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The AIH Transcript for August 9, 2018

Hosts: Matt Galloway and Jeff Douglas

Prologue

MATT GALLWOAY: Hello, I'm Matt Galloway.

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

[Music: Theme]

JD: Tonight…

MG: Class warfare. Among the casualties of Saudi Arabia's many retaliatory measures against Canada is our guest — a Saudi Arabian student who was attending school here has now been ordered back home.

JD: It will not become a standard operating procedure. After lengthy debate, and with thousands of people waiting outside the congress building, Argentina's Senate rejects a bill that would have legalized abortion up to 14 weeks.

MG: They were on their way back to school from a picnic, now dozens are dead — most of them children — after a deadly airstrike in Yemen. A representative of Save the Children is among those demanding accountability.

JD: Her mother left her the farm, the thieves left her with nothing. Now A Manitoba woman is wondering how she can rebuild what was lost including her trust in people after criminals took everything — including what was nailed down.

MG: I guess space cadet won't be an insult anymore. For months the U.S. president has been talking up a new Space Force. Today his vice president explained how they'll shoot for, and in the general vicinity of, the moon.

JD: And…A standing ‘O’ and a longstanding ‘Oh, no.’ After an announcement by the New Ontario premier, his staffers engage in an anti-media tactic that is already getting quite old. They clapped so loudly that reporters could not ask questions. As It Happens: The Thursday Edition. Radio that is uncomfortable with hand to hand combat.

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Part 1: Saudi Arabia Student, Yemen Airstrike, Ontario Clapping Out Media

Saudi Arabia Student

Guest: Saudi Student

JD: Canadian officials say that they are still seeking clarity on what exactly Saudi Arabia has in store for Canada. This week the kingdom announced a whole host of punishing measures, from kicking out our ambassador to blocking Canadian grain. But if you ask a Saudi Arabian student in Canada no further clarity is required. They already have their marching orders from the kingdom itself. Thousands of students have been officially notified that they must leave Canada within weeks. We reached one of those affected students in Atlantic Canada. We are withholding his name his school and his location for his safety.

MG: When you got the news that you had to leave Canada and return to Saudi Arabia, how did you react?

SAUDI STUDENT: First of all, I like I couldn't believe it. It was an extremely big decision and unbelievable at first.

MG: So you didn't believe it when you heard this the first time?

SS: Me and other students either, they couldn't believe it.

MG: When did you realize that this was for real and that you were being asked — told — to leave Canada.

SS: After we got the official e-mails then we realized that this is real and we have to sell our stuff and get ready to leave.

MG: What did the e-mail say?

SS: They said that you have one month to prepare and to organize everything and we will give you tickets to return to Saudi Arabia.

MG: Tell me about being in Canada. How long have you been here studying?

SS: Myself, the first time I came to Canada to study English language and then I started university here. I was studying for five years.

MG: And how much longer did you have left in your time here to study?

SS: In university, just around one year.

MG: Around one more year?

SS: Yeah.

MG: And what is life been like for you here in Canada?

SS: I love Canada. Really friendly people, and they were supportive from that time we came to Canada as international students they were really supportive to us and they were trying to help us learn English language without laughing or without making us feel that this is something difficult, we can't do it, we can't continue. The lifestyle in Canada in general, the freedom we have and the Canadian government offer everything for people.

MG: And so how does it feel to be told that you need to leave?

SS: We feel really sad about it. For example, some of my friends called me and they have questioned me if there is any way to stay, to continue because we have courses left. There is no reason to just cut everything off and go back to Saudi Arabia. They couldn't understand why it's happening and they could not speak out against our government. They say ‘Yes, okay, we will do whatever the government wants from us.’

MG: You're being told to leave Canada because of something that this country's foreign affairs minister did. She sent a tweet out that called for the release of a women's rights activist. Do you agree with what the Foreign Affairs Minister did?

SS: Actually, I wish they did it before this time. Of course I strongly agree with what Justin Trudeau did and the government of Canada did.

MG: Well, what about what the Saudi Arabian government did? Kick out the ambassador end new trade deals, but also to demand that students like you return. What do you think of the response of your government?

SS: I will try to use a polite word with this. Their reaction was too much, and not just me, many of Saudi students, to be honest, they couldn't get it. They feel like this something extreme. Canada deserves better than this reaction because Canada is a peaceful country and a good country to live.

MG: What happens if you return to Saudi Arabia? The government has said you have to return within a month's time. What happens if you go back?

SS: If we go back they have many promises for us but we don't know of their promises will go through or not because they did promise Saudi students and Qatar people if they return to Saudi Arabia we will get a jobs for them — but they didn't do it.

MG: You said that you feel safe here in this country. Do you fear returning? Do you worry about what could happen, personally, if you return to Saudi Arabia?

SS: Yes, yes, I fear, of course.

MG: Why?

SS: I'm trying to speak out against the Saudi government, especially, what's going on in Yemen right now, as a Saudi citizen I extremely disagree with what's happened in Yemen. And because I'm trying to speak out and now I am speaking with you, I don't feel happy about what the Saudi government is doing.

MG: And so if you were to go back having spoken out, what do you think could happen to you and could happen to your family?

SS: The worst things you can imagine.

MG: The worst things you could imagine?

SS: Yeah they arrest me and maybe worse.

MG: Your family and you are Shia Muslims. What would that mean if you were to return? How could that complicate your life back in Saudi Arabia?

SS: As Shia people, they are treating us as not as the number one class.

MG: Like a second class citizen?

SS: Second class or seventh class.

MG: Seventh class. What are you going to do? You've got this letter, you've been told to leave within a month's time. What are you going to do?

SS: I will try to do something that can help me to stay in Canada for more time until this government of Saudi Arabia corrects what it is doing right now or until this government actually gets out of my country. I love my country. I love Saudi Arabia, but the Saudi government is really bad government. They are absolutely against human rights. And what Canada did, people in the world, not just me, appreciate what the Canadian government did.

MG: When you say that you're going to ask the Canadian government to stay, I mean, does that mean asking for refugee status here in Canada?

SS: Yes. A couple of Saudi students are asking about this but they don't know what to do and they cannot ask any person because they don't trust anyone. They are afraid of the Saudi government. The government will put them in trouble if they even ask about this.

MG: It's a really difficult situation that you find yourself in. And I know that there are real risks in terms of you speaking out to us, but it's important to hear what you are in the midst of. Thank you for talking to us.

SS: Thanks a lot.

JD: That’s a Saudi Arabian student in Canada. Out of fear for his safety he requested we protect his identity. For more on the story go to our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Ambient Bass]

Yemen Airstrike

Guest: Sylvia Ghaly

JD: Just horrific images are coming out of a northern province in Yemen today. One clip shows a small child covered in blood and dust being hoisted onto a hospital bed. He is wearing a blue UNICEF issue backpack and he looks dazed and he looks terrified. That boy is reportedly one of dozens of victims of a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in a market in Sa'dah. The local health ministry run by the rebel Houthi group claims that at least 29 children were killed. Sylvia Ghaly is with Save the Children in Yemen. We reached her in the country's capital of Sana'a. We apologize for the connection. As you can imagine it is difficult to get a strong line to Yemen.

MG: Ms. Ghaly, what have you heard about the airstrikes that happened in the north of Yemen earlier today?

SYLVIA GHALY: This morning, according to what we've heard, there was this attack on a bus full of children. They were going on an excursion and they stopped by the market to get some water and there were hit. According to ICRC there were 50 people are killed, and most of them killed and injured are children between the age of six and 14.

MG: Do we know whether this bus was the target of the airstrike?

SG: We can't confirm that, but my understanding is that the coalition hands bear responsibility for the attack claiming it was a military target.

MG: That's coming from Saudi Arabia's official news agency saying that this was a legitimate military operation. What does that say to you?

SG: I mean, killing children and claiming that it's a military target makes me very angry. It's either that they didn’t verify their target or eventually it would be claimed as a mistake. And for children to be collateral damage for a conflict that they have nothing to do with is very upsetting and it really doesn't say much about us as an international community who are continuing to allow things like this to happen and we’re sometimes supporting it and sometimes we're fueling it with our actions. So I think it's important to make sure that attacks like this don't go unnoticed and don't go unpunished because there are laws, there are international humanitarian laws that govern wars and that call for protection of civilians. And there are the grave violations against children every day in Yemen and nobody is being held accountable for these violations.

MG: You say that it might be declared a mistake. Regardless, what sort of accountability would you like to see in the wake of something as awful as this?

SG: For the time being were calling for an independent investigation to first establish what happened, but then clearly we can't accept for children to be killed in the name of anything. They can't be collateral damage for this war. They can't be considered a mistake, we can't just let them die because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. We need to make sure we send a strong message that these attacks are not acceptable and they can't continue to go unpunished.

MG: Beyond saying that they're unacceptable though, and beyond the independent investigation, what would you like to come out of that? What true accountability would you like to see?

SG: What I would like to see, definitely, is for of countries supporting this conflict to stop selling arms, to stop supporting the conflict through intelligence, through training, and also we would like to see some action taken by the international community to make sure that these attacks don't happen again and that civilians are being protected, children are being protected, and that this war, this conflict stops because the only people who are paying the price are the Yemeni people and Yemeni children.

MG: This coalition in Yemen is led by Saudi Arabia but it's backed by the United States, it's backed by the United Kingdom. The Canadian government has been criticized for selling armoured vehicles to the Saudi government and now finds itself in a diplomatic fight with the Saudi Arabian government. What would you like to see, for example, from Canada and from the United States?

SG: For them to stop selling arms for one and also to call for accountability.

MG: Your colleagues in Sana’a were near an attack today. It's not just in the northern province that was hit. Tell me a little bit about how your colleagues have been dealing with what's been unfolding today?

SG: So yes, as I was coming back from Sa’dah I've learned that our colleagues are actually in the basement because of the airstrike that were very near to our office. And there shouldn't be any airstrikes or any attacks up to 500 metres from a de-conflicted side or from civilian infrastructure or a civilian building. And yet these are very close, to the extent that my colleagues are telling me that the buildings were shaking and they had to go to the basement.

MG: This conflict has been and this war has been unfolding for a long time now. It has been awful for a long time. What stands out to you about what happened earlier today?

SG: This morning, the attack on the children tells us that there is no way to win this war in a military way. The only way to win this war is by getting the parties involved in the conflict around the negotiation table and by supporting the efforts of the U.N. special envoy. The only way to stop this war is if they agree on stopping the war and agree on protecting civilians and on the way forward for Yemen. And that's what the international community needs to support. Whether through a new resolution, whether by stopping the selling of arms or whether by making sure that there is an accountability mechanism that is put in place, and also by supporting the efforts of the special envoy so that we actually reach a peace agreement as soon as possible to spare the Yemeni people and the Yemeni children from additional bloodshed and additional death and destruction.

MG: Ms. Ghaly, it's been a long and very difficult day for you. I really do appreciate you talking to us today. Thank you.

SG: Thank you.

MG: Take care of yourself. Bye, bye.

SG: Bye.

JD: Sylvia Ghaly is the director of advocacy in Yemen with Save the Children. We reached her in the capital Sana’a.

[Music: Reversed Ambient Tones]

Ontario Clapping Out Media

Guest: Cynthia Mulligan

JD: This morning at a news conference, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that Toronto police and courts will get $25 million from the government in the fight against guns and gangs. But when it came time for journalists to ask questions about the money, about the investment, many couldn't get a word in.

SOUNDCLIP

[CLAPPING]

CYNTHIA MULLIGAN: Are you told to clap? Were you instructed to stand here and clap? Were you instructed to clap? Who tells you to clap? Who’s ordering you? Are you being paid for being here?

JD: Yes you just heard City News journalist Cynthia Mulligan and others questioning the scores of political staffers lining the back of the room clapping enthusiastically and interminably during the time usually and traditionally allotted for questions from reporters at a news conference. We reached Cynthia Mulligan in Toronto.

MG: Cynthia, describe what's going on there. Why are those staffers applauding?

CYNTHIA MULLIGAN: Well, essentially what they're doing is drowning out reporter questions. So we are being kept under a very strict protocol. And even today, I noticed more so than usual Doug Ford’s spokesperson telling us over and over again ‘You are only getting five questions in.’ And there are way more reporters than just five questions. And this started during the campaign, actually. But at the end of when they say ‘last question’ staff at the back of the room start clapping because reporters are very often, as Doug Ford or at other ministers leave reporters, are still trying very hard to get more questions in. But the clapping drowns it out for any live news feed. So again, it happened today, but with way more staff in the back than I've seen before. I counted about 50 — all young staffers — and I'm told that they work in the different ministries offices.

MG: I was going to say, who are these people who are applauding overtop of the journalists questions?

CM: I believe they’re political staffers — so they are taxpayer paid. And, you know, Matt, if you look at it, if you do the math and you got 50 staffers, I'm estimating that took an hour out of their morning. That's a full workweek paid for by taxpayers.

MG: Who's telling them to do this?

CM: They wouldn't answer the question. They sort of hurried away and didn't really want to talk to me. I was asking Attorney General Caroline Mulroney she had knowledge that some of her staff were there. She said that she has not instructed any of her staff to do so, but she was not answering questions as to who is instructing them.

MG: This is, as you said, been going on not just in the time that Doug Ford has been Premier, but from the campaign before that. This was an announcement that was being made this morning about gun violence in this city. Describe the atmosphere in that room this morning?

CM: You know, when I first walked in I was actually quite surprised to see the number of staffers in the back. The media is kept, as I've also reported before, behind a stanchion several feet away from the Premier and his ministers and that is a common practice that also started. So there is this physical barrier and then there's this sort of, you know, large group behind us. And it certainly feels like their every effort is being made to keep the media contained away from the Premier and ministers and curtailed from asking relevant questions during a big announcement.

MG: How different is this from political announcements that you have covered in past?

CM: This is unprecedented. I mean, no government has done this before.

MG: Unprecedented.

CM: Unprecedented. I’ve never seen this before. There's always a testy relationship at times between media and governments. Governments don't want to answer a lot of hard questions. Media wants to ask a lot of hard questions. So there's always a little bit of a tussle in terms of finding a balance. You know, when you're outside the question period the scrums can get pretty tight. But this is a different way of managing media. These aren't scrums, this is in an announcement — I don't ever remember being kept behind a stanchion quite like this before and this great a distance before. But certainly, I've never seen the clapping like this.

MG: How does it affect your work in terms of being able to ask those questions that you want to ask?

CM: Well, it makes it much tougher. There are always way more reporters than questions allowed. You know, today I asked a follow up. So I wanted to know about TAVIS because that's a huge controversy. And a lot of people in communities that have been impacted that have had TAVIS in there are very much against it because they feel like police are overtaking their neighbourhoods. So I wanted to ask him about that, and I did. But he didn't answer the question, so I asked the follow up question and his spokesperson said ‘Well, that counts as a second question,’ and the rest of the media got quite upset because a follow up has never really been considered question number two before. So we are being very limited. But I will say Matt, it just means we have to work harder, and we all will.

MG: The journalist and host Steve Paikan suggested that these staffers who are applauding overtop of the journalist questions should be named and shamed. Is that the way forward?

CM: I personally would rather find out who is instructing them, one to be there, and two, to clap. Look they're young — these might be their first jobs, certainly at Queens Park. They're probably trying to make their mark and work really hard for their bosses. I think it's the people who are instructing them that need to be held to account.

MG: I mean, the other element here is that as Premier Doug Ford recently unveiled something called Ontario News Now, which is like a series of taxpayer funded videos almost like its own channel that pushes government’s agenda. They have a host, his deputy director of communications, who acts like a journalist in these videos. How does that all fit in with what you're describing happening in the room this morning?

CM: I think what they're trying to do is go around traditional media, and it's so easy now for laymen, laypeople to create their own news video that I think what they're trying to do is skirt around us because they know we're critical, they know we're gonna ask the tough questions and they want to reach their base unfiltered.

MG: For the average voter, whoever that happens to be, does it matter to them?

CM: I really, truly believe it should matter. Journalists are supposed to hold politicians to account and if no one is holding them to account, who is watching to see how they are spending money and the policies and the reforms that they are making? And I think that it's an important part of democracy to have journalists asking questions.

MG: Cynthia, good to talk to you, thank you.

CM: Thank you as always, Matt.

MG: Bye, bye.

JD: City News journalist Cynthia Mulligan, we reached her in Toronto.

[Music: Ambient Beeps]

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Part 2: Argentina Abortion, Farm Stripped

Argentina Abortion

Guest: Mariela Belski

JD: For around 16 hours, senators in Argentina debated the bill on abortion. And today, in the early hours of the morning in that country they came to a decision. Senators voted to reject the bill that would have allowed for women up to 14 weeks pregnant to have access to abortions. Currently it is only allowed in cases of rape or if the mom's health is in danger. As senators debate it, thousands of activists on both sides gathered by the Congress building. Mariela Belski was one of them — she wanted to see the bill pass. She is executive director of Amnesty International Argentina. We reached her in Beunos Aires.

MG: Ms. Belski, it was a long night for you, did you get much sleep last night?

MARIELA BELSKI: Well, honestly, I didn't sleep at all. I was at the Congress until 2:30 in the morning. At that time the vote ended and then I went to my home, and I got to my home at 3:00 a.m. and I couldn't sleep until I think 5:00 a.m. probably. And I woke up and I was at the office at 11:00.

MG: When you learned that senators had rejected this bill how did you feel?

MB: Well, honestly my first feeling was of sadness but then I was I was looking around myself and I was really happy because what I saw was a lot of young people, a lot of people with umbrellas, it was a very, very cold night, it was freezing and it was raining and I was like surrounded by a lot a lot of young people and I thought we made history. This is going to be — we are going to have a law in a few years. Abortion is on the public agenda. Of course, I'm sure it's not going to be any politician in this country who is willing to take a political position, who is not going to talk about his position or her position about abortion anymore. This is something very new for us. So in a way, I was happy because things like that and debates that are so difficult are a process, a process that takes time.

MG: On that cold rainy night, describe the scene outside of the Congress? I was looking at some of the photos and it looks amazing in part because of the way the people were divided. Describe what it looked like out there?

MB: Well, the Congress is in front of a huge, huge park that that is called the Park of the Congress and the Congress was divided in the middle. On one of the sides were those who were against abortion and they used a blue scarf and that scarf that said we save two lives. And on the other side was us with the green scarf and we are those who are trying to push for the decriminalization of abortion. It was amazing the amount of people that were there. Unfortunately, the main media didn't cover how many people were on the green side. Of course on the on the blue side was less because they did a mobilization three days before so it were less people there. But what I saw was a lot of people, everyone was using these green scarves. The young people and also the old people they were having all they face painted with purple and green. Honestly, people were kind of happy. I think the most disappointed were the young people. This is the first time the young people are in this march. I mean, Amnesty has been in all these women march for years and we never so many young people in this kind of march.

MG: What does that tell you?

MB: For me, I mean, these young people really, really took this cause for themselves. These young people are going to vote next year. We have elections here in Argentina and they are going to vote probably taking that into account.

MG: What sort of a push was there in the lead up, in the final days to this vote, from the Catholic Church?

MB: Well, this was really interesting because when the law was discussed at the at the lower chamber we didn't see like the church moving at that point. But when the law was passed in the lower chamber after that the church really, really organized itself and started to move. And they are very effective you know they are very effective moving, they are very effective in moving people. They are very effective, also they have a lot of money and we saw how the different churches in the country — the different priests in the different church in the country were speaking about abortion in every event they were developing. In our country in the north the church has a lot a lot of influence. That explains why Senate didn’t pass this law because the Senate represents the provinces, the lower chamber represent the people. So the Senate were responding to the interest of their own provinces. A lot Senators has intentions of being governors next year. So, of course, they didn't have any incentive to vote in favor of abortion.

MG: The health minister in Argentina has said that there are an estimated 354,000 clandestine abortions a year in your country. And a researcher has said that that is the leading cause of maternal death — complications from those abortions. What happens to those women now?

MB: Well, of course, the Senate decided that they support the clandestine abortion. The clandestine abortion exists in Argentina and we are going to have it still and the senators are responsible. They decided to follow with clandestine abortion in this country. And this is going to happen.

MG: When do you think that the law will be overturned? When do you believe that there will be legalized abortion in Argentina?

MB: Well, next year probably no because it's an election year. So it's not likely that such a controversial issue is going to be in the agenda the political agenda. It’s going to be on the agenda but not on the political one. But the year before the next year probably it’s going to come up again.

MG: Mariela Belski, we'll leave it there. I appreciate you joining us today. Thank you so much.

MB: No, thank you.

MG: Thank you. Bye, bye.

MB: Bye.

JD: Mariella Belski is amnesty Argentina's executive director. We reached from Buenos Aires.

[Music: Ambient Tones]

Wayne Gretzky Retirement

JD: It winded us like a mid-ice hit — for those of us, of course, who remember it. On this day 30 years ago Wayne Gretzky — Wayner The Great One — announced he was leaving the Oilers for his new team, the Los Angeles Kings. And As It Happens covered it all from all angles. Here is part of that day’s show, August 9^th, 1988 with hosts Alan Maitland and Mary Lou Finlay.

SOUNDCLIP

ALAN MAITLAND: That was last spring's Stanley Cup final and Wayne Gretzky's last goal ever as an Edmonton Oiler. Today, the Stanley Cup champion stunned Canada and the world of hockey by trading Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings. The deal will put ‘The Great One’ in the same city as his bride, actress Janet Jones.

MARY LOU FINLAY: The Edmonton Oilers held a news conference to announce the trade. A weeping Gretzky announced that he and his new bride are expecting a baby.

WAYNE GRETZKY: This was my decision that I made. I probably had some people that work with me that I kept in the dark a little bit too much, but it was something that I felt would benefit myself, and as I said, my family now. The Oilers are a great team with or without Wayne Gretzky.

AM: In Edmonton fans are still getting used to the idea of the Oilers without Gretzky. We've reached patrons at the Bleachers Sports Bar and Grill.

FAN: Hello.

MLF: Hi, it’s Mary Lou Finlay and As It Happens. What are Edmontonians going to do, are they going to stand for this?

FAN: Everything I'm hearing is more on the negative side towards it. No, they're not going to stand for it, I understand a lot of people are ripping things off of walls and Oiler paraphernalia and selling season tickets etc. etc. It doesn't look good.

MLF: This is real anger we're talking about.

FAN: We're talking livid here.

JD: Rage. That was how As It Happens sounded 30 years ago today when the Edmonton Oilers traded superstar Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings.

Space Force

JD: There were five branches to the U.S. military: The Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines and the Coast Guard. Now officials have made space for one more — in space. For months, President Donald Trump has giddily referred to what he's called the ‘Space Force,’ which she assumed would, broadly speaking, be a force — in space. He didn't give much other information. But today, the Space Force became real, and at the Pentagon Vice President Mike Pence laid out the reasons why outer space is the next frontier of conflict.

SOUNDCLIP

MIKE PENCE: As President Trump has said in his words, it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space, we must have American dominance in space, and so we will. And that's precisely why we're beginning the process of establishing the Space Force as the sixth branch of our armed forces. The space environment has fundamentally changed in the last generation. What was once peaceful and uncontested is now crowded and adversarial. Today, other nations are seeking to disrupt our space based systems and challenge American supremacy in space as never before. As their actions make clear, our adversaries have transformed space into a war-fighting domain already. And the United States will not shrink from this challenge. Under President Trump's leadership we will meet it head on to defend our nation and build a peaceful future — here on Earth and in space. America will always seek peace, in space as on the earth, but history proves that peace only comes through strength. And in the realm of outer space the United States Space Force will be that strength in the years ahead.

JD: That was the vice president of the United States, Mike Pence, speaking about the newest branch of the U.S. military the Space Force.

[Music: Trance Bass]

Farm Stripped

Guest: Sarah Giancola

JD: It took years of saving every penny for Sarah Giancola to start building a home on her family's farm in rural Manitoba. And now, thieves have taken everything that was possible to steal — including a lawnmower that was chained to a tree. And that has left Ms. Jean cola with few options and many questions. We reach Sarah Giancola in Winnipeg.

MG: Sarah, tell us about the family farm and why you wanted to build a home for yourself there?

SARAH GIANCOLA: Well, my mom, it was given to her. And then she got cancer and passed away and left it to me. And I wanted to rebuild it and bring it back to where it used to be live out there with my kids.

MG: And the home and in your family for generations?

SG: Oh yeah, I'm the fifth generation.

MG: Fifth generation?

SG: Yeah. My grandfather was actually born there in the house.

MG: And what did it mean for you after your mom died? What did it mean for you to have that responsibility of building something that would that would kind of capture all of the history that had been there on the farm?

SG: Everything. It meant everything to me. It still does. I still want to finish it, I want to leave it for my kids, too. I want them to have that, too.

MG: How far along were you in building up a house there?

SG: Close, it was actually close. Just had to get the plumbing put in and then she was good to go.

MG: So the house was almost complete?

SG: Almost complete.

MG: And then what happened?

SG: My boyfriend went to check on it because he works up north and every time it goes back up I get him to stop in. And this time he stopped and he thought a tornado hit first, like, he walked in and then he realized, well if it was a tornado it’d be laying all over and it just wasn't, there was just nothing there. The siding was gone, the windows were gone — every window is gone and the doors are gone. Our tarp we had that covered our riding lawnmower was blown away like towards the house. And he realized that it was gone so he went closer and they cut the tree down and took the chain and the tractor and everything.

MG: The tree that the mower was chained to?

SG: Yeah it was chained to it.

MG: When your boyfriend told you this how did you react?

SG: At first I was no, no. And then he sent me the pictures and I just couldn't talk , I stopped talking and I just cried and cried.

MG: Tell me a bit more about why it is so hard what this meant to you?

SG: It felt like everything I've worked so hard for to get it going was just taken from me — stripped. And I wanted to do this for my mom, I wanted to do this for the kids, for myself. When I go there I feel at peace. It's like the stress is gone when I'm there. And now it just feels like I've been violated and it doesn't feel safe anymore to me, like from my soul. It's awful feeling.

MG: Have you gone up to see the space?

SG: I’m going up Saturday. I've already contacted the RCMP out there and they want me to come up this weekend to talk more with them, and I'm going to put some gates up, but it’s going to be a hard time to go up there. I'm dreading it.

MG: What did the police say? What did the police say when you when you called and told them about this?

SG: Nothing. Pretty much just OK, you know see what we can do. I don't have insurance so pretty much everything is a loss.

MG: Why wouldn't you have insurance for a property like this?

SG: It was being built, it wasn't fully finished yet. So I figured well, since it's just being built, I've never had a problem, ever in all the decades back generations, we’ve never had a problem there, it’s usually so quiet and it's remote. We could leave things, literally, leave things out and they’d be there the next day.

MG: If you had the opportunity, I mean, you said bring it back. But if you had the opportunity to talk to the person of the people who stripped your home of everything, what would you say to them?

SG: Why? I’d ask why. Why would you do that? It’s not like they just stole the lawnmower. You know, I could understand that. You know, they needed a lawnmower or, you know, they needed money. But why the home?

MG: What do you think it will be like when you go and see the place on the weekend?

SG: Very hard, emotional — oh, it's bringing tears now, sorry. I don’t know what it will be like.

MG: But you are going to rebuild the place?

SG: Yeah, it'll take longer, you know a few more years added on, but I will rebuild.

MG: Sarah, I'm sorry this happened to you. What an awful story.

SG: It’s terrible, awful.

MG: Good luck with the rebuild and I hope whoever did this either comes to their senses and realizes what they did or that the police manage to get in touch with them. Thanks for talking to us.

SG: Thank you so much.

MG: Take care.

JD: We reached Sarah Giancola in Winnipeg.

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August 9, 2018 episode transcript

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