The Decibel

Mark Carney’s federal government has introduced its second tough-on-crime bill this fall. The new bill, Bill C-16, focuses on violence against women and children, changes to mandatory minimum sentences and the growing problem of court delays.

The Globe’s justice reporter, David Ebner, explains the specific changes to the Criminal Code that this bill wants to make and what advocates and critics are saying about it.

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Late-stage prostate cancer diagnoses are on the rise in Canada. According to a recent study, between 2010 and 2021, rates of prostate cancer discovered at Stage 4 increased by about 50 per cent in men aged 50 to 74. In men over the age of 75, rates were up over 65 per cent.

There is a simple blood test that can screen for early signs of prostate cancer, called a prostate specific antigen, or PSA test; however, in 2014, Canada recommended against using the PSA for widespread screening. Today, Globe health reporter Kelly Grant explains what this study found and why these guidelines are so highly contested in Canada.

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Hours before a strike deadline, Air Transat and the union representing airline pilots reached a tentative agreement. For customers, it comes as relief in the middle of a busy holiday travel season. And in a year already wracked by airline work stoppages, the threat of disruption and lengthy customer reimbursement periods continue to loom.

Mariya Postelnyak, The Globe’s Consumer Affairs reporter, speaks about what you need to know as a traveller, what’s afforded in air passenger protections, and how to get what you’re owed if your flights get cancelled.

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The Canadian manufacturing sector has been having a hard time, which has been made worse by U.S. tariffs. The impact of these tariffs varies company to company. So a team of Report on Business journalists from The Globe spoke to several manufacturers to see how they’ve fared this past year.

Matt Lundy, The Globe’s Economics Editor, speaks about how badly these companies have been hurt, what they’re doing to try to cope and whether federal government supports have been any help.

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For families, the tragedy of opioids is beyond measure. The opioid epidemic has claimed tens of thousands of lives in Canada and has been recognized as a public health crisis, but it’s also an economic one – and it disproportionately affects workers in key sectors like construction and the trades. As Ottawa ramps up its push to build major projects fast, could the ongoing toxic drug crisis slow it down?

Today, Globe reporter Jason Kirby joins the show. As part of our Poisoned series, he spoke with workers, companies, unions and health researchers to understand the grip the crisis has on the construction industry and what’s being done about it.

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Canada is in the midst of reframing its approach to military spending. The reasons for this are twofold; a commitment to fulfilling NATO spending as part of GDP, and the push to diversify spending away from the U.S. To that end, Prime Minister Mark Carney has recently signed a deal joining the EU’s military procurement fund, granting Canada access to both selling and purchasing defence materiel.

Steven Chase, The Globe’s senior parliamentary reporter, is on the show to discuss what this means for our burgeoning national defence industry, the political considerations involved, and where our national armed forces go from here.

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It’s not unusual for business owners to forge ties with governments, but there are rules around conflicts of interest when it comes to procurement. In February, 2025, an Alberta senior public servant stepped forward with allegations of political interference in the awarding of large health contracts. These allegations prompted investigators, auditors and opposition politicians to look closely at the ties between Premier Danielle Smith’s government and an Alberta businessman, Sam Mraiche.

Mraiche’s company, MHCare, had been awarded hundreds of millions of dollars worth of procurement contracts from Alberta Health Services. A Globe and Mail investigation found that the connections between Mr. Mraiche, purchasing officials, and senior Alberta political figures have existed longer – and are more extensive – than than previously reported.

Today, Carrie Tait, a reporter with The Globe’s Calgary bureau, and Tom Cardoso, an investigative reporter with The Globe, are on the show to talk about their investigation into the ties between a serial entrepreneur and the Alberta government.

In a previous edit of the episode, we made an error in stating Sam Mraiche was not in a photo with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Photos sourced by The Globe show Mraiche in photos with Premier Smith taken in May 2024 in Vancouver and June 2, 2024. The error has been removed from the episode.

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With the holidays right around the corner, households are getting ready for company and deep cleans are underway. Even the idea of letting family and friends see a clutter-strewn home can be anxiety-inducing, and images of perfectly-clean celebrity homes on social media don’t help. But what are we actually losing when we prioritize the act of cleaning over the people we do it for?

Zosia Bielski, The Globe’s Time Use reporter, digs into the societal pressure we all face over deep cleaning, why the work often disproportionately falls on women and how letting our guard down in our living spaces can deepen relationships.

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Across Canada, highways and rural roads are studded with cellular ‘dead zones’. In some provinces, coverage gaps span over 30 per cent of major roads. In some cases, you can’t receive calls and texts for more than 100 kilometres. So when something goes wrong, what do people do?

Today, the Globe’s telecoms reporter Irene Galea and national news reporter Jill Mahoney have been investigating how many of the country’s major roads and highways are disconnected. They explain why years-long public safety risk persists, how it affects the Canadians driving through them, and what is being done about the problem.

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Ontario just passed Bill 60, officially named the “Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act.” It’s a big omnibus bill, but it’s garnered the most attention for reforms to Ontario’s rental system. Doug Ford’s government walked back the most controversial part of the bill, but critics are concerned that what remains will still lead to more evictions and worsen the homelessness crisis.

Today, Shane Dingman, the Globe’s real estate reporter, is on the show to talk about why these legislative changes are so contentious, and what impact they could have on people living in Canada’s largest rental market.

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