- How seafood from North Korean forced labour ends up in Canada
Tuesday, April 9th 2024
Where does your seafood come from? And who, along the supply chain, handled it? An investigation from the non-profit investigative journalism organization, Outlaw Ocean Project, reveals a network of North Korean labourers at Chinese seafood plants – a violation of United Nations sanctions – supplying certain Canadian seafood companies. The workers detail a pattern of hyper-surveillance, poor pay and sexual assault by their employers.
Ian Urbina, executive editor of The Outlaw Ocean Project, joins The Decibel to discuss the findings of the investigation, the working conditions inside the processing plants and how products made from forced labour are ending up on Canadian store shelves.
VIDEO: Investigation reveals North Korean forced labour in Chinese seafood plants
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- The big business bet on psychedelic drugs
Monday, April 8th 2024
In the last few years, there has been an increase in research around using psychedelic drugs, like LSD and magic mushrooms, as treatments for mental health conditions. And recently, two Canadian companies working in the sphere have gotten a special designation from a big U.S. regulator that could fast-track the development and review of their drugs.
Sean Silcoff is a journalist with The Globe’s Report on Business. He has been looking at recent developments in these companies and how that fits into the bigger picture of investor excitement around these drugs.
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- The deadly challenges of getting aid into Gaza
Friday, April 5th 2024
The deaths of seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid workers in Gaza has shone a light on the dangerous conditions facing people delivering essential supplies to Gazans. Some aid organizations have either suspended or modified deliveries in order to protect worker safety. It comes at a time when food and other supplies are desperately needed in Gaza. The UN says that a famine is looming for people living there. Simply put, getting aid into Gaza has long been difficult. But without a ceasefire it is a logistical nightmare.
Dr. Sarah Schiffling is an expert in humanitarian logistics. She’s the Deputy Director of the HUMLOG Research Institute at the Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki, Finland. She explains the challenges of getting aid into Gaza and what can be done to make it easier.
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- School boards take on social media giants
Thursday, April 4th 2024
Educators across Canada are worried about the use of cellphones – and in particular social media – in classrooms, saying it’s disrupting class and causing mental health issues. Four school boards in Ontario are suing the companies behind Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat for billions of dollars, joining a long list of U.S. school districts doing the same.
Philip Mai, senior researcher and co-director of the Social Media Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University, explains why this might be a tough case to prove in court, and how it could make an impact on how young people engage with social media.
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- Canada’s uncertain AI future
Wednesday, April 3rd 2024
Since 2017, Canada has worked to attract the best artificial intelligence research talent in the world. But it hasn’t been investing in the infrastructure that those researchers need to push the limits of AI and the questions it can potentially solve. There are now calls for the government to invest more into building out more powerful supercomputers.
Report on Business journalist Joe Castaldo explains why the issue of growing computing power isn’t as simple as buying more high-end computer chips, the potential problems of investing heavily into this tech, and what Canada can do to prevent a brain drain of AI talent.
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