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The Current Transcript for June 30, 2017

Host: Mike Finnerty

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Listen to the full episode

Prologue

[Music: Theme]

SOUNDCLIP

Over the last six years I have learned to love British Columbia even more than I ever did before. I'm so grateful for the job to have been able to do this for six years.

MIKE FINNERTY: Christy Clark loses the confidence of the B.C. legislature and the premiership now a new government takes over, but for how long? With only a one seat edge every coalition MLA will need to be present for all key votes. Coming up in half an hour, B.C.’s shaky new political era. Also today.

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: Fireworks]

MF: On the eve of the 100 50th anniversary of Confederation impressive crowds are already gathered in Ottawa. Canada as a young country, Canada day and even younger holidays. We'll hear fromB.C., Nova Scotia, from Ottawa and look at the political imperatives behind the creation of the country's national holiday. Plus a story of new Canadians setting up a new business.

SOUNDCLIP

I love it. I never expected I would be doing this. I love cooking. I cooked everyday for my kids and my uncle. You cook every day in Syria. There is no escaping it.

MF: Welcome to the Karam Kitchen a catering company started up by a group of Syrian refugees. I'm Mike Finnerty. Welcome to the summer edition of The Current.

Canada Day history has tradition of dissent, says professor

Guest: Stephanie Carvin, Matthew Hayday

SOUNDCLIP

VOICE 1:I am from Toronto actually. We just came in for the day to see the celebration.

VOICE 2: We were just watching the rehearsal and it's beautiful. Yeah.

VOICE 3: We're from Caledonia, we're here for the celebration, yes. Because of the 150, yes. We're here for the big day to see the fireworks.

VOICE 4: Something that will never in our lifetime happen again and it's just exciting to be with all the crowds.

VOICE 5: I think it's a wonderful country to live in. It's free it's warm it's friendly. Best place to be and you can't be afraid. You can't be scared. You got to go out and participate and if something happens it happens and it's nothing you can do about it.

MF: Summerly arrivals in Ottawa for this weekend's big Canada Day celebrations. As many as half a million people are expected to gather tomorrow in the nation's capital to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation. Authorities say they've taken unprecedented security measures ahead of the celebrations. Eric Decoste will be one of the many RCMP officers working on Parliament Hill this weekend.

SOUNDCLIP

Come with the family enjoy today. Anywhere you're going to go you're going to be safe because police from every force will be here. The paramedics are going to be there, also firefighters and we all work together to keep Canada safe which we've been doing for over 150 years so far so.

MF: We will be hearing from the celebrations across the country in a moment but first we're joined by Stephanie Carvin. She's an assistant professor of international relations at the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University and she is in Ottawa. Hello Professor Carvin.

STEPHANIE CARVIN: Hello.

MF: So how festive does Ottawa look? I mean you had some concerns about being able to get to our studio for the interview. What's the city look like?

STEPHANIE CARVIN: Well it's a combination of extremely festive and extremely secure. You're right. I would normally come down to the studio to do an interview like this but the first five streets, if people are familiar with Ottowa, the first five streets that are south of Parliament Hill have been basically closed off. And so it would be very difficult for me to drive my car up there today so a lot of people having to take buses or walk. So it's an interesting combination of Maple Leafs, construction sites and heavy security.

MF: It is the security so heavy that it's a bit of a downer, or how does it look?

STEPHANIE CARVIN: I don’t know. Like your introduction to this segment showed lots of people are excited and going down. I think people are prepared for it. You know increasingly we've seen over the years more and more security applied to Canada Day because of concerns about threats. But this year I know that they are actually including more streets and what they would normally block off they're using dump trucks to prevent, you know I think they're concerned about some of the vehicle attacks we've seen elsewhere in the world. So this year the security does feel a lot heavier and given everything that's happened in Europe recently I think you know there's also pressure on authorities to look like they are making sure that they're protecting Canadians as well.

MF: Well and that security also stepped in, inconveniently for candidates reputation when Indigenous protesters came to the Hill to try to set up a teepee. Now that has all changed overnight because a new agreements been struck by the RCMP and it means that the protest, teepee is a peaceful protest, is right now up quite close to the stage. Brendan Negieseck is one of the protesters.

SOUNDCLIP

I knew we weren't going to give up on getting it up here and that we were able to kind of work it out. But we kind of got to get our way for the most part we wanted to set it up between the CNE over here. And they wanted to put us up over here in the corner. But they think you know what we're trying to raise awareness on. You are not going to stick us in the corner this is exactly what… you've been sticking in the corner for the last you know 100 years. No more.

MF: I mean Professor Carvin yesterday's headlines were that these protesters were being arrested, this morning they're being escorted closer to the stage. Were security forces too heavy handed?

STEPHANIE CARVIN: You know I wasn't there, it's hard to judge. I have friends who were there who tell me quite passionately that the protest was peaceful,l that you know that they hadn't bring this teepee, that you know it is all very ceremonial and that you know it is unfortunate. You know it's one thing when you're gearing up for these events that you know you're always thinking of a worst case scenario. You're on guard for things and you can see how there could be a miscommunication there. What I'm very happy with is I think when you have this kind of situation the best thing you want is a de-escalation, right? You want to kind of try and de-escalate the situation. Not in a way that diminishes the significance of the protest. But you know de-escalate tension tries to get a new understanding. It seems that both parties worked towards that yesterday. And frankly I'm very pleased by that, that you know hopefully calmer heads prevailed and that in the light of day.

MF: I mean it does it underscore the challenges, doesn't it, in providing security these days? Because I mean we are celebrating a democracy and it's a democracy. And that's the way we like it. That means people need to be allowed to speak their minds, they need to be able to protest peacefully, awkwardly but peacefully. And they also need to celebrate without you know feeling intimidated or else it's not much of a party so I wonder how close you think we have got to getting that right this weekend in Ottawa?

STEPHANIE CARVIN: We'll it's going to be interesting to see. I mean we've got it wrong before such as the G-20 protest which you know people still talk about and heavy handed police presence and the [unintelligible]. I think we're far from that now. But you know, so I think that's what a lot of this is going to be is you know, forces should be and to a large extent are trained in these kind of de-escalation techniques and I think that's probably the best. But you know like you said at the same time we know that there's going to be a heavy police presence with snipers and carbines. So you know it's going to be a real challenge for the people who are in charge of promoting security. The one thing I would say the good news here is that again you know we didn't start planning for this last week we didn't start planning for this after the Manchester attacks we started planning for this event a year ago, and we have many, you know we have a lot of experience here in Ottawa actually running it. So that's probably the good news on first of all security front and then second of all again, you know I personally believe that dissent is very patriotic. It's important for Canadians to feel free to peacefully express their views so you know hopefully that will happen as well.

MF: Stephanie carven Thanks for your time and I hope you get a chance to enjoy the weekend.

STEPHANIE CARVIN: Well thank you so much.

MF: Stephanie Carvin assistant professor of international relations at the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University in the thick of it, in Ottawa. Of course there will be celebrations from coast to coast to coast marking Canada Day, and not just your typical barbecues and fireworks. In Vancouver a network of Chinese Canadian organizations has been working for three years on a drumming circle to mark the sesquicentennial. They're attempting to break a Guinness World Record for having “the most nationalities in a drum circle”. To break the record they'll need drummers of at least 50 nationalities. Producer Anne Penman dropped by a rehearsal at the Chinese Cultural Center.

SOUNDCLIP

VOICE 1: So, the end of this old man came rolling home. A slight pause, that pause will be demonstrated by two taps. You understand? Okay, let's go.

[Sound: Drums]

VOICE 2: My name is Alfred Buh. I'm the impromptu conductor of this [unintelligible] group of amateur drummers. I just hope that by leadership and this, to inspire a few of those who are trying to unite with us to demonstrate Canada’s incredible diversity, our incredible harmony and tolerance. And that's the whole message that we're trying to spread on Canada day as demonstrated by this drum circle.

[Sounds: Drums and singing]

VOICE 3: My name is Richard Wong. I'm from Vancouver. Being in Canada about 50 years and I'm very proud to be Canadian. This is our home and we love this country. So what is the best way to express our happiness? So based on our research, most of the culture when they express happiness, they drum, right? That is the highest form of musical, emotional and feeling expression of happiness because you can't hit the table. It's a drum. You know all you can in the wilderness just get a couple of tree branches and hit the trunk. That is a drum. July 1^st, at your local time which you equal to Vancouver 11 a.m. just pick up whatever your own drum. Just drum whatever you like. Express yourself of happiness to celebrate Canada 150 Happy Birthday.

MF: The Canada 150 Atlantic to Pacific drumming celebration begins in Vancouver tomorrow morning. The group is also coordinating live simultaneous drumming in eight cities across the country at 11:00 a.m. pacific to celebrate Canada's 150. Meanwhile in St. Margarets Bay Nova Scotia teens are rehearsing a play called Oh Canada.

SOUNDCLIP

VOICE 1: And that folks is Justin Trudeau's three secrets to getting rock hard abs. Now, over to you Mark forCanada 150 update.

VOICE 2: Thanks Jim…

[Sound: Music]

VOICE 2: [Sings] Hello out there, [unintelligible].

Tension grows.

The whistle blows.

The park goes down the ice.

Golly jumps.

Players bump.

Fans are going insane.

Someone roars.

Bobby scores.

At the good old hockey game.

The good old hockey game.

Is the best game you can name.

And the best game you can is name is a good old hockey game.

Third period last game the playoffs too.

Oh take where.

Hockey players face up down the rink.

Stanely cup is all filled up with the champs who win the drink.

MF: Teens in St Margarets Bay Nova Scotia they will perform their play Oh Canada at the Unicorn Theater in The Community, tomorrow. Canada Day is an opportunity to reflect on the history and future of the country. It's also a holiday with its own history. Matthew Hayday is a professor of Canadian history who's something of an expert on Canada Day. He wrote the Canada Day entry for the Canadian Encyclopedia and he's the editor of a book titled Celebrating Canada Vol. 1: Holliday's, National Days and the Crafting of Identities. He is in our Ottawa studio this morning. Matthew, hello.

MATTHEW HAYDAY: Good morning.

MF: What kind of energy is there in Ottawa around Canada Day this year? You've thought about it, looked at it over the years. How does it compare?

MATTHEW HAYDAY: It's a very mixed energy this year. I think that the amount of attention that's been played to indigenous dissent around Canada 150 in Canada Day has people thinking about it. But as the clips at the beginning of the show show there's also a lot of enthusiasm for celebrating this year as well.

MF: Yes, when I was a boy and this will betray how long ago that was, and this was in London, Ontario used to get all the neighbors together and have some fireworks and there was a burning schoolhouse and that was on Victoria Day. So something has changed since then and now what happened?

MATTHEW HAYDAY: There's an interesting history to Canada Day and Ottawa celebrates in a very different way from a lot of the rest of the country, because there is so much more that happens here. The crowds are so much larger. The excitement is so much greater. And that's the direct result of government efforts to try to build up the holiday. I mean prior to 1958 the only year something was significant that was done here was the diamond jubilee in 2007 and it was the Diefenbaker government that decided they wanted to do more to celebrate. And this is noteworthy Dominion Day.

MF: It was Dominion Day. And people didn't do much for it, did theyÉ

MATTHEW HAYDAY: No certainly not. Not in Ottawa. The government didn't do anything. And the Diefenbaker government wanted to do more to foster certain conceptions of Canadian identity. And then subsequent governments have taken that idea and run with it expanded it and added new messages about Canada. Whether it be you know the Pearson years you start to see a lot more about bilingualism as part of these events. You see multiculturalism starting to be woven into it. And some very different messages over time about what place indigenous peoples are playing in Canada.

MF: And that is pretty central in this year's message. How deliberate is the messaging this year?

MATTHEW HAYDAY: It's very deliberate it's almost always deliberate. Things that look subtle are deliberate. The choice of who's going to perform on Parliament Hill is very carefully constructed in terms of [unintelligible] a balance of different elements, and it's about trying to include different groups that will send different messages about the country, and you have the explicit speeches too of course.

MF: And so how did the arrest of indigenous people wanting to set up a teepee and have a peaceful protest on the Hill. How did that fit into the government's plan for celebrating Canada Day this year?

MATTHEW HAYDAY: It probably didn't. The government very explicitly had a message of reconciliation that they've been talking about for the past year, now. On the other hand I think it's worth noting that this type of dissent has a long history in Canada as well, that it's very much a part of how Canadians from coast to coast have engaged with Dominion Day and Canada Day. And if I can tell you a quick anecdote, actually your two opening segments are fantastic for that because in Nova Scotia it was built to make Dominion Day a holiday was first presented way back in 1869. It was withdrawn because Nova Scotia MPs objected saying it should be a day of lamentation that underscored Nova Scotia powerlessness in Confederation.

MF: Really?

MATTHEW HAYDAY: Yes. And in the 1920s, in British Columbia in Vancouver in Victoria, Chinese communities organized what they called Chinese Humiliation Day Protests to protest against the Chinese immigration act that was banning Chinese immigration to Canada. So there is very much a tradition of dissent to this day.

MF: Well you know and I'm out of Montreal that's where I live and there are a lot of great parties for Canada Day every year. But there are an awful lot of people who don't really observe it. In fact you know you could be forgiven for thinking that it's more a day for moving house because all the leases tend to end down on the 30th of June. Over the years and you've been looking at this as well how does the French fact fit into it all?

MATTHEW HAYDAY: It's quite central to it. I mean in the 1960s and the era of the bilinguals and by culturalism and commission the Pearson government made a major effort to try to present not just bilinguals celebrations but ones that were not restricted to just Quebec. So their performers would not just come from Quebec but from Franco Ontarian communities or from Acadia. And then in the 1970s after the P-Q government was elected the federal government basically panicked and said we need to do something massive for national unity and so they organized this three hour spectacular coast to coast with satellite hookups from communities trying to show Canadians celebrating their national day. Basically as a way of trying to counter the separatist elements in Quebec in the 1970s. Now whether that worked, that's a matter for some debate.

MF: Because this doesn't really have roots in our colonial history, does it? I mean the British don't have a big national holiday like this.

MATTHEW HAYDAY: No this is one of those areas where you see the interesting North Americanness in some respects. When the idea to celebrate Dominion Day was first pitched in the 1950s the advisors to Diefenbaker said that they shouldn't do this, that big celebrations of national day don't fit in with Commonwealth tradition. Now he decided to do it anyways. Now on the other hand, south of the border, Fourth of July is a very big deal. So you see a bit of a melding here.

MF: Even in modern Britain there's a real suspicion over nationalism in Britain. When you compare to what's going on in the United States it's completely different.

MATTHEW HAYDAY: There may be a suspicion of nationalism although I think Brexit shows that nationalism is alive and well. But nationalism is much stronger in places like Scotland for example. The big scholars of nationalism in the U.K. tend to be Scottish ones.

MF: So how has the government pulled off creating a national holiday, do you think?

MATTHEW HAYDAY: I think that what they've done, and they've been trying to do this for decades, is to allow space for diversity of ways of celebrating the national holidays, to allow space for dissent, to try to send the message that dissent is not only acceptable but it in fact is Canadian, to encourage people to express their views to debate with the government. And I think that's actually quite healthy.

MF: Will you be wearing a Canada ball cap and putting a maple leaf on your cheek?

MATTHEW HAYDAY: [Laughs] Not this year.

MF: How do you mark the day?

MATTHEW HAYDAY: This year I'm actually in Ottawa to observe what's going on. Normally at home, we do a barbecue and serve things like Nanaimo bars and maple and apple sausages to our friends.

MF: Nice. Matthew it's nice to talk to you. Thanks for taking the time.

MATTHEW HAYDAY: Thanks very much.

MF: Matthew Hayday is a professor of Canadian history at University of Guelph and he's the editor of Celebrating Canada. He was in our Ottawa studio. And let's head back to the Hill now where our producer Kristin Nelson spoke with people as they watched the rehearsals.

SOUNDCLIP

We're waiting for all the 150 youth to arrive on stage. [Sound: Beeping] And we will rehearse this again.

VOICE 1: It's amazing. It's amazing. The production that's going to happen here on Saturday is going to be something else. Where else would you want to be?

KRISTIN NELSON: And what is it that you're hoping to feel on that day?

VOICE 1: Community. Community spirit for sure. Everyone coming together.

VOICE 2: Canadian passing through. We actually live in Spain, now. So we came back see a little bit of this before the birthday.

VOICE 3: This feeling of you know, all the red banners and all the flags and everything. It's very cool for a Canadian to be here.

VOICE 4: My name is Niamo. And she is Nora.

VOICE 6: Hi.

VOICE 7: Was visiting from America.

KRISTIN NELSON: Okay.

VOICE 8: We live in Minnesota, Minneapolis.

VOICE 9: We came to visit families but we were very excited to see that Canada Day. And they are ready for it.

VOICE 10: We landed at two o'clock this afternoon at the Ottawa airport from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Came here to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday from June 28 to July 3rd., every single day and take part of the festivities. I'm just going to love every minute of it.

KRISTIN NELSON: So tell me why?

VOICE 10: Well because I love Canada.

MF: Preparations for Canada Day on Parliament Hill and we have got you covered on CBC on all our different platforms. Of course online, here on CBC Radio we'll be marking the day with special programming throughout the day, and of course Peter Mansbridge over on the news network and on CBC Television. It'll be his last day as anchor. So it's a very special day all round. CBC News is next. And then we'll get the latest on the political upheaval in B.C. and hear how a group of Syrian women new to Canada have turned their amazing home cooking into a successful catering business. I'm Mike Finnerty. You're listening to the summer edition of The Current.

How long can this new B.C. government last?

Guest: David Mitchell

MF: Hello I'm Mike Finnerty. You're listening to the summer edition of The Current.

[Music: Theme]

MF: Still to come, a trio of Syrian refugee women in Hamilton Ontario endearing themselves to their new community with homemade Syrian food. Our documentary A Taste of Home will leave your eyes and mouth watering. Before that, peace order and good government may be the Canadian way, but on this Canada Day eve the government part in B.C. is a bit of a teeter totter.

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: Crowd Cheering] NDP. NDP. NDP.

JOHN HORGAN: Thank you very much. Thank you very much. It's my honor to stand before you. I've just spoken with the Lieutenant Governor and she has asked me if I have the confidence of the legislature to form a government so I told her that I do.

[Sound: Sheering]

MF: John Horgan of the NDP he'll be the next Premier of British Columbia. And if the crowd of supporters and their chairs seem a little bit thinner, well there's a good reason for that. The election was held May the ninth. There have been recounts, throne speech policy concessions from the government And finally the key vote yesterday that saw the government fall and the Lieutenant Governor ask the NDP, with the support of the Greens, to give it a go. David Mitchell has been watching it all unfold. He's a former MLA in British Columbia. He sat as a liberal and then as an independent member and he's a political historian and author, and he's in our Ottawa studio this morning. David, hello.

DAVID MITCHELL: Good morning.

MF: How firmly in command is John Horgan this morning?

DAVID MITCHELL: Well I think he can finally, with confidence say that the election is over even though the formal election was almost two months ago he's now being given a crack at governing. The Lieutenant Governor decided that in a dramatic evening last night in Victoria. And whether or not this fragile agreement paper thin, razor thin margin in the legislature can hold can be sustained. Is it really going to be the next stage of the wild politics of British Columbia.

MF: I can't imagine it being easy How is it going to work when a confidence vote comes up?

DAVID MITCHELL: This is really an important issue. And you know the whole process in British Columbia has provided a kind of a civics lesson in government formation. How our government is formed. Well there's only one test, one real test. Can a group command the confidence of the legislature? We found out yesterday that Christy Clark's liberals couldn't. They lost the first confidence vote. They tried valiantly and desperately to test that process by a lot of maneuverings over the last several days and weeks, but they lost the confidence vote. And now Horgan, leader of the NDP premier designate with the support of the Greens three elected MLAs, say that they think they believe that they will have the confidence of the legislature. The challenge though, the challenge make is this. It's mathematics. Once a speaker is elected, there's essentially a tie in the B.C. legislature of 43 to 43 members have…

MF: How do you get around that?

DAVID MITCHELL: Well it's not easy. And what is required according to British parliamentary tradition is that the speaker would cast a deciding vote in the event of a tie. Now that rarely rarely happens in any legislature or parliament, and surely it can't be counted on to routinely occur on every vote, whether it's a matter of confidence or not that comes up in the legislature. So this is the challenge. This is the trick facing premier designate Horgan.

MF: Well, and it's not just the speaker, is it? I mean how much power does that mean every single MLA on the government bench has?

DAVID MITCHELL: And on the opposition side as well, keep that in mind. And you know not every elected representative by tradition shows up for every vote.

MF: Well, people get sick and things happen in people's lives.

DAVID MITCHELL: Exactly, things do happen and things that are unpredictable and unexpected and unanticipated happen and perhaps especially in British Columbia public life.

MF: But is this a premier John Horgan who is going to have to be you know making deals all through his mandate trying to keep everyone onside?

DAVID MITCHELL: Well it's going to be a test of both, party discipline and Mr. Horgan’s ability to navigate even for a short period of time, long enough to assert an agenda for the putative new NDP government. My guess is even though there have been some brave statements by Mr Horgan and Mr. Weaver the leader of the Greens, that they plan to govern for two three four years a full mandate is possible. It seems unlikely to me that this fragile governance can be sustained for very long. But if it can be long enough for the NDP to show that they can be a viable responsible government then when the inevitable next B.C. election takes place, and I think that would be sooner rather than later, it will give them a runway. It will give them a head way into the next election as they seek a majority of course.

MF:I mean the funny thing is you have the most tenuous of grips on power for the premier to be. And yet in terms of popular support, if you add up the number of votes cast for the NDP and the Greens on May the ninth that totals out to 57 percent of the votes cast, and there are not many governments that can claim that much of a popular mandate in Canada. And I wonder if you have a view on to what extent they have the confidence this coalition of the B.C. people?

DAVID MITCHELL: Well that's another test. The confidence in the legislature is one thing, the confidence of British Columbians is yet another. There are many indicators that we could look to in terms of trying to judge whether a government has democratic legitimacy we might say. But it's not necessarily the party or group that wins the largest number of seats or the largest percentage of popular vote. It's whoever can pass the test of confidence in the legislature. The question you raised though Mike is an interesting one because you know on a combined basis the NDP and the Greens do have an impressive base of support. Keep in mind that this is not a formal coalition. The role of the leader of the Green Party Andrew Weaver will not be a member of the NDP cabinet. There's an agreement amongst the three NDP members, who don't yet have official party status in the legislature, that they will support the government.

MF: The Green Party members.

DAVID MITCHELL: That's correct. The Green Party members. And how firm that agreement is, will be tested in the days and weeks and months ahead.

MF: Where does all of this leave Christy Clark? You said a moment ago that her attempt to stay in power was “desperate”. I mean, they put forward a couple pieces of legislation that weren't really in keeping with their campaign including one that reversed the party's longstanding opposition to banning corporate union donations from political parties. How does that affect them in terms of their base?

DAVID MITCHELL: I think there is a disorientation as a result of this frenetic activity over the last week or two. You got to hand it to Christy Clarke though, she didn't go down without a fight and without a very creatively trying to maneuver and position the Liberal Party in a way that would be strengthened as a result of this indecision. My own guess is that Christy Clark's personality her energetic aggressive political approach is actually well suited to being a leader of the opposition the in the wild British Columbia legislature. But her own party is quite divided over the maneuverings over the last little while and it remains to be seen whether or not Christy Clark will continue to lead her party into the next B.C. election.

MF: David Mitchell thanks for speaking to us.

DAVID MITCHELL: You're welcome.

MF: David Mitchell who's an author political historian and a former MLA in British Columbia. He was in our Ottawa studio.

[Music]

ENCORE | 'We want to cook': Syrian refugees bring taste of home to Canada

MF: This Canada Day has extra significance to new Canadians especially those who arrived as refugees from troubled spots around the world. And that would include Dalal Al Zoubi, Manahel Al Shareef and Rawa'a Aloliwi. All three are among the thousands of refugees from the Syrian civil war who've arrived in Canada. They first met each other not in Syria but in a hotel in Toronto where their families were being housed. That meeting turned out to be the beginning of a new adventure. As cooks, as entrepreneurs and as business partners. Karam Kitchen is the name of their new catering company. They opened it in Hamilton Ontario. Together with Brittany Farrington and Karam Kitchen isn't just serving up some delicious Syrian food to the people of Steeltown, it is empowering these three women. Here is Lara O'Brien's documentary A Taste of Home which originally aired in December.

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: cooking sounds]

DALAL AL ZOUBI: We put in the blender tahini,and some lemon, some yoghurt, some garlic and some salt, mix. Psh.

LARA O’BRIEN: In a large community kitchen in Hamilton, Ontario, Dalal walks me through her hummus recipe. She's one of four women behind Karam Kitchen. It's Hamilton's newest catering company — and it's all about Syrian food.

DALAL AL ZOUBI: This, I don't like this. [laughs]

LARA O’BRIEN: [laughs]

DALAL AL ZOUBI: I don't know why.

LARA O'BRIEN: You don't like hummus?

DALAL AL ZOUBI: [chuckles] I don’t like. [chuckles]

LARA O'BRIEN: So not every Syrian loves hummus, but plenty of Hamiltonians are interested in the Middle Eastern staple.

DALAL AL ZOUBI: Rice, meat, chicken.

LARA O'BRIEN: The perfume of garlic is heavy in the air and Dalal is eager to walk me through some of their traditional recipes.

DALAL AL ZOUBI: [Arabic language]

LARA O'BRIEN: Plump eggplant, smoke on the grill, their skin splitting with the heat.

DALAL AL ZOUBI: Zucchini, zucchini.

LARA O'BRIEN: The Cuisinart runs continuously, breaking down the dense chickpeas for hummus. Fragrant bowls of tabbouleh are liberally doused with lemon and olive oil and practiced hands shape dozens of kabobs.

DALAL AL ZOUBI: Rice and meat. I like meat. [laughs]

LARA O'BRIEN: The women move through the kitchen with purpose and laughter. The three women arrived with their families in Canada at the beginning of the year. They are government sponsored Syrian refugees. The families were initially housed in a hotel in Toronto before settling in Hamilton last February. And that's where they met Brittani Farrington, another transplant to the city.BRITTANI FARRINGTON: I have been living in Hamilton with my husband just over a year. We're from the states originally and we moved to Canada for him to do his Ph.D. at University of Toronto and we’ve loved it here.

LARA O'BRIEN: They all met when Brittani responded to a Facebook post asking for help driving a group of Syrian refugees from Toronto to Hamilton. They all quickly became friends.

BRITTANI FARRINGTON: My church actually said hey, we should throw your Syrian friends a big welcome dinner. So I said OK let me see if that's something they’re interested in. And when I asked Dalal she said yes but we want to cook. And I was like no one is throwing you a party, like, we’ll cook for you, she’s like no, we will cook. So I went back to the church I’m like so here’s the thing, and they’re like okay, we’ll buy all the ingredients and they can cook. So some of the women from the church came and they showed us how to cook with them and we had this big feast. And then when they saw how much everyone was just loving the food, because it's amazing, these three, Dalal, Manahel and Rawa’a came up to me and said how do we sell the food in Canada? And I said I don't know but I will find out. And that long rabbit hole led us to here.

LARA O'BRIEN: It led them to the idea for Karam Kitchen, a catering company serving authentic Syrian cuisine run by Syrian refugees. Karam — meaning generosity in Arabic — was created with the help of Kickstarter. Their doors opened in August and they're already turning a profit.

BRITTANI FARRINGTON: The women have been paid from day one, that was the most important thing to me. I was like we can't start this business and expect them to just contribute with, like, because, you know, they're still on their government stipends for this first year, which they need, they need extra income. So that the women are making money, the business we are fully stocked, we are able to purchase all of our equipment through the Kickstarter. We're really lucky that, like, the businesses is, we’re in the positive right now, which is pretty huge.

LARA O'BRIEN: A regular paycheck is especially huge as the women approach the one year anniversary of their arrival. That's when the government stipend for refugees ends. Even more so for Manahel, who is supporting seven children and a husband who was injured in the war. I ask her about her job.

MANAHEL AL SHAREEF: [Arabic language] [through translator] I love it. I never expected I would be doing this. I love cooking. I cooked every day for my kids and my uncle. You cook every day in Syria, there's no escaping it. I have a brother in Germany and he told me that they love Syrian food there. I had a feeling they would love it here too.

LARA O'BRIEN: It's hard to believe that less than a year ago her family was in a crowded refugee camp in Jordan. They had to leave Syria to save her husband's life.

MANAHEL AL SHAREEF: [Arabic language] [through translator] It was the second day of Eid, three years ago. My husband went to check on his mother and there was an airstrike. He hid behind a house to wait it out, but the building was hit and he was buried under the rubble for hours.

[Sound: voices of panic and screaming]

LARA O'BRIEN: The rescue was captured on video. Half a dozen men used their hands to remove rubble piece by piece in order to free Faisal.

[Sound: Arabic speaking language, rubble being moved]

MANAHEL AL SHAREEF: [Arabic speaking language] [through translator] He was screaming for help and finally they got him out. He was taken to the hospital but they didn't have what they needed to be able to treat him there. So eventually we went to Jordan to get treatment. We ended up in the Zaatari refugee camp. We only stayed there for 17 days. We had to move out to get the help for my husband. My husband had three different operations and he finally started to walk again just last year. The UN called and offered us to go to the US but we didn't want to go there. Then they called and talked to us about Canada. Eventually we decided to go. When we got to Canada, he continued his treatment and he's much better now. He can finally walk.

LARA O'BRIEN: The transition hasn't been easy. Faisel is still recovering and hasn't found work but Manahel says things are slowly getting easier.

MANAHEL AL SHAREEF: [Arabic speaking language] [through translator] At first I didn't want to be here at all, but the people are good and everyone is welcoming and it's better than Jordan. Brittani was the first person who visited us. For the first six days when we got to Hamilton, our house didn't have any heat and it was winter. Brittani came with a space heater and there wasn't a day that Brittany didn't come to check on us.

[Sound: sounds of making coffee]

LARA O'BRIEN: I head to Dalal’s house for coffee. She and her family have settled into a small near home in the east end of the city.

[Sound: coffee pouring into a cup]

LARA O'BRIEN: Coffee's prepared and homemade cookies are set out. Dalal’s husband Adnan arrives with kids in tow. Her daughter Manal and son Ali burst into the living room, excited to tell us about their new school.

ALI: Science, math, English.

DALAL AL ZOUBI: French.

ALI: French, Gym. But I like French more than gym.

LARA O'BRIEN: How do you like Hamilton?

ALI: There is more people respect you. You say hi and they say hi. That’s why I have three friend. Brendan and second one his name’s Alex, third one his name’s Joe.

LARA O'BRIEN: And what do you play?

ALI: Tag, soccer, monkey bars.

MANAL: Yeah, I learning math, I love math. Math in Syria is so hard.

LARA O'BRIEN: Is it easier here?

MANAL: No, it’s good. I happy because I want to grow up and I want a doctor.

LARA O'BRIEN: You want to be a doctor?

MANAL: Yeah.

LARA O'BRIEN: Manal and Ali settle onto the floor by the TV. And I ask Dalal how she feels about her new city.

MANAHEL AL SHAREEF: Oh, Hamilton is good. [laughs] The people good, good people in Hamilton. My children rest here, no fear, no war, no terrible voice, terrible sound.

LARA O'BRIEN: Those terrible sounds of war, the gun fire, the rockets, made for many restless nights. She feared they would not live to see the next morning. And she has those same fears for her family still living there.

MANAHEL AL SHAREEF: My brother and his wife and his family in Syria. I sad for them. [sighs] In Syria everybody sleep every night, they expect no day.

LARA O'BRIEN: Before the war, life in Daraa was comfortable. Dalal was a teacher, her husband ran his own business and their children went to school. But then the war came to their city.

MANAHEL AL SHAREEF: Everything in Syria before we came Canada, no good. Everything was fire, everything was bomb. [sighs] Very very bad. I don't can describe my feeling. It is difficult, yes. After two years, after war starts to Jordan. Life in Jordan is difficult because Jordan, no money. All men don't work. When we arrive Jordan, [sighs] we don't put my children in the school. In Jordan water little, this is desert. When Canada call me, call us, immigration, OK. [laughs] My husband very happy.

ADNAN: [laughs]

LARA O'BRIEN: In Hamilton, Dalal and Manahal are now the breadwinners, a reversal of roles from back home in Syria. And it's an issue that can be hard for men who are used to working, like, Dalal’s husband Adnan, who used to own his own supermarket in Daraa.

ADNAN: I looking for a job. I like work, I don't need stay in home. I want work. Work is life. In Syria, I have supermarket. Now, I want work cleaning in market. [laughs]

[Sound: chopping on cutting board]

LARA O'BRIEN: Back at Karam Kitchen, orders are being filled for new clients. The women are working full time now for the holiday season, including catering the Hamilton Art Gallery’s holiday party. Brittani’s already thinking a few steps ahead.

BRITTANI FARRINGTON: One thing we would really like to see is a more permanent space so that we have options to grow. We can keep doing catering but we could also do pop up dinners. Once a week you can come pick up your dinner and we can slowly grow. And that way too then we can start, when the business picks up more, we can hire more women and I would also like to see us as a launching point, where if you would you like to be a chef and stay here that's great, but also I know this is no one's dream scenario. You know, having to leave home and coming here was no one's first choice. So I would like Karam Kitchen to be to the women what they want it to be, either their long term career or a launching off point.

[Sound: water tap and splash]

LARA O'BRIEN: The food is packed up for delivery and the dishes are done. Tomorrow they'll all be back here cooking up falafel, kibbeh, hummus and tabbouleh. Manahel and Dalal are tired but feel lucky to be working, cooking the food they love.

MANAHEL AL SHAREEF: [Arabic speaking language] [through translator] I want my kids to get educated and to do well. I want my husband to get treated and to be healthy. That's what will make me happy. I don't need anything for myself.

DALAL AL ZOUBI: When we work in the Karam Kitchen, it is help us for speaking language, yes. I help my husband, Manahel my friend, Rawa’a my friend, Brittani my friend. It is comfortable work. For me it is good, it is good for me. I feel happy thing. I work in Canada.

MF: And we've got some good news for you because since that documentary first aired in December there have been many developments at Karam Kitchen. They are expanding. They have hired two new chefs to help in the kitchen and after raising money with a Kickstarter campaign they should have a delivery van ready to hit the road in August. A taste of home was produced by Lara O’Brien. Special thanks to Pacinthe Mattar for translation and voice work and The Current documentary editor Josh Block. To see pictures of the women of Karem kitchen, head over to our website cbc.ca/thecurrent. That's our program for today. Stay tuned to Radio 1 for a new episode of The Current summer Show The Disruptors.

SOUNDCLIP

Three. Two. One [unintelligible]

[Sound: Cheering, laughing]

MF: Donor sperm has helped thousands of Canadians become parents and sometimes create a whole new kind of family. An online registry helps children conceived by anonymous sperm donors meet their half siblings. And coming up on The Disrupters with Anna Maria Tremonti, three teens meet the siblings they've always wanted. Let’s end things off on this Canada Day eve with the throwback to 50 years ago and some music that was in the air for Canada's centennial in 1967. That's Bobby Gimby’s Canada commissioned for the celebrations that went on to be the country's biggest selling single, and it's still kind of swings. Here it is from 1967. I'm Mike Finnerty Thanks for listening to the summer edition of The Current and from all of us here at The Current However you're marking it. We hope you have an excellent Canada Day weekend.

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: Music]

Canada

One little two little three Canadians

We love thee

Now we are twenty million

Canada

Four little five little six little Provinces

Proud and free

Now we are ten and the Territories sea to sea

North south east west

There'll be happy times,

Church Bells will ring, ring, ring

It's the hundredth anniversary of

Confederation

Everybody sing together!

Canada

[/sc]

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June 30, 2017 Full Episode Transcript

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