Front Burner CBC News & Politics

In April, a hospital memo was released by the British Columbia’s official opposition party. It was from July 2023, a few months after the possession of small amounts of certain hard drugs were decriminalized in the province under a three-year pilot project.

And it advised nurses to not impede patients using illicit drugs within the hospital.

The province said the advice in the memo had been walked back. But it became another example used by the plan’s critics for why progressive drug policies were failing.

Then, last week, B.C. Premier David Eby asked Health Canada to recriminalize the use of hard drugs in public spaces, such as hospitals and restaurants.

So how did growing backlash from residents, health-care workers, police and conservative politicians end a key component of decriminalization?

Today, we unpack those questions with CBC British Columbia reporter Moira Wyton.

In early April, after Israeli troops withdrew from the area surrounding the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, Palestinian recovery teams were able to assess the destruction. And just last week, mass graves were uncovered on the hospital grounds. There’s been similar reports at Al-Shifa hospital in Northern Gaza as well.

United Nations officials are calling for independent investigations into the matter. A statement by the Israeli Defence Forces has said accusations that they had buried the bodies were "baseless and unfounded".

Freelance journalist Akram Al-Sattari has been reporting from the grounds of the Nasser Medical Complex. He spoke to Front Burner about what he witnessed.

When Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre visited a convoy camp on the border between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia last week, he was filmed in front of a “F--k Trudeau” flag.

It was another moment of visibility for a slogan that’s encroached on the mainstream, appearing on bumper stickers and flags scattered across the country.

So when did this visible hate for the Prime Minister start? What’s the relationship between extremist groups and mainstream anger? And is there any way for Justin Trudeau – or his opposition – to heal the divisions?

Journalist Justin Ling has spent many hours listening to groups who profess hatred for Trudeau. He’s the author of Bug-Eyed and Shameless on Substack, and he recently spoke to the Prime Minister about these divisions.

 On April 17th, pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment on the lawn of Columbia University in New York, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, and for their administration to divest from ties to Israel. The next day, their university’s president called on the NYPD to clear the encampment. They arrested more than 100 students. That event caused an eruption of solidarity encampments, protests, and faculty walk-outs at colleges and universities across the U.S. 

Now, the encampments and solidarity protests have spread even further — including at McGill University in Montreal, and universities in Europe and Australia.

Today, we’re going to talk about why students in multiple countries feel compelled to face arrest or suspension for this movement — and why others feel the protests are creating a dangerous climate that is fueling antisemitism.

Our guest is Arielle Angel, editor-in-chief of the magazine Jewish Currents.

The controversial reality TV show known as ‘Kid Nation’, which borrowed its premise from Lord of the Flies, was cancelled shortly after its 2007 debut. Producers took 40 kids into a makeshift desert town to fend for themselves and create their own society. Was the series an opportunity to discover what kids are capable of? Or simply a ploy for ratings? With access to former ‘Kid Nation’ contestants, their families, and the show’s creators, culture journalist Josh Gwynn uncovers how this cult TV show became a lightning rod for an ongoing debate about the ethics of reality TV. Welcome to Split Screen, an examination of the utterly captivating, sometimes unsettling world of entertainment and pop culture. From reality TV gone awry, to the cult of celebrity, each season of Split Screen takes listeners on an evocative journey inside the world of showbiz. Ex-contestants, producers, and cultural critics uncover complicated truths behind TV’s carefully curated facades, and question what our entertainment reveals about us. Split Screen: sometimes reality is twisted. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/-vGm-quA

Earlier this month, the Ontario legislature banned the keffiyeh, a checkered black and white scarf long worn by Palestinians and often seen at pro-Palestinian protests.

The ban was brought in because of a longstanding policy against clothing items that make overt political statements. But that decision has ignited a massive debate.

So, is the keffiyeh a political statement? Is it traditional regalia? Is it both? 

Today, we unpack those questions with Vox correspondent Abdallah Fayyad.

He recently wrote a piece called "How the keffiyeh became a symbol of the Palestinian cause."