The Decibel

Since the 2023 Giller Prize ceremony , Scotiabank, the fiction prize’s lead sponsor, has been the target of protests over its stake in Elbit Systems, an Israeli defence contractor. Though all of Canada’s Big Six banks hold stake in Elbit Systems, Scotiabank has drawn a heightened level of scrutiny and protest since the October 7th attacks. Globe arts and business reporter Josh O’Kane and business...

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are set to face off in what will likely be the only debate between them on September 10th at 9 p.m. ET. And as far as debates go, the stakes are high after the last debate ultimately led to Joe Biden stepping down as the Democratic candidate. To help you follow along to the various points that Harris and Trump raise, Adrian Morrow , The Globe’s U.S. correspondent in...

A new phase in the war in Ukraine began when Ukrainian forces took Russian territory in August. A month later, the Russians fired back, dealing Ukraine one of its deadliest days after missiles struck a military academy on September 3.  The renewed intensity has led to more calls for Western help. And one of the main advocates on this cause has been Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska. The Globe an...

Police say that it’s the biggest art fraud in world history —and it happened here in Canada. It centres around the art of the renowned Anishinaabe painter Norval Morrisseau, and there are potentially thousands of fakes out there, including in prominent institutions across Canada. The Globe’s Parliamentary reporter Kristy Kirkup tells us the details of this $100 million dollar fraud, how a homicide...

Since March 2022, the NDP has been propping up the Liberals in a supply and confidence agreement , that saw both parties support each other and strike deals to pass legislation. That agreement was originally meant to hold until June 2025, before the party breaks for a scheduled election that fall. But that relationship is now over. On Wednesday, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh released a video saying he’...

As long as there have been cities, there have been pest problems. Beneath our feet, rats scurry about and feed off our garbage. They breed quickly and plentifully. Above our heads, pigeons flock and dive, crowding around park benches and generally making a mess. The prairies have been contending with feral swine . Pest control has always been a delicate dance for cities, but now, they’re turning t...

This week, most kids across the country are headed back to school. That transition can bring a lot of feelings – excitement, but also nervousness and anxiety. And this year, along with the usual transition, some students can expect another big change – provinces across the country are bringing in stricter regulations around cellphone use . Psychologist and children’s book author Dr. Jillian Robert...

Buying and owning a home in Canada is an endless source of frustration. Many have been priced out, while competition is high as a lack of housing stock runs up against a rapidly growing population . While more homes are needed to alleviate the stress, getting shovels into the ground isn’t as simple as it sounds. The Globe’s Jason Kirby, Matt Lundy and Mark Rendell recently broke down the reasons b...

The government has announced that they are cutting down on the numbers of low-wage temporary foreign workers being admitted into the country. The new rules will reverse pandemic-era changes to the program, which led to a sharp rise in numbers. The announcement also comes on the heels of a UN report calling the program a “breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.” The Globe’s economics rep...

Last week, TD Bank released its quarterly earnings. For the first time in 21 years, they reported a quarterly loss – largely because they set aside US$2.6-billion to cover penalties in the United States related to failures in their anti-money-laundering program . All of this has people wondering … what is exactly going on at TD? How did a bank with a once-sterling reputation begin facing all these...

Labour negotiations between Canada’s two major railways – CN and CPKC – and the train workers’ union, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, have been going on for months. Last week, they hit a wall and freight service shut down across the country. Less than 24 hours later, the federal government intervened , ordering workers back. But the dispute still hasn’t been resolved. Bruce Curran , associate pr...

We often think about how food prices and income struggle to keep up with inflation, but what about things like pensions and benefits? Are they keeping pace with inflation? The Globe’s Erica Alini and Matt Lundy crunched the numbers, and found that pensions and benefits often aren’t stretching as far as they used to – and it has to do with something called indexation. Today, personal finance report...

Distance running, once a relatively niche sport, has exploded in popularity . The trend has been ongoing for at least a decade, but 2024′s running season may be the biggest one yet. Marathon race organizers are expecting record participation in races this year, both in Canada and in cities around the world. Today, Ben Kaplan , general manager of iRun Magazine , Allison Hill , co-founder of Hill Ru...

On June 17, police were called to a shooting in a neighbourhood of Toronto. Three people were killed, two victims and the shooter. We learned as the days went on that one of the victims – Arash Missaghi – was a notorious serial fraudster , and the shooter – Alan Kats – was one of his alleged victims . Globe reporters Mariya Postelnyak and Colin Freeze have spent months untangling the web of crimin...

Going to the movies is getting more complicated . When you want to pick a showing, you now have a growing list of premium options, from IMAX, to 3D, to ScreenX, all offering different experiences at different price points. The Globe and Mail’s film editor Barry Hertz joins us to talk about what these developments tell us about the state of the movie industry and the future of a trip to the cinema....

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 c...

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 pr...

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 thei...

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...

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 issu...

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 acc...

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 docto...

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 fe...

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...

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 th...