The Decibel

We wanted to find out from you, our listeners, what you’re thinking about COVID-19 – especially as restrictions are disappearing and new vaccines are available. Infectious disease specialist, Dr. Lisa Barrett is on the show to answer the COVID-19 questions you have right now, like: When you get sick, is there any way to tell if it’s COVID-19 or the flu or a cold? How long should you isolate if you...

It’s become something of a rallying cry to move reconciliation forward, repeated from British Columbia to Ontario to New Brunswick . But what exactly does “land back” mean?  Bruce McIvor has written extensively on the struggles people face when trying to make a legal case for the return of their traditional lands — not least because he’s represented  some of them. He’s a partner at First Peoples L...

Quebec is the one province where immigration is a ballot-box issue in provincial elections. In 2018, it was one of the deciding factors that gave François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec his win. Now, the major parties are vowing to set different limits on how many permanent residents the province can let in without compromising its French identity. Meanwhile, its labour force is in decline...

Russia has one of the largest nuclear arsenals in the world, and Russian President Vladimir Putin and those in his inner circle have threatened to use nuclear weapons if Russian territory is threatened. Similar comments have been made before, but many experts are looking at these threats differently in light of the so-called referendums taking place across four regions of Ukraine. Cheryl Rofer wor...

Protests are spreading across Iran – and the world – after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. Mahsa was picked up by Iran’s morality police on Sept. 13 for allegedly not wearing the proper hijab. Three days later, she was dead. People have taken to the streets demanding justice for Mahsa, and, more broadly, justice for women living under Iran’s strict hijab laws. Jasmin Ramsey...

In September 1969, two baby girls were born in a tiny hospital in rural Newfoundland, a few hours apart. A simple accident led to both of their lives being changed forever. Over 50 years later, the truth serendipitously revealed itself and their lives changed again. Freelance journalist Lindsay Jones unravels the mystery of how these two women were switched at birth. Questions? Comments? Ideas? Em...

This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin called up 300,000 reservists in a partial mobilization for the war in Ukraine. That sparked protests in several cities in Russia, and a flood of people trying to leave the country. This is happening just before referendums are set to take place in four regions of Ukraine currently occupied by Russia – and many suspect Putin will use the referendums to cl...

Inflation is on the decline for the second straight month . New numbers from Statistics Canada show that inflation slowed to 7 per cent in August – down from 7.6 per cent in July and 8.1 per cent in June. While these numbers point to an easing in prices for consumers, not everything is cheaper – yet. Economics columnist for The Globe’s Report on Business, David Parkinson tells us what items are ge...

In the final days of a chaotic government effort to rescue people from the Taliban last summer, Senator Marilou McPhedran and one of her staff members sent travel documents to a family attempting to flee Afghanistan. The documents, called facilitation letters, were supposed to help the Afghans bypass checkpoints that had been set up around Kabul’s airport, so they could catch one of the last evacu...

In March, Ontario became the last jurisdiction in Canada to sign on to the national Early Learning and Child Care Agreement . The $30-billion commitment by the federal government aims at bringing down the cost of daycare to an average of $10 per day by 2026. While all provinces and territories are working out the kinks of their rebate programs, Ontario’s rollout has been particularly plagued by de...

On Oct. 1, natural gas bills in the U.K. will go up by 80 per cent. Most households rely on natural gas for heat, and this means their energy bills would increase from an average of £1,971 to £3,549 a year. For one third of people in the country, that would mean falling to below the poverty line. The new Prime Minister Liz Truss’s plan is to cap energy bills and pay the difference to energy compan...

Initially, residents of James Smith Cree Nation did not want to welcome the reporters into their community following the mass stabbing attack that left 10 people dead on September 4, 2022. But after suspect Myles Sanderson died in police custody , things changed. Globe reporter Nancy Macdonald was allowed into the community and she worked with colleague Jana G. Pruden to help construct a better un...

After months of fighting the Russian invasion, Ukraine has gained significant ground in Kharkiv Oblast, a province in the northeast of the country. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that they have retaken more than 6,000 square kilometres in September. The Globe’s senior foreign correspondent Mark MacKinnon spoke with a commander of a special forces unit that was integral in this...

There seem to be a lot of serious storms these days, and those storms are causing more and more damage. The storm that hit southern Ontario in May claimed the lives of at least 10 people, and caused millions of dollars worth of damage. The storms we are seeing in Canada are changing – but not how you might expect. David Sills, a severe storms specialist and executive director of the Northern Torna...

While Canada’s overall inflation is ticking down, the cost of food continues to rise. Inflation for groceries rose in July to 9.9 per cent . Lisa Noonan and Filomena Bilotta are both administrators of the Canadian Savings group on Facebook , where they teach the 100,000+ members how to fight back against inflation in the grocery store. They explain how you can push back against your ever-rising gr...

In case you missed it: listen to Menaka’s conversation with columnists Robyn Urback and John Ibbitson about the Conservative Party’s new leader, Pierre Poilievre. They explore what Poilievre’s win says about the Conservative party, what Poilievre stands for and how other federal parties will have to respond to counter his popularity. This is a recording of a live event broadcast on Twitter Spaces...

Plasma is a critical part of some medicines but Canada currently only gets 15 per cent of its supply from Canadians. That means we’re dependent on the paid-plasma international market for 85 per cent of it.  So to secure a domestic supply, the Canadian Blood Services has reversed course on its historic position of only administering a voluntary donation system and signed a deal with for-profit Spa...

The Conservative Party of Canada will announce a new leader on Saturday evening. This comes after more than half a year of campaigning. Scott Aitchison, Roman Baber, Jean Charest, Leslyn Lewis and Pierre Poilievre were all competing for the job, but it’s widely expected that Pierre Poilievre will win the race. The Globe’s writer-at-large and longtime political columnist, John Ibbitson explains why...

Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday at the age of 96. She was on the throne for 70 years, making her the longest-reigning British monarch in history. Her rule was marked by modernizing the monarchy, increased philanthropy, timeless fashion and the occasional joke. While the Queen was widely beloved, the popularity of the monarchy has been waning here in Canada and elsewhere. Vicky Mochama , royals...

A federal law banning single-sports betting was reversed last year through Bill C-218, leading to a proliferation of sports betting companies operating in Canada – along with an explosion in sports betting ads on social media, billboards, and in televised sports games . Ben Mussett looked into how this change comes at a time when other countries, like the U.K., have decided to curb sports betting...

Two days after a stabbing rampage in Saskatchewan, police are still looking for Myles Sanderson, who, along with his brother Damien, are suspected of killing 10 people and injuring 18 others . On Monday the RCMP confirmed that Damien Sanderson was found dead. The attacks happened in 13 different locations on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby town of Weldon. The Globe’s Alanna Smith vis...

As of Aug. 15, nearly 170,000 study permit applications were pending with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Although plans have been made to get many of these students to the start of their classes on time, many might have to be kept waiting. Will Tao is an immigration lawyer based in British Columbia who focuses on international student study permits. He tells us why we’re seeing so m...

If we want great cities, people from all walks of life need to be able to live in them. But even with experts predicting that rising interest rates will drive national housing prices down by as much as 23 per cent by the end of this year, most of us would still consider those adjusted prices totally unaffordable. While most of the housing crisis  conversation has centered on supply — just build bu...

If you have three or more alcoholic drinks in a week , you’re putting your health at risk. That’s according to a new report from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction (CCSA). The government of Canada’s current recommendations are more than a decade old. Armed with new information from almost 6,000 studies, the CCSA is proposing an update to Canada’s low-risk drinking guidelines. Dr....

Kelp has traditionally been harvested for food, but we’re discovering other new ways we could be using kelp as well … like in packaging, to replace plastics, or even in animal feed to reduce the methane released by cows. National correspondent Wendy Stueck went out on a kelp harvest , and tells us why kelp farming could help coastal communities’ green economies, and be used as an innovative and su...