As It Happens

As It Happens: Thursday Edition

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Full Episode Transcript

Part One

Viola Desmond bill
Seventy years ago, Viola Desmond refused to leave the whites-only part of a Nova Scotia cinema — and now she'll be the first Canadian woman to appear on a 10 dollar bill. 

BC family
The BC government took their children because their son had unexplained broken bones —  but now that their kids are coming back, they'll need to get a real diagnosis.

AI Christmas tune
All your favourite Christmas carols are obsolete, now that computer scientists have created a truly stirring one using artificial intelligence — a song that will make you think, and make almost no sense. 

Part Two

Snow geese
Thousands of snow geese are dead after choosing the wrong place to touch down: a toxic lake at a former Montana mine. 

Senate doctors
Ottawa wants to close a loophole that lets some doctors pay a little less tax — but a Toronto heart specialist says that legislation will end up costing all of us. 

Part Three

Ontario child advocate
It's called Katelynn's principle — named after the 7-year-old girl killed by her guardians in Toronto in 2008. And it's the centerpiece of the proposed overhaul of child welfare law in Ontario. Irwin Elman is the man who's been pushing for the changes. 

Bovine tuberculosis
When they started 2016, the Osaczuks had around two thousand head of cattle. By the time 2016's over, they'll have none. They'll all have been culled, to stop an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis.