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The AIH transcript for May 26, 2025

For more episodes of this podcast, please click this link.

NIL KÖKSAL: Hello, I'm Nil Köksal.

LISA BRYN RUNDLE: Good evening, I'm Lisa Bryn Rundle, sitting in for Chris Howden. This is As It Happens.

[theme]

LBR: Tonight:

NK: Pomp and circumstances. King Charles is providing the pageantry. But Donald Trump’s threats to annex Canada likely provided the impetus. A former diplomat says the royal visit sends a strong message to the White House at a crucial time.

LBR: More sleepless nights -- and no end in sight. A woman in Kyiv tells us what it's been like to weather Russia's worst aerial assault on Ukraine since the war began.

NK: High water. Deadly floods in Australia have displaced thousands of people. A homeowner in one of the worst-hit cities tells us about how she escaped -- and the moment she was able to walk back through her front door.

LBR: Birds of a feather. New York City is about to host a festival dedicated to one of its most controversial citizens: the pigeon.

NK: Wall's well that ends well. An Ontario couple gets a jaw-dropping price for the antique tobacco tin they discovered in their bathroom wall.

LBR: And...A pain in the assassin. A three-year-old goes viral after her parents share her intense fear of John Wilkes Booth.

LBR: As It Happens, the Monday Edition. Radio that understands some people just can't handle the Booth.

[theme]

Part 1: King Visit: Symbolism, Ukraine Attacks, Tobacco Tin Auction

King Visit: Symbolism

Guest: Colin Robertson

LBR: King Charles has arrived in Ottawa to much fanfare. Indigenous drummers greeted him as his plane landed. He chatted up maple syrup and falafel vendors. He dropped the ceremonial puck at a street hockey game. That's all par for the course when a British monarch pays a visit to Canada. But this is no ordinary trip. Tomorrow, the king will take a seat in the Senate and deliver the Throne Speech -- the first time a royal has read the government's plan for the upcoming Parliament in almost 50 years. The timing is no accident. King Charles comes at the invitation of Prime Minister Mark Carney as the country faces repeated threats of annexation from U.S. President Donald Trump. Colin Robertson is a former Canadian diplomat and a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute think tank. We reached him in Ottawa.

NK: Colin, how would you rate this royal visit in terms of diplomatic, political signaling, and stagecraft?

COLIN ROBERTSON: Well, this is particularly important in the context of Donald Trump's claims that Canada should become the 51st state. And despite the fact the prime minister's pushed back, Mr. Trump says never say never. So, I think Canadians are feeling conscious of what it is to be Canadian and what is our identity and our sovereignty.

NK: So this is a show of strength then?

CR: I think so, yes. I think the prime minister, very cleverly, knowing that Mr. Trump is a big fan of the British monarchy, and I think he watched Keir Starmer pass over the letter from the King, inviting him for a second state visit. And I think that the prime minister, when he was over the first time, after he'd met with Mr. Macron, we know, asked the King will you come to Canada if I win the election and read the Throne Speech. And I thank the King, there had been some criticism, particularly of the British prime minister, that they had not shown sort of solidarity with the fellow Commonwealth member under assault from the United States. And I think the King made a point, both in the meeting with the prime minister when he wore his Order of Canada pin and offered to provide his to the prime minster, who said he'd lost his on the tarmac when he got off the plane. [NK chuckles] The fact that the Royals had been quite consciously, I think, wearing Canadian medals and red and white and things, showing where that they're quite proud of their connection with Canada. And so, I think the prime minister, it's a gamble, it's political risk, but I think that it's certainly looking at the crowds today and the reaction of the Canadian people. And then the more recent poll, which shows that two-thirds of Canadians think that this is actually quite favourable towards the monarchy because it does distinguish us from the United States, it's clearly paying off.

NK: It's interesting because obviously the monarch, the king and the queen before him, they don't get

involved directly in politics. So, all of this, all of the kinds of things that you listed are the ways that they can sort of be involved without actually vocalizing a political statement. But if the intended audience is in part the U.S. president, how do you think he is viewing what he's watching?

CR: Oh, we know that Donald Trump spends much of his time watching television. And I think this is getting international attention, and it will put us on the map and Mr. Trump will watch this. And I think he knows the back of his mind that this is something that Mr. Carney set up. And it's not a slap at Mr. Trump, but it distinguishes to the rest of the world that Canada is not an appendage of the United States. So, this is a country with different kind of heritage. We, after all, were the 14th colony and chose not, both in 1776 and then in 1812, despite American invasions, to join the United States.

NK: You mentioned the political risks. In terms of the United States, I mean, is there a risk that someone like Donald Trump sees this as a threat almost and wants to fire back because of it?

CR: Yes, I think that's possible. With Donald Trump, you never know, but I think that the message to Mr. Trump is that Canada is a different kind of country. And given his admiration for the monarchy and the fact that he's likely to be making a state visit there, I think he'll think that this was probably a shrewd move on the part of prime minister Carney, which is exactly what we want because we want when the two leaders sit down for Mr. To feel that he's dealing with a peer rather than a vassal..

NK: Domestically, in terms of the political risks, what do you see those to be? There are certainly Canadians who might not like the idea of Canada standing up to the U.S. by leaning on the U.K. for help, or the monarch.

CR: I think that's right, although I would say we're not leaning on the U.K., we're using the King of Canada, and that's different. And I think, that's something that Canadians, I think, will more greatly appreciate after this visit. That he's not visiting as the monarch of Britain, but rather the King of Canada, which is part of, again, our institutions, our identity. And I that this is a kind of miniature civics lessons for a lot of Canadians. And yes, you're absolutely right, there is division about the relevancy of the monarchy, and particularly the individual who is the monarch. But it has always been part of the Canada, we know, is about. And our institutions are getting greater attention because of the threat to our sovereignty. And I think Canadians, and we're seeing this in the Flag Day and on the support for the Canadian teams when we won the hockey game, that Canadians are quite conscious of their identity, and they're quite proud to go out and show it. And if you look at the crowds today, because there were doubts how many people would actually show up in Ottawa, but there are big crowds, bigger than most people expected.

NK: At the end of this visit, how will you measure the success of this trip, if it is even tangible at all?

CR: I think it's already been a success. I think, internationally, it's getting a great deal of coverage. And I think that it's putting Canada back on the map and people are saying, hmm, this is this remarkably diverse country. Aga Kahn, setting up his Centre for Pluralism, he said, you do it better than anybody else. We have a lot to be proud of. And I think a piece of that is the fact of our institutions, of which the monarchy is a piece. And we're seeing them all in full display with the visit of the King and Queen, as we do our Throne Speech tomorrow, and with his visits and with the people he's seen, it's a full range of Canada. And I think that's a remarkably attractive image to portray to the rest of the world at a time when we are still actively seeking more immigrants and we are also wanting to diversify our trade.

NK: Colin, a pleasure speaking with you. Thank you for this.

CR: Thank you.

LBR: Colin Robertson is a former Canadian diplomat. He's now a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute think tank. He was in Ottawa.

[aquarium ambient]

Ukraine Attacks

Guest: Olena Halushka

LBR: For three straight nights, Ukrainians have faced an unrelenting attack from above. Hundreds of drones rained down on the country, including the capital Kyiv. It's the largest aerial assault since the Russian invasion started in 2022. Ukraine, the United States and others had called for a 30-day ceasefire to facilitate peace talks. But those talks are looking less and less likely as the bombardment continues. Olena Halushka is founder of the International Centre for Ukrainian Victory. We reached her in Kyiv.

NK: Olena, have you slept at all over the last three nights.

OLENA HALUSHKA: You're putting your finger on the issue because the last three nights were absolutely sleepless. One of the nights I spent in the metro station sheltering from the Russian ballistic missiles. The other two I slept at home, but I was regularly waking up by the explosions. They were very loud. And, of course, it was very chilling.

NK: People have had to become, or try to become, accustomed to air raids, you know, and sheltering. What were the conversations like this time with people who were also there?

OH: On one hand, of course, you are trying to get accustomed because otherwise you wouldn't be able to survive, to live in such conditions. But on the other hand, it is still impossible to do that fully because if you take a look, let's say, on Kyiv's reality, I can hardly recall more than five nights over the last half-a-year, where we didn't have air raids, where we didn’t have drones coming, or we didn't have missiles. And, on one hand, of course, people are super frustrated and tired. But simultaneously, people understand that Russia is an enemy that wants to exterminate us as a nation. And, of course, we will continue fighting.

NK: Russia is once again saying that its targets were military installations. But how does what has happened over the last several nights, the drone attacks, compare to what you have seen and experienced before?

OH: I think it's very important that our partners do not actually care or seriously treat what Russia is saying, because Russians are lying. They are just inventing this information, they are inventing new reality, and they are to sell this new reality to our partners. And their official statements may be that they want peace, that they are attacking only military facilities, but their reality on the ground is absolutely different. They are attacking playgrounds, as we have seen in Kryvyi Rih. They are attack the city centre in Sumy during the Palm Sunday when people were going to the church. They are attacking residential houses, private and multi-story buildings. I mean, yesterday Russia killed three siblings in the village of the Zhitomir region. That's a very deep rarer. That is the neighbouring region to Kyiv region. And can you imagine, you know, three kids, school kids, they were killed because of the Russian attack. I mean, that's their policy, their policy is absolutely full-scale terrorism. They want to make all Ukrainians feel unsafe. And they hope to get the pressure from the Ukrainian society over Zelenskyy to capitulate. But they do not understand that by doing, by unleashing this horrible terrorism at Ukrainians, they are actually achieving the opposite. The resistance is growing.

NK: What do you make, Olena, of the latest online comments by the U.S. president, Donald Trump, saying Putin has, quote, gone absolutely crazy. How does that sit with you? What do make of that?

OH: Honestly, I am used to judge by the actions, because over the last couple of months when the U.S. started to mediate the peace talks, we've seen a lot of different mixed statements. But we've also seen the actions. Basically, lack of actions, lack of any pressure on Russia as an aggressor. I mean, so much could have been done over the last couple of weeks in order to make, to force, Russia into the real peace talks. For example, maximum military aid for Ukraine. For example, really toughening the sanctions. For example, confiscation of Russian assets, 300 billion of the central bank assets that are frozen in G7 jurisdictions. And by the way, Canada can be very helpful for us with pursuing this goal because both parties during the elections supported the seizure of the central bank assets. And Canada presently leads G7. They have the power to mobilize European countries, maybe even the U.S. will join when we will have consensus. So, Carney is super positioned to help to make this his legacy.

NK: Do you think, Olena, that when we're talking about the U.S. president right now, that I hear what you're saying, that actions would speak louder to you than social media statements, but do you think we might be reaching a point from where you sit that even with that seemingly close relationship between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, that we're now at a point where it's testing Trump's patience and it might push him to do more that he has, or do something, on this file?

OH: We would, of course, hope very much. We would hope very much that President Trump would finally see the real nature of Putin and finally start implementing his own principle, peace through strength. But this strength should be pressure over the aggressor, not pressure over the victim. But still, I'm afraid that there might be the outcome where President Trump will say that he tried. Uh, it didn't work. This is not his war. And he might simply get worried and withdraw from the talks, from this war. And I think that this is actually what Russians are betting for.

NK: Olena, I appreciate your time.

OH: Thank you very much.

LBR: Olena Halushka is founder of the International Centre for Ukrainian Victory. She was in Kyiv.

[industrial]

Tobacco Tin Auction

Guest: Ben Lennox

LBR: The words "bathroom renovations" usually means two things for any couple. First, more passionate debates about subway tiles than one would imagine possible. Second, the rapid departure of large sums from the family's bank account. But for one Ontario couple, a bathroom renovation had the exact opposite effect -- at least on their bank account. A decade-and-a-half ago, John and Tina Staples of Kingsville discovered an old tobacco tin inside the wall of their home during a reno. Fun! But, as common as the tins are, no big deal. Until it turned into quite a big deal after they realized this tin was an extremely rare example of the "Three Strikes" brand of tobacco…120 years old and in immaculate shape. That's when the Staples called up nearby Miller & Miller auction house -- where the tin sold yesterday. Ben Lennox is the head of sales at Miller and Miller. We reached him in New Hamburg, Ontario.

NK: Ben, this was initially listed with an estimate, you know, the thinking was it might fetch around $12,000. What did it end up going for?

BEN LENNOX: The tin sold, it hammered, for $55,000 Canadian. And with buyer's premium it's $64,900.

NK: [chuckle] Was it --

BL: Yeah.

NK: So, it was fierce, the competition for this.

BL: There was about five bidders that took it into five figures, over five figures. And then, in the end, there was two bidders that battled it out over kind of the $30,000 range.

NK: Why did they want it so much?

BL: [chuckle] Well, the winning bidder actually owned this, not this tin, but owned a version of this tin decades ago and had sold it to help finance the purchase of a home. He had collected tins for almost 50 years. And his handle on eBay is TinCanada. [NK chuckles] And he was just wanting to ensure that he could get this back into his collection.

NK: Have you ever seen in your career a tobacco tin go for this kind of money?

BL: Personally, no, but in doing some due diligence and diving into past sales results, this is a record for a Canadian tobacco tin. It is a records for a tin in general in Canada. It is not a worldwide record. There are tins in the U.S. that have sold for slightly more than this, but it is definitely a record in Canada

NK: You told the Globe and Mail newspaper that this is, quote, the holy grail of tobacco tins, unquote. When you did your research, I mean, what did you find? Why is this tin so special?

BL: For three reasons, one of which is the condition. So, the tin is an exceptional condition for the age coming up on 120 years old. Secondly, there is only less than 10 of these known to exist. We spoke with a long-time dealer and collector of advertising items, and he noted that over course of his 50-year career he had only seen or known of seven of these. And then lastly, the crossover appeal. So anytime an advertising collectible has that crossover appeal, it really can add to the mystique. And in this case, with it being baseball, there is another subcategory of collectors, people who collect baseball cards, baseball memorabilia, there's that crossover to that world as well.

NK: So, there is a baseball player on the front, as you said. Just describe it a little bit more for our listeners. I've seen photographs they may not have.

BL: Yeah, so it is what's deemed as a pocket tin. These were put in the inner vest or inner jacket of a person's coat back in the day. They'd flip open the lid and take out tobacco to make their cigarettes. And on the cover, on the front of it, is a baseball player in period clothing. The tin dates to about 1905 to 1907, and was from the Erie Tobacco Company out of Kingsville, Ontario.

NK: So, what would it have been doing in the wall [both chuckle] of a house, not in the pocket of a jacket?

BL: Yeah, well, interestingly enough, the tin was found about 200 metres from the Erie Tobacco Company factory in Kingsville, Ontario. And the understanding was a lot of the homes in that area were resided by employees and executives of the Erie Tobacco Company. So with that, I'm sure they were taking home some of the product, and one of these must have just ended up in the wall during construction.

NK: And the owners, you know, did they just think this was a cool thing in their wall? A trinket?

BL: The owners put it on display as a, quote-unquote, tchotchke. And, at one point, they gave it to their son and daughter-in-law who did the same. They put it onto display. They had an interest in antiques in general and kind of just had it as a displayed item. As the son and the daughter had no use for it any longer, they gave it back to the parents. And there was a notion of it being kind of donated.

NK: Oh my goodness, can you imagine if they had done that? [both laughing]

BL: It happens, I think, more than you think. And the reality of it is the daughter-in-law had done some due diligence and had found an old auction record of one selling for about $6,500 U.S., so just under $10,000 Canadian a number of years ago, and with it being a Canadian tin and with Miller and Miller Auctions having a specialty in advertising, she reached out to us and they made the decision that we were the right firm to selling the tin.

NK: And so, how do they feel about the price that it fetched?

BL: They're elated. They're over the moon and it's beyond their wildest imagination.

NK: Pays for the reno at this point. [laughing]

BL: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it pays for the next reno, for sure.

NK: We talked about the buyer and how heated the bidding was. I mean, is there this secret world, secret society of tobacco tin collectors with very deep pockets out there?

BL: There is a secret society of collectors for every genre of collecting for that matter. If you go on Facebook, there's collecting groups for antique tobacco tins. And when this tin surfaced, people were speaking about it and putting out guesses as to what it would finally settle for.

NK: How many calls have you received? I mean, it's great that the daughter-in-law and the family did their due diligence and it worked out for them, but how many calls have you been getting from people convinced that they have an [chuckling] artifact on their hands?

BL: We've been getting quite a few calls. And the stark reality of it is for the very few multi-thousand dollar tobacco tins there is thousands upon thousands of tins that are worth less than fifty. And many in the case of the five to $10 range. This tin specifically has very little in the way of information on it out in the interweb, in the internet. And so, searching for it could be challenging. Other things are very much more apparent. So, if you were to have a Prince Albert tobacco tin, you can quickly recognize the fact that it's a five to $10 tin.

NK: Ben, I'm glad we could speak. Thank you.

BL: Oh, you're very welcome. Thank you for the interest.

LBR: Ben Lennox is the head of sales at Miller and Miller. He was in New Hamburg, Ontario.

[lounge jazz]

Girl Booth Fear

LBR: I'm telling you, I could hear it gnawing on the leg of this table. [strained] I just know it's going to cover me with ghost urine! No, we need to call a wildlife expert! No, the kind that specializes in vengeful, incontinent phantom wildlife. As soon as possible! I sleep in this studio, I can't handle another sleepless night! I'm sorry you had to hear that. I've just been tossing and turning, worrying about the ghost of this beaver.

SOUNDCLIP

BF: That's great. That's, oh, how nice for you, Al. That's great!

AM: Such a lovely boy! And he's peeing on me. Oh no! Oh no!

BF: [laughing] It doesn't stop!

AM: Anyway, listen.

BF: Merry Christmas, Al. [laughter all around].

AM: It’s a flood. Listen, it's never happened before on the radio, I'm sure.

[more laughter]

LBR: Former host Barbara Frum, laughing as a beaver empties its bladder on her co-host, Al Maitland in December of 1974. And look, I know it's irrational, but I'm convinced that I can feel the presence of that beaver in the As It Happens studio. After all, the beaver is a historical fact. Just like it's a historical fact that in 1865, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was shot while watching a play at Ford’s Theatre...by a man named John Wilkes Booth. Lainey Litton knows that's true -- even though she's just three years old. Over Thanksgiving, her family visited the Ford’s Theatre Museum. And ever since -- just as I'm haunted by that beaver -- Lainey has been haunted by John Wilkes Booth, the man she says "shotted" Lincoln. In a social media post, her mother says that, at church one day, Lainey told her she loved Jesus -- but she does not love John Wilkes Booth. Furthermore, every night now, Lainey is apparently convinced that John Wilkes Booth is hiding under her bed. Lainey, let me reassure you: John Wilkes Booth died 160 years ago. You shouldn't fear him! You should fear the ghost of John Wilkes Booth. [NK laughs] We all should.

[hip-hop]

Part 2: Australia Flooding, NY Pigeon Festival

Australia Flooding

Guest: Ruth Schumi

LBR: The depth of a standard swimming pool is usually around one metre in the shallow end, and around two metres in the deep end. In Taree, a rural coastal city in New South Wales, Australia, water levels surpassed 6.3 metres last week. It was one of the worst-affected areas in the country -- and is now dealing with the aftermath of major flooding; flooding that left five people dead, and tens of thousands isolated and without power. Today, Australian Defence Force personnel will be on the ground in New South Wales to assist with the cleanup. Ruth Schumi lives in Kimbriki and was forced to evacuate, leaving her dog Daisy -- and home -- behind. She's now returned home -- and that's where we reached her.

NK: Ruth, how did Daisy react when you walked through that door?

RUTH SCHUMI: The poor thing couldn't believe her eyes. She was smiling, and she just launched herself into my lap, which is unfortunate. Unfortunately, at 40 kilograms, [NK chuckles] she's a little bit big. And she was covered in mud from head to toe.

NK: Oh no, but what was that moment like for you beyond messy [laughing] and a bit unfortunate?

RS: I must admit, I was a bit teary and I just hugged her. I'd missed her so much.

NK: And how long were you apart? How many days were you out of your home?

RS: Oh, goodness me. It felt like a month, but it was only, you know, the six days.

NK: How is your home, what's the damage like there?

RS: Oh, a bit damp inside. I must admit, I must have a roof leakage somewhere. So, there were some puddles in the house. But all in all, I was very surprised that it held up. And I didn't actually have flooding come through, so it was only leakage from the roof. I was so grateful, and I will continue to be grateful because so many have lost absolutely everything except the clothes they're standing in.

NK: At what point did you decide that you would need to leave your home when all of this started happening?

RS: It was on Tuesday. We knew that something terrible was coming. We have a national broadcasting system that goes to our smartphones. And we had alerted to floods for several days that it was coming. And then, I received a prepare to isolate notification and that's when I got scared because I had dialysis scheduled. And when I checked all the roads, I'd been cut off from getting into the dialysis centre in Taree. And I really started getting scared then, and I just sat and thought what am I going to do? I know I have to evacuate. And I contacted the hospital, and they did say that if I couldn't find a way out, they were going to send a helicopter for me. [laughing]

NK: You have such a great sense of humour about all of this, Ruth. That says a lot about you.

RS: I'm terrified of flying. I would rather face floodwaters than a helicopter winch out from a wet paddock.

NK: So, it didn't come to that, fortunately. But was your treatment impacted at all?

RS: It was, staff weren't available, many of the patients had become trapped and isolated. And thanks to the great work of the police rescue and our local emergency service, they were able to both helicopter and boat out many patients. But it meant that none of us were on a schedule. I did that Tuesday end up finding a very torturous route around. And I was so lucky. I don't know, you know, the gods must have been favouring me because as I was driving down the last part of it, the waters were lapping at the highway. And I knew that within a matter of half-an-hour or so that the entire motorway, the whole freeway access, the last road in was going to be cut off. And I would not have been able to get in at all. But luckily, I just made it by the skin of my teeth in the evening of Tuesday. It took me nearly three hours to drive a long route 'round. So, I was so relieved and so exhausted. And I found a motel that wasn't flooded and actually had the power on because so many of them had to close the doors because they simply couldn't take people.

NK: What about your treatment, do you have another appointment scheduled now?

RS: Today. And because we don't normally have dialysis on Sundays, it's a long break from Saturday to Tuesday. That's our longest time without having treatment. So, by the time that normally that Tuesday session rolls around, you're not feeling particularly well. And I was quite sick and fluid overloaded, and my blood pressure was very high. And I really did not feel very well at all, but I was extremely grateful.

NK: How long do you think it's going to take? What's your sense of how long it will take to rebuild and get things back to some semblance of normal?

RS: I think for some people, it is going to literally take years for them to recover from this. Unfortunately, because we're on a river, most people cannot afford the insurance premiums for flood cover. So, most of the homes that have been destroyed, as I understand, are either underinsured or not insured at all. So, many of these people have lost everything, and they have not got the funds to rebuild.

NK: What do you think, Ruth, all of this might mean for Taree's future, to be able to deal with the effects of climate change and more natural disasters, as your prime minister has said, will keep happening?

RS: Well, we are all wondering the same thing. I went through the floods here in 2021 and that was bad enough. And this has exceeded it significantly. So, the frequency and the severity of these storms is getting worse and worse. I think for many businesses, they won't reopen. I think the premises are too far gone, or they're uninsurable, or unaffordable. People's livelihoods are gone, their homes are gone. I think it's going to impact the CBD, the centre of town, so significantly it will never be the same.

NK: Well, Ruth, I'm glad you're doing okay now. I think a lot of people, wherever they're listening from around the world, can, unfortunately, relate to the kind of circumstance you're describing. I appreciate this, Ruth. Please take care.

RS: Thank you.

LBR: Ruth Schumi was forced to evacuate during last week's flooding in Australia. She's now back at her home in Kimbriki -- and that's where we reached her.

[lounge jazz]

Filipino Fundraiser

LBR: It's been one month since an SUV drove into a crowd at a Lapu Lapu Day festival in south Vancouver, killing 11 people. And today, seven others remain in hospital with injuries. The province says at least one of those individuals is in serious condition. And many more will require varied support in the months and weeks ahead. It's what inspired the Surrey Philippine Independence Day Society to hold a fundraiser over the weekend for those directly affected. And R.J. Aquino says that's just one of many initiatives underway to get help to those who need it. He's the chair of Filipino B.C. -- the organization that planned the original Lapu Lapu Day event last month. He spoke with CBC Vancouver this morning.

SOUNDCLIP

R.J. AQUINO: Almost immediately, what we did was convene a number of agencies in the city, with the province, with the federal government, to just form this sort of crisis response. And since then, and it really is kind of amazing to think that it's only been a month, but the coordination with other organizations like the Red Cross, like United Way, St. John's Ambulance, among others, the archdiocese, to not just coordinate a disaster response, but to ensure that we have all the mechanisms in place for proper fundraising, for a way for people to donate and ensure those funds go to the victims and their families. But what we're really ultimately discovering now is this is a social disaster. It's not a natural disaster. And it goes beyond the scope of the immediate tragedy. And there's still a lot of work to do with those directly affected. But we haven't even begun to see the traumatic ripple effect of this event. Really, everybody's still dealing with grieving and mourning. And everyone deals with grief on different timelines. And increasingly, as we see, or as we saw over the weekend with that event in Surrey and multiple events still to come, that people are still finding ways to deal with the tragedy and to just make sense of what happened.

STEPHEN QUINN: The city's done a preliminary safety review. We've heard that from police and from the mayor as well. Is there anything that you look back on and wish you had considered or done differently?

RA: I mean, you know, the way we see it, it's like, there really was no way to anticipate something like this happening, given how the previous year's event went, and how working closely with the city to, you, know, perform that risk assessment had kind of checked all the boxes and that, you now, was able, we were able to proceed with having the event. You know, certainly we wish that it never would have happened. And we're following the lead of those officials that are, you know, taking the necessary kind of steps and precautions to apply to future events like this. And, you know, we hope it doesn't happen again.

LBR: R.J. Aquino is the chair of Filipino B.C., the organization behind last month's Lapu Lapu Day festival in south Vancouver. He spoke with the CBC's Stephen Quinn this morning.

[folk]

Turtle Taxi

LBR: In Quebec, there's a brand new ride-share service that's all the rage. Don't worry, you won't have to download another app. But you WILL have to grow a hard, exterior shell and develop a retractable neck. Because "Taxi Carapace," or "Shell Taxi" in English, is a transportation service exclusively for injured turtles. The goal is to improve the survival rate of turtles who are struck by traffic by having volunteers at the ready to drive the animals to a regional rehab centre. Francisco Retamal Diaz is behind the project and spoke to the CBC about why the turtle taxi is necessary.

SOUNDCLIP

FRANCISCO RETAMAL DIAZ: When they have to cross the road, basically, we have eight species of turtle in Quebec. And one of the most detrimental things for the population is road mortality. Because due to their ecology, turtles will move at least three times during the summer. So, when they're leaving their hibernation site and they're crossing to reach their estival site, their summer habitat, and there's a road that's been constructed between both sides, they will have to cross this. And then, the females and the male will reproduce, so the females will have to cross again the road to reach their nesting sites. And this is when the turtles are most at risk of mortality. So, pretty much everywhere in the world where there are turtles and there are humans, roads are being constructed.

SONALI KARNICK: Yeah.

FRD: And turtles will not adapt their movements, pretty much, and they will have cross every year at the same spot. So, this is why there are so many turtles that are injured.

SK: So, when a turtle is hit by a car or a boat, how likely is it that they can recover?

FRD: It really depends. It really depends. And it can be surprising, honestly, how resilient turtles are. Some turtles would have been run over by a car with their shell cracked open, and you would see them and believe that there's nothing you can do. Well, the vet is, they're really experienced and they can do lots of things to recover them. Sometimes, it can take more than a year for the turtle to recover. And she has to do some physio and things like that so she can have, like, a good muscle before, because they don't want to release the turtles injured in the wild because then the predators will most likely get it.

LBR: Francisco Retamal Diaz speaking with the host of CBC's All in a Weekend, Sonali Karnick.

[R&B]

NY Pigeon Festival

Guest: Taylor Zakarin

LBR: It's often said that the best art elicits a reaction. Good or bad. And by that logic, the very best art must elicit a reaction even from the artist themself. Iván Argote, his sculpture Dinosaur certainly did. In just a few short weeks, the New York City landmark will be the focal point of an entire festival dedicated to its subject matter. And as Mr. Argote told us back when the sculpture was first installed, standing beneath his own five-metre monument is something he won't soon forget.

SOUNDCLIP

IVAN ARGOT: It is a very interesting and funny experience. And it was only earlier this year that I got to see the real volume of it. And it was very amazing to kind of discover this sculpture. It's really, I don't know how to say it, but I really felt like I was a pigeon.

LBR: Iván Argote is the creator of the New York City sculpture, Dinosaur. Which, as he puts it -- will make you feel like a pigeon. Because it is one. More precisely, it's a freakishly large, freakishly realistic looking pigeon, perched atop Manhattan's elevated High Line park, which is now planning a day-long pigeon festival -- entirely devoted to the much-maligned bird. Taylor Zakarin is an associate curator with Friends of the High Line. We reached her today in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

NK: Taylor, first a statue, now a festival. What is it with New Yorkers and pigeons?

TAYLOR ZAKARIN: I know. I know. [NK chuckles] I mean, there's really no more iconic bird in New York than the pigeon, you know? But at the same time, it's simultaneously maligned and marginalized, although beloved by some. You know, you see many people feeding them in the parks, and it's just such a powerful symbol for New Yorkers. But also, you know, they're obviously in every major urban centre. And there's a lot of sort of themes that Ivan has pulled out of the pigeon that have, you know, I think made this work particularly exciting for people.

NK: And how have people reacted to the statue since it's been up?

TZ: It's been great, honestly. I think we always feel with public art that both great reactions and negative reactions, people who hate it or people who love it, that polarized reaction is still a net benefit. It gets people talking, it gets people excited about it. So, it's certainly been very exciting for everybody, but, you know, for Ivan in particular.

NK: We have another clip from Ivan from that conversation that he had on our show previously. We'll play that now.

SOUNDCLIP

IVAN ARGOT: The idea of putting a pigeon, which is this marginal figure, on top of a plinth and then honour, honour or make a tribute to this figure. For me, it has several kind of layers, just like several questions. One is, like, our relation with animal and with nature. Second, most of our monuments are related to wars, are related, are mostly men, military men, who won wars, or dominated territories. And this is like a counter-monument or an anti-monument in a way that celebrates an ordinary or like an anonymous street pigeon.

NK: Has your relationship with pigeons evolved because of this statue, Taylor, and working with Ivan?

TZ: Oh, completely. I mean, I'm a native New Yorker, born and raised. And, you know, like many native New Yorkers have either grown to dislike pigeons or completely ignore them. And I think that all of us at the High Line, since working on this work with Ivan, have really come to change our tune. You know, you just notice them more, both esthetically, but also as, you know, animals that we share our space with; that we share our city with. And the more that, I think, we all learned about the history of pigeons and how they were domesticated by humans and brought to the city. And the fact that they really, actually, need us to survive and the way that they use our buildings and our scaffolding to create nests. I think it's just created a much tighter bond between us and our neighbours. And I think, you know, we hope that Pigeon Fest is a way to address that and teach everybody sort of about that.

NK: You know, it's one thing to be okay with them. It's another thing to celebrate them in this way. I hear what you're saying. For those who can come to the festival, what can they expect?

TZ: It's going to be a really fun day. I mean, at its core, it was conceived with Iván Argote to celebrate Dinosaur and his work, his amazing plinth commission. But also, you know, a core facet of High Line art is to contextualize public art and to teach people about it and to pull the themes and unravel the themes that are inherent in the work that we install. And make it accessible for a broad public. And Pigeon Fest is really that. It's bringing together artists, musicians, scientists, birders, horticulturists, activists, educators, you know, all of these different groups of people who, I think, are finding themes in Dinosaur that resonate with them. And giving them the High Line as a platform for a day to program. You know, we are doing a big Discovery Fair of different smaller organizations that work in conservation and in, you know, bird advocacy and in ornithology. But we also have fun bird-themed carnival games for kids and a Pigeon Fan Club. And, you know, we have an amazing panel on urban ecology that will be, you know, moderated by our senior director of horticulture, Richard Hayden, and will also feature Christian Cooper, who's an exceptional birder and bird advocate.

NK: Yeah, he's been a guest on our show as well.

TZ: Yeah, he's fantastic. And our pigeon impersonation contest, which is a more lighthearted antidote, perhaps to the heavier scientific theme.

NK: Yes, that did catch our eye! That did catch our eye because we have a pretty long history on the show of covering seagull impersonation contests.

TZ: Incredible.

NK: They're quite epic. People go all out. I mean, I guess you could say pigeons are a bit more understated in their song, in their performance. So, are you, what are you expecting? What kind of advice do you have for performers there?

TZ: Well, we really want people to strut their stuff. They'll be judged on their plumage, or costume and sound. We have a panel of experts both in costume design and in ornithology who are going to be the judges, includingIvan. And there's two parts of the pageant where we'll have performers who have auditioned and applied, and they will be a more set program of nine or 10 of them that get to perform a planned set. But we also, of course, because we can't forget the public, the Audience Participation Award. So, we expect humans dressed as pigeons, I'm certain of it. [NK chuckles]

NK: Yeah, well, we're going to have to check back in and get that audio and those photographs from you once that happens. Good luck to all the competitors. What do you want other cities to learn from what you're doing here?

TZ: Yeah, I mean, I think it's twofold. One is about the ways that we can program around public art and contextualize public art. And then, of course, it's the themes inherent in the work, thinking about pigeons and thinking about, you know, renegotiating our relationship with them and how we treat them and how we see them in the city. And recognizing that we've coexisted with them for thousands of years. And how do we reframe this narrative? And giving all of these people who work in this space, who work in bird conservation, an opportunity to share that information.

NK: A pleasure speaking with you, Taylor. Thanks for this. Have fun at the festival.

TZ: Thanks so much. We'll let you know how it goes. I'll send those photos.

NK: [chuckling] Thank you.

TZ: Have a great one.

LBR: Taylor Zakarin is an associate curator with Friends of the High Line in New York City. We reached her in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. And, against our better judgment, we'd like to reach out to you. In the past, we've asked for your seagull impersonations. And you have delivered. Over-delivered, even. Well, if you have a pigeon impression we should hear, call Talkback at 416-205-5687. Or send a voicenote to aih@cbc.ca.

[toy store music]

Part 3: House Speaker, U.S. Boarding School Suit

House Speaker

Guest: Steven MacKinnon

LBR: We are so back. Well, Parliament is so back. After nearly six months away, the federal legislature is open for business. Today was the first day in this new session, and there were lots of new things to see. Including a new prime minister and several fresh faces in the sea of MPs. And the newest of them all -- a new Speaker of the House. Today, in their first order of business, MPs chose Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia. He represents Lac-Saint-Louis in Quebec and now assumes the non-partisan role of keeping the House in order. The new Speaker had this to say in his first address.

SOUNDCLIP

FRANCIS SCARPALEGGIA: I would remind members that we are at the beginning of a mandate [laughter] in the selfish hope that you will afford me a little grace period. I have few words because, well, we all have things we want to accomplish and we've been away. Thank you, colleagues. [cheering and clapping].

LBR: Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia in the House of Commons today. Among those applauding was government House Leader Steven MacKinnon. We reached him in Ottawa.

NK: Steven MacKinnon, I was watching that moment; you were there applauding. The last time you and your colleagues took your seats in the house, though -- as you well know -- things looked a lot different. Did it feel different today as well?

STEVEN MACKINNON: Well, it sure did. And what an honour it always is to occupy a seat in that House. It should never be taken for granted by any of us. And so, to sit there with a new prime minister, obviously a reconfigured House of Commons, and a new speaker, it's always an exciting day.

NK: Francis Scarpaleggia, we heard him there talking, you know, trying to manage expectations, joking a bit as well, but asking for a grace period because he's just getting started, [SM chuckles] and his mandate is just getting start. Why did you and your colleagues believe he is the right person to keep things under control, maybe even improve decorum in the House?

SM: Well I will say this about Francis Scarpaleggia, this is a 20-year veteran of the House of Commons, who prior to that worked for another legendary parliamentarian, Clifford Lincoln, for those of you, those in the listening audience who who pay attention to politics. So, this is a person steeped in politics. And, you know, in his very understated way, he would prepare long and substantive speeches on the big issues of the day. This is someone who has not been a passive parliamentarian, very active, a former chair of the Liberal caucus as well. Someone who knows environmental and other issues extremely well. Is, indeed, an expert. So, no one should take Francis Scarpaleggia lightly. He will be a very substantive speaker. And I know his reverence and respect for the House of Commons will serve us all well.

NK: He also hinted that, you know, his predecessor had a trickier time, you know, given what was going on at that time. Greg Fergus certainly had been criticized in the past, and there was tumult before that as well. So, what's different now? I hear what you're saying about the experience, but do you think that the experiences at the end of the last mandate might change the tone, or might intensify it?

SM: Well, the first and most obvious change is that we had an election. And the government, while it is a minority Parliament, we believe in this government that we have a mandate. And I do think that any parliamentarian who thinks that obstruction, or demeaning comments, or useless commentary, or needlessly derailing the work of the House of Commons, anyone who thinks that's the way to go, I think, is severely misjudging the mood of Canadians. I do not think the mood, the public mood, is on anything other than getting results, being very, very clear, yes, having the debates, yes, doing what we need to do as an advanced democracy to debate bills, to pass them, to vote money for the government, to bring in a tax cut, as we intend to do. So, we'll have to do all of that in full view in the House of Commons. But anyone who thinks that we ought to be focused on tactics and small things, I think, is really misreading Canadians.

NK: In terms of the makeup, the new makeup now and the calculations, the math, that was likely at play, this does mean your party will lose a vote in the House. So, can your party really afford to do that, though? To lose this vote right now?

SM: Well, the House of Commons does require a speaker. I think it's picked one of the best candidates that it possibly can. And we always knew that, of course, with six Liberals running to be speaker, that the likelihood was that there would be a speaker from the ranks of the Liberal Party. That part doesn't surprise us. And obviously, we factored that into the mathematics that we must do every day, Nil.

NK: As you do that daily math, we should talk about the NDP, certainly. They're not going to be granted official party status. They only have seven seats, not the 12 required, as you well know and have discussed, but does that mean you're not counting on those seven New Democrats to vote with your party now, too?

SM: Quite the contrary. We've had very good conversations with all parties in the House, the Conservatives, the Bloc, and with New Democrats. And we continue to explore ways that we can be mindful and honour the traditions and the history and the role of the New Democratic Party. And those conversations are ongoing, I think, among all parties. And the Liberal Party and myself will be constructive participants in those discussions. And certainly, not an obstacle to them coming to a head on some decisions.

NK: And just before we let you go, I wanted to ask you about the other big story today, and that is, of course, the royal visit. Earlier, I was speaking with a former Canadian diplomat, Colin Robertson, about the King's visit, the King and Queen's visit, and how it might be seen by the United States, specifically the U.S. president. Colin said Donald Trump loves the Royals. He also loves shrewd tactics. So, he thinks it's a good strategy to flex that commonwealth connection. What do you hope the U.S. president takes away from this visit?

SM: Well, the prime minister, Mr. Carney, has said, you know, that others can't take away as much from Canada as we can give ourselves. And we'll certainly be bringing in policies that reflect that spirit. But another thing we can do is remind people and underline the great traditions of our country. You know, two founding peoples, French and English, Indigenous peoples. And in many ways, that gets summed up in the constitutional role of the King. The King, of course, reads this speech in Parliament in London on a regular basis that he, a relatively new King, would come to Canada and underline the great parliamentary traditions in Canada and I'm sure as well he will have a message himself for Canadians. And I really look forward to hearing that. The word historic sometimes gets overused, Nil, but i do think tomorrow is an historic day

NK: We'll be listening. Steven MacKinnon, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

SM: Thank you so much for having me.

LBR: Steven MacKinnon is the leader of the government in the House of Commons. He was in Ottawa.

[elevator music]

Winnipeg Car Conference

LBR: Albert Gerbrandt loves vintage cars. And for decades now, he's enjoyed going to Minnesota for a big car rally called "Back To The Fifties Weekend". But not this year. He just doesn't want to go to the United States. So instead, he's created his own version for car enthusiasts in Manitoba. He explained how the idea came together to CBC Manitoba host Chloe Friesen.

SOUNDCLIP

ALBERT GERBRANDT: Well, my wife and I, during COVID, had taken a couple of trips around Manitoba. And when I decided that we weren't going to go to Minneapolis, I tried to recreate something that would interest other people.

CHLOE FRIESEN: How do you feel about the relationship between Canada and the U.S. Right now?

AG: I think it's awkward. Yeah, I don't appreciate a neighbour that is showing its colours like this. We've gone to this car show since the mid-80s and really enjoy it. And I just wanted to have the one voice or one car that's not going to be there this year.

CF: Do you have a car in particular that you're choosing to drive for this weekend in June?

AG: It'll be a 1960 Cadillac two-door Coupe de Ville. It's got a lot of patina on it, lot of road rash from over the years.

CF: It's weathered.

AG: It's weathered; just like the driver.

CF: Okay, so tell me more about the road trip. Where are we starting this journey? I've got the map here, but I guess one of these is a start, one of this is the end here, this blue highlighter. So, which is the start?

AG: No, there is no start.

CF: There's no start?!

AG: Because all the towns in Manitoba, little towns, they can't support a large group of cars all --

CF: Okay.

AG: Coming at one time. So, what the idea is is that people get their group of friends or cars that they travel with and decide where they would like to overnight, how far they would like to go each day, and book your room and go from the start anywhere and finish anywhere.

CF: So, cars can join kind of at any point, but if someone was to do the entire route that's in blue highlighter here, how long would it take them?

AG: It's about 1,100 kilometers. We're gonna do it in four days, but other people may choose to do it in three days or even two days.

LBR: Albert Gerbrandt is a member of the Manitoba Street Rod Association and he spoke with CBC Manitoba's Chloe Friesen.

[ambient]

U.S. Boarding School Suit

Guest: Tasha Mousseau

LBR: Tasha Mousseau has seen the impacts of the boarding school system. Ms. Mousseau is the vice president of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. Over the course of several decades, many members of her community were forced to attend what were known as "Indian Boarding Schools." Like residential schools in Canada, the system was designed to assimilate Indigenous children. Many suffered terrible abuses at the schools. Hundreds are confirmed to have died. And now, Ms. Mousseau's tribe is taking action. Along with the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, it's filed a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. government. They want to know how federal money was spent on running the schools -- including money they say was supposed to go to tribes themselves. We reached Tasha Mousseau today, in the middle of a drive through Kansas, on the traditional homelands of the Kirikir?i:s people.

NK: Tasha, if at the end of this suit things go your way, what will success look like for you and your community?

TASHA MOUSSEAU: I think there's the legal successes of getting that overall accounting of the funds that were utilized to fund the boarding school program over those years, and the transparency that that will provide. Another piece on the tribal level, I think, is, you know, this level of accountability that will be memorialized in those numbers. I think it reinforces things that we as tribal people already have known about the atrocities committed against our people. But really, describing that in a different way using data will be super important and a win for ourselves and our ancestors in reinforcing those things that we have already known.

NK: The abuse lasted decades. What are the impacts? How does that show up today?

TM: Sure. You know, I would say the abuse is still continuing. It has been perpetuated into the future of our people not only in, you know, things like our educational outcomes when we look at the dismal graduation rates for Indigenous people in the United States. I think that has a direct correlation to a education system that was weaponized against our people when we at the loss of our languages. For the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, we have lost our last fluent speaker. And so, our language is essentially dead. We cannot separate our boarding school experience from those outcomes. So, you know, there are so many ways that it has impacted our communities and our Nations. And we're still reeling from that and trying to heal.

NK: Recently, I know you and other leaders, other women, traveled to the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School. What was it like to be there?

TM: It was an emotional and I would say spiritual experience to go back to this land that our relatives were forced to be on, were abused. Our goal and our effort there was to reclaim two of our relatives. And, unfortunately, we were only able to retrieve our relative Kate and bring her home in a good way, so that she could be reunited with our people and our land, you know, the red dirt of Oklahoma, and the other relative that they were able to exhume did not turn out to be our relative. It was a mis-marked grave, which is not a surprise given the cemetery was moved once. And so, they were put at a second location. So, you know, these ancestors have been buried, exhumed, reburied, and exhumed again. Only to find out that this relative was not ours. And so, you know, we took every effort to place him back in the ground in the best way that we could, and said prayers over him that one day, he would be reunited with his people, whoever those are. It's very heartbreaking, you know, to experience that.

NK: A lot of what we're talking about, they were called different things, residential schools versus boarding schools. You know, the former is what we called them in Canada, but there are certainly many, many similarities. How did, if at all, the realities in Canada inform what you're doing now?

TM: You know, I think this, the boarding school and residential school experience have bonded us with our Canadian relatives, First Nations relatives, in an unfortunate way. But it reminds us that we are all related, that we're relatives, despite these, you know, boundaries that have been put in between us, and these borders that have been put in between us. I think in watching how it unfolded in Canada, and continues to unfold, there are many lessons learned in how to heal. And, of course, the governments are very different, as are the Sovereign Nations of the United States, the tribes in the United States. So, that will look different for every Tribal Nation. I also think it'll look different for every individual family, but I think the hope with this litigation is that in further highlighting what has transpired here in the United States, it will allow for a certain sense of closure and healing for our Nations. Again, the closure isn't we forget about this and, oh, that happened and now we move on. The closure is, you know, the acknowledgement of what happened to our people, the validation of, again, the things that we've already known that have been passed on in our oral histories and that have, you know, been passed in our family systems, and being able to acknowledge that and move forward in a good way.

NK: Under the previous administration, as you know, the former U.S. President Joe Biden issued the first ever apology for the government's role in these schools. Do you think that that has helped move the conversation forward? Where do you think things stand now?

TM: Sure. I think it's a great first step in a very long journey. I commend President Biden and his administration for taking that step, when others were not able to, or chose not to. And so, you know, the journey will be long, but it is those steps that are going to get us to a place of reconciliation and healing amongst our people. And as a greater nation of the United States, we are one country in that sense. And healing for Indigenous people is healing for the entire country, especially since we are the first peoples of this land. Often, there is this erasure or invisibility that exists about Native Nations, our sovereignty, and our histories, and this is something that the entire nation needs to wrap our collective minds around, and understand what has happened and understand what we don't want to happen in the future.

NK: Tasha, I appreciate this. Safe travels.

TM: Thank you so much.

LBR: We reached Tasha Mousseau today in the middle of a drive through Kansas on their traditional homelands of the Kirikir?i:s people. We reached out to the U.S. Department of Interior for comment, but did not hear back by air time.

[lofi]

Encore: Birth Stones

LBR: Today, Olivia Jaquith and her newborn baby Quincy are recovering and getting to know each another, during what is typically an intimate time for any family. But just a few short days ago, the Albany news anchor's labour began...rather less intimately.

SOUNDCLIP

ANCHOR: We do have some breaking news this morning, literally. Olivia's water has broke.

OLIVIA JAQUITH: Yes, that's right.

ANCHOR: And she is anchoring the news now in active labour.

OJ: Early labour. Labour.

ANCHOR: We've been doing the contractions. She's now, you know, timing her contractions.

OJ: We'll see, I'm gonna pay attention.

ANCHOR: WHich are now, what, two minutes apart?

OJ: No! Well, there was one, but it's been a few minutes since then, so we're still in good shape.

ANCHOR: Her decision to stay on the desk, by the way --

OJ: Look at what it says, days past due date.

ANCHOR: Oh, there we go. Yeah, I know. [ OJ laughs] So we're thinking today.

OJ: Well, I'm happy to be here, and I'll stay on the desk for as long as I possibly can. But if I disappear --

ANCHOR: We're so happy! for you! She's two days overdue, so she wants this baby.

OJ: That's right.

ANCHOR: This baby out.

OJ: All right, so if my baby does come today, Craig, how's the weather looking?

CRAIG: Not so great!

LBR: What a segue! From last Wednesday's morning news broadcast on WRGB-TV, that's Olivia Jaquith labouring live on Albany television. It's not where most of us would choose to time contractions -- early or otherwise. But it arguably beats where Judy Walters went through labour back in December, 1989. She was at a hospital, which ticks a lot of people's boxes. But she was also in the midst of exchanging wedding vows with Clifton Walters ... all while their baby, Christian, was minutes from being born. From our archives, here's the new -- and newlywed -- parents, speaking with Michael Enright a few days later.

SOUNDCLIP

MICHAEL ENRIGHT: Hello, Mr. And Mrs. Walters?

CLIFTON WALTERS: Yes, hi.

JUDY WALTERS: Hi.

ME: First of all, congratulations to both of you.

CW: Alright, thanks a lot.

JW: Yes, thank you.

ME: How's Christian doing?

JW: Oh, he's fine. He's sleeping right now.

ME: He is hey?

JW: Yes.

ME: Oh, that's terrific. Now, tell me about Christmas night. Tell me what happened? Give me a little rundown.

CW: Here on Christmas night, you know, you're having Christmas dinner. And then she, well, she was sitting at the table, you know? And all of a sudden, she went into the room. I went to see what happened, she said her water burst, right?

ME: Right.

CW: So, I phoned an ambulance. I didn't really want to take a chance because I'm new to it, right?

ME: Listen, even if you're not new to it, it's scary.

CW: I know, it was scary! [ME chuckles] So, I phoned the ambulance and he took us straight to Mount Sinai Hospital. And we were there since that happened around maybe around 9 o'clock or so, right? So, we reached out to the Mount Sinai Hospital.

ME: Yeah. So, Mrs. Wallers, what did Clifton say? He came in and said, we're gonna get married or what?

JW: Well, no, not exactly. Well, we both decided that we had to right away, so he started to phone ministers and stuff to get one to come to the hospital. It was my idea, actually.

ME: It was your idea.

JW: Try and get one that will come to the hospital.

ME: Well, that must have been kind of tricky on Christmas night, wasn't it?

CW: Oh, it was very tricky. I checked in the Yellow Pages, but the idea is to try to get one at that time, and then to come with a hustle in the space. I want them to come right away, yeah?

ME: Wait a minute, [chuckling] you started with the yellow pages, you started with A?

CW: Well, first of all, I kind of look at, I know I'd seen, like, in the Salvation Army. So, I know, alright, like, they're open 24 hours, right?

ME: Uh-huh.

CW: But that would be my best bet, instead of a private one, eh?

ME: Right.

CW: So, I tried that and they wasn't able to do it. Then, I went in the one that, my own religion, Presbyterian, right?

ME: Uh-huh.

CW: And I phoned from that one, and I got one, as fate would have it, right?

ME: So, you got a minister who said he'd come down to the hospital?

CW: Yes, I told him, I explained the situation, I tell him I would like him to be here and this to happen right away because anytime the child could be born, right?

ME: Meanwhile, Mrs. Walters, you're in labour?

JW: Oh hell yeah, the contractions started, and I'm there, and then the minister wanted to talk to me to make sure, like I wanted to get married, too, not just Clifton, you know? He was forcing me to do something. [CW chuckles] So, I'm in contractions, and he wanted to talk to me.

CW: With an Oxygen mask over her face.

ME: How far apart were the contractions at this point?

JW: Uh, just a couple of minutes.

ME: Oh.

JW: So, it was pretty bad. But then after it went through the ceremony, and it was hard to go through the vows and stuff, it seemed longer at the time.

ME: But you must have been worried that the baby was going to get there before the minister?

CW: That's right

JW: Exactly, yes.

ME: Was it, tell me Mr. Walters, where was the service, the ceremony?

CW: In the hospital room itself.

ME: In the labour room?

CW: Yes.

ME: [chuckling] Do you have any witnesses?

CW: Yes, yes, we do have witnesses and stuff.

ME: You had some friends there?

CW: Yes, friends and family.

ME: Mrs. Walters, could you concentrate on the marriage ceremony when you were going through the contractions?

JW: No, I couldn't concentrate that much, but I just wanted to get it over with and say everything, repeat the vows and stuff, and it was pretty long. It was only actually 15 minutes, but it seemed a lot longer.

ME: How long after the ceremony did you have the baby?

JW: About an hour-and-a-half.

CW: Cutting it close, eh?

ME: I guess there was nobody throwing confetti or anything, it was --.

CW: No time!

JW: The nurses got me some flowers. They made up a bouquet for me. So, they were pretty excited about it.

ME: I would guess that that's probably the first wedding ceremony conducted in the labour room at Mount Sinai.

CW: That's right, that's why it was, you know, they were really excited about that, right? They even took some photographs, so someone got a camera and took some photographs.

ME: Were you dressed for the occasion, Mr. Walters?

JW: Oh no! I was in my hospital gown.

ME: You were in a hospital gown. What about you?

CW: Oh no, I wasn't prepared because when I phoned the ambulance, I rushed with anything that I had on, right?

ME: You didn't have time to get a tuxedo or anything?

CW: [both laugh] Oh, no.

ME: Well, congratulations on both the marriage and the baby.

CW: Alright, thanks a lot.

JW: Thank you.

ME: Thank you, take care.

CW: All right then, bye.

LBR: Judy and Clifton Walters, speaking with former As It Happens host Michael Enright, about the December 1989 birth of their son, Christian, minutes after they exchanged wedding vows.

[lofi]

Town Crier

LBR: Here ye, here ye! The town of Qualicum Beach, B.C. is taking applications for its newest town crier. Leonard March held the ceremonial position for 26 years. But yesterday, he rang in the town's family day parade for the last time. Here is Mr. March speaking to the CBC's Claire Palmer.

SOUNDCLIP

LEONARD MARCH: I've been a town crier here for now, this is the end of my 26th year. And I am basically here to add a little pageantry to an occasion. I'm basically going back through history, hundreds of years, back to ancient Greece. Their version of a town-crier was the same that came right the way through to England in the 17th, 18th, 19th centuries, when the town-crier was the only official disseminator of news. So in England, he was acting on behalf of the monarch. He was usually protected by the military because the news he was giving out was usually the king was raising an army or raising taxes, so he was not a popular figure in the villages. So, they were there to protect him. And, in fact, the inspiration for my costume, sorry, not costume, uniform, is 18th century British military. Because it was not unknown for the town crier after they had stayed in the pub with the military detail for an overnight or two to appear with a new coat a couple of days after they'd left. Because he was not paid very highly, more than me; I'm just purely a volunteer. So, I have really enjoyed it. I came here, God, 40-plus years ago, and I just love the town of Qualicum Beach.

CLAIRE PALMER: And how do people react when they see you coming? You know, when you have the Family Day Parade or your duties, how does the community --

LEONARD MARCH: It's a little surprise at first, but the thing I love about this is it's always a happy occasion. I always bring pleasure, I make people smile, make people laugh, I entertain them. That's part of my theatre background. I love entertaining people.

LBR: That was Qualicum Beach, B.C., town crier Leonard March. And if you feel like you have the pipes and the bell-ringing skills to step into Leonard's shoes, contact the town. If you'd like to share your skills -- or anything else -- you can always call Talkback at 416-205-5687, or email us at aih@cbc.ca.

The AIH Transcript For May 26, 2025

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