The Big Story

It increased it, obviously. But how? And what is that doing to us. A dive into the data that shows us where we spent our extra time, how it made us feel and which platforms have become indispensable and which ones we actually enjoy can reveal a lot about how the apps that live on our phones can change our behaviour. And how they can change to be more useful to us ... if that's their goal. GUEST: R...

And also... bubbles are supposed to burst, aren't they? At some point? It's been more than half a decade since house prices in Canada began to truly climb, and that climb has accelerated even through a pandemic. It's no longer just the big cities that are driving prices, either. It's the smaller towns outside them—and the towns even further down the road when those smaller towns get too expensive....

Have you ever been mistaken for somebody else by a stranger? They call you by another name and you say "Sorry, that's not me." And they say something like, "Oh, I’m sorry, you look just like them." Sometimes, they might add with a smile, "Are you sure you’re not related?" And you say nope, and off you go. Today’s story is what happens when you discover that, actually,...

It's been ... a bad year for economies, to put it mildly. The jobless rate has risen just about everywhere. Small businesses across Canada have scratched and clawed to stay afloat. Larger businesses have fared better, but have also issued layoffs to compensate for loss of revenue. And even as vaccines roll out and the end of the pandemic is in sight, there's still uncertainty as to what economic r...

You've probably never heard of Line 5. It's an offshoot of Enbridge's main pipeline and it moves more than a half-million barrels of crude oil and natural gas from Alberta, through the United States and back across the border to Sarnia, Ont. Unless the state of Michigan gets its way and shuts it down on May 12. The pipeline is more than 60 years old, and though Enbridge claims it's safe, a study r...

We all want this pandemic to be over. But it's not. And vaccines alone won't stop the third wave of Covid-19 that's now rolling over much of Canada. The third wave is driven by variants, and you've probably heard them mentioned many times. But what are they? How are they worse than original Covid? What stops them and what doesn't? Do vaccines work on them? And what do we need to do in the meantime...

Most of us have been isolated for more than a year. Many of us, though, have been isolated for longer than that, and will feel it even more sharply when those of us who do have lots of friends and family can resume seeing them. Before there was a global pandemic, there was an epidemic of loneliness spiking in many countries around the world. And if there's one thing capitalism knows how to do, it'...

It ramped up with Canada's detention of a Huawei executive, and China's retaliatory detention of two Canadian citizens. But it didn't begin there. And tensions are not likely to end if and when Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, or Meng Wanzhou, are released. The truth is, the diplomatic relationship between us and the emerging superpower has been decaying for years, and the past six months has on...

Its name is the Ever Given. It will forever be a part of the history of this odd time. And when it lodged itself horizontally in the Suez Canal last week, it launched a thousand memes—but also brought global shipping and supply chains to the brink of disaster. How could such a simple screwup cause so many problems? What could have gone wrong? What did the Stuck Boat Disaster teach us all about the...

Picture the last story you read or heard about a woman killed by a man. Where did she live? How old was she? Why did you picture it that way? With much of 2020 spent under stay-at-home orders, it's not a surprise that Canada saw a jump in femicide. But what is surprising is what we do and don't do about it. And which stories get told. This is the pandemic you haven't been hearing about. GUEST: Jul...

For almost a year now, reporter Cynthia Mulligan has been staying in touch with people who caught Covid-19 early and survived, only to see their debilitating symptoms linger. What do their symptoms and experiences have in common? Not much, except for two things: None of them has fully recovered, and nobody has been able to figure out how to help them. With new research estimating that long-haul Co...

Canada's Supreme Court issued an historic ruling yesterday, deciding by a 6-3 margin the the federal government does indeed have the power to implement a carbon tax (or a price on pollution) in provinces that don't set their own. The decision has implications on both sides of the fight, and on how future governments could use this ruling to perhaps expand their powers. What's in the ruling, exactl...

A long time ago, an amenity in a condo was limited to things like a pool, a gym or maybe a patio. Now, as units grow smaller and developers court buyers, they've become more and more luxurious. You want a rock-climbing wall? Access to communal BMWs? A rooftop running track that lights up at night? A full library and study area? No problem. But what happens when many of the services that used to be...

The second graduating class of this pandemic is about to enter the workforce. There are still very few jobs and thousands of grads desperate for them. Plus, this year's grads have the added benefit of an entire year without mentorships, extra-curricular activities or all the other ways young adults make themselves more attractive to recruiters. (Also ... this year, what recruiters?!) What can gove...

So, now the AstraZeneca vaccine is OK for people over age 65? What about the blood clot risk?! Why are some pharmacies taking walk-ins for people in their 60s right now, but some government portals are only booking for people 75 and up? Why is it suddenly alright to go four months between doses? Why are we leaving so many vaccines in the freezer? Is there enough supply or not? Why do Quebec, Ontar...

Hundreds of thousands of Canadians have lost loved ones to this pandemic. And most of them lost them without being able to say goodbye or to properly mourn them. Grief over a death is challenging at any time, but how are we coping without the two parts of the process that can offer us comfort. A last hug or hand squeeze, a wake and a communal gathering have been part of our grief as long as we've...

The Simpson family's circumstances have barely changed at all over 30 years—but the world around them has dramatically shifted. When the show debuted, Homer and his family were holding onto the bottom rung of the lower class, and were portrayed that way through all sorts of financial crises. But by today's standards, Homer—who has a steady job that pays enough for Marge not to work, belongs to a u...

For more than 12 months, Asian-Canadians and Asian-Americans have been targeted for harassment, assault and worse. In the early days of the pandemic, it was words. Then actions. Then violence. And all along they have found it difficult to get a real, comprehensive response from police or government—often being forced to document their own assaults and collect databases with entries from community...

Dr. Jennifer Kwan is just one of dozens of ordinary Canadians who decided early in the pandemic to spend their free time presenting data on the virus to the masses via easy to understand charts. These unlikely dataviz experts have been integral to the general public's familiarity with things like waves, exponential growth, positivity percentage and other key indicators. How and why did they decide...

And will Canada ever remove the monarchy? A week ago, it seemed like a tipping point was at hand, as the world reacted with shock and scorn to allegations of mistreatment and racism from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. But what has happened since the interview aired? How did the Royal family defend itself? What are Commonwealth nations planning to do in response?...

...and what our governments can learn from it. While crowdfunding sites were originally intended to help with getting projects off the ground, over the past decade they’ve increasingly become a last-resort for people who have fallen through the cracks of the services government provides. It’s not just raw funds that the digital safety net provides where governments don’t—it’s everything from reddi...

In 1994, a small Toronto church gave birth to a bizarre spiritual movement that spread across the country and the globe. It was known as the Toronto Blessing, and among its many eventual destinations was a church named Bethel in Redding, California. More than a quarter century later, Bethel is one of the most powerful—and strangest—churches in America, featuring worshipping that has been described...

If there's one thing this pandemic has taught us, it's how poorly we care for our elders in Canada. The stories of the carnage in long-term care facilities have been endless and bleak. The gaps in the system have been laid bare for all to see. That's the bad news. And it's horrific. But the good news is that this is fixable. This is not an insurmountable challenge. The only question is we are read...

In most Canadian towns and cities, public health is still trying to vaccinate people 80 and up. In Canada's North, it's a whole different story. In larger northern cities, 40-somethings are getting their shots. And in small, more remote places, everyone over 18 has been offered a jab. No, it's not practical in places like Toronto or Calgary because of sheer scale—but it's worth noting that Norther...

Once you've received your COVID-19 vaccine, you'll also receive proof that you've got it. That's not a new concept—we do it for children's vaccinations all the time. The big question health organizations, governments and even businesses are currently contemplating though is what you'll be able to do with it. Will you need proof of vaccination to attend a concert this fall? What about to return to...