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The AIH Transcript for August 1, 2018

Hosts: Piya Chattopadhyay and Jeff Douglas

Prologue

PIYA CHATTOPADHYAY: Hello, I'm Piya Chattopadhyay.

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

[Music: Theme]

JD: Tonight.

PC: The pittance and the pendulum. The new Ontario government announces it’s canceling a provincial basic income pilot project and the abrupt swing leaves our guest wondering how his family will make ends meet.

JD: The longer the wait, the shorter the fuse. With the presidential result still up in the air in Zimbabwe, protesters in Harare take to the streets facing off against soldiers with tear gas and live fire.

PC: Hope springs fraternal. North Korea has returned the remains of Americans killed in the Korean War. And Marian Meyer is waiting anxiously to see whether her long lost brother is among them.

JD: Leaving a latte to be desired. A pregnant woman in Alberta says she cannot forget the taste nor the smell after she orders a coffee at McDonald's and gets a cup full of cleaning solution instead.

PC: Crawled into question. Worldwide despair ensues after a British woman posts a video of a mysterious creature slithering by her house — a faceless, limbless, pulsing tube that would make David Cronenberg weep with fear.

JD: And…Trains not here, man. Vancouver and Toronto now have Seth Rogen to make their transit announcements, but hundreds of people in Edmonton want Canadian comedy legend Tommy Chong. And coming up, he'll pull out all the stops, man. As It Happens: The Wednesday Edition: Radio that guesses they want a voice of the highest authority.

[Music: Theme]

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Part 1: Basic Income, North Korea Remains, Tommy Chong

Basic Income

Guest: Andrew Shaver

JD: After just one announcement thousands of people in the province of Ontario are suddenly facing an uncertain financial future. Yesterday, the new government announced it will wind down a basic income pilot project brought in by the Liberals. Single people in the pilot were getting up to $17,000 a year. For couples it was $24,000 — with few strings attached. The idea was to study how that money affected people living on very low incomes or provincial support programs. Andrew Shaver was receiving money as part of the project. We reached Mr. Shaver in Thunder Bay.

PC: Mr. Shaver, what was your reaction when you heard that Ontario's basic income pilot program is being cancelled?

ANDREW SHAVER: I was shocked and angered and kind of bewildered as well.

PC: Because?

AS: Because when a government program says that this is guaranteed for three years and people start building their lives around that and counting on it, you don't expect that that's something that can or should be able to be revoked.

PC: So in your circumstance how much extra money were you getting each month through this program?

AS: Just under a $1,000 a month.

PC: And how did that help you?

AS: Prior to the program I was just about breaking even, like paying all my bills and having nothing left over at the end of every month. So on one level it is the stress of finances quite a bit, but it also allowed me to save, it allowed me to pay down some of my mortgage and it allowed me to better support my wife who is disabled and in the hospital in Hamilton right now.

PC: And so now that the program will be canceled, what will it mean for you and your family now that you won't have this extra thousand bucks a month?

AS: It means we're back to being very tight financially. It means that I might have to seek a new job. I'm very happy in the job I'm in now, but I work for a non-profit and it doesn't pay well. So I may have to go get another job. I was also looking at potentially doing a one year MBA at Lakehead University and I definitely won’t be able to do that now. So just the options that that money created in life are just all gone. I'm really stressed out, I’m trying not to be. But it's been a huge joy the last number of months since —I think I got on this in October — that finances weren't a worry, which made me actually better at my job. It made me, I think, probably better as a father and husband because it was just one thing I wasn’t stressing about. So now we're right back in that soup.

PC: And so, as you know, there are people who think a program like this one is just free money give away. That it’s not fair to those who are actually going out and looking for work or are working hard in low-income jobs. What do you say to that?

AS: Well, I would be one of the people that originally thought that this was ill-conceived.

PC: Really?

AS: Yes, I'm fiscally very conservative but we were a family in need and this was a genuine help for us. I know that there are certain ways that a program like this could be abused and I can't speak for anyone else, but for me it was a huge help, but I do understand where people are coming from who think that it's ill-conceived. Even if it is such, I think it's even more ill-conceived to just cancel it in the middle.

PC: So what would you say to your former self and others who think ‘Look, these basic income programs, they're not not only viable, but useful.’ What would you say?

AS: Well, I'd say it really depends on the person. But as far as opening up options in life for people who actually do don't work or do want to go to school, better themselves and contribute to society, you know, a family a family of three with one who is permanently disabled shouldn't have to live on $30,000 a year — it just doesn't work.

PC: You said that you are fiscally conservative, if you don't mind telling me, how did you vote in the provincial election?

AS: I voted for a PC candidate.

PC: You voted for a PC candidate who is now part of Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government in Ontario?

AS: No, he lost.

PC: OK. So do you regret voting for a candidate whose party now is responsible for canceling the pilot project when it comes to basic income?

AS: I don't exactly regret voting for him. I was actually pretty happy with the Ford government up to this point, but I'm certainly not happy with this move.

PC: By pulling the plug on the program, because this was a pilot project and the data isn't in fully in any way, how much data and research do you think will be lost?

AS: I don't think they were doing any research. I certainly never got any of the surveys that I was told that was going to be getting. It seemed like nobody was even administering this program.

PC: So you were just getting it a cheque?

AS: I was just getting money, they weren't asking me questions, they don't know how it bettered my life. I don't know if I'm the exception that wasn't getting the surveys or if they just never got around to doing it.

PC: And so in announcing this yesterday, Minister Lisa McCleod said the basic income project was expensive and her words were ‘clearly not the answer for Ontario families.’ What do you say to that?

AS: Well, I don't know if — in the grand scheme of things this pilot projects is probably not that expensive. Making it a province-wide project would be, I mean, that’s, I think, without question and that's maybe where they're coming from. But canceling their pilot project seems almost spiteful.

PC: And if you had the ear of Premier Doug Ford as a PC supporter yourself, what would you like to say to him?

AS: I'd like to say that, to me, when I got into this to this project it was as if the government was making a promise to me. I know it was a different government, but when people are building their lives around a promise made by the government then the government should be forced to keep that. And it is dirty pool to just yank the carpet right out from other people.

PC: And during the campaign the Progressive Conservative…

AS: And they said they weren't going to cancel it.

PC: And here we are.

AS: Yeah, so not terribly happy with them right now.

PC: Andrew Shaver, thank you for your time, I appreciate it.

AS: Thank you.

PC: Take good care.

JD: WE reached Andrew Shaver in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Mr. Shaver was one of the thousands of people in Ontario receiving money from a provincial basic income pilot project. Yesterday, the new PC government announced that that project would be winding down. We have more on this story on our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Ukulele]

North Korea Remains

Guest: Marian Meyer

JD: They came in 55 boxes with only a single dog tag. North Korea has returned what are believed to be the remains of American troops killed during the Korean conflict. That step follows an agreement between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump during a summit in June. Now the boxes containing the remains will go to a military lab in Hawaii for identification. Marian Meyer lost her older brother during the Korean War. She is holding out hope that she is about to find him. We reached Ms. Meyer in Albuquerque.

PC: Ms. Meyer, how are you feeling knowing that these remains from the Korean War are returning home?

MARIAN MEYER: Prayers answered. I'm ecstatic, even if it isn't my brother's remains, some families are going to be blessed with closure.

PC: Do you think your older brother's remains could possibly be in one of those 55 boxes?

MM: You know, I hate to even make a guess, just because I'm not sure where those remains were taken from. I know exactly where my brother was lost. He was up at the Chosin Reservoir and they were overrun by the Chinese. I do not know where these remains were recovered from. Years ago, when a U.S. recovery team were allowed to go into North Korea, I would get pictures or updates not personally but out to the whole group. I knew they weren't in the Chosin Reservoir so I knew that none of those were my brother.

PC: Tell me more about what you know about what happened to your brother?

MM: My brother is the oldest of five. My mother had died the previous August of cancer. And Don being the oldest — and I don't want to say the favourite child, but your first born — he was kind of at wit's end. And so my dad signed that he could go into the service, he was only 16 when my mother died. He turned 17 in February and my dad signed for him to go into the army. He went away on St. Patrick's Day in March of 1950, and he was sent to basic training was in Fort Campbell Kentucky. And it was finished the end of May and he came home and he was so excited because he had orders to Europe. And then while he was there the Korean conflict broke out and his orders were changed and he was told to report to Seattle and from there he boarded a ship. From some of his letters, he said it was bitter cold and they were still in similar uniforms. I have a lot of papers from the Pentagon on where he was. I've tried to watch videos on the Chosin Reservoir, they've been on TV. But it's very emotional, but it's actual footage and I was in hopes that maybe I could catch a glimpse — but I can't watch it. After about an hour it was like nope this is too close to home. I would love to have his remains back. I would love for closure on the family.

PC: What have you done over the years to try and locate your brother Donald's remains?

MM: Well, I think it was President Clinton — don't quote me but I believe in 19, I think it was in ‘96 when he developed this office of POW/MIA in the Pentagon. They sent letters out to survivors or to their families and wanted to know if we would consider giving our DNA so that if any remains are recovered they would know what family it belonged to. But at that time they wanted on the female side of the family. So my daughter, she gave her DNA also so when I pass on her DNA will be on record. And all we had to do was just do a swab and we sent it back and they did the DNA and it's on file.

PC: The U.S. has been trying for many years to negotiate the return of the remains of those killed in North Korea. Why do you think things are different now?

MM: Well, I don't want to get political, but I do think somebody had to — and our president is doing that — I think he's putting it on the line. You know what, we've waited long enough, since 1950 for these remains to return. And it's about time to do something about it. And if they want peace in their country want we want peace, then yes, I think what we're doing right now is the right thing.

PC: There are 55 boxes containing remains and only a single dog tag. How different of a process do you think it will be to find a match?

MM: Well, you know what, I know they have a lot of remains in Hawaii, but if families never gave their DNA they have no connection as to who the remains belong to. DNA was so new back in the 90s, late 90s, that maybe families never did that. You know what's my blood going to — how is it going to tell whose remains are they? Well, DNA has come a long way and I really feel like if it wasn't for DNA we would never know who these remains belong to.

PC: Ms. Meyer, you're not sure if your brother's remains are among those sent to the U.S. today. Do you think you'll ever find closure?

MM: In my lifetime, you know, I'm 83. In my lifetime I'm not so sure. In my daughter's lifetime, my grandchildren, perhaps. In my lifetime, I don't know. Not when they talk about it could be months, it could be years before they identify any remains. If my brother's in that box waiting to be identified I don't know. Hopefully some other family is going to get that news also.

PC: Ms. Meyer thank you for talking to me today and for sharing your story and telling us about your brother Donald.

MM: Thank you for calling. I appreciate you letting me tell my story.

PC: Take good care.

MM: Thank you.

PC: Bye, bye.

JD: Marian Meyer lost her brother during the Korean War. We reached Ms. Meyer in Albuquerque.

[Music: Ambient Tones]

Tommy Chong

Guest: Tommy Chong

JD: You have likely heard by now that Canadian actor Seth Rogen has voiced announcements for the transit system in his hometown of Vancouver as well as in Toronto, since there are no actors in or from Toronto. Well now, more than 2,000 people have signed an online petition to get a different, much-loved Canadian celebrity to voice announcements for the Edmonton transit service — Tommy Chong, half of the legendary comedy duo Cheech and Chong. The petition reads quote “He's from Edmonton and will be absolutely radical, man. Don't be wrong, sign for Chong. We reached Tommy Chong in Los Angeles.

PC: Tommy Chong, the people of Edmonton have spoken. Are you up for becoming the voice of that city's LRT?

TOMMY CHONG: As long as the money is there, I’m up for anything.

[LAUGHTER]

PC: Well, I should tell you that Seth Rogen apparently did the announcements for both Toronto and Vancouver transit systems for free. So are you willing to do the work for free?

TC: No, I'm just going to have Seth Rogen pay me, he can afford it. No, of course I'd do anything for Canada free. That’s the Canadian way.

PC: So why do you think you're the best person, sell yourself, why do you think you're the best person to be the voice of the LRT in Edmonton?

TC: Oh, because my voice has — there's something about my voice that saves a lot of people money and time. Because when you hear my voice you automatically get a contact high, you know, very nice contact high from all the memories of listening to me on record and what you were doing when you heard me on your record. So you don't only get directions but you get a nice little smile on your face, too.

PC: Let me ask you this, have you actually ever rode the LRT in Edmonton?

TC: No, are you kidding? I’m too rich. No I'm kidding, I'm kidding, of course, but I've never ridden it.

PC: Well, let me tell you this, an Edmonton transit service communications adviser told a newspaper here that they're not looking to book a celebrity voice for now. And he said a lot of factors go into considering a voice for transit, things like experience clarity and tone. What experience do you have that could help you out there?

TC: I was the voice in that Oscar-winning movie Zootopia. I was the voice of the yak and Disney paid me a ton of money to be that voice because I got a quality about my voice, like I say, it's a very soothing, wonderful voice that everybody as soon as they hear me they get a smile. And as far as the guy said that he's just reading from a manual that no one really pays attention to.

PC: OK. Well, as you know, the old cliché goes the proof is in the pudding, so let's save the Edmonton transit service some time here. I want to do a bit of an audition with you in case they want to change their mind. So Seth Rogen has done public service announcements for Toronto in Vancouver about stuff like not clipping your toenails on transit or your fingernails so you know have at it, give us an announcement about that.

TC: Please. This is the Edmonton transit system, clipping toenails is definitely not allowed on the transit system. And taking the toenails and thrown them out the window is definitely not allowed. So please when you ride the Edmonton transit system do not clip your toenails, unless they’re infected, t hen you better clip them.

[LAUGHTER]

PC: All right, well all right, I'm going to give you maybe an easier one and a less disgusting one. What about an announcement explaining to commuters why there's a delay on the LRT?

TC: Okay. Commuters, please be aware there might be a slight delay, so don't get your little tails in a knot, just sit there and be quiet. Shut the **** up. Oh no, you can't say that, but that's basically what I would say.

PC: Okay, I got one more for you. You know what manspreading is?

TC: Manspreading, what’s that?

PC: That's like when a guy sits down and spreads his legs and takes up too much room on the seat.

TC: That’s called manspreading? We used to call that drunkspreading.

PC: Okay, so now that you know what the man spreading is, which is a problem on most subway systems around the world — I want you to do for me a no manspreading announcement.

TC: Okay, we're on a bus, we're on the transit system?

PC: We sure are.

TC: Okay. Attention gentleman, manspreading is definitely prohibited on this transit system. If you must spread your manhood, please go somewhere in private. No one wants to see your manhood spread anywhere.

[LAUGHTER]

PC: I don't know, I mean, I can’t hire you for Edmonton Transint but those were pretty good. Pretty good audition.

TC: I'm glad you can’t because they want me to do something for nothing and then they're going to tell me how to do it. I don't think so.

PC: Okay, I got one more, because you are Tommy Chong. So finally, what about no smoking weed on Edmonton transit property?

TC: OK. Please be advised marijuana smoking is prohibited on the transit property. If you must smoke pot then don't ride the train. Get off, go somewhere, go in an alley and share with somebody.

PC: You'd actually say that Tommy Chong?

TC: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

PC: Well we will wait to see if your phone starts ringing. Tommy Chong, thank you very much.

TC: Thank you dear. Take care.

PC: You too. Bye.

JD: That was Tommy Chong in Los Angeles, California. To hear more or share that interview check out our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Guitar and Didgeridoo]

Rat Worm

JD: Sometimes you see something that horrifies you and it seems like it's just the worst thing in the world. But then someone says ‘What, that that thing, no hey, don't worry that's not really a horrifying thing at all, it's a nice thing. Just look at it again from this angle, instead.’ And then you laugh and you have relief and you say ‘Oh, now I see it's nice, it's not horrifying after all. I'm so glad that I took a second look you recommended, it is just a matter of perspective.’ This is not one of those times. This is about a thing that looks horrifying on first glance, gets more horrifying on second glance and continues to be more and more horrifying in retrospect — even when I'm not looking at it.

SOUNDCLIP

BEX DEEN: Oh my god, it’s disgusting.

JD: That is from a video posted to Facebook by Bex Deen a woman in Southampton, England. What she is responding to — with impressive mildness — is the actual worst thing in the world. It is being called a ‘rat-worm.’ It is a flesh tube about five inches long, with no legs or visible eyes or face, undulating thickly along the outside wall of a house. It is like a heaving, rippling, animate corndog from an abandoned cursed fairground where someone spilled toxic waste during a satanic ritual. At the risk of editorializing, I hate it so much, and no one is showing up to say ‘Hey, don't worry, that thing is actually not horrifying.’ No one is showing up to say that. Instead the most plausible and reassuring suggestion anyone has come forward with is that this thing is actually an abnormally large rat-tailed maggot — that is not good enough. Anyway, I'm going to spend the rest of my life building a time machine so I can go back to today and not click on this video. You can use it after me.

[Music: Waltz]

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Part 2: Zimbabwe Election, McDonald's Drink

Zimbabwe Election

Guest: Willis Wataffi

JD: In Zimbabwe's capital city of Harare today there was restlessness and then there was violence. Three people were killed after troops opened fire on opposition supporters protesting Monday’s elections. The ruling ZANU-PF Party is heading for a large majority in parliament, but results from the presidential race still have not been released leaving opposition protesters declaring a rigged election. Willis Wataffi is a musician in Harare. He witnessed the protests today. His music studio is right in the middle of the chaos. We reach Mr. Wataffi in Harare.

PC: Mr. Wataffi, just how tense is the mood in Harare tonight?

WILLIS WATAFFI: The mood is definitely tense. It's sad, actually for me. For myself, I can't fathom or understand why the armed forces would actually go in shooting the opposition for protesting against an election outcome.

PC: You are safe at home now but earlier you were out at the protest, what did you see, what did you hear?

WW: Everybody was on the street and there was at first what seemed like a peaceful demonstration, people were protesting, unarmed and talking about it and just saying ‘We cannot let this guy steal our vote.’ So everybody is singing chanting and everything. I wasn't out there protesting, I was there working because I was from a studio in town in the city centre, right in the middle of the city. This is where it was happening, this is where tear gas and everything else, and everybody just running and there was a stampede and people dead on the floor. The army started using maximum force against people who are not actually out to harm anyone.

PC: So as you were making your way back from your music studio in downtown Harare to home you saw all these protests.

WW: Yeah, I saw that, because my parking is like two streets away. So definitely I was like right in the midst of that and people running and all that. So I just went straight to my car and I wanted to just get out of town because I've been in this kind of demonstrations before and I’ve been one of those that’s been tear gassed before so I know exactly what happens when the armed forces come against civilians. As I was passing by a place called Fourth Street, that's where I actually noticed a dead body on the street.

PC: And so you saw a dead body on the street. Do you have any idea how that person was killed?

WW: Gunshots, obviously, gunshots — shot in the back. Who does that?

PC: What's behind the anger we're seeing on the streets today?

WW: It's clear that this generation is tired of this system. The opposition, the ruling government basically. It’s not even about the opposition party, it's not even about Chamisa, people are tired of this system. A generation that wants to move forward, a generation that is looking forward to become to making something out of their lives. And here we are we have these guys that we know are not even interested in the people, they’re not even interested in raising and growing the younger people. Ever since I was born, ever since I started doing whatever it is I do and my music is the protest music most of it, I'm displeased and I talk about it a lot in my music because we are tired, we're tired of this system, we're tired of this government, we're tired of people that come to take just to put in their own pockets, just to fatten their own pocket. And yet we have observers come in to say ‘Everything was fine, the election was free and fair and there was no violence.’ And they're telling us how everything is fine where they're coming from abroad. And who are these observers? Do they have our interests at heart? Because if they have our interests at heart they should be talking to the people, they should be seeing the mood, they should be seeing what is happening on the streets.

PC: Today, European election observers said they saw several problems in this election, media bias, voter intimidation, mis-trust in the Electoral Commission. What do you make of that?

WW: It is true because you don't have opposition enjoying airplay, and those are so-called private radio stations that are owned by individuals that are in the party to get it now. Newspapers, print and whatever, everything is owned by government and government is the ruling party.

PC: Zimbabwe's electoral commission now says the official presidential results will be out tomorrow at the earliest. If President Emmerson Mnangagwa comes out as victorious and we see the ruling party, ZANU-PF, majority rule, will you accept that result?

WW: I won't accept it. Look, I have nothing against ZANU-PF. I have have everything aginst the system and the way of doing things. This wasn't a about Mugabe, this was never about Mugabe because he was only part of the system and we know this system is obviously vying to equip the same guy to stay, or the same party to stay in power. But the honest truth is it's against the people's will, how can the world watch Zimbabwe go through the same thing over and over. You know, my grandmother went to war as well as my parents, and they told me war is the last thing that you want to get into, that want to end up doing, but these guys are trigger-happy. They are happy to go on the street, they're happy to shoot people, they’re happy to go to war. I'm not going to accept it because it's not real, it's never been real since the main opposition party came in.

PC: When you say you won't accept it, what do you plan on doing?

WW: What do I plan on doing? I'm going to do what I do every day. I sing about it. This is not what our people fought for, this is not what those people who died in the liberation struggle fought for. Because our family is also part of the war and this isn’y what they fought for.

PC: How do you explain all the support for ZANU-PF given Robert Mugabe's legacy, the corruption charges, how he sank the economy, how can his party, ZANU-PF, still be so popular?

WW: Popular for the wrong reasons. You get to an election that looks like okay fine people hope that there'll be less intimidation ever since the departure of Robert Mugabe. That was just the tip of the iceberg. Here I was thinking that Mugabe was bad, but ‘Oh, my God, you know, he's not even the one who was running everything.’ Because if these guys can manage to get rid of him then it means they're the ones who are powerful and they're the ones who are running the country right now.

PC: You sound so frustrated.

WW: I am. I guess it’s a long war to fight, isn’t it? Enough is enough and people are tired and frustrated.

PC: Given what you've been saying, what hope do you have left for Zimbabwe?

WW: This is my birthright, this is where I was born, I'm not gonna leave this place. African young people are dreamers, we want things to happen, we go out there, we visit other countries, we see things that are happening, we want the same things for our children. We’re raising families here. I don't want to leave this country, I don't know go and stay anywhere else. I want to be in Zimbabwe. I want to raise my children here. There is hope but it doesn't look like that because we are now going again into another place where we're going for another term in the same spot. That's how I feel right now.

PC: Mr. Wataffi, please do take good care of yourself, and I appreciate you talking with me today.

WW: Thank you.

JD: Willis Wataffi witnessed the protest in Zimbabwe's capital city of Harare today. We reached him in Harare. We have more on this story including some photographs and some videos of the protests on our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Country Guitar]

Aung San Suu Kyi/Canadian Museum for Human Rights

JD: The Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai — all illustrious figures who have been given honourary Canadian citizenship. Now a shadow has been cast — figuratively and literally — over one of their fellow honorary citizens — Aung San Suu Kyi. The lights over a portrait of Suu Kyi at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg have been dimmed. It is a response to her perceived inaction regarding the persecution of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar. The museum will also remove her picture from a display of human rights defenders. Here is Angela Cassie, vice president for public affairs at the museum speaking to CBC reporter Austin Grabish about the decision.

SOUNDCLIP

ANGELA CASSIE: Dimming her lights signals to our visitors that we need to question her current actions in light of this failure to defend human rights. We have been meeting and having a lot of conversations with the Rohingya Canadian community to inform our decision and to provide us a sense of what some solutions may be. That is then brought together with a team of curators, of researchers, of exhibition professionals, to see how can we articulate that in a way that resonates for our visitors. She's still an honorary Canadian, but we need to deepen the history and deepen the story. And so from our perspective it's allowing Canadians to have that context and not erase that but problematize it to increase that conversation. So certainly we recognize that it's painful for members of the community to see her face in this exhibition, and we hope that through opportunities with the community to help share their stories, we can allow other Canadians to understand why it's painful to see her there and to help them better understand.

JD: Angela Cassie is vice president for public affairs at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. She was speaking to CBC News in Winnipeg.

[Music: Piano Ballad]

McDonald's Drink

Guest: Sarah Douglas

JD: Lattes have variations from place to place, but there are certain basic properties they share. When you order one you have expectations about what you're gonna get, for example, it will be milky, it will be hot, it will not be toxic. But on the weekend, Sarah Douglas ordered a latte at McDonald's drive thru in Lethbridge, Alberta. When she took her first sip she knew instantly it met none of her expectations. Worse than that, Ms. Douglas says that the cup was actually full of cleaning solution. We reached Sarah Douglas in Lethbridge.

PC: Ms. Douglas, so you're in your car after going through this drive through and you go to take that first sip of your coffee, and then what happens?

SARAH DOUGLAS: I immediately realize that it wasn't a latte at all. It tasted like chemical but I had no idea what it was at the time, but that's the only thing that I could think that it could be. So I pulled over into the ditch because I was on the highway, put my hazard lights on and opened the door and spit it out. I grabbed some water that was in my vehicle and swished my mouth out, tried to get rid of the taste and tried to drink as much water as I could to get rid of it.

PC: Had you swallowed any of it?

SD: Perhaps with the water that I was trying to flush it down with. But if I did it would have been such a small amount.

PC: And then what did you do?

SD: At that plant I opened up the lid of the latte and to my surprise it wasn't the latte at all. There was no milk product in at all, it was like a brown murky liquid inside and it stunk like, you could tell it was chemicals by the smell of it once the lid was off.

PC: You're pregnant with your third child right now, yeah?

SD: Correct.

PC: What's going through your mind when you open up this cup and realize this is definitely not a latte?

SD: My first initial thought was ‘What have I just done and what are the implications that are going to result of this immediately following?’ Your first thought is What have you done to your body, to your child that’s unborn in there. Being in my vehicle I was a little bit — I was scared of what I was about to find out.

PC: And so what do you do next?

SD: I got back onto the highway and I drove back down to the location that I had got the latte from. I took the latte up to the counter and I had asked one of the employees if I could speak to the supervisor. At which time she went and grabbed the supervisor on shift, there wasn't anyone higher than him at the time that I talked to. I explained to him what I had thought that I had just drank and that I thought that it was chemical and he took a look at it and asked if I wanted a replacement and I said absolutely not. And then during this conversation an employee that was listening in around the corner came over and she seemed a little bit upset by the conversation we were having and she had told the supervisor that this is not the first time this has happened and she went over to the latte machine and there was still a hose connected to the latte machine running into the chemical. So what had happened was misuse of the machine. An employee had poured this latte not seeing that it was still connected to the chemical and chemical instead of coffee.

PC: So the line that has chemicals in it was hooked up to the coffee machine rather than a line that has coffee or milk or whatever?

SD: The milk line, yes, because this is a milk cleaning chemical.

PC: And so when the supervisor learned what had happened then what was the conversation like?

SD: I had asked him for someone above him for a contact name and I had told him that I was going to be being in touch with their head office right away, and that he should contact his management team and let them know about this incident. At which point he gave me the brand manager's name and phone number and gave me three dollars and some odd cents back.

PC: You got your refund?

SD: Yeah, and that was it. I took a photo of the chemical that was hooked up to the machine as well so that I knew what I had put in my mouth so that I could show my doctor. I then went and looked up the MSDS sheet for it online as well and contacted 811 and they put me through to poison control.

PC: So what kind of chemicals had you ingested?

SD: I was told by poison control that typically in commercial grade milk cleaning chemicals they are typically an alkaline base, but this one was however an acid base. So the warning symbols on the bottle show to use protective eyewear, to wear gloves and to keep out of reach of children. And it has a list of things to do if it comes in contact with your skin.

PC: And came in contact with your mouth so what were the recommendations?

SD: So Poison Control had said based off the information that was given the only thing that they could do at that point was to monitor my symptoms and go based off of how I was feeling.

PC: And how were you feeling?

SD: It was mainly just my mouth. It didn't progress any further than the fuzzy, numb, burning feeling in my mouth. Other than the smell that I couldn't get rid of, that I kept reminding myself from that smell every moment.

PC: And you mentioned your doctor. Did you go get checked out after all this?

SD: I did. This happened on Sunday so I did see him as soon as I could on Monday, he did check me out and everything is okay.

PC: In a statement to CBC News the owner of this McDonald's apologized to you for what happened. He said they've reviewed cleaning procedures and have put more signage up. I'm curious after hearing this, are you going back to drink a McDonald's latte ever?

SD: I don't know if I'll be stopping at any drive through to get any sort of beverage again to be honest.

PC: Because?

SD: I'm not putting myself at risk, you just don't know what you are putting — you're putting your trust in other people that what you're consuming is going to be safe.

PC: Ms. Douglas I'm glad that you are healthy and well. Thank you for your time.

SD: Thank you.

PC: Bye, bye.

SD: Bye, bye.

JD: We reached Sarah Douglas in Lethbridge, Alberta. And Ms. Douglas mentioned in that interview that she heard this was not the first time this had happened. We asked the communications department at McDonald's Canada about this. A spokesperson wrote quote “We are aware that there are other isolated incidents of this nature, even one incident is too many. While the specialty coffee machines and usage procedures are of the highest industry standards, we are immediately reinforcing proper cleaning procedures with all McDonald's restaurants,” unquote.

[Music: Ambient Bass]

Toxoplasma Gondii

JD: To have a head for business, you might benefit from a head full of microscopic parasites. You may be familiar with the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii. It is found in undercooked meat, contaminated water and, most insidiously, cat poop. Meaning your reward for loving your pet might be parasites that could really mess you up, slowing your reaction time and making you quicker to anger — among other things. So, not a great guest to host in your brain — those parasites mean business. But what's weird is they might make you mean business as well. After testing the saliva of 1,300 students in the United States a team of scientists found that to quote from New Scientist “Those who had been exposed to the parasite were 1.7 seven times more likely to be majoring in business. And not just business, they were more likely to be specifically focusing on management or entrepreneurship — strange. But it gets stranger. The researchers also went to what they called entrepreneurship events, where they found that people who tested positive for Toxoplasma gondii were almost twice as likely to have started their own business as people who did not carry the parasite. And even stranger than that, after crunching the numbers they found countries with higher rates of toxoplasmosis had more entrepreneurial activity. The scientists figured that the parasite may reduce the host's fear of failure, hence increasing that host's ability to take on risky business ventures or lead them. So next time you're at a board meeting, take a long hard look at your boss because she may be the brains of the operation, but something else may be operating her brain.

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August 1, 2018 episode transcript

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