The Current for April 2, 2019
Today on The Current: Advocates warn that the government’s new benefits system for veterans will make it harder for those suffering from PTSD to qualify for help; plus, is the end of Canadian Women's Hockey League a matter of profit, or the value we place on women’s sports?; also, how the people who write computer code are remaking our world for their own convenience; and the new season of CBC podcast Uncover, which delves into unsolved homicides in Toronto's LGBTQ community.
Today on The Current:
- Veterans applying for disability benefits now have to fill out a new, shorter government questionnaire on PTSD, which eliminates some specific questions and references to symptoms including nightmares, flashbacks and emotional numbing. Officials with Veterans Affairs Canada say the shorter form will be more efficient, but advocates warn that the change is going to make it harder for veterans to qualify for help, and could lead to more suicides.
- The Canadian Women's Hockey League has announced it will cease operations as of May 1, citing an "economically unsustainable" business model. But is the league's demise a matter of profit, or the value we place on women's sports?
- In the space of a decade or two, digital technology has become such an integral part of our daily lives that it's getting hard to imagine life without our smartphones and social media. But one author and journalist argues that the computer code underlying all our apps is also influencing how our society and wider world develops, and the people doing the coding are making decisions with far-reaching implications.
- Journalist Justin Ling talks to Anna Maria Tremonti about Uncover: The Village, the new season of the CBC podcast. As host, Ling explores the investigation into serial killer Bruce McArthur, and unsolved homicides in Toronto's LGBTQ community.