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The Current Transcript for January 26, 2018

Host: Gillian Findlay

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Listen to the full episode

Prologue

[Music: Theme]

SOUNDCLIP

It was a shock. None of us knew about what the allegations were - if there were going to be any allegations - until last night.

GILLIAN FINDLAY: The allegations against former Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown may have come as a shock to his deputy Sylvia Jones, but those who know the reality of life in the halls of political power in this country, and to the women especially who have toiled there. The news this week about powerful politicians and allegations of sexual impropriety have not been a surprise that, 'open secret' is how many are labelling it. And today we've got a panel of three political women who were going to reveal what that secret looks like and feels like. And then, what did this week's revelations tell us about the political culture in this country and what do they mean for women considering entering that world. In the United States, women have reacted to the election of President Donald Trump by running for office in record numbers.

SOUNDCLIP

My name is Lindsey David [unintelligible] and I am running for Congress. I think this is an incredible moment in time for the party and for our country it's and it's an incredible moment for women.

GF: We'll hear from another U.S. woman running for Congress her first race ever, later in today's program. As well you might think of road salt as a winter necessity in Canada. It keeps us safe, our highways ice free but it also carries significant tolls on our infrastructure and on and on our environment. In an hour, we'll look at some of the more unorthodox alternatives to salt showing up on North American roads. Take Wisconsin where this operator is spraying cheese brine.

SOUNDCLIP

This is the stuff. It smells like cheese. Yes. It really does. It smells like cheese.

GF: That's all coming up this morning. I am Gillian Findlay and you're listening to the Friday edition of The Current.

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Propositioned, groped, assaulted in the lobby: Staffers reveal culture of harassment in politics

Guests: Arezoo Najibzadeh, Leslie Robertson, Lauren Dobson-Hughes

SOUNDCLIP

I reject these accusations in the strongest possible terms. It's not my values. It's how I raised. It's not who I am.

[Indistinct chatter]

GF: Within minutes of his hastily called news conference Wednesday night the whispers and the tweets began. The allegations of sexual misconduct against Patrick Brown, the Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader, had been an 'open secret'. The party's deputy leader Sylvia Jones was asked about that yesterday.

SOUNDCLIP

REPORTER: You never heard a whisper in the hallway, any rumour ever because it was sort of an open secret amongst the media. We all heard these rumours for months if not years.

SYLVIA JONES: Clearly I not in the same circles as you are because last night was when I first heard of the allegations.

GF: Patrick Brown is just one of three prominent male politicians hit with allegations this week who by the end of the week had offered resignations. Liberal Kent Hehr stepped down yesterday as a Federal Cabinet minister pending an investigation. In Nova Scotia, Jamie Baillie resigned his position as head of that province's Conservative Party which does raise the question: How pervasive is sexual misconduct in Canadian politics and how much of what goes on in the corridors of power is an open secret? I'm joined by three guests this morning to share their experiences and thoughts. Lauren Dobson-Hughes is a former political staffer for the federal NDP. She's with us in Ottawa today. Also win Ottawa, Leslie Robertson is a lawyer and a former staffer who started out as a parliamentary page and Arezoo Najibzadeh who worked in politics with the Liberal Party. She's a co-founder of the Young Women's Leadership Network and she's in Toronto. Hello and welcome to all three of you.

LESLIE ROBERTSON: Morning.

LAUREN DOBSON-HUGHES: Hello.

GF: Okay well let's start with you, Arezoo. What have you been thinking about as you've been listening and watching over these last 48 hours as the allegations have been made in their resignations have been accepted?

AREZOO NAJIBZADEH: I think the most important thing for a lot of young women in politics, who I've been hearing about and hearing from in the past three years, has been out you know actually times up. This conversation around Me Too has been happening for weeks and for months and a lot of these young men have been wondering 'when are we going to have a chance to share our stories and our experiences in Canadian politics, publicly and to create solidarity and movement around that? So I think there's a lot of stories coming out. There are a lot of streams being said and the most important thing for me as an advocate for women in politics is to really focus on young women and to allow them to share their experiences, and to finally have a voice in a space where they are often silenced.

GF: Lauren Dobson-Hughes do you think it was inevitable that the Me Too movement would eventually come to Canadian politics as well Lauren are you there Perhaps we've lost her. How about Leslie? Are you there Leslie?

LESLIE ROBERTSON: Yes I am.

GF: What do you think? Was it inevitable that we'd get to this point in Canada too?

LESLIE ROBERTSON: I mean sure. Hearing the stories this week really brought me back to my time on the Hill as a staffer and as a former page, as a young 19 year old woman in Parliament Hill. And these stories really resonated with me and I could completely relate to them. And these aren't well-kept secrets in all or at least from my experience and I was very empowered by hearing the stories of other young women this week, in this profession, feeling comfortable and setting aside their feelings of shame or what have you like I had it and coming forward with their stories.

GF: Okay we've got Lauren Dobson-Hughes with us now. So Lauren I want to start with you. Give me a taste of what it was like to be a young woman on the hill at the time you were there. What did you put up with?

LAUREN DOBSON-HUGHES: I mean I experienced probably what we would call humdrum daily harassment, garden variety, nothing particularly astonishing to be honest. So from just being grabbed or groped or unwanted forced kisses by MPs, but also

GF: Oh! Hang on. Unwanted forced kisses by MPs was humdrum garden-variety harassment?

LAUREN DOBSON-HUGHES: Yes absolutely. That happened to me several times in the lobby at the side of the chamber of the House of Commons in front of other members of parliament. I was twenty five and nobody said anything. It was - nobody intervened to references to parts of my body in staff meetings. I think it really sent a signal to me as a young woman that this was my value. I wasn't smart or therefore my brain or my strategy or my thoughts, I was a piece of eye candy and I was objectified and really not valued as a smart young person.

GF: Leslie, is that your experience as well?

LESLIE ROBERTSON: Yes absolutely. I mean I was outwardly propositioned on a number of occasions. Encourage encouraged to drink excessively even after I could say that I had had too much to drink, so much the stories you heard this this week. Comments all the time, for sure.

GF: Arezoo, you too?

AREZOO NAJIBZADEH: Yes, obviously. These things are so common. I mean as someone who spent better parts of my teenage years in politics and on Parliament Hill, there's a wide range of experience that women go through things that are considered sexual harassment to downright sexual assault. And that's even more complicated for women with intersecting identities you know racialized women, trans women, whose bodies are often fetishized and exoticised in these spaces. You know I have had people tell me that my eye or my name are exotic and that Persian girls are cool. And in random spaces where you know in politics that wasn't really the issue being discussed. And that's really an issue that is appropriate for or up for discussion or debate in politics.

GF: Did it make you feel unsafe?

AREZOO NAJIBZADEH: Yes definitely. You know young women who enter political spaces, we are obviously very serious about our careers, very serious about our aspirations, and to be reduced to our physicalities or the way we look, or not necessarily be taken up as people who have things to say is really impacts how we engage with our political system.

GF: And Lauren, did it cross party lines?

LAUREN DOBSON-HUGHES: Yeah. I think it's a really important point that this cannot be a partisan issue. There is a reason that all parties are impacted by this and finger pointing at any one really misses the point. This is a systemic issue. It is a cultural issue in politics. There is a power imbalance between men and women. There is a real underrepresentation of women. There are systemic issues in politics that make this a problem across all parties.

GF: I want to talk about that in a minute, but I want to know what you do. I mean you were a young woman but you were also smart young women. When these things happened did you complain? Did you tell anybody?

AREZOO NAJIBZADEH: I did. A lot of people and the MPS I worked with knew about the different range of experiences. But aside having personal support and aside from creating a support system, we really should look at policies and regulations in our legislative buildings and in our political parties that allow for abusive men to be held accountable, that draw the line. So I think that people have good intentions and are people who really try to help me but there are policy gaps both in our laws as a country, and then bought on a smaller scale in political parties and social justice movements for example.

GF: For instance, Leslie Robertson, you were only 19 I understand when you arrived in Ottawa. Did you feel that you were in a position when something like this happened or if something like this had happened to you, that you could go to somebody that they...

LESLIE ROBERTSON: No. Absolutely not. No. I mean MPs don't really have bosses. I mean apart from party leaders who do you tell. You don't call the HR Department of Parliament Hill to make a complaint, and frankly I don't think you know - I think it took me a while to understand how wrong a lot of these behaviours were. I mean as I heard this week I also had political ambitions and professional ambitions and I was you know trying not to rock the boat. I was looking for jobs. I was trying to make a good impression. Politics is about loyalty and connections and who you know and I wasn't prepared to be that person who were always calling other, calling members of parliament.

GF: What would have happened if you ha do you think?

LESLIE ROBERTSON: I don’t know and I am glad to see what is happening this week, that's for sure and that people of all political stripes are supporting these women that were hearing this week. But I don't know what would have happened in my day.

GF: Because there were fewer of them granted but there were women in powerful positions within all of the parties back in those days. Did you feel that if you had gone to them for instance that you wouldn’t have been supported?

LESLIE ROBERTSON: I really I didn't feel I would have been supported because I didn't go to anyone you know aside from my friends. But I did not make any formal complaints at that time.

GF: How do you then navigate something like this, Lauren? I mean if you made that decision, nobody was going to listen, how do you get by?

LAUREN DOBSON-HUGHES: I think Leslie makes some excellent points. One, you have to realize whats happening is wrong and where harassment is so normal and your first exposure to the workplace, everyone treat it as normal. The lesson to you is that 'okay I guess that felt weird but I guess it must be normal because people in positions of power have done this, watched it and said nothing'. So first you have to realize it's not normal. Secondly, there's no avenue for you to go, even once you realise it's not normal. There is no HR. There is now in the last year and a process. Nobody trusts it. Nobody uses it.

GF: Why not? Why do people not trust it?

LAUREN DOBSON-HUGHES: Because culture always trumps policy. The culture is 'do you want to be the person who creates a media firestorm for your party, who damages their electoral chances?' Parties operate a bit like families. They are your friends, they are your colleagues, they are people you socialize with after work. They are everyone, your social circle, your colleagues the loyalty and the WHIP system. There is every incentive to shut up about it and no incentive to come forward. Do you want to damage your job prospects? Do you want to be blacklisted? Do you want to work in politics again? Do you want to be known and have a reputation as the person who couldn't keep their mouths shut?

GF: You know we've seen and heard a lot about this recently in the entertainment industry, in TV, in movie industry, in Hollywood but wouldn't talk about politics, do you think, that allows this kind of behaviour to flourish? Arezoo?

AREZOO NAJIBZADEH: I think the main thing we have to realize, I agree with Lauren, social capital and loyalty is one of the main currencies in politics and on Parliament Hill specifically. And young women who come forward, they risk social isolation and credibility and obviously job prospects. It's really important that we recognize when we are talking about Parliament and sexual violence in any other aspect of our society we're talking about power dynamics and abuse of power. And then when we set these men with a lot of political power and a lot of influence in political parties and in our political system, and then on the other hand we have a young teenager - 18, 19 mid 20s - women who have just entered politics and who are really trying to make it, then that's a great power imbalance and that creates that creates a lot of tension and doesn't necessarily incentivize the women coming forward.

GF: Why do you think women are talking now, then?

AREZOO NAJIBZADEH: I think we're at a threshold where a lot of young women, a lot of women from different backgrounds are entering politics. And there is a generational gap as well because some of the older women and some of the MP they've had to enter politics at times where they've really had to fight to be there and to take up that space. But with the new generation what I am hearing is that people are fed up and people feel like they are at a point where they have a voice. And especially with the Me Too movement there is a tide of support coming toward survivors that may have influenced it as well.

GF: Leslie Robertson yesterday, as we know Kent Hehr resigned from the cabinet and the prime minister issued a statement reminding Canadians that one of the very first things his government did was to put in place a formalized process. This is a quote he said: "Having a process that can address these allegations while at the same time offering support in a safe space for those who come forward is important and something Canadians expect." What do you make of that statement?

LESLIE ROBERTSON: I mean it is good to hear that there is a formal process now. You know as opposed to when I was on the Hill and the prime minister is telling us about it, encouraging people to take advantage of it and to come forward. And him as well as other politicians we saw yesterday across political straits have been outwardly and publicly saying that they believe these young women are supporting them, and calling for the resignation of their own colleagues and members of parliament and leaders. So I do find that encouraging.

GF: Do you think it's different now, better now for a young staffer, young women staffers working on the Hill?

LESLIE ROBERTSON: I mean I can speak to that. But I mean the existence of a process is something, and you know I am very encouraged to hear what we've heard this week. The very fact that other young women, younger than I am, feel safe and able to come out with their stories is very encouraging.

GF: Arezoo, you work with young women who want to get into politics. You're working to encourage more women to join them. Don't these kinds of stories just confirm all the reasons, all the doubts they might have as to why they shouldn’t?

AREZOO NAJIBZADEH: Well I mean they obviously do. But I think the most important thing is that we need more women who care about these issues and more women were willing to uplift each other in politics. As someone who has experience you know sexual violence myself in politics and based on the stories that I hear, there is really no support for a young woman in these spaces. You know there we have older MPs and other women in politics were not really willing to touch the issue of sexual violence. So what a lot of us talk about and the reason why we support a lot of the women candidates that we support is because we want more women who will actually be there to work for us and to work to create a culture of consent and respect in politics, to be there on Parliament Hill and at Queens Park and at the city hall. So it's really important to not necessarily just elect more women in politics but to elect women who are willing to raise women's voices in politics and who weren't going to just necessarily perpetrate a system of violence and the status quo.

GF: But is it also going to take men being held to account, Lauren I mean do we need to see more of what we've been watching over the last few days to really make the message stick?

LAUREN DOBSON-HUGHES: Oh yes absolutely. You know where women feel safe and they feel comfortable, I hope this is the dam breaking. We know there stories about in there hundreds and yes accountability and justice and fairness means that a whole lot more men need to think very carefully about how they've interacted with female colleagues in politics. And it's going to take that reckoning first because for too long it's been silenced, it's been held back, it's been suppressed and we can’t get to solutions and a harassment process is just one small part of the solution. We can't get to tackling those systemic those cultural issues until we have a full reckoning and an idea or an understanding of the scale of the problem harassment in politics.

GF: Leslie Robertson I give the last word to you. A lot of people have been saying: ‘This is just the tip. There is more to come'. Is there more to come?

LESLIE ROBERTSON: Oh absolutely for sure.

GF: No question?

LESLIE ROBERTSON: No question. Patriarchy and misogyny is not going away overnight.

GF: Lauren, are we going to be hearing more headlines?

LAUREN DOBSON-HUGHES: I really hope so and I hope it's done in a respectful way in a way that trusts women's experiences and that doesn't nit-pick and doubt the veracity of any one complainant. That's beside the point. The point is that this is such a massive problem in the scale, we've only just begun to understand. We need to see it in [unintelligible] and we need to understand the cultural and systemic issues that enable harassment.

GF: All right. Thank you so much to the three of you for joining me today. Lauren Dobson-Hughes is a former political staffer for the federal NDP. She was in Ottawa. Also in Ottawa was Leslie Robertson a lawyer and a former parliamentary page. And Arezoo Najibzadeh who worked in various positions for the Liberal Party and as a co-founder of the Young Women's Leadership Network. She was in Toronto. The CBC News is next and then our conversation continues. What do these week's revelations say about the reality of Canadian politics for those who want to get into the game? I am Gillian Findlay and you're listening to the Friday edition of The Current.

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Breaking up the Old Boys club: #MeToo is encouraging women to run for office

Guests: Kelly Dittmar, Gwen Comb, Nancy Peckford

GF: I'm Gillian Findlay and you're listening to the Friday edition of The Current.

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GF: Still to come. We spread tons of it every winter in this country. But road salt doesn't just melt the ice. It takes a serious toll on infrastructure and the environment. That's why jurisdictions across the continent are experimenting with some surprising alternatives: cheese brine, beet juice. More on the problem and some innovative solutions and happen out. But first breaking up the old boys club.

[Music: Theme]

GF: It has been a regular refrain for years, the need to get more women involved in politics and running for office. And so it's tempting to look at this week's spate of allegations against male politicians as simply one more reason women would be put up from entering the political arena. But that's not how Lisa Raitt sees it. The Conservative Member of Parliament told CBC's Power and Politics last night she'll still encourage women she knows to lean in.

SOUNDCLIP

Absolutely. Even more now than ever we need to ensure that we have strong female leaders with in every party in every caucus. And the reason being is that we can recognize that there are certain things that we need to have a path forward to a process, so that if somebody is feeling uncomfortable if there's a problem in a workplace, if there is an issue with respect to your supervisor that they have a path that they can go to. They can find someone in their party.

GF: Conservative MP Lisa Raitt speaking yesterday. And while she's still encouraging women to get into politics it's sobering to know that this week's news about men's inappropriate behaviour did not come as a surprise to many women already working there. Earlier this month the Canadian Press reported results of a survey. Nearly 58 percent of female employees have experienced some sort of sexual impropriety from their male co-worker; everything from inappropriate language to sexual assault. In a few minutes we're going to look at the situation south of the border where the number of women entering politics has soared since Donald Trump was elected president. But to help us understand what's happening in this country I'm joined by Nancy Peckford. She's the executive director of Equal Voice a Canadian organization that encourages women to run for political office for whichever party they choose. Nancy Peckford joins me from our studio.

NANCY PECKFORD: Good morning.

GF: Good morning. Well you were listening to our earlier discussion today. Sound familiar?

NANCY PECKFORD: Well certainly there is no question that you know political spaces in this country can be very very challenging for women who don't hold the same power and influence over their workplaces. What we know is most of Canada's political institutions have not adapted to modern times. They're not modelling 21st century workplaces and many of them don't even have clear sexual harassment policies. In fact 10 of 13 legislatures in this country at the provincial territorial level have no specific request for either female staff, or even elected officials themselves who may encounter very troubling behaviour.

GF: Well yes I mean we just mentioned that poll and 58 percent of women employees were not talking about young staffers here, but employees experiencing some kind of sexual impropriety. Do those numbers square with the kind of research that your organization is doing?

NANCY PECKFORD: Well certainly we've known for a long time you know women in politics will tell you that the environment must change and that in fact you know political leaders in party culture in fact creates an enabling environment, you know more often than not for this behaviour. But at the same time I do want to give your listeners some good news. We have seen marked and notable increases in terms of the percentage of female candidates running for office at the provincial and territorial level last year and a half. So I think it's important to say that I don't think women are turning away from politics even with some of this very egregious behaviour that many have known about for a long time. But I think what's important now is that we create political workplaces that are sustainable and that women want to continue to work in.

GF: Did you think it actually is a motivating one?

NANCY PECKFORD: I think it's emboldening many women. I think what we know is that women are very ambitious for themselves, for their communities, for their country. And they care deeply about what goes on at all levels of governments. And I think as a consequence of this they are in some cases highly motivated to potentially explore their own opportunity to get involved in a more concerted way. So you know really at this point I think it's incumbent on all political parties and their leaders and those serving in elected office. Women and men both to think strategically about how to bring more women into the game.

GF: Now you have mentioned that in some places in Canada they do explicitly protect - there are rules in place to explicitly protect women in political roles from this kind of harassment but that's that's not in all places.

NANCY PECKFORD: No in fact our research clearly demonstrates that only two provinces, Nova Scotia and Quebec, have a policy on the box and of course the federal arena has a policy on the books. So obviously you know there is way more work to do to again bring our political institutions into the 21st century. And I think because of some of the you know issues around loyalty and parliamentary privilege in ensuring that of course MPs and other elected officials have what they need to create important legislation and policies. There is a reluctance to fully take this role on. The other reality is that these are largely male dominated institutions. I mean when we look at the statistics across the country, we've got legislatures in this country with 10 percent women. You know that's the stat in the Northwest Territories 10 percent of legislators are women. On the other hens in B.C. we've got 39 percent women. And where women are playing prominent roles, particularly as female premiers, we can see that in fact they're bringing a lot of women along with them on all sides. So setting the bar high and having women in prominent leadership roles really I think inspires other women to see the kind of difference that it can make. Quite frankly there's also a contagion effect where one party be during a very good job of recruiting female candidates and other parties feel that they need to do that to to stay competitive. That's an important part of the picture right now.

GF: But does having more women in positions of power necessarily translate into a better culture for all women in political life?

NANCY PECKFORD: I think over time, absolutely. Often you know the changes that happen are incremental. No one women can come in and radically change the workplace even in the top position as we know. But even if you look at this federal cabinet you'll see that Minister Patty Hajdu, who now occupies the Ministry of Labour position, has in fact tabled legislation that would hold parliamentarians to a higher standard than they've ever been held to before and that's in addition to policies at the House of Commons. So she is in fact I think creating incredible innovation in courageously moving forward in a way that no other lobar minister to this date has. And that kind of accountability quite frankly is what is required at this stage. Elected officials are often not clear on what the standard is and there hasn't been a culture of holding people to account. Moreover there hasn't been a lot of clarity about the rules. That does not excuse the kind egregious and often systematic behaviour we've seen. But the reality is is that in workplaces, including political workplaces, you have to set the bar and you have to be clear about where the expectations are.

GF: You can have rules but you've also used the word accountability and in the moment that we exist now, how important is accountability? How important is that perpetrators be the present day or historical are held to account in a public way?

NANCY PECKFORD: Well I think it's incredibly important. I think you can see that the Me Too movement is creating an incredible opportunity for women both young and older to start telling stories and sharing their experiences in a way that's incredibly powerful. But we could take that for granted. You know the political winds shift, public opinion can shift and I think as much as there is real energy around this right now, what matters is that we entrench institutions, obviously clear codes of conduct aired mechanisms that can be activated. It certainly isn't enough. And you know quite frankly in our view with equal voice the single one thing we can do to change these workplaces is to have gender parity quite frankly. That is what is required no federal provincial or territorial legislature in this country is close to gender parity right now.

GF: Alright. Nancy Peckford, I'm going to have to leave it there. Thanks so much for your time this morning.

NANCY PECKFORD: Thank you.

GF: Nancy Peckford is the executive director of equal voice and she was in our studio. Now the conversation about women in politics may have hit a boiling point this week in Canada but in the United States it's been simmering for a year. Our most exactly a year ever since Donald Trump came to our viewers trailing allegations of his own sexually inappropriate behaviour. He of course beat Hillary Clinton dashing many women's hopes for a first female president. But rather than discourage that disappointment has galvanised some American women to get organized and to fight back. Today there are more women than ever running for office in the United States. All levels of government candidates, like Ashley Bennett, a Democrat who ran against a Republican incumbent for the seat in a New Jersey county board and she won.

SOUNDCLIP

I think it sends a message of hope. I think it's just that it's time. It's time for a woman to stand up and to be counted for there to be equal representation. It's just time.

GF: Gwen Combs is another American woman running for office. She's an air force veteran. A public school teacher and a first time candidate. She's running for Congress also as a Democrat in Arkansas's second congressional district. And we have reached Gwen today in Little Rock, Arkansas. Hello.

GWEN COMB: Good morning.

GF: So what convinced you, political neophyte, to run the Congress?

GWEN COMB: I reached a point where I was no longer proud to have served my country and that lost me in to a mindset that I had to stand up and take some action, some real action, that could make a difference not only for myself but for other women around me, other people around me and for future generations.

GF: And was very much linked to the election of Donald Trump?

GWEN COMB: Absolutely. It made me ashamed to know that people of this country reached a point that they were willing to elect someone who had been accused of sexual violence himself. And to know dad I was represented by a congressman who endorsed him despite it.

GF: We are having this conversation today, amid the Me Too movement obviously and the kinds of allegations that you've been listening to us discuss here this morning. What are your thoughts? Do these stories motivate women or do they make them think twice?

GWEN COMB: I believe they motivate women more than they make them second guess I think twice about anything. It is empowering to know that you are not alone in an experience. And when we have the shared story that we can communicate and really feel what one another have experienced and shared out it gives us strength in numbers.

GF: Well there are as we've said huge numbers, historically huge numbers of women running, but still quite the number of women who actually hold public office in the United States is very low. You're running against an incumbent. That's always a hard thing to do. Do you feel that the odds are against you?

GWEN COMB: I have a reason to be cautiously optimistic. We have a moment in time where we are more likely to experience change than we ever have before. And that's encouraging and we've seen great electiopns in Virginia, in Oklahoma and in other places where women and where people of color and were members of the LGBTQ community and people with disabilities are having success. It's really encouraging.

GF: What are you hearing when you're out on the campaign trail?

GWEN COMB: People are really inspiring to see someone running who has real life experiences in the field of education. As a former member notary service and who have these prospectives as women and a person with disabilities, who can relate to the people who are out there every day and not necessarily feeling like they're represented by our government.

GF: And what about the man you're running against? He's the incumbent. I think he's been the incumbent for a couple of times now. He's got a long history.

GWEN COMB: He's running for his third term. Yes he's very much part of the standard fare of American politicians. He is an affluent white male, and in order for us to reach a point where we have a government that's representative, we need to elect people who are more Gravel's in the population, including women, including people with disabilities, including members of the LGBT community, including people of colour.

GF: I am assuming that you applied to various networks that are supporting campaigns like yours. But what do you think explains this surge of women jumping into politics?

GWEN COMB: We've reached a point where we're fed up. We've reached a point where our voices have gone, first our highest level of political office and we're now willing to accept that as the norm. Women men are strong leaders. We do have strong voices. We are the leaders of our communities in many many ways. It's time for us to step into office. Statistics state that women don't have any less success running for office, but that they're less likely to resign because of the burdens that they carry in society. We're often the caregivers in our homes and our families. We more often than not provide childcare, elder care and care for a disabled family member.

GF: But the statistics also show, in the last election that a lot of women did vote for white men of power, including Donald Trump.

GWEN COMB: That is true.

GF: Do you think things are changing? Is this a watershed moment like people say

GWEN COMB: I believe it really is.

GF: All right well, Gwen, thanks very much good luck to you.

GWEN COMB: Thank you so much.

GF: Gwen Combs is a first time candidate for the U.S. Congress. She's running as a Democrat in Arkansas's second congressional district and we reached her in Little Rock, Arkansas. My next guest has been paying close attention to the uptake of women entering the U.S. political process. Kelly Dittmar is an assistant professor of political science at Rutgers University and she's a scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics. Kelly Dittmar is with us from New Brunswick, New Jersey. Good morning.

KELLY DITTMAR: Thanks for having me.

GF: So you were listening to Gwen Combs there. How reflective is her story of what's happening in your country right now

KELLY DITTMAR: It's quite reflective. She represents the type of Canada that we're seeing account for a lot of the increase that you spoke about earlier in terms of women's candidacies this cycle. She's a Democratic women running against a Republican incumbent. She's somebody who was motivated as she said by being sort of set up and concerned and ashamed about this administration. That's a story that we're seeing happening throughout the country. It points to both that opportunity for women, that we're seeing this increase, but also the challenges that a lot of the increase in terms of women's candidacies are coming in these very difficult races where women are going to be competing against folks who've been in office for a long time in competing in districts where the parties make up their districts might pose a challenge to them.

GF: So it was a were they running? What were you seeing the biggest increases?

KELLY DITTMAR: So overall we see the number of women potential candidates at this point - because we having that into our filing deadline - have doubled in in terms of comparison for the last cycle, at the house level, at the Senate level and also in races for governor for our top executive offices in our states. They're running nationwide, so vote on a particular state in which we see this increase. It's a pretty broad across the board. But again that increase is largely concentrated among Democratic women. We aren't seeing such a surge or what folks are calling a 'pink wave' among Republican women. So Democratic women are not only the majority of women candidates but they also account for most of that increase from previous cycle.

GF: Why aren't you seeing an uptake in Republicans do you think

KELLY DITTMAR: So there's a couple of reasons. One is what Gwen spoke to and I think what you mentioned earlier, which is those who are motivated by this administration, by the election of Donald Trump and the politics that he's put forward, those who went to the women's march, those who are concerned about immigration, issues around health care, things like that. Those women are mostly progressive and they're mobilized because they're trying to hold the line against this administration. That's a very progressive position. That's a very Democratic position. The other side of things is that on the Republican side, the support infrastructure that we have for candidates is just not there. We don't have strong recruitment programs to target Republican women and we don't have strong training programs and we also don't have strong packs, our financial support better targeted again at Republican women. Whereas on the Democratic side we have a pretty strong infrastructure nationwide in all those areas for Democratic women.

GF: Running is obviously one thing, winning sometimes. IS there evidence to say that female candidates necessarily attract women's votes, and again, reminding ourselves that 53 percent of white women voted for Donald Trump last time around, and there was a woman candidate. What makes you think that's going to change?

KELLY DITTMAR: So I don't necessarily. I think you are right. What is often the sort of misconception is that women vote for women. That's just not true. We know that women vote like men along party lines. And in the U.S. it's very clear a party line. If you're a Democrat, you're going to offer the Democratic candidate. If you are a Republican, you're going to vote for the Republican candidate. I think what shocked too many people in the last election was that folks thought that not so much that you had a woman candidate but because you had a candidate that had been openly misogynistic, that women would be willing to pull the lever for him. And they found that that's not necessarily true. Partisanship is a strong indicator and in fact there are women who didn't believe that what Donald Trump said or did was that big of a deal. So it was in a disqualifying factor for well today. It was just going to say there was a poll this week by ABC News in Washington Post here in the U.S. that found that Donald Trump's support among white women has dropped over the past year. Now is this still doesn't mean that he doesn't have strong support amongst some strong partisan Republican white women. That hasn't changed. But there are some white women for whom clearly there is some second guessing there is some concern about what he has done over the past year that potentially bodes well to Gwen's point for not only women like Gwen but other Democrats running in the 2018 cycle. And I think we saw some of that in 2017 races. We saw where Democrats have been successful or were successful in other wise red or Republican area. And that only because of women's shifting allegiances but that's a key part of it because in the United States women vote at higher rates than men as well.

GF: We've been talking this morning on this program about the political culture and sexual harassment. I cannot imagine - I know that things are no different in Washington than they would be in Ottawa - How much does that play into women's desire, decision to jump into politics?

KELLY DITTMAR: Sure. I think that a lot of these women that we're talking about in this cycle perhaps already had been thinking about running. We know that women are often most motivated by policy issues that they care about. But this can be one of those issues. But secondarily I think it's a very clear reminder that women's voices haven't been at the table. Not only in political institutions but in many of our institutions in media, in business and that it's created and allowed for a culture that has really perpetuated in that power imbalance between men and women that has marginalized and made women quite vulnerable. So I do think it's inspirational in a way for women to say 'I need to be at that table. I need to make my voice heard'. And I think there a second point which is, at this moment, we're seeing women really come together with some form of solidarity to say 'Me Too' and 'I'm with you' and 'I'm behind you' and 'I believe you'. That sense of solidarity again can only motivate women to come forward and fight back. But also for women in politics to feel that 'if I stepped forward with a candidacy, especially one that might be difficult, I am going to have women back me up. I am not just at the ballot box'.

GF: All right. Thank you Kelly. Kelly Dittmar is an assistant professor of political science at Rutgers University and a scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics. She was in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Now we're turning it over to you. Tell us what you've been thinking as you've learned in today's show. You can find us on Facebook or Twitter @TheCurrentCBC. Coming up in our next half hour we're shifting gears. If you're on the road right now, then your odds are you're probably with a lot of salt. Listen in to see what the problems with all of that is. I am Gillian Findlay and you're listening to the Friday edition of The Current.

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Beet juice and cheese brine: what cities are spreading on streets to replace corrosive road salt

Guests: Stephen Coates, David Lembcke

GF: I'm Gillian Findlay and this is the Friday edition of The Current. Monday will mark one year since a gunman opened fire in a Quebec City mosque, killing six people and injuring more than a dozen others. Aymen Derbali survived that attack but he spent two months in a coma and is now paralyzed. On Monday we'll bring you a new documentary about his efforts to recover. Aymen nearly didn't make it to the mosque that night. He was late. And when he arrived the attack was under way. He tried to distract the gunman but that's when he became a target. Here's an excerpt from Susana Ferreira's documentary: It Was a Sunday.

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AYMEN DERBALI: He saw me and he decided to fire.

SUSANA FERREIRA: Aymen got shot. He got shot.

AYMEN DERBALI: My leg, the other one in my chin and two bullets in my abdomen. Yes in my abdomen.

SUSANA FERREIRA: He fell down and he started to black out.

AYMEN DERBALI: That moment I was unconscious. I was unconscious. Some brothers who were still there, didn't escape, told me that he fired me on the ground. Fired me like three times to be sure that I am dead. After that I woke up and I heard a lot of people screaming "Police! Ambulances! We need help!" Some brothers told me to make 'Shehada' the intention before dying

SUSANA FERREIRA: One of the other men at the mask was yelling at him "Aymen! Stay with us..."

AYMEN DERBALI: "Stay with us. Stay with us. Open your eyes! Stay with us! Open your eyes! Open your eyes!" So I opened my eyes.

SUSANA FERREIRA: And he saw a police officer. His saw a uniform. He heard more screaming and closed his eyes again.

AYMEN DERBALI: This is the last thing I remember at the [unintelligible]

REPORTER: We will be learning more of what might happen Sunday night, during the attack at the Quebec City mosque. Police sources told Radio Canada the suspected gunman Alexandere Bissonnette approached them mosque with two fire arms.

GF: You can hear Susana Ferreira's entire documentary, It was a Sunday, Monday on The Current. I am Gillian Findlay and you're listening to the Friday edition of The Current on CBC Radio One. Next up the keys for alternatives to road salt.

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[Laughter.

VOICE 1: Only in Wisconsin. Pope County plough driver Kevin Jensen is putting down road salt, mixed with brine, from cheese. Those are six pound blocks of mozzarella taking a bath in brine at Epenee cheese factory in Dresser. Brine gives cheese its salty flavour.

VOICE 2: I've gotten ribbing from other counties.

VOICE 1: And Mo Norby at the county highway department figured it just might melt snow and ice too.

VOICE 2: This is the stuff. It smells like cheese. Yes. It really does smell like cheese

GF: That is from a local news report in Wisconsin. Now you might ask why is Wisconsin spreading cheese brine on its roads. Well an increasingly large body of research shows that road salt is bad for the environment and bad for infrastructure. Some estimate salt has caused as much as five billion dollars worth of damage to Canadian infrastructure. It corrodes concrete and metal. It eats away at structures like bridges and overpasses. Salt was said to be a factor in the deadly collapse of the De La Concorde Overpass and Laval, Quebec in 2006. It's also not good for cars. According to one estimate salt and the rust it causes is responsible for a three billion dollars in vehicle depreciation each year in Quebec and Ontario alone. And its environmental impact is serious too. Salt in melting snow runs off into rivers and lakes and is devastating freshwater ecosystems. Lake Simcoe North of Toronto and has seen a steady increase in salt levels over the years. David Lembcke is the manager of the environmental science and monitoring for Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority and he is an expert on the impact of road salt on the environment and we've reached him this morning in Newmarket, Ontario. Hello Mr. Lembcke.

DAVID LEMBCKE: Good morning Gillian.

GF: So a steady increase over the years. How big is the problem of salt in Lake Simcoe?

DAVID LEMBCKE: We've got data that stretches back to the 1960s. In fact the 1960s we are sort of regular, or what we call, ambient levels. And since then have seen just this steady increasing uptake in those concentrations and in fact more recently have seen the rate of that increase become more dramatic. That really has focused our attention on where all that salt is coming from, and why we have this issue in Lake Simcoe. What we started to look at is is where it's coming from and really draw our eye to the rivers and creeks, particularly our rivers and creeks and looking at the concentrations there and that's where we found some very concerning concentrations.

GF: Are you attributing this to increased use of road salt?

DAVID LEMBCKE: Yes. It's pretty clear when we look at where, you know, what ambient levels or what normal background levels could look like, we went and we sort of did some surveys of all the various road agencies as well to look at where it was coming from. And by and large it's very clear that the salt is coming from winter maintenance application. So road salt, parking lot applications and the like.

GF: Okay so remind me then why do we use road salt on our roads in the winter?

DAVID LEMBCKE: It's very readily available. It's relatively inexpensive and it's very very effective at melting snow and ice between minus 12 and zero degrees. So it's certainly been the go to winter maintenance tool in just about every road maintenance company, or Road Maintenance agency's arsenal.

GF: But it has to go somewhere.

DAVID LEMBCKE: Well that's the real challenge of assault is it is incredible. It loves war and once it gets in the water there is just about nothing that gets it out of water. There's lots of different filtrations and technologies and even when you look at water that goes through sewage treatment plants, there is a lot of different ways we can take things out of water. But with salt, the only way we get that out is with reverse osmosis or in fact to evaporate all the water away and leave the salt behind. So neither one of us is feasible when we look at the environment. So really when it comes to getting salt or stopping it from going in it, it's stopping it putting it down in the first place. And so once it's in that water - whether that's you know runoff from a parking lot or getting into creeks - it just continues to accumulate and it just stays in that water. And we can also see it actually starting to go into groundwater which is a bit of concern when we have municipalities or rehouse residents that used groundwater as a drinking water source.

GF: Well what are some of the examples that you're seeing that show the impact of the salt on ecosystems for instance?

DAVID LEMBCKE: Sure we use it to guide lines when we look at salt concentrations in natural water bodies and these are ecological guidelines. So not drinking water guidelines but we look at what would be impacting the biota in a freshwater creek. And so there's one that we use at about 120 milligrams per litre and we call that a chronic. So that's sort of a level at which we don't want to see exceeded for long periods of time because that's going to have an impact on life cycle status, like a spawning or egg laying of fish. And then there's another guideline at 640 milligrams per litre and that's where some species will experience lethal effects. So that will actually kill some organisms even in freshwater.

GF: And I understand you're actually seeing species now thriving in places that they didn't used to thrive.

DAVID LEMBCKE: Well yes. Maybe thriving is strong but we are seeing concentrations particularly in winter that exceed that acute threshold or that lethal threshold. But what's really amazing is that we're seeing concentrations year round that are staying above that chronic. And there are some examples such as Mimico Creek in Toronto where they actually found a marine species surviving in the summer.

GF: A marine species in fresh water creek.

DAVID LEMBCKE: In a freshwater Crick in a freshwater ecosystem. I mean these are completely different ecosystems. These are species that are evolved to handle very different circumstances and we kind of say it would be like finding a polar bear in the jungle. Like they're just not supposed to be there. And the fact that they're there in summer and that they're surviving - I do not know if thriving is the right word - but the fact that they're actually alive is pretty shocking.

GF: Why are we seeing those kinds of concentrations year round. I mean logic would suggest that you might see in the spring with the run up but now you say we're seeing it all the time.

DAVID LEMBCKE: Yes. So certainly those [unintelligible] there's very high levels. Mostly we see those in winter but because, again, of that ability of salt to stay in water and the fact that nothing takes it out - A lot of the water that sort of percolate into that shallow ground water table carries that salt into our shallow ground water table. And it's that water that feeds our creeks through [unintelligible] and upwellings throughout the year. And we're actually seeing that body of water as well throughout our entire landscape, particularly around those urban areas, are becoming increasingly more salty and carrying that salt to our creeks year round.

GF: And what about things like you know other kinds of ecosystems I mean what about animals on land and how are they being affected by the salt on the roads?

DAVID LEMBCKE: Sure. Salt on the land it luckily stays fairly contained to where it's put down. So you know along roadsides you'll see, well, I'm sure many of us can think of our own lawns you know along the roadside there's that trown patch towards the end, which just doesn't seem to grow as well. Salt is it s probably playing a role there. Boulivard trees, certainly having a hard time. There have been examples where if you have agriculture alongside the road, that soil can be impacted and the productivity of that soil for crops can be impacted.

GF: So how do you use less, municipalities, businesses to use less salt?

DAVID LEMBCKE: So that is a very complex and challenging question and one that we've been working on in the last few years. And so we've been working basically with the municipalities, as well as to understand the drivers in the public sector around commercial and institutional parking lots. A lot of the low hanging fruit because this is not a new issue for a lot of the municipalities - low hanging fruit there is mostly gone. So things like covering over salt storage domes, calibrating your equipment, looking at how to be more strategic around putting a down, a lot of the municipalities are doing a fairly good job and where we're seeing improvements to be made, there is a lot of sharing. Some municipalities are testing out different substances or you know looking at different equipment to apply it. Once they've figured it out can you share that with your neighbouring municipalities and sort of bootstrap them up, iron out the wrinkles to make sure that they can implement that stuff quickly. Where we're seeing some of the low hanging fruit I think is in is in parking lots and I think we can all think of the parking lot we've been to this winter, where we were just seeing mounds and mounds of salt. And really what we're finding there, what underpins a lot of that is public expectation and this perception of liability of course. But what we're seeing amounts that according to the best research are far in excess of what actually needs to be there because people don't understand how salt is actually working and the fact that if you see salt sitting on a walkway you've actually put too much down .

GF: Allright. David Lembcke I am going to leave it there because we want to talk about some of those alternatives that you mentioned. David Lembcke is the manager of environmental science and monitoring for the Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority and we reached him Newmarket, Ontario. Well weening our roads of salt is an easy, as Dave has just pointed out. Norm Parkes is the executive director of highway operations for the province of British Columbia. He's responsible for keeping some of Canada's snowiest roads safe.

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Salt does impact of course our bridges, anything that is steel and concrete is basically what salt impacts. But not as much on the asphalt in B.C. and across Canada we've been using salt for decades. We have a robust program to make sure our bridges are safe but salt is pointedly most cost effective ways of keeping attraction and keeping a road safe. Of course safety is number one priority. You never know with innovation. So never say never, but I think in the short term there is always a place for the good use of salt and the judicious use of salt.

GF: In an effort to use less salt, some places in B.C. are turning to alternatives, one of them being beet juice. It's not turning roads purple but it does leave a brown residue. Beet juice is also hitting the roads in Calgary where they say it's making a difference and it is saving money. Jim Fraser is the central district manager of road maintenance for the city of Calgary and that's where a beet juice pilot project is underway.

SOUNDCLIP

The beet brine is a product that is made up of 75 percent of the Beet molasses or beet juice and 65 percent brine, salt brine. The first glance at the chart that we have going on it's been proven to be pretty effective. It cuts down on the amount of chlorides that we're putting along the road by at least 70 percent. Looking for an alternative product to something that has a positive, not only for your infrastructure, but it is also positive for the environment and it saves you money at the same time. It's a good thing.

GF: Other jurisdictions are experimenting with other things; wood chips, the salty wastewater from flacking, even pickle brine and potato juice, all in an attempt to reduce the use of road salt. But there are challenges; higher prices, public perceptions are what keeps the roads in winter driving safe. Our next guest has a Made in Canada solution inspired by the sad death of a family pet. Stephen Coates is president of Earth Innovations, makers of Ecotraction and he's with me now in our Toronto studio. Hello.

STEPHEN COATES: Good morning Gillian.

GF: So Ecotraction. You brought some in with you today. What is it?

STEPHEN COATES: Ecotraction is volcanic mineral. It's green in nature, the type that we use and it looks a lot like Kitty litter literally. It's a volcanic and it's very porous. It's hydroscopic. It sticks to ice, absorbs a bit of water and so it's a great alternative to melting. Because fundamentally the reason we use the salt is because we don't want to slip and fall. So why not look at jumping over that entirely and just cover your ice with the traction product that creates effectively a [unintelligible].

GF: So whereas salt would actually make the ice disappear, you are putting a layer on top of that ice just to make it safe. Is that right

STEPHEN COATES: Yes.

GF: And what's it made of?

STEPHEN COATES: It's made of a mineral called zeolite and zeolite is a class of minerals that's volcanic mineral and has a lot of very interesting properties. And one of those is that desire to absorb a little bit of water. And even at minus 30 minus 40 degrees Celsius there is a microscopic bit of water on the surface of that ice that allows the zeolite contraction to stick to it.

GF: And what does it cost? Because one of the arguments for rock salt is we keep being told is it comparatively cheap.

STEPHEN COATES: It is and this is one of the big factors in this business is that are on an operational basis as rock salt is cheap but it's that life cycle costs. The other unseen or not recognized immediately costs of rock salt that really impact the overall price.

GF: What are those unseen costs?

STEPHEN COATES: Well as your previous guests have talked about, as Dave has talked about the environmental impact but there are certainly many reports out there that talk about the hundreds of dollars of cost per ton of salt used in our infrastructure, bridges, roads, sewer systems of course, the salt water running into metal pipes in our sewers is what's been degrading them over time and of course automobiles. Let alone the individuals' issues with salt stains on boots and shoes and and pants and tracking it on floors and the cleaning that's required.

GF: So there is no runoff issues with your with your product?

STEPHEN COATES: No in fact Ecotraction is not only environmentally friendly but we actually like to see environmentally beneficial. Using Ecotractions is in fact good for the environment. The [unintelligible] has naturally some fertilizer phosphate in it. And so in fact as David just mentioned that Brown bit of grass on the edge of your sidewalk and driveway is caused by salt killing the roots of that of the grass. When you use Ecotraction in fact in early spring, you're going to see the greenest grass is the closest to the sidewalk.

GF: Oh and he has just shown me a picture here on his ipad. It looks very green.

STEPHEN COATES: I got a photo from one of our our customers actually last spring saying 'I can't believe the difference in my grass and in fact there is this six or eight inch band of really green grass' and that's because the Ecotraction has actually been beneficial to the plants.

GF: So what jurisdictions are using product?

STEPHEN COATES: Well we we we market the product retail across Canada and the US and also commercially industrial it's used. We are trying to to its usage with municipalities and with regional governments. We've been assisting the city of Mississauga recently over the last couple of years doing a pilot project, using Ecotraction in their park areas and on pedestrian bridges. They have recognized that the infrastructure degradation of using salt over time as there is a huge cost. They've been they've been really happy to see the use and the benefit of Ecotraction. Also of course we talk about the cost. Salt melts the ice and then runs away and you have to apply again. Ecotraction stays around. So when you have a refreeze, when you've got black ice or things like that the corruption is still there. So you still have that traction ability and so you can use a lot less traction over the same amount of space. In fact we say that it covers up nine times more area than rock salt. Well one cup of contraction would be a parking space as an example.

GF: But how is it better for instance than sand which I would assume would be cheaper?

STEPHEN COATES: Often we get compared to sand and sand is in fact very smooth and in fact quite round when you look at it under the microscope. So you can put sand down. But as a lot of people have used that know you have to put a lot of sand down because it just moves around whereas the extraction sticks and stays in place. Also sand is not particularly good for the environment either. It does come with other elements and heavy metals and often municipalities use discarded gravel or sand from pits that may not be the cleanest source as well.

GF: How much is this, our previous guest mentioned public additives, and I'm wondering how much those come into play here because at some point I think we've been conditioned maybe to think that a road is only safe when you can see the asphalt, when the ice has gone.

STEPHEN COATES: Absolutely yeah and that for us of course, on a market and advertising side has been the big problem. We are a product category in stores that's called ice melters. The one thing that we don't do is melt ice. So changing public perception is a big part of this story. And people are starting more and more to get frustrated. When you walk on the streets, particularly here in Toronto, when you look outside of bank buildings where you are literally walking on a centimetre of salt because so much has been put down. That perception needs to be changed and again we go back to people say 'Ah yes but it doesn't melt'. Well why do you want it to melt? 'Well I don't want to fall. I don't want to slip'. Well why don't we take care of that as step one.

GF: According to Environment Canada, in 2009 Canadians were using seven million tonnes of salt per year. Seven million tons.

STEPHEN COATES: And as David said that never goes away. It goes into the water system. It leaches into the ground water. It never goes away.

GF: Can you envision a time when road salt will be a thing of the past?

STEPHEN COATES: I can actually yes. I think as David also said there is a place for salt. It is necessary. Whether it's a road salt or whether it's a chemical ice melter or many other things that are marketed as safer, at the end of the day they have chlorides, whether it's potassium chloride or calcium chloride or manganese chloride, magnesium chloride excuse me. But I think there is a time coming as we will start to use less and less of it and we will be more concerned about the longer term implications of it. And for us it's been a challenge. We have recently actually been acquired by a public company. So we now have a little bit more backing that we can start to better market this. And our friends are Canadian Zeolite are our producer now in Canada and we can source it, and hopefully provide more cost effectively to municipalities.

GF: Alright Stephen Coates coming in today to tell us about it.

STEPHEN COATES: Thank you.

GF: Stephen Coates the president of Earth Innovations makers of Ecotraction and he was in our Toronto studio. And now a word from the team that put together The Current this week.

[Music: Credit's theme]

Josh Bloch: I am Josh Bloch the presentation producer here at The Current. This week the show was produced by: Idella Sturino, Lara O'Brien, Howard Goldenthal, Ines Colabrese, Pacinthe Mattar, Rosa Kim, Willow Smith, Amra Pasic, Samira Mohyeddin, Exan Auyoung, Kristin Nelson, Karin Marley, John Chipman, Kori Sidaway, and Liz Hoath. The Current's writer is Peter Mitton. Our web producers are Lisa Ayuso and Sarah Claydon. Our digital producer is Padraig Moran. Transcriptions are provided by Rasha Shehata and Nikhil Sharma. Our technical producer is Gary Francis. And our documentary editor is Joan Webber. Thanks to our network producers across the country Anne Penman, Michael O'Halloran, Susan McKenzie, and Mary-Catherine McIntosh and a special thanks to Suzanne Defresne in Winnipeg for her work on our child's welfare special this week. Our senior producers are Richard Goddard in Toronto and Cathy Simon in Vancouver. The executive producer of The Current is Kathleen Goldhar.

GF: So that is our program for today. Stay tuned to Radio 1 for Q featuring.

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I am Bart Simpson. Who the hell are you?

GF: As the voice of Bart Simpson, Nancy Cartwright has one of the most recognizable voices in the world. And now she's making her screenwriting debut with the new semi auto biographical film In Search of Fellini. She'll speak with Tom Power about making her first film at this stage in her career and reflect on three decades as the world's most famous 10 year old. And remember you can always take The Current with you on the CBC Radio app. It lets you browse through past episodes of our show and start listening in just a few seconds. You can search for stories you missed or want to hear again or listen like to your local CBC station, right from your smartphone or tablet. Here are the day's top stories, even make your own playlist of favourites to listen to later. It's a free app from the App Store or from Google Play. Finally today after our conversation about more and more women seeking elected office, let's go out on an empowering note. It's from 1985 but it sure feels fresh today. It's the Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin with Sisters are Doing it for Themselves. I am Gillian Findlay. Thanks for listening to the Friday edition of The Current.

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[Song: Sisters are Doing it for Themselves by Eurethmics and Aretha Franklin]

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