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The AIH Transcript for February 09, 2018

Hosts: Carol Off and Jeff Douglas

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Prologue

CAROL OFF: Hello I'm Carol Off.

JEFF DOUGLAS: Good evening. I'm Jeff Douglass. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

JD: Tonight:

CO: A different inside story. Sean Moore is back home in Canada after spending several weeks in the hands of a Syrian al-Qaida cell. And unlike his traveling companion, with whom he spoke last night, Mr. Moore tells us he was tortured.

JD: Freedom of the un-free press. Since December, two Reuters journalists have been in jail in Myanmar. And now, their colleagues have published a story about a horrendous massacre they believe got them locked up.

CO: Used car trailsmen. After finding an old letter in a 1939 Buick that he'd bought, a BC man tracks down its original recipient. Tonight, the two men speak to each other for the first time on the radio.

JD: Dumping off point. An Edmonton artist and photographer is excited to get her hands dirty as the first-ever artist-in-residence at the city's waste management centre.

CO: She painted the rest of us into a corner. Our guest was behind a puzzling painting that bridged art and crypto commerce. And after almost three years, someone's cracked its code, and earned thousands in Bitcoin

JD: And… next door naysayer. As long as B.C. continues to stall an oil pipeline, Lew Galbraith doesn't want so much as a cup of sugar from his neighbours, and he's urging other Albertans to join his universal boycott.

JD: As It Happens, the Friday edition. Radio that guesses whatever BC is arguing; he's not buying it.

[Music: Theme]

Back To Top »

Part one: Sean Moore, Alberta boycotter, Bitcoin puzzle

Sean Moore

Guest: Sean Moore

JD: It's not just another side of the story. At times, it's a different story altogether. Yesterday on the program, we spoke with Jolly Bimbachi. Ms. Bimbachi spent several weeks in the hands of an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, after her attempt to smuggle her children out of Lebanon went wrong. Her former husband took their two sons to Lebanon two years earlier and never returned. And despite her efforts, her children are still there now. Ms. Bimbachi was accompanied on her journey by fellow Canadian Sean Moore. And while Ms. Bimbachi told us she was not harmed by her captors, Mr. Moore was not so lucky. We reached Sean Moore in Chatham, Ontario.

CO: Sean, how are you doing since you've returned from this ordeal?

SEAN MOORE: I'm doing fine. I mean I've only been back a day-and-a-half or so, two days I suppose. And just seeing family and a couple of friends have come over and said hello, and wanted to see that I was actually back in Canada.

CO: Can you just tell us how you made the decision to go to Lebanon to help Jolly Bimbachi get her kids back?

SM: I heard about Jolly’s case in May of 2016 through a local newspaper here in Chatham, and I was going to Jordan on another case. So I was able to contact her through the newspaper, and I explained to her that I was going to be within a half-an-hour flight from Lebanon. And if she wanted me to try to speak with her husband her — her husband at the time — I would try to talk to him and see if he was interested in trying to negotiate a custody deal.

CO: What were you planning to do? What did you think you could do that she has failed to do to negotiate with her former husband for some shared custody of those boys?

SM: Well, sadly, in the Middle East, a woman can't negotiate. As unusual as that may sound to a Westerner, that's just the way it is.

CO: We spoke with a friend of yours just before we were able to speak with you, Jeff Bultje, and he was telling us that you have a fair bit of experience with these kinds of matters. You've helped women get out of situations before in Middle East, so you knew pretty well what you were up against. At what point did Jolly Bimbachi join you?

SM: Well, it wasn't until this November. She wasn't able to go before she was legally divorced from her husband because if she went there as she was still legally married, he has full rights to alter in Lebanon as Sharia Law predicts. So she had to physically be divorced.

CO: How and why did you and Jolly Bimbachi decide that you needed to smuggle the kids out of the country — try to get into Canada voiced by some other means?

SM: We were going to go through the area of Syria closest to Lebanon and to get to the Turkish border. Unfortunately, we were misled to some degree, and we ended up in a different area of Syria that was obviously more dangerous.

CO: Had you paid people to help you make your route to Turkey?

SM: I had made some contacts in 2016 that were willing to help us go through borders. Sadly, the smugglers, escorts, however we want to word it, brought us to an area that was under more control than we were aware.

CO: And they had their money already I presume?

SM: They had their money, yes.

CO: This is where things get very dark because this is what Jolly Bimbachi was describing last night that you were both taken by some extension of al-Qaida. She said she stayed in safe houses with families who treated her relatively well, and she had the boys with her for a while. What happened to you?

SM: Well, I stayed for the first nine days I believed I was moved to about five different what they were trying to call “safe houses”. I knew right away that we had been taken. And that was even before we got into Syria. But we could only go in one direction. So we kept being separated. She, luckily, I don’t know if lucky is the right word? I said politely kidnapped when it comes to Jolly. But the reality is she was still kidnapped. It was just she didn't end up in a prison. On the other hand, I did. They came, and they got me, they kidnapped me and caused an awful lot of grief for my last twenty six-twenty seven days while I was there.

CO: I'm sorry to ask you something I know is painful to review. But can you tell us what you would about how they treated you and what happened to you in custody with that group?

SM: Well, it's al Qaeda. They’re a terrorist organization as you know. They took me to an old regime prison, and they locked me in a cell that was boat five-feet-by-three-feet for 26 days.

CO: What did they do to you?

SM: For the first two weeks they beat me with paddles — like rubber paddles — on my stomach, my back, my legs, and the bottom of my feet. And then they would flood my face and flood my cell with urine and feces for the remainder of my time.

CO: And what did you have to eat?

SM: I had very little. They were right. I don't speak the language, so I had no understanding of what was happening. I actually thought I was there for two months. It ended up only being 26 days. I tried to keep track, but it was impossible because there's no sleep. The only time I was out of my cell was when they blindfolded me and pretended they were going to remove my head or shoot me. They would put plastic sheets down and make it very realistic that was going to be the outcome. So I was a little bit relieved that it was only 26 days. However, it certainly seemed longer. I had very little to eat; I lost 50 pounds in 26 days.

CO: How did you survive that? What did you do to keep yourself sane?

SM: I wish I had a really good answer. I tried to shut my entire thought process down. I walked in place because there was no place to walk, so I counted my steps and tried to keep my mind off of anything. I was tried to be forced to confess to a certain amount of crimes. And they finally just said that you've been convicted, and they convicted me for ten years.

CO: How did you get out?

SM: They wanted media publicity that they are not a terrorist organization. So they let the Canadian go.

CO: And there's images of you with these men, shaking hands with them, being friendly. Why was that? What was the deal?

SM: Shaking hand, hugging them, thanking them for taking such good care of me. All scripted.

CO: But it got you out.

SM: I would have said other than confessing, which I absolutely did not do to any of the things they wanted me to confess to, I would have said anything for them to the media to make them look good.

CO: And was that the first time you were reunited with Jolly Bimbachi?

SM: That's correct.

CO: Did you know that the boys had been taken back to their father?

SM: I assumed that the boys were going to be gone. Jolly’s husband and family had put up a bounty to bring us all back to Lebanon. So I knew there was money involved to bring the kids back to Lebanon.

CO: Do you regret getting involved in this with Jolly Bimbachi?

SM: I regret failing. No, I don't regret getting involved. I'm not going to do it again. Hindsight's a wonderful thing. So yeah, obviously, I regret how it turned out. But I don't regret that I made a commitment and a promise to Ms. Bimbachi to try to help her and her children.

CO: I admire your courage.

SM: Thank you. I appreciate the CBC talking to me.

CO: Thank you for talking to us.

SM: Well, you have a very good day.

CO: Bye bye.

SM: Bye

JD: Sean Moore is back in Canada after having spent several weeks in the custody of a group affiliated with al-Qaida in Syria. We reached Mr. Moore at home in Chatham, Ontario.

[Music: Sad piano]

BC Boycot

Guest: Lew Galbraith

JD: It started with wine. But some say Alberta's boycott of products from British Columbia needs to go a lot further. This week, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley announced that province would no longer import British Columbia vino, in retaliation for the BC’s decision to put the brakes on the Trans-Mountain pipeline extension. Lew Galbraith is an Albertan who's launched his own personal boycott of all products from British Columbia. We reached Mr. Galbraith in Strathcona County.

CO: Lew, can you give us a rundown of all the BC products you've stopped buying?

LEW GALBRAITH: Well, recently, in the last two or three months, of course, I've already said that I've quit buying BC wines — and nice Riesling from the Osoyoos area that I really liked I’ve replaced with one from Australia that we also really like. And there was a red from the Kelowna district that we liked that now I’ve replaced with a Zinfandel from California, which I drank years ago and I liked, and I went back to them. BC fish, well, we've always bought sockeye, especially as fresh as we can get it and some other fish from the BC coast. And I also quite lake I always buy local-made in Alberta here from Lacombe a yogurt for my breakfast, but it wasn't available in the store the other day. So I was looking through other ones, and I ended up buying one from Ontario where I'd normally before but this I think it was called was called Astro from Abbotsford area, but I won't buy that anymore.

CO: What about tomatoes; they got some great tomatoes there.

LG: I love tomatoes; I eat them every day. I was buying vine tomatoes from greenhouses again in the Abbotsford area, but I don't do that anymore either.

CO: And so now how has that changed your lifestyle? Are you missing all those BC products?

LG: No. I’d rather support number one, Alberta businesses. Number two, Prairie Province business. Number three, Western Canada business, but I've cut BC out of that Western Canada portion now.

CO: You say that you started doing this months ago, way before Rachel Notley and the Alberta government announced their boycott, so what's pushed you over the edge? Why did you get involved in boycotting so early?

LG: The writing was on the wall. When Horgan and his new party got elected, and held in there with what seemed to call around here the “Green Beaver Weaver”, that I could see it coming. They swore they were going to fight to do what they could to stop the pipeline — them and that Burnaby mayor. And that Beaver Weaver wasn't going to support them unless they did it. So he is.

CO: So now, “Green Beaver Weaver”, did you make that one up?

LG: I don't know. I know he gets called that now.

CO: And, of course, you're referring to Green Party leader Andrew Weaver.

LG: Yeah, yeah, I suppose I made it up. I know I've used it enough to hear it coming back to me anyway now so.

CO: So these are things you're changing quite a bit in your life. Why does it matter to you personally so much to do this?

LG: This is hurting us in the pocketbook if BC businesses and electorate out there that put the new death party into power think it's all well and good for them to live in their bubble and cut a hole in my pocketbook or my family's pocketbook, why shouldn't I do it back?

CO: Do you think that boycotts will have an effect on the decisions in British Columbia?

LG: It's growing, I know that. And it's an easy sell. All you have to do is start bringing up to people and pointing it out. And pretty soon you get the nodding head yes, you got a good point. Recently, one of my daughters was just here at a denturist this week and having her teeth cleaned. The denturist and her three girlfriends, this time of year each year, they usually take a little trip somewhere for a little long weekend fling. And they had it narrowed down to a trip somewhere in California or to Kelowna. And when my daughter explained all this to them with the BC government and the B.C. electorate through that government has done for us and our businesses here. Before she paid the denturist and left, the denturist said you’re right, we won’t go to Kelowna now. I'll tell the other girls that we should be going to California instead. This is not a hard sell.

CO: The question isn't people in British Columbia are asking this. Why punish them? Why punish the people in Kelowna who may or may not support their government? Why punish the wine producers or the tomato growers? Why punish them for something that they may not support or even encourage in their own government?

LG: Are they not hurting us when they try to stop our product to get to market? Why should they have the right to stop our product to get to market? Have they voted that government into power? I mean if I can get at the BC NDP government aren’t going to listen to me or other little guys like me anyway. So then we better get the little guys under them listening, and feed that power back up.

CO: What will you do if they decide people in British Columbia say well, we're not going to buy anymore Alberta beef, or do one newspaper columnist suggested that, quote, “Have a ban on dumb cowboy hats.” What do you say to those possibilities?

LG: Cowboy hats are fairly dumb. But if they want to get tit-for-tat, it works both ways. That's all right. Let’s get atter, pitter patter.

CO: Rachel Notley, are you a supporter of her and her government?

LG: Absolutely not. She bought thousands of votes by coming out and doing the flashy front-page on we’re stopping to buy the BC wine. I’m sorry to say it, but she bought thousands of votes for that line.

CO: But do you support her in that, do you not?

LG: Well, I was already doing it. Maybe she's following me.

CO: But do you think she's doing the right thing?

LG: Oh yeah, you got to strike back. I mean a puppet is a puppet; you want to let somebody step on you, they'll step on you.

CO: All right, Lew. We'll leave it there. It's good to talk to you, thanks.

LG: You're welcome.

CO: Bye bye.

LG: Bye.

JD: We reached Lew Galbraith in Strathcona County, Alberta. You can read more about this story on our website. Unfortunately though, you won't be able to see a photograph of Lew. He refused to send us one. He told our producer, quote, "Why don't you just put up a picture of a horse's ass." Unquote. So we accommodated him.

SOUNDCLIP

RODRIGO DUTERTE: So this is my reaction. I want to tell the armed forces to cut the deal. And somehow, we will look for another supplier. We’ll respect the stand of Canada. So from here on now, I am directing the armed forces of the Philippines since most of the guns, bullets, and whatever weapons of war invariably used against the rebels or the terrorists do not buy any more from Canada, or from the United States. Because there is always a condition attached. So if we cannot use this against the terrorists or Filipino citizens, then prepare for the eventual collapse of this country. Because they are not ignorant, I'm sure there is a bright boy. That the terrorists and the ISIS are contaminating the locals. And if I cannot use the gunship helicopter then I might hand this government to them. But I said I do not question your logic, your logic is your logic. My logic is mine. It’s based on the reality on the ground, so no more buying of arms. You want to look beautiful cosmetics, buy it from Canada. But I assure you, I am supporting Trump, he’s a good precedent. He's doing it also for his country.

JD: Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte in Manila earlier today.

[Music: Folk guitar]

Bitcoin puzzle

Guest: Marguerite deCourcelle

JD: Most of us will just see a painting — a colourful piece of art with some birds and a border of flames. But there's actually a wealth of other detail in there — and just plain wealth: hidden in that artwork was a code. If you were able to figure it out, you'd receive some Bitcoin. And now, after several years, someone managed to solve the painting puzzle. To tell us how, we reached one of the creators of the puzzle. She's known as coin_artist. But you can also call her Marguerite deCourcelle.

CO: Margarete, first off, can you describe for our listeners what this painting looks like?

MARGUERITE DECOURCELLE: This painting is based on a poem “The Phoenix and the Turtle”. So in the painting, you have a turtle dove who's resting against a Phoenix. And then the figures turn into a knight chess piece and a queen. And these are all intertwined. And there are flames that are blending between the knight and the queen and the phoenix. And they all converge to a keyhole with a key. So this is in the lower right of the painting with ribbons tied to it, and there are six ribbons. And they are surrounded by a border of flames that carry different characteristics.

CO: It's very pretty, it's very colorful, and I'm looking at all these different images that are in there. You describe the turtle dove into Phoenix and the chess pieces and the keyhole. So what is my uninformed eye not seeing in terms of the puzzle that’s buried within it?

MD: So there are 16 types of feelings that have characteristics based on colour, size, width. This information makes four bits of information. And as you read the flames, and you see there are Greek key symbols in the corners, and those help tell you how to read the flames. And so when you put all these different bits of information together, then you use the key to decrypt the flames. And you'll have then a Bitcoin private key.

CO: And that Bitcoin private key leads to a wallet of 50,000 dollars’ worth of Bitcoin.

MD: So actually, it was more than 50,000 dollars. Because since I loaded this wallet back in 2014, there's been five Bitcoin forks.

CO: What inspire you to create this puzzle, and to provide this prize to someone who could decipher it?

MD: So back when I made this, Bitcoin was only worth a few-hundred dollars per Bitcoin. And for me, it was something fun that I stumbled upon doing was making visual images that could also hold secrets, and secrets that would be valuable. And Bitcoin was the first implementation of digital money that you could do something like this with. So I started doing puzzles like this in 2013 and 2014, and this particular puzzle, I put more in than I had in the past. But also, it was a very symbolic poem for me that I made this almost like a prayer that my life is going to turn around because I had made this at rock bottom. And I felt like if I made something really amazing then somehow things would start to turn around.

CO: What do you know about the person who has actually figured it out, and has got the wallet with the Bitcoin?

MD: He's a very brilliant man. He's anonymous because his location he feels like it's not safe to hold Bitcoin.

CO: What did it take him to solve it? What are the clues? What are the things that he had to find? Because there's all kinds of things — there's literary clues in this as well, aren't there?

MD: Yes. So when I was a senior in art school, I made a series of just blank, white paintings, like huge. And they were layered with different shades of white. And no one would go and look at them because they felt like there was nothing there. But for me, I felt like there were layers that created a sort of cloud-like experience. So what I found with these Bitcoin puzzle is I can make artwork, and put a ton of meaning into them. And people actually be forced to go explore all of those concepts and ideas that I had while creating the piece. And they become very close to those ideas. So with the artwork, it has that artistic side of this. But then the logical side, in which he was able to break it down by thinking about what you need to create a private key? What are the pieces that would be required for that? He put himself in my shoes: if he was creating this puzzle, what would he do? And he figured out just by thinking through the steps and the processes where the starting point is, and what were their required components?

CO: Are you going to do more puzzles?

MD: We’re putting out a game that's actually based on that Ethereum. But we launched a puzzle with our announcement. So if anybody wants to work on a puzzle right now, there's one that starts at https://neondistrict.io. And it's valued at 10,000 dollars if you can solve it. And right now, just today, the players reached the final step of that puzzle. So if anybody is out there listening wants to do, they better hurry.

CO: Well, we will give people the information to connect. It's really fun to speak with you, Marguerite. Thank you.

MD: Thank you very much.

CO: Bye bye.

JD: That was Marguerite deCourcelle. We reached her earlier this week. Ms. deCourcelle created a painting with a puzzle in it to find Bitcoin. As Carol mentioned, if you'd like to see it, it’s on our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

Back To Top »

Part two: Rohingya mass grave, Korean War letter

Rohingya mass grave

Guest: Antoni Slodkowski

JD: When they were arrested in December, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were doing their jobs: they were investigating a mass grave in Myanmar's Rakhine state. They're still in prison, charged with breaching Myanmar's Official Secrets Act. But Reuters stayed on the case. And now, the news agency has published the story it believes landed Mr. Lone and Mr. Oo in jail. It's the story of ten Rohingya Muslims, buried together in one shallow grave, in a village called Inn Din. Antoni Slodkowski is the Myanmar Bureau Chief for Reuters. We reached him on the streets of Singapore.

CO: Antoni, this is an extraordinary investigation and article. It begins with a photograph of ten men kneeling with their hands behind their backs in a row. What happened to those men.

ANTONI SLODKOWSKI: Well as far as we know, these men were picked at random by the security forces. And after that, they were detained at a school for one night. And the following morning, they were hacked to death by some Rakhine Buddhists villagers, and also shot by security forces and killed.

CO: And that's not just speculation. What's extraordinary about it is that your Reuters reporters spoke, and this probably is for the first time we've had such an account, didn't just interview Rohingya who could corroborate what happened and who these men were. But actually spoke with the Buddhist villagers and military people who were involved with this operation that took place in this village, is that right?

AS: Yes, exactly. The most important thing about this investigation is that while we've been hearing about fires and rapes and allegations of murder of the Rohingya Muslims, we've never we had such a powerful and detailed account from the Rakhine Buddhists. And what's even more extraordinary from the members of the security forces who also gave us insider accounts of how they raided and burned Rohingya villages.

CO: Tell us about Inn Din, and what we know happened to that village and the Muslims in it?

AS: There were about 7,000 people in Inn Din, and the vast majority of them were Rohingya Muslims. On August 25^th, ARSA, the Rohingya insurgent group, attacked 30 police posts. And one of the attacks actually happened not that far from Inn Din village itself. And then very shortly afterwards, what we've seen is that the Rohingya Muslims started sheltering in the nearby mountains and in other places so that they don't become the sort of the target of retaliation by security forces. And what we know is that several members of the so-called “Village Security Group”, which was the sort of informal group formed by the Rakhine Buddhists villagers< they actively took part in military and police raids on Rohingya hamlets as part of the security forces-led retaliation campaign.

CO: So everyone who was not killed in this operation fled and went into Bangladesh, is that right?

AS: What's extraordinary about this reporting is that we actually found family members of pretty much all the ten men, you know? And they were able to tell us exactly not only what occurred on the day of the arrest, but also they were able to tell us about these men themselves. You know these were fishermen, shopkeepers, there was one Islamic teacher, there were two students — one was 17, one was 18 — and we were able to obtain those accounts and descriptions of who these men were from the survivors on the Bangladesh side of the border.

CO: You also in this article — in this investigation — spoke with the people who actually dug the grave, some of them may have been still alive when they were buried, some of these ten men. You also have testimonies from those who helped to burn down the huts describing what they did. And even some of them saying they could hear people inside, even a child inside one of the huts as they set it alight. Why would these people tell you what they did?

AS: It's very difficult to get into that mindset. But I think there are perhaps two major motivations in situations like that. I think one is broadly a sense that something went wrong, and that the scale and the intensity of this operation perhaps was more than people expected in their wildest dreams. And then perhaps the other thing is that you know there are a lot of people there who don't really see this as you know anything particularly to be ashamed of.

CO: It’s also due to the skill of your two reporters — Mr. Lone and Mr. Oo — who did this investigation. Who are now in prison.

AS: I can talk about Wa Lone Kyaw Soe for a very long time, but you know I've tried to limit myself and just to say that it's an honour for me to consider them not only my colleagues, but my dear friends. You know what we can say about them is that Wa Lone is an extraordinary, incredibly-dogged, and very hardworking reporter. The issue of the Rohingya in Myanmar is incredibly divisive one, and Wa Lone has stayed impartial, unbiased, and he just wanted to get to the truth. And Kyaw Soe Oo is in a way a more and more extraordinary character. He's actually a Rakhine Buddhist, and there are very few Rakhine Buddhists who you know are able to report and see this situation and this crisis with this kind of level of impartiality. And you know sharing a byline with them on these stories that is the biggest honour of my professional life.

CO: I'm sure that many considerations were given as to whether to publish the story while these men's fate and their futures is so up in the air. How did you finally decide that it was okay to publish? I mean this was obviously in the public interest to have the story out. Did you take into consideration what danger it might put them in?

AS: Of course, we didn't make this decision lightly. We considered it very carefully. You know when Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe were first arrested our primary concern was indeed their safety. But after their legal situation was you know a little bit clarified, we decided that it's our duty — our responsibility — to publish this story of global importance. And we did it with Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe’s not just their approval, but with their strong support. And that's what we do as reporters. We go out there, we find out the facts, and then we publish stories. And we believe them by publishing the story, we were able to show to the Myanmar public and to the international public that these were not some suspicious men doing something that's suspicious, but they were actually reporting. And they were not just some journalists, but they were one — and they are — one of the best journalists in Myanmar.

CO: We'll be following developments of this story, and also what happens to your two reporters who remain in custody. Antoni, I appreciate speaking with you tonight. Thank you.

AS: Thank you so much.

JD: Antoni Slodkowski is the Myanmar Bureau Chief for Reuters. We reached him in Singapore. His colleagues — Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo — remain in detention in Myanmar. For more on the story they were working on at the time of their arrest, which Reuters has just published, go to our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Ambient]

Olympic twins

JD: In the 1948 Winter Olympics, twins Rhona and Rhoda Wurtele broke new ground, by sliding on top of it: they were the first and only members of the Canadian women's alpine ski team. Now, as the 2018 winter games kick off, they are reflecting on making that mark 70 years ago. The now 96-year-old twins spoke with "Daybreak Montreal"'s Rebecca Ugolini about how they began skiing — and their strong bond as sisters. Here is part of that conversation.

SOUNDCLIP

RHONA WURTELE: Dad gave his skis, and we just got them on. They're great big, long things with no edges, and heels that lift up, and everything else. But just something to play with, and we just conquered it.

REBECCA UGOLINI: And where were you skiing? Your backyard?

RHONA WURTELE: Westmount Mountain, we’d climb up, and go up the top, a ski down the other side where the jumps were. We even went over the jump when we were 12, I guess. Well, our brothers challenge just all right. We'll go right now. So we did

RHODA WURTELE: From the gully jump up in the woods, there were two tracks because so many people went on that trail. So you couldn't get out of it anyway. And it got to be this way, and that was wonderful training, whether we knew it or not to go down to the jump. We weren't interested in money. Well, we wanted because we had to work to pay for our sport.

RU: You seem to have this not just because of the sport, but just this crazy bond between you two that has gone stronger.

RHONA WURTELE: It did. It was very much so all through our lives.

JD: Rhoda and Rhona Wurtele, who competed in the 1948 Winter Olympics for Canada. They were speaking with Rebecca Ugolini on "Daybreak Montreal". The twins were the first members of the Canadian Olympic women's alpine ski team.

[Music: Ambient]

Korean War letter

CO: Trace, how did you find this old letter?

TRACE DE BOER: It was an old car I bought — a 1939 Buick — and I was just kind of starting a new hobby here because I'm going into semi-retirement, and I like to keep busy. And so I thought I would go into restoring old cars. And that's the first car I bought to work on. And when we took the seats out, the letter was laying under the front seat on the passenger side, right on the floorboards.

CO: And can you describe what you saw on the envelope in that letter?

TD: The envelope and letter was in very good shape, even though mice had a field day with the rest of the upholstery. Like it was just a terrible mess, and yet, this letter was in great shape. And there was a couple of guys with me when we found the letter. We looked at the date and I said oh boy, I hope it's not a “Dear John” letter. And then when we saw it from somebody of the Navy, then we really kind of had had a chuckle about that.

CO: And on the envelope, it says “in active service”, right? You knew this was somebody who was actually serving?

TD: Correct, yeah, we noticed that right away.

CO: Where was the letter from? Where had it originated?

TD: I guess it originated in Korea, but it went through a post office in Japan.

CO: And then it was on its way to…

TD: To John in those days Port Arthur.

CO: Right, and John is on the phone. Hello, John.

JOHN NUTTALL: Hello there.

CO: John, have you actually talked to trace yet?

JN: No, I don't think so.

CO: You guys want to say hello to each other?

JN: Hello, Trace.

TD: Yeah, hey, John. I've been looking forward to talking to you because this is very interesting.

JN: Yeah, it is. Very interesting.

CO: John, can you remember ever getting this letter?

JN: Can I remember getting it? No, not really.

CO: Who was it from?

JN: Paul Morrison.

CO: And tell us about Paul, and what your relationship was?

JN: Oh, Paul and I, cripes, we grew up since we were hands and knees, crawling around the neighbourhood — hands and knees, kids, babies.

CO: And he you sent you a letter. And what did he say in the letter?

JN: Oh gee, I can't remember that.

CO: But Trace, you've seen the letter. What's it about?

TD: Well, it's a very interesting letter and kind of comical in some ways because Paul is writing to his good friend John. And one of the things that we chuckled about is he said he was going to kind of turn his life around, and take better care of himself. And he wanted John’s I guess at that time girlfriend, Nancy, to set him up with a blind date. Yeah, but that was one thing that jumped out at us. And so we're kind of curious is that the woman Paul ended up with too?

CO: Do you know John?

JN: I think I know who it would be; it would have been Evelyn.

CO: So Paul didn't end up marrying Evelyn?

JN: Oh no, he didn't end up marrying Evelyn at all, no.

CO: All right. That solves that mystery for Trace.

JN: That’s right.

TD: That solves that mystery, yes.

CO: But the mystery as how it ended up in the car, was it your car this 1939 Buick?

JN: Yes, it was.

CO: And what do you remember about that car?

JN: It was hard on gas. I really don't know too much about it. I know I liked the car; it was a nice colour. I liked the metallic blue. And the dealer that I bought it from as a used car, he said I couldn't afford it because I worked for him. He says you probably can't afford this car; shouldn't sell it to you, but if you want it, go and buy it.

CO: Did you like that car?

JN: Oh, I loved it. I loved that car. It was a beauty.

CO: But how did that old Buick end up in British Columbia do you think?

JN: I guess it drove there. I have no idea.

CO: Probably

TD: I can interject here; I phoned the guy that I bought it from. I just called him this morning, and I asked him that same thing. And he said he used to live on Eagan Street in Port Arthur, and he bought the car from a guy sort of across the road from him. And this was in about 1969. And then he said, I love this part, he moved to Kamloops, and his brother towed the car from Port Arthur to Kamloops, towed it behind a pickup truck.

JN: Oh, is that right?

CO: So that's the story of your old Buick. But we still haven't figured out how this letter ended up being there, and stuck there in the floorboards.

TD: It was actually under the front seat on the passenger side, laying right flat on the floorboards. And I think that's why the rodents didn't mess it up.

JN: Oh, Okay, yeah.

CO: Something else in that envelope though, eh? There was a photograph.

TD: John would have to answer that. To us, it was just a black and white photograph of four guys there.

JN: Yeah, I saw it yesterday, as a matter of fact. And I couldn't even recognize Paul — my friend.

CO: Trace, when you found the letter, you obviously wanted to find out who had it? The story behind this, and how difficult was it for you to trace down John?

TD: Well, that was my wife's department, Stacey, she took that on. And she worked on it quite a bit through Facebook and every which way she could think of, even the local Legion I believe got involved. And basically, we thought we struck out because even though it had been shared I believe was 215 times; we did not get a response directly from the family. And then just right out of the blue here, it must be about three weeks ago, John and Nancy's daughter, Wendy, contacted Stacy. And then that's where we connected.

CO: Well now, everything is settled. And John, you’ve got your old letter and connected again with your old friend Paul. And Trace, you got the Buick.

TD: Yeah, absolutely.

JN: Exactly.

TD: Yeah, and I'm just tickled with it. It's just a really neat old car. It has been repainted. It's blue, like kind of a solid sky blue. And when I get enough money together, maybe I'll see if I can paint it like you're old colours there. But I think our budget says that's going to be a little bit down the road.

CO: Well, I think you're going to have to put a lot of money together just to put gas in it, according to John.

TD: Well, that's interesting that John said that because the guy I bought it from said he drove it back and forth to work in the Kamloops area in the early ‘70s. And then he parked it because it was too expensive on gas. And that's interesting because when I went to see it, and when I bought it from him and picked it up, I towed it out of the long grass behind his house. And it had sat there outside, unprotected for over 40 years.

JN: No kidding.

TD: And still the body was in remarkable, good condition.

CO: I’m glad all this worked out for everybody.

JN: Yeah, I’m glad it is too. Thank you very much.

TD: Well, thank you.

CO: Thanks, John. Bye to you both. Thank you.

TD: See you, John.

JN: Yeah, you bet.

JD: That was Trace De Boer — letter finder — he was in Ashcroft British Columbia. And John Nuttall — letter recipient — in Thunder Bay, Ontario. To see photographs of the old letter, and the old Buick, head to our website.

Belfast Telegraph reports that, quote, "A spokesman for the Department of Infrastructure explained the wording of the signs was changed to better reflect the legislation." What?! The legislation says parking in those places is allowed for one hour. So someone decided that saying you could park for 60 minutes was...misleading? No offense, Bangor city officials? But this is not your finest 60 minutes.

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Part three: Nova Scotia fisherman death, Edmonton garbage artist

Peter Stoffer

CO: Have you heard from anyone — from them, or those who are out there — Why Roger Stoddard didn't join those who had been rescued?

AN: I can only assume that the vessel it wasn't submerged in water. It was actually quite a bit out of the water that first evening when we arrived. I would just have to assume that Mr. Stoddard felt that he could salvage the vessel. Or stay with it until it got off the rocks possibly.

CO: As a fisherman yourself, can you understand that instinct?

AN: I wasn't in Mr. Stoddard's position, but I would have to think it would be a difficult decision to either stay or to go.

CO: But he was there for three days on that shoal before you and the other fishermen got out there and saved him, or tried to save him and recovered his remains. There are people asking why the Coast Guard didn't get there — wasn't able to do more earlier? Do you share that view?

AN: Yeah, today was the fourth day I believe. This morning would have been the fourth day. And again, the Coast Guard they have a mandate to follow. And so I would assume they have to assess every situation. But there's been four real tragic accidents down in this area over the last number of years. And three of those it was local community members that did the recovery of the some of the individuals. So it just stands to reason that there would be questions asked on why the protocols and mandates that they follow is set up that fishermen and community members have to go and do the recovery?

CO: Is it still going to be a mystery as to why Roger Stoddard didn't make contact? Or why he stayed on the boat?

AN: It will always be one of those things where you wonder what are the circumstances that the decided to do that? And it'll only be speculation because nobody knows what the gentleman was thinking, or what steps he took to save the vessel, or to help himself? There are questions that will never be answered.

CO: Alen, I appreciate you speaking with us. Thank you.

AN: Thank you for the call.

CO: Take care.

AN: Take care. Bye.

JD: We reached Alen Newell in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

[Music: Rock]

Murray Sinclair

JD: Murray Sinclair says he's been racially profiled while driving. The Indigenous Manitoba Senator told the story at a Senate hearing this week. The hearing was reviewing a federal bill that would give police officers new enforcement powers on the road. It would let police demand breath and blood samples, hours after the fact, from people suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol, or drugs. And Senator Sinclair wanted to make sure the Department of Justice had considered ways of combatting racial profiling during random traffic stops. Here's what the Senator said, in a question to federal Justice Department lawyer Carole Morency.

SOUNDCLIP

MURRY SINCLAIR: When I was a judge, I was stopped by police on an average of twice a year for the period of time I was a judge just so they could check my driver's license. They always said it was part of their campaign to check for enforcement. They never charged me with any other offense, but it was interesting that none of my colleagues on the bench were ever stopped by police officers during the 28 years that I was a judge. And since I've come here, incidentally as a senator, I've been stopped three times by police officers as part of a campaign to check. And the last time though it was because the officer wanted to take a selfie with me.

CAROLE MORENCY: Oh well, that's OK.

MS: That might have been more mundane or less concerning. But nonetheless, racial profiling is I think an issue of concern. And this bill makes it easier for officers to interfere with the movement of individuals because of the ability to order blood samples and to do roadside impairment tests and drug evaluations. I wondered if you had given some thought to the possibility of addressing the issue of racial profiling? Keep records of who it is that they stop, just so that the question of racial profiling can, in fact, be assessed and monitored by the department?

CM: The issue you raise is a serious concern. And it is one of the challenges I think we all face in the criminal justice system in trying to get a better sense of how and when that's playing out. I know it's we've been hearing a lot about it in the news recently, including the Ontario policy. Ao I know it's a serious concern, Senator. And I think that time we’ll certainly work to try to address that through the materials that we can develop. And I think it would be part of our efforts going forward to establish some baseline and see how things are actually being implemented.

JD: That was Senator Murray Sinclair, asking federal Justice Department lawyer Carole Morency a question about racial profiling at a Senate hearing, this week.

[Music: Hip-hop]

Dateline: Laundry pods

JD: Dateline: Albany, New York.

[Music: Dateline theme]

JD: Tonight, controversy continues to swirl. And after the swirling, there's the rinse, and the spin. The controversy over people eating Tide Pods shows no signs of dissolving. In some cases, it's people who are little, as in kids five and under, who assume anything so colourful and mouth-sized must be delicious. But in other cases, the people are significantly bigger, as in kids in their teens, participating in the Tide Pod Challenge. Those larger, ostensibly smarter people are eating the toxic pods because they consider it hilarious! And that is a sad indictment of the state of modern comedy. Now, New York State politicians Brad Hoylman and Aravella Simotas are sponsoring a bill that would force Tide's parent company, Procter and Gamble, to make some changes. The bill would ban the manufacture and sale of any delicious-looking or even visually appealing detergent pods in the state of New York. And in the proposed law, the politicians pitch some strict design suggestions to companies: the pods must be of a, quote, "uniform color that is not attractive to children." Unqoute; the wrapper cannot be see-through; and must "not be, quote, “Easily permeated by a child's bite". Further, in a letter to Procter and Gamble, the politicians write, quote, "You and other manufacturers must use a stronger bittering agent to prevent ingestion of pods, reduce their pleasant smell, and make them feel more firm." Unquote. Great! So now we'll all get boring-looking, rock-hard, putrid detergent pods just because some teenagers find it funny to eating colourful, squishy, sweet-smelling ones. And instead of a slightly livelier laundry experience, we get this ridiculous soap opera.

[Music: Band tunes]

Edmonton garbage artist

Guest: Leanne Olson

JD: It stinks, and it's full of garbage. And to Leanne Olson, it is a place of inspiration. No, I’m not talking about the As It Happens studio. Ms. Olson has officially begun her new job as an artist-in-residence at Edmonton's waste management centre. Over the next six months, her assignment will give her complete access to the trash-filled 600-acre facility. And she couldn't be happier. We reached Leanne Olson in Edmonton.

CO: Leanne, what made you want to be the artist-in-residence at a garbage dump?

LEANNE OLSON: It was the opportunity to spend time thinking about waste, which I think is an important part of society that has many root causes. It's necessary to our existence, but we don't really know about it too much. So the opportunity to be near it, to photograph it, to think about it was quite exciting.

CO: What's the purpose of it? This is a six month residency at Edmonton's waste management centre. What was the point of having this artist-in-residency?

LO: It’s a program through the Edmonton Arts Council. They have different artist residencies throughout the city, and organizations sign up for them. So we've had other ones at a cemetery for example. So the purpose is to have the artist onsite, interacting with staff, and I will produce a body of work, and then I will have an exhibition.

CO: I understand there were 30 people who applied. How did you win?

LO: I don't know — by charm? Well, my work is about environmental change. So I think the thematics of my work fit with the site. I’m really interested in adaptation and resilience within landscapes, waterscapes. And I use the extensive processes to work through my art. Just like the process that happens on the site of managing all of the waste of Edmontonians.

CO: You are on the side of management of waste is Edmonton. So what does your work area look like?

LO: Well, my studio is in a storage room, which I think is fitting. So I have part of the storage room, and I am in the area that the garbage trucks unload next to me. I can hear them all the time; it kind of sounds like I'm next to a roller coaster. And so yeah, I'm next to that, but really I'm going to be moving around. I'll be all over the place.

CO: But it must be a kind of sensory overload. What does it smell like?

LO: It is a sensory overload. The smell is not too bad. My garbage can have smelt worse. Certain hallways have different scents. It changes actually per building — each building has its own scent. So I think I hope to have an exhibition here, and then it really will be an all-senses experience for the audience.

CO: It's just so intriguing. I mean I've always wondered when you're throwing trash away you wonder what does this look like? Where does this go? And then your next thought is I don't want to see it. So you are putting yourself in the way of something we are fascinated with, but horrified to know about. What emotions do you have looking at this trash as it arrives and smelling it?

LO: What you said is exactly the reason why I wanted to be here. And I think through photography, I can share what I'm seeing. But yeah, I’m having a lot of emotional reactions looking at it. Sometimes I wonder what if I just collected all my waste for a year? How much of that even look like? Maybe I need to keep track more of how much I am producing. Because when it's gone — taken away — once a week, it doesn't explain the amount, even annually. So what I'm going to try is if I feel a sense of awe or sadness when I'm looking at this, I'm going to think how can I best photograph this feeling that I'm having or this experience looking at these materials? And how can I do that feeling justice?

CO: You’re there at a time where Edmonton is facing a lot of questions about how it deals with trash. And I understand there was an audit recently that found the amount of garbage diverted from the landfill to waste management centers has fallen in the past five years, so a lot of questions about that. Do you hope that somehow, you can send a message? Because you know art you want it to be not something didactic, but do you think there's a message in what you're doing?

LO: I'm interested in the psychology of consumption. Why we consume? What happens at that moment when you know one takes a turn to the mall or through the drive-through, what is happening during that timeframe? And I've been really thinking about self-care and consumption as a form of self-care and then there's the individual level. And then there's the systematic level with the types of packaging. And then there's a marketing level with the labels and the products and the allure of what we choose to buy in that split second. And then there's also the people sorting the least who have a split-second choice of which pile does the plastic go in? Is this a big enough piece of plastic to salvage? So there's all these interesting delusions I think with how we consume. So I hope to work on that angle as well.

CO: When will we see the results of your work?

LO: Well, the residents of six months, and then the exhibition will happen after that. We don't have a timeline for that yet.

CO: Maybe by then you'll be Oscar the Grouch?

LO: Perhaps, yes.

CO: Leanne, I wish you luck. And I'm fascinated with what you're attempting to do there. Thanks for speaking with us.

LO: Thank you so much. I'm a huge fan of your show.

CO: Thank you very much.

LO: I'm so happy that you were interested.

CO: Thank you. Bye bye.

LOL: OK. Bye.

JD: Leanne Olsen is the artist-in-residence at Edmonton's waste management centre. We reached her in Edmonton.

[Music: Piano]

First First Nations hockey player

JD: Over the coming days, just like she has done for years, she'll be lacing up her skates and hitting the ice. Except now, Bridgette Lacquette will be doing it in Pyeongchang, as Canada's first-ever Indigenous female Olympic hockey player. Her parents will also be heading to South Korea this weekend to watch their daughter make Olympic history. Bridgette's father, Terance Lacquette, spoke to Marcy Markusa, host of CBC Manitoba's "Information Radio". He talked about her love of hockey, which started at a young age, and about his daughter opening doors for other First Nations girls. Here is a part of that conversation.

SOUNDCLIP

TERANCE LACQUETTE: She was about I’d say six or seven years old. I can't remember exactly what year, but I know when we were at a tournament in Brandon, Manitoba, here and she was playing hockey. And she was just in squirts yet. And we were watching her play. And I was outside standing at the glass with the rest of the dads, and my wife was inside the warm area. She was sitting near a couple that were watching her play, and the one thing that the fella said was well, look at that little girl there, she’s so smart. She knows where to do, she knows exactly where to be, and you know they were just amazed that at six-years-old, she was already figuring out the game.

MARCY MARKUSA: Tell me a bit about what it's like when she's out at the rink. I heard she gets swarmed time to time?

TL: Yeah, whenever she goes out to malls, and to other rinks to watch the rest of the family play, girls are always coming up to her and wanting to take a picture with her. And you know just getting her to sign you know whatever they have, whether it's a T-shirt, or a stick, or whatever, and it's an absolutely amazing feeling to see young girls come up to Bridgy and look up to her as a as a role model. And you know after discussions with her after she made the team — you know when reality finally set in. I told her that you've opened the door for many First Nation girls to fall you now. And you have a lot of pressure, and everything that you do is going to be magnified. So the pressure of doing the right thing is always going to be there.

JD: That was Terance Lacquette, in conversation with Marcy Markusa on CBC Manitoba's "Information Radio". Mr. Lacquette’s daughter, Bridgette, is making Olympic history as Canada's first-ever First Nations Olympic female hockey player.

[Music: Rock]

Thomas the goose

JD: According to author and scholar Nassim Nicholas Taleb, there are three elements to what he calls a "Black Swan" event: "rarity, extreme impact, and retrospective...predictability." Unquote. That describes Thomas's love for Henry over their long relationship: it was rare, it had a tremendous impact, and, looking back, it doesn't feel like it could happen any other way — a true Black Swan event. Involving an actual black swan: Henry, and a white goose: Thomas. Later this month, Thomas will be buried next to Henry at a ceremony on Kapiti Island in New Zealand. The two had spent 26 years together on that island. And Thomas the goose weathered at least one Black Swan event during his romance with the black swan: after about 18 years together, Henry mated with a female named Henrietta. But Thomas stuck around to help raise the baby swans. Over the length of their three-parent arrangement, he would nurture 68 cygnets. In 2009, Henry died. Mik Peryer — a local birdwatcher who observed the birds' entire relationship — says he heard the Thomas crying for his lost mate. As for Henrietta, she took off with another swan, leaving the grieving Thomas alone. Eventually, Thomas’s eyesight began to fail, and he was relocated to a nearby sanctuary, where he helped raise still more young swans. Thomas died last week. Mr. Peryer figures the goose was about 38-years-old. And he expects the memorial ceremony to draw at least 100 people who had followed Thomas and Henry's enduring passion. He told the New Zealand website Stuff, quote, "It was a 30-year love story that should be celebrated." It was, and it should be, because as Thomas knew, a Black Swan doesn't come along every day.

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February 9, 2018 episode transcript

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