On the surface, it was just another writer's festival, with perhaps some local food vendors. But as soon as the Ottawa International Food and Book Expo got underway, it became clear something about this one was a little bit ... off.

First, a local group warned of far-right speakers on the panels. Then the MCs pulled out. The food vendors weren't quite sure what was going on. Some sponsors either removed themselves or claimed they'd never been associated with the festival in the first place ... and, well, there was more. So what exactly happened in the nation's capital on the last weekend of April?

GUEST: Luke LeBrun, editor of Press Progress

A look inside Ottawa's extremely strange book festival

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Cheap. Entitled. Greedy. Those are just a few things that come to mind when one thinks about a landlord. But have you ever considered becoming one?

According to data collected by the Canadian Real Estate Association, the current average cost of a house in Canada is just over $700 thousand dollars. Simultaneously, the cost of renting remains at an all-time high. Buying a house that has a basement unit, or something you can rent out to help cover your mortgage, might seem like an appealing option. But is it really that easy? 

Jordan speaks with Nelda Schulte, a landlord coach and author of "Canadian Landlords Handbook" to find out the hidden reality of rental properties. 

Do you have a money problem? Call us and leave a message at 416-935-5935. Or email us at hello@itepod.ca. You can also find us on Instagram and TikTok @InThisEconomyPod. Don't forget to leave a call-back number, so we can get in touch.

Should you become a landlord so you can afford a home?

The debate around Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying legislation is exhaustive, and there is no shortage of opinion out there from doctors, advocates, experts and academics, as well as first-person testimonials from terminally ill people who are availing themselves of the system. One of the perspectives often missing in that debate, however, are disabled people, many of whom say they feel the system pushes them towards using MAiD by making them feel like a burden on society.

Today, using a text-to-speech program, we present one of those opinions, a woman who is leading a charge to preserve some MAiD-free spaces within the Canadian health care system, where disabled people can seek treatment without the spectre of assisted death near them.

GUEST: Gabrielle Peters, disabled writer, policy analyst and the co-founder of Disability Filibuster

First Person: A disabled person living in the age of MAiD

Welcome to a fascinating little corner of contract and competition law that could leave a lasting impact on Canada's grocery industry. Last week, the competition bureau revealed it was investigating the parent companies of two of the country's largest grocers in relation to controls they have applied to their lease agreements.

These sorts of controls are common in all sorts of agreements—but the bureau alleges that Loblaws and Sobeys are using them in an unfair and anticompetitive manner, so it's begun a process that could ultimately see them taken to court. Exactly what is the bureau looking at? How much power does it have in this situation? And how much might Canadians learn about the inner workings of our grocery giants?

GUEST: Jennifer Quaid, Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law, specializing in corporate accountability, competition and business regulation

Explaining the competition bureau's investigation of Loblaws and Sobeys

A couple of years ago, angry Taylor Swift fans filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster, after a presale event for her tour went haywire and resulted in millions of disappointed fans. That lawsuit is still before the courts. But it's one thing to have Swifties suing you, and another to face the United States Department of Justice, who also sued Ticketmaster's parent company Live Nation last week, alleging that the company is a monopoly and accusing it of several practices that combine to give it unfair control of the live music industry.

Live Nation is a giant corporation. The US DoJ is one of the world's most powerful government agencies. The two entities are on a collision course, and in the middle are millions of music fans, wondering if this lawsuit might finally do something about ever-rising concert prices and fees.

GUEST: Joel Khalili, business reporter, WIRED

Ticketmaster vs. the US Department of Justice

Aiden Pleterski was charged with fraud a couple of weeks ago. On the face of it, it's a simple charge, but the story behind those charges is one that could only happen in the world of cryptocurrency. Pleterski, a native of Whitby, Ontario, built a reputation as the 'Crypto King' and is alleged to have been  living lavishly on investors' money.

Now there are handfuls of lawsuits, allegedly tens of millions in missing money and a tangled web of angry investors. How did this all go down? How did Pleterski allegedly defraud investors? And why were investors handing their money to a kid barely out of high school in the first place?

GUEST: Jennifer Pagliaro, crime reporter, The Toronto Star

A look inside Ottawa's extremely strange book festival

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