The Big Story

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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There’s a chance that one day, we humans could have a conversation with whales. Seriously. Scientists are working on a way to make it happen.

If technology does eventually allow us to talk to these majestic mammals, what should we say? And what message will they send back?

Ross Andersen, a staff writer at The Atlantic, is exploring those questions by reaching out to experts who specialize in paleontology, philosophy, animal-rights law, and beyond for their take.Now, he’s sharing his intriguing findings.

GUEST: Ross Andersen, staff writer at The Atlantic

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Haiti is in the grip of a deepening crisis. Armed gangs are expanding their control of the Caribbean nation through increasingly violent attacks.

A state of emergency was declared on Sunday after gangs raided two prisons, freeing thousands of inmates. Hours later, they launched an assault on the country’s main airport.One gang leader is warning of a “civil war that will end in genocide” if Haiti’s Prime Minister remains in power.

Will a planned Kenya-led security mission bring calm to Haiti? Or is the country on the verge of plunging into worsening chaos?

GUEST: Robert Fatton Jr. is the Ambassador Taylor Professor of Politics in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia.

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In some parts of Canada, carbon pricing is a four-letter word.

Now, one province is taking a dramatic stand against the federal government’s carbon levy. Saskatchewan’s government says it’s refusing to remit carbon tax funds to Ottawa.

“This is a decision that we do not take lightly and we recognize that it may come with consequences,” SaskEnergy Minister Dustin Duncan said in video posted to social media announcing the move last week.

What consequences could Saskatchewan face? Will other provinces follow suit? And what could this mean for the Trudeau government’s controversial policy?

GUEST: Cormac Mac Sweeney, Parliament Hill Reporter for CityNews

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Lynx Air is no more.

The ultralow-cost airline abruptly announced its exit from Canadian skies just ahead of busy March Break travel. Customers were left scrambling to make new – and likely more expensive – bookings.

The company now joins a growing list of failed discount airlines in the country. Why can’t they seem to stick around for the long haul? Are Canadians just doomed to always pay more for our air travel? 

GUEST: Jonah Prousky, Management consultant and freelance writer who focuses on business, technology and society

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Last week, it came out that Wendy’s was considering using dynamic pricing, which sparked concern that would mean increased prices during peak hours. Immediately, the company was met with a deluge of criticism and they reversed their decision.

While dynamic pricing is off Wendy’s menu for now, the practice is still common in everything from ride hailing services to air fare and even concert tickets.

What does the heated backlash reveal about what customers will accept? And where could dynamic pricing sneak in next?

GUEST: Corey Mintz, freelance food reporter and author of The Next Supper: The End of Restaurants as We Knew Them, and What Comes After

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Matt is struggling to keep up with the cost of heating his home. And he's not alone, Canadians are reporting higher energy consumption costs across the country.

Jordan calls Violet Kopperson, a registered energy advisor from the Windfall Ecology Centre, to find out how Canadians can pay less to heat and cool their homes. 

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Just 20 years ago, Canadian cities were seeing a few dozen bed bug infestation reports a year. Now they get thousands—and in Toronto, tens of thousands. In Canada and around the world, the terrifying creatures are back, and they're getting stronger. (Seriously, they're becoming harder to kill, we told you this was stuff you "never wanted to know".)

How did bed bugs come back to become such a huge problem? What works against them and what doesn't? How can you recognize them, prevent infestations and how should you handle one it it happens? Also: Why are these bugs, of all the things that crawl on this Earth, the ones that make us so nauseatingly uncomfortable and paranoid?

GUEST: Lauren McKeon, journalist and author, deputy editor at Toronto Life (Read Lauren's bed bugs opus right here.)

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Usually when both sides are mad, it's a sign of a good political compromise. But when your new housing law manages to anger both tenants and landlords over completely different parts of the same bill, that's less of a compromise and more of a mess. But Quebec's housing minister maintains the new legislation will help ease the province's growing rental and housing crisis.

What's in this bill? Why do tenant advocates think it will send rents skyrocketing? Why do landlords say it will cost them money? And is it better, in a crisis like this, to simply try something, even if nobody can agree on whether it'll work or not?

GUEST: Erika Morris, CBC Montreal

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Whatever we've been taught, it seems like the lessons aren't sticking these days. And the most obvious result is the dramatic resurgence of a sexually transmitted infection that was once rare in this country: Syphilis. It's not the only STI with rates on the rise, but it is the most troubling—especially cases of congenital syphilis, in which a pregnant mother transfers the infection to her unborn baby.

Why have syphilis and other STIs returned with a vengeance? Is it a matter of education and prevention? Or is it a symptom of a larger problem?

GUEST: Dr. Vanessa Allen, Medical Microbiologist and Infectious Diseases Physician at Sinai Health; Associate Professor at the University of Toronto

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