The Big Story

Early in October, some Iqaluit residents noticed something funny about their tap water — it smelled like gas. After they raised the alarm it took more than a week of varied testing to confirm the presence of fuel in the water. Since last week, citizens have been told not to drink the water at all, not even to boil it first. How did this happen and how can it be fixed? Why are health officials dodging questions about how much fuel is in the water? And what does the entire mess reveal about infrastructure in Canada's northernmost regions?GUEST: Kent Driscoll, APTN Iqaluit 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

Much of the Atlantic bubble is intact, but in New Brunswick, cases are spiking. Ontario has mostly escaped unscathed so far, while Saskatchewan and Alberta grapple with a wave worse than the first three. Is this evidence of the pandemic diverging regionally across Canada, or just a more infectious variant that can better find holes that existed the entire time?What have we learned from previous waves that we're employing now? What are we still finding out? And, most importantly, will this be Covid's last wave in Canada?GUEST: Dr. Raywat Deonandan, Global Health Epidemiologist and Associate Professor with the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa. 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

A nation of 100 million people? New towns and cities springing up in previously rural areas? A revitalized and younger workforce? As the impact of the climate era makes parts of the world uninhabitable, billions of people will need to move to survive — one of the largest migrations in human history. Where will these people go? Who is equipped to best take them in, and help them build new homes and lives? Canada may not have taken the lead on fighting climate change yet, but this is an area in which we're perfectly equipped to blaze a trail.GUEST: Parag Khanna, author of Move: The Forces Uprooting Us 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

Many North American cities are locked in a damaging cycle, whereby new suburban expansion is needed to subsidize the infrastructure costs of old development. The pattern has left many municipalities teetering on the brink of insolvency, and led to the decimation of once vibrant streetscapes to make way for unsightly, car-friendly strip malls.What went awry in this continent's approach to urban planning? And to the extent that it's even possible, how can we even begin to correct the mistakes of the past?GUEST: Jason Slaughter, Creator and Host of the Youtube channel, Not Just Bikeshttps://www.youtube.com/c/NotJustBikes 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 Canadian government thought it was an agreement on a minor part of the settlement the church owed for its part in residential schools. The church managed to convince a court that the government had agreed to waive the entire remaining amount — potentially more than $20 million. How did a legal loophole allow the church to avoid payment, and ... it has to be asked: Why didn't the Catholic Church just pay what it owed as reparations for the part it played in residential school horrors? GUEST: Tom Cardoso, The Globe and Mail investigations team 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 Prime Minister said in the closing days of a close campaign that he was "open" to electoral reform. That came as a surprise to the millions of people who watched him break his promise on the issue after the 2015 election. But it's worth asking, as Canada's elections continue to reward parties who win fewer votes with more seats — what would equitable electoral reform look like in Canada? How could it be accomplished? Which systems offer which parties advantages? And is it even a possibility?GUEST: Max Fawcett, political writer and commentator 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 Canadian government receives more credible information regarding Unidentified Flying Objects than you'd ever imagine. And you don't see much, if any, of it. Instead, it sends reports to a private citizen, in Winnipeg, who has become something of a UFO consultant for sightings across Canada. Why?GUEST: Daniel Otis, reporting for Vice Canada(Today's episode is brought to you by CBC's War of the Worlds. You can watch it right here on CBC Gem.) 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

UPDATE: On Nov. 23, 2021, Crown Counsel decided not to proceed with sexual assault charges against Steve Wallace. Wallace died within days of that decision.Steve Wallace claims he's taught more than 25,000 people to drive. Dozens of them say he harassed and abused them while he did so. The allegations which now date back into the 1970s came to light after one young woman, who says he harassed her during a lesson, created a social media account about it—and the victims have been sharing stories since. Now Wallace faces charges and two communities ask themselves the same questions: How did this happen? Why did nobody come forward sooner?GUEST: Brishti Basu, Capital Daily (Read the Capital Daily's coverage of Steve Wallace here and here.) 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

Ozy was a digital publisher that claimed to have an audience of tens of millions. Had you ever heard of them before last week? Me neither. A New York Times expose began a flood of reporting that showed us all just how little most of us understand about ad fraud, digital media and the ecosystem that drives this multi-billion-dollar industry. From absurd claims, to impersonations, paid traffic and more, major brands stuck by Ozy and continued to invest with them. Why?GUEST: Craig Silverman, ProPublica, formerly of Buzzfeed News 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

When Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp all vanished for hours on Monday, it wasn't a nefarious plan. It was a mistake. But what it revealed about how much the world has come to depend on Mark Zuckerberg's collection of apps was plain: Millions of people and businesses around the world—and even one nation's government—were completely cut off. What Facebook has built has become essential to the functioning of much of global communications. So what are we going to do about that?GUEST: Jesse Hirsh, Metaviews.ca 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