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The AIH Transcript for April 1, 2019

Hosts: Carol Off and Jeff Douglas

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Prologue

Carol Off: Hello. I'm Carol Off.

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

[Music: Theme]

JD: Tonight

CO: The great wet north. Melting glaciers are just the tip of the iceberg as a new report reveals Canada is actually warming faster than the rest of the world.

JD: Face off off players in the Canadian Women's Hockey League are shocked by the news that their league is abruptly shutting down, saying its business model is unsustainable.

CO: Comic Relief fed up with the policies of the incumbent Petro Poroshenko. Ukrainians look set to elect his unlikely rival an actor who plays the president in a TV sitcom.

JD: A sad story with an uplifting conclusion. Sixty years after it crashed in a sketch when Lake a Cessna is hoisted out of its watery grave and taken to an aviation museum.

CO: Guess who's leaving for dinner. A quirky new fine dining restaurant opens under a Toronto Expressway where activists point out a community of homeless people was evicted just weeks ago

JD: And getting off on the webbed foot. After a long search scientists found a Juliet for Romeo, the world's loneliest frog and now the amphibious couple has finally coupled. As It Happens, the Monday edition. Radio that's glad their story is less tragic than the play, although we're sure they still both.. croak at the end.

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Part 1: Climate report, Dinner with a View: anti-poverty activist, Romeo and Juliet frogs

Guests:

CLIMATE REPORT

JD: Climate change is hitting Canada and it's hitting Canada hard. A report released today shows that the country is warming at twice the global rate and in the north the situation is even worse. The study was commissioned by the Federal Government's Environment and Climate Change Department. Chris Dirksen is a research scientist and one of the authors of the report. We reached him in Ottawa.

JD: Mr. Dirsken we are still absorbing this report, but it seems that Canada is warming at twice the global rate according to the details. Did you anticipate this kind of result?

CHRIS DIRKSEN: Yes Carol I would say we did. This is something we've been tracking closely over the past couple of decades. Actually it's been a emerging trend in the climate data. And Canada is indeed warming at about twice the global average and we have a good understanding of why that is

CO: And why is that.

CD: Well there's two reasons. First some sort of from a general context point of view. Land areas of the Earth are warming at a higher rate than ocean areas. And as we all know Canada has a large landmass. Second thing is that Canada is a northern nation and we have a lot of snow on land and sea ice over the ocean. And as we lose our snow cover and our sea ice during the springtime especially this is when that brought those bright surfaces reflect a lot of solar energy back out to space. But in this case we lose that bright surface and more energy is absorbed at the surface that heats up the ocean water, heats up the land surface, sitting in positive feedback that cause greater warming over northern land areas.

CO: From this report what we understand are the areas that are being hit the most with climate change and will be in the future.

CD: Yeah, I’ll start with my own expertise, which is really focus on the Arctic so sea ice cover over the Arctic Ocean during the summer is changing very quickly as its snow cover over land in the spring permafrost is getting warmer. Glaciers are losing by half because they're melting more in the summer than they get fresh snowfall during the the winter. And I can speak to some other parts of the climate system as well. So the oceans are getting warmer absorbing a lot of heat from the atmosphere.

CO: It seems that northern B.C. is particularly hardly hit hard hit. So why is that?

JD: Well in recent years in recent periods there've been some usually warm temperatures there. I wouldn't say northern B.C. really stands out over any other parts of the country. It's the pattern that we're seeing from coast to coast to coast

CO: What about changes in precipitation?

CD: That's a bit of a tricky one in that the temperature changes track more coherently or consistently across the country. Precipitation tends to vary from place to place and month to month a little bit more. But we have seen that trend towards increased precipitation and our climate models project that these increases will continue into the future. But there is some risk as we get into a warmer climate that the enhanced precipitation that we see will be countered during the summer for instance by enhanced evaporation loss. So there's concerns about water stress due to drying over the summer period. So I’ll also note that we're seeing a trend emerge towards more extreme precipitation events. So for those of us who live in urban areas this is a concern because urban floods are really triggered by these short duration intense rainfall events that overwhelm our storm drains. So these are the kind of things you need to worry more about in the future.

CO: And we have seen devastating forest fires in the prairies and central and western Canada. Is that likely to increase?

CD: Certainly the conditions that lead to prevalent forest fires sort of fire weather, all signs indicate that this will increase in the future. So these extreme warm temperatures consistently long periods in the spring and summer of warm temperatures these dry out the vegetation and the land surface and contribute to enhanced forest fire risk. So certainly one of the messages from the report is that all signs moving forward indicate greater risk for enhanced fire weather and enhanced forest fire risk.

CO: So floods fire the situation in the Arctic permafrost is warming melting. All of these things and you can’t not just take them in isolation. What do they collectively mean for those of us who live in this northern country?

CD: Yeah you're right all of these things interconnect together. And what our historical data show quite clearly is that these changes have occurred. I think we should emphasize that the report is here to sort of inform policy, inform all it has changed and what the pathways are moving forward and there are multiple pathways. We understand the science is very clear that global temperatures are increasing. We've seen it scales directly to the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere carbon dioxide. So we have different pathways moving forward and those pathways will control the extent of the impacts that we see from climate change.

CO: You're talking about reducing CO2 emissions. You're talking about reducing greenhouse gases. Right?

CD: That's certainly one of the things that could happen moving forward. There's natural sources and things as well. And it's the cumulative global efforts to control the amount of CO2 which will have the most direct effect on temperature changes moving forward.

CO: But Canada’s contribution to CO2 emissions is less than 2 percent. So what even in Canada could could reduce its emissions what effect would possibly have on these devastating conditions that are outlined in this report?

CO: Yeah I mean this is definitely the message is that this is a global problem that requires a solution at the global scale. There is a history of this happening in the past. So with CFD and damage the ozone layer, there was the Montreal Protocol, which you know changed how things went and it really is a positive story. Before that there was the acid rain. So you know we have these cases in the past when a global community has recognized an environmental problem and worked together to address it. So I think the climate change issue that we're seeing right now is the same as that. It's a global problem a global challenge with global impacts and it requires countries to combine efforts to reduce global CO2 emissions.

CO: Alright Mr. Dirksen, we'll be following that. Thank you so much.

CD: OK. Thanks so much Carol.

JD: Chris Dirksen is a federal government researcher and one of the authors of a new report on the effects of climate change in Canada. We reached him in Ottawa.

[Music]

DINNER WITH A VIEW: ANTI-POVERTY ACTIVIST

JD: Why eat at a boring old bricks and mortar restaurant when you could dine in a heated glass dome beneath the highway. Toronto's hottest pop up event is here. It is running until early May and it is called Dinner With a View as you enjoy your meal prepared by one of Canada's top chefs. You can marvel at the novelty of the Gardiner Expressway rumbling overhead. Anti-poverty activists however have serious reservations about this project and this Friday they are planting their planning rather their own counter event in protest. Yogi Acharya is the organizer of a Dinner With a View of the rich. We reached Mr. Acharya here in Toronto.

CO: Yogi the organizers of this event are calling it “a luxurious dining experience in a highly unexpected setting.” How would you describe it?

YOGI ACHARYA: I think the description is quite accurate. The only thing I would say they're missing is that the unexpected setting has also been the setting for various homeless camps, especially this past winter in the city of Toronto.

CO: And this is you're speaking of well it just there was a tent city. There were many homeless people that were there and that they were cleared out some weeks ago, is that right?

YA: About two weeks ago the city cleared out the most recent homeless encampment, but over the course of the winter there were homeless camps under the Gardiner Expressway from Jarvis in the east and Spadina in the West End.

CO: So it's not new for people to dine under the Gardiner Expressway, is it? I mean they were eating whatever they could and living in tents and now this is a different thing. So what is it that you know about this Dinner With a View event?

YA: It's what has been reported in the media and what they proudly proclaim on their own website that they offer these ritzy dinners that start at $550 for a group of four not including taxes. And these dinners are served in these little bubbles made to look like terrariums and furnished for comfort.

CO: And what's the point of them being like geraniums. Well where do they what have you learned about that?

YA: I have no clue and that's a very good question for the organizers of the event. I imagine it adds to the mystique perhaps from their perspective off of doing an event like this

CO: When you look at pictures of them they are completely their glass domes are they you can see in and out you see all around see the stars, but you can't see homeless people, can you?

YA: And I'm not even quite sure you can see the stars, given the fact that they're under an expressway. The whole notion of dinner with a view under the Gardiner to me is quite bizarre because there isn't much of a view and you're absolutely right that it certainly won't be homeless people given various encampments were cleared out by the city.

CO: What's wrong with it in your view?

YA: I mean to me what the key thing that's wrong with it is that the city cleared out homeless people who were living under the gardener with no heat. They were evicted. Meanwhile pop up restaurants serving ritzy diners and heated dorms under that same highway are granted permits and such brazenness from my perspective it begs a challenge and we're happy to oblige.

CO: What are you obliging with?

YA: With the restaurant putting up this obscene spectacle is promising a three course dinner. They boast that their chefs is a Top Chef Canada winner. Well our chefs haven't won any TV shows, but they do win at human decency. So we're going to put on a free three course meal right next to theirs and together with the people who are going to show up there, we're going to eat, we're going to be lively and we're going to take in the view of the brazenness of the wealthy and the brutality of our city.

CO: You’re going to set up your own foodie event right beside where all these rich diners are seated?

YA: That's correct.

CO: And what are you serving?

YA: We're still in the process of planning our menu. It won't be a luxurious meal, but it will certainly be a filling meal for people.

CO: We're just looking at some of the things that are on the menu for the ones under the terranium ones. Slow roasted organic eggplant drizzled with ratatouille. There is a an Alaskan, silky Alaskan black cod fillet with peas blanketed in butter and layered with potatoes and caramelized baby onions in organic honey.

YA: Well ours might include that of a dough with potatoes stuffing beautifully fried until it's golden brown otherwise known as the Somosa it might include gourmet sandwiches with roasted vegetables. I mean who knows what we're able to come up with. I mean the incredible thing for me has been in terms of the response to this event is that people are writing in offering to bake, offering to make all sorts of things to share for free. I think that brings out the best in me that it to me is the best in humanity contrasted with the obscene.

CO: At the same time though I mean this area where they're having this dinner this dinner is not the same exactly. the same place where the homeless were moved out a few weeks ago. This isn't a public space for the city called the Bentway. Don't they have a right to use public space as they please?

YA: Well if it's a public space any and all people have the right to use that space and the fact that the poorest people in a city dealing with a deadly housing crisis were pushed out from a place where they were living in order to make space for spectacles like this for the wealthy I mean that is something that is really bothersome. Also for years homeless people and advocates have been calling for the city to open up armories as a temporary shelter because there simply isn't adequate space. And the pop-up restaurant sits at the doorstep of the Fort York Armory. So while the city refuses to open up the armories, it is willing to put up spectacles such as this and that is not something that we're willing to be desensitized to.

CO: And the people who are moved out. Where did they end up? Where did the people who were pushed out and had their tents folded two weeks ago, two or three weeks ago, where did they go?

YA: We've asked that question multiple times of the city and it's a question we often ask when the city shuts down respite sites or other spaces that are offered to homeless people and the answer often is that they've been referred to other programs. But if you look at the city's own data on occupancy levels at city shelters, the drop in sites for every single location is packed to capacity. So under those circumstances there really isn't anywhere for people to go but back to the streets. So that's where we think people are ending up back on the streets.

CO: What would you say to the people who are the those who have bought these very expensive dinner tickets for this experience. What would you say to them or to think about I guess while they're dining.

YA: I would say to them that instead of partaking in these ostentatious displays of wealth come join the fight for housing and shelter. The food may not be as luxurious, but it will taste better being among people who are willing to fight for all of us to have housing.

CO: And they'll have the same view.

YA: Exactly.

CO: Yogi, it's good to talk to you. Thank you.

YA: Thank you so much.

JD: Yogi Acharya is the organizer of Dinner With a View of the Rich. He is also an organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. We reached Mr. Acharya in Toronto. The organizers of the pop up, the original pop up, did not respond to our requests for comment before airtime, but we do have some photographs of what that's going to look like at cbc.ca/aih.

[Music]

ROMEO AND JULIET FROGS

JD: The mood was just right. The feeling alright. The water temperature and the quality optimum. Back in January, As It Happens brought you the story of Romeo, who was known as the world's loneliest frog because its human caretakers could not find a mate for him. Then they identified a super rare female Sehuencas water frog as a possible paramour. But Romeo could only meet his prospective Juliet face to face after she had been screened for fatal illnesses. Well Juliet is in good shape and now the star crossed potential lovers have been introduced. Sophia Barron is the head of conservation breeding at the museum where Romeo and Juliet are under observation. We reached her in Cochabamba Bolivia.

CO: Sophia, we know this is early days, but how did the first encounter between Romeo and Juliet go?

SOPHIA BARRON: Oh it was amazing. Both of them are doing great. Romeo is trying to do plexus, the mating position which they embrace. The longest was 15 minutes, but now he's like during the day he'd do plexus for a few times and then stops, but the couple is doing great.

CO: Okay so he's getting up to speed then. I mean he's been we've called him the loneliest frog in the world so he's never had a mate, has he?

SB: Never, never. He was we thought he was the last frog from this species, but last year we start this service tp go to the field and find a couple for Romeo and we found it. Juliet and other four frogs more.

CO: But Juliet is his potential mate, his partner and so how does how is he around, how does he respond to her?

SB: First we choose Juliet because from all these five frogs that we collect she is the biggest and we can see that she's producing egg. So she's ready to reproduce. And we heard for the first time a courtship call that means that Romeo he calls when he's close to Juliet. So that's a really good sign that they are doing great.

CO: So he has his love song. You've never heard him make this sound before.

SB: No never because this is the first reproductive behaviour that we are record. It’s the first one. So

it's wonderful. It's important to recognize any species by his call. So it's really interesting.

CO: NowI understand that Romeo also does something pretty interesting with his toes. You never saw before.

SB: Yeah. That was super funny. It was something that we never expect to happen. We call twinkle toes and when he’s in plexus, it’s really amazing because Romeo does the twinkly toes. He moves, he's like he's making a dance. Yeah they are moving. So it's really amazing. We never never thought that this will happen because it's the first time we record these reproductive behaviour and the cousins of Romeo for example, he never found this twinkly toes dance. So it’s the first record for all these group of frogs, so it’s something amazing/ Something new for scientists. So it's incredible.

CO: Now I know that you are if you're giving them some privacy but you're watching this pretty closely. How does this frog. How do they do it?

SB: There provisions are in the water. So first is the plexus that I told you, this helps to release the eggs from the female and also for the male release the sperm into the water and the fertilisation happensin the water. That’s how it happens.

CO: Okay and so you've seen Romeo's his twinkly toes dance, you've heard his love cry. Have you seen them do it? I mean are there eggs? Is there sperm? Is there something happening?

SB: No, no we didn't see eggs yet. But every day I go to take them in to control all these conditions I'm really excited to see the egg so I hope you will happen soon., but the only signs of reproductive behaviour that we saw is thee twinkly toes and plexus so.

CO: But we should point out that there is a lot riding on this relationship isn't there? I mean this is tjr fate of an entire species of frog that needs to see these to get intimate. So if they can't reproduce, if they can't have any babies what happens?

SB: We have a lot of options. First of all we have two more couples of the water frog that they are able to reproduce. So we have the option to try with the other four frogs and also if we have the chance to change the frogs. May be Romeo can reproduce with the other two females. So we have a lot of options. And the last option that we have we talked with the university for Australia to collect and freeze the sperm of Romeo. So once we have the sperm of Romeo we can reproduce, so that’s our last option.

CO: And of course this is breeding in captivity. And I know that you this is one particular disease called Kittredge you're dealing with. There are lots of things that are killing off the frogs in Bolivia. Are you worried that once if you can get some breeding going, some children here for Romeo and Juliet that they may not survive when you put them back in the wild?

SB: Yeah first to put them back to the wild we have to make a plan. We call the reintroduction plan or the repopulate plan. First of all what we need to mitigate all the threats that are in their natural habitat. For example these fungus that you mentioned could be pollution. We don't also. So first we have to study all the threats, mitigate it and then we need to put Romeo and Juliet grandchildren to the environment. So this is the future plan. This is the next step after Romeo and Juliet reproduce.

CO: Well don't let Romeo know how much pressure is on him.

SB: Yeah yeah. We know, but we are really happy because he is doing great. He is doing so good. He did love click the first time click with Juliet and they are showing these reproductive behaviour. So that gave us a lot of hope.

CO: We will share that hope with you. We'll keep in touch Sophia to see how they do. And thank you so much for speaking with us.

SB: Thank you too. Thank you so much.

JD: Sophia Barron is the head of conservation breeding at the museum where the rare frogs Romeo and Juliet are waiting. She was in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

[Music]

JD: Rolling Stones fans were hoping this story was just implausible made up and totally unfunny. In other words they hoped it was a typical April Fools Day joke. But no, on Saturday the Stones announced that they were postponing their upcoming tour across the U.S. and Canada because Mick Jagger has to receive medical treatment today. Some further details were released. Apparently the 75 year old singer is scheduled to have a heart valve replacement surgery this week in New York. Amidst the well wishes from bandmates and fans, promoters are asking the more than one million concert goers to hold onto their tickets because they are still hoping the tour will resume just a month later than planned.

[Music]

Back To Top »

Part 2: CWHL latest, Ukraine election

CWHL LATEST

JD: It looks like last month's Clarkson Cup is goning go down in history as the last ever championship for the Canadian Women's Hockey League. Yesterday the CWHL made the extremely unexpected announcement that it was folding. The league said it was simply not able to make enough money to keep going. For 12 years the CWHL has been the key League for Women's hockey in Canada fostering the careers of many professional players. Carlee Campbell plays defense for the Toronto Furies. We reached her in Oakville.

CO: Carlee, how did you feel when you got this news that the Canadian Women's Hockey League was folding?

CARLEE CAMPBELL: I can't say it felt great. There are a lot of different emotions that came around when you made the announcement. I was angry confused sad all at the same time and I think I'm starting to grab a hold of those emotions now given it's been a little over 24 hours, but everything's still fairly fresh.

CO: But did you see it coming?

CC: No, not at all. It really came out of the blue for myself and almost everybody in the league. It's not something that we had forecasted whatsoever. So we're all really surprised.

CO: What do you know about the decision? What went into deciding to fold the CWHLÉ

CC: Yeah so all we really know is exactly what the media knows that this the financial bottle was not a viable feasible in the long run. So they decided to get close to the league any time there's any questions that are more directed towards the specifics of the viability of our financial model, it's not really answered. So it's a little difficult for us to tell.

CO: They said something about it being the business model for the league was economically unsustainable. What do you make of that?

CC: So when somebody says an economic model isn't feasible that means that the money isn't there, but why isn't it there? What could we have done as players or as a league to ensure that its there this year and years down the road, so this decision didn't have to happen

CO: And it sounds like for people, well maybe for a small inner circle they knew this was coming, but for everybody else it seems like it came out of nowhere. They thought it was well not doing great, but at least it wasn't about to fold and there are investors former investor, one at least says that there could have been ways to save the league. Do you believe that?

CC: I think there could. This is a personal opinion. I don’t know if this reflects the rest of the players, but I absolutely think there was a way to save the league. I don't think that it needed to come down to folding. I really don't. There were so many things going right this year. The women's hockey was highlighted with the rivalry series. We had a record television attendance for the Cup. We were getting paid as players. So we’re really confused as to why they had to come to this.

CO: For people who don't know what the Canadian Women's Hockey League was, who was in it? What how many teams were there? How did it support hockey for women and girls?

CC: Yeah so for those of you out there who don't know what the Canadian Women's Hockey League was, it was a professional women's hockey organization in Canada. We had a team in China and a team in Boston as well and the league’s been around for about 12 years. We just started getting paid as players it was last year. So this was the second year that we were getting paid. It was the first time a generation of women have gotten paid to play professional hockey in Canada, so that was a huge milestone. And for us as players that was very significant, but where the significance lies is with the younger generation of hockey players who are up and coming, who are just starting to play the sport and want to play professionally when they're older and they were able to look up to us for that. That was we were their role models and they were able to look at themselves in the mirror and tell themselves that they wanted to be like us when you're older and we didn't have that when we were younger kids. So the league represented a bigger picture for young female hockey athletes who wanted to be professional when they got older and that unfortunately has been taken away.

CO: So what would you say to them if you could speak to young and young players women and girls who were looking up to you and saying gosh me I could do that I could actually be a hockey player. I love hockey. I could actually do that. What can you say to them now?

CC: We're not going anywhere. They can still have those dreams. We are gathering as a group of players and members of a group. We're completely unified and know that you know just because the CWHL is gone, it doesn't mean that there isn't going to be a professional women's hockey league for them to play in.

CO: Just you can clarify one thing because what seems to be what is a competing league or if it's the one people are tending to think that while there's no Canadian women's hockey league that there is the five team U.S. based National Women's Hockey League. Is that a viable alternative to what we have now?

CC: So the league in the United States, it is a separate league. It is a professional woman. In terms of a viable option and something that people are evaluating right now, I know that you know personally if I were to say to myself for next year I don't want to automatically jump and go to that league. I want to see what we can come up with. I don't know if you've seen the hashtag oneleague floating around on social media, but there is an interest out there from the players for there to be one unified professional women's league. So in terms of what we'll be working towards during the summer I can't say for sure that people will want to go to that National Women’s Hockey League. It's a little difficult for me to tell, but if it were to come to me personally I know I wouldn't go that direction right away.

CO: Carlee we will be watching and I really appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

CC: Thank you very much.

JD: Carlee Campbell plays defense for the Toronto Furies. We reached her in Oakville.

[Music]

JD: As we go to air Jodi Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott are both still members of the Liberal caucus, however some of her colleagues are sounding ready for at least one of them to go. This afternoon the CBC is Julie Van Dusen tracked down several Liberal members of parliament. A number were still upset about Ms. Wilson-Rayboul’s recording of her conversation with the clerk of the Privy Council. Their problem was not necessarily with what was said in the conversation, but more about the fact that the former attorney general had secretly taped it at all.

CO: Here is MP Wayne Easter.

SOUNDCLIP

VOICE 1: I certainly think Jody Wilson-Raybould should be gone.

VOICE 2: Why?

VOICE 1: Why? A privy councillor, a cabinet minister taping a conversation. And when I listened to the conversation there's nothing new and as I listened to it, what I say was she working from a script? I mean for Pete's sake. The prime minister in this country has responsibility to look at what can happen in terms of jobs right across the country, whether it's the oil industry in Alberta., whether it's SNC-Lavalin, while doing it within the law. A remediation agreement passed this parliament over there in Centre Block what was there. A remediation agreement passed it's another tool in the toolkit and surely an attorney general should seek a second opinion to see if that's possible. But then to play these kind of games and almost entrapment. To the clerk of the Privy Council I've got no respect for

VOICE 3: What about Ms. Philpott?

VOICE 1: I have no idea. Look I've been in Jane’s riding. I've got a lot of respect for Jane. I think that's a decision that she would have to make. Did she know all this further information that came out or was she used in the process like I feel I was used to by Jody Wilson-Raybould and her caucus.

VOICE 3: How were you used?

VOICE 1: How were we used? I trust that this woman. I trusted her and can you have a, can you really in Cabinet for instance. You have to be able to have a conversation with full trust. You may even shout at one another over some of the issues. We did in the cabinet when I was in it for sure. And you walk out as a team. And that means you have the ultimate trust in all those other players around the table that they're not going to take something out and put it in the public arena and especially tape a conversation. C’mon we all say things in a conversation that's private and you find that that is taped.

VOICE 2: You sound pretty angry about it.

VOICE 1: I am angry. I am angry to think in this country Canada, a Privy Councillor the top political position in the country sitting around a cabinet table will actually take and tape a conversation and in my listening to it, I felt she had to be reading from a script at times to make the clerk and the Prime Minister and Cabinet colleagues and us that sit in caucus with her to look bad. Of course I'm angry.

JD: That was Prince Edward Island MP Wayne Easter speaking to reporters this afternoon in Ottawa.

[Music]

UKRAINE ELECTION

JD: On the TV. Vladimir Zelinsky plays a schoolteacher who unexpectedly becomes president of Ukraine. The show he plays in is a comedy in real life however, Mr. Zelinsky’s political opponents are not laughing. The comedian and actor is now the frontrunner to become the actual president of Ukraine. In the first round of voting he is leading the vote against incumbent Petro Poroshenko. Mr. Zelinsky supporters see him as a politician that can tackle corruption and recharge the country's economy. Aivaras Abromavicius is Ukraine's former economic development minister and has advised Vladimir Zelinksy. We’ve reached Mr. Abromavicius in Kiev.

CO: Mr Abromavicius are Ukrainians so fed up with their politicians they're willing to elect a comedian who plays the president on TV?

AIVARAS ABROMAVICIUS: Absolutely and in this respect Ukraine is no different from many other countries. Brazil, my home country Lithuania and Saturday elections in Slovakia were female anti-corruption fight anti-establishment figure has been elected as a president. So a huge demand for new faces in Ukrainian politics as well.

CO: And these are people you're mentioned including the new president of Slovakia who have never been in politics never involved with parties before. They're all new to this.

AA: Absolutely. I think in a modern world where challenges are perhaps greater than than before where people demand faster changes. I think different governance structures more flat than the traditional vertical. There's just the demand for perhaps more rapid the change of governance and this is Ukraine's situation is absolutely acute as well.

CO: But you're talking about a range we speak of Slovakia or Brazil. Completely different politics right in Brazil. Somebody who is a populist who's taken it much further country to the right, a Slovakian who's taking it into liberalism. Where do we put Mr Zelinsky?

AA: I think he's a bit more in the Liberal camp at least from some of those policies that he has announced. Top priority as I see it at the moment of his presidency should be and will be fighting corruption which has not been you know a successful agenda point when it comes to the incumbent president.

CO: We saw from his closest to opponent. Mr Poroshenko who said he was campaigning not against anybody else, but Vladimir Putin that he that Russia did the relationship with Russia since its annexation of Crimea is the ongoing deadly conflict, these are what he is working toward. Where is Mr. Zelinsky on the relationship with Moscow?

AA: I think that Poroshenko is a spin doctor that decided to run a very divisive campaign. They decided to divide the society in a major way because his support rate was critically low. Vladimir Zelinksy also with my support has met a number of foreign diplomats, American, Canadian, where he very clearly said that look we need to work with our Western partners to continue pressuring Russia including the sanctions

CO: And now that Mr. Poroshenko has seen what his true opponent, which is Mr. Zelinsky, he is on the attack isn't he. He said that this that to have Mr. Zelinksy as the president is Vladimir Putin's dream and this is a quote he said. “Vladimir Putin dreams of a soft, submissive, gentle, giggling, inexperienced, weak ideologically, amorphous and politically uncertain president.” What do you say back. Is there any is any truth to that?

AA: I think that Vladimir Putin knows very well how to deal with traditional Ukrainian politicians. He doesn't know how to deal with a new politician like Zelinsky. So I would certainly not agree with Poroshenko’s view. I think status quo for Russia in the face of Poroshenko would be the most convenient candidate. I think with Zelinsky however risky from his own experience point of view, this option is it gives Ukraine really a possibility for a fresh start. As a new leader I think here represents some fresh air that this country badly needs becayse the Revolution of Dignity was very much about bringing justice. But the incumbent president has not been able to bring that justice. Nor the law enforcement agencies. The Justice system has not been reformed and this is complaint number one you know when it comes to Poroshenko and someone like Zelinsky can bring that hope again and possibly be a catalyst for a wave of a new generation of politicians. You know going into the parliament going into the government and really pushing Ukraine you know closer towards Europe.

CO: So you're he’s not a counter-revolutionary. He's not taking away from the Orange Revolution you think he's taking you further into it.

AA: No, I'm not saying at all that he is a contra revolution. Not at all and you're speaking to someone who's just sitting you know in his apartment 200 meters away from the Maidan, the Independence Square where 100 people lost their lives. Vladimir Zelinsky has been supportive of the armed forces through his concerts and his performances. He's very popular among the young, but he's also popular among the old and let's hope that he would be the unifying president, if and when elected

CO: What’s the possibilities that people in Ukraine get cold feet before this runoff election and say gosh we I don't know this person has no experience, we better go with someone who does have it?

AA: Anything is a possibility, but as I said earlier, mathematically this is almost impossible. So I believe that his presidency is almost certainly assured and if he does not commit major mistakes and if Poroshenko does not start a brutally dihonest campaign then I think that the result is fairly easily predictable.

CO: Alright fascinating. We'll all be watching. Mr. Abromavicius. Thank you.

AA: Thank you very much.

JD: We reached Aivaras Abromavicius in Kiev.

[Music]

JD: On Saturday more than 2000 people gathered at the Colchester Legion Stadium in Truro, Nova Scotia to pay tribute to firefighter Skyler Blackie. Mr. Blackie was just 28 when he died two weeks ago, following a training accident. at today's service, Errison Blackie, also a firefighter, spoke about his older brother. Here's part of what he said.

SOUNDCLIP

VOICE: We moved here from Moncton when I was 6 years old, 6 or 7. It was a nice day me and Skyler decided to go for a roller skate. Not knowing the town at all, we came to a pretty steep hill. I did not want to go down it, but my big brother was going in guns blazing so I'd follow behind them. I fell, I got a concussion and I was unconscious Skyler hearing me fall, looks back, drops to his knees as he's rolling. Wearing shorts at the time gets some pretty severe road rash on his knees, throws me over his shoulders and brings me to the nearest house. And unfortunately cause I was unconscious I lost control of my bladder and I peed all over him. But that was Skyler. Skyler had my back. He was my protector every single day. Second story, around the same time and a little disclaimer for this next story when I was younger I was a bedwetter. Another pee. When we were younger, every time I was scared or had a nightmare Skyler was the one I called out for. But most times we used to ask my parents every night if we could have a sleepover in his room. We would stay up as late as we could and we'd talk about how we're going to grow up, we were gonna be firefighters. We’d work at the same firehouse, which we did. So like I said every night basically the routine was we'd go into his bedroom, w’d talk, we’d go to bed and then I'd be woken up in the middle of the night by him covered in pee. And so was he. Skyler never once got mad at me. He never once made fun of me. He would take the sheets off his bed, make the bed, tuck me back in and tell me to go to sleep. That was Skyler. I've been asked many times these past few days, Errison, why aren’t you crying more? And here's my answer. There is simply no room for sadness in me today or for the rest of my life cause I'm filled with too much pride for my brother and I will spend the rest of my days celebrating his life. So if you'd all please stand and help me celebrate the life of firefighter Skyler Blackie.

JD: Errison Blackie is the younger brother of Skyler Blackie, a firefighter who died following an incident during training. That was recorded at Mr. Blackie’s funeral in Truro, Nova Scotia.

[Music]

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Part 3: Peter Pond Lake crash, Encore: Dragonfly Eyes film

Guests:

PETER POND LAKE CRASH

JD: It is the conclusion to a 60-year-old mystery. A small plane that crashed on Peter Pond Lake in northern Saskatchewan in 1959 has been lifted through a hole in the ice and transported to its new home in a Saskatoon museum. Back in February we told you that some of the family members were hoping to get back the remains of the two victims and give them a proper burial. Now the plane has been fully recovered along with some surprising personal items that were on board. Dorrin Wallis is the president of the board for the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum. It's the plane's final resting place. We reached Mr. Wallace in Saskatoon.

CO: Mr. Wallace I know you spent a lot of time at this site since the search for the plane first started.

What was it like for you when it was finally pulled up to the surface?

DORRIN WALLACE: Well it was kind of emotional. I mean it’s the end of a 60 year old mystery. There was a lot of people on the site including a whole bunch of Northern folks and everybody got quiet when their plane started to come through the ice.

CO: Can you describe the scene for us?

DW: Well there was a couple of tents up there with the divers were using. There had been a grudging process went on for four days to try and recover as much as many artifacts as we could and clear the mud out of the airplane as well so that all the equipment around there and over and above that the last day. There was 17 trucks with people there. So there was stuff scattered all over the place.

CO: And then the families of the two men who had been in that plane when it was lost in 1959, they were there and others were there. Tell us some of the people who were who were waiting for this moment.

DW: There were representatives from both families there and over and above that as I mentioned there was a lot of the local people, there was a whole bunch of those people come out and they weren't originally invited to come and help, but they’d come on their own and they were a huge huge part of the success of this mission.

CO: What did the plane look like?

DW: The airplane was very badly damaged. In reality we probably would have give up on this project once we had better underwater pictures of it, but it was unanimous with the people up north. They wanted the airplane recovered. They kind of said if you don't recover it then we will. And we had the equipment there to do it so we thought well you know with particularly with their help we might as well get the job done. And the airplane is now sitting right here about 50 yards from me beside the hangar and we're happy to have it out.

CO: So I guess in that condition even if it is in bad shape, it tells you so much about what happened in that crash doesn't it?

DW: Well it does. I mean there was this was a mystery and there was all kinds of rumors as to what happened. And this pretty much puts all of the rumors to rest. You can tell by the wreckage exactly what happened. So now everyone knows and it was very satisfying on everybody's part to have this mystery solved and kind of know what happened.

CO: You have a personal connection to this story, don't you?

DW: Yes I do. I worked in Buffalo narrows in 66 to 1970. So the story wasn't very old when I got there and I worked across the dock from that pilot's brother and I've known him for many years. So I was connected that way plus all of the people that were out there on the site last week working on this project. If I didn't know them I knew their uncle or their dad or their granddad and stories were shared. I mean it was unbelievable just as an example. There was one lady come out before she started cooking course she wasn't asked Can you showed up from Michelle village with her barbecue and started cooking us fresh pickle and bannock and tea and she fed us for four days in a row and as it turns out I used to hunt moose with her grandfather. So I had a lot of connections

CO: And the part that it was his brother you knew, the other man who had been in the plane when it went down this conservation officer Harold Thompson, had the body's already been recovered from the plane before it was brought up?

DW: Yes they went up in December and recovered the remains

CO: and where were the remains in relation to the plane.

DW: They were pretty much in the airplane.

CO: They were still there.

DW: Yeah

CO: And so they end and both as men have been interred with family, is that right?

DW: Yes. They’ve all been returned to the families.

CO: What else was found I understand that there was something quite significant was found as a wing of the plane.

DW: Well there was one of the goals of the proposed to family, which is they were particularly after Raymond’s watch and his wedding ring. Well the watch was found through the grudging process and they got that and they kept looking for this and looking for this ring, which you must remember we were in 60 feet of water and it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. So it wasn't found and they were a little disappointed about that but they come to accept that they would never find it. And the day the airplane was lifted out of the water someone found this ring sitting on the edge of the wing. It must've rolled out of the airplane and onto the wing. And that was a very emotional moment.

CO: That's ordinary. I mean the chances have every covering that and balance so precariously is so unusual isn't it.

DW: Yes. Like I said it was nothing short of a miracle.

CO: Why do you think it was so important to those people, Peter Pond Lake. Why was it right that you said that even if you hadn't wanted to recover it, they wanted it. What was so important about finally getting this plane out?

DW: I can't answer that other than the fact that these are very spiritual people. I can just tell you this much there was unanimous amongst the mob because over the period of that eight days there probably was a hundred or so different people that come out there and they were unanimous and they wanted that airplane removed from that lake..

CO: What will you do with it now?

DW: Well our goal is again keeping with everybody's wishes and particularly the people up north, they would like the airplane left the way it is and displayed the way it is for at least a year. In the meantime we're trying to raise money through our GoFundMe page to get the necessary parts and pieces and we'd like to rebuild this airplane and have it look like it did prior to the accident.

CO: Mr. Wallace thank you for speaking with us.

DW: You're welcome. Thank you for calling and showing your interest.

JD: Dorrin Wallis is the president of the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum board. We reached him in Saskatoon.

[Music]

ENCORE: DRAGONFLY EYES FILM

JD: According to the National Public Credit Information Center's annual report millions of people were blocked from traveling in China last year after being blacklisted under the country's social credit system. It's a system China's ruling Communist Party says will improve public behavior. While critics like Human Rights Watch have called the system an attempt by Chinese authorities to “create a reality in which bureaucratic pettiness could significantly limit people's rights.” The Chinese government's attempts to improve public behavior through surveillance are all too familiar to Xu Bing. The Chinese artist is famous for his installation work and printmaking. But in 2017 he turned heads with his first feature length film called Dragonfly Eyes. With Dragonfly Eyes. Xu Bing strings together ten thousand hours of real life surveillance camera footage into a fictional film. Here's a clip from the trailer.

SOUNDCLIP

COMPUTER VOICE: This is Dragon Fly. Dragon Fly has 28,000 eyes, blinking 40,000 times per second. Hour-by-hour checking.

[Sound: Man speaking Mandarin]

COMPUTER VOICE: Second-by-second deleting.

JD: That is a clip from the trailer for the new Chinese movie “Dragon Fly Eyes”. Its director, Xu Bing, is in town to premiere his film at the Toronto International Film Festival. And ahead of the movie screening tonight, he joined Carol in studio to speak about it. He was also accompanied by Mengchen Wen, who helped interpret the interview.

CO: Xu Bing, welcome to As It happens.

XU BING: Thank you.

CO: And I want to thank Mengchen, who is here going to do the interpretation for us. Thank you, Mengchen.

MENGCHEN WEN: Thank you.

CO: This is an amazing film to watch, very disturbing, uncomfortable, violent, so many things — so many things going on. And, at the same time, we have to understand it's all real — it all really happened. How did you come up with the idea to make a film based on surveillance videos?

XB: [Speaking: Mandarin]

MW: [Translating] The idea actually from 2013. And I saw a lot of TV programs, which about legal. And I thought the civilian camera footage inside is very interesting. They are very real, which is different from the footage we saw from the feature-film. So came up with the idea that probably we can use this footage to be a feature film that would be very interesting.

CO: But this footage — this film footage — you got is I mean, obviously, from hundreds of different sources. It's just all over the place. And how did you pull it all together? I mean did you have to go physically and get these cameras and talk to people and convince them to let you have their footage? Or how did you actually get thousands — I understand between seven and ten thousand hours that you looked at — how did you get it?

XB: [Speaking: Mandarin]

MW: [Translating] At the beginning, I asked my friend from the TV station to get me their surveillance footage. But they are very little — not enough. We stopped the project in 2014. And at the end of 2014, we found there were lots of surveillance videos on the internet.

CO: That was in cloud.

XB: [Speaking: Mandarin]

MW: [Translating] yes, in a cloud database. So we started this project again. In our studio there are 20 Computer we used as computers to download those videos. And after that, we collected over 10,000 of this kind of footage just to make this film.

CO: The clips that you use in the film, and we'll get to what the story is in a second, because even that is extraordinary. But the clips that you're using, some of them are just astonishingly violent. I mean you capture horrible accidents, planes falling from skies, subway trains being wrecked, car accidents that you know children who almost get run over and then the other ones are very claustrophobic and very tight. You know you're looking at intimate places where people are changing their clothes in changing rooms, or they're in restaurants. How did you feel when you were watching all of this real footage? What effect did that have on you?

XB: [Speaking: Mandarin]

MW: [Translating] So yes, when we saw those videos for a long time, we feel uncomfortable and we became very careful when we get out of our home. So I feel uncomfortable and insecure actually because there are lots of camera out of the home. So this is a thing out of our logic — out of our mind. So the footage — CCTV footage — sometimes are very quiet. You have to wait something happen, maybe over 10 or more than that hours, but sometimes it just suddenly happens something. So that's a thing I want to show in this film.

CO: And the people in your video are real, so are they aware that you have got their images and put them together in this video?

XB: [Speaking: Mandarin]

MW: [Translating] Yes, they know they are actually in the camera. I feel nervous when the project in the middle. I want to know the idea of the characters in the footage. So we actually created a life out of their real life. So we start to find them and to let them know they are actually inside of a film.

CO: And you got permission from everybody?

XB: We got permission from them because the copyright thing. We need to go find them and get permission.

CO: Wow.

XB: And I want talking to them how their idea about this. We used them this image put on film and we created this fake story into their real life.

CO: A fake story in their real-life. Now, I want to ask you about the actual story because you're using all of this footage, you put it together, it's not random, it has as a shape, a narrative. What is the story that you're telling? Because this is a feature-film, isn't it?

XB: [Speaking: Mandarin]

MW: [Translating] The story is about a woman and a man. And the younger actually from a Buddhist temple and then she leaves the temple to go to the city to find a new life. She becomes a worker in a milk factory. She met a boy and the boy falls in love with this girl because the girl is innocent. Although, she is not really pretty. So he something for her and because of this accident, she was fired by their milk factory. And she has to go to the big city to find a new job. Then he follow her. And there he got accident and getting to the jail. After he get out from the jail, he found he cannot find her. So, at that time, she do a plastic surgery. That's the reason that he cannot find her. And one day, he found there is a girl — a pop star online — whose voice is very similar to her. So he think that probably this girl — this pop star — is her.

CO: I'm speaking with Xu bing, he's a Chinese artist and filmmaker. And he's in Toronto for the premiere of his film at TIFF, “Dragon Fly Eyes”. It uses real surveillance footage in telling a fictional story. And this plastic surgery is a big part of your film. I understand it's very popular in China, as it is in many places. What's the story behind that? Why were you so interested in having the whole idea of plastic surgery as part of your movie?

XB: [Speaking: Mandarin]

MW: [Translating] So at the beginning, because my project actually not ordinary and a feature-film. So there is no fixed the image of a main character. So people talk to me that probably you need something to allow the character to change the face every time. So that's why I think about to use plastic surgery to let the story to start.

CO: It's a great device.

XB: [Speaking: Mandarin]

MW: [Translating] But, of course, there is some connection between the surveillance video with plastic surgery. So we think there is a relationship between appearance and the inside.

CO: Relationship between how people look and what they’re feeling inside?

XB: [Speaking: Mandarin]

MW: [Translating] Yes.

CO: I mean people have to see this film because there's nothing like this. And it’s for a fact no one has ever done a film out of CCTV video before. I wonder how many of these cameras are there in China? How much surveillance footage, how many cameras are actually watching people in China?

XB: [Speaking: Mandarin]

MW: [Translating] We did do some research about some of the camera in China, but the exact sum I cannot remember actually — but there are many. And I can provide you a statistic that there are 15 per centage rate of camera will be increased every year in China. There are lots of cameras in the world actually —not just in China. And when you come to this building — come to the CBC building for working — you will see lots of camera around you, on the road when you back to home, there are still lots of camera. So what I want to say is the world we leave is like shooting studio that we actually are character inside.

CO: You say it's like a studio where we're all characters inside, like a Truman movie. But, at the same time, people care about their privacy. I mean others would say this is like Big Brother is watching you, and not like we're in a movie. People here care about how much surveillance there is. What do people in China think about that?

XB: [Speaking: Mandarin]

MW: [Translating] I think the relationship between us and the surveillance video is different from the Big Brother time because in that time, the surveillance video — or CCTV video — belong to the government. But right now, actually those surveillance-cameras belong to the private person — private company. So I call this time as post-CCTV time. The attitude of people towards the surveillance video is different from the Big Brothers time I think.

CO: Bing, I want to ask you about being an artist in China because we know that there is a lot of censorship of artists, and even persecution of artists in China. How difficult is it for you to actually work? To do what you want to do in China?

XB: [Speaking: Mandarin]

MW: [Translating] There indeed are some censorship in China. In the past time, the government didn't understand contemporary art. Well, I am a contemporary art artist. So I do suffer sometimes before. But right now, the government found the contemporary art actually from their personal idea of the artist is not related to the public actually. So they start to give them freedom. The gunman to start to give the artist a freedom to do their own art in the contemporary art area. I think that government start to give more space to contemporary art artist to give them more space to do their art. But in the film industry, is still very sensitive things. The government still have their own control to the film. Like in China, we do have the censorship for film. They exam any sexy footage or politic footage inside of your film. But this is the first time I made a film, so I didn't realize that there is a big effect on me.

CO: And have you been censored? Did the Chinese authorities screen your film and say what could be shown? Did they censor it in any way?

XB: [Speaking: Mandarin]

MW: [Translating] So we already sent the film to censorship institute in China, but we didn't get any reply from them yet. So we're still waiting for the answer.

CO: I know you're living part-time in the United States and going back and forth to China. If you do have trouble with the authorities making the film, do you think you will stay in the United States?

XB: [Speaking: Mandarin]

MW: [Translating] I think it's not such serious. So I hope I can stay in China because China is country. There are lots of problems, but you can say the experimental sides. So experimental contemporary art artist, I would like to stay in China to find out those things. I got lots of inspiration from China, from those problems and those experimental sides.

CO: Well, Xu Bing,I hope you are able to keep making your films. This is quite extraordinary what you've done and congratulations to you and thank you for being here.

XB: Thank you.

JD: That was an all encore presentation of Carol's conversation with Xu Bing director of Dragonfly Eyes. Mr. Xu was accompanied by Mengchen Wen who helped interpret the interview. You can find more on this story on As It Happens on our website cbc.ca/aih.

[Music]

JD: April Fools, it is easily Matt Hart's favorite day of the year. Matt's mom does not share his enthusiasm. For the past decade, year after year Bonnie Hart of Halifax has been the butt of her sons April Fools pranks, One year Matt jokingly put her house up for sale. Another time he put up a fake birth notice in a local paper announcing his mom had given birth to twins. This April 1st Bonnie was ready for whatever Matt was cooking up. She did not expect it to involve her love of beans on toast. Here is Matt and mom Bonnie on CBC’s Main Street Halifax today with host Allison Devereaux.

MATT HART: So this year's prank actually worked out a lot better than I expected. I didn't know what to do every year I'm always thinking there's something different something unique and I don't know where it dawned on me to maybe create a website for my mom. So I didn't know what to buy or what to use. It turned out I was just like I know that she loves eating beans on toast. That's an inside joke. My mom is not a cook, but she always cook. So I bought a website called Bonnie’s Beans y called bonniesbeans.com and literally the site’s live now. Are there and it just shows my mom’s love of beans. Basically she's a take home chef. So she has a lot of different options. Basically like a good catering service. So everything from beans on toast to beans on stacked toast. There's beans in a bowl. There's a platter of beans. There's been dessert, which is basically a bean pie, which is just two pieces of toast in between beans. She delivers. There’s a picture of her delivering them.

ALLISON DEVEREAUX: Bonnie is this partially true? I mean do you love beans on toast?

BONNIE HART: I do love beans. I really do and I'm not a good cook and not the way it started. I've grown up with beans and toast and the thing is the joke is my husband loves golfing and when he goes with the guys and if he's not home to cook supper when they're driving home, they all say what do you think Bonnie's having and they all scream, beans and toast. And it’s so true I do it every time. I like it. I like beans, has to be in tomato sauce, not molasses. You know has to be on toast and I like beans.

JD: Nothing wrong with beans and molasses either. Matt Hartand his mom Bonnie speaking to Allison Devereaux, host of Main Street Halifax, today.

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April 1, 2019 Episode Transcript

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