Friday, January 20th 2023

It's probably the single brand most associated with Canada. It's also the single brand most associated with colonization, stolen land and genocide of Indigenous peoples.

Yes, the Hudson's Bay company has a long legacy. But for how much longer? The company's retail footprint is shrinking and it hasn't become much of an online shopping destination. One thing it does have though, is billions of dollars in prime downtown real estate. It's given one building away already—and the motives behind that are up for debate. What will happen to the rest of them?

GUEST: Don Gillmor, award-winning Canadian novelist, journalist and children's book author. Writing in The Walrus.

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Thursday, January 19th 2023

Many think of Canada as a promised land for immigrants from all over the world. That's because Canada literally needs newcomers to survive. As much as we love that image, it's not altruistic. Right now, we have the political and popular will to sustain big immigration targets and Canada ranks among the top destinations in the world for immigrants. That's a great place to start from.

The question, though, is what are we doing to make sure immigrants will continue to want to come here? To attract the workers in sectors that we need the most? To make sure the infrastructure that already struggles, can accommodate another half million new Canadians, and do it well? And then again?

GUEST: Rupa Banerjee, Canada Research Chair in Economic Inclusion, Employment and Entrepreneurship of Canada’s Immigrants, associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University. 

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Wednesday, January 18th 2023

It's known as Chronic Wasting Disease, and it's been around for more than a decade. In recent years, however, it has spread across Canadian prairies and animals at an alarming rate. In some places, up to 80 percent of deer populations tested may be infected. The illness makes animals like deer and elk waste away from the inside, looking like something from a horror movie (hence 'Zombie Deer').

So far the disease has not moved to humans, or other unrelated animals. But it is certainly possible. Meanwhile, funding for testing, research and potential vaccines is tough to come by. So why aren't we taking this seriously? Should we? How urgent is this crisis?

GUEST: Debbie McKenzie, University of Alberta professor and prion disease researcher

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Tuesday, January 17th 2023

If that headline stunned you, you're not alone. Even veteran police officials and crime reporters can't recall a case like this one, in which eight teen girls ranging in age from 13 to 16 allegedly swarmed and attacked a homeless man, leading to his death from stab wounds. Police say there is an indication the group connected online and were involved in other altercations on the same night the attack took place.

The accused are all under 18, and cannot be identified. Hard information in this case has so far been difficult to come by, and the media is fighting for more of it in court. In the meantime, what can we say about a crime with so little precedent?

GUEST: Jennifer Pagliaro, crime reporter, The Toronto Star

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Monday, January 16th 2023

Lobbying is a tricky part of politics. It can be tricky to define, tricky to identify and really, really tough to analyze at scale. That's because of how it's tracked—across several different databases, with no standards, no searchability and often completely different spellings of the businesses, organizations and politicians involved.

But a new data journalism project has tried to overcome that, and put everything we know about lobbying the highest levels of government in one place, so the public can see (and search) for themselves. And once they do that, you can answer the real questions: Who gets the most facetime with the most powerful people in the country, and what are they talking about?

GUEST: Roberto Rocha, data journalist, Investigative Journalism Foundation

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