The Current

The Current for Sept. 9, 2021

Today on The Current: Who gets a vaccine exemption, and what are the ethical considerations?; fixing long-term care after the devastation of the pandemic; how did federal party leaders fare in French-language debate; and remembering the kindness of Gander, N.L., 20 years after 9/11.
Matt Galloway is the host of CBC Radio's The Current. (CBC)

Full Episode Transcript

Today on The Current:

Under what circumstances — perhaps medical, or religious — can you get an exemption from getting a COVID-19 vaccine? And what are the ethical considerations around exemptions, and mandates? Matt Galloway talks to Cheryl Pauls, president of the Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg; Dr. Mariam Hanna, the Ontario Medical Association's Chair for Allergy and Clinical Immunology; and Maxwell Smith, a bioethicist and assistant professor at Western University.

Plus, where do the federal parties stand on fixing long-term care, after the devastation of the pandemic? To weigh up what's being promised, and what's missing from the conversation, we talk to Laura Tamblyn Watts, CEO of CanAge, a national seniors' advocacy organization; Dr. Quoc Dinh Nguyen, a geriatrician and researcher at the University of Montreal Hospital Centre; and Dr. Bob Bell, former deputy minister of health and long-term care in Ontario and a former hospital CEO. 

Then, we look to Wednesday night's French-language debate, and ahead to Thursday's English debate, with Michel C. Auger, a political columnist with La Presse and Radio-Canada; and Emilie Nicolas, a political columnist with Le Devoir and the Montreal Gazette. 

And in the hours after the 9/11 attack, many flights were diverted to Gander, N.L.. Twenty years later, the kindness displayed by people there remains a moment of brightness in a time of horror. Anthony Germain brings us back to that time, with the voices of some of the people who lived through it.