Split Loyalty

Have you ever been torn between two ideals, causes or people... and can't quite figure where your allegiance should lie? This week, Piya speaks with people who found themselves with split loyalty and either felt like they had to choose a side or embrace living on a border.

Here are the stories from this week's episode:

Former U.S. border agent witnessed a 'culture of destruction' first-hand

Francisco Cantú was a U.S. border agent for four years, policing the boundary between his country and Mexico. He was loyal to both his job and a desire to do it with humanity. But as Cantú tells Piya, he became part of a system he says is at odds with his moral code.

'I probably made things worse': Cree former prosecutor looks back regretfully on his work in Saskatchewan

During his 20 years as a lawyer and Crown prosecutor in Northern Saskatchewan, Harold Johnson sent many Indigenous offenders to jail for crimes committed while drunk. This, he says, was not helping anyone. He tells Piya why he now believes Indigenous people should be able to take over justice in their own communities.

Truth versus protection: David Chariandy negotiates how to talk to his daughter about race and belonging

Award-winning novelist David Chariandy says he's never felt divided when it comes to his own identity, but that talking to his daughter about racism and belonging — both in his family history and today — was another matter. He speaks with Piya about what he opted to tell... and how to tell it.

How this woman forgave her father's axe murderer

On a summer Sunday in 1979, Anne Marie Hagan's father was killed with an axe right in front of her. Fuelled by loyalty to her late dad, Hagan held on to her anger and self pity for 17 years. She tells Piya how a face-to-face meeting with his killer allowed her to make space for a second, new kind of loyalty.

Loyalty to her adoptive parents kept her in the dark about who her birth parents are

In 1972, Erin Melvin was adopted in British Columbia shortly after birth. When the province became Canada's first to open adoption records, Erin was curious about who her birth parents were. But, she never found out. Erin explains the various loyalties at play that prevent her from doing all that she can to find her birth parents.