The Big Story

There are some large companies in Canada that have a history of breaking environmental laws. But the framework for fining them can be complex, and often struggles to make the larger businesses feel serious financial ramifications.How does this system work? Or does it? How could we adapt it for a world in which the pursuit of profits that cause environmental harm will become more and more dangerous?GUEST: Ben Collison, PhD student at Dalhousie University, writing for The Conversation 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

It's been decades since the Conservative party played any real role in British Columbia's legislature. But that might be changing. With a little over four months to go before the next provincial election, they BC Conservatives are neck and neck with the NDP to form the next government, at least according to polls?Is it a mirage? A sign of a serious shift in the electorate? Or an indication of pure frustration and anger with the current government, so much so that anyone else, even a party that has spent decades in the province's political wilderness, will do?GUEST: Andrew MacLeod, Legislative Bureau Chief, The Tyee 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Over the next few weeks, we'll be revisiting some of our favourite episodes from the catalogue. If you're new to the show, we hope you enjoy hearing these for the first time, and if you've been with us a while, enjoy this trip down memory lane! -------------------------------------------------------------------------ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES: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 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Cheap. Entitled. Greedy. Those are just a few things that come to mind when one thinks about a landlord. But have you ever considered becoming one?According to data collected by the Canadian Real Estate Association, the current average cost of a house in Canada is just over $700 thousand dollars. Simultaneously, the cost of renting remains at an all-time high. Buying a house that has a basement unit, or something you can rent out to help cover your mortgage, might seem like an appealing option. But is it really that easy? Jordan speaks with Nelda Schulte, a landlord coach and author of "Canadian Landlords Handbook" to find out the hidden reality of rental properties. Do you have a money problem? Call us and leave a message at 416-935-5935. Or email us at hello@itepod.ca. You can also find us on Instagram and TikTok @InThisEconomyPod. Don't forget to leave a call-back number, so we can get in touch. 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

The debate around Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying legislation is exhaustive, and there is no shortage of opinion out there from doctors, advocates, experts and academics, as well as first-person testimonials from terminally ill people who are availing themselves of the system. One of the perspectives often missing in that debate, however, are disabled people, many of whom say they feel the system pushes them towards using MAiD by making them feel like a burden on society.Today, using a text-to-speech program, we present one of those opinions, a woman who is leading a charge to preserve some MAiD-free spaces within the Canadian health care system, where disabled people can seek treatment without the spectre of assisted death near them.GUEST: Gabrielle Peters, disabled writer, policy analyst and the co-founder of Disability Filibuster 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Welcome to a fascinating little corner of contract and competition law that could leave a lasting impact on Canada's grocery industry. Last week, the competition bureau revealed it was investigating the parent companies of two of the country's largest grocers in relation to controls they have applied to their lease agreements.These sorts of controls are common in all sorts of agreements—but the bureau alleges that Loblaws and Sobeys are using them in an unfair and anticompetitive manner, so it's begun a process that could ultimately see them taken to court. Exactly what is the bureau looking at? How much power does it have in this situation? And how much might Canadians learn about the inner workings of our grocery giants?GUEST: Jennifer Quaid, Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law, specializing in corporate accountability, competition and business regulation 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

A couple of years ago, angry Taylor Swift fans filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster, after a presale event for her tour went haywire and resulted in millions of disappointed fans. That lawsuit is still before the courts. But it's one thing to have Swifties suing you, and another to face the United States Department of Justice, who also sued Ticketmaster's parent company Live Nation last week, alleging that the company is a monopoly and accusing it of several practices that combine to give it unfair control of the live music industry.Live Nation is a giant corporation. The US DoJ is one of the world's most powerful government agencies. The two entities are on a collision course, and in the middle are millions of music fans, wondering if this lawsuit might finally do something about ever-rising concert prices and fees.GUEST: Joel Khalili, business reporter, 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Aiden Pleterski was charged with fraud a couple of weeks ago. On the face of it, it's a simple charge, but the story behind those charges is one that could only happen in the world of cryptocurrency. Pleterski, a native of Whitby, Ontario, built a reputation as the 'Crypto King' and is alleged to have been  living lavishly on investors' money.Now there are handfuls of lawsuits, allegedly tens of millions in missing money and a tangled web of angry investors. How did this all go down? How did Pleterski allegedly defraud investors? And why were investors handing their money to a kid barely out of high school in the first place?GUEST: Jennifer Pagliaro, crime reporter, The Toronto Star 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

The internet changed nearly everything about real estate. Now buyers can see all the listings, everywhere; they can learn the price histories and estimated values of houses they look at, and can see the minute details of those houses before ever visiting them or retaining an agent. But one thing never did change: they still can't easily see an agent's commission.But a settled lawsuit in the United States and two more in the courts in Canada are preparing to change that and then we'll learn just how much of the market this simple but incredibly opaque part of the industry influences the whole thing.GUEST: Murtaza Haider, professor of real estate management at Toronto Metropolitan University 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

We've gained some new subscribers recently, and over the next few Sundays we want to help welcome them to the show by re-releasing some of our favourite episodes from the last few years. If you're new here, welcome! And if you've been with us for a while, we hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane. ----------------------------------------------------------It's here. It's become a part of summer in most areas of Canada. It's bad for you. What exactly makes wildfire smoke harmful to breathe? And what about the mental health impact of hazy skies and a darkened future?If we're going to live with this we need less speculation, and more science and solutions. Here they are.GUEST: Dr. Courtney Howard, emergency physician; Vice-Chair of the Global Climate and Health Alliance  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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Summer is around the corner, and a lot of us are dreaming of a holiday. But post pandemic it feels like everything has skyrocketed.  So how can you still have a fun and meaningful family vacation in this economy?Natalie Preddie is a writer and a TV personality who specializes in travel. As a seasoned traveler herself, whether that's solo or with a family, on a plane or in a train, she is full of tips for how to make that dream of vacation a reality. Do you have a money problem? Call us and leave a message at 416-935-5935. Or email us at hello@itepod.ca. You can also find us on Instagram and TikTok @InThisEconomyPod. Don't forget to leave a call-back number, so we can get in touch. 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Have you met Shrimp Jesus yet? He's Jesus, only a shrimp. Or maybe a half-man, half-shrimp. Anyway...he's the most recognizable example of thousands upon thousands of bizarre AI-created images that are flooding Facebook's algorithm and its users feeds.These images go viral because the algorithm boosts them, because other Facebook accounts are engaging with them. But who, exactly, is engaging with these random fake images? And why? The answer tells a story that will give you a whole new perspective on just how many people on the world's largest social media platform are, well, actually humans.GUEST: Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media, cohost of the 404 Media podcast 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to use the notwithstanding clause to enact criminal justice reform if elected.  Liberals have pointed to this as an indication that Conservatives would use it for other things, including restricting abortion. How much of this is political posturing from either side? How huge a precedent would using the notwithstanding clause this way represent? If a Conservative government went down this path, would access to abortion really be at risk? And what could the Liberals do now if they believed that to be the case?GUEST: Daphne Gilbert, professor of criminal and constitutional law at the University of Ottawa 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

It's known as the third rail of Canadian politics, and maybe that's why we've never properly addressed it—but as long as Canada has had universal health care, people have been paying out of pocket for faster service. It's only in the past few years, though, as the public system has crumbled, that the trickle has turned into a flood.What exactly qualifies as private health care in Canada, and who gets it? Where are the loopholes in the system that allow it to proliferate? And why does nobody in Ottawa want to talk about how to tackle a system that's not working for anyone?GUEST: Christina Frangou, writing in Maclean's 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

For a number of years, some of the world's biggest brands painted themselves as shining lights of progressive values. There was more to it than altruism, of course—at the time it was seen as good for business. But now retail experts are wondering if the winds are shifting. While "go woke, go broke" has always been a farcical maxim, it's worth asking why some companies have begun pulling back on showing off their dedication to social issues like diversity or sustainability, and what message that sends to their customers but also those watching where things might be headed...GUEST: Emily Stewart, senior correspondent at Business Insider 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

A long weekend means it's time to go through the mailbag. And this time there is actual mail in it. When you report on Canada Post, it turns out, you get physical letters. So we'll read those, discuss meeting and trying to pin down Justin Trudeau and the making of our latest narrative series, and what might be coming next...As always, get in touch with us, and you might find yourself in these episodes.  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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

We've gained some new subscribers recently, and over the next few Sundays we want to help welcome them to the show by re-releasing some of our favourite episodes from the last few years. If you're new here, welcome! And if you've been with us for a while, we hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane. ----------------------------------------------------------The promise was pretty clear: During his first successful campaign as Liberal leader, Justin Trudeau told LGBT voters that we would end Canada’s longstanding ban prohibiting men who have sex with men from donating blood. At the time, it seemed like a simple promise to keep. A few years later, he claimed it wasn’t so simple.Now, it’s 2021 and Erin O’Toole is criticizing Trudeau for his failure as the Conservatives seek LGBT support. How is the blood ban still in place? When Trudeau claims his government will “follow the science” what is he referring to? Is a discriminatory approach really still necessary when technology has rapidly advanced and Canada needs blood more than ever?GUEST: Justin Ling, investigative journalistWe love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Patrick's family member is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and addicted to cocaine stimulants. Patrick and his wife have been trying to fund treatment through private means but are running out of money. They are worried long wait times and delays in the public system will be a barrier to care for their beloved family member.Jordan speaks to Nadeem Esmail, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute who has studied the current state of mental health care in Canada and how we compare to other nations. Do you have a money problem? Call us and leave a message at 416-935-5935. Or email us at hello@itepod.ca. You can also find us on Instagram and TikTok @InThisEconomyPod. Don't forget to leave a call-back number, so we can get in touch. 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

More than a year ago, BC decriminalized possession of small amounts of certain drugs. Earlier this month, they asked the federal government to recriminalize public use of those drugs. It was supposed to be a three-year pilot, but the key part of it lasted less than half that time. What made the government throw in the towel? Why didn't this project work as intended? And what does this mean for other places, specifically Toronto, that are considering similar measures?GUEST: Jen St. Denis, reporter with The Tyee covering housing and civic issues, with a particular focus on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Recent movements, and brave survivors, have helped to shine light on some of the abuses that happen behind closed doors. But there's one that is still rarely spoken of: Incest. For years the numbers cited on how common incest was in families were simply assumptions, but the age of voluntary genealogy tracing has led to a reckoning.It's far more common than we ever imagined, and those voluntary tests are leading to some people finding out, in an awful way, that they were the children of incest. When they do, there's almost no resources for them to lean on, nowhere for them to turn. Almost...GUEST: Sarah Zhang, staff writer at The Atlantic 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 by calling 416-935-5935 and leaving us a voicemailOr @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter