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The AIH Transcript for March 18, 2019

Hosts: Carol Off and Jeff Douglas

HELEN MANN: Hello, I’m Helen Mann, sitting in for Carol Off.

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

[Music: Theme]

Prologue

JD: Tonight:

HM: Mass destruction of weapons. After Friday's massacre in Christchurch, our guest joined others in New Zealand who turned in their guns to police to be destroyed.

JD: A gut-wrenching story. A whale's death in the Philippines was a mystery — until the necropsy revealed that it had consumed 40 kilograms of plastic waste.

HM: Days later, people are still clinging to trees. Rescue teams in Mozambique face major obstacles as they respond to a cyclone described as the biggest natural disaster the country's ever faced.

JD: Belated recognition. When a German museum asks for help identifying an Indigenous man in a photo in its collection, a U.S.-based journalist does some successful sleuthing.

HM: Backhand compliments. First, 18-year-old Canadian Bianca Andreescu beat Venus Williams. Now, she's won her first major title — and her coach tells us she's got what it takes to keep holding court.

JD: And...he mulled it over — and now it's mullet over. After ten years of annual videos celebrating awesome hockey hair, a Minnesota man calls it quits, without much pompadour and circumstance.

JD: "As It Happens", the Monday edition. Radio that guesses his decision is cut-and-blow-dried.

[Music: Theme]

Part one: New Zealand folo guns, Cyclone Idai, Andreescu coach

New Zealand folo guns

Guest: John Hart

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: A traditional Haka]

JD: That’s the sound of an impromptu Haka chant in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Haka, of course, is a traditional Maori ceremonial dance. The one you just heard was performed by schoolchildren today, outside one of the mosques where a shooter killed 50 people on Friday. Two of their fellow students are among the dead. While New Zealanders grieve, there are calls for action — to change the country's gun laws. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says next week, she'll announce some concrete proposals to change those laws. But some have decided they're not waiting. John Hart is a sheep and beef farmer, and a gun owner. We reached MR. Hart in Masterton, New Zealand.

HM: Mr. Hart, you were the owner of a semi-automatic rifle. Where is your gun now?

JOHN HART: It's now with the New Zealand police.

HM: And how did you come to the decision to turn it over to them?

JH: For me, it actually was a pretty quick thought process. After the tragic events of Friday in Christchurch, what we've thought of as a useful tool for farming and outdoor life — the semi-automatic rifle — it's not essential. And I realize that the trade off me of having this sometimes useful tool for my convenience really didn't stack up against the danger of it being used to hurt people in the future. And, of course, from that point I couldn't in all conscience hold onto mine if I felt that way.

HM: I think for many people we think of those guns as being to kill people. But as a farmer, why did you have it?

JH: Yeah, good question. So in New Zealand, we are a very rural nation. And a large proportion of people do own firearms. We have issues that perhaps other countries don't have with invasive pests like goats and pigs and deer that we actually do cull and hunt quite regularly. So for a lot of farmers, having a semi-automatic weapon is just a tool for pest control. But of course, like any weapon you'll give people they’ll use it for recreation and whatever reason they want to hold onto them for. It was time for us to have a conversation as a country about what is the utility of those weapons versus the potential risk?

HM: So once you made this decision, what was the process like of getting the gun to police? How did that unfold?

JH: The country's on a bit of a heightened state of alert. So there are now armed police outside our police stations, which is quite unusual for New Zealand. And so it was a little daunting walking into a police station with a couple of armed constables out front carrying a gun — in a case nonetheless. But at least it was pretty straightforward. I walked in, gave them the gun, signed a form, and walked out. But they did say that others were considering the same thing.

HM: Yeah, around the world a lot of people are taking note of the fact that your prime minister announced very quickly within 24 hours after that attack Friday that New Zealand's gun laws needed to change. Were you surprised that that was such a quick decision on her part?

JH: Not particularly. I was hoping that she would do something decisive and bold. And that's sort of the style of prime minister we've come to expect from Jacinda Ardern. But she's absolutely right. We really can't escape the logic of the fact that as long as these guns are around, they can be misused.

HM: We hear from authorities in your country that the suspect in the attack used five guns — all apparently acquired legally. Two of them were semi-automatic assault weapons. Do you think that stricter gun laws might have prevented Friday's attack?

JH: Yeah, you can't argue with the fact that this person came to New Zealand to carry out his plans. There's probably a reason why he didn't do it in Australia, where he was from. And I suspect a large part of that was they have much stricter controls on those sorts of weapons.

HM: And not only did he have assault weapons, he appeared to have several high-capacity magazines on those rifles that would mean he'd go through several rounds without having to reload. Is that legal in New Zealand?

JH: For a very restricted class of licence, you are allowed to have those magazines — people like professional pest control and hunters who actually need to have that when they say culling goats from a helicopter. So they are available, but they are in theory quite restricted — obviously not long enough given the events of Friday.

HM: You mentioned that the police said other people had expressed interest in getting rid of this type of weapon. Do you think that that is a common feeling right now? The idea of getting rid these guns, or are you seeing the opposite response? Are people digging in their heels?

JH: A little bit of both. I mean there have been stories in the local media in New Zealand about panic buying. People have been going and buying up stocks of AR-15s and whatever they can find in gun shops. That is offset by the number of people who have said to me that they are considering if not giving up their weapons at least agreeing that they should be banned, and are waiting to see what the government response is.

HM: I don't know how powerful the gun lobby might be in your country. I'm wondering whether you expect those who are sort of adamant gun owners to launch any kind of campaign against changes the government might enact.

JH: I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. We don't really have the type of gun lobby that you'd see in other countries like the US. There isn't the same amount of money. Our lobbying teams to be much more political rather than financial. So there have been opportunities in the past where politicians haven't followed through on recommendations on changes to gun laws, primarily because they were they were courting the hunting and fishing vote, or they were afraid of losing some of those voters. I get the feeling this time it's such a huge tragedy it seems to be a real circuit-breaker for a lot of people. And I'd be surprised if there was much sympathy for those arguments among general New Zealanders.

HM: We are going to hear the concrete proposals from your prime minister and her government next week. What specific things would you be looking for?

JH: Any larger caliber weapon with a semi-automatic action should probably be banned, except for very exceptional circumstances. That said, it's probably a good time to actually have an inquiry and look at the entire system and see what could be improved. As an aside we have something like 10 or 12 million cows in New Zealand, and they're all tracked on a nationwide system that records births and deaths and movements. If we can track tens of millions of cow movements a year with quite good accuracy, I'm pretty sure we have the technology to track some guns as well.

HM: Even from far away, this has been devastating to watch what happened on Friday and how people have just been struggling with all of these deaths and injuries. How has the attack affected you?

JH: I think like a lot of New Zealanders, we're still processing what happened. So we're still we're still getting to grips with what it means for us. But I think that there's general outrage that it could happen. And it's not just about the firearms. There's a wider conversation happening about white supremacy and radicalisation and extremism that we've kind of been blind to in this country. This person was able to travel to Turkey, to Pakistan, he was able to buy weapons online — it sort of beggars belief that a person with those behaviours could have somehow slipped through every possible law enforcement and security apparatus that we have.

HM: Well Mr. Hart, I really appreciate you speaking with us today. Thank you so much.

JH: My pleasure.

JD: John Hart is a farmer and a gun owner. We reached him in Masterton, New Zealand.

[Music: Industrial]

Wernick resignation

JD: Canada's top bureaucrat says he can no longer hope to have the trust and respect of the opposition parties — and so he's stepping down. Privy council clerk Michael Wernick has been accused of trying to pressure former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to help the engineering firm SNC-Lavalin avoid going to trial. When he testified in front of the Justice Committee, he denied those allegations vigorously — too vigorously for some. In his resignation letter, he wrote that the clerk must be seen as an impartial arbiter by all parties. Here's what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said about Mr. Wernick today.

SOUNDCLIP

JUSTIN TRUDEAU: I want to thank Michael Wernick for his extraordinary service to Canada over many, many decades. We've accomplished a lot as a government over these past three-and-a-half years. And it was definitely in large part because of the extraordinary public service, and Michael Wernick’s leadership within that. He will be missed. But we look forward to working with the insurer.

JD: The opposition was quick to jump on Michael Wernick's resignation. Here is Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre.

SOUNDCLIP

PIERRE POILIEVRE: Well, it looks like Trudeau’s SNC Lavalin scandal is even bigger than we thought. Now we have an Attorney-General who has resigned, a treasury board president who has resigned, a top adviser to the prime minister who has resigned, and now the head of the public service itself has stepped down. The reality is the prime minister's government is in total crisis mode caused by his personal political interference in a criminal trial on broad bribery and fraud. The only person left to resign now is Justin Trudeau himself, whose corrupt government no longer has the confidence of Canadians.

JD: And NDP leader Jagmeet Singh also responded to Mr. Wernick's resignation in the House.

SOUNDCLIP

JAGMEET SINGH: This just bolsters our call for a public inquiry. Given the timing of this, many Canadians are wondering what that's about. Given the testimony we heard from Mr. Butts, given what we've heard from Mr. Trudeau, Canadians believe Ms. Wilson-Reybould. We want to hear from her again in committee. But more than ever, we need a public inquiry to get to the truth.

REPORTER: Had you lost confidence in his ability to be non-partisan in that role of overseeing election interference after his testimony?

JS: There was questions that were definitely that came to mind after his testimony. Given the self-serving nature of his testimony… given the self-serving nature of it, and the partisan nature of it all those calling the question moving forward if he'd be able to do his duty in a manner that would be appropriate given the role which is to be non-partisan.

JD: NDP leader Jagmeet Singh speaking in Ottawa today about the resignation of Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick.

[Music: Haunting instrumental]

Cyclone Idai

Guest: Jose Tembe

JD: Mozambique Environment Minister is calling Cyclone Idai "the biggest natural disaster" his country "has ever faced." The storm struck land late last week. It began with torrential rains and gale force winds. Then came the floods. Now, with the water still rising, reports from the worst affected areas are beginning to come in. Mozambique's president has warned that more than a thousand people may be dead. Jose Tembe is a freelance journalist. We reached him in the capital, Maputo.

HM: Mr. Tembe, describe to us the reports that you are hearing of the kind of damage they're seeing in Beira, which is the port city that seems to be the hardest hit?

JOSE TEMBE: What I see it's a lot of flooded zones, houses destroyed, some with roofs blown up, and people in despair in the accommodation centres who lost almost everything and they need help.

HM: How high are the water levels at this point?

JT: Well, it depends. The critical areas are on the riverbanks of Buzi and Pungwe. Those are the ones which have burst into floods at the weekend, and destroyed parts of the main road that helps the hinterland countries like in Zimbabwe and Malawi to import and export their goods through the port of Beira.

HM: So Beira is essentially cut off?

JT: Yes, Beira is actually isolated from the rest of Mozambique, and the rest of its neighbours.

HM: How many people there have been affected by all of this?

JT: Well, the government estimates that the affected people may reach something in the region of 100,000 any time.

HM: And when we talk about the way they are affected, I mean what is the situation with regards to things like drinking water and food?

JT: They have no drinking water, they don't have food. According to President Nyusi, who overflew and visited parts of the affected areas, people are badly in need of food, drinking water. Some still need to be rescued because they are trapped on trees and rooftops.

HM: So days later, there are still people stuck in trees.

JT: Yes, there are still people because it's continuing to rain in central Mozambique. Heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms and the strong winds. And the situation will remain like this until Thursday, according to meteorologists. But also, President Nyusi he warned people because we are downstream. The upstream countries like is Zimbabwe and Malawi, if they open the floodgates, the flooding in Mozambique may worsen.

HM: It's awful and terrifying for the people who are stuck on those roofs and those trees. What kinds of stories are being told by people in the area about what they've been going through?

JT: Well, it's horrifying not only for the people themselves there, but also for relatives away in safe ground. They are worried that because there are communications problems, probably their relatives are dead as well because they have not been communicating with them since the cyclone. And one person who managed to fly from Beira to Maputo today told the local television here that Beira is beyond recognition, given the extent of the damages.

HM: Mozambique's president is actually warning that the number of deaths could rise to over a thousand. Why I guess is it so hard to assess the scale? It's just that nobody can get in there to get a sense of these numbers?

JT: Yeah, the problem is that some remote areas there are no communications, and it's difficult to get information. So that the number may rise one, because of that, but the other is because of this fear of floodgates being opened, which may cause more deaths and destructions.

HM: Are there concerns about disease and the potential for more contamination?

JT: Yes, there are concern of cholera, malaria, and diarrheal diseases. But the government says it’s mobilizing or it’s trying to get international support in medicine, food, drinking water. It spoke of India shipping some of these, which are likely to arrive anytime soon. South Africa has also helped with some food. And people from South Africa — particularly young people, volunteers — have arrived are already in Beira trying to help in the rescue operations.

HM: Meantime, I'm hearing that local people are doing what they can under the circumstances to help. What have you heard of that?

JT: Yes, the government has mobilized people to be in a solidarity with their brothers and sisters who are actually suffering in Beira. It can be money, in food, in clothing, and a material support as well. In fact, one family of five children from their accommodation had gone back to their original place to see whether they could rebuild their houses. But suddenly, the rivers nearby burst into flooding when they were to stay over the roofs and trees. But, according to them, thank God they managed to get some safety before rescue operations arrived. And they're now on safe ground, and they have nothing but life.

HM: Mr. Tembe, I'm sorry your country's going through this. Thank you so much for talking to us about it.

JT: No, you're welcome. Thank you.

HM: All right, goodbye.

JT: Goodbye. Yes. Bye-bye.

JD: Jose Tembe is a freelance journalist. We reached him in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique.

[Music: Electronic]

Andreescu coach

Guest: Sylvain Bruneau

JD: Bianca Andreescu gave it her best shot this past weekend. And then another, and another. Until the 18-year-old tennis player from Mississauga, Ontario won her first Women's Tennis Association title, at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Her victory comes on the heels of a spectacular outing in Australia in January, where she beat Venus Williams. And Sunday's match against German Angelique Kerber was no walk in the park. Here is Ms. Andreescu getting a pep talk from her coach Sylvain Bruneau during the 3rd set.

SOUNDCLIP

BIANCA ANDREESCU: I can barely move out there.

SYLVAIN BRUNEAU: You know how strong you are. You know how Strong you are mentally and physically. And now it’s true, you need to push, you're right, you're going to need to push through it. You're going to need to stay strong under adversity. But that's ok. That's what you want. You welcome competition.

BA: I want this so bad.

SB: Ok, that's good. Perfect. I like to hear that. So go out there. And keep competing every single ball. Every single point. You get your mindset. Well, that's all right. We knew that. But keep working her hard, okay?

JD: That was Bianca Andreescu talking to her coach, Sylvian Bruneau, during Sunday's match in Indian Wells, California — where Ms. Andreescu won her first WTA title. We reached Sylvain Bruneau in Irvine, California

HM: Sylvain Bruneau, what were you trying to accomplish during that exchange we just heard when Bianca Andre Oscar was telling you I can barely move out there.

SB: Yeah, physically, it was a difficult moment — difficult spot for her. And I just try to bank on her mental strength. I know how much she loves to compete. And it was a matter of trying to for a moment, for a short moment, try to forget about the pain and the discomfort and everything that was going wrong physically. And to try to put that aside as tough as it could be to put that aside and focus on being strong mentally, and just pushing yourself for a few more games.

HM: When you talk about my physical discomfort and the degree of pain, it's not just the intense exhaustion I'm assuming that she felt there. What was specifically going on with her?

SB: A lot going on because you know it's the exhaustion physically — the cramps mentally too. This was a very grueling match. The conditions were really warm — extremely difficult physically. That was her 7th match. She’s not not used to be at that level of playing so many matches against players of that level. So there were quite a few challenges ahead of her. And you know she managed through the adversity to go and dig deep, and do something pretty amazing.

HM: In that moment listening to you talk to her, I mean to me it seemed like she just needed to be heard. She just needed you to acknowledge what she was going through. Is that part of it?

SB: That's right. I mean I think it was important for me to listen to her and agree with what she was going through. So I didn't want to deny how she was feeling. But I didn't want to just focus on it either.

HM: Right. Now at one point, you can hear her say I want this so bad. You know I know obviously you and Bianca both wanted it so bad. But what effect does that have on a player in that moment? I mean can it be motivating, but can it also be a problem if you wanted too much?

SB: Yeah, it could be. It could be how you go about it, and what’s going to be your reaction to it. And she had a positive response to something she really wanted. She got her sleeves up. She managed the pain. She went to come back. She's a warrior. She was able to do that. You know you're right. You need to be careful how you are going to respond to that emotion. It's crucial that you keep going at it. And she was she was spectacular just the way she handled her emotions. And she was able to play those last four or five games. She played tremendous tennis. She elevated herself in the toughest conditions, became a you know just became a champion in there for four or five games, and it was pretty spectacular.

HM: I'm reading today in Tennis Magazine an assessment. They say that she has something unteachable. Do you think that's true?

SB: Yeah, I think she's born with great hands. She's born with a lot of gifts — a lot of talent. Mentally as well. She's got a lot of good things going for her. Now, she's still 18. It's the beginning of a long road. There's a journey ahead of her. We need to stay grounded, calm, not get ahead of ourselves. So we're going to need to be careful, and you know go step by step.

HM: Take us back to the moment of that victory — the minute that she won. What did she tell you that felt like for her?

SB: You know she was obviously ecstatic. It was a dream come true for her. It was something she has been dreaming of. She's a young girl. And it was just like too good to be true, or a bit unreal.

HM: What about your own emotions in that moment. What was it like for you?

SB: Well for a coach, this is like this is incredible to work with an athlete like this, and on such an important moment and see her deliver. I was just you know on cloud nine I guess I could say.

HM: As you pointed out, she's been having an amazing run. She started out the season in 2019 ranked 152 in the world. Then she had that win over Venus Williams, and now this one. Is there something is there like a moment where an athlete just has this incredible potential, and this is their time to kind of push forward.

SB: Yeah, yeah, it's just things really clicked recently for her. You know from each the tournament to another she gained more confidence, more confidence, started to really realize her potential, magic happened. So we'll see where that leads her.

HM: You know after she had that win over Venus Williams, I had a chance to speak with her father on this show, and you know he was just so grounded, and such that like such a regular guy, such a regular family. How important is the kind of support the kind of a sort of solid base that a player gets from their family in helping them get to this point?

SB: Very important because her family is doing a great job. They're incredible with her. they support her. The help her being the person she is. So I'm happy that she's able to count on two great person like this to help her along the way. That's going to be very important. It's important to be well surrounded. And I think they're going to play their role perfectly.

HM: How far do you think Bianca can take this? Where is she headed from here?

SB: There is no limit. There's no limits to what she can accomplish. I can say that. Saying this, there is a lot a lot ahead of her, and we need to be very careful to not start saying she's going to do this, she’s going to do that. I want to go how she's going to react this week in Miami. This is going to be such a challenge for her. You know she mentioned in her final speech that dream big is what she does, and I think definitely she's allowed to dream big and see where that leaves her.

HM: Sylvain, congratulations. I know you and she both know that Canadians are proud of her accomplishment. Please pass on our best wishes.

SB: Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you.

HM: Nice of you to talk to us. Bye-bye.

SB: Bye-bye.

JD: Sylvain Bruneau is Bianca Andreescu's coach. We reached him in Irvine, California. On the weekend, Ms. Andreescu won her first WTA title in three sets, at the BNP Paribas Open.

[Music: World music]

Part two: Whale plastics, German Indigenous

Whale plastics

Guest: Darrell Blatchley

JD: It wasn't immediately clear what killed a Curvier Beaked Whale that beached itself in the Philippines on Saturday. But when authorities cut it open, the answer became horrifyingly and glaringly obvious. Its body was full of plastic waste — 40 kilograms, to be exact. Darrell Blatchley owns a local museum, and helped with the necropsy of the whale. We reached him in Davao City, Philippines.

HM: Darrell, first of all, can you describe this particular whale for us? The size, the type it was, and where it was found?

DARRELL BLATCHLEY: It's a unique species of whale. It's called a Curvier Beaked Whale. Now with this one it's only fifteen point four feet long, so it's still considered a juvenile. So the fact that it's a beaked whale means it's one of the more rare species seldom seen ones because there such deep divers in the ocean.

HM: Ok. And now where was it found?

DB: This one was found in Mabini Compostela Valley, which is about two hour drive from where our museum is located here in Davao City in a mangrove swamp area long near a fishing village.

HM: Now you were there for the necropsy. Take us through what you saw when the whale was cut open?

DB: The first thing we noticed with this animal was it was severely emaciated or starved. The face was starting to shrink down getting closer to the skull. The ribs were starting to be exposed to the blubber. As well as the backbone was very pronounced on it, whereas a whale like this usually is going to look kind of fat and chubby. This one was looking very, very stark. When we finally arrived to the stomach portion of the animal, the stomach of an animal that starved to death if its starved due to disease or whatever the stomach is going to be gassy and just basically like a balloon full of air. This one the stomach the size of basically two basketballs, but almost rock hard. So we knew it was compacted with something. As we started to cut it open, I put my hand down inside the stomach immediately hitting hard debris. It was obvious that it wasn't this normal food because this animal should be eating squids and fishes. This was just all hard. So as we started to pull it out, the first one was a grocery bag, and then it was literally just bag after bag after bag. It was unbelievable how much plastic was in there.

HM: When you pulled all this plastic out how, much did it finally end up weighing?

DB: It we ended up weighing about 40 kilos, which I believe is about 88 U.S. pounds. It's ridiculous amounts.

HM: Have you ever seen that much plastic pulled out of a whale?

DB: No, no we have never seen that much plastic. We recovered a sperm whale in 2016 that was 38 feet long. So a sperm whale that size is going to be estimated close to probably 30 tons. It died because of ingestion of about 10 kilos of fishing lines. This one, the whale, was only 15 feet long, weighed about 500 kilos, dying because of 40 kilos of plastic. It's literally almost 10 per cent of its body weight.

HM: The fact that the plastic was so compacted, what does that tell you about how long this whale has been ingesting these bags and other materials?

DB: This animal had been suffering for months if not even possibly a year to get to that point of the plastic being compacted. For it to calcify like that it's not something that happens overnight. It was sickening. But at the same time, you just felt so much pity for that animal that it had to go through that much before finally dying.

HM: So the whale was severely malnourished and suffering from what you describe. Do you know the actual cause of death?

DB: The actual cause if you go by medical terms would be dehydration starvation. Dehydration due to the fact that these animals through the food that they eat that's where they get their fresh water. And starvation due to the fact that it had nothing that it could digest to eat.

HM: How is it that the whale is ingesting all this plastic?

DB: with a Curvier Beaked Whale, their main food, in fact, through the squid beaks that we're were finding inside the stomach, the squid beaks would have been animals they would have been the size of a metre to two metres long. So when it ingests the first piece of plastic, then its stomach is starting to get blocked by the plastic, which causes it to start to become dehydrated which means it's becoming weaker. So instead of diving down deeper, it's starting to look for more surface food. The echolocation shows something the shape of what its food should be. So basically, when they attack that plastic bag thinking that it's a squid, it's not hey let's hang onto it or play with it, it’s swallow it as fast as possible, and then it's compacting inside the stomach. And then it's going I'm still hungry, I'm still thirsty, I'm getting weaker, I got to catch more prey, and the plastic is more abundant in the food.

HM: How extensive is the problem of plastic pollution around the Philippines right now?

DB: Unfortunately to say, the Philippines is number three for the whole world for plastic garbage to the ocean. The number one is China, followed by Indonesia, and then the Philippines. The Philippines is a country of 110 million people living on seven thousand six hundred islands all surrounded by ocean, with the mentality of the garbage isn't my problem. Throw it out the window of your vehicle; the street sweepers will clean it up. Oh, there's an open canal. Throw it in the canal. The rains will wash it away. We don't see it again. Or if they live next to the ocean or a river, throw it in the river, the river carries it away, not my problem anymore. Even though there's laws that have recently been put in place, the law is only as good as the enforcement. The law is only as good as the discipline of the people within that country. And so with the Philippines, it has to go from a mentality of it's not my problem to it's everybody's problem. From the government down to the kindergarten level, they got to say this is our country, we're proud that it's our country, but at the same time we have to take care of it. It has to be the majority not the minority that's making the change.

HM: When we go out into a coastal cleanup, and you have high tide, and you're cleaning up all the garbage, you look back on the beaches perfectly spotless. The water goes out, comes back up, and it literally looks like you did nothing. It's not the fact is cleaning the beaches, cleaning the ocean, it's stopping the garbage from being thrown to begin with.

HM: What's the emotional impact of something like this experience on a person like you who's worked so hard in this area? On seeing this Curvier Beaked Whale suffer like this?

DB: I don't want to sound cheesy, but it breaks my heart. I have two sons — an eight-year-old and a nine-year-old — that when they see people throwing garbage on the ground they get mad because they know it's going to cause the death of an animal if it reaches the ocean literally looked in their eyes is like Why. Why. I mean it would be like it would be like saying how have we allowed these animals to go extinct in our lifetime. Why didn't we do something looking at the next generation going well sorry we were too lazy?

HM: Well Darrell Blatchley, it's really sad an awful situation. Thank you very much for telling us about it.

DB: Thank you, Helen. And you have a great day.

HM: All right. Bye-bye.

JD: We reached Darrell Blatchley in Davao City, the Philippines. And we have more on this story on the As It Happens website. That is: www.cbc.ca/aih

[Music: Hip-hop]

Canada-Ukraine

JD: Today, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced that Canada will extend its military missions in both Iraq and Ukraine. In Ukraine, that means that the 200 military trainers deployed to the country by the Conservative government in 2015 will now stay on until March 2022. Ukraine is, of course, still struggling to defend its sovereignty against Russia, whose forces seized Ukrainian ships and captured crew members off the Crimean Peninsula last November. Here's how the ministers responded to a question about how Russia might respond to this move by Canada:

SOUNDCLIP

HARJIT SAJJAN: It's very important to send our NATO allies a very strong message that we will be there for them. But also to send a very strong message to Russia that we do have the capabilities to making sure that we have a strong deterrence. But at the same time, we are open to dialogue. But it must be constructive dialogue.

CHRYSTIA FREELAND: I’ll just quickly add that super quickly. I'm very glad that Harj mentioned the imprisoned Ukrainian sailors — a very important issue for Canada. One of the things that we need to do, and which Canada is doing, is send a strong message of support to the people of Ukraine — particularly now in their election season. It's important for the people of Ukraine to realize, as is the case, that they are not alone. Quite the contrary, they have the strong and resolute support of the international community, very much of Canada, of NATO, of our allies. And I would point out since this is the fifth anniversary of the invasion and annexation of Crimea, I think there were many observers at that time who imagined that the unity of the West would not endure. That it would be very short-lived. The approach — the strong, resolute approach of standing up against this violation of international law. The sanctions against Russia. And actually, the unity of the West in the face of this Russian aggression has proven to be very strong and resolute, and it will continue to be.

JD: That was Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, speaking at a joint news conference today.

[Music: Ambient]

German Indigenous

Guest: Vincent Schilling

JD: Vincent Schilling isn't a detective. Well, not a full-time detective. He's the associate editor of the US-based publication Indian Country Today. And last week, he noticed a Facebook post from a museum in Frankfurt ,Germany. The museum is working on an exhibit of old posters portraying Indigenous North Americans. And they were wondering if anyone could put a name to the face on one of the posters. It showed a man wearing a Plains-style headdress. Vincent Schilling started tracking down leads. We reached him in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

HM: Mr. Schilling, what did you see in this photo that made you think that you could find this man's name?

VINCENT SCHILLING: Well, if you look at the photo, you can see his plans-style headdress. He has a headdress with fringes and beaded regalia, which is a very plains-style of regalia. And I looked, and I don't know all the specifics of the regalia based upon each tribe, of course. But having worked in Indian Country so many years, it did strike some familiarity with me that I said this gentleman is likely Oglala Lakota. And I even said to myself maybe from the Porcupine area, or Pine Ridge, or South Dakota, somewhere in there. And I thought I would… well, let me reach out to the museum and see if they have more than just a photograph. Maybe the poster has a little bit more information on it. And it did.

HM: And when you say the museum, what museum are we talking about?

VS: This is a German resume that I initially saw. It's the Weltkulturen Museum in Frankfurt, excuse me if I didn’t get that correct folks. But they were looking to identify him, and put a post on Facebook. And folks you know alerted us. My wife was like hey honey, check this out. And I was like wow, very interesting! So I contacted them, and they sent me a poster — a full-fledged posters saying Sundance on it. And sure enough, it said Porcupine, South Dakota. I was pretty surprised.

HM: So what did you do after that?

VS: Well, I was like ok. And I looked at the bottom, and it also had the telephone information. And it said the name of Birgil Kills Straight. Now Birgil Kills Straight, it just so happens literally about two or three weeks ago I wrote a story on him having passed away, and he was a very well-respected elder in Indian country. And he had another friend who had written a memorial about his life, and supplement to the article I wrote. So I reached out to him. It was Dave Archambault SR. And I said Mr. Archambault, do you know who this is? He says yes, a matter of fact, I do know who this is. And I said really? He said yes, it is Frank Fools Crow. And I said well, what do you know? I figured it out.

HM: And what did you learn about Frank Fools Crow in that conversation?

VS: Well, he told me that he was extremely respected Oglala Lakota elder. He practiced medicine. And was just very, very highly regarded. He spent a lot of time with a close friend of his, Noble Redman. And Birgil Kills Straight you know wanted to bring this to light this celebration of Sundance. And he is on the poster because of he was so widely respected and highly regarded in the community. So it was very interesting to hear some of the things about him.

HM: So what did the people at the Weltkulturen Museum make of this detective work of yours?

VS: Well, you know I haven’t heard back yet. They're there out of the office now, and I was really excited. But they were very excited that I did the article. But I've been getting a lot of response on social media from people like wow! That’s the most amazing thing. How did you figure that out? I was like you know I don't really know. But I do in the fact that you know you just can't whittle it down enough, you can usually figure some things out. And I really was very happy you know I can say in response to the museum, I was very happy to see them you know reaching out to want to give a name to a respected elder who deserves it not to just be stereotyped as a Native American. You know this man had family and friends. I don't know. I felt very uplifted by this entire experience.

HM: Well, as I understand it, this isn't the only photo that they're trying to put a name to. What do you make of the fact that they're doing this at this German museum?

VS: Well, you know I have one thing I have discovered being a journalist is a lot of Native American artists and a lot of Native American recording artists and musicians make most of their money in Europe. They travel a lot into European nations because a lot of European countries are very, very profoundly influenced by Native American culture. They really like Native Americans. They talk about Native Americans. You know just museum, the students at the university had collected photos of these posters. You know an now it’s enough to be a museum exhibit. So in some ways I appreciate the appreciation of the culture. But I've also heard a lot of stories about you know a lot of appropriation of the culture in European nations. You know not everyone, but... So it's positive in they want to identify it. But you know I also find a little bit of a troubling because I've seen some of the things, and I just I worry about that stereotype. But the fact that someone's asking to name him shows you know no respect for the culture, which is very encouraging.

HM: So if you were able to do this, shouldn't experts at museums be able to do this?

VS: You know it is very possible, certainly. You know I don't want to diminish anyone's knowledge or research that they've done over the years. I don't certainly don't want to do that, and I don't appreciate anyone's willingness to learn. But I do feel that there are certain… I don't know how to really say it. Feelings I get as a Native man or impressions or guidance and where to go in the right way. And I just feel that this happened in this instance. I mean if you look at the timeline, I reached out to the museum, sent an email. And then within an hour, I got the email from the gentleman at the museum. Then I sent the poster to another person. And within an hour, he got back to me. And it all happened literally within three hours I had the name of this gentleman. It blew my mind.

HM: Yeah, Mr. Schilling, I really appreciate you telling us the story. Thank you very much.

VS: Yes, thanks for having me. appreciate it.

HM: Okay. Bye-bye.

VS: Bye-bye.

JD: Vincent Schilling is the associate editor of Indian Country Today. We reached him in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

[Music: Jazz]

Last hockey hair

SOUNDCLIP

JOHN KING: You might've heard the salad days have come to an end. And after 10 years, this is the last video I'll be doing. So let's go out with a bang, shall we? Let's make this the grand flow-nally. Let's try that again. Grand flow-nally.

00:44:43 - SPEAKER: M9

JD: That's the voice of John King. Ad executive. Minnesota native. Connoisseur — and ultimate arbiter — of hockey hair. Every year for the past ten years, Mr. King has uploaded a video of the year's "Minnesota State High School All Hockey Hair Team". During that televised tournament, every player from every team skates up to the camera, game face and game hair on. John King watches those clips, and judges the merits of their "salads" -- by which he means, their hairdos. Here are a few excerpts from the 2019 edition.

SOUNDCLIP

JK: Starting us off at number 10, we have the malted milk bowl from Blaine. It's a brown circle that's soft on the inside. I think we can all agree that's a whopper. At number eight, we call this look the Titanic because that's some iceberg lettuce right there, and you are the king of the world. At number six some killer flow from Lakeville, and this kid's not trying too hard. He's letting the game come to him. We call this the diamond in the fluff. Next New Ulm brings us the inboard motor. Big wake in back, so you can surf without a rope. And in the top spot, just some vintage hockey hair from Duluth East — gorgeous. That's some fabulous flow brother, wooo!

John King, with his rundown of the best hairstyles at this year's Minnesota high-school hockey tournament. The highlights of the players with highlights. Over the decade he's been making these videos, Mr. King has coined other terms for fascinating hairdos: "the disinterested pompadour"; the "railroad baron"; and "Michelange-Flow" among them. But now, he's done with the salad course. His videos have been watched by millions, and raised more than 100 thousand dollars for charity. He told Minneapolis TV station KARE-11, "I didn't want to jump the shark. I one hundred percent would rather get out with people wanting more." He also said, quote, "I've used my 15 minutes of fame to be the guy who judges high school boys' hair. So, I've clearly horribly misplayed my hand." Unquote. Now he's just being self-deprecating. Sure, he did judge hair, I mean "salad" — but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Lettuce.

[Music: Banjo]

Part three: Irving journo pressure, BC Island missing person

Irving journo pressure

Guest: David Pugliese

JD: Ottawa Citizen reporter David Pugliese had a few questions about a tip he received. So he sent inquiries to the Department of National Defence, and Public Services and Procurement Canada. He'd assumed he was just sharing his questions with those particular government entities. It turned out, however, that someone shared his questions — and his name — with the very company he was asking questions about: -- Irving Shipbuilding. The Halifax-based company has billions of dollars in contracts with the federal government. Both departments are looking into whether the Privacy Act was breached. And now Mr. Pugliese has more questions than ever. We reached David Pugliese in Victoria.

HM: David Pugliese, you have had a few days to absorb what happened. What is top of your mind about all of this today?

DAVID PUGLIESE: Well, I guess the question that I've got is… and it still hasn't been answered… is what is the what's the level of coordination between this company — Irving — and the federal government?

HM: I'll get you to take us back a little bit first of all. What were you asking about when you sent your questions to both DND and Public Services and Procurement Canada?

DP: So I was given some information that there were problems with welds on the Arctic offshore patrol ships. So those are being built at Irving shipyards. The project is worth three-point-five billion dollars. So I copied all this all down. So you know at 11:16 Eastern on March 6^th, I asked DSD and Procurement Canada to comment. At 12:48, I get an email from Shawn Lewis of Irving ship building saying well you know my inquiry has been brought to his attention. And can we talk. At 1:23 we do talk, and I'm with Kevin McCoy president of Irving ship building. And essentially 67 seconds into the conversation, he says I'm gonna get you know a letter from their lawyer, which they follow it up about an hour later.

HM: So just to be clear, you sent your inquiries to two federal government departments, but 90 minutes later it wasn't the departments you heard back from, It was a senior people at Irving.

DP: That's correct.

HM: What went through your mind?

DP: Well, as I said to Mr. McCoy, I said how did you get my name, right? And how did you get my questions? And he said that they were informed by their quote “client”, which is the federal government. So you know I started thinking like what's going on here? So I did have concerns. One, you know privacy concerns obviously. But two, about you know the level of coordination between the federal government and this private entity.

HM: And you took the content of this conversation from their side is suggesting that you might be subject to a lawsuit?

DP: Oh, he made that very clear. So essentially Mr. McCoy said like what was I asserting. And I said I told them I said I'm not asserting anything. I've just asked a question, and journalists are allowed to do that. And I've asked the question to the federal government. And if I need to contact Irving, I will at a later date — if there's a story. Because don't forget it at that point I hadn't determined whether there is a story or not. Later that day, both the Department of National Defence and Procurement Canada confirmed that they provided my name to Irving as well as details of my questions.

HM: Is it possible that the people in those government departments were just trying to get some answers to your questions from Irving?

DP: For sure, right? But you know that's their job. First of all, you know I guess that they're supposed to be coordinating this three-point-five billion dollars these people in these federal departments. So if they don't know about issues with the ship, I mean that raises another question. But you know going to Irving you can say ok we've got we've got this inquiry. You know do you know anything about it, right? But they did more than that. I mean they provided my information and our questions.

HM: You keep saying your questions are about at this point now the coordination of information between the government and Irving. What do you mean by that?

DP: Well, this is the second time… well, the third time actually it's happened where my information has been shared — the second time with Irving. In October 2016, this similar thing happened. I complained to Procurement Canada about that as well. Last year a similar thing happened with DND with another defence company. I complained about that as well. So and then you know I did receive a response that time from DND saying that you know that this would never happen again. [laugh]

HM: And yet, it has.

DP: And yet, it has.

HM: So now there is an investigation into a possible breach of the Privacy Act. You've been told again journalists won't be named going forward. What else are you looking for at this point?

DP: Well, on a personal level I'm going to file some Access to Information requests. I'd like to find out you know the extent of the information about me that was passed. You know all I have is is what the department is telling me. So there's that aspect. And I'd like I'd like to see how they did this inside. You know what their thinking was. Because quite frankly, I don't trust a lot of the answers that I'm getting.

HM: Since this whole thing became public, your concerns about your privacy in this call from Irving, what is the company saying?

DP: The company hasn't said anything. I've asked the series of questions about the company. The only time the company did respond besides the brief interview with Mr. McCoy was with their legal letter, in which they said that you know if I printed a story about issues with the welds you know forcing the ships out of water and such that they would sue me personally, and every single publication that carried that story. Now DND has confirmed that there were issues with the welds, but they say that they're minor. And you know if I'd gotten that response earlier, I wouldn't have… well, there was no story done. But that's what journalists do. You ask questions.

HM: David, thanks for taking us through the story.

DP: Thank you.

HM: All right. Bye.

DP: Bye.

JD: David Pugliese is a defence reporter for the Ottawa Citizen. We reached him in Victoria. For more on this story you can go to our website: www.cbc.ca/aih. And we did receive a response from the Department of National Defence. It reads, in part, quote, “While we cannot comment on the communications approaches or media engagement of outside companies, we can confirm that we informed Irving who the reporting entity was. We are currently verifying whether this constitutes a violation of the Privacy Act. Regardless of that outcome, this is a matter we are taking extremely seriously and we have already issued interim direction to anonymize media requests pending further information.” Unqoute.

[Music: Instrumental]

Canada Reads: David Chariandy

JD: A week from today, five high-profile Canadians will go head-to-head in defence of books. Among the 2019 Canada Reads contenders is Toronto-born, Hong Kong-based actor Lisa Ray. Ms. Ray is defending David Chariandy's novel "Brother" — a book she says will "make you question your ideas of valour and heroism today." Brother is a coming-of-age story set in the ethnically-diverse Toronto suburb of Scarborough — with a protagonist named Michael whose life is shaped by an act of violence. In this passage, read by Mr. Chariandy, one of Michael's childhood friends has returned home to so-called "Scarberia" after a long absence.

SOUNDCLIP

DAVID CHARIANDY: We are approaching the western edge of the Lawrence Avenue Bridge, a monster of reinforced concrete over 200 yards in length. Hundreds of feet beneath it runs the Rouge Valley, cutting its own way through the suburb heedless of manmade grids. But the Rouge is invisible to us tonight. And we have just arrived at the Waldorf — a townhouse complex at the edge of the bridge, and made of crumbling salmon brick flapping blue tarps draped eternally over its northeast corner. The unit where Ayesha short lived 10 years ago with her father is on the prized south of the building away from traffic. But the side where I've remained all my life is at the busy edge of the avenue, exposed to the constant hiss of tires on asphalt. I warn Ayesha about the loose concrete on the doorsteps, and suffer a sudden bout of clumsiness working the brass key into the lock. I push open the door to show a living room lit blue with the shifting light of a television — its volume turned off. There is a couch with its back towards us. And on it, there is a woman with graying hair, who does not turn. I gesture to Ayesha that we should be quiet. I remove my shoes in a demonstrating way. And with our coats still on, I quickly guide Ayesha across the living room. The woman on the couch continues to watch the silent television. The mime of a talk show interview, the celebrity guest throwing his head back in laughter. I lead Ayesha down a short hallway to the second bedroom — a small lamp casting a circle of light upon a desk, a bunk bed with a mattress and sheets on the lower bed only. The upper bunk long ago stripped bare — even the mattress removed, leaving skeletal slots of wood. I closed the door behind us, and in the sudden smallness of the room begin explaining we won't be sleeping together on the bed, of course. I'll be using the living room couch, which is quite comfortable honestly. I point out the towel and extra blankets set out very obviously on the sheets of the lower bunk. I stop when I notice that Ayesha is staring, and that she hasn't let her backpack touched the floor. Your mother doesn't speak anymore, she asks? She speaks. She's just quiet sometimes, especially at night. I'm sorry, she says to me shaking her head. I shouldn't have come. This is intrusion, bullets of slush smattering upon the bedroom window, another truck that is passed to close to the curb outside. But in the wake of sudden noise, a feeling creeps upon me. One of shame maybe for imagining that I could try to end our conversation tonight like this with talk of sleeping arrangements and towels with acknowledgement of Ayesha father, yet no acknowledgement of the other loss shadowing this room, and measured in the ten years of silence between us. I still think of Frances, she says.

JD: That was David Chariandy, reading from his novel "Brother". That book, which will be championed by actor Lisa Ray, will be on Canada Reads next week. And we'll have more readings from Canada Reads' authors throughout the week.

[Music: Sombre]

BC Island missing person

Guest: Louie Frank Jr

JD: For months now, Travis Thomas has been living alone on a remote, uninhabited island off the B.C. coast. And his loved ones have not been able to persuade him to leave. Mr. Thomas's family sent him to Bartlett Island last summer on a traditional Indigenous healing journey — to help him deal with addiction and mental health issues. Mr. Thomas was meant to stay there alone for about two weeks. But when the time came for him to return home, he had disappeared into the island's dense forest. Since then, there have been searches and sightings of the troubled man. At times, his family and friends have worried that he may have died. Yesterday, his uncle, Louie Frank Jr., spotted him again. We reached Mr. Frank in Ahousaht, British Columbia.

HM: Mr. Frank, what was it like for you to finally see Travis on the island yesterday?

LOUIE FRANK: When I saw Travis yesterday, I was a very happy uncle because I haven't seen Travis for twenty-seven days until yesterday. So I was pretty worried for him. I didn't know if he was still here with us or what was going on. So I was just pretty worried. And I was so happy when I saw him yesterday to know that he's still alive.

HM: What were the circumstances in which you saw him? Did you just stumble across him, or did he come out to see you?

LF: Yeah, I come up a hill, and spotted him on the other side. And he was walking away from me. I called him, and he turned around and looked at me. But he kept walking. By the time where I saw him go over the hill, he was already gone.

HM: And how did he look?

LF: He looks pretty healthy. We noticed that someone used body wash, and they could really smell it where he went of, so it was him that probably used it.

HM: How would he have got that body wash? Is this among the supplies you’ve given him?

LF: We sent it up there for him. It’s been there since just about day one when he went missing.

HM: What are these supplies then that you're leaving for him?

LF: We leave food for him to eat, and water.

HM: And do you go often? Do people deliver this every day?

LF: We deliver just about every day that we can. Some days it gets pretty stormy here, so waves get pretty big when it gets stormy.

HM: Do you provide other kind of help for him?

LF: We have a big tent up for him, and we have a fold-up bed in there for him with blanket and stuff. We make sure we leave the fire going for him and have some split wood and stuff for him.

HM: Why do you think he doesn't want to speak with you?

LF: Travis was diagnosed with a mental illness a few years ago: paranoid psychosis and he was taking some medication for it. I read up on it. I've been reading up on it where when he's under this, he has a fear of humans. And that’s why I figure he doesn't want to come to us.

HM: Are you leaving medication for him among the other things?

LF: No. The doctor that works with him said if we give it to him, it might do something to him where it would hurt him than help him. The medication they give to him, the give it to him in the hospital. That's why we can’t do it out there.

HM: Right, it has to be a medical supervision.

LF: Yes, under medical supervision.

HM: How was it that his family was hoping the island would help him in being sent there.

LF: To gain sobriety. Because just before we sent him out there he lost his wife, and he started really drinking heavily. And this was the mom's last resort to try to get him help.

HM: So sending him there was an effort to get him sober?

LF: Yeah.

HM: Is that a common thing in the community that people do that?

LF: It's not really a common thing. This was my sister's last hope to get him help.

HM: What was your own feeling about sending him there?

LF: When they send him out I was against it. I went on a talk to say no to them, but it's a culture practice of ours where we send them out.

HM: How is your family coping with all of this?

LF: We have our tough days, but we still have high hopes and our faith that one day we're going to get him, and that's where we keep going out.

HM: So you said you were against sending him to the island. Do you mean altogether, or you just didn't think it was the time for him to do that?

LF: At the time it wasn’t the time because he was still under the influence, and we don't usually do that. And that’s the part I was against. I wasn't a part of him going out. He was not ready to go because he was still under the influence of alcohol.

HM: How often are these journeys to the island successful in helping people to beat addiction and to heal?

LF: A majority of the time they work, and they can be out there for two weeks to six weeks. But this is different because Travis has been missing for 224 days now counting today.

HM: How do you hope to get him back after all this time? What are you thinking might be the thing that gets him to agree to come home?

LF: We pray every day that he comes to his senses, and that one day he'll snap out of his illness and realize that he needs to come home.

HM: Have you been consulting with his doctors about this?

LF: Yes.

HM: And what did they tell you?

LF: We just go to work on it and work at it. And they say he's not going to come out, we need to go in there and try to get him. But he knows that I'm pretty good where he can get away from us, and he has quite a bit of hiding spot on there where he can hide it out.

HM: It’s a very difficult situation, Mr. Frank. I wish you the best. And I hope Travis eventually or soon agrees to come home.

LF: Yeah, same here. That's my prayer that he will come home.

HM: Mr. Frank, thank you for talking with us.

LF: OK.

HM: All right you take care. Bye-bye.

JD: Louie Frank Jr. is the uncle of Travis Thomas, who has been missing on Bartlett Island, British Columbia since last summer. We reached Mr. Frank in Ahousaht, B.C.

[Music: Sombre piano]

Brexit ruling

JD: When it comes to Theresa May's Brexit deal, the third time has no charm whatsoever. British MPs have voted down their Prime Minister's proposal twice already. Still, everyone figured that — after Ms. May's disastrous week last week — that same deal would go to another vote this week. After all, the Brexit deadline is 11 days away away now. And yet, today — in a move that I’m sure shocked the government — Speaker John Bercow quashed that idea. He went deep into the history books, and pointed to a convention dating back 415 years. He made his ruling in the House of Commons earlier today.

SOUNDCLIP

JD: That was British House of Commons Speaker John Bercow — ruling today that the government cannot present the same Brexit deal for a third vote. Solicitor general Robert Buckland now says the government may have to consider scrapping this session of parliament to get a fresh start. The deadline for a Brexit deal is March 29.

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March 18, 2019 episode transcript

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