—and by whom? Who helps these young people and makes sure they don’t fall through the cracks? What happens to them when they do? GUEST: Nicholas Hune-Brown
September 9, 2021
22 min
How does each party plan to address the crisis in elder care?
It's no secret that our elders were the people hit hardest by COVID-19, but all the pandemic did was shine a deadly light on a system that has been broken for years. Canada's population is aging. Our long-term care facilities are passable at best, and we don't have enough of them. And we're staring down a critical labour shortage among caregivers. So does any party have a plan for this? And are any of them realistic? GUEST: André Picard, Health Reporter, The Globe and Mail
September 8, 2021
22 min

About the podcast The Big Story

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

The Big Story

About the podcast The Big Story

Categories

Where The Parties Stand: The Climate Crisis

Where The Parties Stand: Truth and Reconciliation

Where The Parties Stand: Economic Recovery

Where The Parties Stand: Health Care

Where The Parties Stand: The Housing Crisis

As the PPC rises in the polls, what are parties proposing to combat the rise of hate in Canada?

Is Canada's international student system ethical? Or exploitative?

How does each party plan to address the crisis in elder care?

About the podcast The Big Story

Categories