Just Asking

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has called for a halt on overtime work, while negotiations continue with Canada Post. A report this week described the company as "effectively bankrupt." Workers are pushing for higher wages to cope with inflation and challenging the idea of a part-time workforce to extend their services to seven days a week. To answer your questions about the future of Canada...

As graduation season approaches, young people are entering into a tough job market. In April, the unemployment rate for those aged between 15 to 24 years old was 14.1 per cent - the highest rate seen in over a decade. To answer your questions about what young people and their parents should keep in mind as they enter into the workforce, Just Asking spoke to two guests. Shenelle Payne Cuf...

Celebrity doctors and Silicon Valley billionaires have been promoting the so-called "longevity movement," promoting health trends that claim to extend your life. They claim by following strict diets, taking dozens of supplements per day and regular cold plunges they can extend their life well-past 100. But how much evidence is there behind these claims? And what do we actually know about healthy a...

Stock markets bounced back this week thanks to the tariff truce between the U.S. and China after plunging to record lows last month. The markets are being closely watched through all the tariff turbulence - but what does it all mean for your finances? Our experts will broke it all down for us. Aravind Sithamparapillai is a financial planner and Preet Banerjee is a personal finance expert.

The man behind the world's most notorious website for non-consensual, AI-generated porn of real people is a hospital pharmacist from just outside of Toronto according to a CBC investigation. His site, MrDeepFakes, was the world's most popular site for "deepfake" porn, hosting tens of thousands of non-consensual and sometimes violent fake videos and images of celebrities, politicians, social m...

The new leader of 1.4 billion Roman Catholics is, for the first time, an American. The former Cardinal Robert Prevost is now Pope Leo XIV, the 267th man to hold that office. To answer your questions about the new Pope, Just Asking was joined by two guests. Father Darren Dias is the Executive Director of the Toronto School of Theology at University of St Michael’s College. Mark McGowan is...

Have you ever been in a "sort-of" relationship? If you're more than friends but not quite partners, if the definitions are fuzzy and the commitments are loose, you might be in a "situationship". For some people, situationships are liberating because there are no labels and no expectations. For others, a situationship is an anxiety-causing waiting game. To answer all your questions about situations...

The federal NDP was nearly wiped off the electoral map in the recent federal election. Jagmeet Singh stepped down as party leader after the New Democrats dropped to seven seats, and lost official party status. So where does the NDP go from here? Just Asking was joined by two guests to talk about what's next for the party. Jordan Leichnitz is a former NDP senior strategist. David McGrane...

The federal election is Monday, April 28. But there's still a daily barrage of announcements, attack ads and press conferences. To provide you with more information before you vote, Just Asking spoke to two guests. Chris Cochrane is an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto. And Laura Osmond is the parliamentary correspondent for The Logic.

Apparently just over half of Canadians play video games according to industry numbers. And the games themselves have evolved from two-dimensional, simplistic adventures to three dimensional worlds with complicated moral choices that can suck up hours of your time. To answer your questions about video games and your relationship with video games, Just Asking brought out three guests. Chel...

Making friends can be tough no matter how old you are. But once you get out of school and don't have classmates to fall back on, your pool of potential friends shrinks. So what do you do? Just Asking spoke to two friendship experts. Aaron Karo is the co-host of the podcast, "Man of the Year". Danielle Bayard Jackson is a friendship coach and author.

With Canadians heading to the polls in a matter of days, it's time for a bit of an Election 101. How does our system actually work? What is first-past-the-post? And what do MPs actually do once they are elected? To answer all your Canadian election questions, Just Asking was joined by two guests. Andrea Perrella is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Wilfrid Lauri...

Just Asking has been on the air for just over a year now! To celebrate, we reached out to some of the people who have called in for advice to see whether we were able to solve their problems. Take a listen!

Alberta has introduced a bill to regulate online private gambling. Ontario has regulated this space since 2022. To answer your questions on gambling, Just Asking spoke to two guests. Steve Rose is an addiction counsellor in Windsor, and Youssef Allami is an assistant professor at the School of Psychology at Université Laval who has completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Alberta Gambling R...

Adolescence is a searing 4-part series on Netflix about boys, violence, cyberbullying and social media. It has ignited a conversation among parents and guardians about how to raise boys who are happy, healthy and kind to others. To answer your questions about raising boys, we spoke to two guests. Jonathan Reed is the director of programs for Next Gen Men, and Michael Kehler is a research...

Stories of strict enforcement at the Canada-U.S. border have left many wondering if it's safe to travel. As we hear reports of more scrutiny, devices being searched, even arrests and detention, it can be scary to approach a border that, until now, has been celebrated for its peaceful nature and lack of significant military presence. What do you need to know when approaching the U.S. border? Will y...

Are you suffering from burn out? Alexandra Lily has been there and come through the other side. She has three step-children, and two of her own. One of her sons is living with a disability. Three years ago she was navigating doctors appointments, her son's daily seizures, and her own cancer diagnosis. She says she hit a wall. Now she's on the other side and helps parents who are in a sim...

Canadian military spending hasn't traditionally been a top election issue. But thanks to Canada's shifting relationship with the United States, it certainly is right now. To answer your questions about Canada's military readiness, Just Asking was joined by two guests. Richard Shimooka is a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute who studies defence policy. And Whitney Lackenbauer is the C...

You might not need a study to tell you that Canadians aren't particularly happy right now, but in case you do, the Global Happiness Report has Canada ranked as the 18th happiest country in the world. That's down from last year's ranking, and much lower than fifth place which was Canada's highest rank ever (back in 2015). To answer your questions about how to be happy, Just Asking spoke t...

Another federal election campaign means we are about to be bombarded by opinion polls. Weekly polls, local polls, aggregate polls, there is a ton to keep track of. To answer your questions about political polls and how they work, Just Asking brought on two guests. Mario Canseco is a pollster and the President of Research Co., and Feodor Snagovsky is a professor of political science at the Uni...

Tariff uncertainty has slowed Canada's housing market, and reports show that the national average asking price for rent has gone down for five months in a row. So is this finally good news for renters and buyers? Whether you are renting, buying, leasing, or selling - Just Asking was joined by two experts with advice for you. Tom Storey is a realtor in Toronto, and Sydney Blum is a commun...

Ontario is seeing a surge in measles cases right now. Public Health Ontario is reporting 350 total cases since an outbreak began on Oct. 28, 2024. The number has increased by 173 cases in the last several weeks. To answer your questions about measles, Just Asking spoke with guests Dr. Brian Conway - President and Medical Director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre. And Devon Gre...

It's been another week of escalating tariffs and threats between the United States and Canada. The U.S. placed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports coming across the border, and Canada responded with its own counter-tariffs on U.S. goods. Whether it's dairy, lumber, or trade deficits, Donald Trump has made a lot of claims about the Canada-U.S. relationship the last few weeks. To help us fact...

It seems like the trade war is here to stay for the foreseeable future. That was the message from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after another week of threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. What do you want to know about tariffs and how this all affects your personal finances? We put your questions to Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood, a political economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives,...

You can find a bully in many places - in a school yard, at work or maybe even at the highest levels of government. Some have accused U.S. President Donald Trump of being a bully, in a world of international politics, where diplomacy is the norm. Canadians have been forced to respond. When you've got no choice but to take on your bully, how do you do it? Just Asking spoke with Tony Volk, a Brock Un...