New guidelines, old hesitancy and the future of covid vaccines

Rewind: It's real. Canada's going to the World Cup: For decades, Canada's men's soccer team was irrelevant at best, a punchline at worst. While the women's side went on to Olympic medals and World Cup runs, the Canadian men ... did nothing. Until a few years ago, when the tide began to turn. And then last year, when the unthinkable started to happen. Now Canada is not only headed to the World Cup for just the second time in its history, but the team also looks ready to do some damage when it gets there. How did the unthinkable happen? GUEST: John Molinaro, veteran Canadian soccer journalist, founder of TFC Republic (This episode originally aired on Feb. 2, 2022) by The Big Story

25 min listen

What's really driving inflation in Canada?: The supply chain is a problem. The cost of raw materials is rising. The cost of labour is up, too. But while we tend to assume inflation is caused by companies hiking prices due to reasons that are beyond their control, the truth is much more complicated. So, how much of Canada's current price hikes are due to market factors, and how much is simply companies taking the opportunity to increase their profits? And what can we do about it? GUEST: Jacob Lorinc, business and economics reporter, Toronto Star. by The Big Story

22 min listen

Chasing a romance scammer across the country: When you trust someone with your heart, you have to accept that it might get broken. Things might not work out. You might grow apart. But at the least, you would hope for honesty. And if not honesty then ... maybe, at least not outright fraud and theft? Sadly though, not everyone gets that — which brings us to a group of Canadian women, all of whom, had their hearts broken and bank accounts emptied by a con artist. And their sadness and loss could have been the end of the story. But it's not... GUEST: Emilia King, host and co-creator of Catch Him If You Can by The Big Story

21 min listen

A friendly chat about the end of "normal": Two years ago, things started changing ... quickly. They haven't stopped since. Yes, eventually the pandemic will end, but the normal we hoped would return is long gone. After decades of unprecedented stability, especially in places like Canada, many people have simply never experienced a world in constant flux. It's a funny feeling, and one we're still learning how to cope with. So how should we grapple with the new world we inhabit? GUEST: Elamin Abdelmahmoud, culture writer at Buzzfeed News, host of Pop Chat from CBC podcasts. Elamin's book, Son of Elsewhere, is available for pre-order. by The Big Story

31 min listen

How can Canadians help with the humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine?: Discussion of Ukraine aid has focused mostly on military equipment—how NATO allies can aid the Ukrainians against Russia. Meanwhile, staggering numbers of Ukrainian civilians have either fled the country or are trapped in regions being devastated by Russian bombardment. The needs of the Ukrainian people are massive and varied. How can we help get them what they need, where they are, or aid those who do manage to make it to Canada? And what should we expect of our government to help us get it to them? GUEST: Orest Zakydalsky, Senior Policy Advisor for the Ukrainian Canadian Congress by The Big Story

22 min listen

Will Jason Kenney's career survive in Alberta?: He returned to the province as a conservative saviour, uniting the right under one banner and vanquishing the NDP. But just a few short years later, Jason Kenney's own party—or at least a substantial chunk of it—wants him gone. A leadership review attracted so many interested voters that it was moved from an in-person event to a mail-in ballot, which has only furthered the cries of skullduggery from his opponents within the UCP. It also probably didn't help that Kenney was taped referring to them as "kooks" and "lunatics" in a leaked audio clip. What happened to Kenney's conservative support in Alberta? And what happens next if his party ousts him? GUEST: Jason Markusoff, Alberta-based staff writer, Maclean's by The Big Story

21 min listen

Can Canada transition both drivers and automakers to electric vehicles?: The federal government has ambitious targets set for the percentage of cars in Canada that will be electric by 2030. We're a long way from meeting them. But research shows hundreds of thousands of Canadians would like to purchase one. They just can't find one, can't afford one, or don't have the access to charging to make it worth their time. Meanwhile, the country's auto manufacturing hub needs help transitioning to be ready for the demand of the next generation of cars. All this adds up to problems at both ends of the supply chain, and a ticking clock making each project and incentive count. GUEST: Zoe Long, Research Manager for SFU’s Sustainable Transportation Action Research Team (START) by The Big Story

24 min listen

How your own car will ruin your attempt at insurance fraud: For decades, insurance companies devoted thousands of hours and millions of dollars to complex investigations of insurance claims, trying to determine whether claimants were lying or telling the truth. Now, a would-be fraudster can concoct an elaborate excuse only to find their scheme foiled by the gadgets within the very vehicle they may be trying to get fixed. As digital technology becomes a standard part of every car, so do tracking devices that can determine everything from the route you took, where you stopped and if you were, say, going even just a kilometre or three over the speed limit. What are the implications for drivers, and the insurance industry at large? GUEST: Aaron Hutchins, Maclean's by The Big Story

21 min listen

Who is Pierre Poilievre?: He's the heavy favourite to be the next leader of the federal Conservatives. He's a relentless attack dog that loves a good partisan brawl. He's angry. Especially at Justin Trudeau. Just ask him. But that's not all there is to the man. Under the public persona is something else. The question is why it's mostly kept buried, and if Poilievre thinks it's better to keep it that way? GUEST: Shannon Proudfoot, Ottawa bureau chief, Maclean's magazine (Read Shannon's profile of Poilievre right here.) by The Big Story

26 min listen

How worried should we be about animal reservoirs of Covid-19?: Canadian white-tailed deer can get SARS-CoV-2. More importantly, they can maybe transmit it back to humans. This may sound scary, but it's unclear how often it might happen. What's more important, however, are the questions this raises. Will animals remain a reservoir for the virus, continuing its life in areas where human cases are close to zero? Can different species create new variants that could spread to humans? How could we monitor these animals for the virus anyway, even if we wanted to? And is the same kind of transmission possible in household pets like cats and dogs? GUEST: Denise Balkissoon, Ontario Bureau Chief, The Narwhal by The Big Story

24 min listen

What's going on in Antarctica? (And in the Arctic, too?) by The Big Story

21 min listen

Everything you need to know about the (sigh) sixth wave of Covid: Hospitalizations are climbing again in parts of the country, and cases are rising in others. It's deja vu all over again. It's clear we're in for at least some sort of Spring rise in Covid-19, driven by the BA.2 subvariant, but how bad could it be? Is it possible this is a sign of a virus playing itself out? What can people who are worried do to protect themselves? And ... haven't we done this enough by now? Will we ever figure this out? GUEST: Colin Furness, infection control epidemiologist at the University of Toronto by The Big Story

30 min listen

As the world shuns Russia, what happens to the International Space Station?: The ISS has long been well above Earth's political squabbles. But since Russia invaded Ukraine, and most of the world began sanctioning Putin's regime, it seems less likely it will remain that way. On the station, Russian and American (and other countries') astronauts work together to research and problem solve. But on Earth the head of Russia's space agency says the US will be to blame for the death of the space station. Can The ISS even function without both sides cooperating? Does either side want it to, really? And with private companies like SpaceX pushing hard for increasing ISS access and work with space agencies—are we on the cusp of an entirely new era for humans in outer space? GUEST: Ivan Semeniuk, science reporter, The Globe and Mail by The Big Story

24 min listen

Why has Canada deported thousands of frontline workers during a pandemic?: Very early in the pandemic, Canada put a pause on deportations. Conditions were unsafe, the world had stopped, and a lot of these workers were doing jobs Canadians badly needed done. But the pause didn't last long, and since deportations have resumed more than 18,000 people have been sent back to their country of origin, even as frontline labour is at a premium and some of them face health and safety risks upon their return. What's the rationale behind this? What options do these aspiring Canadians have? And could we have found a different way? GUEST: Isabel Macdonald, researcher and writer based in Montreal, writing for The Walrus by The Big Story

23 min listen

Meet the west coast's Indigenous guardians: There are places on the coast of British Columbia that can go weeks without a visit from the coast guard or government official. But the land is cared for all the same, and so is anyone who finds themselves in danger while they're on it. The practice of Indigenous guardians goes back centuries, but recently it has been both formalized and funded by the government, giving First Nations the authority and resources to watch over their lands. It's an arrangement that may spread across the country and return more stewardship of forests, lakes and oceans to the people who have lived on them for so long... and this is how it works. GUEST: Jimmy Thomson, writing for The Narwhal by The Big Story

26 min listen

Will any politician do what's necessary to tackle the housing crisis?: Last week, Conservative leadership favourite Pierre Poilievre released a video excoriating both municipal and federal governments for failing to keep housing affordable for the average family. It struck a chord with conservatives and many liberals as well, because of just how hopeless home ownership seems to so many. But are Poilievre's solutions workable? Are anyone's? For a long time now housing has been a commodity, an investment—not a place of shelter and safety. What will it take to actually make a dent in the affordability crisis? And does any party or politician have the guts to do it? GUEST: Leilani Farha, global director, The Shift by The Big Story

32 min listen

What does the federal budget mean for you? And for Canada's future?: The housing crisis is one of Canadians' biggest concerns, and in last week's federal budget it got some top-line attention. But inflation didn't receive nearly as much attention, and the cost of everything is rising. How will the plans unveiled by the government make your own budget easier or harder to balance? And beyond personal finances, what's in store for the environment, defence and other critical national issues? And did the Liberals deal with the NDP make this budget bigger and better, or buy the government time to plan for the long term? GUEST: Mike Eppel, senior business editor at CityNews by The Big Story

25 min listen

Are you paying more online without ever knowing it?: Probably! It's called dynamic pricing, and it's very different than paying extra for premium matchups at the ballpark or seats on an airplane. Dynamic pricing in an online marketplace is an opaque system that uses an algorithm to determine how much to charge you (or someone else) for anything from milk and paper towels to books or even a Tinder subscription. Factors at play when a price is set can include your neighbourhood, shopping history, recorded preference and many others. If it sounds shady, well, it's impossible to determine just how shady it is because none of this is public to would-be consumers. And none of our existing regulations address it. Should they? And if so, how? GUEST: Vass Bednar, Executive Director, MPP in Digital Society at McMaster University, Author at Regs2Riches.com by The Big Story

28 min listen

Ontario Election FAQ: Will it be a referendum on Doug Ford?: Say what you want about Doug Ford (and people do!), there are very few people in the province he's run for four years who are neutral about him. Ontario heads into an election at a crossroads on a number of policy issues, and it's never been more important to examine where the parties each stand on them. So what's Ford's real record? What do we know about a second Ford term? Can Andrea Horwath finally win an election? Who is Liberal leader Steven Del Duca, and could his relative anonymity help keep the focus on the issues? But mostly, will this campaign turn into a fight over Ford, or not? And what should Ontarians expect to see over the next month? GUEST: Richard Southern, Queen's Park reporter, CityNews by The Big Story

25 min listen

Six weeks in, what's happening on the ground in Ukraine?: At the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, two things became immediately clear. First, this would not go according to Putin's plans. Russia has met fierce resistance every step of the way and has been forced to retreat from its attempt to take the Ukrainian capital. Second, it became obvious that misinformation would play a role in what we learned and didn't learn about the situation on the ground. Russia, obviously, has some experience in that area. So how are Ukrainians surviving and resisting, and how long can they hold out? GUEST: Stewart Bell, Global News Online by The Big Story

25 min listen

Is Canadian intelligence to blame for this man's 14 years of incarceration?: Mohamedou Ould Slahi is not a Canadian citizen. He's Mauritanian. But he did spend a few weeks in Canada, and during that time he was watched. It is that evidence gathered by Canadian authorities, he claims, that led to his eventual detention and torture, and 14 years in security facilities. Now he's suing the Canadian government for $30 million. How did a few weeks in Montreal change his life, and how much is our government to blame? GUEST: Michelle Shephard, terrorism and human rights reporter, filmmaker and podcaster by The Big Story

21 min listen

The CPC leadership race: Who is Patrick Brown?: Patrick Brown's career has been marked by ups and downs. In 2015, at just 36 years old, he was elected leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party. Then, three years later he resigned following allegations of sexual misconduct from two women — allegations that he denies. That same year, he was elected mayor of Brampton, an extremely diverse city in the Greater Toronto Area. Now he's trying to leverage that success in his current bid to become leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC). At this point, Brown is not the frontrunner, but if we've learned one thing from his political career thus far, it's that we should be careful not to write him off entirely. So what is his strategy for winning this race? And what might the CPC look like under his leadership? GUEST: Stephanie Taylor, reporter at The Canadian Press by The Big Story

23 min listen

As an election looms, will climate policy be an issue in Ontario?: Recently the Progressive Conservative government released a climate plan. Actually, they specifically said not to call it a "plan". It's a set of emissions targets and how they plan to hit them. It's not very long and thin on details, and the government's budget didn't add much to it. But does any party in Ontario have a serious climate plan? And with a pandemic, a housing crisis and an inflation spike blowing through household budgets, it's worth asking how big an issue the climate will be in the upcoming election campaign. But what happens to us if it isn't? GUEST: Fatima Syed, Ontario reporter, The Narwhal by The Big Story

29 min listen

Should your salary be public? Should mine?: Every year, most Canadian provinces release lists of the top wages among public servants. And every year, lots of people get mad about them. It's easy to say that it's unfair to publish these names and salaries, as it inevitably makes some people a target. But what if instead, we made more salaries public, not less? Secrecy around salaries is just another part of Canada's lack of transparency as a country. From government records to police investigations to any number of things, we prefer to keep things in the dark. And the darker things are, the easier it is for them to remain unequal. There are places in the world where everyone's salary is public. What would this country look like if your co-workers knew what you made, or vice versa? GUEST: Robyn Doolittle, investigative reporter, The Globe and Mail by The Big Story

24 min listen

A fourth Covid-19 shot? Really?! And other vaccine FAQs: When Canadians were asked to get first two covid vaccines, they were told that doing so would get them back to normal. Now some of them are booking and receiving their fourth shots. And more than that, we originally called two shots "fully vaccinated"—when clearly time and the virus has proven that wrong.So what happened to our plan for vaccinations and how has it changed? Could a new, targeted vaccine expected this fall put an end to endless boosters? Did we get the messaging about vaccines wrong a year ago? And how do we make sure that vaccine hesitancy around Covid shots doesn't spread to shots that we've all been giving our children for decades? GUEST: Sabina Vohra-Miller, clinical pharmacologist by The Big Story

27 min listen

The mysterious link between a murder in Thailand and a plane crash in Northern Ontario: The murder victim in Thailand was a known gangster who had spent years in and around Vancouver. One of the four men who died in the mysterious crash was wanted by Thai police for his alleged role in the killing. In between the two events is four months, multiple police investigations across the world, a second fugitive also on the run, two young pilots and dozens of unanswered questions. Who was Gene Lahrkamp? How did he end up dead near Sioux Lookout, Ontario? Why would he have travelled to Thailand to murder a gangster? What will happen when this story begins to be told? GUEST: Kim Bolan, crime reporter, Vancouver Sun by The Big Story

23 min listen

How did a Quebecer end up leading a foreign fighter brigade in Ukraine?: They call themselves the Norman Brigade, and they're led by Hrulf, who won't reveal his real name. But he's from Quebec, served in the Canadian military and has a Ukrainian wife and children. The brigade is composed of foreign fighters from around the world, including several Canadians. The brigade recruits through Facebook. They even sell merchandise. But former members question the leader's ability and the safety of the unit—citing poor accommodations, insufficient weapons and ammunition and a reckless leadership style. What is the Norman Brigade? Why are they fighting in Ukraine? And how dangerous are they, to themselves or to the Russians? GUEST: Tom Blackwell, senior reporter, National post by The Big Story

24 min listen

From romance to crypto investments to broke: The pandemic's latest dating scam: It begins on a dating app you use and trust, with a user located in your city. Not with emails out of nowhere or random DMs. Even the investment part makes you money at first, and you can withdraw and spend it, and check your portfolio any time you like. But then ... everything vanished, and you're left with a broken heart and an empty bank account. Welcome to the latest, incredibly sophisticated dating scam. And what we can do to get it under control. GUEST: Carlo Handy Charles, dual PhD Candidate, McMaster University and Université des Antilles; read his work here by The Big Story

26 min listen

Everything you need to know about Canada's massive avian flu outbreak: The virus driving an outbreak that's spread to almost every province is a variant. It's a more pathogenic bug that renders the host infectious even before it displays any symptoms. Sound like any other virus you know? The risk to humans is extremely low. So far. But what's already happening is devastation in the poultry industry, and widespread infections creating conditions for a potential mutation that could make things worse. Here's what you need to know. GUEST: Jean-Pierre Vaillancourt, veterinarian and researcher, Université de Montréal by The Big Story

27 min listen

The rise and fall of Canada's cannabis industry by The Big Story

27 min listen

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New guidelines, old hesitancy and the future of covid vaccines

New guidelines, old hesitancy and the future of covid vaccines

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