The Big Story

Recently the Progressive Conservative government released a climate plan. Actually, they specifically said not to call it a "plan". It's a set of emissions targets and how they plan to hit them. It's not very long and thin on details, and the government's budget didn't add much to it. But does any party in Ontario have a serious climate plan? And with a pandemic, a housing crisis and an inflation spike blowing through household budgets, it's worth asking how big an issue the climate will be in the upcoming election campaign.

But what happens to us if it isn't?

GUEST: Fatima Syed, Ontario reporter, The Narwhal

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It's impossible to discuss a new film or show these days without someone reminding you, "No spoilers!" Purposefully spoiling a plot point in a popular work is considered just short of evil. Entire trailers and hype campaigns are based on you not knowing one particular thing about a film, so you spend the entire time waiting, just waiting, for the big reveal.

But what if all of this was ruining our ability to enjoy creativity and art for their own sake? What if when we were waiting for the guest star or unexpected twist, we were missing the things that made the piece exceptional? What if we can't see the forest because we keep looking for one special tree that everyone has told us is a big surprise? What if ... (most) spoilers were good?

GUEST: Emily St. James, senior correspondent, Vox

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His name was Traevon Desjarlais-Chalifoux. He was 17. And in the wake of his death, there are so many questions and so few answers. Will the system admit any responsibility? Will the government that oversees it make any changes? How big is this long-ignored systemic problem, and can we fix it before it costs another young Indigenous person their life?

GUEST: Nancy Macdonald, The Globe and Mail

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The Canada Emergency Response Benefit was a lifeline to millions in the early days of the pandemic. Then, in early 2021, letters went out to more than 400,000 Canadians informing them that they may not have qualified and might have to pay the money they received back to the Canada Revenue Agency. For folks already struggling to make ends meet, this was a terrifying thought.

When you dig into who received those letters, though, something disturbing appears. Certain regions of the country received a disproportionately higher percentage of these frightening letters. Why? Who was targeted? And in general, who may end up owing the government money and what should you do if you receive one of these notices?

GUEST: Kelly Geraldine Malone, Canadian Press

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Typically, taking care of these pests has meant, well, pesticides. And sometimes, lots of them. But one Canadian city is working to curb the use of chemicals by deploying different tactics to control its mosquito population. What does Edmonton plan to do with all those bats and dragonflies, anyway?

And as the weather warms up in most of the country, what can we all do to handle our own mosquito problems? It turns out there are some newer solutions than simply crowding the air with foul-smelling spray... though that still works in a pinch. Oh, and, couldn't we just exterminate all these little jerks and be done with them? No? Why not?

GUEST: Sean Prager, assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan, research in insect ecology

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Depends on how you do it, and who you ask. Regenerative agriculture is a practice almost as old as farming itself. But recently it's been touted as a potential climate saviour for its ability to help capture more carbon in the soil. But with no real regulation or certification, it can be a dedicated, environmentally healthy way for farmers to make their produce better and more sustainable, or a pretty claim to put in a press release. How can you tell which is which?

GUEST: Marc Fawcett-Atkinson, reporter and writer covering food, climate, plastics and the environment for Canada’s National Observer.

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March Vautour is a border-hopping Canadian con artist who's tricked women and men out of over a million dollars. He's been getting away with it for over 20 years, but now his survivors have teamed up to do everything they can to stop him. From Pink Moon Studio and Frequency Podcast Network, Catch Him if You Can mixes documentary and drama to tell the story of a man who thought he was untouchable and his survivors' real-time crusade to catch him.

Check out Catch Him If You Can here.

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When Canadians were asked to get their first two covid vaccines, they were told that doing so would get them back to normal. Now some of them are booking and receiving their fourth shots. And more than that, we originally called two shots "fully vaccinated"—when clearly time and the virus have proven that wrong.

So what happened to our plan for vaccinations and how has it changed? Could a new, targeted vaccine expected this fall put an end to endless boosters? Did we get the messaging about vaccines wrong a year ago? And how do we make sure that vaccine hesitancy around Covid shots doesn't spread to shots that we've all been giving our children for decades?

GUEST: Sabina Vohra-Miller, clinical pharmacologist

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Probably! It's called dynamic pricing, and it's very different than paying extra for premium matchups at the ballpark or seats on an airplane. Dynamic pricing in an online marketplace is an opaque system that uses an algorithm to determine how much to charge you (or someone else) for anything from milk and paper towels to books or even a Tinder subscription. 

Factors at play when a price is set can include your neighbourhood, shopping history, recorded preference and many others. If it sounds shady, well, it's impossible to determine just how shady it is because none of this is public to would-be consumers. And none of our existing regulations address it. Should they? And if so, how?

GUEST: Vass Bednar, Executive Director, MPP in Digital Society at McMaster University, Author at Regs2Riches.com

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Many victims have come to Canadian hospitals after they've survived a sexual assault, only to be informed that the hospital doesn't have either the equipment or the personnel to properly collect evidence for a future investigation. In some cases, victims have been sent to hospitals many miles away. Why are these kits scattered around the country, instead of being immediately available at any hospital? And who has the power to fix it?

GUEST: Jacqueline Villeneuve-Ahmed is the founder and director of She Matters, a community of women-identifying survivors and allies

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