Front Burner

There’s an old adage from the days of the Watergate scandal: “follow the money.” And in Donald Trump’s second term as President of the United States, these words remain incredibly relevant.

From foreign investments, to real estate, cryptocurrency, personal stock trades, taxpayer settlement funds, personal gifts, and presidential pardons the news environment has been flooded with reports about the ways in which critics say Donald Trump is using the Presidency to profit personally.

Zack Beauchamp is Senior Correspondent with VOX. He joins the show to discuss the flood of corruption allegations surrounding Trump, the politics of self enrichment, and the ethical loopholes that make much of it possible.

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

Western Premiers gathered in Kananskis, Alberta this week to discuss shared issues like trade, defense and energy projects. But another topic overshadowed the meetings: Alberta separatism.

Late last week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced the province will hold a referendum on the prospect of independence in the fall. But rather than a straight question about leaving Canada, the referendum will ask Albertans whether they support another referendum on seceding. The question has both separatists and federalists upset.

Kathleen Petty, host of the CBC podcast West of Centre, and Jason Markusoff, writer and producer with CBC in Alberta, join us to talk through the fallout. What does this mean for the country, for Albertans and for Smith herself?

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

As we inch closer to the July 1st CUSMA review deadline, there still aren’t any formal trade talks between Canada and the U.S. planned. The government says there are informal talks happening at different levels.

Other recent developments aren’t great. U.S. officials have blasted a substantial hike in what big streamers have to pay into Canadian content, and they’ve suspended a joint defense board that’s been around for 80 years. This week as talks between the U.S. and Mexico begin, Canada is excluded.

Our returning guest is Eric Miller, the president of Rideau Potomac Strategy Group and a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

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

In a major escalation of its months long “maximum pressure” campaign, the United States announced it has indicted Raúl Castro, former president of Cuba, over the downing of two planes flown by a group of Cuban exiles targeting the regime in 1996.

It was a move officials within the Trump administration had been signalling would happen after the director of the CIA met with Cuban officials in Havana.

We speak to Peter Kornbluh, an author and senior analyst at the National Security Archive specializing in Cuba, about whether this signals a Venezuela-style strike on the country.

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

Prime Minister Mark Carney has condemned what he described as the “abominable treatment” of flotilla activists detained by Israeli authorities.

His statement came after the release of a video showing activists from around the world blindfolded, restrained, and forced face-down on the ground as Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir toured the detention site.

Up to a dozen Canadians were among those detained, according to the group who organized the flotilla. All have since been deported.

Today we’re joined by Heidi Matthews, legal scholar and assistant professor at York University’s Osgoode Law School, who traveled alongside an earlier flotilla as a part of a legal support vessel. She joins to discuss the politics and history of the Gaza flotillas, and the tradition of nonviolent direct action.

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