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The AIH Transcript for May 26th, 2022

DAVID GRAY: Hello, I'm David Gray.

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

[Music: Theme]

Prologue

CH: Tonight

DG: Rhetorical questions. After racist threats derail a pair of political events, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh says it's time politicians turned down the volume on the rhetoric and turn up for those in need.

CH: She once was lost -- but now she's found. After more than 40 years searching for her missing aunt, a Cree woman is finally bringing her body home -- and feeling a mixture of heartbreak and hope.

DG: Grave offence. More than 75 years after the Second World War, Jewish-American soldiers given Christian burials are finally receiving proper rites.

CH: A judge is accusing Ohio's Elections Commission of a "stunning rebuke to the court of law" over its efforts to use electoral maps that unfairly favour the GOP.

DG: And a man of his words. A British school teacher breaks the world record for Longest Rap Marathon after spitting rhymes for almost 40 hours. And after all that, he makes good on a promise to save a few for us.

CH: And… the 100 Acre… wouldn't. Judging by the stills from a new slasher movie, an enterprising director has apparently decided we don't just want to see Winnie the Pooh murdering a pot of honey.

DG: As It Happens, the Thursday edition. Radio that assumes that makes for a grizzly bear movie.

[Music: Theme]

Part 1: Jagmeet Singh: Polarization, Alberta Missing Woman Identified, Rap Marathon Record

Jagmeet Singh: Polarization

Guest: Jagmeet Singh

CH: Once again, racism and rage have interrupted the everyday work of Canadian politics. This week in Surrey, British Columbia, police advised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to skip a fundraiser after protesters made violent threats and hurled racist taunts outside. That follows an incident earlier this month in Peterborough, Ontario where NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was the target of abuse as he lent a hand in the provincial election campaign. Afterwards, Mr. Singh called on politicians to take responsibility for their role in the growing hostility. We reached Jagmeet Singh in Toronto.

DG: Mr. Singh, what does your experience in Peterborough and now the threats at this Liberal fundraiser in Surrey tell you about the state of Canadian politics right now?

JAGMEET SINGH: I do want to point out that my… my day-to-day experience, I'm in the community very often, meeting with people, walking the streets, chatting with folks. And lots of folks come up and talk to me about the things that they appreciate that's going on. The things that we're doing to help them like dental care and pharmacare. I do get people that raise concerns and worried about what's going on at the federal level raise concerns about things that they want to see happen. So it's still, I think, very healthy. But these two incidents that you've brought up, the Peterborough with myself and what happened in Surrey are… are examples of some troubling trends. I feel in both circumstances, these are folks that are of the convoy kind of ilk and don't want to engage in conversation, just want to create disruption. And that's troubling because I feel like it creates threats to my staff and my team, who I'm worried about. I'm not worried about myself. I've dealt with worse scenarios, more intense, more violent in my life before politics. But I am concerned about how that will also discourage maybe new people, young people coming forward in politics, thinking that's not the life of me. I don't want to deal with that type of aggression.

DG: You said your experience in Peterborough would rank among the worst experiences. What do you mean by that? What happened?

JS: I would say worst experience for me politically, but not the worst experience in my life by any means. I've dealt with far, far worse and more physical violence in my own life. So that's not any comparison. But politically, what happened in that moment was these weren't people that wanted to chat or have a conversation. They're aggressive, throwing out expletives, and someone yelled out, I hope you die. And just that type of intensity and anger and not a willingness to want to actually engage. I even asked somebody, you know, what are you trying to say? Is just the way you want to approach this? And it was just a lot of screaming and yelling. And that to me is not dialog, not… not a healthy way to raise a concern. People should be angry if there's a decision that they think is hurting a family or their community. Cuts to health-care. We're not investing in education. People have every right to get angry. But when it gets to the point where it's just yelling out words to hurt or to create discord or threats of violence or aggression of that nature, that's not healthy for anyone.

DG: Who or what is fueling that behaviour?

JS: Well, in this circumstance, in Peterborough, I can say very clearly they had signs in support of the convoy. So this is that… that convoy sort of folk that don't have any real intention of providing constructive feedback or a desire to… to make a point that that will change a policy. They're just kind of expressing broad, untethered anger. What I do know that's happening separate from that in Canada is a real concern about the cost of living and affordability. And as that increases, people will get more and more frustrated and angry as they see billionaires making huge profits, oil and gas companies making record profits, while Canadians feel like they're being gouged at the pumps. That type of unfairness will lead to real frustration and anger, and it's something that we need to respond to. It is genuine, and it's real. People are angry that things are getting worse, and they want help, and they need help, and they should get that.

DG: I appreciate the points you're making, but I don't want to lose the thread on what or who is driving some of the violence and the anger you're seeing. You said after Peterborough that there is a responsibility that politicians play, who purposely flamed these divisions or purposely spread misinformation. Can you elaborate?

JS: Yes, that is something I feel like we can… we can approach. Similar to when we see online hate and how that online hate can radicalize people, and the outcomes are very dangerous. They could be violence. They could be death. And we've seen that in cases where online hate radicalizes people to commit acts of violence against marginalized communities like Muslims in Canada, we've seen that. Similarly, the folks in the convoy are really basing their anger and frustration on a lot of conspiracy theories a lot of misinformation. And there is a clear responsibility on the part of political parties and leaders to not incite that type of misinformation or inflame that type of division.

DG: When you talked about politicians fomenting this kind of anger in Canada, who are you talking about?

JS: Well, we've seen conservatives brazenly embrace the convoy in Ottawa. And the Ottawa convoy was very clear in their intent. They were bent on undermining and disrupting our very democracy. And the fact that people supported that type of thing, which has also included an occupation of the city where the brunt of the protests was targeting citizens, everyday folk. The politicians, the Conservatives and others that supported this type of group are emboldening groups that are creating a climate of violence and divisiveness that is unhealthy and that is designed to disrupt our democracy. And that's absolutely, unequivocally wrong.

DG: Let me go back to a point you made earlier. I know you're out on the campaign trail again. You're campaigning for the Ontario NDP, calling for action on affordability. Is it really possible to address violence and racism by making it easier for people to pay for groceries and gas?

JS: I feel like, yes, I should say right off the bat. The climate that allows for people to be divided is one where people are already struggling and feeling frustrated. And then, it is easy to find a scapegoat and to say that the reason why you can't find a good enough job to buy your groceries, or the reason why the cost of living is going up is because of all these new immigrants. That's a dog-whistle-type of argument that would incite division. The conditions of people when there is more frustration, when there's less prosperity, and there's less opportunity for everyday folks when there is more inequality, all of those things are breeding grounds for someone to come along and to exploit that frustration and use it in a way that creates more divisions and pits people against each other, instead of actually isolating the real problems, the inequality driven by more wealth concentrated into fewer hands, corporate greed. That's where we should be placing our anger and government inaction in creating policies that will actually lift people up, more universal social programs. And so, that is a really important tool to acknowledge that the climate of inequality and the frustration that comes from not being able to live a good life are absolutely conditions that allow for more division to grow.

DG: Thank you for joining us.

JS: Thank you.

CH: Jagmeet Singh is the leader of the federal NDP. We reached him in Toronto. And you can find more on this story at our website. That's: www.cbc.ca/asithappens.

[Music: Hip-hop beat]

Alberta Missing Woman Identified

Guest: Violet Soosay

CH: For more than 40 years, Violet Soosay searched for her aunt Shirley. She watched crime shows, looking for clues. On work trips from Alberta to Vancouver and Seattle, where her aunt was last seen, Violet stopped in at hospitals, hostels, and cemeteries, hoping to find something. Then, in 2020, she learned why her aunt's letters had stopped coming in 1977. Now, her aunt's body is finally returning home to be buried in Samson Cree Nation. We reached Violet Soosay in Maskwacis, Alberta. And a warning, she describes the sexual violence of her aunt's murder.

DG: Violet, what does it mean to you that after all these years, your aunt's body is finally coming home?

VIOLET SOOSAY: It means there's no more uncertainties. There's no more what-ifs and so on and so forth. Now, there's… it's definitive. She's going to be home. And it means a lot, not just to myself, but to my family, that they will be able to… to visit her grave. And for us, it's healing. Healing our family members. Healing for our communities. Healing for her friends. And lay her to rest with the family, where she should have been all along.

DG: You have spent years searching for clues of what happened to her. How did you finally find her?

VS: Actually, I suspected her from a program in 2016 where a news flash had… had come on to, you know, the television. And when I first saw her, I thought, oh, my God, she looks like, you know, a Soosay. She has the… the facial features of… of our clan. And the only problem was after they made the announcement of these two Jane Does, they named her as Becky Ochoa, which is, you know, not of Cree, but more of the Mexican descent. So I left it then. And when I… when it was posted by the DNA Doe Project in February of 2020. And the same picture came up. I said, this is her. And then, we did the DNA match a couple of weeks later. That was just amazing.

DG: Tell me about that. What was that moment like when you realized you'd finally found her?

VS: Actually, I… I lost it. I… I was joyful, happy, sad, angry. I mean, I went through all kinds of emotions. I don't know if it was emotions from… from the years of looking for her all coming to… to the surface? You know, crying and then, you know, finally, like, oh my God, I got to get my… myself together and got back on the line with the… the individual who helped me put the match together. It was… yeah, it was really a very emotional time. And I was just so happy that, you know, my… my search was over.

DG: I can understand the mixed emotion, though. Because on one hand, yes, finally, you had the answers you've been looking for, but you also received the awful news that she had been murdered. That… that must have been horrible to learn?

VS: Yeah, it was. Um, it was really… it was really painful. That's the only word I could… could say. Because how she died was very brutal, you know, to be raped and… and stabbed, you know, 26, 28 times. Like, what kind of a monster would do that to a human being who, you know, who was gentle, who was kind, who was joyful and, you know, a free spirit? And it was really… it was devastating. Um. But, you know, what can you do? Except eventually accept the fact that you know, there are truly evil people in this world. And unfortunately, she met up with one.

DG: Was that person found? Was that… was anyone convicted of her murder?

VS: Well, see, that's what I'm saying. In 2016, when they made that news flash, they said that they identified the killer of these two Jane Doe's, but they still needed to know the Jane Does. They were able to convict their killer. And he is serving two life sentences for both my aunt and the Ventura County Jane Doe. They still haven't identified her, but they've traced her genealogy to New Mexico or the L.A. area.

DG: Violet, you spent 40 years searching. What kept you going?

VS: A promise to my grandmother. She had my Auntie Belle, who is Shirley's sister; she made us promise to her that we would find her and bring her home. She is the matriarch of our family at a time. She has now passed, of course. But when you make a promise to elderly people in our culture, you do the best to fulfill the promise that you have made. And that's what kept me going. Even… even after my aunt… my… both my aunt and grandmother passed away, I continued. I would probably continue until I left this world, too. But thank God, I didn't have to. [both chuckle]

DG: Violet, thank you very much for joining us.

VS: Mm-hmm, thank you for having me. I just want to ensure that my story reaches other Indigenous peoples because there is hope. You know, I want to… I want to give that message of hope. That not to give up. Keep looking. There is new technology that can be used. The same technology that helped me find my aunt. We just have to work at developing their own genealogy. Their family trees is what we call them. And… and utilize what technology there is to help us find our loved ones. That's my message.

DG: Thank you for speaking with us today.

VS: Thank you.

CH: We reached Violet Soosay in Maskwacis, Alberta.

[Music: Folk rock]

Rap Marathon Record

Guest: Danny Alcon

CH: When Danny Alcon set out to break a world record, it happened to be April Fool's Day. But he was dead serious about claiming the title for Longest Rap Marathon. And 39 hours, 37 minutes and 54 astonishing seconds later, he did. Now, Guinness World Records has certified his attempt. We reached Danny Alcon -- who goes by the stage name of DAlcon -- in Valencia, Spain.

DG: Danny, how did you feel when you finally completed 39 hours of rapping?

DANNY ALCON: I felt very disorientated. I didn't know where I was. It's not like I was dizzy. I just simply felt very strange. That's the best way to explain it. I've never felt like that in my life, and I just guess it was just the tiredness getting to me and. And I couldn't even sleep after that. So very, very weird.

DG: I can only imagine. Why would you want to do this in the first place?

DA: [chuckling] Because I'm crazy. That's the first thing. But secondly, on a serious note, I… I was looking for a challenge that was a little bit unique related to my passion, which is music. So I thought, what could I do that's kind of, like, outstanding, something different? And I thought about Guinness World Records, and I actually went on there, and right away, I discovered the American rapper Watsky was the current holder, and he was at 33-hour mark. So I thought, damn, you know, like, can I beat that? So, from that, I decided to, you know, do everything that was necessary in order to prepare. So, yeah.

DG: How do you prepare?

DA: Well, I just… just telling myself, if I do this, you know, I'm not going to be able to go to the toilet as much as I usually go. You know, because I drink a lot of tea. [chuckling] And as much as it was artistic preparation, what most worried me was having to stay up, you know? I'm a guy that goes to bed at 11:00, and when I go out, I'm the one who goes to bed first, and I'm the one who everybody laughs at. [both chuckle] So I'm… I'm very weak in that sense.

DG: I want to play a little bit of the beginning of your attempt back in April.

DA: Yeah, why not?

DG: Let's take a listen

[sc]

[Music: Soothing piano]

DA: Right, yo. We're ready to go. This is why I'm here, so. I'm ready, yo. Life's a competition. Survive a daily mission. I just want you and I to be in a better position. I want to do this right now for my family, for everybody out there, not the salary. I want every day to create, to produce.

[music fades]

[/sc]

DG: All right. So that's the beginning. And you… honestly, you sound like a guy who's just starting a marathon come… coming off the line here. What's going through your mind in that moment, knowing what's ahead of you?

DA: Well, I'm going to be honest with you, right? [chuckling] because I was the first track, obviously, and I wasn't feeling it. You know, like for some reason, my mind wasn't feeling it, but I thought, hey, get through it. Just get on the bike and start riding. And that's it, you know? It's just like I had to tell the little devil in my ear better times are coming, so just get… get on with it, you know?

DG: Okay. There's rules to this, right? Walk me through the logistics. You don't have to rap uninterrupted for 39 hours?

DA: No, there are strict rules. So basically, for every hour that you rap, you gain a five-minute break, which you can use however you want to use. Every two hours, I did 10-minute breaks. Um, another rule was that during the actual raps, you only had five seconds to say nothing or to say what they called nonsense words like "yo" or "uh". You had five seconds for that, you know, to pad out the performance.

DG: Yo. Yo, I understand that. Okay, so now you… you'd attempted this once before. What went wrong the last time?

DA: Well, by the time I went to submit, I went on the Guinness website and then I saw a different number, right? Watsky had 33 hours, and I saw current record 36, and I thought, damn, because I'd done 35, you see?

DG: Oh!

DA: So, I was beaten to it by an Irish man! So, shout out to this guy as well, you know, Liam Reeves, fair play to that guy because he obviously did the same as we did. So, I was gutted, man. I was gutted. So, there you go! You know, I had a new… a new record to try to beat or just quit. I decided to go again. [chuckling]

DG: All right. Let's… let's go to the go again part. I'm going to play one more bit of audio from much later on in your attempt.

DA: Go ahead. Thank you.

[sc]

[Music: Drum & bass beat]

DA: Looking up to the sky and perhaps imagining what that could be like. It could be pretty fascinating that life. Seeing the planet from above. Going up there with someone you love. Just in case you get stuck there.

[music fades]

DG: [chuckling] Okay. How far along and how exhausted were you at this point? It's certainly well into it.

DA: Oh, Jesus! Well beyond the 30-hour mark, yeah. [DG chuckles] So at that point, I was nervous, but it was kind of like I was automatic by then, you know? And I just thought, I've got this. Just deliver. [chuckling] Just get over the line. You know that when you see a marathon, and you see runners, and they're about to die, man? They're about to collapse in the Olympics, for example. And that's how I felt. I thought of those… of those runners. And I thought if they can do it, man, and they're using their legs, so come on.

DG: I can picture it. And now that you've had a chance to recover, how gratifying has it been to know that you did this and you own the record?

DA: Ecstatic. You know, I feel amazed. I feel weird to see my name on there because I'm just a local teacher, man. You know, from the school. And a sense of achievement, you know, like I've won a trophy for the first time in my life. [chuckling]

DG: Far be it for me to put you on the spot. But that's what they pay me for.

DA: Um-hmm.

DG: Any chance you could leave us with a bit of freestyle? Something for Canadian radio listeners?

DA: Yeah, man! Shall I just go for it? I can try.

DG: You bet!

DA: No pressure. [laughing] Let's do it! Banging the table [doing exactly what he says he's doing]. Two, three, yeah. I'd like to spread a little word about equality. I hope to give the world good vibes that are quality. I'd like to take an opportunity to thank you for the chance, considering that my view stank. I'm prickly like a porcupine and a push-pin. I do spit rhymes that are tired and are crispy. Ultimately, I do this to make you feel good. If I had to do the challenge again, of course, I still would. And anyways, as it goes with Canada, much like me, you know, I felt rough. So I wish you all the best in the football World Cup. Maybe one day I can go out there. With these opportunities and get em, much like Prince William and Meghan. So I'm going to leave you with this freestyle possibly gone wrong, but that's okay. This ain't Eight Mile.

DG: [both chuckle] Danny, thanks for joining us.

DA: No problem at all, man. Thank you very much for the opportunity.

CH: Danny Alcon, who raps under the name DAlcon, was just officially named the world record-holder for Longest Rap Marathon. We reached Mr. Alcon in Valencia, Spain.

[Music: Synthesizer]

Killy The Pooh Bear

[sc]

[Music: Eerie slasher-style droning]

WINNIE THE POOH: Is anybody at home?

[/sc]

CH: When he comes by for a little smackerel of something -- [whisper] don't answer the door!

[sc]

WTP: What I said was, is anybody at home?

[/sc]

CH: He may be a bear of very little brain… but he's also a bear with a very big axe. \

[sc]

WTP: Is there anybody….

[/sc]

CH: This summer, an old friend is coming to visit. And if you don't have the honey he wants, things will get very sticky, indeed.

[Music: Distorted Winnie the Pooh theme]

CH: Yeah, I know. I… I didn't like that either. But it's beyond our control: A.A. Milne's beloved Winnie the Pooh is now in the public domain. Anyone can do anything they want with him, and Piglet, and their friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. And unfortunately, what one guy wanted to do was make a slasher movie. This week, stills from that movie -- Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey -- were posted online. They show a person in a bear mask and a person in a wild boar mask -- Pooh and Piglet, apparently -- being scary. According to director Rhys Waterfield, "They're no longer tame: they're like a vicious bear and pig who want to go around and try and find prey." Now, Mr. Waterfield told Variety he tried to balance the inherent silliness with the inherent nightmarishness of the concept. "It's very easy to go down a route where nothing is scary and it's just really ridiculous and really, like, stupid," he explained. "And we wanted to go between the two." I’m not sure you managed that. This is the worst idea since Winnie the Pooh pretended to be a raincloud to steal honey from a beehive. And I'm pretty sure everyone who really loves those characters agrees: it's truly unbearable.

Part 2: Ohio Gerrymandering Fight, Jewish American Graves

Ohio Gerrymandering Fight

Guest: Freda Levenson

CH: On five different occasions, election officials in Ohio have gone to the state supreme court with redistricted electoral maps. And on all five occasions -- including in a ruling yesterday -- the court sent them back to the drawing board, saying they hadn't fixed the problem that landed them there last year: gerrymandering. The court turned down redistricting attempts, saying they unfairly favoured Republicans. But now, it looks like the rejected maps will be used anyway. Freda Levenson is the Legal Director of the ACLU of Ohio, one of the groups who took this case to the Supreme Court of Ohio. We reached her in Cleveland.

DA: Ms. Levenson, The Supreme Court of Ohio rejected these maps. So why is it looking like they'll be used anyway?

FREDA LEVENSON: They'll be used anyway, as it appears because a federal district court found that a group of Ohio voters had proved that Ohio's failure to implement new maps in time for the May 3rd primary infringed on their right to vote. So, the federal district court ordered that this map, what they call "Map Three", a map that had already been rejected as unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court, should be implemented because the court found some map needed to be implemented in time to have an election administered, in time for a primary, in time for the general election.

DG: My! Is that confusing as it sounds? And is the confusion on purpose? Do you think there was an attempt to run out the clock by Republican election commissioners in this case?

FL: Well, they certainly did use up a lot of time against a looming deadline. We've been litigating since September, eight months ago, and the Republican commissioners succeeded in not convening the commission until the last moment each time. And each time they were ordered to enact a new remedial map, they enacted a map that was unconstitutional, and that did not follow the specific orders of the Ohio Supreme Court. And they kept doing the same thing, like Groundhog Day repeatedly up against the looming primary election date.

DG: Why do you suppose? What's at stake here?

FL: What's at stake is control of the Ohio legislature. The Republican members of the legislature are in the majority. They have a durable, veto-proof supermajority. And so they control both chambers of the legislature, and they determine what laws are passed in Ohio. It's not the voters who determine. It's the legislators who determine. Some of the issues that get decided this way, for instance, are reproductive rights. Our legislature keeps passing very severe restrictions on abortion, even though the majority of Ohioans favour choice in most or all situations. That's one example. Gun control is another. Voting rights is another. There are many issues in which the gerrymandered legislature gets to impose its will over the voters in Ohio.

DG: The most recent set of maps was nearly identical to the third set of maps, which the court had already rejected. So, why didn't the judges rule that this was contempt of court?

FL: That's a very good question. You can even say that this most recent map that was rejected was identical to the map that was already rejected. Because it was identical, we did file a motion asking that the judges hold the commissioners in contempt for their defiance of the court order and the Ohio Constitution. But the court declined to hold them in contempt. It did so in a civil order, so it did not issue an opinion articulating its reasoning. So, we don't know its reasoning.

DG: So, can you give me a sense of what you see as the biggest problems with the maps that have been offered? How do they favour one party over the other?

FL: So, if you look at them very superficially and just counted up the districts that favour Democrats versus the districts that favour Republicans, they are superficially proportional. But if you dig a little bit deeper and see below the surface, you'll see that the districts that are nominally Democratic, many of them, very many of them, are actually toss-up districts. When actual projections are made as to how districts will perform in an election, many, if not all, of those districts would fall to Republicans. In contrast, the districts… the districts in the Republican side of the legislature are all districts with healthy margins. So no matter what the turnout is, no matter who the candidate is, they… they will vote. They're guaranteed to vote Republican.

DG: As you point out, it looks like these maps will be used in the end. What's the next step for the Ohio ACLU in this case?

FL: Well, we're still litigating. And we're weighing our options. Court just issued its opinion yesterday. I can't, obviously, comment on our strategy. But, you know, the coming days and weeks will tell.

DG: You're not alone fighting this. There are gerrymandering cases before the courts across the United States right now, in Florida, in New York, Arizona, just to name a few. Do you see what's happening in Ohio as part of a larger pattern?

FL: Absolutely. And it's interesting. Because here in Ohio, I'm complaining about the Republicans. But it could just as well be the Democrats. Neither party should gerrymander. But both parties do. That's why we need laws such as the laws that we have embedded in our constitution in Ohio to prevent this kind of self-dealing.

DG: This is an old problem in the United States. It's been going on since the 19th century since Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts created a salamander-shaped map. I believe that's where the name came from. What's new about this in your mind?

FL: Well, what's new is that there's very powerful data available, very powerful computation available so that gerrymandered… gerrymandering can be accomplished scientifically and very durably. So, more powerful gerrymanders occur today than did back in the day. So this is much more dangerous.

DG: Ms. Levenson, thank you for joining us. I appreciate it.

FL: Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Take care.

CH: Freda Levenson is the Legal Director of The ACLU of Ohio. We reached her in Cleveland.

[Music: Celtic jig?]

Ted Cruz On Beto O’Rourke Being Ejected

CH: Texas Senator Ted Cruz has never hesitated to share his opinions after school shootings. But yesterday, when Beto O'Rourke interrupted a briefing by Governor Greg Abbott about the massacre in Uvalde, Mr. Cruz called it a "crass political stunt". But over the past couple of days, he's been suggesting to everyone who will listen that the gunman could have been stopped if only the back door to the school had been locked. When a Sky News reporter questioned that thinking, Senator Cruz himself made an exit.

[sc]

TED CRUZ: There are 19 sets of parents who are never going to get to kiss their child goodnight again.

MARK STONE: Is this the moment to reform gun laws?

TC: You know, it's… it’s easy to go to politics.

MS: But it's important. It's at the heart of the issue.

TC: I get that that's where the media likes to go.

MS: No, it's not. It's where many of the people we've talked to here like to go.

TC: The proposals from Democrats and the media. Inevitably, when some violent psychopath murders people.

MS: A violent psychopath who's able to get a weapon so easily -- 18-year-old with two AR 15s.

TC: If you want to stop violent crime, the proposals the Democrats have, none of them would have stopped this.

MS: But why does this only happen in your country? I really think that's what many people around the world just they cannot fathom. Why only in America? Why is this American exceptionalism so awful?

TC: You know, I'm sorry you think American exceptionalism is awful.

MS: I think this aspect… I think this aspect of it.

TC: You know what? You got your political agenda.

MS: No, it's honestly --

TC: God love you.

MS: Senator, it's not. I just want to understand why you do not think that guns are the problem.

WOMAN: Why is this just an American problem?

MS: It is just an American problem, sir.

WOMAN: Mr. Cruz, why is America the only country that faces this kind of mass shooting?

TC You know what?

MS: You can't answer that. You can't answer that, can you, sir? You can't answer that. Why is this --

TC: Why is it that people come from all over the world to America? Because it's the freest, most prosperous, safest country on earth.

MS: Maybe… it may be the freest. It may be the most…

WOMAN: Why are kids dying in schools? [TC grunts in disgust]

[/sc]

CH: Senator Ted Cruz, being questioned by Sky News reporter Mark Stone in Uvalde, Texas, yesterday.

[Music: Light rock]

Jewish American Graves

Guest: Barbara Belmont

CH: When soldiers died during the Second World War, they were usually given Christian burials at American military cemeteries in Europe. That included some Jewish-American soldiers -- whose graves were marked with Latin crosses. Now, their families have the chance to change that. "Operation Benjamin" identifies Jewish-American soldiers who were killed during the war, tracks down their relatives, and holds new religious ceremonies. The pandemic put those ceremonies on hold. But now, they’ve started up again. Barbara Belmont's father, Albert, died in action in the Second World War. She recently travelled to the Lorraine American Cemetery in France to see her father's grave rededicated. We reached Barbara Belmont in Alexandria, Virginia.

DG: Miss Belmont. You were just three years old when your father died during the war. How much do you know about him?

BARBARA BELMONT: Well, what I do know of him, I've learned as a middle-aged adult. I think up until that time, I knew very little about my father. As with many families from World War Two and, I guess, other previous wars, they tend not to talk about a family member that is killed in war because it's too painful or for other reasons. Our family, I guess, had its reasons, and we were not allowed to discuss our father. My mother moved our family from Kansas City to Saint Louis. About 18 months later, she remarried, and there were just rules in the house that we were never allowed to mention our real father's name or refer to him. So, I really grew up in this world of not knowing anything about him.

DG: But you always had questions, I imagine?

BB: I did. I mean, I had no idea what he even looked like until my sister, who is four years older than me, had a hidden picture of him. And when I reached the age of about 13 or 14, she took me back to her bedroom and pulled out this photograph behind another photograph and showed me a picture of him. And that was the first I ever knew what he looked like. And then, it wasn't until my grandmother, who was dying of cancer, my senior year of high school, finally opened the door to talking about him. And she told me that he was a wonderful man. He was very generous. He was a successful businessman. And if you needed money, without hesitation, he would give it to family, to friends, whatever. And that was the first I really knew about him.

DG: What have you learned about how he died?

BB: Well, I know that he landed in France on November 1st, 1944, and on November 30th, he was killed near Metz, France. Yeah, right before the Battle of the Bulge.

DG: What do you know about why your father was given a Christian burial?

BB: Well, First, understand I didn't know he had been.

DG: Yeah.

BB: [chuckling] And so, it wasn't until I was actually going to take my two daughters and myself to Brussels, and I wanted to go see his grave. And it was at that point that one of my mother's brothers told me that he was buried under a cross so that I wouldn't be surprised. And I was probably about 48 years old at that time. When you stand in one of these beautiful American cemeteries in Belgium, Luxembourg, France, the enormity of what had happened and all these men who had died, it didn't even dawn on me that any of these headstones could be changed. But three years after I saw his grave, I met my uncle, his youngest brother, Nathan. He said to me, his greatest wish would be that my father's headstone could be a star of David.

DG: Hmmm

BB: There were reasons that Jewish men going to fight, especially in Europe, decided to put that they were Protestant or Catholic. And my father was one of those soldiers. According to my Uncle Nate, he had two reasons that he did that. One was if he was captured by the Germans, word was that you would not be treated like the other soldiers, like a prisoner of war, that you could be instant death. My uncle also told me that my father wanted to be in the service just as another soldier. And there was a lot of anti-Semitism, he said, at that time, and he didn't want to be the Jewish soldier. He just wanted to be a soldier. On that basis, he put P for Protestant was on his dog tag. It wasn't the government that made the mistake. That was what they had on his papers and on his dog tags at the time that he was buried.

DG: How did you come to travel to the Lorraine American Cemetery and take part in the rededication ceremony?

BB: Well, I got a call actually from Saint Louis. There was a rabbi there, and they had discovered my father's name as being on a list. A lot of the Jewish soldiers did sign up with…. there was a war board for Jewish soldiers. And I ended up talking with Rabbi Bennett. And would I talk about my father's grave and about maybe transitioning from the cross to the star of David? So, you know, without question in my mind, I said, absolutely, yes.

DG: What was it like to be there for the ceremony?

BB: Far more than I expected it could be. I would tell you that I cried not only at my own father's grave. I cried at all the other six graves since, well, that were transitioned it. Each one was [chuckling] we basically thanked this cross that stood over our loved ones. And then, we transitioned to a star of David that represented the face of the soldier. I felt so good about knowing that I could do this. I did it not only for his younger brother, my Uncle Nate, but I did it for myself. But I did it mostly for my father.

DG: Barbara, why did you cry? After all these years, why did it mean so much to you?

BB: Well, I have to tell you, in grade school, they would play the song a lot, “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”. Are you familiar with it?

DG: I am.

BB: I would always start to cry, and I never understood why. I mean, today, looking back, I certainly fully understand. [chuckling] But… and I knew it's because my father wasn't marching home again. There was an internal grief within me, and I still get teary-eyed when I hear the song today. That's how strong that inner signal was to me. Does that answer your question? [chuckle]

DG: Yeah. And thank you so much for speaking with us today.

BB: Well, thank you.

CH: Barbara Belmont recently saw her father's grave rededicated at the Lorraine American Cemetery in France. We reached Ms. Belmont in Alexandria, Virginia. And you can find more on that story on our webpage at: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Light rock]

Mass Casualty Dispatch Centre Head

CH: Two years ago, Staff Sgt. Bruce Briers was one of the RCMP officers working during the mass shooting in Nova Scotia. And ever since, he's wondered if he could have done more? Staff Sgt. Briers was overseeing the dispatch centre during the final four hours of the rampage that left 22 people dead. Yesterday, he testified at the public inquiry into the mass shooting. He said he faced a deluge of information that morning. And he later realized there were two mentions of a detail about the killer's fake police car that he missed -- that it had a bar on the front to prevent collisions that RCMP vehicles in the area did not have. Here is part of his testimony at the inquiry. And a warning that this may be difficult to hear.

[sc]

MAN: Did anyone talk about a push bar on the vehicle and that that may be a distinctive feature of the vehicle?

STAFF SERGEANT BRUCE BRIERS: So, I've listened… I shouldn’t say listened. I've never listened to any of my recordings or any of the… any of the transcripts. I've read the transcripts of the police logs. [long pause]

MAN: Take your time, sir. If you want to grab some water, too.

SSBB: [crying] This is a point of issue for me. There was two people, two officers, as I mentioned, that had asked DOJ lawyers how they know that? And when I listened back… when I… I'm sorry. When I ran back on the transcripts, there's two officers who comment about that push bar. Ones on the Colchester. I think it was somewhere around the Wentworth shooting out east that mentioned it. I didn't hear it in time. I wish… this is one of those regrets. If that had been pointed out, told to me, then we could have did an all-radio broadcast. Gave members a heads up because if we have any cars, and I don't think we do, on the road, we could have pulled them off. And it would have made a big difference because Constable MacDonald would have had a heads up when he drove on to that vehicle. He saw the push bar in Wentworth. And from that point forward, we don't know how things could have changed? Because it only takes one difference. I have to live with that. And I’ve lived with it for two-plus years.

CH: RCMP Staff Sgt. Bruce Briers speaking yesterday at Nova Scotia's mass casualty inquiry. And a note that he misspoke about one detail there -- the officer who passed the killer on the road was Corporal Rodney Peterson.

Part 3: Montana Student Prank, U.K. Vampire Gathering

Quebec Superior Court Justice

CH: Chief justices don't give a lot of interviews. But Jacques Fournier, the judge who heads Quebec's Superior Court, gave one today. Chief Justice Fournier warned that they're running out of the clerks and secretaries who keep the province's courts running and said the provincial government was to blame for cheaping out when it comes to pay. He said that the resulting delays would be felt throughout the justice system -- and that accused criminals could even be released before their cases have been heard.

[sc]

JACQUES FOURNIER: To me, it's a tragedy when people most in family matters, but it also matters, when people come to court, they've invested a lot financially but emotionally also. It's… it's a big letdown for them to go to court and to come back without a solution that I can't accept. To me, as an officer of justice, I can't accept that.

SEAN HENRY: Justice Fournier, you said mostly family matters. Is that where you're seeing the largest staffing shortage?

JF: No, no. It's all over.

SH: Okay.

JF: The Superior Court, to me, when you're missing somebody somewhere, it will show on all the lines.

SH: I see.

JF: But to me, the most tragic is when it happens to those people who are not very well-off many times and who come to court. They need the money. They need to know where their children will be. And they need the money to feed it. And… and they need a court hearing in order to get a proper support, either for spouse or for spouses and children. That's why, to me, this is more dramatic, but it's dramatic everywhere. Because people invest a lot of money in court cases. They come to court, if we cannot give the service because we don't have the clerks, we don't have the secretaries to replace the courts. If this happens at any level, people are bound to lose lots of money. And also, the problem they're asking us to solve is not resolved. And that's a tragedy also.

SH: How do we fix this?

JF: Well, come up… come up with salaries. You come up with a structure and salaries that are competitive, and you will be in the game again. You can simply not be the lowest-paying employer in the system. If you are, you're bound to lose people, and good people, too.

CH: Quebec Superior Court Justice Jacques Fournier speaking to CBC Montreal's Sean Henry.

[Music: Acoustic guitar]

Montana Student Prank

Guest: Raymond DeBruckyer

CH: If a high school student rides a horse to school, by law, it's the principal's job to look after it. Well, okay, that may not be the law where you are. But until recently, it was the law in Montana. And some schools have held onto that tradition. In fact, earlier this week, a group of 12 students at Conrad High School put it to the test when they showed up to school on horseback, dismounted, and left their principal in charge. We reached principal Raymond DeBruckyer in Conrad, Montana.

DG: Principal DeBruckyer, what's easier to manage, a group of horses or a group of high schoolers?

RAYMOND DEBRUCKYER: Group of horses is much easier to manage than a group of high school students.

DG: [laughing] Can you explain that for me? Set the scene. When your students arrived, what did that look like?

RD: On a normal day, they start arriving at 7:50 and trickle in all the way to 8:20, 8:25. Most days, they drive, ride a bus, walk to school. On Monday, I had a group of 12 seniors decide to ride a horse to school.

DG: All right. And as I understand it, this is a bit of a tradition in Montana. Where did that come from?

RD: So it's a tradition in Conrad High School, and there's been other schools across the state that have done it. And the reason this happens is Montana used to have it. recently, in the last three to five years, the law has been voided. There is a law that stated that if students rode schools… or horses to school, that the principal had to tend and feed the horses while the students were in class.

DG: [chuckling] Though… even though the law has been voided, I trust you fulfilled your obligation?

RD: Of course I did! It's very much a tradition. And these types of things, I am happy to promote and happy to be a part of. It's good fun. Conrad, and Montana, in general, is very much ag-based. And horses have played a large part from the very beginning in Montana to current day. And so, a little memory for the kids to enjoy as they're getting ready to graduate.

DG: So, how big were the grins on the students' faces as they rode up to school?

RD: Very big. They had a lot of fun. They actually rode in almost four miles that day. And we had kids that have been running horses all… all their whole life. And we had a couple kids that that morning was the first time they had ever gotten on. And so they were pretty excited to prank myself [DG chuckles] with what they were trying to do.

DG: Okay, so then what did you do? What was your obligation? What was your job?

RD: Well, we took a little photo op that obviously you guys have seen. And we have a fenced football field. And so, I led them over and let them on the football field. And they had a little bit of fun running around chasing each other on the field. And I started taking one horse at a time and taking care of 'em, loosening the cinch and tying them up. And I was going to check on them every so often, water them throughout the day. The plan was for the kids to ride them home at lunch, but a couple of parents took pity on me and brought in a couple horse trailers and, after about 45 minutes, actually loaded them up took them home. So, I didn't have to labour all day taking care of them.

DG: Do you know your way around a horse?

RD: I grew up on a working ranch and grew up riding, so I am very much comfortable and was pleased to get to enjoy a little bit of horse time during the workday.

DG: [chuckle] You knew how to loosen the cinch, but did the job also come with a shovel?

RD: [laughing] It did. We had to pick up a little bit, yes.

DG: [laughing] Okay. So, what happens next?

RD: As for… well, our seniors were done with school yesterday, and they graduate on Sunday, and we're going to wrap up the rest of the year. This was actually a week-long thing for me and my senior students. On Monday, they rode horses. On Tuesday, they brought pets to school. We had everything from dogs all the way to a tarantula. And then yesterday, we had Big John Deere tractors all the way down to foot scooters being rode the school by our seniors.

DG: You know, the population of your town is just over 2,000, but it sure sounds like it's got an awful lot of school spirit?

RD: [chuckle] Our town and our staff and students are pretty proud of Conrad and what our students are able to accomplish coming from little, rural Montana. And what I think this will show them and help teach them is that even somewhere like this, they can have a large influence across the country. And I hope they understand to make sure they're using it for good and go out and have a productive part of society and that they've got to watch themselves because they never know when they'll go viral again.

DG: As they ride off into the sunset.

RD: Yup.

DG: What memories do you hope they take of this?

RD: I just hope that they look back and reflect that high school was a good time for them, and that they are able to share this memory years from now, and that they know Conrad and Conrad High School is always going to be looking out for them.

DG: Principal DeBruckyer, thank you for joining us.

RD: Thank you, sir. Have a good… good rest your day.

CH: Raymond DeBruckyer is the principal of Conrad High School. We reached him in Conrad, Montana.

[Music: Latin rock?]

Derecho Ottawa

CH: When the brutal storm known as a "derecho" blew through eastern Ontario this weekend, the devastating winds uprooted trees and smashed power lines like a giant scythe whipping through everything in its path. The damage will take weeks to clear up. And thousands of hydro customers are still struggling without electricity. Luke Smith is a tenant of an Ottawa Community Housing building in old Ottawa South that has been without power since last Saturday.

[sc]

LUKE SMITH: I was lying on the couch with my dog looking out the window, and the rain was blowing, and the wind was blowing vigorously. And all of a sudden, the power went out. I hate dark. I hate dark with a passion. It's scary. [crying] You know, when you live alone, it's scary. I was lucky to go to a friend's place yesterday. It's good if you have friends or family to go to. Some people in the building don't. I was able to salvage some of my stuff in my big upright freezer. The rest I had to throw out. I've talked to one Ottawa Housing staff this morning because she did a wellness check, okay? Well, that should have happened the day it happened, okay? When they knew it was out because I called them to let them know that power is out. I called them twice, and I told them that… what do you call it? Emergency lights are not working. They didn't… they came, but they didn't stay long.

KELLY DONALDSON: The storm hit. We were in my apartment. There was no lighting whatsoever in the hallways. We had to feel with our hands down the hallway. It's terrible. We can't have showers. Our phones are all dead. We can't reach out for help. If there was a fire, everybody would have been in jeopardy. The hallways were all black. And at nighttime, there's not even emergency lights for us to see or walk. So it's like completely blackness.

RACHEL WILSON: Well, of our 28 community food banks, nine were without power. Thankfully, we're down to only eight without power, but that means thousands of dollars worth of food that were thrown out at the agencies. But also, all of the surrounding areas of those food banks also have had to throw out their food from their fridges and freezers. So there's thousands of people right now who are still without power and are in need of food. So we've been providing emergency meals right across the city, getting more food back into food banks and getting gift cards out into the community as well.

ALAN NEAL: That's a lot of food, of course, to… to be giving up. None of those places are on generator power?

RW: That's right. Most of them are in community houses or in other buildings that, unfortunately, just aren't set up to be able to have a generator on site. And when the power goes out for a longer than 24 hours is when we get into food safety issues. And we don't want people to be eating unsafe food. So when in doubt, we're throwing it out.

[/sc]

CH: That was Rachel Wilson, the CEO of the Ottawa Food Bank, speaking with Alan Neal, host of All In A Day. Before that, we heard from Kelly Donaldson and Luke Smith, both of whom are residents of Ottawa Community Housing.

[Music: Low-fi]

FOA: Singapore Sewer Beer

CH: Singapore is known for its cleanliness. Littering can get you fined. Not flushing a public toilet is considered a grave offence. Chewing chewing gum could result in a penalty. And don't even think about spitting in public. That might all seem heavy-handed. But with next to no land unaffected by urbanization, it's part of how the city-state maintains the lush look that helped it bag UNESCO World Heritage status. And it's an approach that local lawmakers clearly feel is warranted in the face of sky-high densification and land loss. So yes: a beer made out of recycled human sewage may at first seem distinctly un-Singaporean. But really, its creators are actually tapping into that very same ethos. With water shortages looming, Singapore's water agency say NewBrew -- which is made with… with sewage water -- is the perfect solution. It's a tropical blonde ale that recycles human waste by inviting humans to get wasted. Except not really. This is Singapore, after all. Still, as one bargoer diplomatically told the BBC, quote, "I could probably, if I wanted to, drink a whole lot of those." Unquote. That endorsement reminded us of a past guest's enthusiasm for a similar concoction. A Finnish beer inspired by one city's commitment to recycling everything -- including goose poop. Here's Lahti-based brewer Samuli Kiuru, explaining the concept to Carol Off.

[sc]

SK: Yeah, the idea comes from the many places there is people have done similar style of beers already with, like, sheep dung and, like, even much more extreme, like, whale vomit and stuff like that.

CO: We have heard of brewing with sheep dung. Whale vomit, that's a new one to me. But what is it you actually do with the dung? What... and this is, like, goose poop, right?

SK: Yes, exactly. We basically collect this dung from our parks where they are landing in springtime and autumn time. Then we can basically sterilize it with a pressure cooker with the main ingredients of the beer, the malts, and we’re going to smoke them with the poop.

CO: Maybe just explain... just describe what you do. I mean, so people who don't know how beer is brewed, and I'm among them, what do you actually do?

SK: Well, basically, we take the malt, and then we get the sugars out of it by heating it. After that, we're going to boil it and kill all the bacterias basically in a basic brewing process. After that, we wait a bit to cool it down, and then we can add the yeast. And then the yeast will ferment it till the end and change the sugar to alcohol.

CO: The role of the goose poop is what then?

SK: The goose poop is to bring the aroma of the goose droppings. Basically, we’re going to smoke the malts with it.

CO: And what do you think that does?

SK: It gives it the flavour profile of the poop.

CO: [laughing] OK, what is that a good thing? You say that like it is.

SK: It's extremely interesting for me at least to say. We will get slight poopy aromatherapist. Kind of like a chicken poop would be maybe the closest [CO cuckles silently] in my opinion.

CO: Samuli, you're not doing a good job at selling this to me.

SK: Sorry!

CO: How will you advertise this? Will you... what's your strategy?

SK: We will have the videos coming up. And like, you guys are already doing quite good for us for promoting it. It's going to be one of those poopitiers in the world.

[/sc]

CH: Finish brewer, Samuli Kiuru -- telling Carol about Ant Brew's "Wasted Potential" beer last summer.

[Music: Rock]

U.K. Vampire Gathering

Guest: Mark Williamson

CH: Every generation has its vampire. For you, it may be Wesley Snipes in Blade. Or one of the sparkling members of the Cullen family from Twilight. Or maybe you prefer the classic: the shape-shifting Transylvanian nobleman in the giant classic, Dracula. Bram Stoker's Dracula was published 125 years ago today, which makes it a very special day for Whitby Abbey -- the 13th-century Gothic abbey in England that inspired Mr. Stoker all those years ago. And tonight, it was crawling with vampires -- who were trying to break the record for the largest gathering of the bloodthirsty undead. Mark Williamson is the site manager for Whitby Abbey. He helped organize the event. We reached him at the abbey.

DG: Mr. Williamson, break the news to us. Is Whitby Abbey the official record holder for the largest gathering of vampires?

MARK WILLIAMSON: Whitby Abbey has welcomed 1,369 vampires tonight. [DG chuckles] And with that, Whitby Abbey is now a Guinness World Records holder.

DG: Congratulations. How does it feel?

MW: Thank you. Exhausting, but absolutely fantastic. The whole team, everybody who's helped us make this record, it's been an absolutely sensational effort from everybody involved to make this happen. Least not all of our participants who've come along and joined us. They've pulled out all the stops with their costumes. Brought the family along. They've helped make this night a record-breaking night.

DG: I don't think I've ever been in a space with a thousand vampires. Can you tell me what that's like?

MW: [forced laughter] Well, you know what? They're certainly a cheery crowd to have that many vampires in one place. They're all there, excited, cheering the different costumes, looking at each other, checking each other out. Some have the kind of contact lenses in to change their eyes different colours. Somebody had glow in the dark fangs. So, they're all… it's… it's a great crowd. From people who really wanted to make it happen for their kids. You know, got the cheap cape from the fun and joke shop down the road to people who've, you know, really gone to town, hundreds and hundreds of pounds on their outfits tonight, making it themselves in some… some cases, too.

DG: [chuckling] And how far did people travel to be a part of this day?

MW: Well, we've had people from all over the U.K., Huddersfield, Sheffield, London. We've also had somebody come from California, USA as well. So, we can truly say this is a world record.

DG: And you, did you dress the part?

MW: I did indeed. I'm dressed in an 1840s black mourning suit. So, I certainly tried to play my part tonight as well, but I can't say I was quite as good as some of our… some of our stars of the show.

DG: So, would you describe yourself as a scary vampire or one of those modern, misunderstood, angst-filled vampires?

MW: [laughing] Am I a scary vampire? I think you'd have to probably ask my family and my team here at Whitby Abbey. They're nodding in the background.

DG: [chuckling, MW laughs]] Can you tell me about the backdrop in the background? Why Whitby Abbey? For people who don't know the story, and people who haven't seen it, can you describe it for me?

MW: Yeah, it's a great question. Why Whitby Abbey? Well, it starts with this book, and the book is Dracula. Published 125 years ago today, on the 26th of May. And so, over the past 125 years, that book has never been out of print. It's gone through thousands of iterations, on the screen, on stage, in literature. And nearly the same amount of iterations of what a vampire looks like. And we've certainly seen them here tonight. But, of course, it was Bram Stoker coming here to Whitby in the 1890s, where he's inspired by the town. He's inspired by the 199 steps, where in the book, the bad guys, the dog that Dracula turns himself into, runs up the stairs. He's inspired by the ship that's run aground. That becomes the ship that Dracula runs aground in. And, of course, the abbey, where we are tonight and broke world record, form in the backdrop to this best-seller of a gothic novel.

DG: What do you think Bram Stoker would make of the scene there this evening?

MW: What would Bram Stoker think? I mean, given just what inspiration he's proved over the last 125 years, through all those different iterations that we've had, people come out here, and some have come out here because their vampire is maybe Mona, the vampire. Maybe their vampire is Blade. Maybe they're vampires is Christopher Lee. But they've all been inspired by n some way by Dracula. And that while people have taken their own interpretation of that over the years, that they've all come here in Whitby, somewhere, he clearly cherished, to mark this publication date. I think… I'd hope it would be special to him.

DG: As night falls at the abbey, is it just a little more spooky tonight?

MW: It's always a little more spooky when the sun comes down at Whitby. The sun at Whitby, we're the one port on the north of England that faces north. And that means that the sun sets into the sea, which just adds to that atmosphere here at Whitby, always a little bit more spooky when the sun goes down.

DG: Finally, now that you've attracted more than a thousand vampires to your abbey, and it's nighttime, how will you get them to leave?

MW: How do we get them to leave? Well, I think they turn into bats at some point.

DG: [chuckling] Mr. Williamson, thank you for joining us. I wish you best of luck.

MW: Thanks so much for having us on. I really appreciate it. All the best.

CH: Mark Williamson is the site manager for Whitby Abbey. That's where we reached him.

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May 26, 2022 Episode Transcript

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