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If you're a newer listener to The Big Story, you may not know aboutThe Gravy Train, a podcast we released in 2019 chronicling the meteoric rise, and tragic downfall of Toronto's most notorious mayor, Rob Ford.

With Toronto in the midst of its first wide-open mayoral race since 2010, we thought now would be an opportune time to revisit this narrative, which captures a moment in politics with some striking similarities to what we're seeing in the city today.

We'll be dropping an episode in this feed every Saturday for the next two months leading up to election day, but they're all available in The Gravy Train feed if you prefer to binge them.

Enjoy!

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ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES:

As Rob Ford began his term as mayor by ending taxes and cancelling transit plans, his colleagues on city council and the reporters who covered them were starting to gossip. As his first weeks turned to months, Ford was around less and less, and people were starting to wonder: What was going on with the mayor? And then, two high-profile nights out added fuel to that fire…

Harm reduction programs in general tend to be divisive, but safe supply might be the most controversial of them all. It involves providing drug users with, well, drugs—in the hopes they won't use more dangerous ones.

The programs have been criticized by politicians, "exposed" in long newspaper features and serve as an easy target for anyone focused on "getting users off drugs" as a strategy to fight the overdose crisis. The reality is complex, and there's still a lot we don't know. But as overdose deaths continue to break records, we can't afford not to explore every option. So, what is safe supply? Does it work or are the claims made by its opponents true? Or both?

GUEST: Dr. Lindsey Richardson, Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of British Columbia; Canada Research Chair in Social Inclusion and Health Equity

We love hearing from listeners! If you'd like to offer feedback, suggest an episode topic or have a question about this episode or any other, you can find The Big Story on Twitter @thebigstoryfpn, you can email us at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca, and you can call and leave a voicemail at 416-935-5935.

If you'd like to share The Big Story with a friend, you can send them this link, which will allow them to open the podcast in their favourite podcast player.

The climate is changing, so wildfires are changing too. The "unprecedented" fires of the past few weeks, won't be unprecedented when they happen again, and again. And the conditions that created them aren't going away. But we aren't helpless against them.

The way we fight fires is changing, too. From earlier detection, more accurate predictions, a different approach to management and ways to get boots on the ground faster in the places where they'll make a difference, the playbook is being written in real time. Here's what we're learning, how we'll use it and how to keep the fires of the future away from homes.

GUEST: Dr. Mike Flannigan, professor at Thompson Rivers University; BC Research Chair in Predictive Services, Emergency Management and Fire Science

We love hearing from listeners! If you'd like to offer feedback, suggest an episode topic or have a question about this episode or any other, you can find The Big Story on Twitter @thebigstoryfpn, you can email us at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca, and you can call and leave a voicemail at 416-935-5935.

If you'd like to share The Big Story with a friend, you can send them this link, which will allow them to open the podcast in their favourite podcast player.

Despite the controversy dominating federal politics for months now, Canadians will not get a public inquiry about Chinese government interference into our democracy and elections. That's one of the takeaways from former Governor General David Johnston's report on the affair, which was released yesterday.

So why did Johnston decide it wouldn't—or couldn't—happen? What did we learn from the report he presented? What will the next few months bring? More hearings? More leaks? A reasoned, thorough and bipartisan review of the difficulties of handling classified information? Or allegations of a "cover-up"?

GUEST: Stephen Maher, reporter and commentator, writing on foreign interference in The Walrus

It's not easy to make yourself notorious among the more than 40,000 McDonald's franchises in the world—but Ottawa's Rideau Street location accomplished it. From dangerous violence, to drug use, general chaos and viral incidents that became world famous (like the raccoon fight...) the recently closed restaurant earned the moniker given to it by a former police chief.

But the story of this McDonald's isn't just one of crime and online fame. It's a story about public space and who gets to use it, how a city changes at night, what resources we offer to people who need them and how every city's downtown is changing right now. Today, the rise and fall of the most famous McDonald's in Canada.

GUEST: Amy Dempsey, senior writer, Toronto Star

Right now, while controlling our own food security becomes more important than ever, Canada's farming industry is in transition. An older generation of farmers are ready to retire—but many of them don't have anyone ready to take over the family business. Meanwhile, corporate megafarms are scooping up farmland where they can and a younger generation of farmers is desperately trying to get ahold of space to grow on.

Where is the next generation coming from and what are they doing differently? Why are so many older farmers having trouble keeping the business going? What does the future of Canadian farming look like and who owns (or rents) it?

GUESTS: Keith Currie, farmer and president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture; Aliyah Fraser, Owner and Operator at Lucky Bug Farm