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The AIH Transcript for May 11, 2021

Hosts: Carol Off and Chris Howden

Prologue

CAROL OFF: Hello. I'm Carol Off.

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

[Music: Theme]

CH: Tonight:

CO: Whose line is it anyway? Canada is going to court to fight the governor of Michigan's efforts to shut down the Line 5 pipeline. But an Indigenous community in that state says it has authority over the pipeline too.

CH: Conflicted in the midst of conflict. A Palestinian activist says that amidst the anger and frustration now boiling over across the occupied territories, there is also hope.

CO: Medal for their pedal. A bike theft on Montreal's south shore becomes an action packed, high speed bike chase. And now that she's got it back, the owner has a plan for how to reward the fit duo who cornered that thief.

CH: From the ashes. After a fire in an Alberta retirement facility, the future is uncertain for its residents. But one survivor's son says the community's response has made the present more comforting.

CO: Look, I don't want to split hairs and I don't want anyone else to do that either. That's why I welcome a gentle, high tech, new hair brushing robot that could de-stress our distressed tresses.

CH: And it seems to me they've lived their lives like a condor in the wind. But now more than a dozen of the endangered birds have taken up residence on the deck of a very surprised California woman. As It Happens. The Tuesday Edition. Radio that's never seen such an impressive display of raw talons.

[Music: Theme]

Part 1: Michigan Line 5

Michigan Line 5

Guest: Whitney Gravelle

CH: Canada is going to court to fight the governor of Michigan over the Line 5 pipeline. Today, the Trudeau government announced that it has filed court documents defending the Enbridge pipeline against a shutdown order from Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The pipeline moves Alberta oil through Michigan and then underwater to Sarnia in southwestern Ontario to points east for processing. Governor Whitmer calls it an environmental ticking time bomb and set a deadline of midnight tonight for it to be shut off. But here's what Prime Minister Trudeau said about it this afternoon.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU: [SOUNDCLIP: We continue to engage very closely in the issue of Line 5. We know that it is a matter of energy security for Canadians and for Americans. This is why we have pushed strongly for the mediation process between Enbridge and the state government in Michigan to continue. We will continue to weigh in through our embassy in Washington and with our partners, because we know that the energy cooperation and partnership between Canada and the US is good for citizens on both sides of our border.]

CH: That was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa today. But the governor of Michigan isn't Line 5's only problem. Whitney Gravelle is the president of the Bay Mills Indian Community, which is on the Michigan side of the Canada-US border.

CO: President Gravel, Canada's prime minister, says Line 5 is of vital interest to both Canada and the United States. How do you respond?

WHITNEY GRAVELLE: Bay Mills Indian Community does not believe that we need to continue to rely on fossil fuels, especially the Line 5 dual pipelines as they run throughout the entire state of Michigan, as well as Bay Mills Indian Community's treaty ceded territory.

CO: Can you give us a sense of the resolution that Bay Mills Indian Committee has passed?

WG: Yes, well, yesterday Bay Mills Indian Community passed a resolution for banishment of the Line 5 dual pipelines, not only from our reservation, but also from our treaty ceded territory. And banishment is a very old and traditional and historical form of customary law that tribal nations have exercised since time immemorial. It is taken very seriously by our tribal government, and it is only exercised when egregious acts of harm and misconduct have been leveraged against our tribal nation, our tribal citizens, our treaty rights and our territories.

CO: The governor of Michigan has ordered Enbridge to shut down the pipeline. So are you satisfied with her actions so far?

WG: We do see the banishment resolution working in concert with the easement revocation that Governor Gretchen Whitmer had issued against Enbridge Energy. And that is also why we've called upon them to honour this as well as the United States. All of those state and federal agencies, including tribal nations, have some type of regulatory jurisdiction over Line 5. But through our banishment action, through the easement revocation, we are hoping that the state of Michigan, as well as the United States, will work with tribal nations on a nation to nation basis in order to proactively and affirmatively protect our treaty rights.

CO: In asking for other bodies to honour the banishment of Enbridge, are you asking that of First Nations on the Canadian side of the border as well?

WG: Yes, I actually heard very recently that the Anishinabek Nation, as well as some of our other relatives across the river, have been in support of shutting down Line 5 dual pipelines here in the state of Michigan. And I'm very grateful for their support. And I think that really ties in to some of the teachings that we share together as a people. The Anishinaabe here in the Great Lakes region actually have a teaching that says any decision we make today must take into consideration a sustainable future and a sustainable world for the next seven generations. And that teaching reminds us to understand that the decisions we make are not limited by the immediate concerns or the immediate profits of today, but instead will have implications long after we are gone. And hearing that from our relatives in the First Nations in Canada is very empowering because I know that we share that teaching across borders, across different nations. And that's what we're trying to do here on the United States side, through the work Bay Mills Indian Community has been doing is to preserve, preserve the Great Lakes, preserve the heart of Turtle Island, preserve North America for those next seven generations.

CO: We had an interview with the mayor of Sarnia on Friday who says that thousands of people, including many Indigenous people, rely on this pipeline for jobs and that people on both sides of the border rely on it for fuel to heat homes, and that this is something that is in your interest to support, as the mayor of Sarnia does. How do you respond?

WG: I would disagree. We have seen not only here in the state of Michigan, but also in the state of Minnesota, where the Line 3 pipeline is currently being constructed, that after due diligence and research from experts, they all come to the same conclusion that Line 5 is not necessary. And oftentimes when we hear that we are going to freeze or that fuel prices are going to skyrocket or that there is going to be a loss of jobs, that is the same narrative that Enbridge has used not only here in the United States, but now they're also using it in Canada. And I trust the Canadian public to also do that research and really understand the impacts Line 5 has on their economy. We are already seeing individuals from the Toronto Pearson Airport say that they will be fine, that they do not need to rely on Line 5. We're also seeing refineries like Suncor say that they'll find alternatives. So, again, we start to see that scare tactic that Enbridge usually pushes, continues to be debunked. And that's across the board. Not only has the Upper Peninsula Energy Task Force found that there are other alternative methods to transport propane to the Upper Peninsula, but we also see job reports out of the state of Minnesota, where Enbridge promised 75 percent of their jobs to go to Minnesota citizens. That actually in the 2020 job report, only 20 percent of those jobs actually went to Minnesota citizens. So it's the same tactic used by Enbridge across the board.

CO: Enbridge has said that, this is a quote, "We will not stop operating this pipeline unless we're ordered by a court or our regulator, which we think is highly unlikely." That's Ryan Duffy, spokesman from Enbridge. What would you say to him?

WG: I would tell Enbridge that Bay Mills Indian Community will continue to do everything in its power and capacity to challenge the Line 5 dual pipelines, as well as the permits that Enbridge is seeking for the build and construction of the Great Lakes Tunnel project. And although it's unfortunate that Enbridge is not willing to cooperate and is going to continue to operate illegally, Bay Mills is here for the long run. We're trying to secure a future for our children and our children's children. And we will remain part of the good fight to have Line 5 decommissioned altogether.

CO: We will be watching. President Gravelle, thank you.

WG: Thank you so much. Have a wonderful evening.

CH: Whitney Gravelle is the president of the Bay Mills Indian Community. We reached her in that community, which is on the Michigan side of the Canada-US border.

[Music: Piano Music]

AB Seniors Home Fire

Guest: Richard Belley

CH: When a fire lit up the Citadel Mews continuing care facility in St. Albert, Alberta, last week, community members responded en masse and by all accounts, they haven't stopped responding since. Locals efforts helped save more than 100 people. Now, many of those rescued residents are temporarily housed in hotels and other nearby facilities, and some of them lost virtually everything they owned. Richard Belley's, 86 year old father, Maurice, is amongst them. We reached Richard Belley in St. Albert.

CO: Richard, how is your dad doing today?

RICHARD BELLEY: He is fine. He made a comment, that you know guys, I don't think the full weight of what's occurred has hit me yet. And I took that to be a positive comment that he knows maybe there's a little more feelings coming towards what was lost in the fire. And thank God, Carol, there was no loss of life. You know, I think it's a disaster, but I don't think it's a tragedy because, again, there was no loss of life.

CO: There were some people who went to hospital. And I understand they're all fine at this point.

RB: Exactly.

CO: Or will survive.

RB: Yes. And smoke inhalation at that age, because there was an extended care facility involved there, that I don't think they can handle a lot of stress on their bodies. So that is great news. It's right next door to a hospital. So that was fortunate as well. They were able to evacuate them to the hospital right next door.

CO: Where is your dad? Where is Maurice staying at this point?

RB: He's been sequestered at the St. Albert Inn -- an older hotel here in St. Albert -- one of our first hotels. I was impressed with how quickly buses showed up in Marshalls, the Costco parking lot. And then from there, they brought them to the St. Albert Inn. They had a triage room there for the really extended care people who are totally mobile in the conference room. And I understand the extended care people have all been placed in other facilities, but there's still the independent living people, which my father was one -- they have yet to be placed anywhere.

CO: Can you just take us back to the fire on Thursday evening? How did you first learn that your dad's residence was actually on fire?

RB: My ex-wife actually, believe it or not, we're still on amicable terms -- she phoned me and I answered the call. I was watching the Oilers game and she asked, Is your dad at the Citadel Mews facility? I said, yes. And she said, well, there's a report of a fire there. So I just drove over there and it started getting real once I hit the highway. I saw ambulances screaming down the highway. I saw smoke, I saw fire trucks. I saw my dad's suite with smoke coming out. That's when it got real. And I realised this is something.

CO: You must have been very concerned at that point when you saw all of that.

RB: I actually parked my truck on the highway with the door open and ran out. But when I got near the building, I could see the seniors had been evacuated. Some of them were in the liquor store, some were in the nutritional store. We found my father in behind the building. As we were evacuating dad, a fireman came up and asked me and my son, Zachary, who was there as well, could you come help us evacuate people from the second floor? When we got up to the second floor, I started really not to panic, but I thought, oh hold on here. There were people there laying on the floor. There were people in wheelchairs, walkers. Nobody is mobile. All of a sudden, people who were there to tend to their loved ones ran up and started just taking wheelchairs with people in them down the stairs, three to a wheelchair out the back door. It was something to see.

CO: The pictures are extraordinary. And the amount of damage the fire did, you could see how frightening that would have been to see the flames. How many other people like yourself and Zach were inside trying to lift those people up out of the facility?

RB: Plumbers, electricians, some retired people. There were some younger people there, some younger girls there to make sure grandma was okay. But when it became clear that the building might become compromised, I believe they were told to vacate completely.

CO: There is a story about three teenage boys who saw the flames and went over immediately to help. I think you had a chance to speak with them.

RB: I did. I went back there. I was there to take some pictures of the aftermath. And I noticed these three young gentlemen being interviewed by a news crew. So after they were done with the interview, they asked if they could talk to me about my feelings on the young gentlemen. And I told her, well, as far as I'm concerned, they're three angels, thank God for them, and I thank them. I bumped elbows, if you will, given the COVID crisis. And I actually gave them 20 dollars and and said, go get a beer. And two of them said, well, we're not 18 yet. [Laughter] So I told them to get a slurpee, but it's all I had in my wallet. But I thanked them for helping.

CO: To go back briefly to Thursday evening when you finally found your dad, you run out of the truck and you were looking for him -- what was that moment? Tell us that moment when you actually were able to find your dad and know he was okay.

RB: Well, I don't know if it can be quantified in words, that emotion. As a matter of fact, I'm trying to marshal them right now. It was a good feeling, a great feeling to know -- that was the closest I've came to thinking somebody I love had died, and I could do nothing about it and nothing could be done about it. It was funny in a way, it was almost like nobody else in the in the lobby of the building, there were a few people in there, but there almost seemed to be a glow about him -- that's the only thing my tunnel vision was only on him. That's all I saw. He was confused, of course, as many of them were. And I think a lot of them maybe still haven't really processed what's going on. Boy my heart goes out to them. I mean, people there lost everything. Everything you have in there has some kind of -- it's not material goods, even a chair or a couch or a coffee table, there's some spiritual connection there to somebody or something.

CO: Now, how long will it be before your dad's got a permanent place to live?

RB: Well, there was a town hall meeting with the Christenson group who owned the facility. They owned multiple facilities of that sort. So my sister went and looked at a place yesterday. The Christenson group has been really good in housing the people who needed immediate care. So they're being well cared for, that's for sure.

CO: Well, Richard, I'm very glad your dad's okay and everybody else survived it as well. And I really appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

RB: I appreciate it too. Thank you Carol.

CH: Richard Belley's 86 year old father is amongst more than 100 residents displaced by a fire at the Citadel Mews continuing care facility in St. Albert, Alberta, last week. That's where we reached him. Brian Farrell is the CEO of Christenson Communities, which runs the Citadel Mews home, he says that while many belongings were destroyed, a majority of residents should be able to retrieve irreplaceable items such as photographs by the end of this week.

[Music: Guitar Music]

Montreal Cyclist Chase

Guest: Sandra Morellato

CH: Sandra Morellato has her bike back. But the Montreal artist and landlord says that wouldn't be the case if it weren't for two unexpected heroes and one very long, very high speed bike chase. Her bike was stolen last Sunday. Ms. Morellato had ridden it to an apartment on Montreal's South Shore. We reached Sandra Morellato in Montreal to get the rest of the story.

CO: Sandra, at what point did you realise that someone was stealing your bike?

SANRA MORELLATO: Actually, I was staring right at it. I was about to exit the apartment I was in and I was looking at my bike and I saw someone approach it. And all of a sudden I saw him basically lift it and take off with it.

CO: Yikes. It wasn't locked up then.

SM: Not this time. I always lock my bike, but I was really there for a fleeting few moments and I just said, it's a quiet place and I was in the backyard. And I figured it was very safe.

CO: All right. So this fellow is taking off on your bike. What did you do?

SM: Well, I had a backpack on me and I just threw everything down on the floor of the apartment and I rushed out, in doing so I tripped on the door, so hurt my leg in doing so. But then I ran out and I ran around the building, just watched him started running down the street to at least see where he was going. And that's when I saw the two cyclists that were passing through. And I called to them basically I just yelled out in French, and I saw them sort of acknowledge and just nod their heads. You know, all I was really expecting was or hoping rather, was that they would perhaps identify and perhaps wave down a police car if they saw someone and say, hey, you know, this that person stealing a bike.

CO: But what did they do?

SM: It's a basically an avenue, and they were riding down that direction, so they continued. And then I actually saw them follow where he was going. So at that moment, I lost sight of them and I called the police right away.

CO: So you call the police, they take off. And at what point did you know that this didn't end with just them following for a short while?

SM: Well, actually, the police came right away. And as I was writing out the report, I could hear what was going on on the radio and descriptions of basically the women -- they were wearing red jackets, bright red jackets. And I heard that over the radio. And I looked at him and said, those are my cyclists. Those are the ones. And so he said, yeah, I think we found your bicycle. And then I couldn't believe it. And so everything happened really in my live-time.

CO: How did they know that these two people -- did they call in that they were pursuing this cyclist, this thief?

SM: Well, no, they actually didn't. There was a third person, he saw that there was something going amiss. And because he had his phone accessible, he was able to call 911. [Dog barking in background] And because I had also called the police, the story was corroborated and they were able to catch him.

CO: We will introduce your companion there. That's a standard poodle, right?

SM: Sorry about that. Yes. I have two standard poodles, and he's upset because I didn't let him come to where I am.

CO: What's his name?

SM: Zorro.

CO: Thank you Zorro. Now, just to continue the chase, these two women, they pursued the cyclist -- how far did they chase this thief?

SM: They went along the waterfront. And they got to a place called Boucherville and it's 17 kilometres from where initially the chase had started.

CO: 17 kilometres away?!

SM: Yes. Yes.

CO: And so they just weren't going to give up, right?

SM: No no. They were determined to, you know, because speaking to them afterwards, I mean, it was wonderful. And they just said, look, it could have happened to us, it could happen to anyone, and it's just frustrating that this was going on. And they were determined to just see that, you know, somehow this would end properly.

CO: And how did it end? How did he get caught?

SM: So he proceeded into more with the old Boucherville, which is more populated. And when they got there, the police had been summoned. They were able to, as I said, corroborate the story because I had given a description. And one of the women actually signalled, she saw the policeman and she signalled -- pointing to the cyclist because they were closing in on him and then he went or the thief, rather, he went between two cars. And that's when basically the police car intercepted his way and apparently actually crashed into the police car door and fell to the ground and that's how he was caught -- they caught him that way.

CO: What do you know about these two women, these two heroes of yours?

SM: Well, one of them lives in my town, in the city of Saint-Lambert. And the other one is actually an ex policewoman.

CO: Wow. And they're fit, both of them, obviously.

SM: Oh yes. Yes, yeah. It's kind of like when I saw them, I said, okay they were riding serious bikes and they were ready for a ride, I could see that. So that's why I basically called upon them when I saw them, because I knew that they could, whatever it was, at least they can get close to him. But yeah, they were on a bike ride.

CO: Did you have any expectation that these two women were just going to doggedly pursue this guy right to the end?

SM: No, I honestly just expected perhaps some fighting and them calling the police, saying, look, we saw this gentleman, somebody took a bicycle and went off with it.

CO: So have you had a chance to speak with them?

SM: Yes. Yes, I did, actually. Well, upon arrival, the policeman brought me to the scene where the thief was caught in order to also identify my bicycle. And I was fortunate enough to see the women. They were there. So I was able to thank them profusely when I did see them. Yes.

CO: And have you figured out a way to thank them, is there...

SM: Oh, absolutely. My first thought was -- because I'm an artist and I do different themed art work and some of it is sports art. So cycling themed, triathlon themed artwork. And I thought how appropriate, you know. So yes, I'm in the midst of preparing something for them. And I can't wait to be able to thank them with something that I've made.

CO: Okay, what shape is your bike in?

SM: It's a steel frame bike. It's got very sturdy tires. It's affectionately known as the clunker. I mean, it's something I use for every day and errands and stuff, you know, just to get from point A to point B. So it's a solid piece of bicycle and it's fine, thankfully. Yeah. I rode it back.

CO: Well, Sandra it is quite the story and I'm glad you got your bike back.

SM: Thank you. So am I. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much Carol.

CH: Sandra Morellato is a Montreal artist and property manager. We reached her and her dog in Montreal.

[Music: Guitar Music]

RoboWig

CH: [HAIR BRUSHING SOUND] Gently, gently. Ow! Come on, not so hard, you know, it gets tangled back there. Ah! Stop! Stop! Just stop! Sorry, the old hair brushing robot here in the studio was working on the back of my pandemic mullet. I forgot to condition this morning. But the real problem is this robot doesn't understand my hair. To think this was top of the line in the 80s when the CBC bought it from RadioShack for the cast of Degrassi Junior High. To be fair, it's not easy to make a robot that brushes hair well. Everyone's hair is different after all. To create a really innovative, hair brushing robot, you'd have to develop a robot arm equipped with a camera that could process visual data and data from the brush attached to it. Also, you'd have to feed the robot mathematical models of hair types and models of tangled fibres, and you'd have to teach it how to adjust brush stroke lengths to minimise pain. Well introducing RoboWig developed by labs at MIT and Harvard, a robotic arm set up with a sensorized soft brush capable of customising its technique for even the most knotted of mullets, an invention that could mean people with limited mobility no longer have to endure the crude raking of their antiquated, hair brushing robots. No one expected this important breakthrough, but science has surprised us with a real comb from behind victory.

[Music: Guitar Music]

Part 2: California condors are very rare, but 10% of them are trashing this woman's house

Israeli-Palestinian Latest

Guest: Mariam Barghouti

CH: The death toll is climbing in Gaza and Israel. Last night, 28 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. According to health officials, the dead include 10 children. Two Israelis have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza. The escalating violence started in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where six Palestinian families are fighting forced evictions. The UN Human Rights Office says forcing the families out would violate international law. Mariam Barghouti is a Palestinian writer and researcher who wrote an op ed about the Sheikh Jarrah evictions for The Washington Post. We reached her in Ramallah.

CO: Ms. Barghouti, how much anger is there on the streets of Ramallah tonight?

MARIAM BARGHOUTI: It's not just tonight. I think we have been feeling angry for years now. And there is a lot of anger and a lot of frustration, a lot of hope and a lot of yearning for a life. So it's not just the anger.

CO: In terms of what's been going on in the past days, what are the emotions? What are people saying and feeling and talking about at this point?

MB: So we are all very frustrated with the situation that's been happening that's a call for Palestinian families, the last remaining Palestinian families in a neighbourhood in Jerusalem was met with brutal violence. And then the Israeli police continued escalating that violence, attacking worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque. And right now, of course, Israel is going to illustrate the rocket fire from Gaza as though it's going to defend itself, completely erasing the narrative of just a few weeks ago. So, of course, we are very angry and we feel very much alone. We feel very much isolated. We are very much afraid that this is going to be the same thing that happened in 2014 and 2018, where the world gives us a little bit of attention because we are yelling and screaming and angry, but eventually that kind of subside or dies out. And in the process we're going to keep dying out.

CO: I want to understand more about the families who are threatened with this evictions in East Jerusalem, in this neighbourhood, Sheikh Jarrah. Can you tell us about who lives there and how they came to be living there?

MB: Well, these are families that-- it's not how they came to be living there, this is their lineage. These are homes that they have been in for decades, for more than 50 years. Exemplary of this, who have been very much so in the forefront in the media is the el-Kurd family, who has been fighting for decades. Mohammed el-Kurd, 22, has known nothing but settlers throughout his entire life, has known nothing but the possibility of eviction since he was 11 or 12. And this is not just their story -- this is a story of most families. I know another family in Sheikh Jarrah who just has their palm on their hearts, unaware if their children, their new children are going to be able to see or live in Sheikh Jarrah or even be able to call themselves Palestinians from Jerusalem.

CO: The plan is for the settlers want to bulldoze those homes and to build settlements, to build houses for Jewish Israelis, yes?

MB: So, no, it's not necessarily them bulldozing. What settlers do is they take over the house and just completely erase its history. Right now, the narrative is that the Palestinian families there are renting from settlers. They are calling them tenants, not rightful owners of the house. They're calling them tenants. And this is important to recognise, these stories the way they're speaking about Palestinians. No, Israel does not necessarily want to bulldoze the home as much as it wants to erase their history.

CO: The settlers point to this 1970 Israeli law that gives Jewish Israelis the right to claim properties they say they owned before 1948. Can you tell us about this law and what recourse the Palestinians have to petition it?

MB: I mean, a lot of the laws that Israel uses are actually from the British mandate era or the Ottoman era. And they use laws such as this and the absentee law in order to take over Palestinian homes. And any legal justification is exactly that -- a justification and a rationalisation in order to showcase the world that there's some legal element to it because often we conflate law with justice.

CO: You mentioned that this issue of what's happened to these families in East Jerusalem, the story of that, that that narrative is being erased. What did you mean by erasing the narrative?

MB: I think Israel uses Hamas as a scapegoat to conceal its crimes. I think it does not contextualised a rocket fire and the fact that [inaudible] has been imprisoned for 15 years.

CO: But are these actions by the Hamas militants, are they helping the cause of those Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem or hurting them?

MB: This is something that you can't tell until later on. But I don't think that this is the argument of whether it's Hamas that's helping, whether it's the PA that's helping. And I think questions like this that bring the focus on Hamas, that bring the focus on the political factions that do not represent Palestinians is a way of also negating what the role of Israel is and what the international community is doing to have us 73 years later saying the same story about the violent dispossession of Palestinians.

CO: Your concern is that the world is watching, we are covering the story at this point, and then the interest and the attention just goes away and dissipates again. What do you think is going to happen in the days and weeks to come?

MB: We genuinely don't know. We all have our poems in our hearts. We are terribly afraid and we are just saying we want to live. So let us also contextualise because there is a lot of vilification of our anger going on right now. And let us remember that that is the normal response. It is not normal to be apathetic and it is not normal to be passive.

CO: Do you think that that is the spirit that you'll see tonight in Ramallah at the protests, as I know you're going to now?

MB: I think what I'm going to say tonight is anger, betrayal at the Palestinian leadership who last night brutally repressed protesters in Ramallah. So we are feeling a sense of betrayal, of anger, of fear, but also hope. Every single time we protest, let it also be a sign that we still have hope.

CO: Ms. Barghouti, we will let you go. And thank you for speaking with us tonight.

MB: Thank you. Thank you so much.

CH: Mariam Barghouti is a Palestinian writer and researcher. She's in Ramallah.

[Music: Calm Music]

Kidnapping

CH: Melissa Armstrong is holding her newborn son extra tight this week. On Mother's Day, Ms. Armstrong opened her front door to a woman she had met on a Facebook group for free giveaways to Ottawa moms. She thought she was getting a Mother's Day basket. Instead, Ms. Armstrong says the woman sprayed her with bear mace, grabbed her baby, and took off running. It was a brazen abduction, but it was also short lived thanks to her neighbours. When Bobby Emmerson heard Ms. Armstrong yelling he and his teenage son took off after the baby. Melissa Armstrong spoke with CBC Ottawa about the ordeal, along with Bobby Emerson and Christina Feher, whose sons helped rescue the baby.

MELISSA ARMSTRONG: [SOUNDCLIP: When I heard the knock at the door, I was expecting my Mother's Day basket, but I got there maced in the face. She pushed me out of the way. I tried to keep her away from my son and I was trying to grab her hoodie, being like, What are you doing? What are you doing? And she said, I'm taking him home. And I said, What are you talking about? That's my son. And she said, I'm taking him home. I'm taking him home. I just had a C-section a few days prior, so I couldn't really do much. I just ran out the back door. I just figured the best thing to do would be to get someone else to help me.

BOBBY EMMERSON: I started running towards the street. I didn't know where I was going. I just ran. And my other son caught up to the lady, spotted her, turning around the corner. And we'd seen a little blanket underneath her, so we knew maybe this was her. So we caught up to her and she's like, I'm a CS worker, leave me alone. So she put the baby on the ground. My son grabbed the baby. I stayed back with my other son, held the lady, and waited for police to come.

CHRISTINA FEHER: I heard my son's voice yelling, "I have him. I have him." And I screamed to 911, "My sons have the baby." And I kind of just got weak in my knees and I ran and I grabbed him. He was so cold and I picked him up. I said, don't worry, aunty has you. And I just started screaming, Mel, I have him. I have him. I have him. But she couldn't touch him. She was covered in bear mace. She couldn't see.

MELISSA ARMSTRONG: Like my heart was put back in my body. I didn't care about anything else. She could have burned down my house as long as I had my kids, I really didn't care. It's going to take a while for me to be okay again. I don't feel comfortable taking him for walks. I feel like if people look at him too long, they might be planning something. Sometimes in the back of my head, I think maybe she had someone else that she was working with. When I hear things behind me, I jump. I'm probably never going to answer a door again. So I stared at him all night. I didn't sleep. Because when she ran away with him, I was worried that she shook him. So I was watching his eyes and his breathing, I couldn't sleep, I laid there and stared at him until the sun came up, so I haven't slept.

BOBBY EMMERSON: It was just luck that I ran this way, and when I turned the corner to go down the hill, my son was already halfway in front of me as he's younger and I'm older, right. But he caught up quick and he's like dad, right here, this is her. It was a blessing for us to get the baby back. And it was just a great day overall.

MELISSA ARMSTRONG: I owe them for life. I would never have seen my son again if they didn't chase after them.

NICHOLAS FREDA: Literally in 30 seconds that she would have been in the car gone.

MELISSA ARMSTRONG: I didn't know what kind of car she drove. I never would have found her. So I owe them for life.

CHRISTINA FEHER: I'm proud to say that I've raised good kids. I mean, they all ran to help. I had one son with no shoes and no shirt on, chasing after her to get that boy back. So I'm proud to say I have a good family.]

CH: That was Christina Feher speaking with CBC Ottawa. Before her, you heard her partner, Bobby Emmerson, and Melissa Armstrong and Nicholas Freda whose son was abducted. Police say a Quebec woman has been arrested and faces 10 charges, including abduction and assault with a weapon.

[Music: Guitar Music]

California Deck Condors

Guest: Seana Quintero

CH: It is weird to have guests just drop by nowadays, especially when they're strangers and especially when they immediately abuse your hospitality by defecating all over your deck. It's estimated that there are fewer than 200 wild condors in the entire state of California. So it was very surprising when more than a dozen of the endangered birds suddenly showed up at Cinda Mickols's house in the Tehachapi Mountains in Southern California earlier this month and didn't leave. Seana Quintero is Ms. Mickols's daughter. She's been posting about her mother's unexpected visitors on social media. We reached her in San Francisco.

CO: Seana, before this month how often might you see condors around your mum's house?

SEANA QUINTERO: It wasn't totally uncommon. I actually was just down there about three weeks before this happened and I saw three condors fly by. So it's not uncommon to see like one to three of them from time to time. But it was really the other weekend when apparently we don't know where these all came from, but somewhere around 20 of them just decided to show up and really seem to take us shining to my mom's deck and roof.

CO: 20 condors showed up at the same time.

SQ: Yeah. She was gone for the weekend dealing with some family stuff. You know, she got a text from her neighbours being like, oh, there's some condors hanging out on your roof. And then she comes home on Monday and there was more than a couple and they were not just hanging out on the roof. They were all over the deck and everywhere. And we really have no idea like why they all converged at once. I mean, we've talked to some condor experts for theories, but none of them have ever heard of a flock this size.

CO: And they weren't just passing through, right? I mean, how long did they stick around?

SQ: They're still there, actually. So they've been there for over a week now. This morning, she heard them back out on the deck and they were in her front yard in her driveway pecking at her fence. So they're still there.

CO: For people who may not have ever seen a condor, they are big birds, right?

SQ: Oh yeah. They're massive. They are around like three feet tall, which is really funny thinking of my mom who's about 5'2 going out there picking her cane at them, yelling at them to leave because they're about more than half her size. And they have got a nine foot wingspan on them.

CO: Are they dangerous to humans?

SQ: Not to anyone's knowledge. We haven't heard of anything. And my mom doesn't feel threatened. I've never heard of a condor attacking a person. I mean, the law ornament is another thing as we've learnt recently.

CO: Your mom you said she's been out there with her cane shaking it at these birds. But what's been your interaction with this flock of condors?

SQ: Mostly she enjoys seeing them, but she just doesn't want them on her roof and on her railings because their talons are causing tons of damage. But also, she's an animal lover that's why she lives where she does, she wouldn't want to harm them. So the only thing she can really do to kind of deter them from being on her house is to spray them with a hose. And about once a day, she has to hose the condors off her roof. But they come back the next day.

CO: And she just hosing the condors off or is she hosing off what the condors are leaving?

SQ: I mean, both. But she actually can't quite hose the poop all off because it's basically like cement. So we are going to have to get someone in to come power wash and scrub it off. But she's kind of waiting to see if they leave because they've created a mess and she doesn't want to have it cleaned then them just make the same mess the next week. So we're kind of in a watching and waiting pattern right now.

CO: But that must be an extraordinary amount of poop.

SQ: It is. She said it is like nothing she's ever smelled. Even after cleaning it, it just stuck around. And she just got her spa redone and she was excited to finally use it. And whenever she's in the spa, all she can smell is bird poop.

CO: She's an animal lover. She likes watching them. What is she telling you that they're up to? Does she give an indication why they seem to have grown an attachment to her house?

SQ: Well, so they're mostly just hanging out and having fun. But what we've learnt, because all the condors are trapped, they all have little tags on them that you can see in some of the photos. And we've been looking them up on condor spotter and figuring out which ones are, you know, where they came from, if they have names, how old they are. And the vast majority of the birds seem to mean two and four years old with like a teen condor. They seem to have three chaperones that are like 9 to 11. But the condor-ologist that my mom talked to, he's never heard of a group this big. But he thinks it's just a successful breeding program. And these condors have all grown up together and they're a big pack of rowdy teenagers that they like her house because condors don't fly we learned, they mostly glide and they only flap their wings like once every 150 miles. And because of where her house is, she has great wind from the east and west and sunlight which helps them to fly. And so I don't know this pack of teenage condors kind of figured out that my mom's house is situated at a sweet spot and they're just out there playing like she sees them playing together. They play with the ravens even. She thought they were fighting at first that you realised, oh no they're playing together. And they just seem to be a bunch of teenagers hanging out and playing.

CO: What an amazing show. I mean, the poop notwithstanding. It's just sounds fascinating.

SQ: Oh yeah. She hopes that they kind of stay off of her house. But I mean, aside from that, I mean, she's loving watching them through her binoculars every day, seeing them fly around and glide overhead.

CO: Now, they are an endangered species, right, so it's extraordinary not only that there should be a flock like that, but I guess being so young is what's giving some encouragement to the condor experts.

SQ: Oh, yeah. And that's the thing is it's crazy because in my lifetime they went from being about 20 of them in the wild, that they all brought them in and started doing selective breeding program. I mean, I grew up in California and so I always remember reading about them. And it's kind of wild to think that the programs have worked so well. But now there's enough that what used to be the only amount in the wild is currently hanging out at my mom's house having a party.

CO: Seana, I can see your mom is of two minds about this, but it really does sound quite something really

SQ: It really is. We have a connection with birds we feel like in our family. At my wedding with my husband and I, a bunch of red tailed hawk circled overhead during our ceremony. And now we have the condor. So we know that birds are very spiritual and special animals. And so it kind of feels like they chose my mom for a reason. My father in law says that they're her angles -- he is Native American and he's very proud of this. He says, you know, the spirits are looking out for her and they're sent these condors to watch over her for some reason.

CO: That's lovely. Seana it's good to talk to you. Thank you.

SQ: Oh no. You're welcome. Anytime.

CH: That was Seana Quintero talking about the condors at her mother's house in California. We reached her in San Francisco. And you can find more on this story on our webpage: cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Pop Music]

Curtis Fuller

CH: The trombone doesn't get a lot of love. It's clumsy looking, awkward to play, and often the butt of the joke in high school bands. Cue the sad trombone. It's a hard instrument to take seriously. The mechanics are comical and at best, the slight instrument is usually relegated to a supporting role, rounding out the bottom end of a band and letting the other instruments shine. But Curtis Fuller stretched the definition of what a trombone could do. He made it cool and proved it was worthy of taking centre stage. The jazz trombonist and composer died on Saturday. He was 86. Mr. Fuller was born in Detroit. He grew up in an orphanage after his Jamaican born parents died at an early age. In high school, he started playing trombone and never looked back. After a two year stint in the army, where he continued to hone his craft, Mr. Fuller left the Motor City and went to New York. It didn't take long for him to break into the scene. He was a rarity. Few trombonists could hold their own on stage and play the demanding bebop of the day. But on top of adding colour and texture, Mr. Fuller could solo. He went on to play with jazz giants like John Coltrane, Yusef Lateef and Art Blakey. He also led his own bands and later in life became a mentor for young players.

[Music: Guitar Music]

Sharon Polsky

CH: Anyone running for mayor in Calgary has access to a detailed voter list if they requested. And it's not just a list of names, but also mailing addresses, phone numbers and birthdates. Now the city is seeking advice from its legal department about that provincial law because of Kevin J. Johnston. He's running for mayor in Calgary and he's gone a lot further than just publicly protesting against Alberta's public health restrictions. He's threatened to arm himself and pay health care workers a visit at their homes if they don't back down, and to publish the addresses of health workers and Calgary police officers online. That's on top of the things he's already been criminally charged with doing. Punching a grocery worker in BC, and targeting Muslim communities in Ontario with racist messaging. Here's part of what Sharon Polsky, president of the Privacy and Access Council of Canada, had to see this morning.

SHARON POLSKY: [SOUNDCLIP: Whether it is to impersonate you and commit identity theft or to look up, use that information, go online, look up obituaries or birth announcements or marriage announcements, and you get all the tombstone data and that gives all the relatives and their locations. And you can use that information to perpetrate all sorts of criminal activity. You're not suppose to know.

DAVID GRAY: Do you think people know about the voters lists and all this information that these lists contain?

SHARON POLSKY: No, I really don't. And I've been doing privacy consulting work for like 30 years now. And I head up the National Association. So I have conversations with people from lawyers and practitioners across the country, and most people do not realise what goes into compiling the voter's list. And it's for very legitimate reasons when it comes to voting, because the province or in this case a city, they have to figure out how many people are in what area, where to put up a voting station, ballot distribution. I mean, there's all the mechanics of running an election. And the candidates use the information to contact voters and give us the spiel, why should I vote for you and not the other person? Fine.

DAVID GRAY: I mean, I understand why Elections Canada may need some of that information, but why exactly do candidates need this information? What am I missing here?

SHARON POLSKY: I don't think you're missing anything really. I think what needs to happen is the people who write, review, and update our legislation need to have a close look and do just that because the laws typically do not keep up with technology, not privacy laws, not access to information laws, not election laws.

DAVID GRAY: So if I've got this right, if you're willing to shell out let's call it a few thousand bucks just to throw your hat in the ring to run for mayor, you can legally access all these voter lists. That seems like a huge loophole to drive a truck through here.

SHARON POLSKY: Of course it is. And the bigger loophole is, is it illegal to dox someone, to disseminate their personal address, their phone number, put it out on the web for anybody to use? And if you're going to do that and try to extort some sort of gain, whether it's money to take down the information or to blackmail someone or to threaten them, unless it's actually to commit a crime, I can't find anywhere that the criminal code or any other law says that doxing is illegal in Canada.]

CH: Privacy expert Sharon Polsky speaking with David Gray, host of the Calgary Eyeopener today.

[Music: Piano Music]

Part 3: PEI Sir John A Statue

PEI Sir John A Statue

Guest: Chief Junior Gould

CH: A statue of Sir John A. MacDonald sits on a park bench in downtown Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. And that doesn't sit well with everyone. That's why Charlottetown City Council has voted overwhelmingly in favour of five recommendations from First Nations leaders that will preserve the statue, but add some key modifications. Councillors believe they're striking a balance between preserving history and taking steps toward reconciliation. And if all goes as planned, the work should be completed by the fall. Chief Junior Gould leads the Abegweit First Nation, one of two First Nations that made the recommendations. We reached him in Scotchfort, Prince Edward Island.

CO: Chief Gould, what is your reaction to city council's decision to accept these recommendations?

JUNIOR GOULD: The decision to keep the John A. MacDonald statue is a decision that they made and we made recommendations that if that's a decision they're going to make, here's a suggestion from us as to how to appease some of the concerns that we have. The recommendations were made a year ago, and it took them this long just to acknowledge. The leadership had some legitimate concerns and that they should be engaged in the decision making process.

CO: Let's talk about what these recommendations are. They're quite interesting. One of them, if we can just describe the work itself, the statue or sculpture, it is John A. MacDonald sitting on a bench as though he is talking to somebody. Some of the recommendations, one of them is that you want it to be that no one can sit beside him to be part of that engagement, is that right?

JG: Yeah, that was part of the first recommendation when we started the conversation was to First Nation, part of the community in Prince Edward Island was offended that the Sir John A. statue represented the assimilation imposed upon the First Nations through the Indian Act, assimilation policies, as well as his role that he played in the residential school system. The request, a legitimate request, made by the First Nation in Prince Edward Island was to stop the glorification of this individual until we came up with a resolution.

CO: And so is that space that's beside him on the bench, is that to be filled in or to be changed in some way? Do you know? Or is that going to happen?

JG: We're hoping by they're accepting of the recommendations we put forward that they will consult with us and come up with a solution for that. But this self-deceit is still there. They haven't even fulfilled that. This is a year later. These recommendations were made last year. So we're not sure where they're going with this council ruling last night. We hope they engage us and listen to us and go from there. We're in the dark still.

CO: The recommendation on the part of your assembly is that there should be another image, another figure along with John A. MacDonald that would be incorporated into the work because this would be perhaps an Indigenous child or an elder. What are you thinking there? What's the proposal?

JG: Yeah. So one of the ideas suggestion that was made by us was let's place a small six year old child crying all alone beside that statue and draw the correlation of how Sir John A. MacDonald's policies and the representation of Canada and the residential school system that tore families apart and took kids away from their parents. And I have a portrait of my aunt that we could use and we could make a statue of her because she was six years old, alone and crying when they tore her away from my grandparents. So that's the kind of a correlation that we're trying to draw here. If you're going to make reference to an individual who is historically significant, don't get me wrong we appreciate that, we understand his role in society, and in development of this great nation. But he also has some other stories involved with it. And you just can't disassociate one part of society to appease the other.

CO: The image of a child beside John A. MacDonald, an Indigenous child, would tell a story. But you would like to have it more clearly spelled out in signage that would actually describe what role Sir John A. MacDonald played in the Indigenous history of Canada. What would you want that to say?

JG: Well, they could draw the historical facts of how he was involved with it. There's documentation of the words and the assimilation of the First Nation people. I have a plaque that my father has received. He's a residential school survivor. He received the plaque from the prime minister at the time, who was Harper, and he accepted his role, the federal government's role in that process, that they created the residential schools. And he apologised and he accepted that role. And my father accepted his apology. We kind of move backwards here when the city of Charlottetown, the founding of our nation, doesn't even have any consideration or empathy towards what that means. So it's a little disheartening.

CO: There are surveys taken that show that a really strong majority of people in Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown want to see this statue to Sir John A. MacDonald remain. Do you think, given that the council has accepted this, they say, eight to one in this vote last night, do you think this will actually happen?

JG: It's their statue. I mean, it's up to them. I'm hoping that in this day and age, a lot of the problems that we have with this is that that's a historical reference to a long time ago. And it's historically accurate. But you just have to tell the truth to the other things that are accurate if it affects us in Prince Edward Island. But I think the easiest thing to do would be to place a statue in that place that isn't so glorifying and move on from there.

CO: As you know, Charlottetown is considered to be the cradle of confederation, that people take their kids to Prince Edward Island to tell them the story of the origins of Canada. What message do you think changing this statue of Sir John A. to including what you want in it, what message that might send to those people who come to understand the whole story of the origins of this country?

JG: That would say, oh, there's something wrong with our education system, there's something wrong with our country's memory. If this statue, which is put in place to glorify a country which has also been engaged in genocidal policies, if you skip that and leave that out, you have a tendency to repeat it. Just in the discussions that I hear locally, on all of the different platforms, society is systemically racist. It's still here. It's still alive. And I think that's part of the problem that we don't educate. We don't properly explain why they are the way they are. And a lot of people have a misconception that this happened a thousand years ago -- it didn't. This happened in my generation. My father went to residential schools. He was taken from his family. I think it's important that in order for the kids and my grandchildren to know that it has to be recognised and acknowledged somewhere.

CO: And there can't be this reconciliation unless that happens, right?

JG: That's the hypocrisy within itself, right? Yeah, absolutely.

CO: Chief Gould, thank you for speaking with us. Take care.

JG: Have a good day.

CH: Chief Junior Gould is the chief of the Abegweit First Nation. We reached him in Scotchfort, P.E.I..

[Music: Piano Music]

Chris Mathias

CH: A lot of US Republicans will tell you they are vehemently against cancel culture and vehemently in favour of free speech. But some state legislatures seem willing to make an exception for ideas they disagree with. Case in point, Idaho. That state's governor, Brad Little, has signed a bill into law that aims to stop critical race theory from being taught in schools and universities. That theory holds that you cannot teach American history without acknowledging the racism that is ingrained in that history and within the current legal system. Earlier this month, it fell to Idaho Democratic Representative Chris Mathias to try to explain critical race theory and argue against the states banning it from being taught. Here's part of what he had to say.

CHRIS MATHIAS: [SOUNDCLIP: As I used to tell my undergraduate students, there are four things you need to know about critical race theory. Number one, it is a theory for which there is no universally accepted idea or definition, even by its proponents. It's not a thing, it's not an object. It's an idea. Number two, it tries to explain our social situation and to explain the present through a more inclusive and representative version of the past. If you can break it down to a single thing, number three, this is it -- that America's social institutions, our legislatures, our courts, our schools, you name it, they have to varying extents, they are embedded to varying extents with some bias towards people of colour. I don't think that's controversial. When you look at outcomes, virtually every law and policy that we maintain has a disparate and adverse impact on people of colour. And perhaps most importantly, number four, critical race theory does not hold the systemic racism in the United States is irredeemable. It is not. It is fixable. In fact, most critical race theorist argue the opposite that we can fix. Critical race theory was born in the legal profession by lawyers who knew that in order for America to achieve its dreams and its ideals, that we had to make improvements to the lawmaking process. It does not judge all of us and subject us to predetermined outcomes. It just acknowledges some realities that are hard for lots of people to acknowledge.]

CH: That was Idaho Democratic Representative Chris Mathias defending the teaching of critical race theory. A new bill signed by the governor there seeks to ban its teaching in the state's schools and universities.

[Music: Synth Music]

Raccoon Video Game

Guest: Jason Leaver

CH: It's a dark summer night, crickets chirp faintly in the background, a warm glow emanates from nearby windows. The street is lined with garbage cans awaiting pickup. It is a very very good time to be a raccoon. And thanks to Jason Leaver, you will soon have that option. Mr. Leaver is the man behind the in development video game, Trash Panda. We reached him naturally in Toronto.

CO: Jason, what is the actual premise of Trash Panda?

JASON LEAVER: Well, the premise is still being worked out. But simply put, you're going to get to play as a raccoon, Toronto's beloved unofficial mascot, and you're going to make a mess. That's what raccoons do. And I think we're living in a messy time right now, so why not take some control of that and just make your own mess?

CO: So how do you win?

JL: You know, as a matter of fact, that is a question I'm still trying to figure out myself. This game is still very early in development. It started as an experiment, actually. I was just kind of interested in how can I get to the physics of the trash bin, you know, being knocked around and make it sound like a garbage bin. How does a raccoon interact with it? So it was an experiment. And then when I started sharing images and footage of this game, people were like, oh, you've got something here. And now I'm trying to figure out more of what this game. So I think for the most part, it's going to be a place for the players to just turn off the brain and just go run amuck, you know?

CO: Well, I mean, anyone who lives in a city with raccoons, especially Toronto, knows you cannot win when it comes to raccoons.

JL: Right. So I want to take that thought and turn it around. And what if making the mess is winning?

CO: So what actually happens? I mean, we know what the raccoons do in real life. What do they do in Trash Panda?

JL: So I'm still working on some of the ideas of how to best make the game. It might be different neighbourhoods of Toronto that you get to explore. Perhaps the thing you know about the figurative carrot on a stick that you're chasing is -- someone online suggested, well, you've got to be able to find like some thrown out of poutine or something like that, you know, or maybe you'll find a very distinctly Canadian tuque with a pom pom on top and you'll wear that. Another suggestion that's been given to me is perhaps it's about spooking the humans who are taking garbage out. I'm not sure if I want to bring humans into this. But that adds a whole big element of programming that I'm a little intimidated by, not because I think it will be too hard, but because I know it'll just push that release date further and further away, you know.

CO: Okay but if you bring humans, then the question becomes: are the raccoons the good guys or the bad guys?

JL: Ah ha. Well, you see, I'm leaving that for players to decide.

CO: When it comes to trashing your trash cans, this is obviously the goal of raccoons in real life. Is that what they are after in your video game?

JL: That's exactly right.

CO: And what do they find in the trash cans?

JL: Well so that's something that's going to be a lot of fun. So I'm going to be, you know, brainstorming lots of ideas. Certainly, you know, just typical rubbish. But I also do want you to find little goodies of like, you know, maybe half-eaten fish or mouldy bread. So I do want to have a good variety of things to find. And perhaps some garbage bins will be more full than others. And one of the things I'm really interested in from a technical perspective is procedural generation -- that's where the computer, the program itself decides how things look and where things are. So making the city, you know, each time you play the street will be a different street, which is kind of fun. And so why not take the same philosophy to the garbage itself? Maybe each trash bin will be ever so slightly different and maybe you'll be able to get more points from, you know, this house versus that house or what have you.

CO: All right. Everybody in Toronto especially has a raccoon story, I'm sure. What has been your encounters with these creatures?

JL: I mean, I have quite a few, actually. I was just remembering -- this is a couple of years ago before my daughter was born. My wife and I -- it was the middle of the night -- we heard this horrendous sound and it sounded like it was coming from inside the house. And we looked around. Our cats were in a tizzy. They were totally terrified. What is the sound? It sounded mean. Well, we realised that they were raccoons living in the crawlspace under our kitchen. And, well, a couple of weeks later, there were suddenly six raccoons. There were baby raccoons so we could hear them. So it took a while for us to remedy that situation. But the fun thing is, like over the years since then, we've actually you know, we're still familiar with those raccoons. They don't live in our house anymore, but they're still in the neighbourhood. But we like to think they are our raccoons.

CO: So you have a friendly relationship with raccoons, lots of people don't. And we will encourage people listening to this to send in their raccoon stories, but maybe also ideas for what you might put into to your game. But what kind of response are you getting to? There's been quite a bit of coverage of this story. Well, what are people saying to you?

JL: Well, it's been really exciting. I mean, a lot of the feedback has been very simple comments like, shut up and take my money and like, oh my gosh I need this game in my life. And I think part of it is because we are living in this -- we're almost like in this headspace right now where we're just trying to get by. And the news is always the numbers of this and how poorly or not poorly the vaccine rollout is going. And this is what's occupying our minds. And all of a sudden, something that's just kind of dumb but infinitely relatable comes along, and so I think people are just just so happy to have something that's cute and light and also intimidating, just how it's brainstorming and sharing of ideas there are because everyone keeps saying, oh you've got to add, oh you've got to add this, oh you've got to add that. These are all fantastic ideas. But I don't want to let the game get too big or else I may never finish it.

CO: We will keep an eye out for Trash Panda and for ideas on what Trash Panda might do. And it's good to talk to you, Jason. Thank you.

JL: Thank you very much. It's been fun.

CH: Jason Leaver is the developer behind the in-progress video game Trash Panda. We reached him in Toronto. And as Carol mentioned, if you want to share a story of your own raccoon encounter or you have thoughts about what the game should include, chuck them in the bin. Call Talkback: 416-205-5687. Or find us on Twitter and Facebook @CBCAsItHappens.

[Music: Hip-hop Music]

Diane Finley

CH: The federal Conservatives are losing one of their most experienced MPs. Today, Diane Finley resigned her seat in the House of Commons. She represented the Ontario riding of Haldimand-Norfolk since 2004, and served as a cabinet minister under former prime minister Stephen Harper. She rose virtually and literally for the last time as an MP.

DIANE FINLEY: [SOUNDCLIP: Mr. Speaker, I rise today virtually to officially tender my resignation as the member of Parliament for Haldimand-Norfolk, effective immediately. Mr. Speaker, you were gracious enough last November to allow me to deliver a lengthy farewell speech. So I'll make this intervention like me: short and sweet. I just want to say thank you again to all the wonderful people whom I've been blessed to have had in my life and what has been an amazing political journey over the last 16 years, 317 days. So farewell and be well. Thank you Mr. Speaker.]

CH: That was longtime Conservative MP Diane Finley rising for the last time in the House of Commons via video link. She's retiring. After that brief appearance, fellow MP Blake Richards took the floor to pay tribute to his colleague.

BLAKE RICHARDS: [SOUNDCLIP: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I just want to take just a few seconds on behalf of the Conservative caucus and Conservative members all across Canada to thank the member for Haldimand-Norfolk. I think I can use her name now. We want to thank the honourable Diane Finley for her exceptional career in this parliament. She was one of the true giants of the Conservative movement over the last couple of decades and certainly a true giant of this parliament over the last couple of decades, you know, as a key cabinet member in the Harper government and then later on in opposition as the caucus party liaison, she did a great service for both the Conservative Party and for all Canadians. And above all, Mr. Speaker, she did politics the right way. You can never really truly say that anyone was not partisan in any way in this place, but she was never more partisan than she needed to be. She always worked to be as cooperative as she could and to seek to advance what she was trying to advance, but doing it always with integrity. And I can say, Mr. Speaker, that this honourable member, Ms. Finley, she leaves this place without a doubt with the respect of all members of this caucus, of all of her colleagues, of all of her constituents, and I would say probably of all members of this place, because she did politics the right way. She did it with integrity. And she was able to get a lot of things done on behalf of her constituents and all Canadians. And we thank her for her service to this country.]

CH: That was Conservative MP Blake Richards talking about his colleague, Diane Finley -- who's retiring as an MP effective today.

[Music: Guitar Music]

Fake Death

CH: After you fake your own death in order to steal millions of dollars from your employer, it's probably a good idea to keep a low profile, avoid anything that will draw attention to you, just play it cool, step back into the shadows for a while. And whatever you do, lose the giant poodle. Now, that might sound pretty basic, but it's a lesson that a dog loving crook just learnt the hard way. According to the DPA news agency, a 47 year old German woman allegedly faked her own death. She's suspected of having embezzled about 1-million euros from the solar power firm where she worked. After the firm became suspicious about her apparent demise, it hired detectives to peruse her social media pages for any leads. Their dogged pursuit paid off when the detectives learnt she owned a giant poodle. They then traced the location to a chic villa in Santa Ponsa, Spain, an island where it's rare to find such a distinctive breed. And sure enough, they eventually spotted a dog walker with the woman's unmistakeable poodle intel. And the jig was up. Spanish police arrested her. She's now out on bail and has reportedly admitted to the whole faked death gambit. No word on whether she also admitted that her giant poodle was a giant, not dead giveaway.

May 11, 2021 Episode Transcript

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