The Big Story

You might have used the app during the pandemic. It may have saved you time at the airport. It may have cost you an unnecessary quarantine. Either way, even if you never downloaded it, you paid for it.

Tens of millions of taxpayer dollars went into developing, releasing and updating (dozens and dozens of times) the government's pandemic travel app. The question now is about how that money was spent, who received it, and how much work they did for it. The scandal has twists and turns and detail upon detail, but it really boils down to this: Was this a government in a hurry, wasting money but with good intentions in an emergency? Or something worse than that?

GUEST: Irem Koca, journalist, The Hill Times

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With the rise in both legality and popularity of gambling, it can seem like images of both winners and losers are everywhere. Images of men, that is. Take a look at gambling advertising on TV, or even promotions offering help for problem gamblers. Men. Picture gamblers in your own head. They're probably men, too.

This even extends to research, where numbers show that women do indeed gamble, nearly as much as men in some cases. And they may even develop gambling problems faster than men do. But almost no research exists to explore it. This is because women gamble in secret, in silence, and often with little help when things go wrong. Almost everyone can gamble these days. Why does the world ignore nearly half of them?

GUEST: Rob Csernyik, 2022 Michener-Deacon Investigative Journalism fellow, freelance journalist.

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Not too long ago, cigarettes were everywhere. Lighting up in a restaurant, on a flight, or even in a doctor’s office was just part of the smoky fabric of Canadian life. Until it wasn’t.

Now smartphones are the constant thing we carry. We can’t seem to put them down. Will we ever?

What does our culture’s current addiction to smartphones have in common with cigarettes?

GUEST: Richard Warnica, business reporter and opinions writer for the Toronto Star 

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Cody wants to find a new job, in a new industry, but doesn't have the qualifications listed on the job postings he's seeing. Alan feels trapped in his current job by an unstable and unpredictable market. They both want to know if now is a good time to change careers, and how they should go about the transition. 

To find out, Jordan reaches Alan Kearns, founder of CareerJoy, a firm that helps guide people through career transitions. Together they outline the costs that need to be considered when planning a career change. 

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If you've tried to use Google to research a purchase recently, you've probably encountered—right at the top of the rankings—a whole lot of extremely similar Best Of lists published by familiar brands, even trusted names like Forbes, Popular Science or even Rolling Stone. Big names...but unlikely to have suddenly started thoroughly product testing things like air purifiers or humidifiers.

What's happening here is a tangled story of a collapsing media industry, affiliate marketing gone mad and an algorithm that's incapable, or unwilling, to stop it. What's happening to Google results in the age of sold-off legacy brands, artificial intelligence and sponsored content? Nothing good.

GUEST: Gisele Navarro, managing editor, HouseFresh

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On March 6th, six people, including four children, were killed in their home in Barrhaven ,O.N., a suburb of Ottawa. The man accused of committing the alleged mass murder shared a home with the family. The killing has left their community and the public at large with many questions. 

So who was the family, and what did they mean to their community? Who stands accused? And what do we know about what happened inside that house, and why?

GUEST: Marlo Glass, reporter, The Ottawa Citizen

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Officially known as Catherine, Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton has not been seen in months, aside from a quick glimpse in a dark car. Officially, she's recovering after undergoing abdominal surgery. Unofficially, if you follow the conspiracy theories, she's somewhere between divorced and dead.

On Sunday, a picture she posted showing her with her children on the UK's Mother's Day, was killed by wire services, diagnosed as a "manipulated" image. Obviously, that hasn't done much to quell speculation. Where is Kate? Why does the world care so much and suspect such trickery? What does this all say about both the royal couple's press strategy and the world in general's ability to trust?

GUEST: Patricia Treble, royal family expert, author of WriteRoyalty on Substack

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Last week, Juste Pour Rire announced that it would not hold Just For Laughs festivals in Montreal and Toronto in 2024, and that it was entering creditor protection. Toronto has already seen the cancellation of its Taste of The Danforth food festival, as well as scaled down versions of the Fringe and Luminato festivals. Hot Docs is struggling to survive and other major festivals like Shaw are facing record deficits.

Meanwhile, government help for arts institutions during the pandemic era is all but gone, while crowds have still not returned to their pre-pandemic levels. What's happening? Could it be the end of many long-running Canadian festivals? And what will we lose if it is?

GUEST: Joshua Chong, culture reporter and arts critic, the Toronto Star

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Canada is not the only country in the world experiencing skyrocketing costs and a shortage of available housing options. Across the world nations are coming up with creative solutions to deal with their own housing crises.

There’s no silver bullet for fixing the Canadian housing market, and addressing the issue will require a whole slough of short and long-term strategies to alleviate the current crunch, and accommodate future population growth. It does seem as though most governments at all levels are waking up (albeit, slowly) to the fact that real action is needed to address our housing woes, but we’re in desperate need of ideas.

So how are other countries coping? And what can Canada learn from them?

GUEST: Gregor Craigie, host of CBC's On The Island and author of Our Crumbling Foundation: How We Solve the Housing Crisis

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Olivia is going through a divorce. And while it has been amicable, splitting assets feels impossible, especially when it comes to the home they share. 

Jordan talks to Eva Sachs, the financial expert at The Modern Divorce, a Toronto company that helps couples reach divorce settlements without going to court. 

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