The Decibel

In the span of nine days , we’ve seen the takedown of four flying objects over North America by U.S. fighter jets. It has both Canada and the U.S. on high alert with speculation of Chinese spying . The White House has had to tamp down questions of whether aliens could be involved. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Trudeau says the search for debris in Yukon, where one of the objects was taken down is curr...

Fusion – the act of deriving energy by smashing atoms together – has long been the stuff of science fiction. But thanks to a recent scientific breakthrough , there has been an increase in public excitement that one day, we might be able to use this as a continuous, clean source of energy. The catch? We might not get the technology before our 2050 net-zero climate goals arrive. Science Reporter Iva...

The federal government has offered to bring some Canadian children being held in detention camps in Syria to Canada – but their mothers can’t come with them. This is part of an ongoing issue for the government over what to do about men and women who are suspected of joining the Islamic State terrorist organization — and what to do with their children. The Globe’s Janice Dickson has been covering t...

Ottawa announced Tuesday a proposed $46.2-billion injection in new federal health care funding for the provinces and territories. For years, there have been calls to reform Canada’s health care system. People have died in emergency rooms waiting for care , 15 percent of Canadians don’t have a regular health care provider and there are ongoing issues facing long term care. Will this new money help...

Canada is facing increasing calls to grow its critical mineral industry as the world pivots toward its net-zero goals and batteries are becoming increasingly important. But at the moment, Canada only has one functioning lithium mine and no refineries. Compare that to China, which dominates the entire critical mineral industry globally and has extensive reach into Canada’s current operations. So wh...

A Canadian sniper, whose codename is Teflon , was set up in an apartment building in the destroyed city of Bakhmut, Ukraine, shooting waves of Russian soldiers. He says it was almost too easy: “I actually got to a point where I was like, can you stop? I’m tired of killing people ... I shouldn’t be killing people this easily.” Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, has seen heavy fighting for months because...

The federal government’s $30-billion pledge to bring daycare costs down to $10/day and to create 250,000 new spaces by 2026 isn’t only attracting families, it’s also getting attention from investors . As the government seeks to make more spaces, for-profit centres are quickly expanding to meet targets. The Globe’s Dave McGinn , and The Globe’s independent business reporter, Chris Hannay , explain...

On Wednesday, Dominic Barton appeared before a parliamentary committee looking into the rise in outsourcing contracts awarded to McKinsey & Company, where Barton was formerly global managing partner. Barton was also a senior policy adviser to the Trudeau government and the Canadian ambassador to China. Since 2015, the Liberal government has paid more than $116 million dollars to the private manage...

As of this week, possession of 2.5 grams of some drugs in B.C. is decriminalized . The B.C. government says it is trying to reduce the number of people who die from overdoses in the province. Around six people die every day in B.C. from drugs – but many advocates don’t believe this decriminalization program will actually prevent people from dying . Garth Mullins is an organizer with the Vancouver...

John de Ruiter, a spiritual leader known for his piercing stare and who calls himself the ‘embodiment of truth’ was arrested and charged with four counts of sexual assault earlier this month. He’s now out on bail and intends to fight the charges . De Ruiter is a leader of a multimillion dollar organization called The College of Integrated Philosophy. It’s based in Edmonton but has followers all ov...

On Monday, Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc. and Quebecor Inc. extended a deadline to mid-February that would finalize the largest telecommunications takeover in Canadian history. The deal would see Rogers buy Shaw for $20-billion. In an already concentrated industry, Canada’s Competition Bureau has argued that the deal would be bad for consumers who already pay some of the high...

The Liberal government brought in Bill C-21 last May that would ban certain firearms. Amendments to the legislation have only confused the matter – some types of guns are banned in some of those amendments, but not in others – and the Liberals’ lack of communication is frustrating people on all sides of the issue. The Globe’s senior political reporter Marieke Walsh tells us why these changes have...

A year after tens of thousands of people descended on Ottawa, some in their big-rig trucks, a lot has changed. Border restrictions have been lifted. Same for vaccine passports and most masking requirements. But the alienation and anger that lay underneath the movement seems to remain. Ottawa reporter Shannon Proudfoot discusses what some of the participants of the convoy think about it now, and wh...

To cope with the rising interest rates and higher-than-normal inflation in the economy, many tech companies are changing how they do business, focusing on turning a profit over growing revenue or market share. Technology reporter Sean Silcoff explains why for many years, forgoing profit was a good bet for startups, why that focus has led to mass layoffs in today’s shakier economic reality, and how...

The residents of Rouyn-Noranda, QC have known about the arsenic emissions coming from the local smelting plant for years. More studies are coming out about health concerns for the residents – but Glencore, the company that owns the plant, is still allowed to emit significantly more arsenic than the rest of the province. The Globe’s Eric Andrew-Gee went to Rouyn-Noranda and spoke with residents abo...

Ukraine wants tanks – 300 of them to be precise. President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that western battle tanks could be the key to driving Russian troops out of his country. But the allies, including Canada, are still deliberating on whether they should send them. Steven Chase has been covering the developments on this aspect of the war for The Globe. He explains why Canada alone can’t make the...

In Canada, the criminal code allows for physical discipline of children, in certain circumstances. For almost half a century, advocates have been fighting to repeal the law, saying it violates children’s rights. Seventeen bills have been introduced in Parliament trying to strike the law down – and all of them have died before they could change the criminal code. Now, two bills trying once again ar...

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced this week his government is increasing the use of private clinics for procedures like cataracts, diagnostic imaging and eventually hip and knee replacements. The move sparked a lot of criticism – but Ford says he’s following the lead of other provinces like B.C., Alberta and Quebec that are already doing something similar. First, we’ll talk to The Globe’s provin...

Over 7-million Venezuelans have left their homes since 2017, when Nicholas Maduro seized power and the state started to collapse. Most refugees have tried to start anew in nearby countries, like Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. But an increasing number are headed north on a dangerous trek that will take them to U.S.’s southern border. It’s a journey that is hugely shaped by policy decisions being made...

On Tuesday, Canada’s new guidelines for drinking and health were released from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction (CCSA). The guidelines say that three to six standard drinks put you at a moderate health risk— and you might be surprised by how much counts as a “standard drink.” Dr. Catherine Paradis is a sociologist and the interim associate director of research at the CCSA. She’...

The economic forecast for 2023 is … less than rosy. Inflation is still running high . Central banks may continue to raise interest rates . And what everyone wants to know is: How long will this last before rates are lowered again? Globe and Mail columnist Tim Kiladze says you can look back in history to get some clues. And they suggest that an investor’s best asset for the next while might be pati...

The holiday travel period was incredibly tumultuous – with passengers stranded , bags lost and thousands of flights cancelled . The airlines say the winter storms caused unprecedented disruptions, but The Globe’s transportation reporter Eric Atkins says the problems go beyond that . He tells us the other factors that led to this chaos, how airlines are responding , and whether this is likely to ha...

Israel’s new far-right government is looking to overhaul the country’s justice system – going so far as seeking to create a law that would allow parliament to override the Supreme Court . If the changes happen, it could have implications on rights for the LGBTQ community, asylum seekers and also exacerbate tensions with the Palestinians. Josef Federman is the News Director of the Associated Press...

There’s a growing demand for food waste apps from both shoppers and grocers. They’ve been touted as a new way for people to score deals as food prices rise , while cutting back on food being thrown out by retailers. Susan Krashinsky Robertson is The Globe and Mail’s retailing reporter and she explains who uses these apps and what evidence there is that they actually help in getting food to people...

The XBB 1.5 variant of COVID is quickly becoming the dominant strain in the US, and we’re seeing more cases here in Canada too. The WHO has called it the most transmissible variant of the virus we’ve seen so far. Some people are calling it ‘The Kraken.’ But not Dr. Angela Rasmussen. She’s a virologist at VIDO, the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan, and s...