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The AIH Transcript for December 14, 2016

Hosts: Carol Off and Jeff Douglas

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Prologue

CAROL OFF: Hello, I'm Carol off.

JEFF DOUGALS: Good evening. I'm Jeff Douglas. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

JD: Tonight:

CO: Nowhere fast. In less than 12 hours, the ceasefire in Eastern Aleppo collapsed and now the 50,000 residents still in the besieged city are anxiously waiting to hear if they can get out alive.

JD: Just say not quite. Ottawa unveils its new strategy on opioids but senator and former police chief Vern White says it doesn't do enough for addicts or against the people importing the stuff from China.

CO: Save the data. The U.S. President-elect doesn't believe in climate change. So some scientists believe the best way to protect their research is by archiving it where the new administration can't get to it.

JD: Unlisting numbers. If Mr. Trump really wants a registry of Muslims, he's going to need a lot of help from the tech industry. But some citizens of Silicon Valley are already saying you can include them out.

CO: A utility player leaves the arena. Yes, he was Dr. Jason Seaver, but the late Alan Thicke had the kind of showbiz versatility you rarely see any more, especially from a hockey-loving guy from Kirkland Lake, Ontario.

JD: And more of an over-hurricane than an overdraft. A twenty-two year old Australian man finds he can just keep taking money out of his account and milks the bank's error for two years and two million Australian dollars before the police show up. As It Happens the Wednesday edition, radio the guesses he is going through withdrawal withdrawal.

[Music: Theme]

Back To Top »

Part 1: East Aleppo, guerrilla climate archive, bank account glitch

East Aleppo

Guest: Ishmail Alabdullah

JEFF DOUGLAS: For the 50,000 people still stuck in a small sliver of Eastern Aleppo today, life is at a very dangerous standstill. Yesterday, residents were told that a cease fire had been reached, along with a plan to evacuate rebel fighters within the besieged city. Less than 12 hours later, the bombing resumed. Both sides — the Syrian regime and their allies and the rebel factions — blamed each other for the collapse. Ismail Alabdullah is one of the residents waiting for news. He's a volunteer with the White Helmets still in Eastern Aleppo. We reached Mr. Alabdullah via Skype, earlier today.

CAROL OFF: Mr. Alabdullah, we understood there was to be a ceasefire. What has been happening since this morning?

ISMAIL ALABDULLAH: Last night after 7:00 they reached the agreement. After that for hours they said they would evacuate all the injured people at 5:00 a.m. in the morning. And we waited for that 5:00 a.m. in the morning. They said the ceasefire was collapsed the heavy bombing started. Many mortars fell on the neighborhoods, many rockets, the airstrikes started again.

CO: So the mortars and the rockets began to fall on East Aleppo once again, so where were people? Were they already mobilizing? We've seen many pictures of people walking with their children, with their families trying to get out. So what happened to those people?

IA: When the public starts in this small area, all the people are hiding. Because when any mortar falls on the ground all, they just hide in their basement or in their apartment and they don't have any choice. So and they are making their kids stay under their ground to protect them.

CO: And many of the people who are sending messages, they're just begging the Russians and the Turks and the Iranians let them out. They want to leave; they want to be safe they don't want to stay any longer. And so who is preventing them from going? Who do you hold responsible at this point?

IA: All the civilians and even the FSA and even everyone in the east part, and this is a small area now, asks for leaving this small area. Me and all the civilians, we know what Assad's forces did, they executed 82 people. So if Assad's forces get close to us and control to capture this small area they will kill everyone. Even everyone and I mean everyone, even kids. So, everyone in this small area wants to leave and evacuate to a safer place.

CO: And that includes all the rebel fighters?

IA: Even the rebel fighters. Everyone and I mean everyone.

CO: For the most part it seems that the bombardment the bombing has slowed down. Does that look like the cease fire might happen once again?

IA: I hope that they said at midnight — this midnight — ceasefire will be. And at the morning they will evacuate people. So this is the news that I have just got. We are waiting for the coming hours.

CO: And what are you waiting to do? What will the White Helmets do?

IA: Actually as our rescue operations we can no longer carry out our mission. But in the evacuation we are as civilians. We will be evacuated as civilians; we have no role in the evacuation of citizens.

CO: There's nothing more you can do to rescue people or to deal with the dead in the injured who are still in East Aleppo? You just have to get out and everybody else?

IA: Yes. We're not staying. We want to leave the city. They consider us as enemies so.

CO: Was that a shell?

IA: Yes it's a mortar I think is a shell. They are shelling now.

CO: So they’re still shelling then?

IA: Yeah.

CO: I know I don't want to risk you in any way by giving things away, but how difficult will it be for you to leave?

IA: I would say maybe an hour maybe less. I don't I don't know. So I feel that the atmosphere is somehow clear so I can go.

CO: You feel that you'll be able to leave?

IA: Yeah, I’ll be able to leave.

CO: But you know that the regime of Bashar al Assad — the Russians — they believe that the White Helmets are part of the rebel group, they call you terrorists. So what will happen to you and the other white helmets?

IA: If we stay we will be executed. And we must leave. And if Assad’s forces get too close to us, we will defend our surface, we will hold the guns and we will fight back. That's the only choice that we got.

CO: You know when I hear you speak and there's a shell goes off very close to you and you don't even hesitate. You don't jump you don't respond at all. This is your life isn't it?

IA: Yeah, it's been five years. I use it to live like this.

CO: I'm hearing one shell after another detonate behind you and your voice doesn't change.

IA: Yup.

CO: That that's not normal you know? It should be one sound like that would make you jump out of your skin?

IA: So we aren't normal anymore. We're not normal anymore.

CO: Is your family with you?

IA: No; there’s another one.

CO: Where is your family now?

IA: My family has been gone it's probably three years now.

CO: So you're on your own?

IO: I’m on my own. That's why my voice doesn't change. If I had kids and a wife maybe I can’t talk to you and I would be with my family in the basement trying to protect them.

CO: There are little kids and women and families who are hearing what we're hearing right now. They're hearing that all the time. What effect does that have on them?

IA: The impact on them actually that's really complicated. The people now used to play war games. They don't know peaceful days. They don't know how to go to school normally, to get back home or take a walk with their daddy. They don't know the normal life. It's a really big thing that they do not know and they all they know is that the brother died and his sister was killed and the mother was injured. And that's a big problem.

CO: What we're hearing and what we're seeing in the images, this has become normal life for people?

IA: Yeah, it’s normal. OK, I have to go.

CO: You have to go because it's not safe?

ISMAIL ALABDULLAH: I Have to go because I have to go, I’m so sorry.

CAROL OFF: All right. Mr. Alabdullah, thank you.

JEFF DOUGLAS: Ismail Alabdullah is a volunteer with the white helmets. We reached him earlier today in Eastern Aleppo. After we spoke with him, rebel groups called for a new cease fire and evacuation order for Wednesday evening.

[Music: Ambient]

Guerilla climate archive

Guest: Michelle Murphy

JEFF DOUGLAS: The data is out there. There are thousands of studies that prove climate change is real, but what if those studies disappear? Scientists are very worried about what will happen to mountains of environmental data when a climate change denier takes office in the person of soon to be president, Donald Trump. One of their solutions is to ask Canadian scientists to help archive data from the U.S. government servers. Well this weekend in Toronto researchers will begin to make backup copies. Michelle Murphy is part of that effort. She is Director of Techno Science Research at University of Toronto and that is where we reached her.

CAROL OFF: Professor Murphy, how worried are you that Donald Trump and his administration will actually try to get rid of environmental data that's on government servers?

MICHELLE MURPHY: Well, I'm quite worried. I think that when we look at the EPA transition team — the Trump administration transition team — we look at those people the think tank they're associated with their public statements. We see that there is explicit mandate that they are putting forward of diminishing the potential of environmental and climate agencies, getting rid of difficult research and regulations that affect the key industries they're interested in. And I think there's every reason to think that we're going to see the same things that we saw in Canada during the Harper years down in the U.S.

CO: I'm going to ask you about that in a moment. But I want to ask you what you are going to do? What what's going on in Toronto this weekend in collaboration with your American colleagues?

MM: Well, here in Toronto we're hosting something called a Guerilla Archiving Event and we are working with colleagues in the United States particularly at Penn Library, University of Pennsylvania, the Internet Archive which is a nonprofit that archives all of the Internet and has the end of term project to archive government websites before the transition to the Trump presidency. And we're holding an event that is the first of its kind and we are going to be seeding the webcrawler of the end of term project to make sure that we're prioritizing websites and materials that are likely to be changed rapidly when the Trump presidency starts.

CO: OK, now you're not hacking into sites here. This is a publicly available data?

MM: This is all publicly available data. But there's also data that's publicly available but not immediately online. So you have to kind of make a request for it.

CO: Can you give us some examples of things that you think that should be might need to be saved. That is vulnerable?

MM: Well, some of the things that we've seen identified as programs to be cut are for example, programs around particulate air pollution, programs around clean water, so the waters of the USA Act. Programs around greenhouse gases have been particularly put out. The Environmental Justice Program at the EPA; these are some of the ones that have been called out by EPA transition team members.

CO: We interviewed one of the advisers to Mr. Trump and his transition team who is one of the Advisors on Science and who said that he's the one who said that NASA should no longer be in the business of climate research instead it should face on exploring space. When we referenced documents from the EPA He said they're all activists. The EPA is full of activists and that they should be discounted. So how vulnerable is the Environmental Protection Agency, do you think?

MM: Well, I personally think it's very vulnerable. I mean when the first day after Trump won the election he appointed Myron Ebell to lead the transition team, who's one of the most well-known climate deniers. And what we would call “Merchants of Doubt” when it comes to environmental science. So I think there's every reason to be very concerned. Scott Pruitt, who was appointed to administer the agency or been designated by Trump to administer the agency. He's known for doing court cases that seek to refuse EPA regulations. So, I think that there is kind of overwhelming evidence right now that we should be very concerned about these agencies.

CO: You’re joining forces with your American colleagues. But you are Canadian and you have lived here and so what echoes are you hearing from the time of the Harper government in Canada?

MM: Well, I work on the Great Lakes and questions of toxicity and chemical exposure on the Great Lakes. So the Great Lakes is up is something that connects Canada and the United States. Here in Canada, myself and many social scientists in my field of science and technology studies were part of organizations like “The Politics of Evidence” and “Our Right to Know” or “Evidence For Democracy” that was concerned with things like not allowing government scientists to speak to other researchers, to go to conferences, to share data with journalists. What we saw was a huge back up of access to information requests and their redaction when we would get them. What we saw was the closing of fishery libraries and the destruction of materials. We saw I mean we could go on and on in terms of the things that happened, particularly in the final let's say three years of the Harper term. And so I think all of that is good evidence for some of the things that we're going to be seeing down in the United States. And when people in the United States learn about what happened in Canada they're shocked to hear what happened. And I think that there's a way in which it's hard to even comprehend the ways that some of these environmental regulations and evidence based environmental governance can be undermined. So a kind of bigger issue I think even beyond the preservation of data is to mobilize the public, experts, community organizations together affirm that we really care about evidence based environmental governance for the public good and that this is something we want to see.

CAROL OFF: We will leave it there. Professor Murphy, thank you.

MICHELLE MURPHY: Thank you so much, Carol.

JEFF DOUGLAS: Michelle Murphy is the Director of the Techno Science Research Unit at the University of Toronto. We reached her in Toronto. And you can visit our website for more on this story www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Rock]

Year-end poem

JEFF DOUGLAS: It's become a bit of a holiday tradition on Parliament Hill and it brings the house together before brings the house down. Today, once again the Liberal Member of Parliament for Cape Breton-Canso, Roger Cuzner, brought his penchant for poetry to the House of Commons. And here is Mr. Cuzner reciting his reworked holiday classic, earlier today in the House.

SOUNDCLIP

ROGER CUZNER: Mr. Speaker, Twas the week before Christmas. And one thing's for certain, both opposition parties are definitely hurting. In their letter to Santa they each had one ask: to find a new leader who was up to the task. The orange leader looked beaten, a force that was spent when all he could muster was 47 per cent.

(Sound: gasps)

RC: The dippers, they're nervous because they tried and they tried. They posted the job and no one applied. They may turn to the Internet to help fill their wish and place a help wanted ad on “Plenty of Fish”. Now the Tories have 14 with credentials to tout and their values-based screening knocked none of them out. They've gone coast to coast speaking right from the stump it's evolved to a game of out Donalding Trump.

(Sound: Laughing)

RC: Of course, the word on the street without Peter McKay. They hope the interim leader chooses to stay. But with but with the wind down south, the far right have a theory: to heck with them all, let’s draft Kevin O'Leary. To all candidates I offer. Christmas love peace and joy. But when it comes to the next election I still bet on our boy.

JEFF DOUGLAS: Roger Cuzner, Liberal MP for Cape Breton-Canso, earlier today in the House of Commons.

[Music: Electronica]

Bank account glitch

Guest: Luke Moore

JEFF DOUGLAS: Six years ago, an Australian man by the name of Luke Moore noticed something odd about his bank account. He could withdraw as much as he wanted, even long after he had spent all the money he had put in there. So withdraw he did and by the time he got caught he had made off with about $2 million Australian dollars. We reached Luke Moore Goulburn, Australia.

CAROL OFF: Luke, I guess we should start with going back to the time before all the bank stuff happened in 2010. What was going on in your life?

LUKE MOORE: In 2010, I just finished recovering from a car accident I had when I drove my girlfriend’s ute into a Mack truck on the highway. And just broken up with her and was looking to start a new life.

CO: And how were your finances?

LM: Not very good at all. Not very good at all, no.

CO: Were you struggling to pay the bills?

LM: Yes I was, yes.

CO: And then you discovered you could pay the bills?

LM: The whole story it was fairly simple. All that happened was my home loan, my internet, my health insurance and things like that were automatically coming out of the everyday banking account that I used. Even though there was no money in it. And that's when that's when it all sort of started from then.

CO: OK, All what sort of started? Tell us about that?

LM: Well just the whole direct debit sort of thing happening and me being able access this enormous line of credit. And then from there… sorry, I’m not sure of the question really.

CO: Yeah, I guess I'm distracted by a whirring sound is that your fan and your computer maybe?

LM: Oh can you hear that? Can you? That’s terrible! Yes it is. The police took all my laptops and everything when they raided the house four years and I’m still yet to get that sort of stuff back from them.

CO: I'm so sorry.

LM: Yeah they took like a few phones, a laptop, an iPad, a couple of cameras and memory cards and USB sticks. Some of it was like really personal files and videos I wouldn't want people to really see.

CO: So when did this crossover for you from being able to pay some bills and to have some money to cover your expenses money to cross over from there and to let’s say a lifestyle change?

LM: the lifestyle change was incredible. First thing I did was when I bought a new car. Then I was still living in Goulburn at that stage and I was sort of just going out, parting and buying new clothes and I decided to go on a holiday to Surfer’s Paradise on the Gold Coast and in the end I ended up with four cars and a seven meter fishing boat. I had an Aston Martin DV7, which was the same car that was in one of the James Bond films, I had a Maserati.

CO: And you've got a place in Thailand?

LM: I was staying in Thailand and went on two holidays to Thailand, both for about two months each.

CO: And there were strippers and drugs?

LM: There are all sorts of things.

CO: And did anyone ask you questions about this? Would anyone say where's your money coming from?

LM: Yeah, people did ask, but I sort of told them all sorts of different things. And I think in the end the people that really started to hang around with were the people that didn't ask.

CO: You were buying celebrity memorabilia?

LM: Oh, I had heaps of celebrity memorabilia are actually pretty much. I you could name a celebrity; I at least had a picture signed by them. I bought artworks and stuff as well. I had a couple Picasso sketches and an Andy Warhol painting and all sorts of other things. When the police raided my house it was described in the newspaper is an “Aladdin's cave of treasures.”

CO: Did you have a feeling that there was going to be a knock at the door any moment now? That this had to be caught?

LM: Well that's what people ask me. The fact of the matter is, I always thought that I’d receive a letter from the bank. That was what I thought was going to happen or they call me because they did have my phone number and they had my address, but they never sent me a letter saying you know your account is this much overdrawn, it’s time to start paying some of the money back and that's what I thought was going to happen.

CO: So at what point did the police turn up?

LM: 12th of December 2012, it’s a day I’ll never forget.

CO: What happened?

LM: Well, I was in the bedroom and there's a knock at the window and it was strange having a knock at my bedroom window because it's at the back and no one ever comes there. I sort of pulled the curtains across and they were like it's the police, if don't open the front door we're going to kick it in. I was like oh no, here it is, it’s happened. And. I ended up walking towards the front door and by the time about halfway up the hallway. Mom was sort of piled up against the corner and she was straining or crying in hysterics. They had cameras in my face telling me I was under arrest for fraud and then took me to the station.

CO: And your mom saw all of this?

LM: Yeah, Mom saw all of it.

CO: What were you charged with?

LM: The charge was in Australia it's called fraud. What it actually is obtaining money by deception and deal with the proceeds of crime.

CO: And to make a long story short, a jury found you guilty?

LM Yes, that's correct.

CO: And then what happened?

LM: And then I was sentenced to two and a half years jail with the possibility of four and a half if I didn't get parole.

CO: And so then you went for an appeal what happened to your appeal?

LM: The court ruled that there was absolutely no evidence that a crime had even been committed.

CO: How is it possible?

LM: For the prosecution to prove that I’d obtained money by deception. They had to prove that I wasn't authorized to do what I did on the account. So by looking at the terms and conditions of the account that are in place with the bank, it clearly said that you are authorized to direct debit and over draw on your account. We might from time to time at the discretion, allow your account to go into debt.

CO: And the judge said it was it was dishonest, it was bad judgment, but it wasn't criminal?

LM: That's exactly right.

CO: Yes you did six months in jail though?

LM: Yeah. If you want to get out you apply for bail. That it took me six months before I got in front of a judge in the Supreme Court.

CO: So now you're free?

LM: I’m free, yes. Yes.

CO: Do you have any money?

LM: No. No. They took everything; they froze my accounts and everything I ever owned they confiscated. So it's left me in obviously a not very good financial position. But that's part of the reason obviously why I’m starting career in law. The old me sort of just all I wanted in life was money, but now I want to do a lot more than that.

CO: So you're going to become a lawyer?

LM Yes a criminal lawyer.

CAROL OFF: All right, Luke, we’ll leave it there it's an amazing story. Thank you.

LUKE MOORE: No problem. Thanks Carol.

JEFF DOUGLAS: Luke Moore has had his fraud conviction overturned after he overdrew on his bank account by more than $2 million Australian dollars. We reached him in Goulburn, Australia. We have posted that interview to our website www.cbc.ca/aih.

Back To Top »

Part 2: Drug legislation follow-up, Muslim registry

Drug legislation follow-up

Guest: Vern White

JEFF DOUGLAS: Vern White got part of what he was hoping for on Monday. Mr. White is a Conservative Senator and former Ottawa police chief and he watched very closely as the government introduced legislation aimed at curbing the death toll from opioids like fentanyl and carfentanil. The bill would make it easier to open safe injection sites. It would expand the powers of border agents and it would restrict access to the presses used to transform the incredibly powerful specks of drug into the pills that are then sold on the street. That is fairly ambitious, but Vern White had been hoping for more. We reached Senator White in Ottawa.

CAROL OFF: Senator White, this bill would allow border guards to search small packages. It would restrict purchases of what they called Pill presses these things actually make the pills look like something that people buy. What impact would that have on the availability of the drugs?

VERN WHITE: Well, both I think will be helpful. I know the complaint from customs agents is the fact that if the package was smaller than a certain I think weight — gram size — they had to return it rather than going through it even if they suspected it might have precursors or even in the case of fentanyl, fentanyl present. So this is very helpful to them which ultimately becomes helpful to Canadians as we try to combat this this crisis of opioids. More importantly fentanyl and carfentanil. In relation to the pill press itself, I’m a little bit concerned in that we're looking at this from an importation perspective so it means custom's, which means it has to go through the legislative process. I felt that the Minister could have instead looked at it from a health equipment perspective and limited the ability for persons to poses it, which means that she could have done it or the department could have done it through regulations. Which means it could have been done immediately because we're probably looking at next summer. Maybe if we're lucky, this legislation passing versus immediately when it comes to pill presses.

CO: And we're talking about we're hearing from all the people we're speaking with on this program and elsewhere in the media. This is an epidemic — the opioid crisis is.

VW: After 32 years, Carol, in policing I've never seen anything worse. I mean 2,000 people more than that died last year from fentanyl and carfentanil overdose. We will exceed that this year, I've never seen anything worse than this. And so I've expressed my concerns over the pill press hoping that we'll look at it from my health utensil perspective that would allow them to immediately limit those who could own it, possess it and purchase it. if you go on www.amazon.ca or www.amazon.com you can order one right now, which is quite disturbing since the number of people or organizations who actually would need a pill press is pretty limited.

CO: The safe injection sites, which is something that the federal the Conservative government — the Harper government — made it very difficult to open these sites. Now that's being reversed is going to be much easier to do. You've said that you're on record saying it's a misuse of resources. Why is that?

VW: Well, supervised injection sites. My biggest challenge with them, multiple but, I'll walk through the I guess how I look at this from a policing community perspective is that organized crime produces and sells garbage to other dealers who then sell that to addicts who then walk into a medical facility and shoot that up if. If we want to be serious about this and we want to try and save the number of lives that we're talking in the thousands we are hearing about then realistically we should be looking at drug replacement therapy. Which includes opioid replacement which means replacing the junk off the streets which is killing thousands of people with real pharmaceutical drugs, I mean that's what methadone is, oxycontin and other opportunities I think for replacement drugs using a controlled access program. The task really should be our focus on trying to keep people alive to get them help. I don't think this is going to do that and this will not save the hundreds or thousands of lives that I think we're talking about.

CO: Now that number of police chiefs who’ve said that they do want these supervised injection sites. That this does get people off the streets are not doing this in back alleys where they can’t be watched and if something happens they can't reach them. This is just one step and a place where frontline workers can get at the people who are who are addicted and possibly get them into treatment. So isn't this just one step…

VW: But where is treatment at though, Carol? It’s a good six month wait list in Ontario. You know if I saw a $250 million being pushed out open 4,500 beds in Canada then that discussion would maybe make a bit more sense. But right now it's a six month wait list in Ontario for an adult male or female who are trying to access residential drug treatment. It's a false promise, it treatment is important and it is important then provide the funding to actually open drug treatment centers across this country. You know we have months and months for people to get into drug treatment right now.

CO: And we didn't hear in the fact that the Minister has said that the strategy is to move the drug crisis problem from the Justice Ministry and move in the Health Ministry to treat as a health crisis.

VW: And I violently agree with those comments. This is a health crisis. So you know when we talk about a health accord we do need thousands of beds today to get people into residential drug treatment on a 90 day program, which is the most successful. Here in Ottawa we the police and a number of agencies as well as myself and my friend raised you know tens of millions of dollars to open two drug treatment centers and put health programs into high schools. That's having an impact we've had over 800 kids go through the Dave Smith Centre which is a youth drug facility here in Ottawa over the past six of they’ve been running that program. 800 children, you know I think that's the success. The success can't be found in a in an empty promise and it's an empty promise when we tell somebody that if they go in to a shooting gallery with poison to shoot into their arms that they'll be able to get treatment, there is no treatment, it is inaccessible.

CO: And the liberals have announced that the RCMP will be working with Chinese authorities to reduce the flow of drugs out of China to Canada. But you think there's more they could be doing what's wrong with that?

VW: Yeah, I mean I think first of all, I appreciate the fact that the RCMP are now working with China to do that. It's great that China acknowledges that it's a problem, but it's not just not just a problem with us. You know they've had the same problem with Australia for years with crystal methamphetamine. I think we need to play hardball when it comes to you know if you if you're going to allow. Obviously they were allowing since now they're going to do something about it. You're going to allow these precursors to continue to be shipped into Canada. Then there will be penalties that come to a country that allows it. Nothing leaves China without the Chinese government knowing it. Not a thing. So if they're serious about it then let's see what that action looks like and if there is action we will see a reduction in the accessibility of fentanyl and carfentanil and W18 and other drugs on our streets because the product that makes those drugs will not be available. That's what we will see. So if they're serious about it we'll see results very quickly.

Carol OFF: Senator White, thanks for coming on the program.

VERN WHITE: Thank you very much, Carol.

JEFF DOUGLAS: Vern White is a Conservative Senator and a former police chief. We reached him in Ottawa.

The Shepherd

[Music: Christmas music]

JEFF DOUGLAS: This year, Christmas Eve comes early. A whole day early, if you're a faithful fan of our annual holiday reading of “The Shepherd.” It is going to air on our final show before Christmas, which would be Friday December 23rd and that caught Rose O'Brien in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia by surprise. Ms. O'Brian wrote: I have invited 18 people to my place on the 24th to listen to “The Shepherd” at 6:30 followed by tortilla and baked beans as I have done every year for about 20 odd. So don't tell me it's on the 23rd. Or tell me. Oh boy Rose, I hate to break it to you and to all 18 of your friends. It is true. And in fact, this is not the first time this has happened since. As it Happens never airs on the weekend, but there is good news. Unlike your tortilla and beans which I'm sure are going to be gone before you can say Johnny Kavanagh. We're going to have leftovers because we're going to keep “The Sheppard” posted on our website www.cbc.ca/aih. You can listen at your leisure. And a reminder to all 19 of you and to everyone across this country please share your memories of listening to “The Shepherd” on talkback 416-205-5687. Keep them short and sweet. You might hear him. Next Friday.

[Music: Country]

Muslim registry

Guest: Ka-Ping Yee

JEFF DOUGLAS: When it comes to actual policy, Donald Trump is not big on detail. So when the president elect said repeatedly — and as recently as a few weeks ago — that he wanted to build a quote “Muslim registry”. He didn't say much else. And that obviously raised a lot of questions like how exactly would the government collect data on all Muslims entering the U.S.? What about American Muslims? And where exactly would all this information be stored? No one knows that. But as they wait for answers from him some tech employees are answering one question for him. They say that they will refuse to participate in the creation of a Muslim registry of any sort and they're signing a pledge online. Ka-Ping Yee is an engineer at Wave. He also happens to be Canadian. We reached him in San Francisco.

CAROL OFF: Mr. Yee, why do you feel it's necessary to create this online pledge against a Muslim registry?

KA-PING YEE: Well, things right now are pretty confusing. I know a lot of folks in my social and my professional circles who feel overwhelmed by what's going on right now. And they think it's easy to lose sight of how much power we have as individuals. So for me what this pledge is about and why it's important is that it reminds us you know if we're asked to do something that's against our principles we can choose not to do it. And even if our institutions our companies aren't willing to take a stand publicly, as individuals we can still do that.

CO: But Mr. Trump is President-elect, he hasn't taken office yet. We haven't been told what he's going to do why do you why do you suspect or why are you concerned that he might go ahead with something like a Muslim registry?

KY: Well he's made multiple statements about this and in particular I find it concerning that he didn't just do this while campaigning, but he's also continued to talk about this after the election. And so I think I think there is a real reason for concern.

CO: What exactly would people who sign on to this pledge where are they agreeing to?

KY: So, the pledge which is at www.neveragain.tec that's the website with the pledge has a list of commitments that people are making. And over 600 people have signed it so far. They're all making these commitments and they include not just refusing to participate in creating these databases, but also working within their companies and organizations if they discover that unethical misuse of data is happening. And people are pledging to work within their companies try to stop it from happening if they can't stop it from happening, to engage in responsible whistleblowing and to speak publicly about it and as a last resort, if they are forced to engage in it to resign rather than comply.

CO: So 600 people have agreed that they will not help their companies to collect any data based on race or religion. They will if they find that the company is doing it they will oppose it as whistleblowers. And if all else fails they will resign.

KY: Yes that's right. The specific handling of data that we're talking about I would encourage people listening to this to actually read the pledge itself at www.neveragain.tech it doesn’t specifically say they’ll stand against collecting any data that has this information in it, but it's about whether that data is used in an unethical way.

CO: Or illegal way, if we discover misuse of data that we consider illegal or unethical that they will blow the whistle?

KY: that's right.

CO: And now so does it surprise you have 600 people already who have signed on to this?

KY: I think it's terrific that so many people have signed and in fact, many more people have indicated that they want to sign. But it's just taking a while for us to verify all of all these people. You know we were trying to make sure that the names that are on the pledge are the correct names for everyone. And I think that's very exciting. I don't find it too surprising because I think a lot of people in this community are very concerned about how their tools and technology will be used. And I think we recognize that you know doing good at a large scale involves technology and doing evil at a large scale also involves technology. And so we have an ethical obligation to the many many people that are affected by the technology we build and design.

CO: You mention various atrocities and holocausts and genocides in your pledge. What are you trying to accomplish there? What do you want people to be thinking when they sign on to this pledge?

KY: Yeah, I think it's important that the pledge talks about that because we want people to understand there's a connection between targeting and these atrocities. There’s a connection between mass deportation and genocide. You know we've seen that happen in history and we don't want people to think that this just you know might never happen. They actually can make decisions that affect whether or not these things might happen. And we also want people to recognize that doing things at this scale you know and any of these things that you just mentioned is a large project and it's a large project involving technology involving many many decisions made by many many people and as people in the position of making those decisions and people who work with technology, we have a responsibility to use those powers carefully and ethically.

CO: So you’re seeing this response among your colleagues and coworkers and within the tech community. What about leaders of companies, the bosses? How have they responded to your pledge?

KY: Well, if you look at the list of signatories you'll see a few CEOs and CPOs and people in leadership positions among that list. As I understand it I have not personally seen public statements by the leaders of the major companies that are going to meet with Trump today. But I'm hoping that they will be inspired and validated to do so.

CO: Well, some of the biggest names in tech in the United States went to Trump Tower for that meeting. Do you think that they talked about this? And any concerns they have about a potential Muslim registry?

KY: I honestly don't know what they talked about, but I hope that they address these concerns that they took a principled stand on what they're willing to do and what they now want to do.

CO: You're a Canadian right?

KY: Yes I am.

CO: Are you a Muslim?

KY: No, I'm not.

CO: So you're neither an American nor Muslim, but you felt it was important to start this. Why is that?

KY: That’s because I think this is my community. the issues we're talking about are human rights issues. They're not just Muslim issues. They're not just American issues. And as a member of the tech community, as I mentioned I think we have a responsibility here and sort of as a member of the community of humanity, we have a responsibility. And I think it's incumbent on all of us to have to have a clear idea of what our values and principles are and their challenge to be willing to stand up for them.

CAROL OFF: Mr. Yee, thank you.

KA-PING YEE: Thank you so much for having me.

JEFF DOUGLAS: Ka-Ping Yee was in San Francisco.

[Music: Ambient]

Alan Thicke obit

JEFF DOUGLAS: As you've heard, Alan Thicke died yesterday reportedly of a heart attack while playing hockey. He was 69-years-old. And yes he was a sitcom dad. But over his career he did way more than that. He was a composer, a TV host and the kind of jack of all trades we don't see much anymore. He was born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario in 1947 and early on in his career he worked as a writer and a producer on television and variety shows. But he obviously had a knack in front of the camera too. So in the early 80’s he was given the job of hosting the Alan Thicke Show and later he went on to anchor the late night talk show. The Thicke or Thicke of the Night. It did not do well. In fact it was a legendary bomb, but he landed on his feet within 18 months of its cancellation. He got Growing Pains. And in August of 1982, Mr. Thicke spoke with Vicki Gabereau on the program Variety Tonight about playing hockey while living in California. Here's part of that conversation.

SOUNDCLIP

ALAN THICKE: As a matter of fact, a guy like me for instance, an adult amateur scrambler, hacker player can play more hockey in Los Angeles than I probably could in Vancouver or Toronto. There are — believe it or not plenty of rinks around — primarily because there are a lot of figure skaters.

VICKI GABEREAU: And you don't have to go at 6 o'clock in the morning.

AT: No you have to go 11 at night though, nobody else wants to play. I mean there is a smaller group of people who want to play and there are amateur leagues and pickup games all over town. So hockey is available to them and my kids you know they're 5 and 7 years-old and they've never been impressed by celebrities they've And they've met some who most people would consider to be no big stars and would be moved. Olivia Newton-John gave them their dog you know.

VG: But when people came over they’re just people to them.

AT: That's right. They've played trucks on the floor with Eric Estrada. They see these people all the time now suddenly it's March of this year and the Edmonton Oilers are in town to play the Los Angeles Kings. It's my son's fifth birthday and as a present I'm going to take them to the hockey game. Some of the kids who ride the school bus with them happen to be Canadian. I heard that in the course of their preschool conversation that they were going to the hockey game. One of the kids said Oh Wayne Gretzky plays for the Edmonton Oilers, will you see him? Do you think you could get his autograph? My kids come home and they say say are we going to see someone named Wayne Gretzky? I said a matter of fact, yes. I know Wayne Gretzky and we'll go to the dressing room if you like and we'll get an autograph. Suddenly my kids were big heroes at school in Los Angeles because they knew Wayne Gretzky. Kids were sending them notes — this is in L.A now — to hand on to Wayne and they were so hyped up and cranked up to meet Wayne Gretzky that this God had been built up in their eyes in a preschool bus in Los Angeles. That he was the first celebrity they were ever truly moved by or excited by and they met him and were in awe, as most a good Canadians are. And that is really what got them interested in hockey it's only been in these last few months that they've carried or have been playing.

VIKI GABEREAU: It's nice to know that they have the ability to get excited about somebody.

ALAN THICKE: It's that in-grown Canadian thing.

JEFF DOUGLAS: Alan Thicke and Vicki Gabereau in August of 1982, and beyond his obvious love of hockey and his film and TV credits he was as we mentioned also a composer. He wrote the theme songs for sitcoms like Different Strokes and The Facts of Life. He also composed the original theme for Wheel of Fortune and he sang too.

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Part 3: 4 in 4 out, right on red

Anthem inauguration

JEFF DOUGLAS: He keeps on refreshing that event page on Facebook, but no one is RSVPing. With a little over a month to go before Donald Trump is inaugurated as president, his transition team is still struggling to book A-list performers for the big night. Probably that doesn't come as a huge surprise. While Hollywood's biggest stars campaigned for Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump attracted one of the Duck Dynasty guys, Ted Nugent and Scott Baio among a handful of others. Still the show must go on. And for now it does look like Mr. Trump's team has found a solution to one of its problems in 16-year-old Jackie Evancho, the former runner up on America's Got Talent was just asked to sing the national anthem at next month inauguration. And here she is sharing the news with the anchors of The Today Show on NBC this morning.

SOUNDCLIP

JACKIE EVANCHO: All right. So I have recently been asked by the President-elect to perform the national anthem for the swearing in ceremony at the inauguration and I am so excited. It’s going to be awesome.

HOST 1: So just a little event? Oh my goodness what was it like to get that call?

JE: I don't know. I felt really honored to be able to sing for the office. It's a great honor for me.

HOST 2: It's funny it's not the first time you've sung for the office right? You're 16-years-old and you've already done it once before. You sung for the Obamas?

JE: Yes exactly.

HOST 2: What was that like?

JACKIE EVANCHO: That was awesome. I got to meet him, He’s really nice. And I just I felt really honored to have a chance to perform for the president again.

JEFF DOUGLAS: That 16-year-old singer Jackie Evancho. She is going to be performing the national anthem at the upcoming inauguration in January. So far no other performers have been confirmed, although the inaugural committee did announce the theme for the celebrations. Surprise! It's “Make America Great Again”. No word on how Scott Baio will be helping out.

[Music: Instrumental]

4 in 4 out

Guest: Guest

JEFF DOUGLAS: Last night the Canadian government announced the end of a controversial immigration rule called 4-in-4-out. Since 2011 that rule has created a revolving door for temporary migrant workers after working here for four years workers would be kicked out and banned from returning for another four years. The rule changed our next guest’s life she is a migrant worker from the Philippines and a member of the Coalition for Migrant Workers Rights Canada. She asked us to conceal her name because she was afraid immigration authorities might detain her. We reached her on her last full day in Canada in Windsor, Ontario.

CAROL OFF: You are scheduled to be deported tomorrow. What are your thoughts and feelings about returning to the Philippines?

GUEST: I worry about my status back home. I don't think I'll be able to get a job.

CO: You've been here in Canada since 2008?

GUEST: That's right.

CO: So you do feel that you are very settled in this country?

GUEST Yes. Because I established my connection in the community and I'm recently married here in Canada.

CO: But you have to go?

GUEST: Yeah.

CO: This announcement is not going to help you then. We heard last night that the Canadian government is going to end this requirement that migrant workers leave after they've been here for four years and they can't come back for another four years that's been eliminated does that not help you?

GUEST: No because I have my deportation orders, so I have to go home.

CO: If this rule had been in place before your deportation would you have been able to stay? If it if the rules had been changed a year ago would this make a difference for you?

GUEST: Yes, of course.

CO: It's just it's something it's happened too late for you?

GUEST: Yes.

CO: How did you come to Canada in 2008? What did you come to do?

GUEST: Oh, I came to Canada through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. I worked vegetable packaging, we were packing vegetables: tomatoes and cucumbers. When the four year rule came out in April of 2011, I decided to move to British Columbia because of the provincial nominee program, I was hoping that I will be able to get my permanent residence here in Canada through the new program.

CO: And what happened?

GUEST: It was hard for us because we have to pay recruitment or placement fees.

CO: So you have to pay money to these recruiters who get you jobs?

GUEST: That's right.

CO: And how much did you pay to the recruiters to get you jobs?

GUEST: $1,500.

CO: So each time you get another job you pay another $1,500 to a recruiter?

GUEST: That's right.

CO: You became a bit of an activist while you were here, trying to help other migrant workers. Is that right?

GUEST: That's right.

CO: What did you try to do?

GUEST: The first thing I did was fighting against these recruitment fees and about the poor housing. The first time that I that I stood up like talking about recruitment fees, I lost my first job.

CO: So now the law changed in 2011 and that's when the 4-in-4-out rule came into effect, that you couldn't stay more than four years right?

GUEST: Yes that's right.

CO: How were you able to stay for eight years?

GUEST: Oh yeah, because I came to Canada in 2008 and 4-year rule came in 2011. So my four years started in 2011.

CO: And now your time is up?

GUEST: Yes.

CO: How many people are in the same position as you? Who are being deported? Do you have any idea?

GUEST: Thousands of workers being deported.

CO: And why do you think? Give an argument to Canadians as to why you should stay?

GUEST: Because I’m already established here in Canada. For me personally, I'm married here. I have my community and I have my life here in Canada. Canadians are allowed these workers to come here in Canada because they needed these workers. That's why they hired workers from foreign countries because they think they are helping the Canadian economy. So it's kind of like if other people who come to Canada can get status upon arrival then why this low wage workers can avail of that?

CO: You're saying that the professional workers, when they come in they get the status to stay. And yet the low wage workers like yourself, can't get that status?

GUEST: because I don't think that there's this low wage workers have like lower human rights and low value. I think that we are all the same. We are here in Canada to work. So it doesn't matter if it's skilled or low skilled or high income or low wage income, we would like to demand being established in Canada because we came here to Canada to work because Canada needs us.

CO: Well, it seems like to some degree the Canadian government agrees with you because they're eliminating this rule?

GUEST: Yeah, I'm happy to hear that they eliminated the 4-year rule after thousands of workers have been sent home. But it is still like if the other workers like with the skilled program, they can come to Canada with status. So right now I don't see any reason for low wage workers not to have to have that status upon arrival too.

CO: If you have to go to the Philippines, you have to go back to your country tomorrow. What does that mean for your husband, for your family here? Will you have to say goodbye to them?

GUEST: Yeah; I don't know what will happen. It's kind of hard, but that's what it is. The government say I have to go home.

CAROL OFF: I hope things work out for you back in the Philippines. And I appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

GUEST: You're welcome.

JEFF DOUGLAS: That was a migrant worker whose name we are withholding because she does not want immigration authorities to think she's unwilling to comply with her deportation order. We reached her in Windsor, Ontario. This is her last full day in Canada. Just one day after the end of the controversial 4-in-4-out rule.

[Music: String]

Trailer stolen

JEFF DOUGLAS: Raphaelle Gagnon's whole business was in a trailer. Now that trailer has gone, the Calgary woman and her partner were selling their natural skincare products at a market in Victoria over the weekend. She left the trailer in long term parking at a Delta, B.C. ferry terminal when she returned to it Sunday night. The chains in the locks were cut and the trailer was gone. Ms Gagnon detailed her missing merchandise for David Gray, host of CBC Radio's Calgary Eyeopener.

SOUNDCLIP

RAPHAELLE GAGNON: The trailer was a beautiful hand-built apothecary. So everything in there we had spent the last year building ourselves. We had an entire solar system, solar panels and six golf cart battery banks. We had a vintage raft, we had bicycles, we had two motorcycles. We had thousands of dollars’ worth of product from cocoa butter to essential oil to hundreds of wild plants that I've picked throughout Canada in the last year. We had all of our business inventory and commercial printers. We had hundreds of glass packaging for example, and all of our business packaging and labels and you name it. Our soap molds and everything. I spent the last five years building a natural skincare company you know up to my formulations. Like everything all of my notes all of my books my recipes everything was in the trailer and just like that it's just vanished into thin air.

JEFF DOUGLAS: A trailer containing Raphaelle Gagnon's natural skin care business was stolen over the weekend in Delta, British Columbia. She spoke to David Gray about it on the Calgary Eyeopener.

[Music: Ambient]

Bob Washington obit

JEFF DOUGLAS: Bob Washington was a pro, they could put together the most incongruous artists on a record and he would make those ludicrous combinations sound perfectly natural. They could sell products that were unnecessary — obviously an ineffective or both — and he would make them sound appealing, but that was his job. Bob Washington was the voice of K-Tel. The Canadian broadcaster died on the weekend. He was 82-years-old. Over his career Mr. Washington went to Moose Jaw, Saskatoon in Montreal before he wound up in Winnipeg, which is where he became known internationally as cartels utterly committed spokes guy. And when you think of K-Tel so many things come to mind: the “Miracle Brush” hair remover the “Veg-O-matic” and of course, K-Tel Records.

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: Popular music]

BOB WASHINGTON: New from K-Tel Records, twenty-two explosive hits. Twenty-two original stars gathering. The great Sammy Davis Jr, Olivia Newton-John, Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds, Eric and the Dominos big hit “Layla”. The Osmonds, Detroit Emeralds, Mille Jackson, April Whine, Pop Tops, Fortunes, Joe Simons, Hot Butter’s “Popcorn” and many more. Get K-Tel’s Twenty-Two Explosive Hits now! Twenty-two original stars on one great stereo LP on $3.99.

JEFF DOUGLAS: What a blast from the past. That was a K-Tel records ad from 1972 featuring Bob Washington also known as the voice of K-Tel. Mr. Washington died on Saturday in Vancouver. He was 82-years-old.

[Music: Country]

Right on red

Guest: Georges Bourelle

JEFF DOUGLAS: If you're in your car right now, and you're sitting at a red light you probably wouldn't hesitate to turn right if, of course, it's not stipulated otherwise. And, of course, if it's safe or if you're just in a hurry. But if you are in Montreal, you cannot. It is one of only two cities in North America where drivers are not allowed to do that. The other city being a little town called New York. Well now the mayors of 15 suburban cities on the island of Montreal want to jam that rule into reverse and allow drivers to turn right on red. Mayor Georges Bourelle of Beaconsfield is one of them and we reached mayor Bourelle in Beaconsfield.

CAROL OFF: Mr. Bourelle, why do you think the time has come to allow Montreal drivers to turn right on a red light?

GEORGES BOURELLE: Well, you know in 2003 there was a decision to allow cities in the province of Quebec to have right hand turns on red lights. And at that time there was a study and a commission that suggested that in Montreal not being implemented immediately, but should be implemented into three years after. So now we are 13-years and we are still looking at Montreal without a right hand turn on a red light. So it's very timely at this point to do it.

CO: You know that Montreal drivers have a reputation of being aggressive, impatient, lead footed. I think they've been called more so than motorists elsewhere. There are those who say that Montrealer’s cannot be trusted with being able to turn right on red. What do you say to that?

GB: Well, I think that's a that's a false reputation. It's a bad perception. You know like all cities I mean I've driven everywhere in North America and in all cities you have drivers that are irresponsible, that can be careless. You know I drive in Toronto all the time and Toronto has a reputation for drivers that are careful that are that are you know very well behaved. I've seen drivers in Toronto that were irresponsible. I mean that doesn't mean that if you have a few drivers that are not really following the rules properly and driving responsibly that you should generalize and have a reputation for all the drivers in a particular city certainly in Montreal that they're all dangerous. I mean that's not the case.

CO: Well, it's a bit of an issue in Toronto right now is an interesting year for you to say that because this year was the deadliest year for pedestrians in Toronto in over a decade. There's a discussion maybe just around the water cooler — may progress further than that — about joining Montreal. That Montreal may have the right idea to ban turning right on red because of how deadly it's become, so I don't know?

GB: Well, you know I think one thing we have to understand is that turning right on red is not for every intersection. I would not recommend that most of the intersections in the center of the city have a right hand turn. Certainly if you're driving on St. Catherine Street or particularly Sherbrooke Street it's got less traffic or less pedestrian, but on St. Catherine Street I would not recommend a right hand turn on a red at Peel and St. Catherine. I mean that would not be very sensible. There are at least 1,500 where a right hand turn on the right would improve the traffic flow, would certainly save money because people would use less gas and at the same time would reduce pollution.

CO: Well how would it reduce pollution? to be able to turn right into red light?

GB: Well, because if you don't turn right you or your car is idling and if your car is idling a car that idles as it's known to produce more pollution.

CO: Now I'm sure you know the Montreal Gazette its editorial board put out eight reasons why this should not happen, there should not be a right and right turn on red. And among the many reasons first of all, that that's Montreal drivers are too aggressive and impatient to have that, but also that you have over the years in your city developed all these bike lanes you've developed a culture of pedestrians and cycling that is the envy of other Canadian cities. And that this is going to be vulnerable to people turning right on red. It'll affect that culture of cycling and walking?

GB: Well, I agree. And I as I said before I don't think that it applies to every intersection on the island of Montreal you're talking about cycling. Pedestrians of course, hospitals seniors residences and there are many many reasons as to why it can't apply at every intersection. I think we have to be selective. We have to use specialists that can help to determine the intersections where it can be done. And secondly, I am also very very favorable to cycling and I think it's a great thing and I think people should use cycling as much as possible. But at the same time cyclists have to observe the law and that is not a given. I mean many cyclists do not stop at stop signs. Many cyclists go through red lights. Many cyclists do not signal or provide a signal when they are going left or right. So you know before we jump to conclusion that it's the car turning on the red light that's going to hit a cyclist. We should also maybe look into it a little bit more as to whether cyclists are in fact observing all the rules and regulations of the road.

CO: You think the accidents or because cyclists are running into the cars not the cars running to the cyclists.

GB: Well if a cyclist is going through a red light and he gets hit by a car what do you think?

CO: Well yeah but, if that's one of your arguments.

GB: I'm not saying that, but what I'm saying is that everybody has to be responsible you know obviously not everybody is favorable to this right hand turn but 73 per cent are. And we as mayors are there to try and satisfy the majority of our residents.

CAROL OFF: We'll leave it there. Mayor Bourelle, thank you.

GEORGES BOURELLE: You're most welcome.

JEFF DOUGLAS: That was Beaconsfield Mayor Georges Bourelle, he is one of 15 suburban mayors from the Montreal area pushing to let Montreal drivers turn right on red.

[Music: Ambient]

Rebuilt House

JEFF DOUGLAS: Around this time last year, a fire destroyed Angela Kaizer's home in Halifax. She moved out with her three kids and a grandchild into a rental. Their landlord said his construction company could rebuild their old house with the insurance. But in the fall, workers gave up on the project. The landlord said he couldn't finish it because of his own legal troubles and what the crew left for Angela really wasn't much of a house at all. No kitchen, no bathroom, no lights, no water, no paint and no flooring. Ms. Kaizer was stuck, until a group of generous souls saw her story on the news and came to help out. Here's Angela Kaizer speaking to CBC Nova Scotia reporter Michael Gorman.

SOUNDCLIP

ANGELA KAIZER: I never thought I was going to move back in. I thought we were going to have to walk away from it and I tried not to think what was going to happen, but I'm so grateful so grateful that we're going to be able to move home.

MICHAEL GORMAN: You had a pretty tremendous response when the story went online and went on the television was on the radio. Tell me about what happened after the story got out there.

AK: It went crazy. Everybody called — everybody — we had the www.gofundme.com account. Like I said we were able to purchase the major things that we needed to get heat and lights and the floor. That's where the stuff came from that, but there was also other people that literally walked off the street while we were here and offered help. There was just there's so many to list. I was always a trusting person before. And then you when this disaster happened that died, but there's so many people that have restored that faith. There's a lot of good people out there.

JEFF DOUGLAS: And one of those good people was Gurcharan Singh, all the way from Brampton, Ontario. After he read about the situation he decided to pitch in.

SOUNDCLIP

GURCHARAN SINGH: To be honest with you, my wife, she's the one who actually read the article first and it kind of broke her heart. She read the article. It just sounded really tragic to her and she brought it up to me. And at that point she didn't realize I was actually in Halifax. She just read the article and she said you know what we have to help her. We know you were a pretty successful company out here in Brampton, Ontario doing the contracting business for about 10 years. We're blessed in that regard that we're in a position to give back. And then I looked a little closer I'm like well Babe, this is in Halifax. And she's like really? And I'm like you know like that if you feel it in your heart and I feel it in mine as well. And we have the means to do it. Let's let's go and help her out, Right? So that's exactly what we did! I'm a diehard Canadian. If I see my fellow Canadians you know hurting, it hurts me. So if I have a chance to give back and help them out I will.

JEFF DOUGLAS: Gurcharan Singh was among those who volunteered rebuild Angela Kaizer's home in Halifax after a fire. Ms. Keizer says she hopes to move back in by the weekend.

[Music: Ambient]

False baby tips

JEFF DOUGLAS: It is one thing to try to have a baby. It is another to try to have a specific kind of baby. Actually no it isn't, there the same thing no matter what superstitious behavior you adopt it will make no difference. Your baby will be a boy or it will be a girl based on whether the father's sperm carries an X or Y chromosome. That is it. At least that is what the so-called experts want you to believe. But what if having a boy is as easy as sleeping with your face turned to the left which also has to be the west. That is just one of several tips offered this week by the daily news paper newspaper Mangalam in Kerala, India. The widespread and serious problem in parts of India is that people prefer a male child for various reasons, all of which are bad reasons. So to help out that paper just offered six methods for guaranteeing yourself a boy. They are foolproof in the sense that they are proof of foolishness. Number one: you and your partner must only try to procreate on odd numbered days. I know that one is super obvious and so was number two. The woman should always eat breakfast and come to think of it number three. The woman should just eat a lot of everything. A full mother is a boy baby having mother has no saying. Then there's number four. The prospective parents should eat mutton, salty food and raisins. Actually this kind of makes sense because of a chemical in mutton which stimulates... Just kidding. It's nonsense too. And number six men should not eat acidic foods. But back to number five which as I mentioned says that women who want male babies should sleep with their faces turned to the left and to the west. The silliest advice on a silly list you do not need a compass to know that those are the wrong directions.

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Dec. 14, 2016 episode transcript

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