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The AIH Transcript for August 17, 2018

Hosts: Matt Galloway and Jeff Douglas

Prologue

MATT GALLOWAY: Hello I'm Matt Galloway, sitting in for Carol Off.

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

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JD: Tonight…

MG: Sworn enemy. When the Prime Minister called to express condolences after her ex-husband and the father of her two sons was killed last week in Fredericton, Melissa Robichaud swore at him. Tonight she explains why.

JD: A different kind of delivery. Kwame Anderson and a colleague were driving a beer truck when they came across a man in extreme emotional distress on a bridge. Mr. Anderson was driven to help.

MG: One official says around 100 people have died in the last 36 hours alone. We'll go to Kerala in southern India where floods have already done untold damage pushed rescue workers to the limit.

JD: Number one against the bullet. After the shooting at a school in Parkland Florida a 14-year-old inventor in Connecticut develops a foldable bulletproof wall to be used in classrooms.

MG: Going like — and for — hotcakes. After her huge customized shipment of maple surf to Saudi Arabia is abruptly canceled, a Nova Scotia woman's story ends happily but not sappily.

JD: And…The green green grass of foam. With the legalization of weed just around the corner a major brewery is teaming up with a major cannabis producer. But our guest is already stirring the pot — by brewing beer with it. As It Happens: The Friday Edition. Radio hits the high pints.

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Part 1: Fredericton Family, India Flooding, Cannabis Beer

Fredericton Family

Guest: Melissa Robichaud

JD: It wasn't the way you would want a condolence call to go. On Wednesday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau telephoned Melissa Robichaud in Fredericton. She had lost her ex-husband and her two sons had lost their father, Donny Robichaud, in last week's shooting. But Ms. Robichaud was frustrated — and she was frustrated enough to use some strong language with the Prime Minister. The calls to her and to her sons came days after the Prime Minister had paid a very public tribute to the two police officers who were slain that day. So she says she called Mr. Trudeau quote “a piece of shit.” We reached Melissa Robichaud in Fredericton.

MG: Ms. Robichaud, I'm sorry for what you've been through in the last week or so. How are you doing?

MELISSA ROBICHAUD: We're holding together.

MG: And your sons?

MR: They're grieving but they're holding together.

MG: How are you doing that? How are you holding together?

MR: They have lots of memories with him. We just talk about them and talk about the good things.

MG: A lot of people have been remembering Donnie over the course of the last seven days, and I know people have been reaching out to you, one as we know, was the Prime Minister. Describe how this conversation with the Prime Minister went?

MR: I'm not going to do that. I'm sorry. There's a lot of things going on on Facebook that’s already hurt my family enough over this.

MG: What do you mean?

MR: A lot of people are talking about the things that I said and saying what I did was wrong and my sons are on Facebook and they read posts and it hurts them — and I think they've been hurt enough.

MG: Do you have any regrets about what was said?

MR: I wish I was in my right state of mind when I was talking to him. I wish I wasn't so hurt at the time. Do I regret saying what I said? Yes and no.

MG: Yes and no. What do you mean?

MR: Yes and no because, you know what, Justin Trudeau is supposed to protect us all, that’s his job right. He's there for us. He came and he told me that he was busy with the families of the cops, that’s why he didn't reach out. I don't care about me. It's not me it’s my sons, he needed to reach out to them. But do I regret saying it? I shouldn't have said it because it's not my place to say.

MG: I think a lot of people could sympathize with the hurt and the frustration that you'd obviously be going through in the moments and the hours in the days after this. You said that you didn't want your son seeing their father being treated, I guess, with any less respect.

MR: Disrespected. They felt like he wasn't important enough. That is why I was angry. Yeah, my oldest said that his dad wasn't important enough to be mentioned. His dad wasn't important enough, how is that fair?

MG: What did you say to your son when he said that to you?

MR: What can I say? I have no answers. Trudeau is the only one with that answer. And his answer was he was too busy with the other families.

MG: Given, I guess, the infrastructure that's around police forces and the fact that when a police officer is killed there is that whole machinery that kicks into place.

MR: Absolutely. You know, what they lost two of their own. And my condolences completely to them. One of them showed up for Donnie’s viewing and she gave her condolences. She came out of uniform. She just came to see me and give her condolences. You know, I respect those people. They're doing their job. I really do. And I'm really sorry that they lost two of their own.

MG: What did that mean to you when she came and as you said she just wanted to give her condolences?

MR: That meant everything in the world. It really — to have one of them come to me when they've lost one of their own that meant everything.

MG: I just wondered whether it was just a matter of timing, his delay or the comments that he made was a matter of timing?

MR: Do I think he would have ever reached out? No, I don't, because it wasn't until I talked to a reporter, which I even have on my Facebook, the conversation, asking me if Trudeau reached out to us. I said no. And then all of a sudden I get a call from some girl saying she's Trudeau's assistant or something like that saying that if it was all right if he could call and send his condolences and I said absolutely. At the time I was a little busy, I said but you can call my sons and I gave them my son's number and my son's name — and he never did call. So I told that reporter I said ‘This girl called me and said he was going to call them and he never did call them.’ And then all of a sudden he decided to call at 9 o'clock at me. By then I was already in a really bad mood. I'm still upset, I'm still, you know, I'm trying to get my kids through this the best that I can.

MG: How do you want to see Donnie remembered?

MR: The amazing man he was — a good father. He loved those two boys with all of his heart. The three most important things to that man were his two boys and his bike. And I will say his daughter. He has a daughter and a grandson. And everybody was important to him.

MG: And the motorcycle club that Donnie was part of is holding an event tomorrow to celebrate him.

MR: It’s actually a lot of bikers, it’s not just one club. Bikers, yes, are holding an event tomorrow in honor of Donnie.

MG: What do you think that's going to be like?

MR: I think it's going to be amazing. These are amazing people. Absolutely amazing. You don't get nicer people than these. And you know what, when they care about you they care about you. And a lot of people are going to get together that haven't seen each other. They're going to get to share stories of Donnie. People that didn’t even know each other, right. I think it's going to be a great turnout.

MG: How do you think — you know you've talked a little bit about this — but as this starts to settle in a little bit and time starts to slip and pass how do you think you and you and your sons will remember Donnie?

MR: The bike honestly, the bike — which is being passed down to my son who's going for his bike licence. It's going to be with us forever, so, I mean, he's always going to be with us.

MG: The Prime Minister's office has said that it will continue to offer its support and that he will continue to offer his support. What would you want from the Prime Minister at this point?

MR: Personally, I don't want anything. I would like him to, I mean, I can make this clear right now. Me and Donnie were separated, it doesn't mean I didn't love that man. I spent since I was 14 with him. He was my entire life. But it's those kids, it's my kids that are more important to me than anything in the world. And if he's going to reach out and help anybody I hope it’s to their advantage.

MG: You've been through a lot this week. Again, I'm sorry for your loss, but I do appreciate you talking to us, Melissa.

MR: Thank you. Thanks so much. Take care of yourself.

JD: Melissa Robichaud’s ex-husband Donnie Robichaud was killed in the Fredericton shooting. We reached Ms. Robichaud in Fredericton.

[Music: Piano Ballad]

India Flooding

Guest: Nancy Prabhakar

JD: It is being called the worst flooding in the region in around a century. In the state of Kerala in southern India, floods have ravaged the landscape and local communities. In recent days more than 150 people have reportedly died. The death toll is expected to rise. Nancy Prabhakar is with Kerala state's Red Cross. We reached her in Thiruvananthapuram.

MG: Nancy Prabhakar, tell us about the toll these floods are taking on you and others in Kerala state?

NANCY PRABHAKAR: For me and my parents it's the first time in our generation that we are seeing these dangerous floods. And this unexpected torrential rain which caused the dam shutters to be opened and the water level in the dams got elevated and it was drawn out to the rivers and the water level increased, that made this flood so dangerous and havoc.

MG: Describe what it's looked like in Kerala over the past few days?

NP: The complete place, almost 80 percentage of the place in the Kerala state, is flooded with water. And the water is up to the second-floor level. You can imagine what height it will be, completely full of water. There is no land to be found. And most of the only people are isolated in few places. Only a few places and we are having relief camps there.

MG: Tell me more about where people are seeking refuge?

NP: We are finding some places where the water level is not there. We are finding relief camps there, we are accommodating people there because they're almost — lots of people are now in relief camps.

MG: What about your house? What is the state of your home?

NP: I'm kind of in a protected area, so I'm fine. Now I'm safe.

MG: There are different reports about how many people have died because of these floods. In the Guardian one official was saying that a hundred people died in the last 36 hours alone. How difficult is it to find out how many people have died because of this flooding?

NP: It's not yet confirmed because the people who were in their homes and they were there the unexpected flood, it was not possible escape from that particular flood. But the latest report is that dead bodies are floating within the home, within the home and only after the water level comes down we can finally tell how many people died.

MG: My goodness. How are rescue officials getting to those who need help?

NP: Through helicopter, airlift. Now the Navy, Army is in the field and they are doing their rescue operation.

MG: I had read that more than 223,000 people, they've been displaced from their homes. How are people getting food and water? Those 220 3000 people how are they getting supplies so that they can stay alive?

NP: The Red Cross itself is as an organization providing them food and necessary materials they require in the home. Right now we are planning to have a helicopter drop in relief camps because in the two day scenario road transport is impossible and the rail transport is also stopped. So we find it difficult to take these relief materials to the affected area. So we have spoken with the Indian Red Cross Society national headquarters and we are planning to do the helicopter drop in the affected areas and the relief camps.

MG: This is an area that's very popular with tourists but it also is an area where rubber is grown, where coffee and tea and spices are grown. What concerns are there about long term damage to those industries?

NP: I'd have no idea because the complete vegetation is now underwater. I don't know about that because it's completely lost.

MG: The monsoon season is a regular part of life in India, it runs from June through September. You said you've never seen anything quite like this before, though.

NP: Yes, even my parents have not seen. When I spoke with them even my parents or grandparents have not seen this kind of flood in their life. I heard it’s been since 1924 that something like this happened.

MG: How long are those people who are in those camps, how long are they expected to stay there? Do you have a sense as to when they might be able to go home?

NP: No idea because the rain is still there. So I don't know when the water level is coming down, so I don't know. We are hoping for the best, we are hoping the rain will come down soon and the water level be reduce soon and they'll be able to get back to their homes.

MG: Nancy, stay safe, it's a lot of water. It sounds like a very dangerous situation.

NP: Yes, a very dangerous situation — very dangerous situation. For us it's like a kind of dream, we are not even in a position to believe that this is happening around us.

MG: It sounds awful. Good luck and stay safe. And I appreciate you telling us what's happening there, Nancy, thank you.

NP: Thank you.

MG: Bye, bye.

JD: Nancy Prabhakar is the joint secretary for the Indian Red Cross Society in Kerala states. We reached her in Kerala state. We have photographs of the destruction floods have caused in that area on our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Ambient Tones]

Cannabis Beer

Guest: Dooma Wendschuh

JD: Pot shot, Mo-high-to, Dank-uiri — perhaps luckily, we still have plenty of time to come up with high-larious names for cannabis infused cocktails, but with the legalization on the horizon one major brewery just made a 5$ billion bet on pot beverages. Constellation Brands, which brews Corona and Modelo, just signed a deal with Canopy Growth Corporation, a cannabis company in Smiths Falls Ontario. But a pot infused beer is not news to Dooma Wendschuh. His company, Province Brands has already made one. We reached Mr. Wendschuh in Toronto.

MG: Mr. Wendschuh, if I'm being honest with you, the idea of beer with weed in it sounds kind of gross to me. Why would somebody want this?

DOOMA WENDSCHUH: Why wouldn’t somebody want this? I mean, what we're talking about are two of the greatest substances known to man — beer and cannabis — in the same glass. I mean, it's amazing. I can't believe you would say it sounds gross, but I could imagine how you might think it sounds gross because, you know, when you smoke weed there's a flavour that you get that might not seem compatible. But the truth is that cannabis and hops, you know hops is the dominant flavoring in beer, they're very closely related. They're both in the Cannabaceae family, which is a family of plants. For example, some strains of hops have CBD, you may have heard of that phytocannabinoid which is also in the marijuana plant. So there's a lot of flavour and smell similarities between hops and cannabis. So it's it's just a natural fit when we're talking about making a cannabis beverage, that a beer that includes cannabis comes top of mind.

MG: It's also a natural fit to make a lot of money apparently. This deal this week between Constellation and Canopy Growth is worth something like $5 billion. That is a staggering amount of money. When you heard about this what was your reaction?

DW: Mostly jealously. I wish it had been us but it is just a fantastic movement for our industry and it has also helped our small company, Province Brands, quite a bit. You know, when Cannabis was legalized nobody knew where it was going to go. How are people going to consume this new psychoactive? And, you know, if you look at it ignoring cannabis, there are three illegal psychoactive in our world — there's caffeine, tobacco, alcohol. Two of those are primarily consumed as beverages and the third nobody really does anymore, so it shouldn't have been such a surprise.

MG: You don't work for either one of these companies but give us a sense of how you imagine they're going to make this beer.

DW: It's all conjecture at this point. We know they're going to make a beverage and it could be any type of beverage. But I think there's a lot of conjecture that it will be a beer given that Constellation is known for Corona and Ballast Point, Negra Modelo and so many phenomenal beers. If they were going to make a beer, it's likely they're going to do what a lot of other folks have announced plans to do, which is to make a non-alcoholic beer brewed from barley and infuse it with a marijuana oil, which is fundamentally different than what our company at Province Brands does. We actually have developed a patent pending technology to brew beer from the cannabis plant itself.

MG: What does it taste like?

DW: It is dry, it is dry like how you could compare a sweet white wine to a dry white wine. It's savoury, it's refined, it sophisticated, but most importantly it taste like beer. You know, we wanted to make — cannabis is so new and the first thing you said is cannabis beer sounds kind of gross. You know, people are afraid of this new industry, they're afraid of this new sensation of being high instead of drunk. They're afraid of this new psychoactive. We wanted to make the leap for someone who's maybe never tried cannabis, as small and as manageable as possible. Instead of trying to make something no one's ever heard of before, we wanted to make something that smells familiar, that looks familiar and that tastes familiar. So while our beers are non-alcoholic, they will be very familiar in other aspects — that you can have a pilsner, you could have a stout, you could have a bock, you can have an IPA that have that familiar flavour from the hops and from the yeast and from the brewing process. So it is a great way for someone who is maybe not as familiar with cannabis to just dip their toe into the cannabis industry.

MG: Is it true that the first beer you made tasted like rotten broccoli?

DW: That is a fact.

MG: That doesn't sound good at all.

DW: It does not, no, but thankfully we've gotten a lot better at what we do. When we started the company we went around and met with the top master brewers from around the world and we we said ‘Hey, can you help us. We want to brew a beer from the cannabis plant.’ And we were laughed out of the room so many times. They would say ‘Don't you know beer is brewed from barley? You need the carbohydrates to mash into sugars, cannabis doesn’t have any carbohydrates so how are you going to make beer from that?’ You know, fortunately we did find a very, very generous brewer who is willing to take a leap and try to do it. And that first batch tasted terrible, it tasted like rotten broccoli, it was completely undrinkable, but very fortunately, I remembered having been in Colorado for a while and there was a brewery there that I really loved and that brewer made really crazy inventive beers. I called them up and I said ‘Look, we're struggling with this.’ We brought the problem to him and the first batch he made tasted absolutely phenomenal.

MG: How high does it get you?

DW: Well, I'll put a word of caution here. If you've never considered cannabis before, the first time it will probably get you pretty high. But if you have consumed cannabis before it's very, very, very mild. It's designed to be sessionable, so you can enjoy several of the beers maybe while watching a sports game.

MG: Give us a point of comparison, if were sitting around smoking a joint or you know you puff on the bong, how many hits does it take to be the equivalent of a bottle of your beer?

DW: Probably max, two hits off of a joint. I mean, this is — and small hits — this it's very mild.

MG: Where's the limit here do you think? I mean, if $5 billion is being put into a company by a brewing company, where's the limit here when it comes to this market?

DW: I don't think there is a limit. This is absolutely a change in our world. And I don't think most people are understanding how big this can be. I mean, this is the first time in any of our lives that a new psychoactive has become legalized for social and leisure activities. So it's, you know, it's a monumental deal. And in terms of if you'd go back in time if you could and you drank a beer in the year 300 AD, it would not be the same as a Stella Artois today. There have been so many advances. And what we have to do in the cannabis industry is take a millenia worth of chemical research and development that's gone into beer, we have to compress that into very few months because the consumers today are not as forgiving as consumers were in 300 AD. You know, we need to make a product that's as good as today's beers and we need to make it from the cannabis plant.

MG: Just finally, when do you think it will be that we head to the Beer Store or wherever you buy your beer and pick up a six pack of weed beer rather than a six pack of beer beer?

DW: It does appear to be written into the cannabis act that those will be for sale within one year of recreational legalization. So we're looking at around October of 2019.

MG: Dooma, we'll leave it there. Great to talk to you about this, appreciate it. Thank you.

DW: Thank you very much.

JD: Dooma Wendschuh is the CEO of Province Brands, the company behind a beer brewed from cannabis. We reached Mr. Wendschuh in Toronto. And for some photographs of what cannabis infused beer looks like — and to find out just how potent a pint of it is — go to our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: 90s Rock]

U.S. Girls

JD: In an interview with the website Noisey, Meg Remy said quote “It's hard because journalists are always like you're writing about women. And it's like I'm writing about women from my limited experience as one woman on the planet,” unquote. She said that in February and she has spent the six months since patiently explaining and re-explaining that, yes, her latest album is pointed and political and feminist, but as she pointed out in another interview, she has been making music about those same themes her whole career. It's just that this time more people are listening — and asking questions. Ms Rémy is the leader of U.S. Girls, whose album In A Poem Unlimited is one of the most acclaimed albums of this year. It is also on the short list for the 2018 Polaris Music Prize. As usual the songs are complicated and multi-layered and sad and funny and angry. But they're not texts to be analyzed. They’re tunes, they’re jams, they’re great, catchy pop songs and you can dance to them. Meg Remy isn't doing just one thing with U.S. Girls on this album. She and her collaborators are doing a lot of things at once. In yet another interview she patiently answered a question about answering questions about her work. “You make the album,” she said, “and then you must explain it forever. A little bit of mystery can go a long way.”

[Music: Electric Guitar Strums]

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Part 2: Beer Bridge Rescue, Saudi Syrup, Bulletproof Wall

Beer Bridge Rescue

Guest: Kwame Anderson

JD: It was a routine work day drive that turned into a rescue mission. Kwame Anderson and his co-worker were delivering beer when they saw a man standing on the ledge of a bridge. They pulled the truck over and then Mr. Anderson began talking. We reached Kwame Anderson in Minnesota.

MG: Mr. Anderson, you and your colleague are driving across a bridge in your truck. What did you see?

KWAME ANDERSON: I Look to my left and out of the window I see a man on the fence and while he's on the fence I asked my co-worker ‘Is that guy on inside or outside of the fence?’ And he says ‘That guy's on the outside of the fence.’ And then he yells out he's like ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ And the guy yells back ‘I'm going to commit suicide.’

MG: What happened then?

KA: Well, at that moment I hopped out of the truck and I ran over to the gentleman and I said ‘Hey, hey, hey. I don't know whatever is going on in your life right now man, but whatever you think you want to do, please don't do it. It's not worth it.’ He's like ‘I'm going to jump up, man. Leave me alone. I'm going to jump.’ And when he said that I was like oh this is really serious.

MG: So you called 9 11 but at that point, I mean, he's there and he says he's going to jump. What are you thinking at that time?

KA: Anything can happen from now until the time that police get here. I've got to do something, I've got to think fast. I've got to react fast. So what immediately came into my brain was the movie that Denzel Washington has done.

MG: I'm sorry, immediately you thought of Denzel Washington?

KA: Denzel Washington, good old Denzel.

MG: Great actor, but why would you think of Denzel Washington?

KA: Because he's always playing a cop and he's always handling situations with people. So I thought about him as a negotiator. And then I’m like all right in order for them to want to even converse with you you have to gain some rapport. I’m like all right the first this I got to do is I got to gain some rapport. I said, ‘Sir, what's your name?’ And then he responded ‘Leroy.’ I'm like ‘OK Leroy, I’m Kwame.’ I'm like, ‘You got family here, Leroy?’ He's like, ‘Yeah, I got my kids.’ I’m like, How many kids you got?’ He says he has two kids. I’m like ‘What about your wife? He's like ‘My kids’ mother left me.’

MG: As you're having this conversation with him is he still on the edge of the bridge, still standing on the ledge or has he moved away?

KA: Still on the edge. Every part of this conversation takes place on the edge of that bridge — every part of it. And the cops are right next to me but they're not interjecting too much. They're allowing me to have a conversation with him. When they got there they asked me the question like ‘What's his name?’ I had all the information for them.

MG: When did he start to move away from the ledge of the bridge?

KA: I talked to him for about 15 minutes on the bridge. It's not until the end of the conversation where I get to him and I'm like ‘Leroy, what can I do to get you off the bridge? Do you want something to eat? Can I take you to get some food? What can I do?’ He's like, ‘Naw, I’m not hungry, I don't want no food.’ I’m like ‘Ok. You want some money? I got money in my truck. I can get my wallet.’ He's like ‘Naw, I’m not a beggar. I don't need no money.’ Okay. I'm like, ‘You want to drink? When I said drink his eyes kind of lit up.

MG: Now you were able to say that because you're driving a beer truck?

KA: Driving a beer truck.

MG: And so did he step back when you when you said did you want to drink?

KA: Well, when I said did you want to drink, his eyes kind of lit up, so that let me know that that enticed him slightly. So then, you know, I got a little bit more detailed and descriptive. I was like ‘Do you want a beer?’ He was like ‘Maybe.’ I was like ‘A Coors Light.’ And as soon as he kind of hesitated I looked at the officer, I said ‘Keep him occupied, I'll be right back.’ I ran to the truck, I grabbed a whole 12 pack of Coors Light and I come running back and I'm like ‘Leroy, you get down from that ledge this whole 12 pack is yours.’ He looked at me and looked at the case and he grabbed to the right of the fence and he started inching towards the beer. And at that moment I knew I got him. I was like ‘That's not far enough, Leroy, you’ve got to come all the way off this ledge. You got to that come all the way.’ I kept moving back, he kept following, I kept moving, he kept following — and I was able to get him off the bridge.

MG: Did he get his beer?

KA: He did not get his beer. Unfortunately, the police wouldn't let me give it to him. So he got off the bridge, which was the main thing.

MG: That's the main thing.

KA: That's the main thing.

MG: How does it feel for you? I mean, you've never — I don't know, I'm assuming you've never done anything like this before. You had to channel the powers of Denzel Washington to figure out how to do this. How does it feel to know that you saved somebody's life?

KA: It's amazing. Even if it had been a situation where I knew the person I would still want to give my best effort because I think that you just talking to anybody about their day, if you actually are concerned you'll find out what's going on with them. And people don't take the time to do that on a regular basis. We don't know what type of depression or mental illness or seriousness that people are going through and if you take the time just to ask the question you might save somebody's life.

MG: Have you heard from him since you were able to talk him off the edge of the bridge?

KA: Yes, actually. He called me yesterday for the first time. I asked him how the police treated him. He told me that they treated him wonderfully on the ride there. They sent him to the hospital, he was in the hospital for two days and now he's out. So I asked him if he wanted to come to one of my shows and, you know, get the beer that he didn't get to receive that day. And he said yes. So I invited him out for tomorrow’s show so hopefully he can make it. You know, I'll make sure that everyone gets to see how he's doing.

MG: Kwame, great job in doing this. You didn't need to stop. You didn't need to spend that hour almost on the bridge talking to him. But you did. And he saved somebodies life. Congratulations, and it's great to talk to you.

KA: Thank you very much.

MG: Thanks. Take care.

KA: All right. Have a good day.

JD: We reached Kwame Anderson in Minnesota.

[Music: Whimsical Piano]

B.C. Fires Theft

JD: This morning in Prince George, British Columbia it looked like night. Smoke and ash darkened the city, which has served as a safe haven to so many who have had to flee home due to the wildfires. David Crocker and Charlotte Morris left Grassy Plains for Prince George under an evacuation order. But they found that their troubles were not over when they reached Prince George. The couple spoke to Daybreak North producer Robert Doane.

SOUNDCLIP

CHARLOTTE MORRIS: Frig, we got robbed sometime in the middle of the night someone broke into our van and stole all of our possessions, my husband's guitar and all of our prescription medication, make-up shampoo and clothing — even our cell phone chargers. Yeah, it was so upsetting. It's just like ‘What could happen next, or what else could go wrong?

ROBERT DOANE: Your Guitar was stolen.

DAVID CROCKER: Oh yeah, that was kind of hard on me. You know, at first I said, you know, it's a Fender guitar. Anybody who plays guitar and sings they know like a Fender guitar is not a cheap guitar. But I believe in that man up there I said my morning things and I kind of left at that, you know, because I'm not gonna worry over a guitar when there’s people and human beings and animals going through what they're going through right now.

JD: That was David Crocker in Charlotte Morris in Prince George, British Columbia on CBC’s Daybreak North earlier today.

[Music: Guitar Strumming]

Saudi Syrup

Guest: Anna Hutchinson

JD: Relations between Saudi Arabia and Canada are not so sweet right now. For one very literal example, last week a delivery of maple syrup was abruptly halted. Anna Hutchinson, owner of Hutchinson's Pure Nova Scotia Maple Products was stuck with a 900 litre specialized shipment of syrup — but not for long. We reached Anna Hutchinson in Lake Paul, Nova Scotia.

MG: Ms. Hutchinson, 900 litres of syrup. That sounds like an awful lot. Is it flying off the shelves?

ANNA HUTCHINSON: It flew off the shelves, Matt. It seems to be all gone.

MG: All of it?

AH: I mean, we kept a few cases here and there for a few stragglers coming in and they're still coming in every single day wanting a bottle here and a bottle there. So I did keep a few extra, but for the most part the 900 litres has been sold.

MG: I want to get to what you've kept in a moment. But first tell us about selling maple syrup to Saudi Arabia. How did this deal come together?

AH: So we have been in Dubai a couple times for a Gulf food expo and that's where we met the people for Saudi Arabia. So we've been working on it for almost a year now and going back and forth getting our labels correct, doing our translations, making sure we have the proper requirements. So it's been a process but it's been good.

MG: What's involved in the process of putting together a deal to sell maple syrup to Saudi Arabia?

AH: It's a lot. Every country has its own different regulations and rules. So you have to make sure that your product meets their specifications, not just the label, but the product itself. The container that it's going down in, they want to know everything about the container, the label, the product. So once you've got that all started you send them all the information, you go through you create a label. Then you have to send that label back down to them and have it approved by their municipality. They have to make sure the translation is correct so when it comes back up here it actually was quite a learning experience because you have to make sure your fonts are done perfectly because of the language. So I can't read it. So therefore I have to make sure it's translated properly and it's approved and then comes back to me and then we can finally go to print.

MG: Goodness. It's a lot of work. And then so how did you learn that the deal was on the shelf?

AH: It's almost a week ago today. Basically, we got a call from our purchaser and they said the product was on hold. I mean, we heard some rumblings in the news and stuff and we thought well, you know, we're close but we haven't heard anything yet. And then we got the call from them on Thursday morning and they said the product was on hold.

MG: So how did you react to having 900 liters of maple syrup ready to roll?

AH: We were really shocked. We were upset for a little while. Things were like ‘Okay, what are we going to do with it. Where are we going to put it?’ You know, it's hot summer time, I don't have a lot of storage here. So it was a tense day.

MG: I mean, you have 900 liters maple syrup, obviously here people love their maple syrup. Could you have sold the bottles here?

AH: I could sell them to individuals the way they were. I could not sell it to retail or to a store due to the labeling requirements that are required in Canada.

MG: And presumably those labeling requirements would also be in place elsewhere in the world. Everybody has their own individual needs for their own individual countries.

AH: And the same went for Dubai because we contacted our customer in Dubai and it doesn't meet the requirements for that country, so they could go through and say ‘Well we can maybe can make an exception,’ but the amount of paperwork and regulations to go through to that, it didn't seem like that was going to work either. So we were prepared to just hold it for as long as we needed to. We really didn't think we had a choice.

MG: And then people started buying it. Who's been buying the maple syrup?

AH: It actually started on Friday morning when it went on CBC in the morning e-mails started to come in, phone calls started to come in and people just started saying ‘Well, I'll take two litres off your hands or I'll take five. I think it makes a great Christmas gift, I'll take 10.’ And we were sitting here going ‘Should we sell it? What should we do?’ We weren't quite sure what we should do. And we said ‘You know what, let's just start selling a few, what's the harm right?’ By Sunday morning I had calls from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario throughout, Newfoundland, P.E.I., Nova Scotia of course, New Brunswick, everywhere — U.S., Costa Rica, India, China.

MG: Oh, my goodness.

AH: It was everywhere.

MG: Just because this is a special bottle of maple syrup and they wanted to help you out.

AH: And they wanted to help us out, yeah. A few other people were like ‘Well, you know what, I think it's a unique novelty thing. Great idea to give to someone for Christmas,’ and went from there.

MG: And now it's all gone?

AH: It's gone.

MG: Did you hang on to any like as a souvenir or anything like that, something that you might want to put up on the shelf?

AH: I am going to keep a bottle. I swear I'm going to keep a bottle for myself to just sit there and say ‘OK, remember this, you know? This is something to remember.

MG: Anna, thank you, it's great to talk to.

AH: You too. Thank you very much.

MG: Bye.

AH: Bye-bye.

MG: Anna Hutchinson is the owner of Hutchinson's Pure Nova Scotia Maple Products. We reached her in Lake Paul, Nova Scotia

[Music: Trance Bass]

Bulletproof Wall

Guest: Audrey Larson

JD: Before now Audrey Larson’s inventions were for fun — glow in the dark pajamas, a device to help you pet your dog. The kind of thing that you might expect from a 14-year-old, but her latest invention could prove to be ground-breaking and lifesaving. It is a foldable bulletproof wall for use during school shootings. We reached Audrey Larson in Wallingford, Connecticut.

MG: Audrey, describe this latest invention of years a bulletproof wall, what does this wall look like?

AUDREY LARSON: So Safe K.I.D.S is a wall that has five layers, a combination of Kevlar Ar500 Steel and cellulose nanocrystals. And it's a two-fold system and it really just leans up against the wall and in the event of a school shooting or just a normal lockdown drill, a student or teacher can pull the contraption off the wall. The students file into the corner and then the contraption locks against the wall kind of creating like a little triangle around the students of protection.

MG: So tell me more about that. It's secured to the wall and then it can extend out?

AL: So it's hinged to the wall in the corner of the room and it folds up against the wall and then it can be taken out of that position where it's folded and locked to another lock further down on that same wall and it creates kind of a triangle against the wall.

MG: And it goes down to the floor and then up a certain number of feet or something?

AL: It's almost to the ceiling, there's a very small clearance because you don't want to be able to get something down in there.

MG: And how many people could end up behind this wall?

AL: Depends on the sizing of it and that depends on class size. So they would come in different sizes because a gym class would obviously have more students than a normal class.

MG: What got you thinking about creating something like this? As I mentioned, you invented other cool things, glow in the dark pajamas, this thing that will help you pet your dog. Why did you decide that you would try and a bulletproof wall?

AL: So I participate in the Connecticut invention convention every year, which is an invention competition for kids around Connecticut and some of these kids even to go to the national level, which I got to go to this year. I've been doing this since I was in the fourth grade. So the automatic dog-scratcher was a much younger invention. But each year I come up with a problem to deal with. And I always try to come up with an issue that kind of hits home on some level. And as a student and as a kid who goes to public school every day it's an issue that was on my mind and that's why I decided to deal with the issue of school shootings.

MG: Tell me a bit more about it being on your mind as somebody who attends public school? I mean, what in particular was on your mind when it came to the issue of school shootings?

AL: Well, especially after Parkland. I mean, I grew up in Connecticut so when I was in fourth or fifth grade Sandy Hook occurred, which was only about 40 minutes from where I lived, which killed I believe around 20 kids. But after Parkland earlier this year, the issue kind of came up again and a lot of my friends started to worry about our safety at school and it became came almost like a lunch table conversation. You know, are we are we safe, could this actually happen here? And after a few weeks of these thoughts being in my head I began to think about doing something about it.

MG: How worried were you in those conversations and how worried are you when you talk to your friends about the possibility of a shooting at your school?

AL: I mean, you always have to have that mentality of, you know, it's not going to happen. But then at the same time you also have to be prepared on some level. We practice our drills and things like that. So it's always been in the back of my mind. And I have friends who get emotional over the issue and I try not to stress too much about it, but it's definitely a reality. It's a really sad reality, but it's definitely a reality. So that's why I decided I really want to focus in on it.

MG: What is it like to have to make something like this? When I went to school we never had lockdowns and we never — I’m much older than you — but we never had to worry about the idea of a school shooting. What is it like to have to invent something that is meant to protect you in the incidence of somebody breaking into your school and firing?

AL: I definitely think it's sad that it's on any kid's mind whether they're a little kindergartner or a twelfth grader. I don't think any kid should have to worry about going to school. It's one of our rights that we get to have an education. But I also think that it's sad to sit around and wait for something to happen and whether it be my solution or anyone else's, I think we just need to do something.

MG: What else do you want to invent after something like this?

AL: Well, every year I come up with a different idea. I don't have one for next year. And I always keep my secret until the convention, but I've had previous inventions.

MG: That's probably a good idea to keep it secret. Audrey, I appreciate you talking to us about this today. Thank you so much and good luck to you.

AL: Thanks.

MG: Take care. Bye-bye.

AL: Bye.

JD: Audrey Larson is the 14-year-old inventor behind a foldable bulletproof wall for use in the case of a school shooting. We reached Ms. Larson in Wallingford, Connecticut.

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August 17, 2018 episode transcript

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