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AIH JUL 9

NIL KÖKSAL: Hello, I'm Nil Koksal.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Good evening. I'm Chris Howden. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

CHRIS HOWDEN: Tonight...

NIL KÖKSAL: No room at the ins, choked by wildfire smoke, a Manitoba Cree community is working to get its most vulnerable people out to safety, but their deputy chief tells us that will not happen until his people have somewhere safe to go.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Scarlet Letters. Toronto is considering new colour-coded signage to alert prospective renters to bad landlords. A tenant advocate explains why she thinks that public shaming could help.

NIL KÖKSAL: Moment of truth, after a barrage of drone attacks from Russia, a Ukrainian MP in Kiev calls a timely renewal of support from the U.S. a matter of pure survival.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Shelf portrait, how the threat of American tariffs on Asian imports is already shrinking profits for the independent grocers who serve immigrant communities in the U.S.

NIL KÖKSAL: Flipping the script, when he lost his sight, a young man in San Francisco immediately set out to become the best blind skateboarder around. And two years after his death, the city is honoring his legacy.

CHRIS HOWDEN: And not so great strides. Bodyguards protecting the Prime Minister of Sweden are potentially endangering the Prime Minster of Sweden by posting their runs to a fitness app repeatedly revealing exactly where he is. As It Happens, the Tuesday edition, radio that knows if you forget where the PM is, his guards will jog your memory.

[Music: Theme fade out]

CHRIS HOWDEN: A Manitoba Cree nation says it's in the midst of an emergency. Wildfires are burning nearby, and Nisichawayasihk is trying to get hundreds of elders and people with chronic health issues out of harm's way. The challenge is that there doesn't seem to be anywhere for them to go. Earlier this week, Indigenous Services Canada told leaders in the community that there were no hotel rooms free anywhere in the province. The Red Cross also said there was no place for evacuees to go in Alberta, B.C., or even Ontario. Marcel Moody is the community's deputy chief. We reached him in Nelson House on Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation.

NIL KÖKSAL: Deputy Chief, as we speak right now, how many people are you most worried about, about trying to get them out of the community as these fires get closer?

MARCEL MOODY: We're trying to get about 300 people out of our community, people with respiratory issues, health issues, people from our personal care home, and people with heart conditions, COPD, and all those respiratory issues that people have. Most of the people we're trying to get out, but, you know, the smoke during the nights is pretty heavy in our community. People have a hard time breathing, so we're going to get the people with the health issues out of our community.

NIL KÖKSAL: Yeah, and you're describing some of the conditions there. I can only imagine what it's like. What has it been like the last few days when you step outside, not just in the middle of the night as people are trying to sleep?

MARCEL MOODY: Well, I mean, on Sunday, the smoke was so heavy, you could hardly see, you know, your neighbour's house was so dense. And this has been ongoing for the last week. And hopefully, it doesn't get worse. But we're not going to take a chance of evacuating those people with health conditions out of our community.

NIL KÖKSAL: What are the logistics involved at this stage, given what's happening around you to, to try to get everyone to safety?

MARCEL MOODY: Well, we have busses in our community that are ready to go. I think we've taken out about 127 yesterday. Hopefully, we don't have to evacuate the rest of the community, but I guess at some point in time, if we have to, we will.

NIL KÖKSAL: And there's a single road out, is that right?

MARCEL MOODY: Similar on the axis, yeah.

NIL KÖKSAL: State of emergency declared on Sunday afternoon because of that heavy smoke you were describing, you've been reaching out to organizations including the Red Cross. What kind of response have you been getting?

MARCEL MOODY: For the most part, I think everybody is supportive. Sometimes, we don't agree with what Red Cross has to say. But you know what? We're determined, we know what's best for our people. So, at this point in time, you know what? We're taking action to move our people out. But the problem we have is, I mean, we don't have accommodations readily available. We're supposed to take people to Saskatoon, that changed. Now, we're moving our people to Portage-La Prairie, and different hotels, constantly changing locations. We're constantly changing the logistics of our plan. There's just no accommodations in Manitoba anymore, and more and more people are being evacuated, probably causing a logistical nightmare for Red Cross and the people involved.

NIL KÖKSAL: There have been fires and evacuations, certainly in the past Deputy Chief, as you well know, so how is it that there are no accommodations this time? What's going on?

MARCEL MOODY: Well, there's been so many communities that have been evacuated. There's Leaf Rapids, Lynn Lakes, Southern [inaudible], [inaudible], Cross Lake. Been so many evacuees, you know, heading to southern Manitoba, you know, looking for accommodations. It's discouraging, not knowing, you know, where people are going to go. Because typically what we like to do is, you know, we want our people together. We don't want people, you know, isolated in different hotels or in, place in different pockets and, as it creates a lot of work you know for ourselves, you know, that are trying to coordinate, you know, these evacuations and keeping track of our people means it's a logistical nightmare.

NIL KÖKSAL: Have you heard anything from provincial officials in Manitoba or even the federal government at this point? Because even if there are no hotels or, you know, the regular places that people stay are booked, they'll build, you know, they'll set up temporary sites in disaster zones all the time.

MARCEL MOODY: Yeah, we've been in communications with the province and we have a meeting regularly with the province Red Cross and the province. We have constant communication, but I mean the simple fact is that there's no accommodations anywhere or very limited accommodations. I can't even imagine, you know, what we're gonna do. We have to move the rest of our people out of NCN. I don't know where they're gonna go. Maybe I have, you know, uh, 100 here, 100 there, and it's just gonna be crazy.

NIL KÖKSAL: How many people, besides the ones we were initially speaking about, the most vulnerable, those priority one, two, and three, you were saying, how many overall might have to leave?

MARCEL MOODY: We have about 3,000 people out there in the community, over 3, 000, but we have lots of people.

NIL KÖKSAL: I can hear the worry in your voice, Deputy Chief, what about people there, what are they saying to you?

MARCEL MOODY: Well, they want, obviously, I mean, they look up to us in terms, you know, what the plan is. People are asking whether the whole community is going to be evacuated. So, people are concerned. I mean, they see the smoke, people are starting to get affected by the smoke and people are worried. I mean, there's anxiety. I mean, people have anxieties, you know [NIL KÖKSAL: Sure], you fight, you know, for the travel and for leaving the community not knowing where they're going, how are they going to get there, and so it's just, it's traumatic for our people.

NIL KÖKSAL: How are you doing?

MARCEL MOODY: I'm not doing too bad. I mean, right now, it's... Things are changing every moment, every hour, every day. We have plans in place, but I mean, as you saw, you know, things can change very quickly and it confuses, you know, people. But, you know, hopefully we have rain in the next few days, hopefully that will help with the fires. We're in a difficult situation.

NIL KÖKSAL: Deputy Chief, I appreciate this, thank, you can speak to us in the middle of the difficulties you're all going through. I hope you get answers and some concrete plans soon for folks there. Thank you.

MARCEL MOODY: Okay, you're welcome.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Marcel Moody is the deputy chief of Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation. We reached him in Nelson House.

[Upbeat piano music playing]

CHRIS HOWDEN: Overnight, Russia launched missiles and more than 700 drones at Ukraine. That aerial attack set a single night record in this war. The country's northwest got the worst of the strikes, which came after U.S. President Donald Trump profanely expressed his displeasure with President Putin saying, quote, "He's very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless," unquote. Kira Rudik is a member of Ukrainian parliament and the leader of the political party Holos, we reached her in Kiev.

NIL KÖKSAL: Kira Rudik, it has been a relentless series of attacks over the past couple of weeks, multiple nights of these drone attacks. How are things in Kiev tonight?

KIRA RUDIK: Neil, the things are tough because if you can imagine there is one thing that is much worse than sitting in the bomb shelter with your family, it is sitting in the bomb shelter with your family, knowing that perhaps the air defense systems may not have enough of the supplies to take down everything that is going our way. This is why it is so critical for us to get as quickly as possible the renewed weapons and support from the United States, because it's a matter of pure survival for us.

NIL KÖKSAL: Ukraine's air force has said nearly 300 of these drones and seven missiles were shot down and says another 415 drones were lost from radars or jamming. If Russia is indeed expanding its drone production capacity and ramping up attacks, and you spoke about your worries there as we started our conversation, what capacity does your country have right now as it stands to fend off this kind of barrage of attacks?

KIRA RUDIK: We know that obviously what we have is not enough. And when we are talking, there are different type of missiles and drones that are coming our way. And to take it down, we need different kind of weapons and missiles and technologies. And so, one of the most critical ones is the Patriot missile system that is provided by the United States and can only be purchased from them. And it is used to be taking down the ballistic missiles. That Russia is constantly sending our way. And this is why for us, it is so critical to get this particular type of equipment. And unfortunately, we cannot get it anywhere else, but from the United States.

NIL KÖKSAL: So, are you heartened or reassured then by, by what Donald Trump said on Monday, reversing course saying he would be sending weapons to Ukraine? I mean, do you believe what you're hearing? Do you, are you calmed by that?

KIRA RUDIK: I'm cautiously optimistic, I would say, but I would be calmer and comfortable when the weapons will arrive because again, you cannot fight Russia with words, right? We have heard so many things from President Trump over the course of the last six months. So, we are glad to hear that at least there are some promises there, but we also need to have these promises executed. On the other hand, I think if President Trump backs from what he said right now... After Putin gave him such a clear disrespect and slap in the face when he launched the most massive attack on Ukraine right after he had a call with President Trump. If President Trump will show the world that he can tolerate this, that would be such a strong sign of weakness that Iran, Russia, North Korea, and China will look at as something that would... Put pressure on them to go ahead with their attempts to destroy the democracy.

NIL KÖKSAL: But does, for Ukraine, a frosty relationship between Putin and Trump, does that actually hurt your country? You're caught in that back and forth.

KIRA RUDIK: We are. You know, what I'm thinking is that President Trump, when he came in office, he allowed himself some time and gave Putin an opportunity to come down. And he was saying that he thinks that Putin wants peace. We said that there was not a single clear fact that would support the statement. And right now, President Trump sees that he was not able to get anything, like literally anything from Putin that he was asking for. Nor like a meeting or with President Zelenskyy or an agreement to ceasefire or anything. And this is why right now when he says that he's being very successful on the international arena, basically Ukraine is the only place where he cannot say that anything is a victory for him.

NIL KÖKSAL: I'll ask you something I've asked before throughout these now years of this conflict after Russia's invasion. Does peace seem further away on a day like today, or closer than it's been before?

KIRA RUDIK: It's very hard to say, I don't see peace in the foreseeable future. This is the truth. So, it's hard to see how far is it. Because if we look wider than Ukraine, do you think that ceasefire or even a peace would stop Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran from manufacturing weapons? From exchanging the technologies? From, like, building up for the next war? I don't think so. And like, why would they, again, if they see that it clearly works so well with the democratic world, with the pressure and then, lifting sanctions, etc., etc. So, I think we need to look at the global picture and we need look at it really carefully when we are talking about peace or ceasefire or ending of the war. Because the war didn't start for years in Ukraine. It started 11 years ago when Russia occupied Crimea. And we are where we are right now because at that time, Putin got an appeasement from everyone. And we cannot make the same mistake right now. And I hope that President Trump, who clearly wants to have a Nobel Peace Prize, understands that leaving Ukraine up to Putin and to be turned down is not something that will keep you in history as a peacemaker.

NIL KÖKSAL: Kira Rudik, thank you for coming back on the show. I appreciate this.

KIRA RUDIK: Thank you, Nil, and glory to Ukraine.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Kira Rudik is a member of Ukrainian Parliament and the leader of the political party Holos. She's in Kiev.

[Peaceful acoustic guitar music playing]

CHRIS HOWDEN: For most of us, the basic elements of a city block are so mundane, they're almost invisible. A curb and a few concrete steps here, a stair rail and a park bench there, but skateboarders see them all. They are what they use to make the city their own. And now, a small part of San Francisco bears the name of a skateboarder who was able to do just that, even when he wasn't able to see. Zion Williams-Gaines was an avid skater and a leader among his peers. In 2021, he was shot in the face outside a nightclub. He survived, but was left blind in both eyes, so he taught himself to skate again. And he was on the road to fame in the skating world when he died in his sleep before he turned 21. Now, the City of San Francisco has renamed one of the skate parks he frequented in his honour. Zion Plaza Skate Park was rededicated in a ceremony just weeks ago. Shawn Connolly is the co-founder of the San Francisco Skate Club, and a longtime friend of Zion Williams-Gaines. We reached him in San Francisco.

NIL KÖKSAL: Shawn, knowing Zion as you did, how do you think having the skate park that meant so much to him, named for him now, would sit with him?

SHAWN CONNOLLY: Well, I feel like he was so connected to the community, and he had strong family ties. Maybe he would be really proud of his family members and the community at large for what they were able to accomplish, which was naming a skate park in a city that doesn't like to name skate parks or locations after anybody, from what I understand.

NIL KÖKSAL: So, this is a rare thing. It sounds like he was a rare kind of person. You knew him for a long time, long before the incident that left him blind in both eyes. What do you remember about when you were first getting to know him?

SHAWN CONNOLLY: Well, I remember him being wise beyond his years, for sure. He'd always kind of self-advocate and show up and navigate the city by himself at a young age. And from that time on, he was super ambitious about being sponsored and being in the skateboard industry. It was his number one passion, for sure.

NIL KÖKSAL: I know you weren't there when it happened from, but from what you have learned and what you understand, what did happen? How did Zion lose his sight?

SHAWN CONNOLLY: From my understanding, and what's ironic is it happened about maybe five, four and a half blocks from where I live on Hayden Fillmore, is that some sort of argument happened outside of a venue in the evening hours and it escalated. And I guess the guy that was arguing with Zion and his friend Chris left the area and then, came back with a weapon, and fired into the crowd indiscriminately, and Zion lost his sight, and Chris, his good friend, was in a position to actually drag him into safety. And it was very sudden and I don't even know how it could have happened, but the bullets took his sight but didn't affect his brain, they didn't make it in deep enough to give him any other issues other than a sight loss, which is amazing to me.

NIL KÖKSAL: And that criminal case is still going through the courts.

SHAWN CONNOLLY: I don't know the ins and outs of the case, but it is still ongoing.

NIL KÖKSAL: After that shooting, what did Zion tell you the first time you spoke?

SHAWN CONNOLLY: So, the first time he spoke to me was, I think it was five days after the incident. And I had heard rumors about what had happened, obviously. And the word was getting around about what had happened but I hadn't spoken to him. And I was at my house and it was in the evening and I got a call from him and it sounded like nothing had happened. And it was, he was positive on the phone call. I mean, you know, he's explaining to me like all the details kind of in his own way, his, from his perspective. But yeah, it was like nothing had happened and he was specific about wanting to have the goal of being the best blind skateboarder that there was. So, right off the bat, he saw his challenges, understood what he was going through and he kind of resonated towards his number one passion which was skateboarding and didn't wanna give it up.

NIL KÖKSAL: So, there was no doubt in his mind, what about you?

SHAWN CONNOLLY: I mean, I mean that seems like the hardest thing for me to imagine doing after you lose your sight. So, I encouraged him to do the second thing that he wanted to do was start a skate club-like organization or place for kids in his area because he lives in Bayview Hunters Point, which is kind of like a marginalized community. They have one skate park but they don't have any youth programming centre around skateboarding, so I encouraged him to start his own program because... That's a really good story right there. It's a good place to start. [NIL KÖKSAL: But he wanted to skate], I didn't, I wasn't gonna stop him from, I don't think anyone could have stopped him from skating.

NIL KÖKSAL: How did he teach himself to skate again?

SHAWN CONNOLLY: He taught himself how to skate again the way he taught himself how to skate the first time, just started from scratch and worked his way up. He had a natural talent for a couple of particular tricks. And of course, he went back to those tricks. One of them was the impossible, and the other was the 360 flip. And I think the other one that he consistently had was a Nollie Heelflip. And from what I understand, he started out trying to use the cane, but I overheard a story from his therapist that he went through nine canes in about six months. And he would ask, he would put skate stickers on them and he'd personalize them and you'd lose them because he really didn't want to have to rely on the cane. But I think as time kind of took over, he realized that he could use the cane for skateboarding actually so that he can time the distance from the skate obstacle that he was performing a trick on, which is pretty amazing.

NIL KÖKSAL: It is really remarkable. And then, he died in his sleep and it was just days before his 21st birthday. So young [SHAWN CONNOLLY: Yup] and it sounds like there was a lot he wanted to do, so much more.

SHAWN CONNOLLY: There definitely was a lot that he wanted to do, and it put a sad ending to all the positivity and all the resilience that he exuded. I really feel like that time that he had in between, that it was a miracle that we all were able to have him and have, and see how he was given these basic parameters and he still pushed the limits of those parameters, and I feel like we all to deal with that in one way or another, maybe with physical limitations or things like that. So, his story for me is inspiring and will always kind of resonate in the way that, you know, we're given what we're giving and we make the most of it when we can. And I feel like he really made the most of the life that he was given.

NIL KÖKSAL: Sean, I thank you for this. Please take care.

SHAWN CONNOLLY: Okay. Thank you.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Shawn Connolly is the co-founder of the San Francisco Skate Club. We reached him there.

[Acoustic guitar music playing]

CHRIS HOWDEN: The following is a commercial for the popular fitness app Strava.

SOUNDCLIP

VOICE 1: I like to run by myself. Fast and far.

VOICE 2: I'm free. I like how it feels.

VOICE 3: To push myself.

VOICE 4: To try things I think I can't do.

VOICE 5: To break my own records.

CHRIS HOWDEN: I like to run to accidentally reveal classified details about the locations of world leaders.

SOUNDCLIP

VOICE 2: I like the way it hurts.

VOICE 5: Because it makes me feel...

VOICE 6: Alive.

CHRIS HOWDEN: One of those statements might've sounded a little different from the others. It wasn't the one about how he likes to try things he thinks he can't do, even though that's obviously ridiculous. No one likes that. I barely like trying things I think I can do. No, the truth is that no one has ever actually said that they run to expose state secrets, but they keep doing it anyway. Strava is a fitness app. You go for a run and then, you post your route to Strava so your friends can cheer and your enemies can realize you're better than them. It records all kinds of info, including the date and time and the location. And that is a problem if you're a fitness enthusiast who is also a bodyguard responsible for the safety of a world leader. Last October, Le Monde published a bombshell story about bodyguards for Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and others, accidentally revealing their boss's locations by posting to Strava. And everyone swore to never do that again. And then this week, the newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, published a bombshell story about bodyguards for the Prime Minister of Sweden accidentally revealing their boss's location through Strava, including the location of his private residence, which absolutely no one is supposed to know about. And other Swedish bodyguards revealed other sensitive information about other important Swedish people, including the Swedish Royal Family. Many stories we cover require complicated solutions. This is not one of them. If you're a bodyguard, don't use Strava. Problem solved forever. And if you keep using it, you'll immediately become a running joke.

[Upbeat beat music playing]

CHRIS HOWDEN: Pass any restaurant in Toronto, and before you can peruse the menu, you will know whether the venue passed its last food inspection because of the colour-coded signage in the window. Green is good, yellow is a conditional pass, and red means it's closed, and you probably just lost your appetite anyway. For decades, the mandatory signs have helped provide clarity for diners, and later this month, the city will debate creating a similar program for rental buildings. Chiara Padovani is the co-chair of the York Southwestern Tenant Union. We reached Ms. Padovani in Toronto.

NIL KÖKSAL: Chiara, if this program does go ahead and those red signs start showing up in buildings right across Toronto, what message do you think those red signs will send?

CHIARA PADOVANI: I think it's going to send a message to tenants that the city is finally listening to them because tenants have been asking for this kind of program and these kinds of signs now for almost 10 years. And it's gonna send a very strong message to landlords who have been neglecting their basic responsibilities that they can't do that in secret anymore. That now, it's to be very public and everyone will know that they're not following the rules or upkeeping their building to current building standards.

NIL KÖKSAL: There are still details to work out, the program is not a done deal yet, obviously, but from what you know at this stage, what would green, yellow, and red mean in this context?

CHIARA PADOVANI: So, green would mean that a building has, you know, reached an acceptable score on the rent safe program, which is how much are landlords following the building standards bylaws that they're required to. And the green sign would mean that they're meeting the minimum requirements. It doesn't necessarily mean that everything is perfect in the building, but it does mean that the landlord is actively taking initiative to meet those standards, that would be a green sign. A yellow sign will mean that there are some ongoing and unaddressed issues. So, maybe a pretty rampant pest infestation. Maybe their health and safety or HVAC system isn't quite up to standard or particularly around mold or ventilation. And then, a red sign would be that they are in a pretty serious breach of their basic responsibilities. Perhaps something like inconsistent water service or heat interruptions or things like that. That's what I would imagine, and what I'd like to see those signs represent, and that they would stay up until those violations are addressed. So, it really does give incentive to the landlord to address them immediately and as quickly as possible so that they can get their signs switched.

NIL KÖKSAL: But different, what's different from obviously the restaurant system of red, yellow and green is that red doesn't mean, it can't mean that a building is going to shut down entirely?

CHIARA PADOVANI: Correct, correct. Yeah, in this case, it would just be that the landlord needs to take some immediate action. And I would hope that in the case of a red signs where there are serious breaches, the landlords would not only be fined, but given a deadline to make those repairs. And if they don't, the city could do something called remedial action, which would go in and make the repairs, make the fixes themselves, and then bill the landlord for it later.

NIL KÖKSAL: Enforcement is, as always, crucial though.

CHIARA PADOVANI: Of course, of course, and we do think that once these signs get going, it is going to help with enforcement because nobody's going to want a yellow or red sign on their building for very long because, you know, it impacts their reputation, it impacts our ability to rent new tenants, but we will need the city to start implementing the program and following up when things need to be changed.

NIL KÖKSAL: This kind of program has been discussed before. It has not passed because I know, as you were saying, that there are many people who have been pushing for this kind of thing, but there are also those who are worried that this doesn't just hurt the building management or the building owners. It stigmatizes the people who live inside, who have to walk in and out of those buildings with that blaring red sign out there.

CHIARA PADOVANI: Yeah, we've heard those arguments, and we've only really heard them coming from landlords. And if landlords were really worried about stigmatizing the tenants that live in their buildings, then they would be doing the repairs they're required to do. Tenants are already stigmatized by having to live in conditions that are substandard, and having a red sign or a yellow sign is actually quite validating. It means that they are being listened to, it means that a city institution has heard them, has validated their concerns. And that now, it's up to the landlord to take the action. So, that concern about this being stigmatizing to tenants, I'm quite confident that this time around, Toronto City Council will be listening to tenants themselves and not the landlord lobbyists that are using that as an excuse not to do their jobs.

NIL KÖKSAL: There is a rent-safe program in Toronto and that means rental buildings are inspected. There's a rating posted online, what is missing from the online and the current inspection system that isn't getting the needs of these residents met.

CHIARA PADOVANI: Yeah, I mean the difference between having to look up a building online and go through, you know, a pretty long evaluation system and seeing a sign on the front door of a building that you're walking into is the same thing about when you're going out for a meal, right? You're not researching or checking, you know, Toronto Public Health's website every time you walk into a restaurant, but you are going to notice a sign on the door. And so, that's the first thing is that it really makes this kind of information far more accessible to tenants. More so than having to find and do your own research and look it up on a website.

NIL KÖKSAL: There have always been bad landlords out there, difficult tenants too, but on this particular issue, these kinds of buildings that are crumbling and not getting the repairs that they need. But have you seen a shift to doing the work that you do to get us to this point where there needs to be very public shaming to ensure renters have their basic needs met?

CHIARA PADOVANI: Absolutely. And in fact, in our experience, that has been the the only way that we have seen landlords actually take significant actions to address these issues in buildings. Unfortunately, the way the residential landlord tenancy laws set up is that landlords really do want tenants to move out because that's the way that they can increase rents for the next tenant and there's no real protection from tenants for that. And so as a result, it really just is what's in it for the bottom line. And we think these signs will really go a long way in improving conditions for tenants, but also saving their homes and preventing them from having to move or be evicted.

NIL KÖKSAL: Chiara, I'm glad we could speak. Thank you for this.

CHIARA PADOVANI: Thank you so much.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Chiara Padovani is the co-chair of the York South-Weston Tenant Union. We reached her in Toronto.

[Music: Hélène by Roch Voisine]

CHRIS HOWDEN: It's been 35 years since this song started getting played on the radio, seemingly on repeat on radio stations across Québec. And it's never really stopped. Roch Voisine singing the title song from his hit album, Hélène. It sold more than 3 million copies and topped the charts, not just in Québec, but in Europe as well. And if you have tickets to the Festival d'été to Quebec, I'm going to bet Mr. Voisine will pull out that old crowd pleaser when he takes the stage tonight. Roch Voisin talked to the CBC's Julia Caron about the song. Here's part of that interview.

SOUNDCLIP

ROCH VOISIN: We never knew. It's impossible to know. You just want to make sure it sounds right, and the arrangements are done well, and you sing well, and it's played well, and then, the rest is history. You can't control. You know, there are so many great songs out there. They don't get the recognition, or they don't want to get the success, and then, you come up with a very simple... A song like that and all of a sudden, you know?

JULIA CARON: It's a phenomenon.

ROCH VOISIN: Yep, yep.

JULIA CARON: Remind us, Roch, where were you at in your career back in 1989 when you were working on this album?

ROCH VOISIN: Oh, I just moved from Ottawa to Montréal and I'd been doing like a bit of television, a bit of hosting, you know, sort of learning the strings, you know? And, you know, we just, I just signed with Quatre Saisons back then for a teenage type of countdown music kind of show. And we just decided I was going to record one of my own tunes and play it on my show. That's it. It just, that's where I was, and we just played it for the first time. I basically launched myself.

JULIA CARON: You are doing a massive tour for the 35th anniversary of Hélène, and you will be on stage at the Place Georges 5 stage as part of the Festival d'été, and you're going to be performing in front of an audience in Québec City. What are you looking forward to, to perform to an audience as part this 11-day outdoor music festival as opposed to maybe some of the stadium tours that you've done already?

ROCH VOISIN: Oh, I love doing the festival gigs, you know, the outdoor gigs, as long as the weather is nice. You know, there's always that, it's just the only problem with the festival gigs here in Québec during the summer. You have great nights and you have not so great nights because of the weather. But being part of the festival is that Québec is always something quite special, draws a lot of attention, a lot people. And we have a good show, and I think, I think people enjoy it. No, we're expecting a lot of people there. It should be jam-packed.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Roch Voisine talking to Julia Caron, host of Quebec AM.

[Acoustic guitar strumming]

CHRIS HOWDEN: Late this afternoon, the Trump administration dropped its latest tariff proclamation with a rate of 50 per cent for Brazil. That's after the U.S. President upended the plans of Asian countries like Japan, Myanmar, and Vietnam earlier this week, threatening tariffs as high as 25 to 30 per cent on all exports to the U.S. if alternative deals aren't reached by the August deadline. Vietnamese exports that come through a third country would be hit with a levy that would bring those numbers up to a whopping 40 cents on the dollar. For immigrant communities that already face high prices on imported staples like rice and fish sauce, this could really hurt, as grocers who serve them face ever-dwindling profit margins. Hao Tran is the owner of Hao's Grocery and Cafe, a Vietnamese restaurant and specialty supermarket in Fort Worth, Texas. We reached her in Montréal, where she's visiting relatives.

NIL KÖKSAL: Hao, you're you're there visiting family but back in Fort Worth, what kinds of price increases have you been seeing just with the threat of tariffs to come?

HAO TRAN: We've been seeing a 30 to 40 percent increase. We shop at large Asian markets. We see that particularly, I'll focus on fish sauce because it's not produced in the U.S. We rely on importing and the cost is from 6 dollars a bottle to 10 dollars a model.

NIL KÖKSAL: So, if these tariffs actually do go up to the levels that the White House is talking about this week, I mean, what would that mean for your bottom line?

HAO TRAN: It means we have to find alternatives. We have to find products that are maybe less expensive, but that means sometimes less quality. We had to find alternatives in the U.S. where maybe it could be made here, or we make it ourselves. We can't have the margins that it will affect. As a small boutique grocery, we already have slim margins, and so having to pay so much more, it just eliminates, you know, any profitability. And then, we also use those ingredients in what we make. And so, you know, we'll have to use less or decide that we may not use that product anymore.

NIL KÖKSAL: What are your customers saying at this point?

HAO TRAN: Right now, there's not much of a response or effect yet, because they still feel that they're comfortable with their price point. But as it escalates, I imagine they probably won't be using the product.

NIL KÖKSAL: Your family, your parents came to the U.S. from Vietnam in the '70s and I just know from personal experience, these kinds of shops can certainly be a lifeline for people. What was it like trying to find those ingredients to prepare the dishes your family loved back then?

HAO TRAN: Well, back then, in the '70s, there weren't any Asian grocery stores. There were trips that we made from Fort Worth to Dallas into a little store, if you will, but it was more like a closet where they would have stacks of bags of rice, you know, something we needed back then that we couldn't get at grocery stores or American grocery stores. You know, before cell phones, before GPS, my father would try to, you know, make his way through highways and traffic to Dallas, and that, for us, it took, you know, the entire day finding it, trying to make our way back. I mean, we weren't really savvy of traveling by car because we're not familiar with where we were living. Um, so it was a, it was long trip for the whole family to go and, uh, source it. And we would have to rely on that bag of rice for a whole month before we make another trip.

NIL KÖKSAL: Yeah. So, so, how did, how did that go? Your parents had to make it last.

HAO TRAN: Of course, of course. I mean, we ration ourselves, um, you know there's only certain brands that were available. I think there was not even options, there was just one and, uh, a 25-pound bag for a family of five that we could use for a month and it's something we eat every day, um... We weren't wasteful. Uh... We were taught not to be wasteful. Um... So, practically every meal was significant for us.

NIL KÖKSAL: I was looking at your website for your market and café, and you talk about just opening it was such a dream for you. Did that experience, when you were telling us about those trips, that rationing of the food that you loved, was that the fuel for this dream?

HAO TRAN: The fuel for my dream for the store was really to share the type of food and type of flavour that comes with the heritage and culture of where I'm from. And, you know, we actually have rice at the store and we offer different choices. But, you know, there are certain ingredients that... I have, I mean, I don't have like, you know, 15 types of noodles, I have three or four types for the dishes that we make and we offer and we teach people how to use. It's always a pleasure for me when someone comes in, they see a product on the shelf, they see it seasoning and they have no idea how to use it. They've seen it, but just don't know how to use it. So, it's my, my privilege to show them this is what I do, this is how I do it, and these are things that I grew up with, what I learned from my grandmother, what I've learned. Actually, my aunt that lives here that I'm visiting in Montréal taught us, and our conversations were about the food and, and you know, what are we making you know today and how are we making it, and the, the community that comes with sharing that with where I live, it's really my pleasure to do that.

NIL KÖKSAL: And we should say, we talked about Asian customers, but lots of different people shop at all of these stores, whatever your background. And so, they add something on another level to, to whatever neighborhood or town or state they're in.

HAO TRAN: Absolutely. You know, we're a voice, a much stronger voice. As time has gone by, years have gone by. Decades have gone by, and this voice needs to be recognized and to be heard, whether it's in Montréal or it's in Fort Worth. The demand is there, the need is there, and the community is there.

NIL KÖKSAL: I'm very glad we could speak, Hao. Thank you for this.

HAO TRAN: You're welcome. I hope I've been helpful.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Hao Tran is the owner of Hao's Grocery and Café in Fort Worth, Texas. We reached her in Montréal, where she's visiting family.

[Upbeat bass and beats music playing]

CHRIS HOWDEN: On last night's show, we told you about an ingenious bit of engineering. On a stretch of highway in Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, there are rumble strips that sound like Beethoven's Ninth, AKA Ode To Joy. When you drive over them, here's what that sounds like from inside a car.

[Sound of rumble strips]

CHRIS HOWDEN: It's sort of music to my ears, and at least one of you agreed.

[Phone ringing sound]

RAY BERNIER: Hello guys, it's Ray Bernier, Fisher Branch Calling. I just heard your piece about some rumble strips that have been made to sound like Beethoven's fifths. I actually came up with this idea 25 years ago, going over rumble strips and also going over stretches of gravel where the lines are much closer, you can get a high pitch squeal and I was thinking, whoa, two things. That on TransCanada, highway especially, we should be putting in these lines so they sing out the first three notes of O Canada, you know, "O Canada." That's all we need. But I also thought what a commercial opportunity for our highways people to sell jingles that are embedded into the road that way. Of course, it's a simple matter of making and priming grooves at the proper distance so that the notes sound as you're traveling over the entire sound. I followed up on it, and it turns out that somebody in Japan already has a patent on the idea, so I didn't follow it up, but I think there's an opportunity there.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Thanks for the call, Ray. And not to make you feel guilty or anything, but to think that if you had followed your instincts 25 years ago, we might have patriotic rumble strips today. If we did, we would be neck and neck with Japan vis-a-vis rumble strip technology, as you pointed out. Japan has at least 30 of what it calls melody roads. China has one that plays the national anthem, great minds, Ray, and also one that place Ode To Joy. Indonesia has a road that plays the first six notes of Happy Birthday, which I guess you can only drive on once a year. A stretch of Route 66 in the U.S. plays America the Beautiful. And Denmark created the first known musical road, which played an arpeggio in the key of F major. Guess that was the road to Jansville. I haven't found any roads that explore Ray's idea of infusing the streets with capitalism, which is a relief. And if you have any ideas for what you would want to hear from Rumble Strips on a Canadian road, call TalkBack at 416-205-5687 or email us at aih@cbc.ca.

[Jazz guitar playing]

CHRIS HOWDEN: No matter where you are in Canada, you can always talk about the weather. And if you live in a big Canadian city, you'll never go wrong complaining about the traffic in exquisite detail. How long it took for the bus to come or how long your commute has been, how you've made it to nearly the end of As It Happens, and somehow only moved about 20 metres along the highway. You might think the locals are the only ones who complain about these things, but no, so does the guy who sings Fix You. This week, Coldplay kicked off a series of shows in Toronto to much fanfare and much consternation. The concerts are taking place in the newly built Rogers Stadium, located in the city's northwest, not to be confused with the Rogers Center, which is located in downtown Toronto and is where the band performed its last show in Toronto in 2017. And it seems like frontman Chris Martin noticed the difference. On Monday night, he addressed how long it had been since the band was last there, and how far some fans had had to travel.

SOUNDCLIP

CHRIS MARTIN: Okay, welcome. Thank you for waiting eight years and ten minutes for us. And we'd like to say thank you so much for coming through all the [expletive] that you have to come through to this weird stadium in the middle of nowhere. So, thank you for, uh, thank you for coming through the traffic and the travel and the trains and the waiting and the lines and all the nonsense and uh, hope you're okay and, uh, we're really so grateful to see you.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Judging by the crowd's reaction, it seemed like Mr. Martin's words struck a chord, and last night when the band and fans made the trek once more, he wasn't afraid to break out the hits.

SOUNDCLIP

CHRIS MARTIN: Thank you for being here anyway, and especially thank you for traveling on the strange quest that you had to travel on to get to this very bizarre stadium, a billion miles from Earth. We are solely testing the premise if you build it, they will come. I'm very grateful that you did come. So, thank you for coming through all of this stuff you had to come through. I know it's a pain to get to, I know the travel is difficult and the lines and all of that [expletive] and we don't take that for granted. So, thank you.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Our sound of the day from last night. That was Chris Martin from Coldplay sharing his review of the new Rogers Stadium in Toronto.

[Music: Theme extro]

CHRIS HOWDEN: You've been listening to As It Happens on the CBC Listen app. Our show can be heard Monday to Friday on CBC Radio One after Your World Tonight.

NIL KÖKSAL: And you can always read more about the stories and conversations we feature on As It Happens on our website, cbc.ca/aih. I'm Nil Koksal.

CHRIS HOWDEN: And I'm Chris Howden.

AIH Transcript for July 9, 2025

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