Front Burner

As part of its Spring economic update, the federal government revealed that it’s considering privatizing the country’s airports. The Prime Minister says it could free up money to fund other major projects and improve air travel for Canadians.

But a number of critics have come out against the idea. One of them is veteran journalist and activist Linda McQuaig, author of ‘The Sport and Prey of Capitalists: How the Rich Are Stealing Canada’s Public Wealth’. She joins us to talk about what the government is proposing and how things can go when public infrastructure comes into private hands.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Recent polls show that Canadians are increasingly concerned about the growth of AI.

And yet, the AI race is hurtling forward with few guardrails. In many cases, people aren’t even being given a lot of choice around using it. Many jobs now include the use of AI.

Today, we are talking about that tension and more with technology ethicist Tristan Harris.

He’s been sounding the alarm about AI growth, arguing that the tech industry is currently in a dangerous race without the proper checks and that the consequences will be profound.

Harris is the co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, which he founded after working at Google. He’s also featured in the new documentary The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

On the week where Alberta separatists should have been celebrating a major milestone on their quest to split the country apart, they are instead facing a police investigation and the anger of people across the political spectrum.

Separatist group the Centurion Project released the names, addresses and phone numbers of all eligible voters in the province during a political recruitment gambit that could undermine their whole mission.

We’re joined by Jason Markusoff who covers Alberta politics for the CBC. He’s going to talk us through what this all means for the future of Alberta's independence movement.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, passed in 1964 and 1965 respectively, marked the beginning of multi-racial democracy in the United States.

But in the decades since, those achievements have been steadily contested. Just days ago, The U.S. Supreme Court dealt yet another blow to the Voting Rights Act with a decision regarding the Louisiana congressional map. Many experts say the Voting Rights Act is facing an existential moment where it stands to be narrowed, marginalized, and legislated out of relevancy, or even existence.

Ari Berman is the voting rights correspondent at Mother Jones and the author of a number of books on the history of the subject, most recently Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People―and the Fight to Resist It.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Australia was the first country to adopt a ban. Canada’s federal government is signaling that something is coming from them soon. A recent Angus Reid poll found 75 per cent of Canadians support the idea.

But even among those who acknowledge the harm social media causes for young people, the answer is not so clear cut.

We’re joined by Taylor Owen, the Beaverbrook Chair in Media, Ethics and Communications at McGill University. He’s a part of the federal government’s expert advisory group on online safety and on its AI strategy taskforce. He makes the argument that a ban isn’t a silver bullet and that we need to focus on making social media safer for everyone.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts