Front Burner from CBC News and CBC Podcasts is your essential daily news podcast taking you deep into the stories shaping Canada and the world. In this special Front Burner evening edition from the ground in Ottawa as police move in on protestors, host Jayme Poisson accompanies Steve Day, former head of the Canadian Armed Forces’ JTF-2 special-operations task force, to the protest site at Parliament and staging sites outside the downtown core to examine the challenges law enforcement could face. And she talks to protesters about why they’re digging in. More episodes are available at hyperurl.co/frontburner

World news, local voices. Nothing is Foreign is a weekly trip to where the story is unfolding. Hosted by Tamara Khandaker. This episode takes you inside El Salvador to hear from locals to see how the promise of a cryptocurrency paradise by a self-professed 'world's coolest dictator' is running up against the reality of regular people just trying to survive. More episodes are available at: http://hyperurl.co/nothingisforeign

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney continues to face criticism from all sides for his handling of the pandemic in the prairie province, where doctors are begging for an immediate lockdown as the health care system remains on the brink of collapse. Other premiers and leaders across the country have not faced the same kind of crisis in this fourth wave — how did Alberta get here, and what happens next? Rosie and Elamin also look ahead to what priorities Justin Trudeau is hoping to tackle as his Liberal Party will continue to govern and as Parliament is set to return before the end of the fall. Party Lines is also saying farewell for now — but you can expect to hear Elamin and Rosie back here in your feeds, whenever the next federal election rolls around.

Now that Rosie and Elamin have mostly — mostly — caught up on sleep after Monday’s big night, they’re ready to look ahead at what happens next. Sure, this new Parliament may look pretty similar to the last, but each federal party now has plenty of questions to grapple with: how do the Liberals move forward with their agenda in another minority? Will the Conservative Party have to re-identify who they are? Will the NDP devise a list of demands they expect the Liberals to fulfill in order to secure their support? And what happens next with the Green Party, and the People’s Party of Canada? As Rosie points out, there’s an endless stream of stories to follow once an election wraps up — and a new Parliament could very well bring significant change to this country.

This is it: the final stretch before election day. Rosie and Elamin have noticed that the major party leaders have shifted their tone into more negative territory this week — but does that risk alienating voters and reaffirming the worst feelings people have about politics? And what about the risk of people feeling more divided than ever before? Elamin also breaks down some of the biggest differences between what the major parties are putting on the table as they continue to court voters, and Rosie maps out what she’ll be watching for, come Monday evening (which could, potentially, be a very late night).

Tonight, five federal party leaders go head-to-head in the sole official English-language debate of this election. Elamin and Rosie lay out the stakes — which are much higher this side of Labour Day — and look at whether tonight’s event could have a greater impact than most leaders’ debates of the past. The two also take stock of the latest issues to add pressure to party leaders in recent days, including gun control, continued protests over vaccines and carbon pricing. How are the major federal leaders responding, with less than two weeks to go?

We heard you loud and clear: climate change is a top issue for many Party Lines listeners. This week, Rosie and Elamin dive into what the major parties are promising when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and examine how the climate change conversation on this campaign trail is pretty different, compared to 2019. And before they get into that: the two dissect the recent shift in tone, as groups of protesters continue to direct anger over vaccines at Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau. What impact might this have, politically, on the rest of the campaign? Could vaccines and COVID-19 drive the final weeks of this election?

We’re two weeks (out of five!) into this federal election campaign, and while parties have so far attempted to push a whole range of issues to the forefront, there was one that dominated the conversation early this week: health care. Rosie and Elamin get to the root of why, exactly, the Liberals and Conservatives appeared at odds over this, and what prescriptions leaders are pitching to improve Canada’s health-care system. The two also take a close look at the Conservative Party’s recent gains in the polls and what’s changed in the last couple of weeks as the Tories aim to make Erin O'Toole a household name.

They’re back! Rosie and Elamin have tossed the rest of their summer plans out the window and are settling in for a five-week federal election campaign that will culminate in a trip to the polls September 20. They kick things off with a close look at what might be the biggest question on a lot of people’s minds: why are we even having an election right now, anyway? With COVID-19 still present, wildfires raging in parts of the country and many would-be voters still in summer vacation mode, it’s understandable that you might’ve even missed that an election was called. Elamin and Rosie have got you covered: they’ll set the stage for Canada’s 44th federal election and look ahead to what issues could ultimately take centre stage in this campaign.

Welcome to Party Lines! Co-hosts Rosemary Barton and Elamin Abdelmahmoud demystify Canadian politics, one issue at a time. Because talking politics is for everyone.