The Big Story

It's a cycle that repeats itself in many ecosystems where humans live: Harmony, profit, imbalance and then a desperate need to fix things. When wild salmon runs around Wuikinuxv, BC, dwindled to almost nothing, the local grizzly bears grew hungry — and dangerous to humans. Now the salmon are returning, but the community must find a way to manage both the fish and bear populations, and keep the forest healthy. GUEST: Jimmy Thomson, Beside.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

Last week Vancouver's City Council voted unanimously to ask the federal government for an exemption that would allow the city to decriminalize small amounts of all drugs. The move comes amidst a surge in the overdose crisis that has killed more Vancouver citizens than Covid-19. The city is looking at anything it can do to save lives, and there are studies and examples around the globe that indicate decriminalization can help. Will the federal government grant the exemption? Will this move become a political football? What would a Canadian city that decriminalized drugs look like on the street? Where do the police stand? And how soon might it happen? Because the crisis has advocates close to the breaking point... GUEST: Travis Lupick, journalist and author of Fighting for Space: How a Group of Drug Users Transformed One City’s Struggle with Addiction 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

One thing people around the game who know Kim Ng agree on is that she should have had a top job long ago. But considering baseball's legacy of promoting ex-players, many doubted the day would ever come. In November, the Florida Marlins made Ng the first female general manager in the history of the game. The questions now are around what she'll do with the team, why it took so long, and who else will follow in her footsteps... GUEST: Christina Kahrl, Senior Editor, ESPN MLB 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 seemed like a prank posted to social media—but there are witnesses who confirmed that the advertised fight night between McGill University students actually happened. Nobody was hurt, and it might have been a harmless enough story, but it illustrates the challenges first-year students are facing this year in dorms that they joke have become their prisons. GUEST: Selena Ross, digital reporter, CTV News Montreal 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 irresponsible and illegal opening of an Etobicoke, Ontario BBQ joint this week ended Thursday when the owner was finally arrested. But in the Toronto area, it remains to be seen if he'll be the last person to defy the province's regulation. There's no excuse for breaking the law and endangering public health, but the Adamson BBQ saga is a symbol of just how angry and desperate small businesses in lockdown zones are as they face what they say are unfair restrictions that allow big-box stores to remain open while they are forced to close. Did the Ontario government screw this up? What needs to change? And how can these businesses survive in the meantime? GUEST: Ryan Mallough, director of provincial affairs for Ontario, Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses 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 the first six months of the pandemic, Alberta was one of the best provinces in Canada at containing Covid-19. Then it all went wrong. This week alone, the province had a day in which its case count was higher than Ontario's, despite having barely a third its population. How did it all fall apart out west, and who's to blame? And what needs to happen next to salvage a dangerous situation? GUEST: Courtney Theriault, CityNews Edmonton 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

Halton Hills is just over an hour's drive from Toronto. Many of its residents have been working from home for months. Issues were first raised about its internet connectivity 15 years ago—and many households struggle to get reliable connections today. As the pandemic pushes everything online, regions in rural Canada struggle to keep up. And we all too often think of rural areas as sparsely populated lands far from big cities. But they aren't. They're often just down the road and they need help to get online. GUEST: Melanie Hennessy, Georgetown Independent Free Press 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

Families have spent the past eight months in closer quarters than ever before. But what about people who share a home and aren't related or dating one another? How are roommates negotiating the many precarious situations that have arisen from sharing a house amid a pandemic? With more younger adults living in roommate situations later into their lives and careers, it's a path that millions are going to be navigating this winter. GUEST: Kelli María Korducki 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

We want elderly Canadians, who are heightened risk from Covid-19, to be safe. For much of the past eight months, that has meant hundreds of thousands of grandparents haven't seen their grandkids, parents haven't seen their children, or their siblings — and for many of them, this has harmed them as much as a bout with the virus might. We all want our elderly loved ones to be around forever, but even forgetting about Covid-19, they won't be. And as they face another four to six months without much contact or support, many of them are wondering if they might not choose to take the risk with the time they have left. GUEST: Christina Frangou, science and health writer 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

As you might imagine, QAnon supporters believed that Donald Trump would handily win reelection. When he didn't, it blew a hole in the conspirac--hah, of course it didn't. New theories popped up to take its place, new 'loaves' were baked. New enemies were found. What can we learn from how the world's most dangerous conspiracy adapts to overwhelming evidence to the contrary? And can we find ways to help believers see the evidence in front of them? GUEST: Justin Ling 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