RCI | English : Interviews

Saw an old friend of mine on television yesterday.

Name's Vasek Pospisil, 29 years old, currently the No.187-ranked tennis player in the world.

Never met the man.

Do I know him?

Sure do, and a whole lot better now.

Pospisil, seen in Vancouver earlier this month, has a lot to ponder these days as he comes back from injury and takes a more active role in fighting for players' rights. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

Yesterday at the U.S. Open in New York, Pospisil reminded me--again--what character is all about.

It's something I've learned over the years covering sports, but it sometimes slips my mind--until somebody plants a giant smack on the side of my head.

That's what happened yesterday.

One upon a time, Vasek Pospisil was a comer--getting as high at No. 25 in the world, winning a Wimbledon men's doubles title, competing as a finalist in a pretty big tournament in Washington D.C. against a guy he came up with, Milos Raonic.

But injuries have taken their toll and over the years, his star has faded.

Until yesterday.

Pospisil stepped on to the court having played just two top-tier matches since October, both of them losses to hotshot Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime.

His opponent: No. 9 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia, 23-years-old, and a pretty tough hombre.

Pospisil reacts after scoring a point against Khachanov during Tuesday's first round match. Pospisil had played just two top-tier matchs since October. (Kevin Hagen/Associated Press)

You want tough? You want nerves of steel? You want a will of iron?

That was Pospisil yesterday, all of a sudden like the guy a lot of people were talking about over a half-decade ago.

Three hours and 51 minutes later, Pospisil had a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory.

It was the first fifth-set victory for Pospisil since he had three on his way to a quarter-final result at Wimbledon in 2015.

It sure would have been lovely to have been there.

Stephanie Myles was.

Myles, the editor-in-chief for tennis.life, was covering the match for Canadian Press.

I spoke by phone with her this morning.

ListenEN_Interview_4-20190828-WIE40

Conservative estimates place the number of abandoned boats along Canada's West Coast at around 1,400.

Don't quote that number to John Roe.

Roe, a retired motorcycle mechanic and industrial welder, is the leader of the Dead Boat Disposal Society, which (believe it or not) removes and disposes of, well, dead boats.

Roe believes there are a whole lot more than 1,400 boats cluttering up the B.C. shoreline.

A sunken boat is removed from Victoria Harbour. (The Dead Boat Disposal Society/Facebook)

Based in Victoria, he's basically been attacking the clutter for nearly 25 years since he began pitching in to help try to clean up Victoria Harbour in 1995.

Now, he covers the waterfront from Port Renfrew in the south up to Alaska in the north.

What started out of an avocation has essentially turned into a full-time job.

He figures he and his group, sometimes working with Transport Canada's Abandoned Boats Program officials and workers have pulled more than 100 abandoned boats from the water

Keep in mind that the waste from one 25-foot fibreglass boat is the equivalent to 480,000 straws being dumped into the ocean.

John Roe with Salish Sea Industries crew removing a derelict boat from the beach of Port Browning on Pender Island. (Dead Boats Society)

One more challenge for those crossing their fingers that oceans--heck, the planet--can be saved.

I spoke by phone with Roe on Tuesday.

ListenEN_Interview_4-20190827-WIE40

Fires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest are up over 145 per cent from last year according to Greenpeace, and many are blaming it directly on human causes.  In fact many, including French President Emmanuel Macron, lay the blame at the foot of the Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, who they say has been lax in enforcing regulations about protecting the critical rainforest. In fact many are saying his rhetoric and policies have encouraged farming, logging, mining, and ranching interests to clear more forest illegally for their own ends.

James Snider in Toronto says we should all be concerned about what’s happening there. He is the Vice President of science, research and innovation at World Wildlife Fund-Canada. We spoke on his mobile phone.

James Snider, WWF-Canada, on concern over burning of Amazon rainforestEN_Interview_1-20190826-WIE10

The rainforest in Brazil extends across more than 5 million square kilometres and has often been referred to as the “lungs of the planet”|

But the massive fires which are burning are not only adding to pollution and destroying the forest, but also the territory of vast numbers of indigenous peoples and plants and some 3 million creatures, many of which are found only in the rainforest.

Aerial view of a large burned area in the city of Candeiras do Jamari in the state of Rondônia. The fires threatens one of the world's greatest biodiversity regions.(Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace), Amazon Burning Overflight

AT the G7 summit in Biarritz, leaders announced a cautious $20 million USD amount to help although what form that may take is not clear yet and many expect the amount will likely be increased. Canada's Prime Minister later announced a Canadian contribution of C$15 million, some of that to take the form of sending personnel and equipment.

In the meantime, the Brazilian military has been called in to help fight the fires.

August 23, aerial view of burned areas in the Amazon rainforest, in the city of Porto Velho, Rondônia state. According to Greenpeace, "[1] Of the 23,006 hot spots recorded in the Amazon in the first 20 days of the month, 15,749 used to be forest or recently deforested areas, 5,445 in pasture areas, 832 in natural formation and 602 in agricultural areas. Of the 6,295 heat sources recorded in the week of 16 August to 22 August, 1,201 (19%) were in Conservation Units and 364 of those (6%) in Indigenous Lands. (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace)Márcio Astrini, Public Policy Coordinator at Greenpeace Brazil says Brazil’s president is not announcing any concrete measures to fight deforestation.  In a press release he said, “The forest has its limit, and we are dangerously getting close to it. Moreover, deforestation only damages Brazil’s economy, the planet’s climate and endangers wildlife and the lives of thousands of people. Taking action to end deforestation must be everyone’s goal and an obligation of those who lead the country”.

Additional information

Express (UK): R McGuinness: Aug 26/19: Brazilian official blasts Macron over fires criticism

CBC: N Mortillaro: Aug 21/19: As fires rage, experts worry about rainforest future

BBC: Aug 21/19: Bolsonaro suggests NGO’s to blame for fires

Two new reports by Fisheries and Oceans Canada do not bode well for future of a lot of fish--mainly cod and salmon struggling to survive in Canadian waters off both Coasts.

Let's start with Atlantic cod, who are not doing well,

Jumping to the West Coast, the department painted a gloomy picture of the future of many types of salmon.

A bucket of salmon is collected during a Department of Fisheries and Oceans fish health audit at the Okisollo fish farm near Campbell River, B.C. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

In the Atlantic, officials said the problems were the result of a rapidly increasing seal population.

Out West, the scientists linked the problems to climate change.

The reports came as Canada continues to expand its salmon aquaculture industry--the farming of salmon for commercial purposes, helping some and worrying others. another area where there are a lot of problems.

Canadian aquaculure now does over $1 billion a year in business, making Canada he fourth largest producer of farmed salmon in the world, after Norway, Chile, and the United Kingdom.

But fears persist about the ill-effects of fish farming both around the world and in Canada

Camille Labchuk is Executive Director of Animal Justice.

For some perspective and assessment I spoke by phone with Camille Labchuk, an attorney and the executive director of Animal Justice, a Canadian animal rights organization.

ListenEN_Interview_4-20190826-WIE40

It is now time for the next chapter of "How I Enjoyed My Fabulous Summer" by Bianca Andreescu, the force of nature who hit the international tennis scene this spring in a place called Indian Wells, California, disappeared for a while because of injuries, and then re-emerged victorious in August in her hometown of Toronto, winning the Rogers Cup.

She's at the Queen's end of New York City at the moment, Flushing Meadow, to be exact, where she has been seeded No. 15 in the U.S. Open, the final Grand Slam event of the season, where the main draw gets underway on Monday.

Does she have a shot at winning?

Can Andreescu, seen celebrating after defeating Serena Williams of the USA in the Rogers Cup, contend in New York? She very well could. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

We will speak in just a sec with Stephanie Myles, the editor-in-chief of tennis.life  whom I believe to be Canada's top tennis analyst, about Andreescu's chances of winning.

At the very least, Andreescu will provide people across this long country the opportunity to slide into autumn with maybe more on their mind that getting the kids settled at school, or stewing about getting the snow tires out of storage before the first snowfall.

(That's not a joke. Ask a Canadian.)

As for the fellas, Félix Auger-Allissime (No. 18 seed) and Denis Shapovalov, (ATP No. 38) will meet in the first round as they did a year ago.

Canadians Denis Shapovalov, left, and Félix Auger-Aliassime met at the U.S. Open last year. Auger-Aliassime was forced to retire because of heat exhaustion. ( Julio Cortez/The Associated Press)

And Milos Raonic (No. 21 seed) will take another run at a Grand Slam title, a run that over the years that has been constantly plagued by injuries.

Raonic will face World No. 64 Nicolas Jarry, of Chile.

Any one of the Canadian men is capable to getting hot and making it to the second week, but not a lot of punters will be putting their dough on any of them to win the title.

Andreescu....on the other hand....

Here is my conversation with Stephanie Myles about Andreescu's chances.

ListenEN_Interview_4-20190823-WIE40

From a distance, a gathering in front of of a federal prison near Kingston, Ontario last Thursday might not appear to be all that big a deal, but virtually everyone there would likely tell you they were celebrating a victory for decency.

Those gathered were marking the official re-opening of a prison farm program that was closed nearly a decade ago by then-prime minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government.

The Tories, who closed six prison farms across the country, believed the farms were not effective in rehabilitating prisoners.

A number of local residents disagreed.

Many residents of Kingston region fought hard to get the two prison farms in the area re-opened after the Conservative government closed them in 2010, relentlessly protesting in Kingston and taking their cause to Parliament Hill. (CBC)

Creating an organization called Save Our Prison Farms, they relentlessly staged demonstrations to bring the farms back.

Last year, the pressure began to pay off.

In its 2018 budget, the Liberal government included $4.3 million to restore farms at the Joyceville and Collins Bay institutions--both in the Kingston area.

Inmates began working at getting the farms up and running in the spring as goats and cattle began arriving.

As the farms get up to speed, more inmates will be joining them.

Those wanting to restore the farms have long had one of their local MPs, Mark Gerretsen, on side.

I spoke by with Gerretsen about the program, the people who made it happen and what it will do for inmates lucky enough to get into it.

ListenEN_Interview_4-20190822-WIE40

I missed it last week when it came across the wires.

Perhaps you did as well.

It's a story that bears repeating.

It involves a person who lived among us here in Canada from 2009 to 2013 as she was majoring in French at the University of British Columbia.

Al-Hathloul has been described as one of the most outspoken women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia. As the Saudi regime annouces 'reforms,' she remains in prison, having rejected a demand that she make a video denying that was tortured. (Loujain al-Hathloul/Facebook)

Her name is Loujain al-Hathloul.

You've likely heard of her.

She's in prison in Saudi Arabia at the moment.

Her crime: trying to push her country forward, as an advocate for human rights.

The result: prison--again--in 2018 as part of a crackdown on government critics.

Al-Hathloul, a UBC graduate who turned 30 in Ha'er Prison in July, has been detained sporadically since 2013 and has not left jail since May of last year. Her family says she has been tortured with electric shocks. (Marieke Wijntjes/Amnesty International/HO-Reuters)

Since then, there have numerous reports that she was being tortured.

When authorities announced "reforms" last month, al-Hathloul, along with more than a few other reformers, remained in prison.

The news reports that surfaced last week told a story--once again--of  al-Hathloul's steel will and extraordinary courage.

Her family says authorities told her she could leave if she would agree to make a video clearing her torturers.

Demonstrators from Amnesty International staged a protest in March to urge Saudi authorities to release jailed women's rights activists Loujain al-Hathloul, Eman al-Nafjan and Aziza al-Yousef outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Paris. (Benoit Tessier/Reuters)

After initially agreeing to sign a document denying the torture, the video was a line al-Hathloul refused to cross.

"When the state security asked her to sign the document for the video release, she immediately ripped the document," her brother Walid al-Hathloul, who lives in Canada, wrote on Twitter.

"She told them by asking me to sign this document you are involved in the cover up and you're simply trying (to) defend Saud Al-Qahtani who was overseeing the torture."

Jacqueline Hansen is Amnesty International Canada's Major Campaigns and Women's Rights Campaigner, whose work covers a wide range of human rights concerns in Canada and internationally.

Jacqueline Hansen is Amnesty International Canada’s Major Campaigns and Women’s Rights Campaigner. (Courtesy: Amnesty International Canada)

I spoke with her by phone Monday at her office in Ottawa.

ListenEN_Interview_4-20190819-WIE40

We're getting used to--and, hopefully, not inured--the pictures of ice cascading from what were once the shores of Greenland, the photos of people around the world grappling with record-high temperatures, wildfires that seem to erupt pretty much anywhere they might feel like it.

Everyone's seen those.

But climate change also works in quieter ways--ways that might not draw headlines and breathtaking photos but ways parents know well when something goes wrong with their kids.

Be warned: climate change is coming after Canada's children and, more than likely, children around the world.

The Canadian Paediatric Society says clinicians need to learn more about the way climate affects kids' physical and mental health. (Carlos Osorio/The Associated Press)

We're not just talking here about kids like Greta and her gang of Friday class-cutters.

The Health Organization estimates more than 88 per cent of diseases attributable to climate change are occurring in children younger than five.

No, climate change is increasingly affecting kids way younger-affecting their mental and physical health.

Greta Thunberg, seen next to Swedish parliament in Stockholm last month, has become a driving force in trying to set things right environmentally for her generation. (David Keyton/The Associated Press)

That's the conclusion of a study commissioned by the Canadian Paediatric Society and led by Dr. Irena Buka, an Edmonton pediatrician and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Alberta.

She is also director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre in Child Health in Edmonton and the director of the Children's Environmental Health Clinic (ChEHC) in Edmonton.

Students around the world took to the streets on March 15, 2019 to protest a lack of climate awareness and demand that elected officials take action on climate change. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

This is a person who knows of which she speaks and does not appear prone to pulling any punches.

The CPS published Dr. Buka's findings Wednesday in new guidance document that found that children--to understate--are more vulnerable than adults to the effects of climate change.

The lead author of the CPS report was Edmonton pediatrician and University of Alberta Clinical Professor of Pediatrics Irena Buka. (ualberta.ca)

Children, the study found, are disproportionately affected by climate-related changes because they metabolize more water, air and food per kilogram of body weight than adults.

That means--among other things--more allergies, heat exhaustion, heat strokes, asthma and heart disease.

"Climate change is the greatest global health threat of this century, and children are particularly vulnerable to its effects," writes Dr. Buka.

I spoke with her by phone on Friday. Listen to the interview.

Dr. Irena Buka discusses her report with RCI's Terry Haig. (Romrodphoto/Shutterstock) EN_Interview_4-20190816-WIE40

Representatives from 80 countries, including Canada, begin a three-day meeting on Monday to take another stab at coming up with of plan to deal with autonomous weapons, a.k.a. killer robots.

Delegates to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) at the United Nations in Geneva will include members from the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, a coalition of 113 non-governmental organizations in 57 countries.

Canadians will be part of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots delegation at a UN meeting next week in Geneva. (CBC)

The coalition wants to pre-emptively ban the development, production and use of fully autonomous weapons, an idea that doesn't sit well with--among others--the U.K,, the U.S. and Russia.

While drones and other technologies are controlled by humans, lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) could operate independently in military missions.

Supporters the weapons--with proper safeguards--could save lives; critics say they will lead to an arms race that could threaten humanity.

Human Rights Watch is a founding member and serves as global coordinator of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots.

Paul Hannon is the executive director of Mines Action Canada, which is serving as the Canadian financial and legal home of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. (Mines Action Canada/Facebook)

The financial and legal home for the campaign in Canada is Mines Action Canada.

I spoke by phone Thursday with Paul Hannon, the executive director of Mines Action Canada about killer robots and the Geneva meeeting.

ListenEN_Interview_4-20190815-WIE40

As Montrealers of good faith continue to try to bring an end to what the city's black community says is systemic abuse and profiling that's been happening for way longer than too many of them care to remember, a Quebec Superior Court judge has authorized a class action that could provide a bit of momenturm to righting past--and present--wrongs.

The ruling by Justice Andre Prevost allows the suit against City of Montreal on behalf of citizens who allege they were unfairly arrested, detained and racially profiled by Montreal police between August 2017 and Jan. 2019 to proceed.

Calling the decision "historic," Dan Philip, president of the Black Coalition of Quebec, said the ruling was more than just a victory for the black community.

Dan Philip, president of the Black Coalition of Quebec, says that with each case of racial profiling, the city's black community loses confidence in the justice system. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

"It is also a victory for justice," Philip told a news conference on Tuesday.

"It is for us a day of victory, but also a day of reflection. We have been struggling to obtain this kind of justice that we see today," he said.

"I can tell you that over time, we were losing confidence in the justice system. But we must always have hope. Without hope we die."

The Black Coalition of Quebec says about 150 people have joined the suit, and it is urging anyone who is eligible to come forward to join the class action

Alexandre Lamontagne is the lead plaintiff in the class action lawsuit. He says police racially profiled him in 2017. The charges against him were eventually dropped. (CBC)

The lead plaintiff is Alexandre Lamontagne, a man of Haitian origin, who claims he was wrongfully detained by the police in 2017.

Last week, a Montreal man said he was fined $500 after a confrontation with police that he says was racially based.

In his ruling, Justice Prevost said the class action would address a number of questions

They include whether city representatives acted in a discriminatory fashion and violated the rights of plaintiffs, many of whom allege they were unfairly targeted for arrest or questioning because of race.

The judgment states the city doesn't deny racial profiling exists but also doesn't believe a class action lends itself to addressing the practice because each case is different.

Lawyer Jacky-Eric Salvant, right, and Gabriel Bazin, vice-president of the Ligue des Noirs du Quebec, listen to a presentation by members of the Montreal Police at City Hall in Montreal on Tuesday, December 11, 2018. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

Montreal police (SPVM) have declined to comment on the class-action decision, saying the case was before the courts.

City hall also declined to comment.

The ruling follows meetings this spring by the Office de consultation publique de Montreal (OCPM) that were held after a petition signed by 22,000 people demanded consultations on systemic racism be held.

The court will will decide the level of financial compensation to be paid if the lawsuit is successful.

Last December, the City of Montreal directed its police service to track allegations of social and racial profiling as part of commitments aimed at curbing the long-standing problems,.

The citizen-based Montreal in Action filed a petition calling on Montreal to hold a public consultation on systemic racism and discrimination Friday, July 27, 2018. The group, led by Balarama Holness (centre), collected 22,000 signatures, well above the 15,000 needed. (Courtesy: Balarama Holness)

That same month, a research group at Concordia University released a report that showed racial profiling remains an issue in Montreal neighbourh...