Friday, December 20th 2024

At this time of year, there’s nothing better than settling in with a good Christmas movie. When it comes to the made-for-TV variety – usually made by Hallmark, or, Netflix – they tend to follow a formula: girl from the big city ends up in a small town, connects with a local guy, they encounter a series of surmountable obstacles, and eventually, end up together – with a heavy sprinkle of holiday magic. 

A lot of these movies are filmed in and around Almonte, a town about 40 minutes west of Ottawa. It’s been used so many times that SNL mentioned that they’re all “filmed in a month in Ottawa” in a 2017 sketch, and the New York Times profiled the town back in 2020. According to the municipality, 24 movies have been shot there since 2015.

The town has a sparkle that shines through in these movies… and our producers wondered whether that sparkle was as bright in real life. In this holiday special episode, The Decibel goes to Almonte to see if the town is as full of Christmas magic as it is on screen.

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Thursday, December 19th 2024

As new details around the feud between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland emerge, the Liberal caucus gathered on Tuesday to awkwardly celebrate the holidays. The fete came after the final two days of the fall sitting of Parliament where a lot happened.

John Ibbitson is a columnist and reporter based in Ottawa for The Globe. He goes through what we’ve learned since Monday about Freeland’s resignation, everything you missed about the Fall Economic Statement and where the Liberals could go in 2025.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at [email protected]

Wednesday, December 18th 2024

In July, there was a recall on two specific brands of plant-based milks, Silk and Great Value, after a listeria outbreak that led to at least 20 illnesses and three deaths. Public health officials determined the same strain of listeria had been making people sick for almost a year. When Globe reporters began looking into what happened, they found a surprising fact: the facility that the bacteria was traced to had not been inspected for listeria in years. So how did this happen?

They also learned that in 2019 the Canadian Food Inspection Agency introduced a new system that relies on an algorithm to prioritize sites for inspectors to visit. Investigative reporters Grant Robertson and Kathryn Blaze Baum talk about why this new system of tracking was created, and what went wrong.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at [email protected]

Tuesday, December 17th 2024

On Monday morning, Chrystia Freeland announced she was stepping down as finance minister. This came after reports of increasing tensions between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the GST break and $250 cheques. She posted her letter on X just after 9 a.m., on the day when she was supposed to deliver the fall economic statement.

Later, after a day of speculation and confusion, the Liberals tabled the fall economic update, and MP Dominic LeBlanc was sworn in as finance minister to replace Freeland. The day ended with a Liberal caucus meeting, where Trudeau’s leadership was put into question.

Globe and Mail senior political reporter Marieke Walsh is on the show to walk us through a chaotic day on Parliament Hill and tell us what this could all mean for the Liberal government.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [email protected]

Monday, December 16th 2024

Immigration policy indirectly shapes a lot of aspects of Canadian life: the economy, the housing market, the labour force. And in 2024, the federal government made a major policy change by cutting immigration targets. In doing so, it acknowledged that the balance they had previously struck was not quite right.

So The Globe and Mail’s Editorial Board studied the issue and looked at ways Canada can improve the system and restore the balance. Editorials Editor Patrick Brethour explains.

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