Cross Country Checkup

Late last month a video surfaced of a 13 year old girl being attacked with about 30 young people there as bystanders. Police charged five youth who were identified as the “aggressors”. it's not an isolated incident. 

Statistics Canada says youth crime was up 5 percent IN 2022. is this a recent phenomenon? Or do we just have more videos on social media now to prove it? Have you been affected by youth violence? What conversations are you having at home?

SpaceX launched its fifth Starship test flight on Sunday. The company's goal is to build a resuable rocket that could reach the moon one day, and maybe even Mars. Colonel Chris Hadfield was the first Canadian to walk in space, completing multiple space missions, spacewalks, and even serving as commander of the International Space Station back in 2013. With SpaceX reaching a new milestone this week, he joined us recently to take your questions about all things space-related.

For many of us, the most important role we'll ever have is "parent". It's also one of the most challenging. So it's no surprise the US Surgeon General recently issued a warning about the potential toll of parenting on mental health. Which parenting issue is causing the most stress in your family? How did the way you were parented affect the way you parent today?

According to CBC’s Poll tracker, the Conservatives have almost a 20-point lead over the governing Liberals, and their lead has been holding steady for months. We know that there will be an election before October 2025, though it could come sooner. We wanted to take stock of who Pierre Poilievre is and what a possible Poilievre government might look like. Shannon Proudfoot is a feature writer at The Globe and Mail, Stephanie Levitz is a Senior Politics Reporter at the Globe and Mail. They answered your questions about the Conservative Party leader. 

In less than a year, NASA is sending four astronauts to fly around the moon as part of the Artemis II mission. The 10-day flight will test NASA's space exploration capabilities with astronauts aboard for the very first time. And Ontario’s Jeremy Hansen will be part of that crew, making him the first Canadian astronaut – and first non-American – to fly to the moon. Jeremy Hansen joined us to answer questions about space exploration, his career journey, and the Artemis II mission.

Addiction can be agonizing and, far too often, deadly. It can tear apart families and communities. So it's not surprising that politicians are under pressure to do something about it. And increasingly, some provinces are calling for involuntary care: forcing some people into treatment and keeping them there until the program is finished. There are still lots of questions. Does it work? Will it reduce the number of people using dangerous drugs? And how will governments decide who should be sent to treatment, without their consent? Will that power be exercised fairly?

Our AMA guest today will be a familiar voice to our listeners. Carol Off spent sixteen years co-hosting CBC’s As It Happens, after a career as a correspondent reporting from all over the world. The thousands of interviews she’s conducted have laid the groundwork for her new book entitled “At a Loss for Words: Conversation in the Age of Rage.” Each chapter is devoted to a politically-charged word - freedom, democracy, truth, woke, choice and taxes. The book delves into how the meaning of each of these words has been weaponized to further drive divisiveness in society. Carol joined us to answer your questions about her new book and the state of polarization in politics.

A lot of Canadians are feeling the pain of polarization. In politics for sure. But many felt pushed apart by the pandemic, from masks to vaccines to where you got information you trusted. Debate is sometimes replaced by slogans. People and their positions reduced to a single word: Marxist, fascist, elitist, extremist. So how is polarization affecting you? How are you handling political disagreements?

A new report from the World Health Organization suggests that teens, including Canadians, are using condoms less. At the same time STI’s like syphilis, chlamydia, and HIV have been on the rise in Canada. Cory Silverberg is a sex educator and author of "You Know, Sex" a book geared towards young people and all the questions they have. They answered your questions about how to start these conversations with your own teen.

Parents often say they'd do anything to make sure their children are well cared for. But what happens when that relationship shifts as those children become adults caring for an aging parent? Finding the answer can strain family finances and families themselves. How have you dealt with caring for an aging family member?