Front Burner

The federal budget was unveiled Thursday afternoon, and it lays out some of the big bets the Carney government plans on making in the years ahead. A $36-billion tax break to kickstart an “investment supercycle”. A number of affordability measures. A plan to end homelessness within a decade.

But those bets also raise some uncomfortable questions.

Can we really fast track huge nation building projects and still hit our climate goals? How much debt are we taking on to pay for it all? And will any of this actually make life more affordable?

CBC senior parliamentary writer Aaron Wherry was in the budget lockup, and he’s here to break it all down.

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

In the wake of the Democratic sweep of the U.S. midterms, we take a deeper look at the factors that got us here, from Iran to data centres. We also examine what could come next from a rejected Republican Party and a blue Congress.

David A. Graham joins us. He's a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America.

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

Trump-backed picks lost and Republican strongholds crumbled as Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate.

Alex Shephard, senior editor at The New Republic, is here. We talk about some of the stunning Democrat wins, like Texas and South Carolina. How will they wield their newfound power?

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

As the U.S. voters head to the midterm polls, Republican candidates and leaders are targeting Muslim and Arab Americans casting them as suspect, questioning their loyalties, and their place in American life.

Much of this has centred on Michigan Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed, and Minnesota Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar, but they are not alone.

Today, we take a closer look at Islamophobia on the Republican campaign trail and ask how anti-Muslim fear, skepticism and hate can be cultivated and used for political ends.

Moustafa Bayoumi is a professor of English at Brooklyn College and the author of 'How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America.' He's our guest today.

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

Earlier this month, U.S. ambassador Pete Hoekstra, made the dramatic allegation that Canada could be engaging in election interference in the U.S.

The ambassador was pointing to a few different things. One, was comments made by Industry Minister Melanie Joly about Canada’s tariff strategy. Another was Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s anti-tariff ads that ran in the U.S. last fall. They also pointed to Canadians that have been charged or sentenced in the U.S. with voter fraud-related incidents as part of a broad crackdown on non-citizen voting.

So what actually counts as foreign interference? We’re joined by Leah West, an associate professor of international affairs at Carleton University – and a former advisor for Canada’s Foreign Interference Commission.

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