Your hosts today Lynn, Levon, Leo Gimeno, Marc (scroll to bottom for video of show)

ListenEN_Interview_2-20180518-WIE20

Guest: Eilis Quinn - specialised reporter - Eye On The Arctic

A new feature and special report on the RCI website: Eye On The Arctic

Our RCI colleague Eilis Quinn joins us in studio to talk about a new feature on the Eye on the Arctic website.

It's about how a country is trying to boost its economy through tourism. In the case of Iceland, it has worked too well. Eilis's special report looks at the consequences when too many people come to a fragile environment too quickly.

The story looks at what's happening in Iceland and provides lessons for many other countries with fragile environments looking to tourism to help them.

Boreal forest protection

The boreal forest in Canada is home to wood bison, North America’s largest land animal. It is one of the last places on earth where there is enough undisturbed land for animals to migrate and roam free. (Michel Rapinski)

Fully one third of the world's boreal forest stretches across Canada from Yukon to Newfoundland. This month Canada announced four new national parks would be created to adjoin the already existing Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta, which also stretches into the southern portion of the Northwest Territories.

The area is a haven for 68 species of special concern, three of which are listed under the government’s Species at Risk Act. The new parks add some 13,600 square kilometres for a total parkland area of over 67,000 sq km.

Lynn speaks with Dan Kraus, a senior biologist with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, a key player in the project.

New tobacco and e-cigarette marketing laws

2017 proposal for plain packaging of cigarettes for Canada. Photo: Adrian Wyld- CP

The Canadian Parliament and Senate have passed new laws regarding the marketing and sales of tobacco and e-cigarettes.

The bill is awaiting royal assent, which is expected shortly and will then come into effect soon afterwards. The new amendments to the Tobacco Act will, amongst other things, very likely lead to a change in the look of cigarette packages to remove any attractive company logos, or colours. The Canadian packaging will likely resemble that of Australia and others in created a so-called standardised plain packaging.

Also regulated will be e-cigarettes, also known as vaping. Sales to minors will be banned, certain aromas or flavours deemed to be targeting youth will be banned, and marketing will also have strict controls.

Marc speaks with Rob Cunningham of the Canadian Cancer Society.

Child rape charges against Canadian aid worker

Prominent Canadian humanitarian worker Peter Dalglish faces charges of child sexual abuse in Nepal in connection with the alleged rape of two boys 12 and 14. (YouTube)

It's a case which has sent shock waves through humanitarian aid agencies around the world.

Peter Dalglish, who helped found the charity Street Kids International and has worked for decades for a number of humanitarian agencies, including UN Habitat in Afghanistan and the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response in Liberia, is facing charges in Nepal related to child luring and sexual abuse, which he denies.

Levon spoke with Lori Handrahan, a veteran humanitarian worker and the author of Epidemic: America’s Trade in Child Rape.

https://www.facebook.com/rcinet/videos/10160313553290114/