The Current

The Current for Jan. 26, 2021

Today on The Current: Canadian NFL player Laurent Duvernay-Tardif on swapping football for the COVID-19 front lines; Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on securing vaccines and border restrictions; and Syrian revolutionary Noura Al-Jizawi on the legacy of the Arab Spring.
Matt Galloway is the host of CBC Radio's The Current. (CBC)

Episode Transcript

Today on The Current:

Canadian NFL player Laurent Duvernay-Tardif should be playing in the Super Bowl in two weeks with the Kansas City Chiefs, but instead he's working at a long-term care home in Montreal. He joins us to talk about football, and the front-line fight against COVID-19.

Plus, the federal government faces tough questions about Canada's economic recovery and vaccine rollout — compounded by fears over COVID-19 variants, and an interruption to vaccine deliveries. Matt Galloway puts these issues to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

And 10 years ago, Noura Al-Jizawi was a key figure in demonstrations in Syria. She witnessed what she hoped would topple a dictator — but instead erupted in a brutal civil war. Now in exile in Canada, she reflects on the legacy of the Arab Spring, its cost, and why she is still hopeful.