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The AIH Transcript For March 25, 2022

Hosts: Gillian Findlay and Chris Howden

GILLIAN FINDLAY: Hello, I'm Gillian Findlay.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Good evening, I'm Chris Howden, this is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

Prologue

CH: Tonight:

GF: Out of alignment. Defence Minister Anita Anand says Canada's NATO allies are on the same page when it comes to defending Ukraine -- and defends herself against claims that Canada should be contributing more.

CH: Twisting arms for arms. We'll also hear from Latvia's Deputy Prime Minister, who is in Canada trying to drum up military aid for the support of Ukraine.

GF: Litmus text. The wife of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice urged Donald Trump's top staffer to overturn the presidential election results. And now, Ginni Thomas's text messages are casting doubt on the impartiality of the court.

CH: Loss for words. After fleeing Mariupol, a Ukrainian journalist struggles to describe life in the besieged city -- which faces not just Russian bombardment, but a growing scarcity of food and water.

GF: In it to not win it. We'll learn more about a former United Conservative Party leadership candidate's so-called "kamikaze campaign" -- and allegations that Jason Kenney was calling the shots.

CH: And… he thought they might be valuable. He just had a gut feeling. David Cronenberg adds to his body of work with a new NFT, which is a photo of his kidney stones.

CH: As It Happens, the Friday edition. Radio that knows they might not look beautiful, but it's what was inside that counts.

[Music: Theme]

Part 1: Ukraine: Anand, NATO: Latvia, Ginni Thomas Texts

Ukraine: Anand

Guest: Anita Anand

CH: The Canadian government has been talking tough about helping Ukraine. Now all eyes are on Anita Anand to see if the minister of national defence will back up that rhetoric -- with an increase in spending on the military equipment and materials needed to fight wars like the one underway in Europe. Minister Anand and Prime Minister Trudeau have now both been to Europe, where they heard appeals not just from Ukraine but from Canada's NATO allies as well. We reached Minister of National Defence Anita Anand in Ottawa.

GF: Minister Anand, how much pressure did you come under to improve and to accelerate Canada's military contributions to NATO?

ANITA ANAND: NATO is a unified alliance, and we work very collaboratively. NATO is very well-aligned in terms of our collective support for Ukraine, and our collective continued support for defence and deterrence that underpins the NATO alliance. And we're all very much aligned in terms of the short and the long-term goals of this alliance in terms of spending and other items.

GF: Right. But I understand funding is an issue. And I'm wondering, did you come under pressure this week?

AA: Our government has released a defence policy called Strong, Secure, Engaged. We are increasing our defence spending by over 70 per cent over a nine-year period beginning in 2017 and ending in 2026. And our prime minister said yesterday at NATO that we will be increasing defence spending. And that is a process that as a country will continue to work on, not only in the context of NATO but also in the context of NORAD -- the defensive alliance that Canada and the United States share together.

GF: Two per cent of GDP is the long-standing ask and commitment at NATO. Yesterday, NATO's Secretary General Stoltenberg described a two per cent minimum as the price of peace and freedom and, indeed, many smaller countries than Canada in NATO have exceeded that. So can you give a commitment that your government is now prepared to make that minimum commitment to NATO?

AA: One of my most important responsibilities is to ensure that the Canadian forces have the resources and equipment that they need to meet current and future threats. We are raising defence spending by over 70 per cent during a nine-year period ending in 2026. We are prepared to do even more in the area of NORAD modernization by making new investments of $252 million for situational awareness and modernized command and control systems. And I'm presenting a robust package to modernize NORAD, which would go towards the two per cent.

GF: But would it reach two percent?

AA: The budgetary process is currently underway. Details of what is in the budget will be shared when the budget is released.

GF: Earlier this… this month, we spoke with former lieutenant general and top Liberal MP Andrew Leslie, and he said a couple of things. He said that the Russian invasion had caught NATO unprepared. NATO wasn't in a position to fight a war against Russia today, even if it wanted to. And he said that the solution to that was a build-up on the scale of what happened in the late 1930s, he said. We have to invest quickly. We have to build capability quickly. We have to get our troops moving quickly. And he said I see none of that happening now in Canada. What would you say to your former colleague, General Leslie?

AA: Well, I would argue that since 2017, Canada's contribution to NATO has been extensive. We have led NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group in Latvia with over 540 personnel on the ground. We are doubling our contribution to NATO maritime forces in the region by adding a second frigate. On land, we are adding new military capabilities and personnel to that battle group. And in the air, we also have an Aurora Maritime Patrol aircraft that's been transferred to NATO's command, and we have 3,400 Canadian Armed Forces personnel on high readiness in case they're called upon by NATO. The short answer is that we're continuing to act in lockstep with NATO's request, and we are prepared at any moment to move towards increasing our support as called upon.

GF: One of the other things that came out of the meetings in Europe this week, in particular, was the United States warning about a Russian chemical-biological attack as being a real possibility. How real a threat is it?

AA: Well, let me tell you, the discussion about escalating this war to include nuclear, biological or chemical weapons does concern us all. And this is a possibility that we have seen discussed in open-source media. Our job is to be non provocative, to be rational and to be ready for anything. Putin's rhetoric and actions are dangerous and irresponsible. Canada condemns them in the strongest possible terms. And as a government, our job is to ensure that we are ready for any eventuality, any threat, and that is exactly what we are doing.

GF: Right. But I'm asking what your concerns are? Are you worried in the same way that the president of the United States is about chemical and/or biological… or even a nuclear attack?

AA: I am very worried about the accelerated levels of aggression that Putin is showing in Ukraine. Therefore, as minister, I need to make sure that we are prepared for any eventuality, and that's exactly what I discuss with my team every day.

GF: What will NATO's response be if that were to happen?

AA: We are all very concerned about what is happening in Ukraine and, in particular, whether it could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity? As a former lawyer, I will say that the test in international law is whether there is a deliberate attempt to target civilians with any type of warfare? And in our view, any attack on civilians is unacceptable. And that's why our country has led on referring the situation to the International Criminal Court. We stand with Ukraine, and we stand with our allies in this respect.

GF: But if he were to use chemical, biological, nuclear weapons, would there be a military response?

AA: This is an issue that we will continue to discuss with our allies. Canada is not going to be taking unilateral action.

GF: Of course.

AA: Without a consultation and discussion with our NATO partners.

GF: I'm not suggesting that. I'm asking what would NATO's response be in this situation if that were to occur?

AA: Well, the reality is that NATO is strong, unified and coordinated, and we are meeting regularly to make sure that we are ready for any threat and acting in coordination. Article Five of the Washington Treaty says that an attack on one is an attack on all. And we, as allies, will defend every inch of NATO territory while continuing to assist Ukraine and provide comprehensive military aid. The answer to your question is that this is an issue we will continue to discuss as allies in the context I just described.

GF: All right, we'll leave it there. Thanks so much, Minister, for your time.

AA: You're welcome.

CH: Anita Anand is Canada's minister of national defence. We reached her in Ottawa. And you can find more on that story on our webpage at: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Hard intro into next story]

NATO: Latvia

Guest: Artis Pabriks

CH: Latvia didn't wait for the war in Ukraine to raise its military budget to the NATO minimum. And when Russia invaded, Latvia was quick to give Ukraine military badly-needed supplies. Latvia's Deputy Prime Minister Artis Pabriks is in Canada to drum up additional support. We reached him in Montreal.

GF: Deputy Prime Minister Pabriks, we've just spoken with Canada's minister of national defence, whom you met with two days ago. When you met with her, what did you say to her about what Canada should be doing to answer Russia's threat?

ARTIS PABRIKS: First of all, I was thanking her and the Canadian people for that support, what Canada is doing and delivering to Europe, the European continent and particularly to Latvia. Because a certain number of Canadian troops are stationed in Latvia. And we are, as you know, a border country of NATO, and border country also of European Union. But we are also planning, of course. And my suggestion is to plan our common future within NATO as far as planning of increased resilience in all the NATO eastern flank. And here we are, looking for a more deeper cooperation with Canadians.

GF: Your prime minister has said that NATO should be supplying Ukraine with all the tools it needs to fend off this invasion. Ukraine's president, as we know as recently as yesterday, was again asking for tanks and fighter jets and missile systems. Is he going to get what he's asking for, do you think?

AP: Well, I'm the one, or I'm among those politicians and my country, Latvia is also and or people are among those in Europe who would like to give as much as possible to Ukrainians. Because Ukrainians are defending their freedoms, their families, basically their right to be free against Russian invasion. And my country was giving in the first days of the war about one-third of our military budget in hardware for Ukrainian Army. And I really believe that we should not be bullied by Russians who are simply saying, look, we will give them jets, and we might increase our attacks on Ukrainians or threaten also you. We are the strongest alliance in the world. And we are not willing to take part, of course, in this war, and we do not threaten anybody. But at the same time, we also have to choose with whom do we stand. And from that perspective, I think that we must deliver to the Ukrainians All those means that they need to defend their freedom and their country.

GF: As you watch what is happening, and as it appears, at least for the moment, that the Russian military efforts are becoming bogged down in Ukraine, this wasn't the easy victory that they thought. Are you more or less fearful about what Putin's intentions may be regarding Latvia?

AP: We are not afraid of direct invasion because now Russian troops are tied down in Ukraine. And at this moment, what is happening is basically happening… a crime against humanity happening; a crime against a peaceful nation. And if we would not be in NATO, if we would not be in European Union, I can guarantee 100 per cent that Latvia and some other countries near us would be just in the same situation like Ukrainians. So we are happy that we made the right choice, and we were happily joining also NATO and European Union. And we will support Ukrainian membership in the European Union, at least certainly after this war. But I also wanted to say that it's important now that we show also more political solidarity with Ukrainians. And you know that a number of neighbouring countries, including mine, which have been sending our high-ranking politicians, like for example, the speaker of Latvian parliament yesterday was visiting Kyiv. There has been the prime ministers of Poland. And I would encourage also other Western countries to do the same. Because at this moment, it seems that there are only so-called Eastern Europeans, the ones which are brave enough to travel to Kyiv and to say, look, you live in a free country. There is a right for us to visit you. And we are not afraid that Russians might bomb us. So up to now, there were no such attempts from any Western country to show this solidarity to Ukrainians.

GF: Why do you think that is?

AP: I don't know. Actually, it's a question to me. It's puzzling me because we remember also the Georgian war in 2008, when Russians were bombing Georgia. Then there have been presidents of Baltic countries and Poland taking a plane and flying to Tbilisi. But now, I would really encourage to have this courage and to do this and maybe go to Kyiv and then make a Zoom or video conference with Putin if he's answering and telling, look, we are here in Kyiv. You are sieging the city. You're bombing the city. Tell your people what you do. Because many Russians in Russia still believe that nobody's bombing here. I have heard this myself from some Russian people who are telling that they don't trust that the war is going on. So basically, this propaganda the Kremlin is keeping, this propaganda bubble of the Russian population, it is… it is even worse than it was in Nazi time in Germany, where people in Germany didn't believe in the Holocaust, didn't believe in concentration camps. So this is happening now in 21st century Russia.

GF: You live next door to Russia. You have watched Putin. Arguably, you know him better than many in the West. When he threatens escalation, what should NATO's response be?

AP: I think it's very simple. Maybe it would sound not very beautiful for many people in Western countries, but the reaction should be just the same when you're dealing with a kind of a bandit or bullying person on the street. If Putin is threatening us, telling that, look, I could use that weapon or this weapon, we should simply go, look, here, guy, we are not afraid of you. We are strong enough. We also have weapons we can use against you, so you better behave. We will not retreat. Because if we are trembling, Russian propagandists and politicians and all these people behind him, they are carefully analyzing our societies, our behaviour, our media. And whenever they see that we're starting to blink or tremble, they simply extend pressure because their goal is to fragment us and make us fear them. So we should not give them this pleasure.

GF: Thank you so much for your time today, Deputy Prime Minister.

AP: Thank you very much for calling, and good luck.

CH: Artis Pabriks is Latvia's Deputy Prime Minister. We reached him in Montreal.

[Music: Indie rock]

Ginni Thomas Texts

Guest: Carol Leonnig

CH: For years, Virginia Thomas has been a prominent right-wing political activist in the U.S. -- in addition to being married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. And now we've learned that she's also a prolific texter. Yesterday, The Washington Post and CBS News shared a barrage of text messages they'd obtained between Ms. Thomas and Mark Meadows -- Donald Trump's former chief of staff. In the texts, sent in the weeks after the 2020 election, Ms. Thomas tirelessly urges the White House to take steps to overturn the result. Carol Leonnig is an investigative reporter with the Post. We reached her in Washington, DC.

GF: Ms. Leonnig, what did you think when you first saw these texts between Virginia Thomas and Donald Trump's former chief of staff?

CAROL LEONNIG: Well, on the one hand, these amazing texts obtained by my colleagues, Bob Woodward and Bob Costa, share something we kind of knew. And they share something shockingly new. We knew that Ginni Thomas is a right-wing stalwart, a key part of the conservative movement, who was very much in favour of Donald Trump challenging the election results of Joe Biden's victory. We know that, but these texts go deeper and share with us that she was pushing as hard as she possibly could to get his chief of staff to insist upon fighting the free and fair election results. What's stunning about that is she's allowed to have her personal beliefs. She's allowed to advocate for her positions. But she's the wife of a Supreme Court justice whose court was being considered as the place to decide whether or not some of the election fraud allegations were valid.

GF: Right.

CL: Whether or not the election should be challenged.

GF: I'll get to that part in a minute. But first of all, can you tell us a little bit more detail about these texts? There were 29 of them in all, I understand. What do they actually reveal about the things they were saying to each other?

CL: Well, you know, there's a certain biblical furore. But days after the election results have come in, and including immediately after all of the mainstream media have declared Joe Biden the president-elect, Ginni Thomas is telling the chief of staff that he has to stand strong. That he has to stand on the side of good rather than evil in making sure that Donald Trump remains president. She uses a lot of religious references to the idea that an army of the faithful needs time to basically gather to protect their saviour.

GF: Hmm. And is there an indication that Meadows took these messages seriously?

CL: In some of them, he simply says thank you. Some of them, he doesn't respond. And in some of them, one notable one, he describes this being a fight for good and evil. And that he generally agrees with her that this is an important battle that they have to wage -- calling Donald Trump the King of Kings.

GF: Right. And all of this would be fine, as you point out, if she were not married to a Supreme Court justice. So what is the problem with that?

CL: I think that these texts do not reveal anything particularly special about Mark Meadows, the chief of staff. And they don't suggest any criminal exposure or liability for Mark Meadows. But what they do create is an enormous appearance of a conflict of interest for a Supreme Court justice named Clarence Thomas. You'll remember Clarence Thomas was the only justice on the court who disagreed with his colleagues and disputed that the January 6th Congressional Committee should be allowed the evidence about which we are now talking. He suggested and ruled that these documents should not be turned over to the committee. And that is a major, major problem optically. The question must be raised is if this isn't the appearance of a conflict of interest over which adjusted should recuse himself, what is? And it's a question to be put to the Chief Justice, John Roberts, who has insisted over and over again that this is a court above politics.

GF: People are already questioning that. For instance, New York University professor and judicial ethicist Stephen Gillers has said that Justice Thomas needs to recuse himself immediately from any cases concerning the 2020 election or the January 6th attack. How can the public be assured that Justice Thomas is, in fact, impartial?

CL: I think they can't. And that is the major problem. You know, I've covered federal courts on and off for many, many years, and I have seen judges recuse themselves repeatedly whenever it appears that the judge could have a lack of objectivity, could have an interest or a stake. And in this case, the appearance is so bald-faced. Justice Thomas's wife was actively pushing and lobbying in the White House at the highest levels to protect the president from the actual results of the election, urging that there be a battle, a battle that engaged with the law, engaged in the courts, engaged in public opinion. And while she was pushing for that very thing, her husband's court was being considered as a place where Donald Trump might go to get a ruling on whether or not the election was legitimate in key swing states?

GF: So… so even if he should recuse himself, how likely do you think it is knowing Justice Thomas that… that he will?

CL: I don't know what he will do. If past is prologue, I would imagine he will not recuse himself. It depends a little bit on public pressure and also what Justice Roberts requires and demands at this point. But I think a lot of judicial ethicists and everyday people are asking the basic question: how can this be a decision that Justice Thomas can make and be fairly viewed as objective? We know where his wife stood. We also know from these texts that she refers at some point to how comforting it is to have Mark Meadows on her side and to have also just discussed this with her quote-unquote best friend. We don't know who she's referencing, but we know from past reporting that she and her husband referred to each other as each other's best friends.

GF: It sounds like there's several chapters yet to come. So thank you, Carol, for telling us about this today.

CL: Of course, my pleasure.

GF: Take care. Bye-bye.

CL: Bye-bye.

CH: Carol Leonnig is an investigative reporter with the Washington Post. We reached her in Washington, DC.

[Music: Ambient]

MB Meteor Missed

CH: For two nights this week, some Manitobans were lucky spectators to what is often a once-in-a-lifetime experience. On Tuesday night, there was excitement when one meteor was spotted streaking across the sky in parts of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and North Dakota. Then, on Wednesday night, more than 50 people in the same areas reported another one. For night-sky watchers, seeing one meteor is a stroke of luck. But unfortunately for astronomer Scott Young, this wasn't his lucky week.

[sc]

SCOTT YOUNG: [chuckling] Well, you know, I missed both of them. I was even outside quite a bit last night. And I guess I had come in for a warm-up break just when it happened. So I'm kind of kicking myself for missing it. Actually, a cousin of mine sent me a video of… of this bright meteor, you know, second night in a row, and we had this really, really bright fireball in the sky that was a beautiful sight and was seen all over southern Manitoba. Lots of reports from Winnipeg up into the Interlake and so on. And it was, you know, I don't know if I could compare the two of them because they're both pretty much once-in-a-lifetime kinds of sightings. So the odds of them happening two in a row right after each other is… is really, really amazing. In some ways, it's kind of just the luck of the draw that they happen two after each other like this. But there's also something else that happens. It's… it's called the spring fireballs. For some reason, and we don't know exactly why there's more of these bright meteors in the spring. It must be something in the region of space that the Earth is going through around… around springtime. There must just be some larger pieces of material out there. But every year, there is an increase in the number of these bright fireballs that we see in spring. It is really rare, though, for it to happen that, you know, they can be seen from the same area. These fireballs usually will happen, you know, in widely separated kinds of areas. So it's pretty interesting to have them back-to-back like this.

[/sc]

CH: That was Scott Young, a Planetarium Astronomer at the Manitoba Museum, speaking with Meaghan Ketcheson about two meteors spotted in the same area in Manitoba this week.

[Ambient]

Part 2: Mariupol Resident, Alberta UCP Investigation

Mariupol Resident

Guest: Nick Osychenko

CH: In drone footage, the city of Mariupol is a smoking husk. The Ukrainian government says more than a hundred thousand people are still stuck in the besieged city -- including many children. And the bombs continue to drop. But bombs are not the only problem. The local city council says people are dying of starvation and that there are mass graves in the city. Those who are able to leave, like Nick Osychenko, say they were leaving hell. Mr. Osychenko escaped the city last week with his family. He is the CEO of Mariupol Television. We reached him in Zaporizhia. And a warning: he speaks explicitly about the aftermath of bombings, including descriptions of a dead body.

GF: Mr. Osychenko, first of all, how are you and your family doing now that you are out of Mariupol?

NICK OSYCHENKO: Look, after we escaped from Mariupol, we are… we are safe. We have water. We have warm. So I think it's something like the heaven after the hell, which we have had in Mariupol, yes.

GF: You tell me about your escape, how… how you got out?

NO: We escaped on the 15th of March. And in 13th of March, in 50 metres nearby our home, it was three missiles from a plane. And after these explosions, we lost our windows. We lost even our doors, yeah. So it was too heavy. And two nights, we was sleeping in the basement. So every day, I went to the 10th floor and searching nets, mobile nets to find some net. And when they went up in 14th of March, I found net. And my friends, my colleagues and other people, many other people, are starting to calling me. Starting to send the messages that something about 1,500 cars escaped from Mariupol, and they are going to Zaporizhia. I talked with my family, I talked with my neighbours and we decided to escape.

GF: Nick, tell me about your family? You were in that building and in the basement and trying to decide whether just to stay or to go, who were you with?

NO: Me, my wife, my 12-year son, my nephew… my nephew.

GF: Your niece, yeah.

NO: Yeah, she's 30 years old, and she have a little daughter, three and half years old.

GF: Uh-huh.

NO: And the… the parents of my wife, something about 74 or 75. I don't remember. But don't tell my wife, yeah. [both chuckle]

GF: So you made the decision to join those other people who were leaving. Tell me about that journey. What did you see as you were trying to escape the city?

NO: I was talking to children to look at the sun, to look at the other cars, to look in each other way because outside on the streets of our city, I was… don't mind about buildings with no windows, but the… the terrible scene was that on the streets, there was bodies of people, and bodies of children. Yeah, it was terrible. It was like the hell. So I don't want my children to look at these bodies here.

GF: Yeah. We have spoken to the deputy mayor of your city a couple of times on our program. He described for us the bombing at the maternity hospital, and the bombing at the theatre, where I think more than 300 people now have been confirmed as having died.

NO: I think more. I think more. Yeah.

GF: And he talked to us about the terrible conditions, how people couldn't find water, how people were burying bodies in mass graves. What was the hardest part for you? How desperate did… did it get for you in that hell that you describe?

NO: You know, I think to the hardest memories, memories that I will have all of my life, yeah. One thing is something about 7th of March. I drive to my office. For now, I have no channel. [chuckle] Yes, so channel was bombed. And when I drived by this street nearby my house, my building, I saw… I saw when the dog, the street dog, was eating the brain of somebody and it was very terrible, very… I don't know how to say this, but it looks like, I think, something from the Stephen King, yeah? And the second scene, which I will remember all of my life, I try to tell it in English. Look, when the planes are flying above your house, yeah, it's a terrible sound. It's a terrible sound. And you don't know where this missile will go. And every time in the night when I heard this sound, I tried to save my son with my body, yeah. So I lied above my son. And I was understanding that it will make nothing, actually nothing. And this feeling that I'm a man and I can't… oh, and I can't defend my son, it's the terrible thing, yeah. So, these two things I will remember for all of my life. Yeah.

GF: Yeah. I don't know what to say. I can't imagine what… what it's like to be there.

NO: You know, I really hope that nobody will imagine this. That nobody will feel it.

GF: You and your family are now only about 250 kilometres away from Mariupol. Do you feel safe now?

NO: No. You know, in any point of our country, any point, you can't feel safe. I just went out from the hell. And while I'm staying here in Zaporizhia, I'm talking to people I talking with volunteers here. I'm talking with everybody to share my experience, which I have had in this two and a half weeks, yeah.

GF: Right.

NO: So I'm telling them that they must be ready for the hell. And they're hearing me, and they're making some things I think that will save many lives.

GF: Mr. Osychenko, I so appreciate you speaking to us. I hope you remain safe.

NO: Thank you. Bye-bye.

CH: Nick Osychenko is the CEO of Mariupol Television. Today, we reached him in Zaporizhia.

[Music: Glassy guitar and drums]

Alberta UCP Investigation

Guest: Carolyn Dunn

CH: A so-called "kamikaze" candidate and a secret recording about "lunatics .... trying to take over the asylum". There are no dull moments in politics in Alberta at the moment. In 2017, Jeff Callaway entered the United Conservative Party leadership race in Alberta. And since then, he has been accused of joining that race solely to help Jason Kenney win it -- by undermining Mr. Kenney's rival, Brian Jean. And now, a new investigation by CBC reporter Carolyn Dunn is revealing more about Premier Kenney's alleged involvement. We reached Carolyn Dunn in Calgary.

GF: Carolyn, take us back to 2017, and this… this notion of the kamikaze candidate. When Jeff Callaway ran to lead the UCP, wasn't his plan to win?

CAROLYN DUNN: Well, you know, he might have actually had a hope that he would be popular enough to stay in the race. But this entire campaign was designed for him to run, to attack former Wildrose leader Brian Jean, who was Jason Kenney's biggest worry in the leadership race, drop out at this pre-selected date and then endorse Jason Kenney. CBC has a cache of documents from the Kenney campaign to the Callaway campaign that includes everything from, you know, talking points, debate, preparation advertisements, even a plan of when Callaway was supposed to drop out and endorse Kenney. So the nickname kamikaze campaign is because Jeff Callaway was willing to torpedo his own campaign and ambitions to attack Brian Jean and then benefit Jason Kenney.

GF: So bring us to your investigation now. Obviously, the questions that were raised by this was how much did Jason Kenney know about all of these efforts? What has he said before now?

CD: Well, what he has said before now is basically that he did not have any inside knowledge. He admits that he went to a planning meeting at Jeff Calloway's house but that he says that he was only seeking Jeff Calloway's endorsement -- that he was not in any way involved in the so-called kamikaze campaign.

GF: And what have you learned now that contradicts that or appears to contradict that?

CD: Basically, this stems back to a night in July 2017. People whose names you probably wouldn't know unless you were following party politics very closely were there. Hardyal "Happy" Mann, who's a political powerbroker in the South Asian community, he brought some Indian food for everyone. Cameron Davies, who was a political communications expert, says there were plenty of adult beverages going around that night. And, of course, Jason Kenney and his campaign staff were there. This is the night that they firmed up what would later become known as the kamikaze campaign. And what's really new in this is that Davies and Mann have alleged that Jason Kenney was present for the money discussions. Basically, while the group dismissed any concerns about money that they would need to, you know, enter the campaign or run the campaign. Davies also said that Jason Kenney was personally adamant that night that Jeff Callaway drop out of the race on a predetermined date and endorse him.

GF: So… so the interviews that you have had access to really show, and I'm just… I just want to make sure I understand this. They really show that Jason Kenney was in the loop. He was part of the discussions, and he was there when money was discussed, who was going to pay for this kamikaze candidate and his campaign. Is that right?

CD: Perhaps not who was going to pay, but definitely, according to these interviews anyway, that he was there for assurances that they didn't need to worry about money.

GF: What has Kenney's team responded to all of this?

CD: Not much. They didn't start with any response whatsoever, despite many, many emails to them. And then just a few days before I started getting ready to publish this, they responded, saying that they were not familiar with the documents that I used for this investigative report. And that, basically, his previous comments on the matter stand. So I take that to mean that he is still saying he didn't have any intimate knowledge of the scheme.

GF: And just to be clear, the documents that you have, that you're basing your story on, where did they come from?

CD: So they are from investigative interviews with Cam Davies and Happy Mann. They became cooperating witnesses with the investigation of the Office of the Election Commissioner. There have been more than $200,000 in electoral fines levied in this case, and some people who are fighting those fines are now in court doing so. And so, these documents I was tipped off about are actually sitting in court files. They would never normally be made public, but because they're being used to challenge the fines, there they were for the taking.

GF: Jason Kenney, as we know, is headed into a leadership review shortly. How might all of this come back to hurt his credibility?

CD: Yeah. Well, look, I should say that the story… timing of my story is coincidental. I started working on this way back at the end of January, and it was just ready right now. But because we are in the middle of a leadership review that is highly political and highly contested, the United Conservative Party is actually being accused of moving the goalposts by changing the format and date of the leadership review. So the premier's critics say the last-minute changes to that are essentially stacking the deck for Kenney. And so they're raising questions about the integrity of the leadership review, partially based on the fact that there have been so many accusations about the leadership race of 2017. Not only hijinks, but also some potentially criminal elements. So there's absolutely no shortage of fodder for those who oppose Jason Kenney to connect the leadership review and the leadership race of 2017.

GF: There's an awful lot of turmoil as you, as you point out within the UCP. We have to acknowledge the news today of a secret recording of Jason Kenney, in which he says he stayed on as premier to stop fringe elements within the party from taking over. And his quote is stop the lunatics from taking over the asylum. What does that tell you about what's… what's happening in the party?

CD: Well, it's a… it's a divided party, and I think that this is Jason Kenney's only strategy going forward is to try to really appeal to the mainstream, the centrists in the party, not people who, you know, resonated so much with the trucker convoys or the anti-vax movement, that kind of thing, and try and get those people on board by saying, if not me, guess who? I think that's his strategy. And I think, you know, it might be the only one that he has left at this point. But I have to tell you. He is a cunning campaigner.

GF: There's never a dull moment.

CD: Not in Alberta politics, ever.

GF: Thanks a lot, Carolyn.

CD: [chuckling] All right. Thank you.

GF: Bye-bye.

CH: Carolyn Dunn is a CBC reporter in Calgary. Jason Stephan is an MLA with the United Conservative Party. He's written a letter calling for Jason Kenney to resign. And not because of everything Carolyn Dunn just told you. But because UCP officials announced -- controversially and belatedly -- that Mr. Kenney's leadership review would be held by mail-in vote, instead of in person.

[sc]

JASON STEPHAN: No political party would ever cancel such a massive, unprecedented turnout to their event. It is inexplicable. That undermines the party, actually, but I also called it a circus because it is a very serious thing to completely change election rules after deadlines. The change excluded many Conservatives who would have purchased membership if they knew the goalposts were going to be moved. And changing the rules after deadlines opens up risks of unfairness. It's really important that we need elections not only to be fair, but also to be seen as fair. And changing rules after deadlines destroys trust. So I called it a circus.

DAVID GRAY: I appreciate that. And just to be clear, nobody's imposing this on your party. This is your own party doing this to yourselves, correct?

JS: That is correct.

DG: Okay. Premier Kenney... you heard the tape, you heard what he was saying to his staffers on Tuesday, I'm sure. And the quote that he had was the reason he's keeping on with the job is to keep the lunatics away from the asylum. Pardon the question. Is Premier Kenney talking about you?

JS: I don't think so. I don't think I belong in the asylum, but I guess that's a question, asked Premier Kenney.

DG: Well, who do you think he's talking about?

JS: I don't know who he's talking about. If we're defining lunatics by people who do not agree with the premier, that's not in the dictionary that I have in my home.

DG: In your letter, you write, great leaders lead and love and inspire the best and those they serve. Has that not been the story for your time inside this party and inside this government?

JS: David, I have been blessed to serve with many great leaders who lead and love and do inspire the best in those they serve. But we have seen too much contention and division and labelling. And that is not good. We want the public to trust their public institutions. We want to have peace. And when we label and divide others, that does the very opposite.

[/sc]

CH: That was UCP backbencher Jason Stephan speaking with the CBC's David Gray today.

[Music: Fifties movie music]

Cronenberg Kidney Stone NFT

CH: You're at a party in a creepy mansion. Suddenly, a stranger appears beside you. His eyes are strangely intense, and his smile -- there's something wrong with it. He says, in a hoarse whisper, "Hey, do you mind if I talk to you about NFTs?" And that's when you start screaming. What? You don't think that's scary? Well, let me explain: NFTs, or "non-fungible tokens", are digital assets with "digital signatures", making them "cryptographically unique" and most of them are part of the Ethereum blockchain, which… now, do you see how your mouth has gone dry, and your hands are trembling? That's because NFTs are terrifying…ly dull. Unless David Cronenberg makes them. After all, he's in the business of blowing minds.

[sc]

[Sound: The building tension of a certain famously skin-crawling scene from Scanners]

[/sc]

CH: That… that was the scene from Scanners where Louis Del Grande's head explodes. That joke works better with the… with the pictures. Anyway, Mr. Cronenberg moved on from body horror a long time ago. But now, he's moved abruptly back into that genre, through NFTs. The latest of which is: a photo of his kidney stones. His artistic process was painful, but rewarding. In a statement, Mr. Cronenberg explained, "I see in these kidney stones a luminous narrative generated by a group of my inner organs, a narrative as intimate as a person could imagine." I'm sure he's at least half-kidding, but he's not wrong. Plus, they took a lot more work to produce than, say, a cartoon ape. So maybe an NFT of kidney stones is a good investment. A truly unique art piece. And a reminder that all things must pass.

[Music: Jazz]

Part 3: Berlin Ukrainians To Canada, Oscars Sound Editors

Berlin Ukrainians To Canada

Guest: Alex Pawlowski

CH: The Canadian government says it's opening the doors to an "unlimited” number of Ukrainian refugees. But some Ukrainians are getting a less-than warm welcome. Alex Pawlowski is a Canadian living in Germany who is trying to help two young Ukrainian women -- one of whom is applying to come to Canada. Yesterday, he took them to the offices of VSF Global in Berlin -- which is a company that processes visa applications for the government of Canada. We reached Alex Pawlowski in Berlin.

GF: Alex, can you start by describing the scene for us when you arrived at this visa processing office yesterday with your two Ukrainian friends?

ALEX PAWLOWSKI: When we arrived there, we saw approximately 20 to 30 Ukrainian refugees outside this office. And being a fluent Ukrainian speaker, I started talking to them. And some of them told me that they have been waiting there for three days, sleeping outside and unable to get appointments using their online booking system.

GF: Was the office even open?

AP: The office was open. But in the time that I was there, and I was there for roughly one hour yesterday, I only saw one person being processed or assisted with their visa application. And otherwise there was just a security individual at the door, not talking to anybody outside, not letting anybody in and not sharing any information.

GF: There was a sign on the door, I understand?

AP: Yes, the sign was only in English, and the people that I was speaking to didn't speak English. They spoke Ukrainian and Russian. And the sign said that they are not accepting any individuals without appointments and that they needed to make these appointments online. And the Ukrainian refugees that I was speaking to there were telling me that the website is broken. They can't make any appointments. Yeah, that's why they're waiting outside, hoping to be able to be allowed into Canada.

GF: So you then called the Canadian government hotline for Ukrainian refugees, is that right?

AP: Yes, I did. And, unfortunately, this hotline is also not working. It's a number in Ottawa, and I called and it asked me to select English or French using numbers one or two. And when I pressed number one, it just said that that choice is invalid. When I pressed number two, it said the choice is invalid. I could not even get past that first language selection option.

GF: Well, can you tell us a little bit about these two young women? You were there because you were… you were trying to help them? What do you know about their background and how they… they came to be on the train?

AP: I met them rather completely spontaneously. Really, I have a Ukrainian flag on the face mask that I wear. And I was connecting in a small village. And they had come to Germany about a week ago from the city of Dnipro in Ukraine, and they were 23 and 28 years old. One was happy to stay in Germany. The other wanted to go to Canada because that's where her boyfriend lives, in Cambridge, Ontario. They were travelling alone. They did not speak any English. They did not speak any German. And it was a very strange coincidence that the one person that they run into on this journey happens to be Canadian of Ukrainian descent, [GF chuckles] living in Germany, who speaks Ukrainian, who could help them.

GF: Who could help them, yeah.

AP: Or at least I hoped. Yeah, at least I hoped I could help them. But, unfortunately, taking them to this office was not of any help.

GF: Why did you want to help them?

AP: Obviously, I've been following the news very closely. My own family history, my… my grandparents were refugees from Ukraine after World War Two. And I… I'm very upset that there are so many parallels with WHAT my family has gone through and what is happening now and people being forced to leave their homeland. And I felt like I was in a very unique position to help them. So… so I cancelled my appointments for the rest of that afternoon and I took them…. I took them to this office. But when I got there, unfortunately, I realized that taking them to this office was of zero help.

GF: And what do you think of that?

AP: I was embarrassed, to be honest. I've been following the news in Canada, and there is definitely a level of rhetoric that… that makes it sound as though our country is open to refugees and to immigrants, especially now in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And what is actually happening when Ukrainians are trying to be allowed to enter Canada is they can’t… they can't even get an appointment. And not only can they not get an appointment, they're not even being given information and they're being forced to sleep on the streets in front of an office that's completely indifferent to their suffering.

GF: We actually checked the VSF Global website, and it… it says there, and this is a quote, due to the current situation in Ukraine, some of our visa application centres are experiencing higher volumes than usual, unquote.

AP: Mmm-hmmm.

GF And says, basically, if people can't get through that, they should consider going to another VSF office in another European location. I mean, what do you think of that?

AP: [sigh] These… these are people who have had to leave their homes at a moment's notice, probably travelling very light. They're probably not in the best physical or emotional states right now. They've come to a country like Germany, at least that's the example that I've seen, and the best that this… this company, it's not even a government office, but the best that this company that has been contracted by the Canadian government to handle these applications… all they can offer is the invitation to travel onward to Prague or Warsaw. And what if it's full there? They don't even know what the situation is like until they get there.

GF: Yeah. How are these two young women doing now?

AP: All things considered, they seem to be in very good spirits. We've been in contact still today after everything that happened yesterday. And they… they seem very optimistic. They don't seem too frustrated. I think I was more frustrated than they were, but I really admire that spirit. And I think from my conversations with these two young women, and also the others in front of the office, is that yes, there is frustration, but it doesn't seem that anybody's giving up quite yet.

GF: Do they still want to come to Canada?

AP: Yes. Only one of the two girls said she specifically wanted to go to Canada because her boyfriend is living there, and she said that if she can’t get this visa from the office in Berlin, that she will try in either Prague, Warsaw or Vienna, wherever she can to try and make this work.

GF: All right. Well, Alex, thank you for the help you provided them. And we'll… we'll watch with interest to see what happens.

AP: Thank you very much for having me.

GF: Bye-bye.

AP: Bye-bye.

CH: We reached Alex Pawlowski in Berlin. We asked for a response from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada -- but we didn't hear back by show time.

[Music: Ambient]

P.E.I. Potato Update

CH: Prince Edward Island's potato woes could soon be behind it. Yesterday, Canada's agriculture minister confirmed that the U.S. border will be reopening to tablestock potatoes from the province, quote, "soon." And if "soon" sounds vague to you, it is -- as are the details of the deal. Marie-Claude Bibeau says export rights will only apply to growers whose fields have never had potato wart -- which is the source of PEI's months-long ban. But the industry representatives in the U.S. seem to want more reassurance than that. Kam Quarles is the CEO of the National Potato Council in the States.

[sc]

KAM QUARELS: Having P.E.I. dealing with this disease situation has not been great for the North American potato industry. It caused a lot of problems cross-border, and we had a lot of sympathy for the growers. But it is a… it's a disease issue, and we want to see the disease dealt with. We don't want the disease to get into the United States. So, while we want the trade disruption to be minimized, we also don't want the disease here. So, we were hopeful that USDA, along with CFIA, was going to require that soil testing is completed to make sure that the fields that are shipping to the United States are clean from the disease. But once that soil testing was completed and those… those fields are… are certified as clean, great, we wanted them back in our marketplace. So, at all instances, we have treated this as a plant health matter. I can't say the same for some of our… some of the folks in P.E.I. They've viewed this… they just from the beginning haven't taken it seriously. And you know, that's… I think it's… it's wasted a lot of time, and it probably has gotten to a less positive outcome than otherwise we could have had if we all worked together.

[/sc]

CH: Kam Quarles is the CEO of the U.S. National Potato Council, which is still concerned about the possibility of importing potato wart from PEI. The fungus doesn't pose a threat to humans, but it can leave potatoes deformed and, therefore, unmarketable. Still, PEI farmer Ray Keenan says there's no reason to worry -- and there are other ways growers on both sides of the border could be working together.

[sc]

RAY KEENAN: I was encouraged that Kam Quarles has sympathy for our growers in P.E.I. I had… [chuckle] quite frankly, I hadn't been seeing a whole lot of that in the discussions we've had in the last four months. But putting that aside for a minute, I think we have more things to do as a… as an industry. We're in a wartime situation right now. We're in a shortage of fuel. Transportation is a… is a… is a… is a huge issue. I think there are ways the National Potato Council could be working with the potato industry in Canada to a much better advantage. One thing that comes to mind weight restriction laws on trucks getting down the U.S. We… you know, there are trucks that went clear to Pasco, Washington, this year with 40,000-42000 pounds on them, and they could easily have had 50,000. So these are the discussions that the industry needs to be having with our counterparts in the U.S. to… to bring some relief to our industry. And at the same time, not making light of the final sanitary issue. There'd be nothing in this for P.E.I. or Canada, for that matter, to… to pose any threat to the potato area of the United States. And that's what this was resolved on was probability. And that's what took so long. So, I think Mr. Quarles can rest quite easily that P.E.I. will do the right thing.

[/sc]

CH: Ray Keenan is a potato grower with Rollo Bay Holdings in Prince Edward Island.

[Music: Acoustic guitar]

Ottawa Pierogies Kit

CH: Sophie Shields is following her grandmother's recipe to a tee. Always use a lot of butter and oil. And always use a wooden spoon -- never metal. Ms. Shields is the president of the Ukrainian Students Club at Carleton University. The club has been busy chopping onions, peeling potatoes, and pinching pierogies for a good cause. Their ready-to-make "pierogi kits" are being sold online to raise money for the war effort in Ukraine. And this weekend, Sophie Shields says, the club is hosting a livestream for people to cook and come together as a community.

[sc]

SOPHIE SHIELDS: Once it's boiling, we'll put the pierogies into the… the pot and wait 'till they rise to the top using a wooden spoon. Fried pierogies as well, and they're made with a lot of butter and oil, which is very classically Ukrainian, I think, to use. This is my grandmother's recipe, but it has been adapted to do on a really large scale. So she… she watched the event last year. She had a lot of comments to give. [laughing in the background] And so this year, we're following her… her comments a bit more. [chuckling]

HALLIE COTNAM: Well, what… [chuckling] what did she have to say about last year's effort?

SS: She's very traditional. So, for instance, we used a metal spoon instead of a wooden one, and that was clearly the wrong thing to do. We tossed it using a spoon instead of tossing it up in the air, so there were just critiques that way. But on the whole, she appreciated us continuing the tradition. She just wanted to make sure it's done… done right, yeah. So now I'm about to put the pierogies into the water, which is over boiling here. So you can just do that for me.

HC: Is there a secret ingredient that your granny's recipe calls for?

SS: I think the sour cream is the the secret ingredient to use in the dough instead of using, like, water or milk, yeah.

HC: So that you're selling the dough and this filling separately. Rather than make pre-made pierogies, why are you doing it like that?

SS: This is an annual event, actually, that it's the eighth year that our club has been doing this. And in the past, it used to be in-person. And the whole idea was people would come in, they'd have the dough, the potatoes, and they'd make it themselves in the hall. But we wanted to make it pandemic-friendly. And instead of just making the pierogies ourselves, that sort of takes the fun out of the activity. And they also get to learn how to do it themselves during the practice and also talk with us over the screen. And they could say, oh, it's not going well, it's going well, or my pierogies have just evaporated in the water. What do I do? And it feels much more like we're creating a community that way than to just sell pierogies, yeah.

HC: And do you need to stir these onions?

SS: [sizzling onions] Yes. Yes. Thank you for that.

HC: [chuckling] What is it going to feel like for you and your family to help? And what is it going to mean this year?

SS: I think there are some worries that it's… is it too much fun? Are we just having fun out of the situation? But we really wanted to fundraise. And so, for me, and for my family, this is a way to actively feel like I'm helping get some humanitarian aid or medical supplies. Like, every little bit counts and also to get together as a community to do something that's very important as well. Everyone's really struggling. And so, to be able to be together in the same space and to do this.

[/sc]

CH: That was Sophie Shields, president of Carleton University's Ukrainian Students Club, sharing her family's pierogi recipe with CBC Ottawa reporter Hallie Cotnam. The club's pierogi livestream is tomorrow night. And you can find out more details on the Carleton Ukrainians Facebook page.

[Music: Jazz]

Oscars Sound Editors

Guest: Carlos Soli

CH: On Sunday night, your living room may be the site of bitter argument. Don't Look Up was unfunny, strident, and didactic!" someone will shout. "Yeah, well, Belfast suffers from an excess of sentimentality and an unclear sense of narrative perspective!" The Academy Awards may be a smaller deal than they've ever been, but they're still a big deal. They're always divisive, but -- especially if you've been binge-watching Bob Ross through the whole pandemic -- they're also a chance to add movies to your must-watch list. Including another of this year's Best Picture nominees -- The Power of the Dog, directed by Jane Campion.

[sc]

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH: Twenty five years since our first run together. Nineteen hundred and nothing.

JESSE PLEMONS: It's a long time.

BC: What cha doing getting mixed up with her?

JP: You are marvellous, Rose. We were married Sunday.

[/sc]

CH: But come Sunday, we won't be able to watch the winners in some categories receive their Oscars. The Academy has decided to broadcast a pre-recorded ceremony for eight craft categories -- which include sound, film editing, and makeup and hairstyling. Carlos Solis is a re-recording mixer at Warner Brothers Studios. He spearheaded a petition by sound mixers calling for the Academy to reverse that decision. We reached him in Los Angeles, California.

GF: Carlos, it's Friday before the Oscars. I think normally a pretty exciting time for people in your profession who've been nominated for an Academy Award. How is that different this year?

CARLOS SOLIS: Well, they decided to change it a little bit or a lot, I should say. They took eight categories and decided to pre-record them and deliver the awards to those eight categories before the actual live show. So they're pre-taping them. They're going to give the awards before the… the live ceremony and then edit those sections and insert them later on in the show.

GF: And these are eight craft categories, right? So they include things like sound mixing, which I understand you're involved with, editing, that sort of thing?

CS: Yes, it's basically documentary, short film editing, makeup and hairstyling, music score, production design, short films, animated and live action and, of course, sound.

GF: Now, you weren't nominated yourself this year, but… so… but you did start a petition to protest this. Why did you do that?

CS: I believe that we had to be heard. Of course, we are sound artists. And we need to explain our disagreement and that we were not happy with the decision. Basically, I believe that all the categories, all the… all the parts to get to create a movie are equally as important.

GF: And why has the academy done this, do you think?

CS: The big answer basically is for entertainment purposes and ratings. That's what they keep saying. We need more ratings. We need more ratings. The academy gets a lot of the money from the Oscar ratings from ABC and the big corporations. So basically, they say that the ratings have dropped, and they want more ratings, so they wanted to overhaul… an overhaul of the show. To be fair, this overhaul of the Oscars has been talked for a long time. It’s… this is not now, but finally they decided to go ahead. I think a couple of years ago there was another controversy and they decided to not do it. I guess this time, they decided they were going to do it. I am a hopeful person, so I'll believe it until the show is over. I still believe and am hoping that it's going to change. They're going to change their course.

GF: If it's all about ratings, do you accept that presenting these craft categories is somehow going to result in lower ratings?

CS: No, of course not. I mean, you know, the ABC network shows have dropped the ratings. Viewing habits have changed. You have now a lot of streaming services. So I think that interest has changed. The big thing that I… that I think that people forget is that when the Oscars started broadcasting the Oscars, it was more like a journalistic event. Somebody let them into our world and what we were doing, and they loved it. And basically, that's why they were showing them the Oscars in the old times. And now, they wanted to do a show and make it entertainment. And some people… I mean, if they really want entertainment, go to a concert, go to a concert. You know, they want to hear somebody singing, go to watch a video. I think that the Oscars are very unique. And I believe that 94 years later, we have to keep fighting to… to stay in the tradition of the original soul of the program, and then try to fix it or accommodate it and tweak it. Yes, I know changes are coming. The whole world is changing.

GF: What do you think is lost by the academy making this decision, by excluding these people, not giving them their, I guess, their moment of glory on a live production?

CS: Well, again, I mean, there's dividing. So I don't think that the world needs that. I think that we need to unite, not divide. I mean, if you want it to be, let's call it fair, then just announce that you're going to take these eight awards now and we're going to be pre-recorded. And then the next Oscars, it’s going to be another eight, and then the next Oscars is going to be another eight, even though it becomes actors, directors and something else. Then we go, okay, that's what you want. That's… that's kind of fair.

GF: Have you had support from actors and directors and people who will be there to get their awards in… in… in real-time?

CS: Well, the amazing thing about our sound artist community, in the letter, we got over 80 artists to sign from all over the world. And, of course, the ones that I was really happy is I have 17 Oscar winners that signed the petition. And, for me, it was just humbling that they will go behind what I wrote. And then, of those 17, three of them are actual Oscar nominees. And, of course, you know, knowing how the craziest this world I have like Robert McKenzie from Power of the Dog that is nominated for sound this year, and we got Niv Adiri that is nominated for Belfast and I have Paul Massey, which is a fellow Canadian that he's nominated for No Time to Die for James Bond. So that was very, very strong for me. And then, suddenly this letter, so I got 17 of them, plus all other nominees. In the letter, there's people with 16 nominations, with 12, with 10 with 11. Randy Thom, a lot of the names that are really strong, artists very well-known have signed.

GF: You say you're a hopeful man and you hope that this will be reversed before Sunday night. But… but if not, what… what are the plans?

CS: or the reason I lift my hand and we're speaking out so we can try to improve it next year. I think, I heard that David Rubin, the president of the Academy, is going to leave after this. So we'll just have to, you know, remain together, pull ourselves together and really try to make changes for the best of the Academy and try to find a balance between, again the past, the future, the present and the future of the academy. I believe in provision, and I believe that we just should not dump these because we encountered this. We have to just move forward one little step forward and try to make it better.

GF: All right, Carlos, thank you for talking to us today.

CS: Thank you so much.

GF: Bye-bye.

CS: Bye-bye.

CH: Carlos Solis is a re-recording mixer at Warner Brothers Studios. We reached him in Los Angeles, California.

[Music: Orchestral]

Canada Reads Reading: What Strange Paradise

CH: Tareq Hadhad's story has an undeniable appeal. Mr. Hadhad is a Syrian refugee-turned-Canadian entrepreneur, who founded the Nova Scotia company "Peace by Chocolate," which is precisely as excellent a venture as it sounds. It's an extension of a family chocolate-making business that was destroyed in Syria's civil war -- which uses fair-trade ingredients, makes a point of hiring refugees, and donates a portion of its profits to charity. It's also a rare story. With the kind of happy ending that eludes a lot of families fleeing war and violence. That bleak reality is depicted in the novel Mr. Hadhad has chosen to champion in next week's Canada Reads debates. Omar El Akkad's book, What Strange Paradise, is the tale of a child who finds himself the sole survivor of a shipwreck that kills countless other refugees looking for a better life in Europe. In this passage, read by the author, he and other travellers are preparing to embark on that ill-fated voyage.

[sc]

OMAR EL AKKAD: Quiet Uncle took his life jacket and unzipped it and helped Amir's arms through the holes. The jacket was made for an adult, and Amir struggled to keep it from writing up over his face. Don't be…. Quiet Uncle started. Don't be difficult, just sit. We’ll be all right. They followed the man with the manifest onto the fishing boat. By the time they boarded, every inch of the topmost deck was taken up by standing and sitting bodies. Pushed back against the railing, the man with the manifest shouted make room, make room. All around him, the other men running the operation began to strip the vessel of its electronic and illuminating tools. They dismantled the radio antenna from atop the bulkhead, unscrewed the receiver and tore down the overhead spotlights. But for the small blue glow of the passengers’ cell phones, the ship went dark. Upon seeing Amir walk onto the deck, a thin young man who sat silently among the passengers near the rear of the boat motioned with his hands to the smuggler with the manifest. He pointed at a mirror and turned his hand in a questioning motion. The smuggler shook his head. He's paid up. He held across the deck. He's not for the market. The other man shrugged. The smuggler flicked on a flashlight. He pointed its beam at the two men who'd been made to wait by the bulkhead. Eritrean, he asked. The men nodded. You speak English, Arabic, Tigray. The men nodded. In a mash of all three languages, the smuggler continued, You know, how to steer this? He asked. No, the shorter of the two Eritreans replied. It's easy, look, the smuggler pointed the flashlight beam to the throttle and the wheel, then to a small dashboard compass. You see that little arrow. You make sure it stays on N. That's it. That's all it takes. If the arrow moves, you turn the wheel like you're driving a car until it comes back to N. Come storms, come police, come military, come God himself, I don't care. You stay in the direction of N. Your whole future is N. He pointed the flashlights beem back towards the ferry and then into the darkness to the south of the boat, where somewhere in the oblivion of both distance and time leave the city from which they'd embarked, swallowed now by the sea. And if you decide to turn around, we'll know. And then we'll come find you and we'll sink this thing and everyone on it. Do you understand? The men nodded. Good. The smuggler ordered all the others who had been stripping the boat to return to the ferry. As he came to follow them, the middle-aged Syrian who accosted him earlier stood up from the pile of old netting on which he'd been sitting. Is that it? He asked. You're getting these two who've never been off dry land before to take us. No lights, no maps, no nothing. What kind of man are you? We’ll die out here? The smuggler crossed back onto the ferry and unclasped the ramp behind him. Brother, you'll die everywhere, he said.

[/sc]

CH: Omar El Akkad's novel, What Strange Paradise, will be championed in next week's Canada Reads debates by entrepreneur Tareq Hadhad. And for more on the contenders, visit: www.cbcbooks.ca.

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March 25, 2022 Episode Transcript

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