The Decibel

In the midst of the Israel-Hamas war, the idea of lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians seems farther away than it has been in a long time. But there are still people working to create the conditions for a two-state solution; among those are Canadian troops, working in the West Bank in a mission called Operation Proteus . Claire Porter Robbins is a freelance journalist and former aid wor...

In the small Newfoundland community of Portugal Cove south, the town church is considered its lifeblood, a community hub and historical touchstone, all rolled into one. But at the end of August, parishioners were told their church would be sold off to help the Roman Catholic Church pay a $104 million settlement . And when locals learned they couldn’t stop the sale, they took matters into their own...

When the pandemic hit, nearly 40 per cent of Canada’s workforce went remote. More than four years later, that number has dropped by more than half. In a moment when bosses push for a return to the office – and workers cling to hybrid schedules – we’re learning just how much remote work has changed our habits, routines … and personal hygiene .  Globe reporter Zosia Bielski recently turned her focus...

The Decibel presents ‘ Lately’ , a Globe and Mail podcast taking on shifts in business, tech and economy with newsmakers and thinkers. In this episode, award-winning journalist Luc Rinaldi takes us behind the curtain of Big Tobacco’s machinations to report on how an industry built on addiction is looking to reinvent itself for the wellness age. His cover story on the topic appears in this month’s...

After nearly two years of touring across five continents , Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is coming to Canada. Thursday is the first of six dates in Toronto, and the tour will wrap up with three dates in Vancouver in December. When the Eras Tour rolls through town, money tends to follow ; fans and concert-goers spend on merch, hotels, restaurants… and of course, tickets . Tickets make for attractive auc...

Alberta and Texas have a lot in common. Both have independent western cultures, great country music, and each lead their countries in oil production. And over the past decade, they’ve both been the unlikely hosts to the multibillion-dollar renewable energy boom – with swaths of the Texas and Alberta energy grids going green . But while Texas becomes a leader, Alberta is changing course . Jeffrey J...

Before Nov. 5, many pollsters predicted that there would be a huge gender gap in the U.S. election vote, with women overwhelmingly supporting Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and men voting for the Republican choice, Donald Trump. That didn’t quite happen. Fifty three per cent of female voters supported Harris, and 46 per cent voted for Trump. In 2020, 55 per cent of women supported Joe Biden, a...

Murray Sinclair died last week at the age of 73. As a trail-blazing judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he spent his life revealing the truth about Canada’s relationship with Indigenous people. Globe columnist Tanya Talaga was a friend of Sinclair’s, and often turned to him for guidance and mentorship. She joins us to reflect on his legacy and the work that’s still...

Donald Trump’s path to victory hinged on seven swing states. He won five decisively , and is leading in the final two. Republicans now control the Senate, are on track to control the House, and for the first time since 2004, a Republican president won the popular vote, too. Immigration was one of the key issues among Trump voters — 37 per cent saw it as the most important issue in the election . I...

The U.S. Surgeon General recently issued a health advisory saying that 48 per cent of parents with kids under 18 are completely overwhelmed by their stress. Most of those stressed out parents are moms – and some of those moms are turning to microdosing psilocybin to cope. Amberly McAteer is a Toronto-based writer and former editor in The Globe and Mail’s Opinion section. She looked into this trend...

The United States have never seen an election like this before. It began as a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, but after Biden’s debate performance back in June, he made the unprecedented move of withdrawing from the race . Vice President Kamala Harris stepped in to become the Democratic nominee, and the second debate in September looked a lot different . Results trickled in last night...

The Inflation Reduction Act was passed after a contentious fight in the U.S. Congress, narrowly passing along partisan lines. The bill committed almost US$370-billion in tax credits and spending by the federal government on clean energy projects. It has become one of the Biden administration’s signature legislative wins. And yet, it hasn’t really been mentioned in this year’s presidential campaign...

For more than a month, the government has not been able to pass any legislation. The House of Commons has been at a standstill , as they debate whether the Liberal government breached Parliamentary privilege . The Globe’s senior politics reporter Marieke Walsh talks about why the House has been unable to put this debate to rest, and why that’s leading to no movement in the House. She also catches...

Dr. Farouq Samim cried as the Taliban swept back into power in 2021. While he was safe in Ottawa, many members of his family were stranded – and at risk of death – back in Afghanistan. Determined to do something, he paired up with two lawyers he didn’t know to launch a secret mission: Operation Abraham . The Globe’s International Affairs reporter, Janice Dickson , got inside access on how this res...

In 2019, Nova Scotia’s then-Liberal government passed the Coastal Protection Act — legislation that would have brought in regulations around building near the coast. In 2021, the Conservatives were voted into power, and it sounded like they were keen to keep the Act in place. But in February 2024, Nova Scotia’s government announced that they wouldn’t. Instead, the responsibility for regulating coa...

On October 14, the RCMP shared explosive allegations linking Indian government officials to homicides, extortions and coercion committed against Canadians, on Canadian soil. The RCMP said 30 people had been charged so far, and Ottawa announced it was expelling 6 Indian diplomats.   Since the escalation, The Globe has learned the lengths Ottawa and the RCMP went to, to avoid worsening tensions betw...

The U.S. election is a week away, and tensions are running high. Polls show Harris and Trump as more or less deadlocked . America’s Electoral College means the presidency is won one state at a time — and in a country that vast, it’s hard to capture the nuances of the race in the snapshot of a poll. That’s why the Globe’s feature writer, Ian Brown , got on a Greyhound bus in downtown Los Angeles, a...

On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a major reduction in the number of permanent residents the country will admit over the next three years, saying his government had not gotten the balance between labour needs and population growth “quite right.” In 2025 and 2026, the government had initially planned to bring in 500,000 permanent residents – now, they’ve set a target of 395,000 a...

14 years ago, a young woman disappeared in Edmonton... two years later, police released a chilling recording from the final moments of her life. Ever since she heard it, The Globe’s Jana Pruden hasn’t been able to shake the voices of Amber Tuccaro and the man suspected of killing her, so she took a trip to Amber’s home community of Fort Chipewyan, Alberta to look into the case. Jana joins the show...

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he will impose 10 to 20 per cent tariffs on everything the U.S. imports. This would include, it seems, all of the goods and resources Canada sells to its biggest trading partner. And that kind of tariff wall could have serious effects across the Canadian economy. Adrian Morrow is the U.S. correspondent based in Washington, D.C., for The Globe...

Last week, the Assembly of First Nations voted to reject a $47.8-billion child welfare deal with the federal government. The agreement would have funded long-term reforms to child welfare for First Nations children on reserve. Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, the AFN National Chief, urged the chiefs to pass the deal so that it would be in place before the next federal election. Dr. Cindy Blackstock...

On October 22, 2014, a man named Michael Zehaf-Bibeau entered Parliament Hill, killing Canadian soldier Nathan Cirillo and catching security off guard. On the 10th anniversary of what was later deemed a terror attack — and with security risks for politicians only growing — the Globe’s national affairs reporter, Kristy Kirkup , joins The Decibel to revisit the events of that day, sharing stories of...

Ivan Semeniuk is The Globe’s science reporter and today on the show he takes us on a tour of our solar system – and beyond! We start with the news of the Europa Clipper and its search for the conditions of life on a watery moon around Jupiter. Then we talk about Earth’s new mini moon, before catching up with those stranded astronauts on the International Space Station.  We end by talking about wha...

The hearings for the public inquiry into foreign interference led by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue wrapped up earlier this week with testimony from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Prime Minister said he had the names of Conservative parliamentarians who were engaged in or at high risk of being targeted for foreign interference.  Trudeau’s testimony came just two days after the RCMP announced they h...

British Columbia heads to the polls this Saturday, October 19th. It’s been an election campaign full of surprises — from the collapse of one established party, to the meteoric rise of a nearly defunct one.  With the ongoing challenges of housing, affordability, healthcare and the toxic drug crisis, polling has BC Conservatives and the incumbent BC NDP in a dead heat.   The Globe’s B.C. politics re...