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The AIH Transcript for February 8, 2017

Hosts: Helen Mann and Jeff Douglas

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Prologue

HELEN MANN: Hello, I'm Helen Mann.

JEFF DOUGLAS: Good evening. I'm Jeff Douglas. This is As It Happens

[Music: Theme]

JD: Tonight:

HM: turnabout is not fair play. a Quebec woman tries to take a routine shopping trip to the United States. Only to be turned back by an official who finds Muslim prayers on her phone and decides they're anti-American.

JD: The downward spiral. After a tornado in Louisiana, Yoshekia Brown is experiencing the worst kind of déjà vu because 12 years after Hurricane Katrina, her home has once again been destroyed.

HM: Credit where credit’s not to due. Aerospace manufacturer Bombardier promises it will pay back a 372 million dollar loan from Ottawa. But critics say the government needs a giant reality check.

JD: Refusing to pay the piper. Seattle councillors vote to sever that city's relationship with the banking giant Wells Fargo because it is helping finance the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline.

HM: He had to try to smooth things over, for trying to smooth things over. An enterprising BC man is pulled over by police for clearing the road after a dump of snow with his Zamboni.

JD: And making themselves the big bucks. Or stags, I guess. Whichever. The point is, competitors in a German contest clutched a wooden thing and blew. Attempting the best imitation of a male dear's mating call. As It Happens the Wednesday, radio that guesses they were holding on for dear wife.

[Music: Theme]

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Part 1: US border family, Bombardier loans, BC snowfall

US border family

Guest: Fadwa Alaoui

JD: Fadwa Alaoui had crossed the border many times before. She is Canadian, but she has relatives in the U.S. And, like a lot of Quebeckers, she sometimes just drives down to Vermont to shop. But when she and her family pulled up at the border on Saturday, she encountered something new. The border agent wanted to know about her religion. He wanted to know what she thought of Donald Trump and then she was told she wasn't welcome. We reached fatwa Alawi in Brossard.

HM: Ms. Alaoui, what kind of questions were you asked by U.S. Customs when you got to the border on Saturday?

FADWA ALAOUI: We got there at the border with my kids and my cousins. The usual questions like what is the reason of your visit? And did they ask us what the place of your birth? I answered that I was born in Morocco. And he told me. How long have you been here in Canada? So I say that I was here more than 20 years. So he told us OK, you can park your car and come with us in our office. Once there, he asked us both our phone the PIN number to open the phone.

HM: So he asked you to give him your phone?

FA: Yeah, yeah, yeah, me and my cousin, both of us.

HM: Now they were also asking you other questions as I understand it about your religion?

FA: Yeah exactly. After that, they can interview us one by one. They took my cousin first, after that they came to me and the first question he told me you are Muslim right? So I responded yes. He told me do you practice? I told him yes. He told me which mosque do you go? So I start to explain the mosque where I go. What is the name of the Imam? Where do you pray? The Imam come talk to you directly? What is the speech the Imam give? What is the frequency you go there to the mosque?

HM: And you answered all the questions?

FA: Yes yes, I answered all the questions, yes. The best that I know I answer all the question. I was calm, I collaborate, I give him all the answer he wants to know. And he told me are you part of any group Muslim group? I told him no. I told him that is not my first time that I am going to the United States. I have family there I have my parents, my brothers, everyone is there. Today especially I want to bring my son with me because he was sick. I want justice to change the mind. Give him a treat because he was sick, he had cancer and make a change of the situation which we are living here. So he asked me about the mosque. Do you know what the last name of the Imam? If he is always present? If someone replace him, the name of the person who replaced him? He told me what do you think about the shooting at Quebec? Do you have relatives at Quebec that was one of the victims?

HM: I understand he also asked your thoughts on President Donald Trump?

FA: Yeah, yeah. He asked me what do you think about Donald Trump? I told him what? He told me your opinion about his policy. I told him listen, he has the right to do whatever he wants in his country. I don't expect that. I'm not following the news. I'm not following what happened. I have busy busy life. I have busy schedule with my son with all his appointments with the hospital. With my kids.

HM: Now after some time, I understand they emerged and asked you about some videos they found on your phone. What were you asked about?

FA: They ask about prayers that I receive on my phone. And I told him I'm not aware about it, so I'm not the one who sent that. But we want to know why what that means to you? And it's more prayers to say that we have to say that I receive from groups from friends because they know what I have been through with my kids. They send me prayers saying that it's going to help me or something like that.

HM: Eventually, you were told they were not going to let your family into the United States. What did they say?

FA: They took our fingerprints, our pictures and the lady came in from this desk. She told me OK, we're not letting you in. She told me because you have these videos and concerns against us. I was shocked. I told her what? Is that my phone, my cousin's phone? She told me it's a combination of both phones.

HM: Do you have any idea what she might have meant by that?

FA: I don't know. No. I signed the form and I was sick. I was I was shocked. I was tired. So I just decided to go back home.

HM: And what did the forms say that you signed?

FA: It's not the same reason that she said verbally. The form said withdrawal of application for admission. Subject is inadmissible to the United States. 212A7AII, an immigrant not in possession of a valid, unexpired immigrant visa.

HM: You're a Canadian citizen, is that right?

FA: Yeah, I'm Canadian citizen. I travel with my Canadian passport. My passport is still valid until June 2018.

HM: Have you ever needed a visa to travel to the United States before?

FA: No, not with my Canadian passport. I go there like every month in the United States with my passport. This is the first time they react like that. I thought it was a new procedure to go to the United States it is something new. And even I said OK, if it's applied to all Canadians that's OK. But it was apparently it was applied only to me.

HM: You mentioned that you have family including your parents in the United States. How has this left you feeling?

FA: They are shocked. They are afraid. They are in worries. How come their only daughter, who lives in Canada, cannot come to see them?

HM: And how has it left you feeling?

FA: I am shocked too. I cannot understand why they react to me like that. I'm in worries because I don't want to take adventure with all my family. We spend all our vacation there. We spend great time there. We love going there. My kids love going there. I have my son, who has a great time there. I don't know what has happened now?

HM: What do you say to your son? How do you explain this to him?

FA: I didn't find the words to explain to him. I don't want him to feel like we were discriminated because I raised my kids that we are all the same. That's our Canadian. Yes we have a different name, but we are all the same.

HM: Mr. Alaoui, thank you. I really appreciate you speaking with us and taking us through all of this.

FA: You're very welcome. Thank you.

HM: Thank you. Goodbye.

FA: Bye.

JD: Fadwa Alaoui is a Canadian citizen. We reached her at home in Brossard, just outside Montreal. You can find more on her story on our Website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Industrial]

Bombardier loans

Guest: David Baskin

JD: Some say it's way too much. Others say it's not enough. Pretty much no one thinks it's just right. I am talking about the 372 million dollar loan the federal government is giving to Bombardier. It is interest free — the loan that is. The story of the loan is generating a lot of interest and not just here in Canada, but everywhere. Today, the government of Brazil launched a formal complaint at the World Trade Organization, saying it is an unfair subsidy to Canada's aircraft industry. And, closer to home, interim Opposition leader Rona Ambrose challenged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the deal.

SOUNDCLIP

RONA AMBROSE: OK, Mr. Speaker, wait a second. The prime minister wrote a check for three hundred and seventy million dollars to a single company and he didn't get assurances from them that they would hire one single new worker. Mr. Speaker, I really hope he gets a new negotiating team before he sits down with President Trump and talks about NAFTA or we are screwed.

[Sound: Laughter and applause]

GEOFF REGAN: The honorable leader of the Opposition.

RA: I’ll make note that the prime minister was speechless. So let's be clear about what's happening today. The prime minister is handing a giant corporation 370 million dollars and forcing taxpayers across the country to pay for it with a massive new carbon tax. He's making life easier for a multibillion dollar corporation, who said they didn't need the money. While making it harder for people, ordinary taxpayers, families and business owners can he please explain to us one last time how this makes any sense?

GR: The right honorable prime minister.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU: Mr. Speaker, by making a loan to Bombardier it they have close to 400 million dollars we're investing in research and development here in this country creating thousands of good new middle class jobs in a growth industry that's going to continue to demonstrate how competitive Canada can be in the world. We continue to be focused on innovation in research to lead to good jobs for Canadians. In a world that is changing. We need to make sure that Canadians can continue to compete at the highest levels. Because I know we're capable of it and we're demonstrating it every single day.

JD: From Question Period today, that was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparring with Opposition leader Rona Ambrose about a 372 million dollar loan the federal government is giving to Bombardier. David Baskin is also a critic of the deal. He is the president of Baskin Wealth Management. We reached him in Toronto.

HM: Mr. Baskin, the federal government says this loan will be a boon to Canadian innovation and says it will keep thousands of well-paying technology jobs in Canada. Those sound like good things. So what is your problem with this deal?

DAVID BASKIN: Well, they're certainly right about the well-paying jobs Helen, Bombardier on its own Web site says that its average employee makes around ninety-seven-thousand dollars a year counting benefits, which is 1.7 times the amount that the average worker in Canada makes. I think if I was the average worker in Canada, I'd kind of resent my tax dollars going to a guy in Quebec who's making a 170 per cent of what I'm making. But that's only part of the problem in my view. It's a false dichotomy to think that Bombardier would go bankrupt and disappear and that the jobs would disappear if the government didn't support the company. In fact what should happen is what happens in most places when a company loses billions of dollars, which is what Bombardier has done. The company reorganizes, the debt holders get the equity of the company, the ruling family, the Beaudoin and Bellemare and Bombardier family get tossed out. And new management takes over. That's what normally happens in capitalism.

HM: I just want to get back to the point you're making about employees and the money that they make. I mean those are people who are paying tax dollars. They support other workers when they have money to spend. The company itself presumably contributes to the Canadian economy. Does that not offset some of your concerns?

DB: Well as I said I don't think the company is going to disappear if it were allowed to reorganize, which is what should happen. And again do we really want you know the person in Ontario who's making $20 an hour paying more taxes so that a person working with Quebec can make $35 an hour? And I didn't see the government stepping up to protect the people in Alberta who lost their jobs when oil prices went down and more people lost their jobs in Alberta by the way in the last three years than work for Bombardier in all of Canada.

HM: So what do you think is going on?

DB: I think that the government of Quebec and the government of Canada want to protect their seats. They want to make sure that they get re-elected and this is a story, Helen that goes back about 50 years. The government of Canada has been subsidizing Bombardier since 1966. And one of the things which I find galling is we can't tell how much money the government of Canada has given to Bombardier because Bombardier has sued in the Federal Court of Canada to block access to information.

HM: Now the government says it's not giving them money. This has to be an interest free loan to support the C Series Aircraft projects the Bombardier has undertaken. Is that not a good thing that the money will eventually be returned to Canadian taxpayers?

DB: History shows that it won't. And one of the reasons that Bombardier doesn't want you and other journalists to know its history is because I believe very few of those loans have been repaid. If they had been repaid Bombardier wouldn't be blocking access to that information.

HM: Public opinion in Quebec is largely opposite at least what's being expressed publicly today to what you are suggesting. Rheal Fortin, the interim leader of the Bloc Quebecois says that this is too little too late. And of course we know that Bombardier actually sought a billion dollars I guess. Would it be made more sense to go for the larger investment to give them more of a boost if they were going to do this anyway?

DB: Helen, neither you nor I have seen the financial statements from somebody a for the year ending December 31^st, 2016, I can tell you that in the previous 18 months the company lost 6 billion dollars, 6 billion. So I suppose the Parti Quebecois was right with the government of Quebec putting in a billion in the Caisse de Depot putting in $1.5 billion and the taxpayers of Canada now putting in $400 million. That's about half of what the company managed to blow through in the last 18 months. So I guess maybe that isn't enough. But let me suggest that if I'm going to be paying to save those jobs in Quebec, I would like to see the senior executives of the company take a haircut too. And we're talking people like Alain Bellemare, who made 6.4 million dollars last year, which is not bad for a company losing that kind of money.

HM: The money you mentioned that Quebec put in that billion dollars. They did not do it as a loan. They did it and took 49.5 per cent of the passenger jet program in exchange. Would it make more sense at the federal level for them to do something like that?

DB Well, I would certainly say so. Look if you're going to make a high risk bet, you should certainly get some return on your money and getting no interest and a vague hope of repayment at an indefinite date in the future. It's certainly not a deal that any business person would make.

HM: On the international front. Brazil has already launched a challenge at the World Trade Organization over this loan. But is it not true that a lot of other countries subsidize their aerospace industries and Canada is maybe doing this to be on the same playing field?

DB: It's absolutely the case that that Airbus and Boeing and Embraer are in more or less the same kind of deals with their governments. I certainly think that Brazil is probably a case of the pot calling the kettle black. But you know the fact that everybody else does it doesn't make it more palatable.

HM: Is Bombardier too big to fail?

DB: Well, I guess the government of Canada the government of Quebec feel that way. You know Quebec employs about 4.5 million people. So we're talking 18,000 jobs that would theoretically disappear out of a workforce of 4.5 million. It's not exactly catastrophic when you look at the number of jobs lost in Alberta, which has a labor force half the size of Quebec and lost more jobs than Bombardier provides.

HM: Mr. Baskin, thank you very much for talking with us.

DB: My pleasure. Thank you Helen.

HM: All right all the best. Goodbye.

DB: OK. Bye bye.

JD: David Baskin is president of Baskin Wealth Management. We reached him in Toronto.

[Music: Inide Rock/ jazz]

Richard B. Wright obit

JD: In his books, Richard B. Wight led his readers through the daily routines of understated characters and that might sound like boring fiction. But the author from St. Catherine's, Ontario took the mundane and made it utterly compelling. The award-winning novelist died Tuesday. He was 79-years-old. The modest scenes that Mr. Wright wrote about in his books reflected the modest way he lived his life for a year. His routine consisted of waking up every day at 4 a.m. to write before heading to his day job teaching at a prep school. His first seven novels earned critical acclaim, but it was Mr. Wright’s 8th book that put him on the map. In 1995, Andy Barrie, host of CBC Toronto's Metro Morning at the time spoke to the author about his novel “The Age of longing.”

SOUNDCLIP

ANDY BARRIE: You've written eight critically acclaimed novels, yet you've kept a relatively low profile on the Canadian literary scene. You're not much of a self-promoter are you?

RICHARD B. WRIGHT: Well, no I'm not and I'm often curious as to why the media…

AB: Expects you to be.

RBW: Expects you to be. A writer is by his very nature an introvert and a person who spends a lot of time in a room talking to himself. So then to suddenly invite him out to be a personality, it seems to me an anomaly.

AB: There's a line in your book where one character is told by another, “you just better not get too big for your britches mister.” Do you think there's a reluctance in this country to toot your own horn because we're not nuts about people who get too big for their britches?

RBW: Well I think that's true. I think that's a very Canadian thing. This self-effacing aspect of our national character, particularly I think the sort of Protestant Ontarian is prone to that sort of attitude. I don't I don't consider myself a particularly modest person, but on the other hand I guess I come from people who've never sort of pushed themselves out into the limelight. And my other books have had pretty good reception. It's nice now with the eighth novel to get some a little more a higher profile. Winning prizes is nice is a nice thing to do, but it's not everything you have to get on with your life. The quotidian, the day to day round has to be lived. And you have to go on and whether you win it or not it's just nice to be short listed.

AB: It's nice to just be read. Must be nice to know that me and lots of other people and I love this book it just feels good in your hands it's a wonderful size too it. Must be nice to just know that someone like me was sitting in my easy chair yesterday enjoying what is written.

RBW: It's a wonderful feeling.

AB: I would think so.

JD: That was former Metro Morning host Andy Barrie in conversation with author Richard B Wright in 1995. Later Mr. Wright would earn the Giller and the Governor-Generals award for his 2001 novel “Clara Callan”. Richard B Wright died yesterday. He was 79-years-old. And to learn more about Mr. Wright and his work go to www.cbc.ca/books.

[Music: Sombre piano]

BC snowfall

JD: There are stories that are Canadian because they happen in Canada and then there are stories that are essentially almost excessively Canadian. So Canadian that it sounds like someone made them up — someone Canadian. Here is one from that second category. On Monday night police in Central Saanich, British Columbia pulled over a guy who was clearing snow off the road with his Zamboni. We reached Marco Kardum in Central Saanich.

HM: Marco Kardum, there's a lot of ways to shovel snow. Where did you get the idea to use a Zamboni the other night?

MARCO KARDUM: It was parked in the garage, the Zamboni and we decided to just bring it out and see if it worked.

HM: OK, you know just so non-Canadians who are listening know not every person in Canada has a Zamboni. Why do you have one?

MK: Funny story, I was pressing apples to make apple cider a few months back and my friend is coming over hand. Be mention that there is a Zamboni on the BC auction. So after looking at the pictures and trying to figure out what we’d be able to use it for on farm I ended up putting a bid on it and sure enough no one else outbid me and I became the proud owner of a Zamboni.

HM: How much did you pay for it?

MK: $300.

HM: That sounds pretty cheap for a Zamboni.

MK: It is, but how often you Zambonis’ go for sale and who really needs a Zamboni?

HM: Well obviously you do.

MK: Yeah.

HM: Does it work to do its usual thing? I mean is it a fully functioning Zamboni?

MK: It's a fully functioning Zamboni. What I did is I cut a hole in the roof of it so I can put horse manure on the top of it or inside of it. And then when it fills up I can take it to the back of the property and use it as a dump truck.

HM: Mm hmm. So what made you take the Zamboni on the road?

MK: Well the roads are clear for the majority of the day. And then there was an accident at the end of my road. So the traffic was stopped for a number of hours and then the snow decided that it might come down. So got a good dump of snow — maybe five inches of snow on the ground. And just with the accident and the time of day it was I was almost certain that the plows weren’t going to be coming around anymore even like there that evening or in the morning. And there's two hills that kind of run off the road that I live on. And on one of the hills my aunt lives at the top of it. So I wanted to make sure that that road was cleared for it they had to go anywhere you know at nighttime or first thing in the morning. It is safe for them as well as anybody else have to get to that neighborhood.

HM: So how did it work to clear the snow?

MK: How a Zamboni works, it's got a blade in the very back of it. That's what cuts the ice. So when the ice gets cut there is an auger that will lift the ice and then put into a holding container I guess like into the bucket of the Zamboni. So I was just using it to literally scoop up the snow. I wasn’t using the blade or putting any water down to make ice. I was just using it to collect the snow off the ground.

HM: It would seem to be counter-intuitive to be laying down the water to make smooth ice on a road you're trying to clear?

MK: Correct.

HM: So you got pulled over by a police officer. What did what did they say to you?

MK: Someone called it in saying that there's a Zamboni on the road and they're concerned that the Zamboni was going to be making ice on the road. So he had to just go investigate it. And then he was surprised. You know they always get you know like funny phone calls here and there for different situations. But this is the first one in his 20 year career that he’s ever had to respond to a call about a Zamboni on the road.

HM: Yeah no kidding.

MK: When he ended up pulling me over he was questioning me on the situation. I explained to him that I was trying to. That by that my family member lives at the top of the road and I was just trying to clear it for her and the rest of the neighbors. It is usually one of the last roads to get cleared and I was just trying to help out. And I knew that everybody in the municipality and you know the snow plow companies are just super busy because it's not common for us here on Vancouver Island to get this much snow. So I knew that everybody would be super busy and I decided to take matters into my own hands.

HM: And did he buy that or did he give you a ticket?

MK: No. Didn't get any tickets or anything like that. He thought it was kind of a funny idea and he just asked that I take that Zamboni home.

HM: I just I'm wondering you know if there's anything illegal about operating a Zamboni the way you were?

MK: I didn't have insurance on it because you can't really just go in and sure a Zamboni for the road.

HM: Do you think there's even a category for Zambonis’ on the insurance forms?

MK: I'm not sure, but I should look into it.

HM: Maybe yeah, any other uses you're thinking this could be good for?

MK: you know it was one of those spur of the moment you know it was on the auction and it was only $300. And it’s not like I was looking for a Zamboni to buy. So right now for what I’m using it on the farm it's doing an excellent job.

HM: All right, well thank you very much. It's a great story.

MK: Thank you.

HM: Bye.

MK: All right, you have a good day.

HM: You too. Bye.

JD: Three hundred bucks for Zamboni. That’s a great deal Marco Kardum was pulled over in Central Saanich earlier this week, for using his Zamboni to clear snow off the road.

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Part 2: New Orleans tornado, Seattle Wells Fargo

New Orleans tornado

Guest: Yoshekia Brown

JD: For some, sadly it is a familiar scene. Tornadoes ripped through parts of southeastern Louisiana yesterday. No one was killed. Dozens were reportedly injured. The hardest-hit area was eastern New Orleans where buildings were torn apart. And one of those buildings was the home of Yoshekia Brown. And it is not the first time Ms. Brown has had to go through something like this. In 2005, her home was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. We reached Yoshekia Brown in New Orleans.

HM: Ms. Brown, how are you dealing with seeing your home destroyed again?

YOSHEKIA BROWN: I am trying to deal with it as best I can.

HM: At what point does the initial shock wear off?

YB: When I came back today and was actually able to go in and see it in the light and see everything inside.

HM: What does the house look like today?

YB: Today it is off the foundation. It looks like a boomerang almost is how my mother described it. There’s a really large section that's gone from the front and the studs are holding up certain parts of the house.

HM: What about the inside? You said you got a chance to go inside?

YB: The inside is actually it's really it's damaged. The ceiling has come in and there’s no roof. We can see straight through the house.

HM: Are your possessions damaged at all that are inside?

YB: Yes. Yes. There is nothing that we can really salvage.

HM: Have you lost things like family photos personal items?

YB: I had lost all my family photos. In Katrina I was able to salvage my grandmother's photo. I was hoping to salvage it again, but I have not been able to find it.

HM: Where were you when this tornado hit your home?

YB: I was at work, which is downtown.

HM: And how did you find out it was happening?

YB: There were alerts coming through your cell phones. And then we started to look at a map of where it was going to hit, where the projected path was. And then we saw actual maps of where it actually landed. And so when I saw the second map I realized it was really close to my house and so I was just going to come and check on everything to make sure that my three dogs were Ok. And then, as I started to come towards the house I realized that it was a lot of damage that had happened. But then as I get closer and they wouldn't let me through. I realized that it was a lot more devastation than we thought. The section where I live was directly impacted. It looks like it was the target almost.

HM: So the police wouldn't let you in there when it first happened?

YB: No there were rescue vehicles come in an area they would not let us go through. And that was because there power lines down. Where we live there was natural gas used for the appliances and so those lines have been exposed. So it was just a lot of dangerous elements to it.

HM: You mentioned having three dogs. Did they survive?

YB: They survived; they were actually in their crates under the rubble. And my brother was able to get in and dig them from the rubble.

HM: Do you have any other family that you were worried might be in the house?

YB: My mother is usually home on Tuesdays and Thursdays and this happened at this Tuesday she had something to do, which I was grateful that she was not home because where it hit is actually where she usually sits to maybe watch movies or just to cook. It across the living room kitchen area and so had she been home, I would have lost my mother.

HM: You have a 10 year old son too. Where was he?

YB: He was at school.

HM: Wow. So you mentioned losing things already in Hurricane Katrina. Where were you living when that hit?

YB: In Hurricane Katrina, I lived in a area called Chalmette. It's in St. Bernard Parish and it's not far from where I am now. And I lost everything in the storm for Katrina.

HM: So the structure itself was destroyed and all the things you had inside?

YB: Yes, yes. water was over the roof and there was also an oil spill. And so that was a mixture of oil and debris it look like swampland when I was able to actually get into the house.

HM: How difficult was it for you to recover from the trauma of Katrina and get yourself set up again?

YB: It took a while. It took a lot of energy. It took a lot of willpower and determination, but I was able to get through it, so that's what I guess gives me the assurance that I'll get through this also.

HM: Yeah. You know that you can do it?

YB: Yeah. History has proven that we can do this.

HM: And are you going to have help to rebuild your life again?

YB: Some people have been reaching out. I just found out that one of my friends started a Go Fund Me to try to help with something because we've lost everything. So I think it's the extra pick up the pieces and try to get everything back together. So I do believe that I have a really good support system with getting back on my feet.

HM: Can I ask if you have insurance?

YB: I do not, I am a renter. And so I did not have rental insurance. And so I'm not sure what the home owner has in place, but I did not have insurance.

HM: Where are you going to live now?

YB: I don't know. We've had of course the extension of an offer to stay with family, but I'd really like to make that as short as possible. So I am in the process of trying to find affordable housing because we know that price gouging happens during disasters. And so I need to just be very mindful of all of those things.

HM: So people would take advantage of your misfortune?

YB: People have already started. Yes.

HM: That's terrible.

YB: It is. It's terrible, but it's the world that we live in.

HM: Do you get nervous about settling down again given you've been through this two times?

YB: Actually I am. I am. I know that natural disasters occur everywhere, but this is the second one here. So I am a bit nervous.

HM: You ever think about moving away?

YB: I have considered that and I’m actually that's one of the things I'm considering at this time is possibly relocating.

What are you saying to your son?

YB: I am telling him it's going to be OK and we are going to get through this. I don't know how exactly we're going to do it, but I do know we will do it.

HM: Ms. Brown, I wish you the very best. I hope things come together for you well and quickly. Thank you for talking to us.

YB: Thank you so much.

HM: OK. Bye bye.

YB: Bye bye. Have a great day.

HM: You too mam.

JD: Yoshekia Brown's home was destroyed by a tornado. We reached her New Orleans.

[Music: Indie Rock]

Seattle Wells Fargo

Guest: Debora Juarez

JD: They may be states of parts, but Seattle's City Council did vote unanimously to stand in solidarity with those protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. Now counselors have put their money where their mouth is. Last night, they decided to end the city of Seattle's three billion dollar relationship with Wells Fargo because it is an investor in the pipeline. The vote came just hours after the U.S. Army informed Congress that it would be allowing Dakota Access workers to drill under the Missouri River. Seattle city councillor Debora Juarez cosponsored the motion. We reached her in Seattle.

HM: Debora Juarez, why did Seattle City Council decide to get involved in a protest that's happening in a different state?

DEBORA JUAREZ: We had been watching what was going on with Wells Fargo with all the court findings from the Consumer Financial Bureau, Department of Treasury and also what happened in California in Maryland and how they were found guilty of all of these abusive and quite frankly illegal business practices. So that kind of dovetailed with us already watching what was going on at Indian Country in particular in speaking to the lawyers at Standing Rock regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline. So the two worlds just kind of converged.

HM: It sounds like what you're saying is that Standing Rock is really only one factor in the divestment from Wells Fargo even though it's the one that's getting the attention today?

DJ: Absolutely and we have Wells Fargo and their investment in Standing Rock. We have Wells Fargo also having these court cases that really were concerning to us and we were also concerned about Wells Fargo's investment practices into privately-owned prisons. I cannot emphasize more that this ordinance in this law strengthens and expands our existing social responsibility banking law already on the books and our investment policy statement.

HM: So what effect will ending this financial relationship with Wells Fargo have on your city?

DJ: Well, we looked at that and the effect is like any time that you divest or terminate a contract: we're just going to be done doing business. And to tell you the truth, we've had at least five or six banks scrambling to talk to us local banks and credit unions that are going to want this business. And there are certain banks that were looking at that will fit the principles and the policies of the new law for social responsible banking.

HM: But this doesn't actually end this business relationship till the end of 2018 right? you're going to continue in the existing contract until it runs out?

DJ: We will. That is correct. We are not from this day forward going to be doing any more future banking with them, which we would have been doing had we not passed this. And you're right that contract will end and we will not renew that contract for three years.

HM: Is there potential damage here to people who do have relationships with Wells Fargo who may even work for Wells Fargo and the fact that they're going to be losing your business?

DJ: Probably. And I think you're going to have that any time. But one thing that I'm proud of our city in is in our investment policy statement. Is that we will not put profits over our morals and our values. That's actually in our socially responsible banking in our investment policy.

HM: But is that realistic given how entrenched many banks are in projects like Dakota Access? How are you going to find an institution like that?

DJ: It won't be hard. This is a phenomenal city. Our economic landscape if you will if we have major companies here. Seattle is going to be fine. We're not going to be scrambling to find a bank. In fact we're going to have to like seriously look down and look at all the banks that are coming to us that now want our business.

HM: Given the breadth of concerns you seem to have about Wells Fargo, why this particular focus on Dakota Access? What is it about this particular issue that is got people including yourself in Seattle so concerned?

DJ: Well first of all I think everybody should be concerned about the Dakota Access Pipeline. And I can go on and on about it. But my major issue is this: it is a global — it's a national issue — about water. It's about whether or not we protect the environment because it affects everybody. And as we learned if you have a polluted river everybody gets sick. It doesn't matter if you're a city person, a county person, a state person. If you don't take care of those resources like the water protectors are doing then we're not going to have that. And more importantly for me and for what we see in Indian Country and the people that support us. There are some major major violations regarding the treaty right for Standing Rock Sioux, which is the supreme law of the land, which is a violation of the United States Constitution. So again we are a nation of laws and we have to follow the law. And a lot of the law was not followed when Standing Rock — when this pipeline came to be — and that there was not consultation. The federal government — the EPA — has to work with tribes by law on a government to government basis and consultation. I think people think that they're supposed to just anecdotally say oh we gave the tribe a call. It doesn't work like that every federal agency knows that, that is the law now.

HM: The Army Corps of Engineers has said it will issue that final easement for the pipeline possibly as soon as today. I mean it sounds like it's going to go ahead anyway. Do you think that this divestment ultimately has any purpose?

DJ: Yes. Standing Rock and what's happening now as you probably know if you've been following the story has been the largest gathering of Indian people ever — Native American people. Bigger than AIM. Bigger than Wounded Knee. Bigger than Alcatraz. That is going to be ground zero for how this country honors treaties, number one. And number two, the tribes everywhere across this country and I’ll be meeting with most of them next week. Are going to be lawyered up and ready to go. And so we are not afraid of this. This is just another thing that Native American people have dealt with well over 200 years of federal Indian Law and jurisprudence. So we're not clutching our pearls and afraid of this. We're going to fight it and we are in solidarity. When you talk about whether or not divestment really helps. Yes it does. It may not look like it overnight, but in the long run like I said in my speech when people say that money talks and I say no it doesn't. We do —the people do — and we have to be committed to that. Those principles that make this country great and also which also makes Indian Country and Native American tribes why they are the protectors and good stewards of the land and why we have treaties, which are supposed to be treated under the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. That is the most offensive part to me that we continue to do this. We have to continue to fight for this. And tribes will not stop fighting for this.

HM: Wells Fargo has issued a statement expressing disappointment with this move of course. It says they will continue to give back through volunteerism and corporate philanthropy and we will continue to invest in entrepreneurship and help create jobs as the number two small business lender in Washington. Do you foresee any situation in which you and city council would be willing to resume a business relationship with the bank?

DJ: I don't know what to tell you about that. I guess in a perfect world if I were still legal counsel for a tribe or the head of my own tribe if Wells Fargo completely divested in every way shape and form. Possibly, but I don't know that.

HM: Ms. Juarez, I appreciate you talking with us. Thank you very much.

DJ: Thank you for calling me.

HM: Goodbye.

DJ: Okay bye.

JD: Debora Juarez sits on Seattle's City Council. That council voted unanimously last night to end the city of Seattle's relationship with the bank Wells Fargo.

[Music: The Road/ Electronic pop]

Sound of the Day: Stag calls

JD: Yes there was that big football game happening over the weekend and the winning team was great with their quarter master or whatever is named Todd Tim… good for that guy and those guys. But two days before that in Germany, a true champion was crowned: the legendary Andreas toepfer. Now obviously I'm talking about the 19th edition of the German Stag Imitation Championships. As the world watched, 16 contestants at a hunting fair in Dortmund competed to see who could best recreate the sound of a stag’s mating call. Today's sound of the day is a sampling of Germany's finest.

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: various calls]

JD: Poetry in motion, some of the best imitations of a Stag’s meeting calls from the German Stag Imitation Championships on the weekend. That sounded weird, but it looked weirder. Contestants wrap their lips are on a large instrument that looks somewhat similar to a wooden, olden day telescope and then they blow it right into the microphone. And a jury of three each seated in their own booth with headphones on selects the winner. So congratulations to the new stag imitating champion Andreas Toepfer and also to the New England Matriarchs on their victory in the Soup Bowl.

[Music: Folk]

Uber lawsuit

JD: If you spend any time on Twitter, 12 seconds really should do it. You could come away thinking that modern technology is creating millions of jerks. However, it is probably more accurate to say that modern technology is just revealing millions of jerks. Oh here's one now: the guy from Cote D’Azur, France who is suing Uber for $63 million for its role in his divorce. Now on one hand if the guy is right, there does appear to be a troubling glitch in Uber's iPhone app. On the other hand, there also appears to be a troubling glitch in the guy because here's the crux of the case. The guy once borrowed his wife's phone to log into O'Byrne request a ride. Then, even after he logged out of the app, it continued to send notifications of his Uber activity to his wife's phone and thus to his wife. Well why would that be a problem you ask? Oh wait you say. Seriously you ask? Yes seriously the app notified his wife of all his comings and goings, which apparently did not match his own account of his comings and goings. Now it's not clear whether the guy was actually having an affair or several. But it is clear that he was being driven around to and from suspect locations at suspect times and since those revelations preceded a divorce. It is also clear that he had no explanation for all these clandestine rides or at least that the marriage was on shaky ground before the outing of all his outings. But let's just say that he was just innocently being driven to the Arbys or whatever in downtown Cote D'Azur. Isn’t 63 million bucks a little excessive? Is that the price of lost love or is it just what he thinks he can get from a company that's been valued at upwards of 60 billion dollars? And a last question: was he a jerk before he used the Uber app or did you drive him to it?

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Part 3: Red Cross deaths, India deaths investigation

Senator Warren reads Coretta Scott King letter

JD: “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.” That was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's answer when he was asked why he formally silenced Senator Elizabeth Warren last night. Senator Warren had been reading the words of Coretta Scott King. in 1986, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter formally objecting to Jeff Sessions appointment to the federal bench. Her objections were heard and they prevailed. He was denied the judgeship. Yesterday, Senator Warren was trying to read Ms King's letter to register an objection to now Senator Jeff Sessions becoming the new Attorney-General. But she was blocked by Senator McConnell, who used a little known rule that prohibits debating senators from impugning their peers. Unable to continue her speech, Senator Warren went to another room, where she did read Ms. King's letter.

SOUNDCLIP

ELIZABETH WARREN: The federal courts hold a unique position in our constitutional system. Ensuring that minorities any other citizens without political power have a. Forum in which to vindicate their rights. Because of this unique role it is essential that the people selected to be federal judges respect the basic tenets of our legal system, respect for individual rights and a commitment to equal justice for all. The integrity of the courts and thus the rights they represent can only be maintained if citizens feel confident that those selected as federal judges will be able to judge. With fairness others holding differing views. I do not believe Jefferson Sessions possesses the requisite judgment, competence and sensitivity to the rights guaranteed by the federal civil rights laws to qualify for appointment to the federal district court. Based on his record, I believe his confirmation would have a devastating effect not only on the judicial system in Alabama, but also on the progress we have made everywhere towards fulfilling my husband's dream that he envisioned over 20 years ago.

JD: That was Senator Elizabeth Warren reading a letter written by Coretta Scott King in 1986 to express her objections to Jeff Sessions becoming a federal judge.

[Music: Popular country]

Red Cross deaths

Guest: Thomas Glass

JD: They were making a delivery to an area in need and they were attacked. Today, six humanitarian workers with the International Committee of the Red Cross — the ICRC — were killed in an ambush in northern Afghanistan. Two other workers are missing. And now, for the first time in its 30 year history in Afghanistan, the organization is reflecting on whether to stay or to go. Thomas Glass works for the ICRC. We reached him in Kabul.

HM: Mr. Glass, first of all, I'm so sorry for the loss of your colleagues.

THOMAS GLASS: It's been a tough day, yes.

HM: What have you learned so far about what happened today in this attack in northern Afghanistan?

TG: Well, so far we have very little information except for the fact that our team was attacked while they were on their way to distribute livestock materials to the two communities south of Sheberghan City. Six of our colleagues were shot dead and two of them are unaccounted for.

HM: Have you had any descriptions of the attackers?

TG: No we don't know who were the attackers and we don't know the motive. This comes absolutely as a complete shock.

HM: Do you have any thoughts on who might be responsible given what's going on in that area?

TG: No, throughout the country of Afghanistan it’s an extremely volatile situation with different armed groups. It will take time to generalize and really have clear understanding of what happened? who is behind it? And why?

HM: Can you tell us a bit about this particular area and whether it was known for being dangerous?

TG: It’s an area that we know relatively well and where we are now ourselves quite well. It is not the first time that we traveled in this area. It's not the first time that we work with the different communities there in order to provide assistance. Our teams were traveling in clearly marked ICRC vehicles. You know we take all the necessary precautions in order to get the security and safety of our teams. So again this comes really as the shock.

HM: Has ICRC experienced violence at all in Afghanistan in recent years?

TG: We had a colleague who was killed in 2003 and in 2013, we had an attack on one of our offices. And then recently we had a colleague that was kidnapped in the north of Afghanistan, but released safely after a four week ordeal. But it's you know we've been in Afghanistan for over 30 years. It's a place we know quite well; it's a place where we have good relationships with the different authorities the different parties to the conflict. But even more importantly with the population and this is an extremely tough day it's one of the worst attacks that we have suffered.

HM: You knew all of these men including the two who are still missing. What can you tell us about these people?

TG: they were friends, they were colleagues and all of them are great guys. You know right now it’s a mourning process. Everybody all of us are still in shock as to what happened and the shock of the fact that we're not going to see them tomorrow. It's extremely difficult for all of us, especially our teams where our colleagues were working.

HM: Have they left families behind?

TG: Yes.

HM: How concerned are you about them at this point?

TG: We are there for the family and the most important thing is that we can do everything we can to support the family in these very difficult times. To be there for them and one of our main priorities is finding our two colleagues who are unaccounted for.

HM: Can you tell us anything about what's happening in terms of the search for them?

TG: Right now we're mobilizing all our contacts and our networks that we have in the area to help us find them.

HM: How much do people in this area depend on the work of the ICRC?

TG: They live in conditions that are quite difficult. It's extremely poor rural areas. On top of that, some of them have been directly affected by the ongoing violence and conflict. So the fact that we actually can reach them and provide assistance to them is also a testimonial or the important needs that are out there.

HM: What does the ICRC provide to these folks?

TG: In this particular case, we are providing livestock feed and material to the community and to the farmers t to help them sustain their livelihood. And then we have a lot of different programs throughout Afghanistan that range from running orthopedic centres to supporting health care facilities. Visiting places of the tension, so there’s a variety of different activities that we do for the country that we've been doing for 30 years and more.

HM: Many other aid agencies have stopped working in that region. Is there any chance the ICRC may suspend its work there or even end it altogether?

TG: We've been committed to the Afghan people and we're not going to stop here. Now it's clear that when it comes to field movements — something we have to put on hold. We need to assess and analyze the situation because we cannot provide humanitarian aid if we can't guarantee the safety and security of our staff. But our priority is the humanitarian work and human nature of our organization and we're here to help the Afghan people no matter what.

HM: Given what happened to these men today, is it going to be difficult for you to find people willing to take up their work?

TG: That's a bit of a tricky question I have to say that. My gut feeling tells me no because there are people out there who are willing to help. Who are dedicated to provide support, to assist and to be there and for people when they are in need.

HM: Mr. Glass, again we're very sorry for your loss and we appreciate you talking with us today. Thank you.

TG: Thank you for your call. Thank you.

HM: All right. Good bye.

TG: Goodbye.

JD: Thomas Glass works for the International Committee of the Red Cross. We reached him in Kabul.

[Music: Ambient]

Irwin Corey obit

JD: Professor Irwin Corey was a master at saying a great deal about absolutely nothing. Or perhaps more accurately, saying nothing about absolutely everything. He billed himself as the world's foremost authority. But in truth, Professor Cory was not a professor at all. He was however, the most eminent innovator of pretentious psychobabble the world has ever known. Irwin Cory died yesterday. He was 102-years-old. Mr. Cory got his start in vaudeville and radio and over an 80 year career performing in film and television, on Broadway and in nightclubs. He perfected the art of delivering seemingly didactic lectures composed of pure drivel. He was blacklisted in the 1950s after trying to join the Communist Party and he believed that dogged him professionally the rest of his life. Not that it ever stopped him from performing, which he did even in his late 90’s. In 2008, a week before his 94th birthday, he appeared on stage at The Cutting Room in New York. In typical fashion, he took to the stage with the shock of white, disheveled hair reminiscent of Einstein and sporting a bow tie and tails. And he began his routine as he so often did with the word that became his signature catchphrase.

SOUNDCLIP

IRWIN COREY: However, we all know that protocol takes precedence over procedure. This parliamentary point of order based on the state of inertia developing the centripetal force which used as a catalyst rather than a catalytic agent. Which hastens the chain reaction and remains the same in the condition prior to its inception. This is a pivotal focal point which is used as a tangent in that symphony of thought and the development of ideas based on the ideology…. of the hypothetical rather than to accept the dullness of dreary reality. To then begin ultimately the event to our spleen so that the bile is secreted through the pancreas. This however, does not negate the necessity where we much be cognitive of the hilarious and beyond all control and set upon that oasis. Look to our parties platform, rest on our record and feel secure with the knowledge that salvation is its own reward.

[Sound: Clapping]

IC: Now many of you people say what the hell is he talking about? I’m only repeating the solution that Bush has given us to solve a situation which is comprehensive and therefore deductible to the characteristics of the character. Making it almost impossible for them… what was the question?

JD: Comedian Irwin Cory, the world's foremost authority performing live at The Cutting Room in New York City in 2008. Irwin Cory died yesterday he was 102.

[Music: Folk rock]

India death investigation

Guest: Anoop Velayudhan

JD: It is a very unwelcome annual event in northern India: each year, beginning in the middle of May, a mysterious and sometimes fatal illness would strike children. Then in July, the illness would vanish abruptly with the arrival of the monsoon. For years, investigators tried to figure out what was causing it was it bats? Was it rats? Was it sand flies? Heat stroke? It was none of the above, but then a breakthrough on the outbreak. And finally doctors were able to identify the surprising culprit. Dr Anoop Velayudhan is an epidemiologist with the Centres for Disease Control in India. He's in Manipal.

HM: Dr. Velayudhan, how did parents describe this mysterious outbreak that was affecting their children?

ANOOP VELAYUDHAN: They were all puzzled. They didn't know what was happening to their children. It was all very mysterious. Most parents reported that they were healthy and walking around playing around in the previous day. And in the early mornings, early hours of the next day, they woke up having seizures, convulsions, thrashing around and some of them just falling unconscious. And they had to be brought to the hospital immediately. And the doctors couldn't offer them any tangible explanation and they couldn't come in terms with their loss. They saw many other parents bringing their kids in the same condition and they all realized something was wrong. And it was all about that all of us too.

HM: When you first moved to the area to investigate. What options did you consider? What might have been affecting these kids?

AV: When I first moved to move to Manipal in 2014, there was already a fair bit of investigation that had been done by the Ministry of Health and the National Centre for Disease Control in New Delhi. And there was also a round for the hypothesis that was going on. We managed to look at infectious causes. We thought it was a bacteria or a virus that is causing the disease and we had ruled that one out. Because most kids that are presenting to us did not have any fever. Then we thought it was something that has got to do with pesticides or heavy metals or other toxins. As our instigation progressed, we also realized that this doesn't look like an inflammatory condition. That doesn't look like something the brain is inflamed with. So we sort of got an idea that it's probably a toxin and most kids presented with blood sugar that was less than the normal value.

HM: So then they had low blood sugar and they suspected toxins and low blood sugar where your clues. What did you ultimately find?

AV: So we found that it could not be a common infectious cause. And we had realized by the time that we were there on the field that this all happens in the season that lychee blooms. There was a harvest of lychee in that area. And it's a lychee consumption area. And these kids practically live in lychee orchards all day. They move around the orchards. Some very poor families don't eat much during the day. But they managed to eat lychee because that was all laying around and fallen down. And some of them eat a whole lot of lychee — around 40 to 50 lychees per day. So then we realize that it's probably connected to lychees. There was also a fruit called fruit ackee fruit and that causes a Jamaican vomiting sickness. So that fruit and compound that is similar to lychee that was found to be toxic. So then we realized that this could also be a toxin found in lychees and that is causing the whole lot of problems.

HM: But people eat lychee fruit all the time and don't have any trouble with it. What is it about the way these children were consuming this fruit that was causing the problem?

AV: I eat a lot of lychee fruit too, but their children are from poor social-economic backgrounds and definitely not really nourished. And what we found, I was surprised that most of the children who had presented with this symptom, they did not have an evening meal the day before. So they missed or skipped their evening meal. Had probably a lot of lychees…

HM: So it may not just be the fruit itself? There must be something predisposing them to this?

AV: Exactly. It is something associated with the lychee consumption and the lack of an evening meal the day before. It is not just with eating lychee.

HM: You mentioned a problem with Ackee fruit in Jamaica and it having caused illnesses in children there. Are these two fruits related?

AV: Yes, they belong to the same family.

HM: So with Lychee harvesting being as you point out such a big part of the economy in the area, people eating it so regularly. What are you telling the villagers to do?

AV: So we had three recommendations. One was to minimize the lychee consumption for children especially and make sure that the children having an evening meal. And third one was to supplement glucose because we found that low blood glucose level to be common in most of the children.

HM: Are these villagers able to do all those things? You said that there was you know there's a lot of poverty in people can't afford an evening meal. How are they supposed to do that?

AV: These are the recommendations we gave to the Department of Health and to the government, so that the government can take effective action as an intervention.

HM: And are you sharing this research with anybody else? I'm just wondering if this is something that's happening elsewhere as well because Lychee is a popular fruit in many parts of the world.

AV: Yeah, exactly. We have noticed the same problem in Vietnam and Bangladesh. So Bangladesh had conducted some research looking at pesticide, but they did not have a clear hypothesis on how lychee itself probably was causing the disease. Now that this publication is out, we are hoping that we will have more effective public health intervention. Our whole is to prevent such deaths and such problems in children from happening. Especially Vietnam, Bangladesh and other regions where we had this disease and we had lychee production too.

HM: Dr. Velayudhan, thank you very much for talking with us and explaining all this research.

AV: Thank you so much. It was a pleasure talking to you.

JD; We reached Dr. Anoop Velayudhan in Manipal, India. He and his team found that lychee fruit was behind a mysterious illness afflicting children in northern India. And their findings are published in the journal Lancet Global Health.

[Music: Ambient]

Ottawa fall victim

JD: Troy Kraus says if he hadn't gotten fit, he wouldn't had a chance. The Kanata network engineer had 205 since undergoing gastric bypass surgery a couple of years ago. He was working out and riding a bike and he was walking to work. And that is what he was doing a few weeks ago when he lost his footing on that most Canadian of Hazard's: black ice. Mr. Kraus told his story to CBC Ottawa’s Hallie Kotnam.

SOUNDCLIP

TROY KRAUS: So I walked out of the garage, closed the garage door, walked six feet down my driveway and fell. I immediately knew it was bad because I lost all feeling in my body. I could move my head a little bit and I could breathe and I could speak, but I had no feeling no movement anywhere else in my body — that I was aware of.

HALLIE KOTNAM: What's going through your mind?

TK: First of all, I'm thinking please somebody hear me. I was just calling out, help please help me, help please help me.

HK: Did you have a cell phone?

TK: I did, but it was in my pocket and obviously I couldn't use my hands and my arms to get to it. So I started calling out for help. If you're not specifically looking for somebody laying in the driveway with the high snow banks it's not easy to see. But luckily my neighbor could hear me calling out for help and saw me out the window. And she called 911 and ran downstairs and she stayed with me and made sure I wasn't alone until the paramedics got there. 20 minutes after they left my house, we were at the Civic with under lights and sirens. By 10:30, I was under the knife having surgery.

HK: Could I go back to you in your driveway.

TK: I was just thinking you know my life just changed. I know it did. This is a bad fall. I'm going to have have my neighbor call my brother and let him know, so he can start handling things. But I was kind of hoping that he wasn't going to tell my parents. They live in Kingston. It would have been devastating for them to hear this news. And I really didn't want to hurt them by having to tell them that this has happened. I know what they would have to know eventually, but I just I wanted to find out what was going on before they found out. But my brother called them immediately anyway and they handled it really well. But it was tough thinking about the message that has to be told to my loved ones of what's happened to me and how my life has changed. Sorry it's a little emotional.

HK: People slip every day in Ottawa. People fall every day in Ottawa. What happened to you when you fell?

TK: After the fall the diagnosis was that I had broken four vertebrae in my neck from C-2 to C-6 and in the surgery that was scheduled for six hours — it took eight hours. They actually fused with titanium rods C-2 all the way to T-2. The outlook after the surgery given to my family was pretty grim. And the next two days, while I was sedated before I woke up to see if I could do anything it was pretty rough on them. But when I woke up two days after the surgery on a Friday morning, I could already move things and I can already feel things. So that means that yes I have a spinal cord injury. Yes it's serious, but with the care that I received and the timeliness that I received that my prognosis for recovery is much better than it was two days prior.

HK: Will you walk?

TK: They won’t say yes or no and I understand why. I'm telling you right now, I'm going to walk. I'm going to walk out of here if I can. If it takes longer it takes longer, but I'm going to walk.

JD: From yesterday's edition of Ottawa Morning. That was Kanata network engineer Troy Kraus speaking to the CBC's Hallie Kotnam.

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Feb. 8, 2017 episode transcript

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