The Big Story

This is the fifth episode in a weeklong collaboration between The Big Story and The Narwhal, an award-winning non-profit publication that provides in-depth coverage of climate issues across Canada.You’ve heard of Coastal GasLink: it’s the name of a fracked-gas pipeline under construction in northern B.C. The project, spearheaded by Calgary-based TC Energy, spans 670 kilometres and crosses mountain passes, salmon rivers and Indigenous lands. Those lands include around 190 kilometres of Wet’suwet’en territory, where Hereditary Chiefs have long opposed this project that’s being built without their consent. A year after the RCMP conducted raids and arrested more than 30 land defenders and two journalists, TC Energy is now drilling and laying pipe under a sacred Wet’suwet’en river — and tensions are as high as ever. The Narwhal’s northwest B.C. reporter Matt Simmons shares his first-hand view of what’s happening on the ground.Read Matt’s story about the latest tensions on Wet’suwet’en territory here.Read Matt’s explainer on the route of the Coastal GasLink pipeline 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

This is the fourth episode in a weeklong collaboration between The Big Story and The Narwhal, an award-winning non-profit publication that provides in-depth coverage of climate issues across Canada.Indigenous Peoples have long taken care of the land — in fact, they still steward 80 per cent of remaining global biodiversity. With the world facing an extinction crisis, one solution gaining momentum is the creation of more Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. As Montreal prepares to host COP15, the United Nations conference on biodiversity, experts say Canada has a responsibility to take the lead on implementing Indigenous-led conservation practices. Will it? B.C. reporter Steph Wood and biodiversity reporter Ainslie Cruickshank dig deep.GUESTS: Stephanie Wood, B.C. reporter; Ainslie Cruikshank, B.C. biodiversity reporterRead Stephanie's story about Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas hereRead Ainslie's story about British Columbia's lack of protections for at-risk species 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

This is the third episode in a weeklong collaboration between The Big Story and The Narwhal, an award-winning non-profit publication that provides in-depth coverage of climate issues across Canada.More than 200 million people could be displaced from their homes worldwide in the next few decades as extreme weather events become more frequent and intense. The biggest climate change risk in Canada? Flooding. Just last year, floods in B.C. wiped out roads, killed five people and left thousands stranded without food and water. In the Prairies, reporter Drew Anderson talked to people in the tiny, flood-prone community of Lehigh, Alta., who are being bought out of their homes before rising waters destroy them. Government reports say that Canadians need to learn to live with water — but what exactly does that mean?GUEST: Drew Anderson, Narwhal’s Prairies reporter, based in CalgaryYou can read Drew’s story, “This was our forever home”: floods, climate change and the end of one Alberta community, here.Read more of Drew’s stories 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

This is the second episode in a weeklong collaboration between The Big Story and The Narwhal, an award-winning non-profit publication that provides in-depth coverage of climate issues across Canada.For decades, Canada’s environmental policy has been greatly influenced by the interests of oil, gas and mining industries. And the close-knit bonds between these companies and government officials have been detrimental to climate action — they’ve successfully persuaded governments to weaken emissions regulations and commit billions toward pipeline projects. Oh, and both fossil fuel companies and Canada’s banks are pushing to delay climate transparency rules, climate investigations reporter Carl Meyer tells Fatima. So how do we make sense of this dark underbelly of Canadian politics? Tune in to find out.GUEST: Carl Meyer, The Narwhal's climate investigations reporter Read more about Brock Harrison and his move to the private sector hereRead about oil and gas companies lobbying against climate financial transparency hereRead Carl's coverage of efforts to regulate methane emissions 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

This is the first episode in a weeklong collaboration between The Big Story and The Narwhal, an award-winning non-profit publication that provides in-depth coverage of climate issues across Canada.Ontario Premier Doug Ford just broke his promise to not open up the protected Greenbelt to development. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bleak news these days for the province’s environmental protections: conservation authorities are being gutted, flood-mitigating wetlands are at risk and citizens are losing their voice at the table. Plus, cities that don’t want sprawl are being ordered to grow beyond their boundaries. So what’s driving Ford’s decision-making? In a word: housing.GUEST: Emma McIntosh, Ontario reporter at The NarwhalRead Emma's Greenbelt coverage hereRead Fatima's coverage of Doug Ford's sprawl policies hereRead Emma and Fatima's coverage of Ontario Conservation Authorities here, and their writing on Doug Ford's overhaul of environmental protections 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

Recently Bruce Willis's digital likeness was licensed for use in a Russian telecom commercial. And as both technology and acceptance of 'deepfakes' like this are improving, opportunities will soon abound for people with value attached to their names and likenesses. But who controls a digital instance of someone? Can an actor sell his or her likeness in perpetuity, to star in films when they're long dead? Can a celebrity endorse products without ever going near them or consuming them?And what happens to the aspiring actors and musicians who would otherwise have gotten the less-publicized gigs that could now go to the mere image of someone way more famous than they are? The possibilities are endless...GUEST: Will Bedingfield, London-based staff writer at WIRED  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

Yesterday, Canada's new Indo-Pacific strategy specifically targeted China's human rights abuses, its threats against Taiwan and Hong Kong and increasing aggression in dealings with the west. Earlier this year, there were reports Canada would not even mention the country's name for fear of provoking retaliation.The new strategy comes on the heels of changes to the rules around foreign takeovers of Canadian businesses, and divestment orders given to three Chinese companies who purchased critical minerals businesses in Canada. Put it all together and it seems Canada has decided now is the time to push back against China. Why now? And how might China push back against Canadians?GUEST: Stephanie Carvin, former national security analyst, Associate Professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, author of Stand on Guard: Reassessing threats to Canada's National Security 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

This is Mia's story, but she is far from the only one. When the BC government decided to take her from her band and her closest family, and ship her halfway across the country to non-Indigenous foster parent, the Gitxsan fought back. What happened offers a glimpse into a system that supposedly has learned the lessons of residential school horrors, but somehow hasn't learned enough to stop taking kids from Indigenous communities that want to care for them...GUEST: Amy Romer, writing in The Walrus 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

Ontario kids will be back in school Tuesday, after the provincial government backed down on its use of the notwithstanding clause to force CUPE workers into a contract. That's the simple part. But this fight was important well beyond a few days of school—with unions across the country threatening solidarity strikes, sending money to support Ontario's education support workers and generally creating a show of force not seen in decades.So will the two sides at the heart of this now find a solution? How will Doug Ford's government handle other upcoming labour battles, now that they know how hard the pushback can be? What does this one fight mean for labour in Canada this month and beyond?GUEST: Cynthia Mulligan, Queen's Park reporter, CityNews 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

Nearly three years of into the on-going pandemic and there's still plenty of unused office spaces in most downtowns right now.The City of Calgary is leading the trend of office to residential space conversion projects. So much so that American media in San Francisco and other places has picked up on it. This kind of urban revitalization is called "adaptive re-use," and it turns out, it's not actually as inexpensive or easy to do as it seems. So,  what's required to get office conversion projects off the ground, in terms of legislation, but also, just, practically? And could this plan scale up quickly, to solve a housing crisis?Guest: Tracy Hadden Loh, Fellow with the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking at Brookings Metro. 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