Front Burner

For years, Jim Balsillie has been one of the loudest voices in the country to speak out about how data is being used to concentrate wealth and power, and to manipulate our behaviour.

That’s included helping the province of Manitoba take aim at algorithmic or surveillance pricing, where businesses offer different prices based on consumers' personal data.

As well as being the former Research In Motion co-CEO, Jim is the founder of the Canadian Shield Institute, which is a non-partisan organization that aims to build economic resilience and sovereignty in Canada.

He joins us to talk about his efforts to fight surveillance pricing, as well as how he thinks Canada is poised to give up our digital sovereignty and more in the upcoming CUSMA talks.

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

On Saturday night, as U.S. President Donald Trump sat on a dais in front of a room full of journalists, gunshots were heard inside the building. An armed man was taken down by Secret Service members, and the President was evacuated, unharmed.

Paul Hunter was there, and describes what happened in that room, and what to make of what may be the third attempt on Trump’s life. Paul is CBC's senior Washington correspondent and co-host of the podcast Two Blocks from the White House.

Find Two Blocks from the White House here.

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

Nearly two months into the war on Iran one thing remains clear: Iran has secured strategic leverage that before this war began, seemed unlikely.

And it's left many asking why the United States’ military - the most powerful in the history of the world — so often finds itself unable to win wars or satisfy its strategic objectives?

All kinds of military analysts and historians believe the U.S. has lost or failed to meet its strategic objectives in virtually every war it has participated in since 1945. This includes the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Today, we’re joined by Seth Harp, journalist, and author of the bestselling book ‘The Fort Brag Cartel’. Seth served one tour in Iraq as a member of the U.S. military, and previously worked as the assistant Attorney General for the state of Texas.

In his 14 months as director of the FBI, Kash Patel has not only overseen a radical transformation of the bureau, but has also embroiled himself in a seemingly endless list of controversies.

Late last week, The Atlantic published a scathing story with allegations of erratic behavior, excessive drinking, and unexplained absences. In response, Patel filed a $250 million defamation suit against the magazine, accusing it of publishing false and damaging claims.

Reporter Marc Fisher joins us to talk about the controversies, the transformation of the FBI, and the implications. Fisher is a former senior editor with the Washington Post, and co-author of “Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power”. He reported and wrote a piece for the New Yorker last fall called “Kash Patel’s Acts of Service.”

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

A conflict playing out in British Columbia is testing the limits of reconciliation in the province. It’s a fight that involves resource extraction, democracy, political flip-flops, and a test of values. It has set off fears that people may not own their homes and raised the legal prospect that Indigenous groups could veto laws around resource extraction. Others have called this fearmongering, and it has many Indigenous people and leaders asking if the province takes reconciliation seriously.

Rob Shaw, who covers politics for CHEK News and Glacier Media, walks us through how we got here.

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