The Big Story

Since Stephen Harper left, the federal Conservatives are on their fifth leader in six years. Later this year they'll likely choose a sixth—and the party's eventual choice will go a long way to determining its future. What does O'Toole's exit and the choice of Candice Bergen as interim leader reveal about the state of the party currently? Is this really good news for the federal Liberals as some pundits claim?The next few months will be critical to determining what Canadians are choosing the next time they go to the polls. Will it be a united CPC, led by the right wing of the party? A fractured party still trying to hold its various factions together? Or could the unification that led to Harper's success end with O'Toole, producing a split between the party's two ideologies?GUEST: David Moscrop, political writer and commentator, author, host of the Open To Debate podcast We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Depending on where you stand, you may have blamed anything from Covid-19 to vaccine mandates, protesters to climate change, or even the federal government for the empty shelves you’ve seen. And all those answers are valid. But the reasoning you'll hear from politicians depends on who you ask. And of course, so does the assessment of how much of a crisis this actually is.So how big a problem are the scattered empty shelves? How precarious is Canada's food supply chain? When will the pressure ease? And when it does, how much more will it cost to put food on your table?GUEST: Sylvain Charlebois, Senior Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, co-host of The Food Professor podcast We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

For decades, Canada's men's soccer team was irrelevant at best, a punchline at worst. While the women's side went on to Olympic medals and World Cup runs, the Canadian men ... did nothing. Until a few years ago, when the tide began to turn. And then last year, when the unthinkable started to happen. Now undefeated during qualifying, having beaten both the United States and Mexico, Canada is not only likely headed to the World Cup for just the second time in its history, but the team also looks ready to do some damage when it gets there. How did the unthinkable happen?GUEST: John Molinaro, veteran Canadian soccer journalist, founder of TFC Republic We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

It was only ever barely about vaccine mandates. As thousands of Canadians took their grievances to Ottawa, some of the ugliest parts of the far-right joined them, distorting a message that was never that clear to begin with. After a weekend of blockades and plenty of bad behaviour, lots of legitimate protesters went home. Those who remain have vowed to occupy Canada's capital, and demand the end of the Liberal government. Who are these people? What happens next? And why are leaders from both sides pouring gas on the fire?GUEST: Elizabeth Simons, deputy director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

The four-year-old boy, who went missing in 1991, might be Canada's most famous missing person. Thirty years after he vanished from a Victoria, BC playground, a new podcast retraces the investigation, connects with his family and tries to figure out both what happened, and why the case matters so much to so many.GUEST: Laura Palmer, investigative reporter and host of Island Crime: Missing Michael We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Some critics have declared Harry Potter "over", or Lin-Manuel Miranda "cringe". In the real world, both Potter and Miranda remain enormously popular with people of all ages. Do critics become irrelevant when their views fall out of step with the vast majority of the audience? Or is shifting people's views towards a differing viewpoint part of a critic's job? How do we explain the vast gap between what an elite corner of social media feels is worthy, and what the sales numbers tell us?GUEST: Yair Rosenberg, Deep Shtetl, The Atlantic We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

You could hear it as far away as Alaska and the West coast. It was many, many more times powerful than an atomic bomb and the largest volcanic eruption in more than 25 years. What was so unique about the underground volcano that shook the Pacific nation last week? And what can it tell us about the climate and what's to come?GUEST:  Shane Cronin, volcanologist at the University of Auckland We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Every province and territory except Ontario has made a deal with the federal government on its affordable child care plan. And with an election looming most think Doug Ford will fall into line soon. National, affordable child care has been decades in the making, and it couldn't come at a more critical time.Research shows that women have borne the brunt of the pandemic's impact on careers, often due to a lack of child care. Can this help them make up for lost time? What do we stand to gain as a country with a plan that makes it affordable for everyone?GUEST:  Carolyn Ferns, Public Policy and Government Relations Coordinator, Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

The first summer and fall of the pandemic, foreign migrant workers who come to pick Canada's fruits and vegetables were experiencing some of the toughest working conditions around. In response, more inspections were promised, and the government vowed to make Covid-19 protocols safer for these vulnerable workers. Since then, what has actually happened to help protect them? What's it actually like on the farms where they work? And despite their necessity to Canada's agriculture industry, why don't many of us seem to care?GUEST: Hilary Beaumont, investigative journalist, writing for The Narwhal. Hilary worked with photographer, Chris Katsarov Luna on the project.   We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

British Columbia has put regulations in place to protect its dwindling salmon stocks, as fewer and fewer fish are returning to spawn. But those regulations don't apply in Alaska, and fish don't respect borders. Meanwhile Alaskan fishers are catching fish bound for BC rivers, depleting the stocks further.What should Canada do? Rely on diplomacy? Start taking fish bound for Washington State in retaliation? Is there any hope of cooperation as the industry on both sides of the border faces a supply crunch that will only get worse?GUEST: Stefan Labbe, climate and environment solutions journalist, Glacier Media. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter