The Big Story

In 2021 the federal government vowed to create a pathway to allow thousands of migrants to remain the country. Instead, deportation levels the past two years are higher than they've been in more than a decade. And we've spent more than $100 million on the deportation process.

How did we end up with the opposite of what the government promised? Given Canada's shortage of housing and the health care crisis, how should the government handle the hundreds of thousands of migrants in the country? Why does the deportation process cost so much money? Is there a better way?

GUEST: Noushin Ziafati, reporting for The Breach

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Recent weeks have seen gruesome and tragic incidents in both Toronto and Edmonton involving  dogs attacking children, leaving one child dead and another with life-changing injuries. Those stories are backed by numbers from many Canadian cities—including Toronto and Edmonton—showing a surge in attacks or dangerous incidents over the past couple of years.

What's behind the spike in attacks? Is it pandemic puppies, as some suggest? Lax enforcement? Incompetent owners? All of those and more? And more importantly, what are we doing about it? What works and what doesn't when it comes to keeping dogs under control in our cities?

GUEST: Dr. Tim Arthur, Ottawa veterinarian and Canadian Veterinary Medical Association President-elect

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In a 12-month span from 1990-1991, three teenaged girls were murdered in Victoria, BC. All three had been sex trafficked and were working on what was then the city's "stroll" where sex workers solicited clients. All three were found separately, and the ensuing investigations were a jurisdictional mess. The crimes are unsolved to this day, though some with knowledge of the cases believe they may have been committed by the same person.

Who were these girls and how did they find themselves on the stroll? What might we learn about these still-open cases more than 30 years later? Why couldn't police make headway in the 1990s and what's changed that might finally help bring the killer or killers to justice?

GUEST: Laura Palmer, host and creator of Island Crime Season 6: Sweethearts

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In response to sky-high grocery costs, Canada's Competition Bureau recently issued a report calling for more competition in the sector. That call was echoed by the federal government, who had hoped to lure a foreign chain, such as Germany's Aldi, to Canada to give consumers options. But Aldi won't be coming, and neither will anyone else, at least not anytime soon.

Why is it so hard for companies to enter the Canadian market and compete against homegrown companies like Loblaw, especially in the grocery sector? How could Canada make it easier for competitors to set up shop? And should we be encouraging foreign-owned businesses over ones owned and operated by Canadians in the first place?

GUEST: Vass Bednar, Executive Director of McMaster University's  Master of Public Policy in Digital Society Program; author of regs2riches.com

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Should I put my savings into an RRSP? If I do that, will I pay less taxes? What happens if I want to access that money before I retire? These are just a few of the RRSP-related questions we've received lately. So, here's everything you need to know about RRSPs in one episode. Just in time for tax season!

With Jackie Porter, certified financial planner and ambassador for FP Canada, a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to championing better financial wellness for all Canadians. Learn more about FP Canada here. 

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Do you miss that beloved cat or dog that passed away? Good news! For only tens of thousands of dollars, and probably a few failed attempts, you can have an identical genetic replacement. Years ago Barbara Streisand made news for cloning her dog. But since then the technology has become much more accessible. A woman in BC made Canadian headlines in March for her two kittens, cloned from a deceased cat named 'Bear'.

But these pets can't consent to being clones--which come with more risks than a traditional cat or dog--nor can the cats or dogs who carry the fetus. And while pet cloning technology comes to the masses, scientists are working on the next step. To save endangered animals? To bring back extinct ones? And in some dark places around the world... perhaps even attempts to clone humans.

GUEST: Kerry Bowman, bioethicist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto

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It's a case that sparked protests, made national headlines and may have swung a provincial election. And it's about to head to trial. You probably know it best for the fight over whether or not police would search Winnipeg's Prairie Green landfill — but at its core this story is about vulnerable women and the system that forgot them.

As Jeremy Skibicki's trial begins this month, the landfill search has not. Why not? How did the alleged killer find his victims, and why was he free to find them in the first place? What will we learn about the connections between the women and Skibicki and could this all have been prevented?

GUEST: Rachel Browne, investigative journalist, writing in Maclean's

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It can be confusing. Depending on which party you listen to, the carbon tax—or "price on pollution"—will either cost you or save you money. And both sides are using accurate information, just differently.

But what isn't debatable is that the government's signature policy has been under unprecedented attack over the past year, and the increase that kicked in on April 1 was met with protests and scorn around the country. But will you actually feel it, and if so, when? Where does the policy stand five years after implementation? And is it beginning to die a death of 1,000 cuts?

GUEST: Cormac Mac Sweeney, Parliament Hill reporter, CityNews

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You know how your iPhone uses a different charging cable than your friend's Android? Well, imagine you've just bought a $50,000 tractor ... that only works with parts from the company you bought it from. Or an expensive printer that only takes one kind of ink. Welcome to the fight for interoperability, a battle against the plans of companies to use digital technology to lock customers into their platforms, forever.

How did we let things get this far? Who's fighting back and what regulations are they fighting for? One of the first victories in this war was Apple being forced to move to a universal charger on its' new iPhone. Now what's next?

GUEST: Anthony Rosborough, Assistant Professor of Law & Computer Science at Dalhousie University; doctoral researcher in Law at the European University Institute.

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Maple syrup isn't just a staple of Canadian culture. It's big business, especially in Quebec, where the sugary liquid is so vital to the economy that the province keeps a special syrup reserve on hand to control price fluctuations.

Except that reserve is running low, dangerously low, after a couple of warm winters coupled with increased demand ate up most of the excess. And with climate change bringing even warmer winters in the years to come, the syrup industry is on alert. Is this a challenge to be overcome with ingenuity, or a crisis in the heart of syrup country?

GUEST: Warren Mabee, director of the Queen's Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy at Queen's University

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