The Decibel

By now, most people know how to recognize the signs of a phishing e-mail – poor spelling and grammar, strange sender e-mail addresses, and of course, an instruction to click on a link, where you’re asked to put in your banking or login credentials. But these scams are becoming more sophisticated and politically motivated.

Last week, Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto uncovered what they’re calling the River of Phish campaign, which uses sophisticated social engineering practices to target people, including a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The Globe’s telecom reporter Alexandra Posadzki is on the show to talk about what Citizen Lab found, how the scheme works, and what we know about the Russia-linked group behind it.

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A recent report said that condo sales in Toronto are at a 27-year low. Insolvencies amongst condo developers are rising and set to be 57-per-cent higher than 2023 and 13-per-cent higher than 2009. This means there are a glut of units for sale. And yet, prices aren’t really going down.

So what’s happening here? Rachelle Younglai, a real estate reporter for The Globe and Mail, explains why the pre-construction market is in ‘recessionary territory’ and how all of this could make Canada’s housing affordability crisis worse over the next few years.

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When nature calls, you have to answer, and quickly. The last thing you’d want is to walk several kilometers to find a public toilet.. And yet, public bathrooms aren’t easy to find in many cities across Canada. Overall, Canada has 18 public toilets per 100,000 people, which puts it in 15th place globally. And for those facing homelessness or a medical condition, public toilets are crucial for their ability to move freely through urban spaces.

The Globe’s urban affairs reporter, Oliver Moore, explains why good public toilets are so hard to find, how the pandemic created a two-tier system of access, and what Canadian cities are doing to address the scarcity.

This episode orinially aired on May 27, 2024.

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A coalition of mayors across Ontario are pleading for help in what they call a “humanitarian crisis” on their streets. They say the issues of homelessness, drug addiction and mental health are beyond their capacity to handle, and they need a more sustained and well-funded support from higher levels of government.

Burlington Mayor and Chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors Marianne Meed Ward joins us to talk about why cities went public with their plea. Then, the Globe and Mail’s Queen’s Park reporter Jeff Gray talks about how this fits into the longstanding struggle between cities and provinces over funding social services.

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Intrauterine devices, or IUDs, have become increasingly accessible and popular over the last few years. The high level of efficacy and added benefits, like improving users’ periods, make it appealing to doctors to recommend for patients of all ages. But there’s a big catch – getting it put in can be excruciating for some patients.

Last week, the Center for Disease Control in the United States issued a guidance recommending healthcare providers counsel patients on their pain management options before the procedure. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada put out a similar recommendation in 2022.

Dr. Renée Hall is the medical co-director of the Willow Reproductive Health Centre in Vancouver and a clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia. She’s on the show to talk about why we need to change how IUD insertions are treated , and how womens’ pain is treated in healthcare.

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Boblo Island is situated in the Detroit River, on the border of Canada and the U.S., just outside of Windsor. For almost a century, it was a beloved amusement park visited by both the Canadian and American public.

But after a series of bankruptcies, the island wound up under the control of a developer. And now, the island is being marketed as an exclusive residential community, with restricted access to the public. Globe opinion editor Sarah Efron tells the story of Boblo Island and what happens when a space beloved by the public is lost.

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In 2023, more than 6.5 million people across Canada did not have a family doctor. Family doctor deserts are growing so vast that patients will stay with their doctors even after moving hours away. Some provinces have been increasing pharmacists’ capabilities – allowing them to prescribe for common ailments like pink eye. The hope is they can relieve some pressure on already stretched family doctors’ offices and increase accessibility for people without one. 

After acquiring Shoppers Drug Mart in 2014, Loblaw has a hold on 25 per cent of the Canadian pharmacy market. Ten years later, they’re betting that the future of Canadian healthcare lies at the back of their stores. They’ve started building what they’re calling “pharmacy care clinics,” where pharmacists will be able to visit with patients in a clinic-like setting. 

Chris Hannay is the Globe’s independent business reporter, and Susan Krashinsky Robertson is the Globe’s retail reporter. They’re on the show to talk about what Loblaw’s expansion into the healthcare space means for Canadians, and what healthcare providers think about the move.

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Millennial women are feeling burnt out.

The responsibilities and pressures of family, work and caregiving are piling up, amidst the lingering fallout of the pandemic and the economic crisis. But what makes this generation’s burnout unique to generations before it?

The Globe and Mail’s demographics reporter Ann Hui, explains her own experience with burnout, the reasons why millennial women are feeling it more and how it can be made better.

This episode originally aired on March 15, 2024.

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Since the war in Gaza broke out in October, Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in constant military strikes. At the end of July, the violence escalated when 12 Druze children were killed by a rocket hitting a soccer field in the Golan Heights. A string of high profile assassinations followed, raising the already-high tensions in the region.

Thomas Juneau is an associate professor of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa who specializes in security in the Middle East. He’s on the show to talk about how countries in the region are calculating their moves to avoid an all-out war. 

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Expectations were high for 17-year-old Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh coming into the Paris Olympic Games. After all the races were said and done, she won a medal in each of the four individual races she competed in: silver in the 400-metre freestyle, gold in the 400-metre individual medley, gold in the 200-metre butterfly and gold in the 200-metre individual medley. These wins make Summer the first Canadian swimmer to win four individual medals at an Olympics and the first Canadian woman to win three individual gold medals at a single Games.

Grant Robertson has been watching Summer win from the La Défense Arena in Paris. He explains how Summer approached the Olympics, why she is so dominant and who else made it to the podium on the Canadian swimming team.

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