CBC Radio's The House: Businesses reopen, variants close in
CBC Radio | Posted: February 13, 2021 9:00 AM | Last Updated: February 13, 2021
Here is what's happening on this week's episode of The House
Provinces walk a fine line on reopening
Provinces across Canada opened up this week, even as more transmissible variants of the coronavirus continue to spread. How will the premiers handle pressure to continue easing restrictions while facing a potential third wave?
Laura Stone of The Globe and Mail, Aaron Derfel of the Montreal Gazette and the CBC's Kathleen Petty give their analysis on reopening in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.
Building an equitable vaccine rollout
As Canada waits for vaccine deliveries to ramp up, concerns are growing about the possibility of a vaccine rollout that doesn't adequately consider racialized Canadians who are disproportionately vulnerable to COVID-19.
Akwatu Khenti, chair of Toronto's Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity, and Ananya Tina Banerjee, founder of the South Asian Health Research Hub, join The House to talk about the policies needed to craft an inoculation campaign that ensures equitable access to all.
Senators debate medical assistance in dying bill
The government's revamped bill on medical assistance in dying (MAID) returned to the Senate floor this week, but it's running into opposition from a number of Senators.
The government has until Feb. 26 to meet a third, court-imposed deadline after Quebec's Superior Court ruled the existing law was unconstitutional; specifically, the requirement that a person's natural death must be reasonably foreseeable.
The bill before the Red Chamber removes that requirement and disallows access to MAID for those whose sole underlying condition is mental illness. Nova Scotia Senator Stan Kutcher, a psychiatrist and Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University, thinks that should change.
A new investment in Canadian public transit
On Wednesday, the federal government announced new funding for public transit projects across Canada. Nearly $6 billion will start to flow this year to accelerate the development of certain projects, while $3 billion per year in permanent funding will begin in 2026.
It's all part of the Liberal government's pledge to build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic. But why will some of the money take years to start rolling? And what do these projects mean for Canada's race to meet its climate commitments? Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna joins The House to discuss.