Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
Cost of Living·FULL EPISODE

Market bubbles, electric cars — and remembering Black railway porters in Canada

We talk market weirdness, electric vehicles and Canada's future in the auto industry — and reveal the labour history of Black railway porters in this country.

The Cost of Living for February 7, 2020

CBC Radio ·
A specialist works with traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in early February, just as so-called "meme stocks" such as GameStop were fluctuating wildly. (Colin Ziemer/New York Stock Exchange via AP)
Cost of Living27:31Market bubbles, electric cars — and remembering Black railway porters in Canada
  • The Cost of Living ❤s money — how it makes (or breaks) us.
    We also repeat the following Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. in most provinces.
    Miss a segment? Find this week's stories below!
    Catch us Sundays on CBC Radio One at 12:00 p.m. (12:30 p.m. NT).

Internationally, markets are hitting all-time highs, including the Toronto Stock Exchange. Financial markers — some conventional, others less so — are going up, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The saga of GameStop, Reddit and retail investors is just one example of markets gone weird.

So is it time to worry, or just time to pay really close attention to what's happening right now?
Cost of Living9:36Bubble-licious markets and what Canadians should pay attention to
General Motors says it's going all-electric by 2035. This could be the tipping point for the electric vehicle revolution. So will Canada's auto industry come along for the ride?
Cost of Living5:02Mining for electric cars: how Canada's auto sector stays in the race

Finally, the first Black railway union in North America was formed in Canada back in 1919 — six years before that happened in the United States. It's a part of Black history in this country that still resonates today.

As Black History Month begins, we look at a part of the story told less often and how the legacy of Black porters still matters to Canadian workers today.
Cost of Living10:25Black railway porters and their place in Canadian labour history

Click at the top of this page to hear the whole episode or download the CBC Listen app.

More from this episode