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The AIH Transcript for February 8, 2021

Hosts: Carol Off and Chris Howden

Prologue

CAROL OFF: Hello. I'm Carol Off.

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

[Music: Theme]

CH: Tonight:

CO: Off like a shot. South Africa holds its AstraZeneca vaccine rollout after a new trial casts doubt on its effectiveness against the country's COVID-19 variant. But a doctor says vaccinations should go ahead anyway.

CH: Wheels of misfortune. A DoorDash delivery driver tells us about the nightmarish ordeal he experienced this weekend when his van was stolen while he was making a delivery with his two young kids inside.

CO: Change your mind about changing your mind. A group of hunters in Nunavut blockade the airstrip of a remote iron ore mine to pressure the company not to expand its already disruptive operations.

CH: Gross domestic product. TikTok hit pay dirt with videos in which people thoroughly clean, filthy appliances and fixtures. And there's a growing audience for a thorough fisheye cleanse.

CO: She had the remote and she had the remoteness. A Swedish emergency-room nurse just spent a week watching movies alone near a lighthouse on an island, and she'll tell us how she feels now that the last credits are rolled.

CH: And twin beaks. A Cape Breton woman was shocked to see a partridge with two heads in her backyard, and she still can't believe her eyes or all four of theirs. As It Happens. The Monday Edition. Radio that settles in to watch a double header.

[Music: Theme]

Part 1: South Africa Variant Vaccine

South Africa Variant Vaccine

Guest: Mosa Moshabela

CH: As quickly as the excitement gripped South Africans, so did the disappointment. Last week, South Africa welcomed its first delivery of 1-million AstraZeneca vaccine doses. But today, the government has suspended its vaccine rollout plans after concerning results from a new study. It's a small clinical trial that shows the AstraZeneca vaccine isn't effective in preventing mild to moderate illness. For patients with the South African variant of COVID-19. The new, more infectious variant accounts for the vast majority of new covid cases in South Africa. Mosa Moshabela is the dean of the School of Nursing and Public Health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. We reached him in Durban, South Africa.

CO: Professor Moshabela, are you disappointed that people in South Africa, as they learnt this week, will not be getting the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout as it was planned?

MOSA MOSHABELA: Carol, disappointment is probably an understatement if one considers the reaction that we are getting throughout the country. It is not just disappointment, it's also confusion because a week ago when the shipment arrived, there was a lot of excitement. I was even saying that watching the president speak, he was bubbly. It came as a promise that things are going to get better. For a lot of people generally in the country to actually now be told to hang on "We've got a problem," it's a big disappointment, it's almost like at every turn there is going to be something else. When the variant end was found, it just was kind of another thing, another hurdle.

CO: And as you point out, this variant is at issue in South Africa. It has been identified now as, of course, it's everywhere and not just there. But the AstraZeneca vaccine was proven to be effective. So can you give us a sense of this. It was not a very big trial, but tell us what they discovered which is the reason why the vaccine rollout won't go forward?

MM: The main issue is that when the vaccine arrived in South Africa at the trial, we knew the efficacy from the first wave, that it was about 75 percent with those with the wild type virus at the time. But now the new variant following the second wave in South Africa, we are finding that it's only 22 percent. And actually it's not even statistically significant between the vaccine group and the placebo group. So that's a big disappointment. And it's almost like it doesn't offer efficacy against mild and moderate disease, which were the outcomes that were measured in this study.

CO: Did it show what effect the vaccine had on serious symptoms of COVID-19?

MM: No, no, no, not at all, because in this study the measures for severe disease and death were not included. Those were included in the other trial that was looking at Johnson and Johnson vaccine. But for this one, we didn't look at that, which is also a challenge now because AstraZeneca has come out saying that it should have, there's no reason why it shouldn't. But we don't have the evidence.

CO: Do you yourself support this suspension of the vaccination programme?

MM: Yeah, as a way of strategizing and repackaging our mix of vaccines in terms of the combinations, I do support it. But I don't personally support it as a way of abandoning the vaccination process, even though the efficacy is 22 percent and not statistically significant for the new variant. We still have the 75 percent efficacy of that type virus, and it's still important that we protect people from that. And also because there is definitely potential for a booster to come through from Oxford and AstraZeneca. And if South Africa can ensure that we get that booster, then we should be able to proceed with this particular vaccine. I do think that having the Johnson and Johnson available now also will offer a good mix and that vaccine it can be used to target people with more serious risk factors who are at risk of serious disease. And then this one can be used in more healthy adults as they did in the study.

CO: Do you know if the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is the effective against this new variant that you've identified?

MM: Yeah, so in terms of the mild disease and moderate disease, the efficacy for the Johnson and Johnson in South Africa was 57 percent and for against severe disease, it was 90 percent.

CO: One of the reasons cited in South Africa for suspending this program, for the time being, is the issue of if people get vaccinated and then they get sick, that it will create a scepticism or increase the scepticism about the vaccination program that might contribute to more hesitancy in your program. Is that an ethical consideration you think that should be heeded?

MM: I'm not too worried about that. South Africa is having a challenge in terms of hesitancy in general. And all of this, you know, hullabaloo right now of 'the vaccine is not working and all of that,' they are not making people feel comfortable. In my view, I think that the whole situation could have been publicly communicated better than it was or handled better than it was. These are the things that contribute to the problems.

CO: Meanwhile, the most sought-after vaccines are those of Pfizer and Moderna. And already in this country there is great controversy about how Pfizer and Moderna have slowed down their delivery of the vaccine to us and to elsewhere. If the AstraZeneca doesn't work, does that put more pressure on those vaccines and become even more difficult to get, especially for countries are not going to pay their premium rate that they're asking?

MM: And that's exactly the thing that I would like the policy makers to consider because if you think about it, if we are going to be quick to throw out or discard options that are available in terms of vaccines that are safe already and have some efficacy, we are going to be left with a very few options. And the next option is going to be no vaccine for a long time. I would rather have the AstraZeneca vaccine than having no vaccine for a few years while we're waiting for coverage and so forth. And I understand --I mean, there is a lot of commercial interest and competition and Sinopharm is coming, Sputnik is also coming, and they are all kind of wanting to get into the market and have global coverage. So these things are also making it so difficult for policymakers to make decisions, which is why scientists have to work closely with them. But it is also a problem when scientists themselves are affiliated with some of these companies as well.

CO: And they're all pushing their version of the vaccine.

MM: Exactly. Exactly. That bothers me a lot because then you are not putting the interests of the population first.

CO: Very interesting. Very helpful. Professor Moshabela thank you.

MM: Most welcome Carol. Have a good day.

CO: You too. Good night.

CH: Mosa Moshabela is the dean of the School of Nursing and Public Health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. We reached him in Durban, South Africa.

[Music: Banjo Music]

Nunavut Mine Protest

Guest: Sheena Akoomalik

CH: About a thousand kilometres north of Iqaluit, a group of hunters are making a stand against the expansion of an iron ore mine. It took the Inuit hunters two days of travel by snowmobile to reach the remote site where they've blockaded the airstrip of the Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. The company is currently in talks to expand the mine and build a railway. Locals say that the mine has already disrupted wildlife and an expansion will do much more environmental damage. Sheena Akoomalik has been protesting against the expansion of the mine in her community of Pond Inlet, Nunavut. That's where we reached her.

CO: Sheena, I know you're not there at that airport site at Mary River Mine, but can you describe what the group of hunters is doing?

SHEENA AKOOMALIK: So right now, we have about 15 skidoos, more than 15 people, 15 hunters at Mary River blocking the airstrip and also the road between the Mary River and Pond Inlet.

CO: It is not exactly that they can go to the store and get supplies. So what do they have to sustain them while they have this protest out there?

SA: I would imagine they would have their full survival gear like their Coleman stove, their water supply, their food. I heard they caught some Caribou along the way, so they do have some Caribou meat and they would have brought whatever they can cook out there.

CO: And what kind of weather do you know that they've got right now?

SA: Right now we have about -35 degrees. It's pretty cold.

CO: Tell us about why they're there.

SA: The hunters are there to make a statement about the impact that we are seeing. Our rights, our culture, wildlife, our environment are supposed to be protected under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. So rights are being ignored right now and we're making a statement.

CO: Baffinland is the company and it wants to substantially increase the amount of iron ore it extracts, but it also wants to run a rail system, is that right?

SA: That's correct. They want to build two railways -- only one which they have shown as a model, and the other one, which they haven't even shown as a model. So we wouldn't even know where they would want the second railway. And we are protesting for the railway not to be built. It will permanently have an impact on our Caribou migration.

CO: The company insists that it is going to do this with the least impact on the environment. Why don't you and others trust the company?

SA: Because since the shipping started in 2015, the people living in the outpost camp near Mary River and Pond Inlet, their camp is already being covered by the dust from the mine. So we're already seeing impact from the shipment from 2015 to 2020. Within just the five years, we have seen a lot of impact on the land and on our animals.

CO: Tell us about the impact you've seen on the animals.

SA: We are seeing less Caribou near Pond Inlet, we are having to order Caribou from Kugluktuk area, which is another area of the Nunavut territory. We're seeing less seals. And the ships that are parked near the area is a migrating area for the narwhals, so we're seeing a lot less narwhals, seals, and fish.

CO: I'll just read this one statement, which they say, "We have not always done things the way that we wanted or the way that others may have wanted us to, but we have been learning from Inuit and we'll be applying those lessons to this expansion." What do you make of that?

SA: I think it's a great idea, however, they should have done this prior to the project starting. So they're starting a project in the middle of a project. So it's unfair to the environment. It's unfair to the Inuit.

CO: They seem to be suggesting that they think they've learnt from their mistakes. Do you think they have?

SA: If they have learnt from their mistakes, they would not be proposing doubling the shipment of ore. Their presentation did not even include the negative impacts of mine. They only made it sound like everything they're doing is great, all the money that they're donating and contributing to the Inuit organisation, they're just making themselves look great and not mentioning the negative impact in their presentation.

CO: But Baffinland says it also employs 288 Inuit -- they did so in 2019 before COVID. And that they've awarded more than almost 300 million in contracts to Inuit-owned companies. Are there Nunavut Inuit who support this project?

SA: I personally do not support this -- 288 employees is a very small number compared to the number of people in Nunavut. This will have a huge impact on the whole territory, not just less than 300 people we're talking about the whole territory. And as for the money that they're contributing, this will not replace the wildlife that are not coming to a community, to our land.

CO: How is the mining company responding to the protest up near the airport?

SA: They were not responding to any of the news releases up until today. So I heard that they will let them be for now and that there would be an update later.

CO: And how long do you think that the hunters will stay at Mary River Mine?

SA: Right now, I have no idea how long they plan to be over there. We're trying to make a statement to be heard.

CO: All right. Well we're hearing you Sheena. And I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

SA: Thank you very much Carol.

CH: We reached Sheena Akoomalik in Pond Inlet, Nunavut.

[Music: Guitar Music]

Nova Scotia Two-Headed Bird

Guest: Earlene Gill

CH: A call in show on CBC Radio's 'Information Morning Cape Breton' is used to getting local news about birds. It's called Bird Hour, so it would be weird if it wasn't. But this call was a little different.

STEVE SUTHERLAND: Our next caller is Bill Gill in Blacketts Lake. Good morning Bill.

BILL GILL: Good morning.

STEVE SUTHERLAND: What's on your mind?

BILL GILL: I've had a strange sighting here in our yard a couple of times. I have a two headed partridge.

STEVE SUTHERLAND: What's that now?

BILL GILL: A two headed partridge.

STEVE SUTHERLAND: Is this the beginning of a joke?

BILL GILL: No, it isn't.

CH: In case you're as justifiably confused as host Steve Sutherland, Bill Gill from Cape Breton just said that he had seen a two headed partridge in his backyard. For confirmation we reached Mr. Gill's wife, Earlene Gill. She's in Blacketts Lake, Cape Breton.

CO: Earlene, we just heard your husband Bill's call into Bird Hour on CBC Radio in Cape Breton. Were you as shocked as Steve Sutherland was when you saw the bird?

EARLENE GILL: I certainly was. I didn't know, you know, what it was at first. And it was quite a large bird. And then, of course, to see the two heads like that was shocking. But the first day that it arrived, it was kind of a dark afternoon and Bill wasn't really able to get any pictures like that day. But we just watched it like around the yard for a bit. And then it just flew off and it seemed like it didn't fly fast. And so that was it. So then every day, though, we would keep looking out. And here the next week, exactly a week here, I happened to look out and hear the partridge was there -- the two headed partridge.

CO: Wow. Describe what it looked like.

EG: Well it was...oh gosh. Like it's a dark colour and quite a bit larger than what I expected. But the part that really just threw me off was seeing the two heads like on this one bird. And I still can't get my head around it really, because we've just never seen anything like that before on our property. And we've had all kinds of different animals here over the years. And this was definitely the strangest sighting for sure.

CO: That's the first time you ever saw a two headed animal then?

EG: Oh, absolutely. Yes. Yeah, I never, ever saw anything like that before.

CO: You can tell that Bill, your husband Bill, is a bit hesitant as he's telling Steve Sutherland -- did you worry that people were going to wonder what you were smoking?

EG: [Laughs] We don't do any smoking. Neither one of us are smokers for anything. [Laughter]

CO: When you started telling people, did you they think that you had lost your minds?

EG: Well, I think they thought that, yeah, we were maybe just making this up or whatever. But I mean, we were shocked by what we were seeing. And really and truly, if you didn't see it, I can fully understand. So the second time the partridge came around, which was exactly a week later, Bill was able to get the pictures. And so when you have the pictures, it's right in our own backyard. And I mean, I just look at it every day and I just still can't believe it.

CO: How difficult was it for Bill to get the photo? I mean, how did he sneak up on this two headed bird?

EG: Well, he went out on the veranda first and he took a few pictures and then he wanted to get closer. So he did go down on the ground. But as soon as he started going towards them, that's when they decided to move on.

CO: When you say "they" you're convinced that these are two birds?

EG: Well, honestly, I refer to it as "the partridge." But when you see the two heads, but yet you know they are conjoined -- because we saw them right from the start, even the first day that they came in they were attached, there was no denying.

CO: Right. Has anyone confirmed -- have you had any kind of expert advice on whether this is possible?

EG: Well, there was a write up. My sister in Halifax -- she kind of looked after putting all the information out there. And some of the people at the university -- I'm shocked myself because this is our first experience in seeing anything like this -- but I am surprised like that there haven't been any in Nova Scotia, any two headed birds.

CO: Are they fairly common?

EG: No, it's not a common thing at all. But I would have thought somewhere like over the years like that there would have been two headed birds anywhere, really. But this is our first experience of it in Nova Scotia for sure.

CO: Are you getting a lot of calls?

EG: We're getting a lot of calls. Yes, we are.

CO: And are people visiting? Because, you know, that's the first thing that happens if you get say you've got an interesting bird, they descend on you, right?

EG: Yes. And so what we did, we kind of thought that, yes, that was probably going to happen. So then we did go down and we got more pictures developed, to be able to hand them out because there again, I can fully appreciate that if people didn't actually see a picture of it, at least, you know, who would believe it.

CO: [Laughter] You're right. So are you leaving any food out? Are you hoping to attract this...

EG: Oh, no, not at all. We hadn't had anything out. And then this gentleman that called this morning from B.C. and he suggested -- I was kind of lamenting to him that I hope that the partridge will come back, I'd really like to see it again. And he said, well, put out some apples. And so I did. But I'm really, really hoping -- I would like to see them at least one last time.

CO: Okay. You let us know if you see it again or them or it. [Laughs]

EG: [Laughs] Thank you very much.

CH: Earlene Gill saw a two headed bird in her backyard. We reached her in Blacketts Lake, Cape Breton.

[Music: Calm Music]

Cleaning Videos

CH: You can watch a lot of things online that it's hard to imagine actually wanting to watch. People opening boxes or wrapping their faces with tape or popping or lancing various carbuncles and pustules. But one subgenre of the watching people doing things genre has captured the imagination of a skyrocketing number of viewers: cleaning videos in which one can watch someone who is not you clean a home that is not yours. We're talking billions of views. And to answer your question, yes, the videos are dirty, but they aren't that kind of dirty.

VOICE 1: [Liquid being sprayed sound] You see all that? That's going to be kind of hard to get off. [Water sounds in background] Have I ever cleaned this tub? No. Will I ever clean this tub after this? Probably not. This is a one-time tub cleaning subject. We get all up in there. [Screams in disgust]

VOICE 2: Something is living in there. There's something alive. [Water sounds] Some type of being that's living in there and it smells like [puking sound]

CH: And according to The New York Times, the videos are not only getting more popular, they're getting grosser. I guess there's nothing like being stuck in the same place for months on end to really focus the mind on all the gunk that in regular times is pretty easy to ignore...What is this on my microphone? Oh, it's hummus. I hope it's hummus. Listen, cleaning can feel endless and repetitive and endless and repetitive, which is why there's disproportionate joy to be had in a big slimy hunk of hair being removed from a drain or layers of grungy sediment disappearing from a microphone. Or maybe there's something deeper in our yearning to witness a deep clean, a gross yet beautiful way to revel in our skin cells sloughing, filth producing shared humanity with some good, clean fun.

[Music: Guitar Music]

Part 2: This ER nurse spent a week alone on an island watching movies in a lighthouse

California DoorDash Stolen Car

Guest: Jeffrey Fang

CH: Around 9 o'clock on Saturday night, DoorDash driver Jeffrey Fang was making a delivery in San Francisco. When he got back to his minivan, he discovered to his horror that someone was stealing it with his two young children inside. We reached Mr. Fang at home with his children in San Francisco.

CO: Jeffrey, first of all, how are your kids doing?

JEFFREY FANG: They're safe at home. They're okay.

CO: How are you doing?

JF: I'm trying to put this behind me, really. There are a lot of emotions going on. Most importantly, the kids are home. They're safe from their interaction with their older brother. They seem normal, which is a blessing. I'm glad and I'm hoping that it stays that way.

CO: And their ages are? Four and one?

JF: Winni is four years old and Sean is almost two years old.

CO: Okay. So they're with you in the car, you are making a delivery, a DoorDash delivery on Saturday night around 9:00 p.m.. What happened when you came back from the door?

JF: I came back from the delivery location, which all in all took about a minute. I found a man in my car sitting in the driver position where I would have been if I was driving my car.

CO: With the kids there?

JF: The kids were inside, yes.

CO: And the car was running?

JF: The car was running.

CO: What happened then?

JF: I proceed to rush up to my car and open the door. At that point, the car thief did not figure out how to lock my car yet. So he basically tried to put the car in gear to leave. And what I did was I just use my one hand to grab as he put the car in reverse, trying to back out into the street. I grab his armpit, reach under his armpit and grab him, and then the other hand holding the car door open so that he can't leave. He is bigger than me slightly. So I wasn't able to drag him out, but I wasn't letting him go either, not with my kids inside. So he left the car, but he grabbed my phone as an act of opportunity when he couldn't take my car, then that's when I noticed that he has a getaway car and an accomplice driving a getaway car. I made a decision to rush after him for my phone that he took from me just half second ago because that was my only source of income at that point. So what ensued was I reached their getaway vehicle grab onto the door handle, and they dragged me along with their car as they were fleeing for about a block or so before I was able to get into their car.

CO: Did you get your phone back?

JF: I did. I thought that was the end of it. And being out of breath, I rushed back to my car as soon as I could to find that my car was gone. Some of the neighbours at the delivery address were alerted to the scuffle and the authorities came out and they actually witnessed that same car circled back and another person came out of their car and drove my car away with the children inside.

CO: This is every parent's worst nightmare. So at that point, what was going through your mind? What were you thinking?

JF: Fear, panic, basically. "Oh my god, what am I going to do?" Fear and panic, I guess, would be an understatement, but that would be the starting point of one of the feeling. And obviously 911 right away -- I called the police. And the neighbours were already out, ready to help. Basically, every avenue I could think of to put the word out, I utilised it.

CO: Tell us about the moment when you realised your children were safe, that the police had found them.

JF: When they told me that the children were found in the car and the car has been located, it was relief beyond words. It was elation. I was just super thankful and just elated.

CO: And how long after they were taken did you get that news?

JF: [Kids talking in background] About four hours or so.

CO: I think I just heard one of your kids there in the background.

JF: Yeah, my daughter, she likes to stick to me. But I'm just letting her be here right now.

CO: She's still a bit rattled?

JF: [Kids saying "Papa" in the background] No, she's acting normal.

CO: Yeah, I'm sure she'll be okay. Just one thing -- I know you've answered this elsewhere, but why were your children with you on your delivery?

JF: [Jeffrey talking to the kids briefly in the background] My children were with me because there was no babysitter or childcare options available for me at the time. More importantly, I'm the one making income for my household, a family of five with my wife and three kids. My wife had to stay home with three kids. We share the load and she's at home. And I try my best to make as much money as possible out there. And the gig work was my only source and I was just maximising as much as possible.

CO: Absolutely.

JF: And normally if I just deliver, I just deliver food -- I got in and out of the car. [Kids talking to Jeffrey in the background] And it is not something that one would expect.

CO: I'm going to let you go because your daughter needs you. But just one thing that people have mentioned is that your case, your story is the illustration of what's wrong with the gig economy, that you don't get paid enough in order to get the day care you need and the day care is not available even if you could pay for it because of this lacking there. So do you think that's the case?

JF: So, yes, there's a...hold on one second. [Jeffrey talking to his kids in the background] Yeah, so there's a long answer and short answer. The short answer is yes to that question.

CO: Well, I would like to hear more about what you're up against in the gig economy, but I think your your daughter needs you and I think she's the priority here. So I'm going to let you go and thank you for speaking with us. And I'm so glad your kids are safe.

JF: Yeah. Thank you.

CH: Jeffrey Fang is a DoorDash delivery driver in San Francisco. On the weekend while he was making a delivery, a thief stole his van with his children inside. As you heard, they were found safe several hours later.

[Music: Calm Music]

Sonya Savage

CH: When Alberta's provincial government quietly scrapped a decades old policy on coal mining last year, consultation was anything but vigorous and lengthy. But provincial Energy Minister Sonya Savage promises a new process will be both. Earlier today, the minister announced the reinstatement of the 1976 policy. She says whatever ultimately replaces it will be a document that Albertans will have a hand in crafting. That's a welcome reversal to critics of last year's change, including High River Mayor Craig Snodgrass, who told us the province had done its best to ensure few people knew the policy had even been rescinded. Minister Savage says that was the wrong approach and that the United Conservative Party has learnt its lesson.

SONYA SAVAGE: An important part of being a responsible government is to admit when you've made a mistake and to fix it. And that's what we are doing here today. First, Alberta's government will reinstate the full 1976 coal policy. This includes the four land categories that determines where and how coal leasing, exploration, and development could occur. We recognise that rescinding this policy has caused tremendous fear and anxiety that Alberta's majestic eastern slopes would be forever damaged by mountaintop and open pit coal mining. Let me be clear: this will not happen in Alberta. That's why, in addition to reinstating the policy, I have issued two directives to the Alberta Energy Regulator. Number one, mountaintop removal will be permitted, and all of the restrictions under the 1976 coal categories are to apply on surface mining in Category Two lands. Number two, all future coal development and coal sales on Category Two lands is to be paused indefinitely, pending consultations on a new modern coal policy. I will provide details on what the new coal policy consultation process will look like in the weeks ahead. However, I do want to provide some context around our decision in the spring to rescind it. First, we felt that a number of its provisions had become outdated -- for example, the policy predated what we now know about climate change, and it referred to thermal coal as being a clean source of energy. Second, we intended to manage coal on an equal footing with other mineral resources like oil and gas. We felt that this would streamline regulatory matters and provide more certainty for government and stakeholders. However, Albertans views are clear. They expect us to manage coal differently. What we're doing today is what we should have done in the beginning.

CH: Sonya Savage is Alberta's UCP energy minister. She spoke with reporters today.

[Music: Guitar Music]

Swedish Film Fest Winner

Guest: Lisa Enroth

CH: Seven days on a remote island in Sweden alone, inside a lighthouse with moving works of art about the human condition would give anyone a lot to think about. Lisa Enroth just emerged from that singular experience with no phone, no computer, and no one else to talk to. Her only companions were the sound of crashing waves and dozens of films supplied by the Gothenburg Film Festival.

LISA ENROTH: [SOUNDCLIP: I'm Lisa. I am the chosen one. I have been chosen to stay in this marvellous place for one week, watching movies and enjoying the nature and the serenity and the loneliness.]

CH: That was Ms. Enroth in her first video diary. She was the chosen one, selected from thousands of applicants to spend a week all alone in a lighthouse watching films. You might remember, we spoke with the festival's organiser about the contest last month. Over the course of her seven days there, she did review a lot of films, more than 30. But there were also moments of introspection. Here's Ms. Enroth on day five.

LISA ENROTH: [SOUNDCLIP: Yesterday, I was a bit emotional. When will we ever stop being afraid of each other? Because I feel that that is what happened during this COVID thing. We started to fear each other at the grocery market. When you hear someone coughing or sneezing, you sort of look at them with fear or with anger. And I wonder when that behaviour will stop.]

CH: We reached Lisa Enroth in Skovde, Sweden.

CO: Lisa, first of all, would you recommend being alone on a remote island in a lighthouse for a week watching movies?

LISA ENROTH: I really enjoyed it so I could recommend it to others to do that.

CO: Do you think it would be better for certain types of character and personality than others?

LE: I think you need to be able to stand yourself [chuckles] to be able to endure having a long time with yourself, and I found that really easy because I normally live alone and losing my cell phone that was a brilliant move. That was the best thing about being on the island, not being able to use your cell phone.

CO: We heard a bit of you from day one to day five. Lots of reflection. Before we get to the movies, what was the effect of that?

LE: Well, I slowed down quite a bit. I got to think a lot about the last year and what has happened during COVID and my work. It has definitely slowed me down.

CO: And your work is what?

LE: I'm a nurse at the emergency ward in my town.

CO: Oh my. So you are in the front line of what you're describing in COVID.

LE: True, I am.

CO: So what a wonderful escape that must have been to have a week away from all of that.

LE: Yeha. And I think that was one of the main points that made me apply. And that was, I think, the thing that made them choose me to go there.

CO: It wasn't just being alone on an island for a week. You were the film festival audience for this year, right, for Gothenburg. And so what was it like to watch all those movies for a week?

LE: Wow. It was lots of input. It was lots of images being thrown at you. And because I was alone watching them, I didn't have anyone to reflect the movies with. So that meant that it was a lot of thoughts, unprocessed in my mind. But when I watched through the program now and the movies I saw there, I remember all of them and I remember how I felt when I saw them.

CO: You mentioned in one of your video diaries -- that we heard at the beginning -- in one of them you mentioned a German film, I think, Undine. And you said that that was not one to watch alone. What is it about that particular movie?

LE: Well, there was a lot of things that I would like to have discussed. There were lots of threads unrevealed. I did not quite understand some stuff in it. It was a movie that needed some communication around to be able to like "What did they mean with that symbol? And how did she end up and did he die or...no?" It was also lots of emotions and love. And yeah, I felt a bit lonely after that one.

CO: Yeah. You mentioned that it was not to be watched alone because at the end of it you missed hugs.

LE: Oh yeah, I did. I felt so alone now that you remind me of it, yeah. But that has been the same during this whole year so it was difficult.

CO: So what do you think you learnt about yourself in this? I don't want to be too personal, but what was the headline? What do you tell people when they ask you "what was that like?"

LE: Oh, well, what did I learn about myself? I learnt that I feel better when I put my phone away. Especially if I'm to watch movies now, I'm not going to have my phone nearby because that is such a distraction. What did I learn about myself? Maybe that I am able to do this. I am able to isolate myself and be comfortable with myself and no one around. I can do that.

CO: That's wonderful. And of course, how many films did you see?

LE: About 30. I saw all the movies that were screened during my days there. So I saw all the movies I could. And it was 30 full length movies and then there were lots of shorter ones.

CO: Anything that stands out for you. What's the standout film?

LE: The one -- there were so many -- but the one that I keep talking about is A Song Called Hate from Iceland -- the Eurovision One. I felt it was a political movie. It was an art movie. There was lots of feelings going on and there were lots of people in that movie. And I needed to watch a lot of people doing stuff together. [Laughs].

CO: It's called A Song Called Hate?

LE: Yes, A Song Called Hate. It's about this Icelandic Eurovision band. And then they made a political statement during the Eurovision Song Contest with a Palestine Flag.

CO: And it is a documentary?

LE: Yes, it is.

CO: When we spoke to the festival organiser last month, I mentioned that the whole thing felt a little Ingmar Bergman: being alone on an island through, the lighthouse. [Chuckles] Did it feel some time that you could actually make a movie of somebody alone on an island in a lighthouse with nothing to do but watch movies?

LE: If there was someone doing a movie about me being on this island, that would have been pretty boring [laughter]. Except when I tried to convince the stove to work with me -- it was a gas stove and I'm not used to it. That might have been a comedy, but otherwise that movie would be very Ingmar Bergman-ish. [Laughter]

CO: All right Lisa, we'll leave it there. It's great to talk to you.

LE: Oh, thank you.

CH: We reached Lisa Enroth in Skovde, Sweden. Ms. Enroth was chosen from thousands of contestants by the Gothenburg Film Festival to spend a week alone on a remote island watching movies. For some photos and video of her unforgettable experience, go to our website: cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Piano Music]

Elk Rescue

CH: Watching an avalanche can be thrilling. Getting caught in one can kill you. So it's best to take the guesswork out of when they might happen. In the Rockies last week, railroad crews were using explosives to trigger avalanches. And Jesse Dahlberg was watching from Field, a town in southeastern B.C. when he spotted an elk in the wrong place at the wrong time.

JESSE DAHLBERG: There's an elk right underneath Pilsner Pillar, and it's going to get killed in a few seconds. Poor elk! Oh god. [Censor bleeps] Is it going to run? There it goes! It just got smoked.

CH: That was Jesse Dahlberg watching as an elk tried but could not outrun the avalanche of snow coming toward it. Here's Mr. Dahlberg telling the CBC what happened next.

JESSE DAHLBERG: So there's actually a foot trail. I knew exactly where the trail started and it took me four minutes to walk up there. I noticed that the snow was very flat. And 15 feet away from me, I could have stepped on it. All I saw was the nostrils, an eye and a little piece of the fur and a shoulder sticking out. I could tell it was alive. It was looking at me. I could see its nose moving because it just kind of startled, just very subtle. And it couldn't move. It was in that snow like concrete. And just a few pieces were showing. And it was so lucky that its nostrils was sticking out. I started digging. I called my friend and asked him to bring up some shovels as fast as he could because it was alive. And I wanted to save it. Because it was in there for an hour and 40 minutes before we got there, so I figured it was cold. I had to dig it by hand at first until I had my friend get up there with the shovel. When I figured the snow was cleared enough all I did was I gave it a little shove, just a little bit to get it going, to get it moving, because it wasn't moving at all when I was pretty much free. And after I gave it a little light shove, it wiggled out, got straight up, walked out of the hole and then walked about four feet away and then looked at me and Patrick and just stood there, didn't move. It was all scraggly and just stared at us. I put my arms up and started cheering because I was so excited that it was alive and not broken, because the whole time I didn't know if its back was broken or its legs were broken or how broken it was. And then I figured I better calm down cause I don't need it to freak out from me cheering. So I calmed down. And then we walked away. And as we walked down, I turned back to look at it and it still was standing in the exact same spot, just staring at us, not moving. And we walked back down to the truck and left.

CH: Jesse Dahlberg telling CBC host Chris Walker how he helped rescue an elk today on Daybreak South.

[Music: Guitar Music]

MS Estonia

CH: Last year, two documentary filmmakers made a shocking discovery that challenged the long held narrative of how the MS Estonia ferry sank. And today they learnt their discovery wouldn't send them to prison. A Swedish court cleared the filmmakers of desecration of the wreckage site, but just barely. In a statement, the court said they had committed acts that are punishable under the so-called Estonia act, but could not be punished because at the time they were on a German flagged ship in international waters. In September 1994, the MS Estonia ferry sank in the Baltic Sea, killing 852 people. An investigation blamed a door that had been torn open. But the documentary "Estonia: The Find That Changes Everything" threw doubt on that conclusion. Last October, filmmaker Henrik Evertsson spoke with As It Happens guest host Helen Mann about his discovery.

HENRIK EVERTSSON: Well, actually, what we found, we found a big hole on the starboard side of Estonia. It's four metres high and one-point-two meters wide.

HM: That is a significant hole. And yet, I understand no one had any knowledge of this before now.

HE: Exactly. We haven't found any documentation that this was known from before. That's correct.

HM: The investigators of the disaster concluded back in 1997 that the ferry sank because a door was torn open at sea. How could they have missed this whole?

HE: That's a very good question, because in our research, we’ve interviewed a lot of survivors, the survivors were concluded as victims of this disaster and couldn't witness. Because of different reasons, they were not seen upon as witnesses. But when we interview them, they are telling a total different story than the final report are suggesting. For example, they are hearing a big bang. And they also feel a big bang. So that was something that drew their suspicions to that it might have been significant other reasons why the ship went down.

HM: So is the assumption that the vessel hit something?

HE: Well, they say that it's an impact damage from the outside, yeah. What has created this damage, that's uncertain at the moment.

HM: The authorities never raised the ship, and they left it as a Seagrave, also prohibiting any exploration of the wreckage. You are facing charges now for doing so. Why did you take that risk?

HE: For me, the safety at sea is so much more important question. And to do critical journalism in this handling of the Estonia disaster was more important than those criminal charges. But I would also like to mention that we did a lot of both the legal and ethical judgments before we even made the dive. This grave site treaty was not signed by Germany, for example, and we had a German flagged ship. And also, the wreck is resting on the international waters.

HM: This disaster killed 852 people, 137 survived. What kind of reaction have you had from the survivors and from the family members of those killed?

HE: Yes. As you mentioned, this is the worst maritime disaster in peacetime Europe since the Titanic went down. And, of course, there are a lot of relatives from every corner of Europe. And my phone has gone warm. People are calling me and they are crying and they are thankful because now maybe the truth can be revealed.

CH: That was documentary filmmaker Henrik Evertsson speaking with As It Happens guest host Helen Mann last October. Today, a Swedish court acquitted him on charges of desecrating the wreckage of the MS Estonia ferry.

[Music: Synth Music]

Part 3: How one Indigenous doctor is tackling vaccine hesitancy, starting with her own mom

Indigenous Vaccine Hesitancy

Guest: Ojistoh Horn

CH: Over the past few weeks, we've asked a lot of people when and how Canadians will be able to get their COVID-19 vaccinations -- politicians, doctors, pharmaceutical companies. But for some Indigenous people living in Canada, the question isn't when or how, it's whether. Whether vaccines are safe for them and whether they can trust any plan touted by institutions with a long and far from ancient history of abusing their communities. That scepticism is what a coalition of health care organisations has set out to address through a new virtual hub developed by Women's College Hospitals Centre for Wise Practises in Indigenous Health. Dr. Ojistoh Horn is part of the initiative. She's a Mohawk physician and the sole family doctor practising in Akwesasne outside Cornwall, Ontario. That's where we reached her.

CO: Dr. Horn, what do you hear from people about their reasons for hesitancy when it comes to these vaccines?

OJISTOH HORN: Well, the hesitancy comes from a long historical record of injustices having to do directly with the Indian Act, which always led in the direction of trying to use our bodies as a way of doing research and removing our children from our sphere of influence and putting us in situations like removing us from where we came from and putting us in communities very far away. And so that's where that comes from.

CO: So deeply into the colonial memory. You mentioned children were used in experiments in residential schools. And the delivery of disease into Indigenous communities that killed so many. All of that fresh in people's minds?

OH: That's right. Especially because we have the moccasin telegraph. We have storytelling as a way of transmitting information through generations over time. And so we grew up with these stories and feel like they happened within the recent sphere. Even though the memory may be very old, it still is alive.

CO: Those are not easy things to forget for a society. So what can you do? What arguments or what tools, what stories perhaps you can use in order to persuade people?

OH: One of the biggest, most strongest, most powerful person in my life is my mother, Kahentinetha, who has been a force to be reckoned with in terms of understanding our history and our culture and in trying to figure out why we make certain decisions and be responsible for our decisions. So she has been the most important person that I have had to talk to so that she can make the right decision as to taking the vaccination.

CO: It would be great to hear her voice and we have it. This is a live stream discussion the other day -- you alongside your mother. And here she is, Kahentinetha Horn, telling you what she thinks of all this. So here she is.

KAHENTINETHA HORN: I'm old enough and some of us are old enough to remember how badly we've been treated health wise. And so that's still in our mind and what has happened to us in the past. And I'll tell you that really shakes us up. We're scared. Like myself, I'm afraid that my name might be on a list because I didn't take the vaccine, we don't know what's going to happen. We feel like we're being used as lab rats. And that's what they did in the past.

CO: That is a very chilling clip -- information there. But what does she mean she said she's afraid that if she doesn't get the vaccine, her name might be on a list?

OH: Well, we have to recognise that my mom grew up in a very difficult time. Our cultures, our ceremonies had to go underground and far away from the eyes of the RCMP and the schools. And so she would have to go into the woods with her family to be able to go through ceremony. So she's grown up with this feeling of fiercely protecting the knowledge that she has learnt and of course, her body. It just goes on through every different part of her life, including into the 60s and the Sixties Scoop -- being involved peripherally with many of the movements that were happening at that time and, of course, things that were happening back home leading up to the Oka Crisis that happened in Kanesatake. And then just most recently with the Gitxsan blockades that happened out in British Columbia. So her entire life has been around this understanding that she is under persecution and fighting. So for her to relinquish that and bring down her guard to allow for this vaccine that she knows very little about is really really hard for her.

CO: It's fascinating when you do that, because when you tie this long history, deep history of the colonial treatment of Indigenous people to recent news events and as a continuum. So that's an extraordinary amount of memory. So what do you say to counter that? How do you answer your mother when she says this about the vaccine?

OH: Well, there's a few things. The first thing is that when we were younger, she never told us what to do. She said, I don't care what you do, you just do it really well. And so my sisters and I, we all went on our paths and sought to be the best at what we were. In our culture, every child is born with this incredible gift, and our job as the families, as a community is to make the space so that child can grow up and come across their gift and then one day have a voice to that gift and be able to then express it and teach it. So here I've been sort of on the sidelines. A lot of things have happened over the course of my life. And then now we have this huge pandemic. And so this gift that I have nurtured over my entire life is right here. And I have this responsibility to be able to express it in the way that, most importantly, my mom can understand so that so that she can make the best decision.

CO: I understand you had concerns about getting the vaccine yourself, is that right?

OH: That's right. Yeah. And a lot of people have talked about not understanding where it comes from or being very uncomfortable with how quickly it was developed. And I'm not a virologist. I don't work in a lab. So it took a lot for me to really understand the science and then realise, okay, this is going to be okay. And so I had to go through my own process of discovery. And I also was really really affected by seeing the emergence of this illness in the community and recognising that as the only full-time family doctor here, I am the only person who goes to all different parts of the community into the long-term care homes and doing home visits and then seeing the babies and the moms and the prenatal visits. Like I'm all in different intersections and I have an absolute responsibility to keep myself as safe as possible so that I don't become a super spreader, which would be devastating. So I did the vaccine.

CO: Dr. Horn I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

OH: Thank you very much.

CH: Dr. Ojistoh Horn is a Mohawk family physician in Akwesasne along the St. Lawrence River. That's where we reached her. And you can find more on this story on our website, cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Guitar Music]

Grace

CH: It's not every teenager that spends their weekends participating in round tables on juvenile justice, and their weekends canvassing with community organisations. But a Michigan 16 year old known as Grace has a deeply personal reason for her commitment to that work. Last May, she was incarcerated in suburban Detroit for not doing her homework. The lapse happened in the context of the pandemic in a turbulent shift to online learning. But it was technically a violation of Grace's probation on larceny and assault charges, and that was enough for the judge to take. Grace's detainment prompted widespread calls for reform and for her release. We covered that response on the show. And in August, Grace got to go home. Now she's speaking out about her experience. Here's some of what she said in a forum organised by ProPublica, which first reported on her story.

GRACE: I honestly just want people to know that my experience in the juvenile system was nothing like for floaty and like rehabilitation was not being like nearly as great or up to the potential that it could have been. And I feel like I was really given the short end of the stick at the end of the day when it came to that. And I didn't see an end, I didn't see a future, and I didn't see how I was going to get out of it. But hearing that people cared and people were listening, really just...it really brought my spirits up and it really pushed me to continue doing the right thing in that situation.

JODI COHEN: And tonight, we're going to hear from a lot of different experts. And I'm wondering from you what changes you would like to see in the way the system works or doesn't work for kids. What do you want them to know to help them understand how the policies and laws need to change to either prevent children from becoming a part of the juvenile justice system? And if they do, how to help them once they are in the system?

GRACE: I feel like every child that is brought into the courtroom is not a criminal and they are not necessarily unchangeable. And I feel like they deserve to be heard no matter what the case is, no matter what they seem to have done or no matter whatever the circumstances. I feel like they deserve to have a voice. I actually remember I was in the facility and I was saying "Should I create a statement?" I was asking one of the staff, "Should I create a statement?" Like should I write my statement? I was asking for advice. And they had basically told me "Usually kids don't say anything during the trials. Usually it's just the adults talking." or whatever the case may be. And I was like kind of shocked because I remember me trying to speak in my first trial. So I was like, Okay well, I'm going to have a statement because if I'm allowed to have a statement, I'm going to say something and I'm going to try to speak my peace. And I feel like sometimes judges feel like they need to know is the law and that's it. But I think it's also important that judges know their kids and who they're helping out or not helping out.

CH: That was a Michigan 16 year old known as Grace, speaking with ProPublica as Jodi Cohen about her incarceration last year after she violated the terms of her probation by failing to submit homework.

[Music: Drum & Bass Music]

Moose Jaw Staycation

Guest:

FRASER TOLMIE: [SOUNDCLIP: Are you a Canadian politician taking heat for going away at Christmas? Listen up, I'm Fraser Tolmie -- major of Moose Jaw. And I'm notoriously lucky because I don't need to take the heat to get away from it all. Why? Thank you. Because we have it all right here in Canada's most notorious city.]

CH: That's Mayor Fraser Tolmie in a new promotional video for the city of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. In that clip, he's dressed in a white robe with cucumber slices on his eyes, lounging in a deck chair beside a beautiful indoor pool, gets up, trades the cucumber slices for a champagne flute, then a strawberry, then he drops the robe and jumps in the pool before emerging to suggest we do what Al Capone did, visit Moose Jaw. That is all real -- not the Al Capone part necessarily, that's probably apocryphal. But the video is real. So to explain himself, we reached Mayor Fraser Tolmie, in clothes presumably or at least a robe, in Moose Jaw.

CO: Mayor Tolmie the Temple Gardens Hotel and Spa sounds like a lovely place. What's the point of this video?

FRASER TOLMIE: Well, you know what? One of the things that we always want to do here in the city of Moose Jaw while everybody ziggs, I'm going to be zagging. So this is a great time to be promoting our city. You know, everybody's got their heads down and they're being challenged right now with the rules and restrictions. And we wanted to send out a positive message and a little bit of a fun message to those that are facing the challenges that if you're safe to travel [laughs] and you're a politician, your money -- it can be well spent here in the city of Moose Jaw.

CO: Okay. And fun aside, just for a moment here, I mean the message that we're hearing loud and clear everywhere is don't travel, don't go anywhere, don't do anything unnecessary in that regard. So what concerns you have about sending out a travel promotion at this point?

FT: Well, again, this is a fun, light-hearted thing. And we've been promoting staycations here in the province of Saskatchewan. And we've had a couple of politicians locally that have travelled outside of the borders. And we're having a bit of fun -- a little tongue in cheek. But at the same time, we have put disclaimers, two disclaimers was -- 1) There was no body doubles and 2) Travel and follow the rules and regulations that are out there.

CO: What are your coronavirus case numbers in Moose Jaw?

FT: Right now we are in a region, the south west region and there are 42. So the numbers are very low. And that's due to the fact that we're low population, but also we're fairly spread out. So we've been very fortunate and very blessed. But that also comes down to the discipline of our community following the rules and guidelines.

CO: And you don't worry about detracting people that come to that community where your people have done everything they can to stay safe.

FT: Well my job as a mayor is to promote the local economy. And we've got local businesses that are suffering. And my job is to -- I can't always give tax breaks, so what can I do? I can attract outside dollars to our community and help these businesses stay afloat.

CO: You start out by addressing Canadian politicians who took heat for going away at Christmas. I mean, you're trying to make some fun with that, but people didn't find that very funny. What is your message for them?

FT: Well, I mean, they didn't find it funny because they felt that there was some hypocrisy. And what they wanted was that if you're going to do this, practise what you preach. It hits close to home for me, quite honestly. I've got a mother that's in Ontario who's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. And I would like to fly out there and see her and help her out. But right now, I can't do that because the area that she's in is a hot spot and I don't want to create that. But if I had to travel, I would communicate that beforehand. And I would say to the people of this city, to the people of the province and whoever else is listening, I'm going and this is the reason because my mother and my family needs me.

CO: But just to go back to this, when you say that people who have been responsible, lots would point out to you that there's a lot of not responsible people, including those very politicians you just mentioned, and people who are supposed to be the leaders who are telling people to stay home were actually the ones that were flying around. So how responsible do you think people are?

FT: Well, for the most part, I think we have to can you know, I can only speak on behalf of my community and look at the numbers. And I'm very proud of our community. And so I want to look to where we're going and I want to have a positive message. We're going to get through this and we want to come out on the other side with prosperous businesses. And I want people to be able to survive this. And so that's what my job is to do as the mayor, is to create a healthy economy for our local business people.

CO: You're saying that you zig when others zag or the other way around -- I don't remember. [Laughs] And in the past couple of years, some of the other zagging or zigging you've done, you started a petition to make actor Jon Hamm a new Canadian citizen. And I think we covered the story of the international headlines battling a town in Norway over who had the biggest moose statue.

FT: Yeah, absolutely. And we talked about branding our community. And so when I was elected in 2016 as mayor, I wanted to bring our community together. And one of the things that we talked about was tourism. And that's an important economy in the city of Moose Jaw. And so we've been doing that. We've been promoting our community. And as a result, we've had things like Mac the Moose. And we've retained the title of having the world's tallest moose, which is very fitting for our community and for the Canadian people. To be quite honest with you, the moose should be Canada's national animal.

CO: And you also say that Al Capone is what makes Moose Jaw the most notorious city.

FT: Absolutely.

CO: Maybe you are. [Laughter]

FT: [Laughter] Maybe I am. I mean, remember, Al Capone was escaping Chicago and the heat going on during Prohibition. And mabe what we're going through right now is somewhat of a renaissance of prohibition. And maybe I'm zigging where we should be zagging.

CO: All right. We will leave it there. Mayor Tolmie thanks.

FT: Thanks Carol. You have a great day. Thanks to your listeners.

CH: Fraser Tolmie is the mayor of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. And that is where we reached him.

[Music: Guitar Music]

Jim Weatherly

CH: Started with an offhand comment by the actor Farrah Fawcett. It was 1970, she was dating the actor Lee Majors, and she just picked up the phone when a friend of his called, a struggling songwriter named Jim Weatherly. She mentioned she was taking a midnight plane to Houston. And that phrase sparked something in Mr. Weatherly. He hung up the phone and wrote the words down "Midnight plane to Houston." Maybe there was a song in it. By that evening, he'd written it, a country music love song. Now he just had to sell it. But the first to bite was not a country singer, it was soul singer Cissy Houston, who later said the whole plane thing didn't ring true for her. She told The Wall Street Journal, "My people are originally from Georgia and they didn't take planes to Houston or anywhere else. They took trains." And so "Midnight Train to Georgia"was born. Performed first by Miss Houston and then immortally by Gladys Knight and The Pips. Jim Weatherly died last week. He was 77 years old. He went on to write a lot of hits in a lot of genres, but none as indelible as a track about travelling on tracks.

February 8, 2021 Episode Transcript

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