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The AIH Transcript for June 2, 2017

Hosts: Carol Off and Jeff Douglas

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Prologue

CO: Hello, I'm Carol Off.

JD: Good evening, I'm Jeff Douglas. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

JD: Tonight:

CO: City limits. Business leaders, universities, and local officials across the U.S. – including our guest, the mayor of Milwaukee – have a message for the world: we'll do everything we can to reduce emissions, regardless of our President.

JD: You're not going anywhere. The Australian government introduces a plan to fight child sex tourism by revoking sex offenders' passports – and the senator who proposed the idea explains the plan.

CO: Adding injury to insult. Stella Nyanzi's pointed criticism of the president of Uganda on Facebook has the popular activist facing possible jail time – and a forced psychiatric evaluation.

JD: Defamation of character. The popular game "Minecraft" has spawned all kinds of books – and in one of them, a parent is shocked to find a racist dismissal of a character's name mined for humour.

CO: Sweat dreams. Scientists issue yet another a wake-up call about global warming, and this one's personal: as temperatures go up, you'll spend more time up as well – because it's going to get harder to sleep.

JD: And...bright yellow journalism. We just wanted to tell the story of the controversy over the giant rubber duck that's coming to Canada for the 150th – but instead of a brief intro-duck-tion, we stumbled into a big pro-duck-tion.
As It Happens, the Friday edition. Radio with all hands on duck.

Back To Top »

Part 1: Paris Climate: Mayor, counterfeit duck, Scholastic book

Climate mayor

Guest: Jackie Biskupski

JD: Well, the U.S. President may have announced that he is pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement. But all across the U.S. country, mayors, universities, and corporations are saying: we can, and will, stick to the agreement, and bring down our greenhouse gas emissions without you.
Among those mayors is Jackie Biskupski, the Mayor of Salt Lake City. We reached Mayor Biskupski in Salt Lake City.

CAROL OFF: Mayor Biskupski, how can cities uphold this commitment to the goals of the Paris climate agreement without the president's endorsement?

JACKIE BISKUPSKI: You know we can do it on the grounds like I am doing here locally. So I’ve been working with our local power company to create our path forward for Salt Lake City. And in our franchise agreement with Rocky Mountain Power, we created a path that will put us on 100 percent renewable energy by 2032 and reduce our carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2040. And mayors across this country are signing onto this effort. That is the powerful tool we have as local government.

CO: We're hearing 30 mayors so far, three governors, 80 universities, 100 businesses and we're hearing from Michael Bloomberg former mayor of New York City who's helping to lead up this effort. He believes that it's possible that if there are enough non-national actors non-federal actors, that you can actually achieve the goal of the United States in its emissions reduction, you can reach that target. Do you think that's possible?

JB: I absolutely do think that's possible. In fact, for about the past year, there have been mayors across this country and myself who created an initiative. Right? So we are working toward 100 percent clean energy through this initiative. I'm a co-chair of this committee, and we were doing this work for the last year in preparation for a moment in time that we felt like would be here and here we are today, realizing this moment.

CO: We heard from the president yesterday President Trump who gave a dire warning in his speech. And that speech said that this agreement in this effort to curtail these emissions this way is damaging the U.S. economy. It's just a way to a massive transfer of wealth from the United States to other countries, that it will result in all kinds of lost jobs and the destruction of the economy. Don't you think that a lot of people especially in Utah where they voted for President Trump, don't think that that message will mean something to them will it will actually reach its target?

JB: I think it will reach some people. But part of the work I'm doing here is emphasizing with our power company partner that as we move toward this renewable energy shift, that we are replacing coal oriented jobs with these renewable energy jobs. And that shift will help us bring those individuals into the fold and into the future of what is coming, and what is coming is renewable energy. And we know as mayors that if we are very focused on doing this trade out, and we do it correctly, that a state like Utah could become a primary source of energy for this region of our country.

CO: But isn't that a big risk? This is what the president Trump is saying. He cites statistics from a report that he says indicates that the U.S. would lose six and a half million jobs by 2040. A lot of those jobs will be in sectors that employ people in Utah. You say that you hope it works out that way. That's what you're aiming for. What if he's right? Do you think there is a possibility that this study, these numbers that Mr. Trump is using might be accurate?

JB: Well I can speak for local energy company and give you a prime example. So, moving to this renewable energy plan that we created last year, our local power company built a solar farm, and they built it in rural Utah, not in Salt Lake City, and are doing what they believe will work for them as well.

CO: It seems that is not so easy actually to get out of the Paris Climate Accord and that it might take some years before the United States actually does that completely. Do you think that President Trump has read the accord and understands it?

JB: I don't know. I just know that he is and find anything that was accomplished prior to his administration, and that's what we are consistently seeing as time goes by. And why mayors across this country started a year ago to create our path to 100 percent clean energy and why we are here today now with over 90 mayors across this country signing on to say “Yes, we will achieve the goals of the Paris Accord.”

CO: Of course there have been efforts in the past 24 hours to get an answer to the question and that's whether or not Mr. Trump still believes that climate change is a hoax, and they have not been able to get any answers either from him, anyone in his administration, or even Mr. Pruitt, who is head of your Environmental Protection Agency. Why do you think that's the case?

JB: Well I'm not sure. And then some of the other statements that came out today from him are talking about renegotiating. So is it a hoax or are we renegotiating? Right? At the end of the day, I feel like the message being sent by this country is this is not the direction we want to be heading and our power partners are saying a similar message: that they are on board. We understand the science and we understand our role in trying to have a positive impact on our climate.

CO: Could I just ask you a personal question?

JB: Sure.

CO: How did you feel when you heard Mr. Trump make the announcement yesterday?

JB: It's heartbreaking. It is heartbreaking to send the rest of the world a message like this. And at a time for me, as a mayor, where I'm trying to build a city for everyone who lives here, I have a president who is sending a message that you know, I'm not interested in working with the rest of the world. And that's a complete different mentality from where I'm serving from. So it's heartbreaking.

CO: We will leave it there. Mayor Biskupski, I appreciate speaking with you, thank you.

JB: Thank you.

JD: We reached Mayor Jackie Biskupski in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mayor Biskupski is among the growing number of mayors who are coming together with corporations and universities to pledge their commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement despite President Trump's announcement that the U.S. will pull out.

[Music]

Counterfeit duck

Guest: Ryan Whaley

JD: There are lots and lots of big plans are being made across the country to celebrate "Canada 150". But none might be as big and bright as the giant yellow rubber duck coming to Toronto.
But there is a darkness to that brightness. The duck has been dogged by controversy. First, there's the reported price tag of 200 thousand dollars. And now, a Dutch artist who claims he's behind the original giant duck art installation says this duck – the duck heading to our shores – is a fraud.
Florentijn Hofman of the Netherlands is calling the "Canada 150" duck a counterfeit.
We tried reaching Mr. Hofman. He wasn't available. We did, however, reach Ryan Whaley. Mr. Whaley is one of the owners of the duck that's on its way to Canada. We reached Mr. Whaley in Sandusky, Ohio.

CO: Mr. Whaley, these are serious claims being made about your duck by this artist. Is your duck a fraud?

RYAN WHALEY: It is not. I’d like to remind you that we are talking about a very large rubber duck. So the duck is public domain. That duck was actually created in the 30s and not by Florentijn Hoffman coins. It goes back to the Ernie’s rubber duck days. And our duck is actually based on a toy company in the 30s which is now considered public domain. We've actually had an intellectual property lawyer look into this and we were able to patent our dock and trademark it to have it at events. The duck, itself, could still be used by anybody. So, someone could take a picture of the duck we're using and make a bigger one and there would be no legal precedent at all.

CO: But Mr. Hofman said you’ve been using his patterns, his design and his intellectual property.

RW: Once again, that duck is public domain. It goes back to the 1930s, way before Florentijn Hofman ever did anything.

CO: Now, so has Mr. Hoffman produced a duck of his own?

RW: He has once again sold plans before. To my knowledge, he does not own his own duck. He just sells plans. As a matter of fact, I find it interesting. He said he would bring his duck for free, when he charged the Macau government near a million dollars Canadian to sell him drawings of a duck. And then they had to go and build their own duck. So he, what he does… we’ve attempted to contact him. We’ve sent multiple letters his way from our lawyer. He refuses to respond. What he likes to do is whenever he sees a duck in the media, and we're not the only ones that happened to, he likes to go ahead and send out a press release about it being his duck and his art and things like that. He just likes to get the attention I believe. But he never will get a hold of us when it comes to legal precedent.

CO: So he's hit on other people's ducks before.

RW: Yeah. Oh yeah.

CO: Well his press release says, "Canada 150 Rented Duck is an Illegal Counterfeit of Real Art." He argues that Canadians are being ripped off. He says, "The duck was never supposed to be used for profit. It’s designed to be a public art installation to bring joy and hope wherever it went." And that Canadians are renting this duck when they could have had their own from him, if they'd only just contacted him. He's "deeply saddened" that the Canadian people have to pay for the actions of renting this duck. What do you say to Mr. Hofman?

RW: Pretty hypocritical for him to charge other governments hundreds of thousands of dollars to send them renderings of a duck and require them to build it on their own and then come to us and say that Canadians are being ripped off. So, he is just very much a hypocrite in his statements and like I said, if he has any legal precedent at all, I would encourage him to reach out. But, he will not.

CO: Alright, now just give us the proportions of the duck that you're delivering to Canada.

RW: The duck is 61 feet tall, so just a touch over six storeys tall, and it weighs, with its base, 11 tons.

CO: And it floats?

RW: And it floats.

CO: And where is it showing up?

RW: It will be at Toronto’s waterfront. I do not know exactly the location on Toronto’s waterfront. A lot of it, it might move a bit depending on Toronto’s weather. But it will be right on the water, very plain to see for everybody.

CO: And what is this actually costing the Canadian people to have this duck bounce around?

RW: The only thing I can tell you is the entire price of what the duck is costing to go to six locations throughout Ontario is $71,000 US. That's the total price tag.

CO: That’s the rental price?

RW: That’s the rental price that's the rental price and with the rental price. Not only is it just for the duck to show up, but it also provides the crew, the transportation, all of the things. The duck itself will provide economic impact of significantly more than $71,000 in just travel alone the amount of people that will want to go see it, that will that will support local businesses stay in local hotels. Matter of fact, during that possible, it’s almost impossible to get a hotel downtown already.

CO: You're saying that's… whoa, wait. You're saying that because of your rubber duck you can't get a hotel on the waterfront anymore.

RW: Yes. Yes. Yes it's very difficult to get a hotel from what I understand. Everywhere that duck goes it attracts a lot of crowd.

CO: How do you know that? How do you know your rubber duck is actually booked every hotel in the world in Toronto Waterfront?

RW: I didn’t say every hotel. I said it's very difficult to get a hotel and every time I try to book hotel, prices are skyrocketing. So I'm assuming it's doing its job. It always does. I would encourage anybody to just show up and watch the duck once it’s inflated and they'll understand.

CO: Right. And respect to the price tag. It's been reported that is actually $200,000 Canadian. Is there more to it than that is?

RW: I don't know what that number comes from. It's $71,000, what my company has been paid, to do everything, 100 percent of the duck management. That being said, I don't know. Maybe that's maybe that's for other festivals that are involved. But $71,000 dollars US is what the duck cost for all six locations.

CO: How does the duck travel from place to place?

RW: The duck travels on a semi-truck. So it's a full semi-truck and then it's followed by a few cars because it has a crew of anywhere between six to 10 that has to manage it 24 hours a day when it's inflated.

CO: And is this $71,000 include that that transport.

RW: Yes it, yes it does. $71,000 everything.

CO: What's the duck’s name?

RW: We like to call it Mama Duck.

CO: And where is Mama Duck right now?

RW: Mama Duck is in Coos Bay, Oregon right now. It's doing a west coast tour. And then it will be in Tacoma, Washington in about two weeks. And then after that it’ll head to Canada.

CO: All right we'll leave it there. Mr. Whaley, thanks.

RW: Thanks so much. Have a great day.

JD: Ryan Whaley is one of the owners of the giant rubber duck that is coming to Canada. We reached Mr. Whaley in Sandusky, Ohio. Now as we just heard, Mr. Whaley says the total cost of his doc is seventy one thousand US dollars which is about $95,000 Canadian. As you also heard however, the event organizers say the dock is costing them $200,000 Canadian dollars. So that is a discrepancy of a hundred and five thousand bucks. So what gives? Well As It Happens contacted the event organizers who did clarify that Mr. Whaley’s fee covers only some of the costs of the dock, including the truck, the crew, the inflation and the deflation. But if you want to put on a successful traveling giant rubber duck show, you're going to need to spend some more than that. The remaining money will be used to pay for things like cranes, tugboats, fencing, portolets, on-site labor and marketing for the six locations where the duck will appear across Ontario. We will keep you apprised of any further developments. We sincerely hope there are none.

[Music]

New Irish prime minister

JD: He's gay, he is the son of an Indian immigrant. And, as of today, Ireland's Prime-Minister elect.
Leo Varadkar won the ruling Fine Gael party's leadership vote -- and will replace Enda Kenny as PM. At thirty-eight, he'll also be the country's youngest-ever leader.
Here is part of what he had to say at a speech after his victory.

SOUNDCLIP

LEO VARADKAR: And in this Mansion House , where the first all met, we reaffirm the mission of the first stall to constitute, and I quote, “to constitute a national polity based upon the people's will, with equal rights and equal opportunity for every citizen.” And I think if my election as leader [unintelligible] today has shown anything, it is that prejudice has no hold in this republic.

[Sound: Applause]

LV: Around the world, people look to Ireland to be reminded that this is a country where it doesn't matter where you come from but rather where you want to go. And I know when my father traveled 5000 miles to build a new home in Ireland, I doubt he ever dreamed that his son would one day grow up to become its leader and that despite his differences his son would be treated the same and judged by his actions and character, not his origins our identity.

[Sound: Applause]

JD: That was Ireland's prime minister elect Leo Varadkar speaking in front of supporters today. Mr. Varadkar won his party's leadership and will be confirmed as prime minister later this month.

[Music]

Scholastic block

Guest: Sailaja Krishnamurti

JD: If you have kids, you will know Minecraft is a video game that takes place in a 3D world. It revolves around players breaking and placing blocks within it. There are sometimes zombies.
The game is very popular and it has inspired all kinds of YouTube channels, an upcoming movie and several books now. Now, you wouldn't expect any of those books to be say Charlotte's Web quality, but it turns out some are worse than you might imagine.
Some parents say the books in a series called Diary of a Minecraft Zombie model racist behaviour -- in particularly towards those with ethnic names.
Sailaja Krishnamurti is a religious studies professor at St. Mary's University. Her focuses include South Asian identity, literature, pop culture, and children. We reached Ms. Krishnamurti in an airport in Hamilton, Ontario.

CO: Professor Krishnamurti, when did you first notice these ethnic slurs in Minecraft?

SAILAJA KRISHNAMURTI: You know, I came across this on Twitter a couple of nights ago when a concerned parent had taken a screenshot and tweeted about it and expressed some anger and frustration that this had appeared in her children's book.

CO: This is from Diary of a Minecraft Zombie. And is it possible that you could, I know you're in an airport, might be difficult but can you tell us, can you read the passage?

SK: Sure. So, I mean what's happening in the passage is that the main character, zombie, has just found out that his family is having a foreign exchange students coming to stay. And his father says “Don't worry Zombie, I already spoke to Rajit, and he seems like a really nice kid. Zombie says “Rajit, what kind of name is that? Where is he from, Dad?” “His name is Rajit Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta,” my mom said as she walked in the room. It sounded like my mom farted.
So the idea is that this long name is something that sounds like a fart, that his mother’s made.

CO: Can you identify the likely nationality or ethnicity of that name?

SK: Some of the parts of the name are familiar to me, and I checked in with my parents about it and it turns out that this is actually a sort of famous name inside of India because it's the name of a railway station in the region of India that my parents are from, and it's famous for being one of the longest rail names in South Asia.

CO: So the author took the trouble to find a name that would be an extreme example of, I mean Tamil names are long, right? But this one is particularly long.

SK: Yeah this is sort of like a Telugu Tamil hybrid name. It's sort of from the border region between Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. And it's like,if you googled really long unpronounceable South-Asian names, this is probably what would come up.

CO: How did you react when you saw this passage. This name sounded like a fart?

SK: I have two kids who are in the age group that this kind of text is targeted towards them. They get these scholastic brochures in school every month, and we've had a conversation about whether or not my kids are interested and they haven't yet ordered these books. But it's very likely something they could be reading. Certainly my son loves to play Minecraft. And they're of an age where they could be reading on their own without my looking over their shoulder. And so, I was really troubled by the idea that my children, who have long and complicated names might end up reading something like this on their own and not really know how to process how that might make them feel.

CO: What have you done about this? Have you complained to anyone?

SK: I've done some complaining and I'm happy that we're having this conversation. I'm really grateful to the parents who initially tweeted about this because I hadn't come across the text myself, and I understand that she has also notified the Toronto District School Board as well as notified Scholastic who says they're looking into it. But the Scholastic have a presence in schools across Canada. I’m flying back to Halifax now which is also a place where Scholastic has a strong presence. And I do really think it needs to be addressed.

CO: There was a statement that we have from Scholastic, which is the distributor of the book. It says “This book is published by Herobrine, not Scholastic. However we are for a money back guarantee if customers are dissatisfied with their purchase from Scholastic and I am looking into which channels may be offering it and will follow up when I have more information.” What do you think of that answer?

SK: I feel like it’s a bit half hearted. I think Scholastic needs to do that more especially because of their strong presence in classrooms and in school libraries across Canada. There needs to be a stronger response on their part. And I’m particularly concerned because this series, and this is basically fan fiction right? Like you know, it’s not Fifty Shades of Grey but it’s fan fiction that has been picked up by Scholastic as a distributor. There is no author named on the text other than the sort of made up pseudonym Zack Zombie. And so there's no accountability there. Scholastic's not responsible, and there’s no publisher or author who can be taken to task for it either?

CO: But how do you think it managed to get this far? I mean wouldn't there be somebody who is knowing that this is for young readers and this is for kids, that to mock a name because of its ethnicity. How could that get to all the various, you would presume, filters before it actually got to be published?

SK: Well, again in this case, I think these are attacks that are being produced by some anonymous small publisher. I imagine that the Scholastic as a distributor is not reading these texts thoroughly or vetting them before putting them in their own catalog.
And again, these are texts that children are often reading on their own, right without parents necessarily sitting alongside them. So I think that there are probably lots of kids who've read this book without having someone flag it for them?

CO: Do you think it's possible to turn this around? To make a kind of teachable moment of actually normalizing, or making people feel inclusive with a book like Minecraft, and with a name like this. Is it possible that they could do this in a different way that would actually be positive?

SK: Well you know, I mean the story of this particular book, this is the tenth book in the series, and the story is supposed to be that Zombie kid and his foreign exchange student friend you know become friends and realize that despite this child's unusual name, that they can get to know each other.
But you know that doesn't excuse the racism that is being enacted right at the start of the book. And so I don't know that this is the teachable moment. I think it's an instructive moment for all of us as parents and as people who are thinking about children's literature to really advocate for more diverse representations in the books our children are reading.

CO: All right, we'll leave it there. Professor Krishnamurti, thank you.

SK: Thank you very much Carol.

JD: Sailaja Krishnamurti is a professor at St. Mary's University. We reached her in Hamilton, Ontario.
And after this interview, we received another response from Scholastic Canada. A representative for the company says it sincerely apologizes for the concern that the book Diary of a Minecraft Zombie: One Bad Apple has caused.
She also notes that the author of the book is quote "deeply troubled" that the text has been construed as racist, and is eager to make editorial changes.

Back To Top »

Part 2: Australia passport, Uganda activist

Australia passport

Guest: Derryn Hinch

JEFF DOUGLAS: Australia is struggling to combat child sex tourism. With its proximity to Southeast Asia, Australian pedophiles are considered among the worst offenders in the region's child sex trade. And now, the government has announced a plan to revoke the passports of convicted pedophiles on Australia's national child sex offender registry. The plan is being called a "world-first." Independent Senator Derryn Hinch led the charge for the legislation. We reached him in Canberra, Australia.

CAROL OFF: Senator Hinch, why do you want to revoke the passports of convicted pedophiles?

DERRYN HINCH: Well I have to get credit for it to an Australian actress called Rachel Griffiths because she was in Six Feet Under, the TV show in Canada and in the US and I was a senator-elect last year. I only just formed my party, the Justice party, and I was addressing the local press club, and the host pressed this little piece of paper in my hand saying Rachel Griffiths say she knows you and to give you this. It was a scrawled note in which she said “How come, in Australia, if you're bankrupt, you have your passport taken off you for seven years, but if you're convicted criminally on the child sex offender register, you can still travel?” And I said “That can't be true.” So once I got to Canberra, as a senator, I started checking it out with the Federal Police and the Foreign Affairs Department. I found out not only was it true, but every year, about 800 convicted sex offenders go overseas and 350 of them went to Southeast Asia on what I call child rape holidays.

CO: How do you know that? How did you determine that hundreds of convicted pedophiles were going to these places for you to take advantage of the sex trade?

DH: Let me tell you. I went to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh two years ago and you saw all these potbellied middle aged Australians and some Germans walking around, Caucasian men walking around with young kids and they weren't there for a suntan. And there's a group over here called Project Karma which has set up headquarters in the Philippines and has been working in Thailand with the local police authorities trying to pick up these are these sex offenders.
And so this is what the coppers told me. It's not just my own observations. So anyway, I decided to do something about it and got involved with the justice minister and the foreign affairs minister, and together we drafted new laws. And they’ll be introduced the parliament letters. And if you're on the sex offender register, and there are 20,000 people registered on the register in Australia, according to the Foreign Affairs Department, more than 3000 of them are on that register for life. They will have their passports withdrawn and will not be able to travel.

CO: How does one end up on that registry?

DH: If you are convicted of sexual offenses against a child with a sentence punishable up more than 12 months. And also, if the magistrate or the judge puts you on, on occasion, a magistrate or a judge will not put a sex offender on the register if they feel is some sort of extenuating circumstances. I think there’s some people going on the register who should not be. That includes a teenager doing what I call “sexting” over here. He seems a sexual text and photographs his or her girlfriend or boyfriend. Now they, some of them go on the registry.
I'm trying to start a campaign now to get them off the register, because these are kids who shouldn't have your life besmirched for like 10 15 years.

CO: I understand. So and just as these young people end up on the child sex offender registry because they're the person they're sexting to is under age.

DH: Yeah. And I don't think that's fair.

CO: So how does one not, so you say it’s 20,000 people on this registry. Is there any way to get off the registry?

DG: Yes, sometimes a judge will put you on there for five years or for 10 years or for life. And there's one other concession, and that is if say someone is on that register, and their mother gets seriously ill in Toronto, you can apply to the authorities, to the foreign affairs department and get a conditional passport to get you to Canada, see your mother and get back again.

CO: So your plan is this is that is that all people on this registry with the exceptions like the ones you mentioned, the teenagers, they would lose their passports for the duration of the time that they're on this registry. Is that right?

DH: That is correct. My hope is that the Canadian government, the UK government, the New Zealand government will also bring in similar laws because we don't want your pedophiles coming here. Now I know it’s not the problem to you in South Asia in Southeast Asia, because here in Australia, Bali is closer to Perth than Sydney is. So there's a huge trafficking of holiday makers, genuine and otherwise to Southeast Asia from here.

CO: As you point out there is just a crisis in this child sex tourism in Southeast Asia. But what about the people who are not traveling to take advantage of that. What about the people who might be on the registry who are trying to get themselves straightened out with jobs that require them to travel? What happens to them?

DH: Well I've had some civil libertarians saying to me, raising those sorts of questions, and my answer is quite simple: if you rape a child, you lose some of your civil rights. And here, some of them have been going overseas in breach of their reporting conditions because if you travel, you’re meant to report. I mean I know in the United States, in a couple states there, they have a public register. But over there you cannot change states to live without getting the permission of the governor of the next state, so the laws in Australia know near as tough as they are in the United States.

CO: But as heinous as these crimes are against children, if these people have served their time, is this not a continuation of the punishment that they should not be able to travel even if it's for legitimate reasons like their employment?

DH: We have cases in Australia and in Victoria where I’m based, where they have, you’ve done your time, you move out of jail but you were then ordered to live in what we call the village of the damned, where other sex offenders are living, even though they’ve done their time. And some of them, as part of their release from prison, even though they’ve done their time, have to report to the local authorities and it is mainly self-reporting once a month.
The question you hinted that, I was being interviewed by 60 Minutes once and the interviewer said that “You don't believe in that a pedophile can be rehabilitated?” And I said “No I don't.” I said, but I'll ask you the question, “Would you let a rehabilitated pedophile babysit your child?”

CO: Could I just ask you finally Senator, how much of this legislation and your efforts are shaped by your own experiences?

DH: None. Actually, I was blessed with a kid who is about nine, and psychologists will say that that's what he's obsessed with. The fact is, I went on in my 30s, I was the editor of a major metropolitan newspaper in Australia and Sydney. Didn't make it a cause. It was only after I as a journalist named a pedophile priest, a Catholic priest who had already done a year’s jail for the rape of a 10 year old girl and was still a priest, and still running a camp for teenage kids in my home state, and after a broke that story, I became sort of a lightning rod for similar cases. And then we had, in the midst still, having a big royal commission into institutional or sexual abuse in this country. So I would say none. But that’s for other people to decide I suppose.

CO: All right we'll leave it there. Senator Hinch, thanks for speaking with us.

DH: OK Carol, my pleasure.

JD: We reached Senator Derryn Hinch in Canberra, Australia.

[Music]

Kathy Griffin

JD: Sorry...but not sorry.
That was the theme of comedian Kathy Griffin's press conference.
Ms. Griffin of course, has been in hot water for a video she tweeted, showing her holding the fake severed head of U.S. President Donald Trump. But when she spoke today, Ms. Griffin hit back at the President and his supporters – who she says have been harassing her online.
Here is part of what she said.

SOUNDCLIP

KATHY GRIFFIN: I'm not afraid of Donald Trump. He's a bully. I've dealt with older white guys trying to keep me down my whole life my whole career. I'm a woman in a very male dominated field. I love what I do. I love making people laugh more than anything in the world. And I have learned over the years that sometimes when you do stand-up, and I've done it in a war zone and I've done it at Walter Reed Hospital and I've done it at Carnegie Hall sometimes people want you know a joke that's out there and a little crazy. So regarding the image that I participated in, that apology absolutely stands. I feel horrible. Trust me, if I could redo the whole thing, I would have had a blow up doll and no ketchup.
You know, I make mistakes. I'm an out there comedian. I'm an in your face comedian. But I just wanted to say you know, if you don't stand up you get run over. And what's happening to me has never happened ever in the history of this great country, which is that a sitting president of the United States and his grown children and the first lady are personally, I feel personally, trying to ruin my life forever. Forever. And this bully and this president, of all people, is going to come after me? He picked the wrong redhead.

JD: That was comedian Kathy Griffin at a press conference today speaking about the video she tweeted which showed her holding up the fake severed head of Donald Trump.

[Music]

Ugandan activist

Guest: Stella Nyanzi

JD: She poked the bear. And now, Stella Nyanzi is paying the price.
Ms. Nyanzi is an academic, she is a single mother of three, and an activist who, in her spare time, takes to Facebook to vent her frustrations about Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his administration. Often using colourful language.
That language landed her in hot water recently, after she compared the President to, quote, "a pair of buttocks," unquote. Police arrested and charged her with cyber-harassment and offensive communication. She spent five weeks in a maximum-security prison. And now, state prosecutors are trying to subject her to a psychiatric evaluation, claiming Ms. Nyanzi must be insane for criticizing the President.
Ms. Nyanzi is now out on bail. We reached her earlier today in Kampala. And just a warning that, at times, the sound quality of this conversation is poor.

CO: Ms. Nyanzi, why did you call President Museveni “a pair of buttocks.”

STELLA NYANZI: What other words were there for me to use? I think that calling him a pair of buttocks was an expression I use to capture a range of government failures. I think that the metaphor of the buttocks and what the buttocks do is an interesting metaphor and to just think about a national leader who defecates on everything that he's leading. Our economy is full of his products. The best metaphor to use was one around waste and spoiling and dirt and pollution, and I think that pair of buttocks is quite a decent metaphor to use on a president.

CO: But your use of that metaphor, and you did describe what buttocks do in your post. You spent five weeks in maximum security prison and you are now to be subjected to a psychiatric evaluation. Is it because you used a metaphor that all of this has happened to you?

SN: The reason why I was taken to maximum security is because of the power of the metaphor to mobilize ordinary citizens to begin speaking or speak louder if there were speaking truth to power. I think that the fear, I mean taking me to maximum security just shows how fragile, how scared our government is. What can words do to a man who's been in power for 31 years?
That was a question that a lot of us who are activists on social media have been asking ourselves, but I think that what was shown by their overkill response to my Facebook, just shows that they’re scared.

CO: It's not just that you have written these postings which the government objects to, and using very colorful language in them. You have various some important causes that you are championing. Can you tell us about your campaign to get school girls to have access to sanitary pads? What is the basis of that?

SN: What happened was that in 2015, our president Yoweri Museveni, he made a promise to poor parents of poor girls and he said that he would be providing sanitary pads for girls who missed school because of menstruation.
When he got the votes and was confirmed president, sworn into office as president for another term, his wife was then appointed minister of education spoke to our parliament and said that our government lacked resources. Nobody in Parliament questioned her. The journalists who covered the event did not question her. [And so I took to Facebook and my rant against her where I rejected her title of Mama Janet. Everybody in the nation calls her Mama Janet as First Lady, and I wrote a nasty rant saying “She’s not my mama.” And they also wrote about Rihanna's song “Well I ain't your mama” so as telling citizens to reject the First Lady as mama.

CO: So Janet Museveni is the wife of the president. And she is also the education minister. And so she was the one who would be responsible for providing sanitary pads for the school girls. They decided not to go follow through with that campaign promise. Why not?

SN: Priorities, first of all. Uganda currently suffers from family rule. It’s as if we live in the monarchy where the big daddy is king and his wife is queen and their children and relatives have all the fat positions in government. But they had the audacity to lie to Ugandans that there was no money to fulfil this premise. A very simple promise, a very… I think that menstruation is an interesting unifier. Every woman, at one time will menstruate. I think [unintelligible] leaders had a bit of common sense or wisdom that would have thought about one way to pacify the poor in Uganda and this would have been through the provision of sanitary pads.

CO: You have a lot of support, followers on Facebook, but you also have a lot of critics in Uganda. People who think that you are vulgar, you're a woman who is using bad language. You have been used of being someone who is not acting properly. What do you say to your critics in Uganda?

SN: Basically, I laugh at them with scorn [laughs] which is quite outrageous and [unintelligible] hates them the more. I mean look: if language is the only bullet that will bring Golliath down, if dirty language is the only weapon that's left to us, lets use it. I think that decency and politeness have been the rule of the game and the government just zones out that sort of critic. This time they listened.

CO: They listened but they've also gone after you. They're punishing you. What are the consequences now with the charges and this pursuit of your psychiatric evaluation of you. What might happen to you?

SN: The accusations, the suggestions that I could be mentally ill or of unsound mind. I think what is interesting is that it gave us an opportunity to challenge an old colonial relic and form of the mental treatment act of 1938 which our government is relying on to have my head tested.

CO: But we’re speaking to you. You're in a safe house right now. You have three kids. Do you have fears for your safety?

SN: I have had my car intercepted. I've had big men with guns going into my children's school to ask about them and around them. Our phones are bugged. My internet has all these amazing closures that happened out of the blue. I think if the government can’t break me, they're going to try and get me through my children. And so friends and allies have mobilized some funds and puts me and my kids away in a safe space. I have a travel ban against me. I cannot travel outside the country. I am put on the no-fly list. Yet criminals are allowed to fly in and out of our country. And so the levels of state intimidation are quite high. But I hope that with the sort of supported response from allies all over the world, that government would be able to off.

CO: Ms. Nyanzi, you're very brave and I admire your courage, and thank you for speaking with us.

SN: What other option do we have?

CO: Please take care and thank you for speaking with us.

SN: Thank you very much. Have a good day.

CO: You too. Bye-bye.

SN: Bye.

JD: Stella Nyanzi is an activist in Uganda. She was charged recently with cyber-harassment and offensive communication, for comparing Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to "a pair of buttocks." We reached Ms. Nyanzi in Kampala. We have more on this story on our website as well as that interview if you'd like to share it. That’s cbc/ca/aih.

[Music]

Ariana Grande

JD: Thirteen days after the bombing that killed 22 of her fans, Ariana Grande will perform in Manchester again. And she will have some of the biggest pop acts in the world with her.
This past Tuesday, Ms. Grande issued a statement that read, in part, quote: "Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder, and to live more kindly and generously than we did before. I'll be returning to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend some time with my fans, and to have a benefit concert in honor of, and to raise money for, the victims and their families.”
The show will be Sunday, and the entire line-up is still coming together, but we already know Pharrell Williams, Justin Bieber, Coldplay, and Katy Perry will be on the bill.
We also know that people are nt letting the attack scare them: tickets to the show at the fifty-thousand-ish capacity Emirates Old Trafford cricket ground sold out in six minutes.
Tickets are free to anyone who was at Ms. Grande's Manchester show on May 22nd. For everyone else, they are or were forty pounds – and all proceeds will go to the We Love Manchester emergency fund.

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Part 3: Toronto safe injection sites, China winery

Safe injection Toronto

Guest: Zoë Dodd

JD: This afternoon, the Trudeau government gave the OK for Toronto's first 3 safe injection sites. That’s going to bring the total number of sites across Canada to 12, after similar approvals in Vancouver and Montreal.
And it’s welcome news for Zoë Dodd. Zoë Dodd is a Toronto harm reduction worker is part of the team behind one of the approved Toronto sites. Back in April, Ms. Dodd raised her concerns about the opioid crisis with Prime Minister Trudeau, at a town hall event in Toronto on the legalization of marijuana.

SOUNDCLIP

ZOE DODD: This is an emergency. This is a national crisis. 1400 people dying in 16 months is a disaster. It's a national disaster. You are not doing enough. The bodies keep mounting and yes, cannabis, we are here about legalization of cannabis, but we need millions of dollars. I am a frontline worker who has not been on her job the last six weeks because people keep dying around me and I am completely traumatised because we don't have the resources to do our work. And it is up to you, Mr. Prime Minister, to find those millions of dollars so we can open those clinics and get access so that more people don't die.

JD: That was Toronto harm reduction worker Zoë Dodd speaking to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a town hall in April. And this afternoon the Federal Government approved three safe injection sites in Toronto including one at the South Riverdale community health center where Zoë Dodd works and that is where we reached her.

CO: Ms. Dodd, does today's announcement from Ottawa. Answer at least in part your concerns that you expressed to the prime minister in April?

ZOE DODD: Yeah. I mean I'm really excited and looking forward. I mean, it's exciting news to be getting the exemption here in Toronto. It helps us move forward on supervised injection services something that we've been working on and fighting for a long time. It definitely comes with mixed emotions. As too many people have already died and this is just like one piece of addressing the overdose crisis with which we're in.

CO: What do these safe injection sites that were announced actually mean for the people with whom you work?

ZD: I think they mean a great deal. I mean one, it's having a safe space to use. We know that people are using in public spaces and this also just tells them too like, that we care about their lives, that we would like to connect with them that they can use safely here in our organization that there's people around that they can connect to. It means a lot. One of the advocates for supervised injection services Brooklyn, she overdosed and died blocks away from my workplace. I would like to believe that if we had had a supervised injection service running, at that time that Brooklyn would have come here, she would have used it and she would be alive today.

CO: But opioids aren't just injected, they're also ingested. Is there a way to create a supervised ingestion sites for the drugs that are taken orally.

ZD: I mean that would be an amazing move if we could actually have supervised consumption sites. I mean people also smoke and they snort and they ingest, and all of that, you know, it would be really great if we could expand it into a consumption size site model. I mean right now, we were only exempted and allowed to do injection services. But you know, in the future, that would be something I think we would all really like to move to.

CO: Have you heard any indication that that might happen?

ZD: No I have not.

CO: In April you told the prime minister that he should decriminalize drugs as Portugal has done. So what difference would that make?

ZD: I actually think that supervised injection services are also decriminalization. You're having legally sanctioned use of drugs on site. We are already sort of making steps there. I think decriminalization would really help reduce the overdose crisis. There are 25 countries around the world that have different examples of decriminalization. We are not you know, we know that this is going to take time to get out of the crisis we're in. 2300 people died last year. People continue to die. There was an announcement yesterday that in B.C., 1700 people will probably die by the end of 2017. It's not slowing down. So if we are to do something, we'll have to do something drastic. And ending the drug war, looking to decriminalize drugs, is one of those ways in which we could end the overdose crisis or at least diminish its impact.

CO: Can you describe how people use a supervised injection site?

ZD: Yeah well people like, on our site, people will come in, they'll see an intake worker, they will go into this space. They will already arrive here with drugs that they have, that they purchased or drugs that they have on them. They will sit down at a station that is, you know, sanitary. They will use there, then they have time to be in the space. We also have a chill out room that they'll be able to. We’ll have hired six staff that will be on site. So there will be harm reduction workers, there will be nurses, and there will be health promoters, social service workers, and you know, we already are like such a nice space. We have so much community connection here and I think people will feel, you know really respected. I think it also gives people dignity. And if people were to overdose on site, we could save their lives. We can reverse overdose right on the spot. And that is the most essential thing. We also can do education with people. We can get a handle when there's like tainted drugs on the street, we'll be able to talk with people and find out where people, you know are getting their drugs and what's happening. And I think that’s some of the most important work, is just our relationship building with people that sometimes we don't talk enough about in harm reduction. But it is a lot of what we do.

CO: But the drugs that they are injecting are purchased illegally. These are illegal drugs. So what do you say to those who argue that this is a sort of a government sanctioning, or a government permission or something that is illegal according to the government?

ZD: People have used drugs since beginning of man. And people always use drugs. We will never live in a drug free society. That is proven since we've been in a drug war for I don't know how many hundreds of years really. I mean the first drug policy in this country started in 1908 and it hasn't stopped. Actually drugs are easy to get. Drugs are around us and people are using them.
We also are living in a time where people are living in peril and we're seeing, you know an intake of, we're seeing an increase of people living in peril. And I think you know some of this overdose crisis is a demonstration of that. Like decades of cuts to social services and housing and welfare and people who are traumatized. And you know, people will find it will need drugs for different reasons. People need it to cope with pain and for trauma, or people are using them recreationally.
People are not going to stop using drugs and I and I think we’re all ready for a much more compassionate approach to people who use drugs and people are so impacted by the loss of people who have died, who have overdosed and all of those lives have value. And I think we devalue people as a society when we marginalise and stigmatise them. But for us who have lost people, who know people who use drugs, those are our people.

CO: Just finally, you told Mr. Trudeau that you had been, you hadn't been working in many weeks because of just being traumatized. He did mention at the end that he recognized that there was a crisis of PTSD among workers, frontline workers with drug addiction. How are you doing now.

ZD: I've been coming back to work and I'm really well supported in my community. I've been going to see somebody, like I've gone to therapy. I've been talking to people. I've been doing activism. I've been taking care of myself. I struggle with grief. I lost Raffi Balian who was working here at my workplace, was a champion for supervised injection sites. He was also a champion to end the drug war, and he died going out to a supervised injection site meeting in Vancouver. He overdosed there and that really affected me deeply. He was my mentor and my friend. He was one of five of my friends to die the past year. We lost several workers, harm reduction workers who are also part of fighting for supervised injection sites.
I am sad. I am really I'm still very very sad. I mourn their losses. I, yeah it's been it's been a lot and not just them but like people I've worked with. I've worked in the same neighborhood for over a decade so I have an incredible connection to people. And you know like I care about them. This is a labor of love and you know I love the community of people I work with. And so watching them disappear has been heartbreaking. But I'm here for the struggle and for the fight. I want to see us continue to expand and save people's lives.

CO: Ms. Dodd, I'm sorry for your lossed.

ZD: Thank you.

CO: I do appreciate you speaking with us. Thank you.

ZD: Thank you.

JD: Zoë Dodd is a harm reduction worker at Toronto South Riverdale Community Health Centre. That's where we reached her.

[Music]

For the Record: May platitudes

JD: If your dentist told you that your mouth was facing a big challenge, but that she was willing to make the hard choices to ensure a bright future for your teeth, and indeed, fo all teeth everywhere – you would demand specifics. But politicians often get a pass for that kind of vague rhetoric. Until people start wondering if they're even capable of being more specific.
But we are now more than a month into the UK election campaign. The vote itself is on June 8^th, less than a week away. And at the outset, it looked like the Conservatives were headed for a majority. Recent polls, suggest the race is much tighter than it initially seemed. And with her party's poll numbers down, Prime Minister Theresa May is facing some big challenges and hard choices. Both in terms of clarifying her party's manifesto, which has been described as "thin on specifics", and also in terms of widespread grumbling about her own leadership.
In the manifesto, the Conservatives promise to inject 8 billion pounds into the U.K.'s National Health Service, or NHS. However the manifesto itself does not explain where that money is going to come from. And Prime Minister May seems never to have directly answered the question, despite being given multiple opportunities to.
Well yesterday, at a campaign stop in Teesside, Channel 4 News reporter Michael Crick confronted the Prime Minister on that issue directly, and accused her of relying only on suspiciously vague boilerplate language. Here's that exchange, for the record.

SOUNDCLIP

MICHAEL CRICK: Isn’t the reason why you are doing so badly is that whenever people ask you about policy, all we get are clichés and platitudes. And we've seen the same today. People think there's nothing there. Now, let's get something straight, shall we. You mention the 8 billion for the health service, you mention managing money. Where is the 8 billion pounds coming from?

THERESA MAY: Well first of all Michael what we have published is a manifesto that addresses the big challenges that this country faces, not just over the next five years but beyond. And we have set out clearly some of the hard choices that need to be made but how we will address those challenges.
You ask about extra funding being put into the NHS. That's just look at our record for funding on the NHS. It is through the growth. Yes just, just, Mr. Two Microphones, just wait a minute. [Sound: audience laughter] We have shown that with the growth of the economy, we are able to ensure that we are putting that extra money into the NHS. You've been at one or two of my speeches now, Michael. You would have heard me make the point in those and on a number of other occasions that funding the NHS depends on having a strong economy in order to be able to generate those funds. And that's a fundamental difference between…

JD: For the record, that is British Prime Minister Theresa May responding to a question about her use of clichés and platitudes regarding her party's unclear plan to fund the NHS with clichés and platitudes.

[Music]

Dateline: Montreal pizza oven

JD: Dateline: Montreal, Quebec.

[Music]

JD: For Montrealers, the news was a breath of fresh air.
This week, an environmental report released by the city's air quality surveillance network showed the number of days of poor air quality fell dramatically in 2016, compared to the previous year. According to the annual report, there were only twenty-nine days of poor air quality in 2016. That's less than half of the sixty-four days recorded in 2015. And best of all, the reason for the plunge is as easy as pie.
After what must have been excruciatingly long hours of research, forecasting and number-crunching, the surveillance network reached a conclusion: smoke from a pizzeria near the former sampling station was responsible for half, or more, of the poor air quality readings every year since 2013.
The report reads, quote: "This sad record was due to emissions of fine particulate matter coming from a wood-fired oven in the pizzeria next door, whose smoke at certain times was directed straight towards the sampling probe." Unquote.
So that sampling station is now closed. No word on whether anyone would-be-fired for the wood-fired miscalculation. Although to be fair, it's punishment enough that the team of meteorological statisticians can no longer step out for some air and a slice of ‘za between readings. And you can be sure though that from now on they will double-check the pie charts.

[Music]

China winery

Guest: Amy Chang

JD: It has been more than a year since Amy Chang last saw her parents.
In March of last year, the Canadian couple were arrested in Shanghai and charged with smuggling. John Chang and Allison Lu own several wineries in Canada. The Chinese government now has them on trial, accusing them of importing their product to China at cut-rate prices.
Ms. Chang says her parents did nothing wrong. And she has flown from her home in Vancouver to Ottawa in the hopes that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with her and agree to help her mom and dad. We reached Amy Chang in Ottawa.

CO: Ms. Chang, your parents’ trial began just a few days ago. Do you know how they're doing?

AMY CHANG: My mother, I speak to her on a daily basis. She's doing well. We're both working as hard as we can just to get my parents out.

CO: Is there any access? Is anyone with them? Do they have a lawyer with them?

AC: So my father he is held in prison right now. He has access to lawyers only. He cannot see family or friends. And my mum, she has access to her lawyer on a daily basis.

CO: And so just take us back to what happened, when your mother and father were arrested in March of 2016. Where were you when they were arrested?

AC: So on March 25^th 2016, my parents were both in Shanghai. They were visiting a few suppliers. And I was also traveling in China. I was in a different province. And I heard on the eve of the 25th that they were arrested and detained and I took the first flight home.

CO: Why did you take a flight home?

AC: I was also involved in the family business and I was very worried that I too would be detained. So my uncle told me to get out and get out fast. And that's what I did.

CO: What are your parents charged with having done?

AC: My parents are charged with undervaluing their goods. So the goods that are going into the country. We value them at a wholesale cost and right now we are in dispute that it should be at a retail cost going into the country.

CO: When did it come about and what when were you exporting wine into China snd this dispute over the pricing begin?

AC: So we've been exporting into the country since 2010. So it's been six seven years now that we've been exporting. We've had no issues. We've had no flagging. We've had no concerns brought up regarding our cost and this was brought up to us when my parents were detained.

CO: Right. And so it's a dispute over how you priced the wine, whether it was a retail or a wholesale price.

AC: Correct. So it's a trade dispute.

CO: But these are criminal charges your parents are facing.

AC: That's where I'm having a hard time understanding because this is a trade dispute and I've been presenting this to the Canadian government that this is a trade dispute. Previously, they were considering it as a consular issue and it's not. This is why the Canadian government needs to intervene and this is why I am here this week, trying to get a meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau.

CO: Do you know any anybody else who has faced these kinds of charges because of this dispute over retail wholesale pricing?

AC: I am unaware of whether this has happened to other businesses.

CO: Do you think your parents are being targeted?

AC: I would hope that they're not being targeted. And I think you know this is a misunderstanding between you know the customs agency over there. But it shouldn't even have gone to trial, I shouldn’t even have to be going through all of this with my parents.

CO: When you're saying it should not be this but it seems to be this and so I'm just wondering if you have any reason to believe that the Chinese authorities are targeting your parents for anything?

AC: I would hope that they're not. You know, we're a Canadian business and we're importing into the country, we have been doing so for a very long time. I'm not sure why this happened so suddenly. This should not happen to any Canadian businesses and I hope that this doesn't happen to any future businesses or families.

CO: So you're in Ottawa this week. You want to speak with the prime minister. What has the Canadian government done so far on behalf of your parents?

AC: So the Canadian government, I've been working with the Canadian government for the last 15, 14, 15 months. And initially there was not much responses, but over the past three weeks, I got a lot more responses than I had for the past 15 months. So I hope something good turns out of this.

CO: And have you met with the ambassador John McCallum.

AC: I've met with John McCallum about three weeks ago. He had a conference in Toronto and that's when I was able to get about five minutes after right before he left to talk about the case.

CO: And what do they think? What do the people you have spoken with in the Canadian authorities. What do they make of this?

AC: So they've understood that this is a trade issue and they've all given me their condolences and their sympathies but I haven't received any concrete you know answer of how they're going to be able to help my parents come back to the country.

CO: What was the argument you’ve given to try and get the Canadian government involved? Because Canada wants to do a lot of trade with China. What message do you think this sends to people who might want to do business in China?

AC: I think everyone is looking at this very closely to see what is going to happen in the end and see how the Canadian government will help citizens, help Canadian businesses abroad. When you're negotiating a free trade agreement, everyone wants to know that when you do business abroad, you will feel safe, you will feel protected.

CO: Meanwhile you know that there is a ninety nine point six percent conviction rate in China. What do you think is going to happen to your parents?

AC: Yes I've heard of that fact. And right now my focus is to get my parents home and my focus is to get the Canadian government on this case and I don't wish to consider that right now.

CO: We'll leave it there. Ms. Chang, thank you.

AC: Thank you so much, Carol.

JD: Amy Chang's parents, Canadian winery owners John Chang and Alison Lu are on trial in China accused of smuggling. We reached Amy Chang in Ottawa.

[Music]

Caterpillar house

JD: Haley Blouin has tried everything. She's buried them in pails, she has doused them in water, she has set them on fire. But they always return and in even greater numbers.
Ms. Blouin's St. Lazare, Manitoba home is overrun with forest tent caterpillars. An outbreak is sweeping across the Prairies right now. And hundreds of thousands of them have chosen the Blouin residence as their primary pit-stop.
So here's Ms. Blouin speaking with CBC reporter Meaghan Ketcheson about the infestation taking over her 10-acre property.

SOUNDCLIP

HALEY BLOUIN: My husband had posted some pictures on Facebook, and they are just all over like in oodles of, like big packs. Like they're just disgusting. All over the place. We've been putting them in 5 gallon pails, digging holes and burying them kind of thing. Like probably not the most humane thing to do. And just squirting them with water off of the house because they are crawling all over our house and our desks and everything. So we just spray them with water and then they are back the next day, just probably ten times worse. Our lane is like a black smudge all over our laneway and they're just crawling everywhere.
I don't know if I can deal with this for any longer. It’s disgusting. I've been going to my mom and dad's house every day to go and just walk around because I can't stand hearing them crunch and fall off of my house. You can just hear them falling off onto the deck or falling off the house like I don't know it's just disgusting.

MEAGHAN KETCHESON: So have you thought about using any kind of chemicals or tried to do anything to get rid of them?

HB: Absolutely I thought of it but I'm pretty sure that it's much too late now just because of the hundreds of thousands that are in the yard currently. I don't think that they'll be leaving anytime soon.

MK: We're like right in the middle of the bush kind of thing, so it's partly our fault. How deep are those holes that you’re burying those?

HB: They’re about, I would say about a foot to two feet. And he buried so five full hauls yesterday. That didn't even make a dent in them. He tried burning them as well.

MK: Oh really?

HB: Yes. Yeah, he kind of put gas on them and then burnt them. So it was like a bonfire kind of thing. It smelt like hot dog. It was kind of disgusting but that’s what it smelled like, like a bonfire.

JD: That was Haley Blouin speaking with CBC reporter Meaghan Ketcheson about battling the forest tent caterpillar infestation at her St. Lazare, Manitoba home.

[Music]

Sleeplessness study

JD: We know climate change is bad for glaciers, wildlife, coastal properties, and climate-change deniers with coastal properties. But here is more bad news: it is going to make everyone you know, and you, more irritating.
That's not precisely the conclusion of a new study led by a researcher from Harvard University's Kennedy School. What that study actually found is that temperature is directly linked to sleep quality. The more the temperature increases, the worse your sleep.
So here are the fancy Harvard figures: when we sleep, our body temperature drops slightly – about half a degree Celsius. In order for that to happen, and for us to remain comfortable, the temperature where you're sleeping has to be between 15 and 21 degrees Celsius.
You see where I'm going. Warmer temperatures will mess with our sleep. And by 2050, in the U.S., the researchers say, Americans could suffer through twice as many lousy nights of sleep as they're experiencing now.
That will apply in Canada, too. And yes, we'll be more tired. But worse, much worse, we’ll complain twice as often.
Here's a quick experiment you can do in your workplace: ask a colleague how they slept last night. My research suggests that the number of people who answer, "Great, as usual!" is zero, with no margin of error. Instead, that person will start whining about back problems, or a snoring partner, or alien abduction, and you'll doze off halfway through because you are also so tired all the time.
Imagine if this problem gets twice as bad. Imagine how tired we're all going to be. Imagine how tiring we will all be.
People: if you have done nothing about climate change until now, consider this a wake-up call. Because otherwise, this is the way the world ends: not with a bang, but with a whole lot of whimpering.

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June 2, 2017 episode transcript

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