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The AIH Transcript for July 12, 2022

ROBYN BRESNAHAN: Hello. I'm Robyn Bresnahan.

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

[Theme]

Prologue

CH: Tonight:

RB: Not on her watch. A 70-year-old Philadelphia woman tells us she couldn't stand to see community pools closed because of a lifeguard shortage -- so she put on a bathing suit, picked up a whistle and came out of retirement.

CH: The cost of lowering costs. To curb inflation, the Bank of Canada is raising its interest rate by its largest amount in 30 years. But our guest says everyday Canadians will pay the price.

RB: On the oust side looking in. Donald Trump's one-time national security advisor, John Bolton, says the former president is too shortsighted to plan a coup -- and he should know, because he's planned a bunch.

CH: He'll pay -- or there'll be hell to pay. A Nova Scotia sex worker says her client skipped out on the bill -- so she's taking him to small claims court.

RB: A whole new bowl game. Florida has an iguana problem -- that problem being that they keep showing up in people's toilets. We'll talk to the man who fishes them out.

CH: And… don't get around midge any more. They'll be back and biteir than ever when the rain comes. But right now in Scotland, our guest says scorching weather is keeping the country's notorious midge population at bay.

CH: As It Happens, the Wednesday edition. Radio that's hot and unbothered.

Part 1: U.S. Lifeguard Shortage, BOC Rate Hike, Florida Iguana Toilet

U.S. Lifeguard Shortage

Guest: Robin Borlandoe

CH: On the muggiest days, public swimming pools are a great -- and, for some people, the only -- reprieve from the punishing heat. But in some places this summer, that's not an option -- thanks to a lifeguard shortage. Across Canada and the U.S., public pools are reducing their hours of operation, or shutting down completely, because they don't have enough lifeguards. It's bad enough that some municipalities are even reaching out to competitive swimmers and retired lifeguards, begging them to pick up their whistles again. Well, Robin Borlandoe was more than happy to suit back up and head poolside. Ms. Borlandoe is 70 years old, and she just came out of retirement to work as a lifeguard at one of her local pools. We reached her in Philadelphia.

RB: Robin, we've caught you while you're on duty. Just describe what the scene is like at the pool today?

ROBIN BORLANDOE: It is hot and hectic.

RB: Hot and hectic. [chuckling]

ROBIN BORLANDOE: A bunch of kids. It's hot and hectic. And they're having fun doing different things. You know, no running, no diving and actually, jumping at your feet. So they're trying to create different ways to jump in without belly-flopping or diving -- feet first.

RB: [chuckling] Before you came out of retirement for the summer job, when was the last time you worked as a lifeguard?

ROBIN BORLANDOE: When I was 16. Across the street from where I lived. And I did that for about two or three years. And then, when I heard about it last year, I wasn't ready because I had to train. And then I heard about it this year and decided, after like a forced retirement, quote/unquote, I decided to go for it.

RB: And when you say when you heard about it, you're talking about the shortage of lifeguards?

ROBIN BORLANDOE: The shortage of lifeguards last year and this year.

RB: But… but it was more than that, right? It wasn't just about the shortage of lifeguards. It was the knock-on effect that it was having on the kids in Philadelphia. Tell us about that?

ROBIN BORLANDOE: Oh, definitely.

WOMAN: I just want to say one thing.

ROBIN BORLANDOE: Yes, I'm on an interview. And I'll finish. Yes, it is okay. Sure, it's okay. They can swim from there to here. See, that was another playground that's closed. And they… she just wanted to make sure that she can come into this pool to swim.

RB: Huh! And that's… that's exactly what we're talking about, right? Is that the things are closed right now. And so, this is part of the impetus for you to apply?

ROBIN BORLANDOE: Exactly. Exactly. So, you asked me a question about the reason why. And basically, in all the cities, kids, people, babies, men, women are getting shot up. Our kids have no future. They're getting… they're killed. They're killing each other. And so, this was just a way -- a small way -- for me to do something to help out, keep the kids off the block. Some playgrounds that are closed, they can't even walk a block because they're afraid. They can't go anywhere that's a half a mile far from them because they don't have the transportation. And then, parents don't trust the kids out there walking by theirself, and they have to work.

RB: In fact, there was a shooting quite near your own house, which I understand claimed the lives of three boys. Is that right?

ROBIN BORLANDOE: Three, three young guys right around the corner about a year ago. Thought it was… we heard the shots, and we went out to check it out. But it was so quiet because we didn't hear any sirens or anything. And I saw the car, and I said to my daughters, let's go. I just heard a hissing sound. And I said I don't see anything. Then, we saw the red lights. And that's when we came back out and saw them taking the bodies out, putting them in cars to get them to the hospital to help them. But it was too late. The most chilling thing of that is here in… a sister yelled, running down the street, is that my brother? Is that my brother? It's all around.

RB: Hmmm. You have six grandchildren yourself, right?

ROBIN BORLANDOE: Yes, I do. Yes, I do.

RB: And you must be thinking about them when you witness things like that?

ROBIN BORLANDOE: I think about my grandson, my two grandsons -- 13 and 20 -- because that's… that's the age that they're killing people. And sometimes for no reason, just random acts of stupid violence, mean. People in the wrong place at the wrong time. Shot while they're in the car. Shoot why they're in their bedroom. Shot while they're home. Where can you be safe?

RB: So, you think that having a place for kids to go -- be it a park or a swimming pool -- actually would help bring down the violence in a city?

ROBIN BORLANDOE: You know what? It's not going to bring it down. It's much bigger than that. It's not going to bring it down. They need to do something with these guns. It's just protecting these kids and letting them see that they have something else out here. There's opportunities for them, but they have to open the pools. The inside pools in the wintertime that the school district has would help also because that would give them a place to go in the winter. Then they could continue when they get into the spring and summer. And then, hence when they get older, if they've learned how to swim in the wintertime and then in the spring and the summer when they get older, there's your lifeguards right there.

RB: Hmm. I bet a lot of things have changed in the lifeguarding world in 54 years. Have they?

ROBIN BORLANDOE: Yeah, they have changed. [RB chuckles] They have changed. The training has changed. We didn't get paid for it during that time. It was just the love of the sport. And the training is very, very intense.

RB: Hmm. Have you had anybody give you any kind of talkback? Any hard times about, you know, hey, what are you doing being a lifeguard at your age?

ROBIN BORLANDOE: No, no, I haven't. It's amazing. I haven't gotten talkback about that. The kids are starting to recognize because of the coverage. And when I go out. Like in the morning, I went out to come to work, and the guy passed me, he said hi, and he said, are… are you the lifeguard? And I said yes. So, we exchanged names. He said I didn't know there was somebody in my… my neighbourhood. And I come here, and the kid says, are you "Lifeguard Grandma"? I saw you on TV during dinner. So that's nice. And then, I get to know them, I get them high fives, and that was the point. When I first started these interviews, I said as a grandmother, I can see, I can detect when a kid is being bullied or they know… they're not happy. After I've seen them a few times, and something's wrong, at least I can give them that degree. So now I'm giving them high fives. I'm looking, they come and… a little boy asked me to come to his birthday party on Saturday.

RB: [chuckling] Are you going to go?

ROBIN BORLANDOE: I'm going to be in Jersey.

RB: Oh! [laughing]

ROBIN BORLANDOE: I'm going to be in Jersey. But I would have told him, check with your mom to see if it's all right first.

RB: I mentioned you have six grandchildren. I mean, what do you hope that they take away from… from you doing this?

ROBIN BORLANDOE: Make a statement. Go out there and make a statement no matter what it is. So for this, no matter how old, if you want to do it, don't give up. I had to train. And I wasn't going to tell my daughters or anybody on May 8th when I signed up to take the test because I didn't want to know in case I failed it. But then I said, Oh, I need to push. I need somebody to push me. I need to hear, come on. You can do it. Or do this, do that. So, I say continue to make that statement. I tell my granddaughter, I said, What do we say? You look good. You feel good. You do good.

RB: Robin, what a pleasure to talk to you. You are so busy. I got to let you get back to it.

ROBIN BORLANDOE: Thank you so much. I appreciate this.

RB: Okay. Take care. Bye-bye.

ROBIN BORLANDOE: Bye-bye.

CH: That was Robin Borlandoe, a 70-year-old lifeguard who has stepped up to help deal with her community's lifeguard shortage. We reached her in Philadelphia.

[folk]

BOC Rate Hike

Guest: David Macdonald

CH: When it comes to interest rates -- things are looking up. And not in a good way. Today, the Bank of Canada increased its benchmark interest rate a full percentage point to 2.5 per cent. As you've heard repeatedly on the news today, that's the biggest one-time increase in the bank's rate in more than 20 years -- and a direct response to rampant inflation. It also means that Canadians with mortgages and lines of credit could be paying more in interest for the foreseeable future. And David Macdonald says that could just be the beginning. He's a senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the author of a recent paper that suggests steep rate hikes usually lead to a recession -- rather than helping us avoid one. We reached David Macdonald in Ottawa.

RB: David, this news of interest rate hikes is becoming kind of Groundhog Day-ish, but today's is even more drastic than expected. What does it mean for Canadians?

DAVID MACDONALD: Yeah, so a full point today. This is part of a series of rate hikes that started in March. And it's the biggest series of rate hikes that we've seen basically since 1994. And so, for Canadians, particularly if they're seeking a mortgage or they're looking to buy a house, those are probably the folks that will be most directly affected. For folks that already have a mortgage, it won't really affect them at this time. It will only really affect them when they renew that mortgage. But it's really the housing sectors that will be impacted first and impacted pretty quickly.

RB: This hike is meant to cool down an overheated economy. How effective do you think it will be?

DM: Well, the bank believes now that they're in the neutral rate area, 2.5 per cent. So, they don't believe they're adding stimulus to the economy. But on the other hand, they don't believe that they're withdrawing from economic growth too much, you know, to cause a recession. That being said, it does look like inflation will continue to increase over the course of the summer. Or that's the bank's estimate, up to eight per cent on average over the coming months.

RB: Was there anything else that the Bank of Canada could have done?

DM: Well, the Bank of Canada has a very blunt instrument. It's called interest rates. And so, that's what they can change. Now, it's certainly pretty clear that if you increase interest rates enough, you can get inflation down. The trouble is the cost. And so, there have been other instances where we have gotten inflation down by the amount that the bank wants to get it down now, which is to say going from 7.7, which is where we are today, back down to the bank's target of two per cent. We have seen decreases of that range in Canada's modern Canadian history going back to the 1960s. The trouble is that for the three instances where that has happened, we have always seen a recession. And on average, there have been substantial job losses. Today, the equivalent job loss would be 150,000 positions.

RB: Conservatives are blaming this rate hike on the federal Liberal government, saying it's another example of what they call “Justinflation”. Others point to factors beyond the government's control, like the war in Ukraine, supply chain issues. But how much responsibility lies in the hands of the federal government?

DM: Well, inflation isn't a Canadian problem. It's a global problem. So, we're seeing it here. We saw new inflation figures come out of the U.S. this morning, seeing a 9.1 per cent rate in the U.S. It’s happening, you know, in Europe as well. And so, the reason why it's happening around the world is because all the developed world is facing similar issues. In our case, the high price of gasoline is due to limited refining capacity in the U.S. that bakes in on top of the high price of oil. We have supply chain issues with respect to the COVID-Zero Policy in China. And so, these input prices are a key part of this. And one of the challenges of using interest rates in Canada is that, frankly, the price of oil and the price of gasoline or food, those prices are determined here. And so, we will have little impact on them. Now, can the federal government be doing more to attempt to decrease inflation? I think it certainly could be by attempting to target prices where it does have power. So, for instance, mortgage underwriting rules. The federal government sets the rules for who gets mortgages and how much they have to put down. Real estate investors have played an important role in driving up house prices, and house prices is a part of the CPI index. So, we could target investors and make it much less profitable for them to speculate the real estate market and thereby bring real estate prices down, but do it in a more targeted way as opposed to using interest rates that apply to everything, not just mortgages.

RB: Okay, beyond real estate, what other ideas do you have for the government?

DM: Well, many of the provinces control rent price increases, and rent makes up part of the CPI. So, we could limit the increases, you know, in the amount of rent that are allowable this year. The other piece I think that's underappreciated is that during this period of recession and recovery, where we have seen this big increase in inflation, corporate profits have gone through the roof. And so, what that suggests is that there's pricing power on the corporate side, that they are raising prices to make up for some of these costs, you know, the input costs, the higher costs that they're seeing. And then a little bit more to add on to their profit margins. At present, the Competition Bureau is… is ill-equipped to deal with consumer price increases that are out of line, and they're under-resourced. That doesn't have to be the case. And we could change those rules such that we have a more activist, competitive Competition Bureau, that… that starts to look into particular industries where we have a lot of concentration, not a lot of competition and big price increases.

RB: But would any of those ideas really tackle the problem in the short-term as effectively as rate hikes?

DM: Well, rate hikes aren't themselves going to address this in the short term. It does take some time to bake these in. Certainly, changing the underwriting rule for… for mortgages would probably have a pretty substantial and direct impact on… on house prices. You know, all of these pieces are going to take some time to put these issues in.

RB: What would you say to people who think everything is going up right now? The price of my food, the price of my gas. It’s just unaffordable. And they hear this, and it kind of blows over their head. They feel powerless. What would you say to those people?

DM: Well, it's certainly true. Look, workers are not getting raises at the rate of inflation. They're falling behind when it comes to inflation. This isn't caused by workers. It’s not being caused by regular Canadians, not because they're asking for too much from their employers. They're getting run over by this, in essence. You know this is being caused by the war in Ukraine and supply chain issues in China. You know, I think governments have really sidestepped this issue in terms of the ways that they could be helping. Most of the provinces don't index their basic benefits to inflation. So, those benefits aren't going to increase when inflation goes up. Particularly things like social assistance are commonly not indexed at the provincial level. You know, the federal government really has not put out a particular plan to attempt to use the tools that we developed during the pandemic, like creating a one-time transfer to lower-income households, a couple hundred dollars to help them pay for some of these increased costs. Now, this doesn't change the price of gas and food, but it does help people afford those increases. So, I really think that there's been an abdication of this responsibility to the Bank of Canada, instead of governments really taking it on and saying we can actually do something about inflation in some cases directly by affecting prices, but also in other cases of trying to offset it, particularly for the lowest income Canadians.

RB: David, good to talk to you today. Thank you.

DM: Thanks for having me.

RB: Bye-bye.

CH: David Macdonald is a senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. He was in Ottawa.

[harp-led instrumental]

Florida Iguana Toilet

Guest: Harold Rondan

CH: There are rude awakenings. And then there are awakenings that go beyond rude to completely unacceptable -- just barbaric breaches of etiquette. And this is one: it's the middle of the night. You stagger into the bathroom, half-awake -- and stumble backwards out of the bathroom, more awake than ever before. Because there is a large iguana swimming around in your toilet bowl. Look, it's unlikely, of course. But in Florida, it's less unlikely -- and it's become even less less unlikely there lately.

[sc]

MICHELLE REYNOLDS: He took up most of the toilet bowl. I just kind of froze and went upstairs going, [whispered but shouted] there's an iguana in the toilet!

[/sc]

CH: That was Michelle Reynolds talking to 7 News Miami. And she's not the only one uncovering iguanas in surprising places. Harold Rondan runs a wildlife control company called Iguana Lifestyles. We reached him in Miami, Florida.

RB: Harold, Michelle called you after shutting the door on the iguana in her toilet. What did you see when you arrived?

HAROLD RONDAN: Actually, as soon as I arrived, the iguana was out completely, sort of sitting on the bowl. Most people's reaction is to close the seat because their biggest fear is to see the iguana come out. But unfortunately, the iguana can't get out due to the porcelain. They have nothing to grip on. So, by the time I went there, it actually went halfway down. And, of course, the worst thing a person wants to hear is we're going to have to come back until that comes out. Within an hour, it came right back out. She called me. And as soon as It'd seen me, it started running into the hole. So I knew I only had one chance. I have these snake tongs that I have. And I ran with it and was able to catch the leg and the tail. And then, once I was able to pull it out enough, I secured a grab and was able to pull it out.

RB: What did this iguana look like?

HR: This iguana is not your common green iguana. So most iguanas, when you see these nice little spikes on them, when they get to the tail, they get very small and become razor sharp. So the common green iguana only has one razor. This particular iguana is the Mexican spiny-tailed iguana. And it has rows and thicker spikes. So basically, you can get it going down, but if you go against it, you're going to slice your hand -- just like razors.

RB: That is not something you want in your toilet.

HR: No, especially that… that one. Like I would per… if I had a choice, I would personally take the green iguana because they're not really trying to bite you. They do it like a bite, and they let go immediately because they want you to release it. But this particular spiny-tailed iguana is more prone and more aggressive to bite. Like, when you catch it, it wants to bite. And when they bite, they actually clamp down so hard they lock their jaw in place, and they do a gator roll. So they're definitely going to tear flesh, and you have to go to the hospital.

RB: I cannot quite… [laughing] I mean, had I been living in Florida and heard you just say that, I don't think I'd ever want to go to the bathroom again.

HR: I have a client. It's within 10 months. It happened to him three times and twice this weekend.

RB: Okay. So do they ever bite? Like, do they ever bite your clients? Has that happened?

HR: I… luckily, none of my clients have ever gotten bit. We had one client, a schoolteacher. She was half asleep. And she… something told her, said, look, before you sit. She grabbed her glasses; she wasn't even going to grab her glasses or anything. But something told her and she did. And when she opened it, she understood why. And she just freaked out, panicked and called me immediately. You know these people, when you see something like that, especially in your most vulnerable state, half asleep, you're going to sit down. You're not expecting to see anything in your toilet. And, you know, when you have that adrenaline, everything's always bigger than it seems.

RB: How are these creatures getting into toilets?

HR: So there's several ways that they're getting in. The first and most common way is, here in Florida, each bathroom has vents stacks on the roof, which are open. So back in the… when they were making these homes in the fifties and sixties, they weren't thinking of iguanas in someone's roof. So these vents have to be open because it keeps the pressure from overbuilding in the bathroom. It keeps the heat going out and also the smell. So, when you have iguanas on your roof, and they're there, especially this time of year where our temperatures are reaching 91 Fahrenheit, and then with the heat index and our moisture down here, it's feeling like 105. So, if these iguanas are not by water, they can sense where water is. If they're on a roof, they can smell the water. They end up going into the pipeline. And once they get into that pipeline, there's only one way out because it's all PCP pipe; it's not metal. So they have nothing to go back up. So the only way is through your toilet. And the surprise is you don't know which toilet it's going to come in out of.

RB: Is this just part of everyday life in Florida, or are these calls starting to ramp up? You're getting more of them recently?

HR: This… they've been ramping up since last year.

RB: Why?

HR: So the reason… my theory is there's nothing being done down here in Florida. You have iguanas. Yes, they're invasive. They're telling people to go ahead and… go ahead and remove them. But most people don't want… don't want to protect the animals down here. So, say you have a park or somewhere, and you have a thousand iguanas, say. If nothing is being done to remove these animals, their numbers double every year. So this year, you have 1,000. Next year you have 2,000, 4,000, 8,000 and so on. So now, once these animals, especially the males, become a certain size, they become territorial. Anyone that's a threat or, you know, to them, they're going to push out. So once they get overpopulated into a park or something, now they're going into residential homes, and that's what's happening down here.

RB: You mentioned that this one you caught just by its leg. That it was trying to get away. How fast are they?

HR: This particular one is actually one of the fastest land lizards. It's clocking in at 21-and-a-half miles per hour.

RB: Wow! I mean, you have to respect that.

HR: It is. That's faster than the fastest Olympic sprinter.

RB: You must not be able to catch all the iguanas. Is there one that got away that you think about constantly?

HR: Oh, absolutely. Especially the big ones. Like, these things get pretty big. They get over six feet. I actually have the record for the biggest one caught here in south Florida at six-four-and-a-half feet.

RB: Shudder! [chuckling]

HR: They're…, and they get bigger. You know, the because the bigger they are, you know, the smarter they are. They're not big for no reason. You got to catch them at the right time. But I believe there was like a six-seven one, and I really… as soon as he saw me, he jumped in the water, swam across, ran to a tree. No way to get him.

RB: Well, it's a job that somebody has to do. Glad it's you. Harold, good to talk to you. Thanks so much.

HR: My pleasure, Robyn. You have a great day.

RB: Okay. Bye-bye.

CH: Harold Rondan runs a wildlife control company called Iguana Lifestyles. We reached him in Miami, Florida.

[surf rock]

Bolton Coup

CH: Over his decades in American politics, people have told him that his deepest personal belief was misguided. But John Bolton has refused to budge. And whatever your opinion of the man, you have to give him some credit for sticking by his principles -- and refusing to shave his mustache. Beyond that, though, Mr. Bolton was the most loyal, or trustworthy, or likeable person in Washington. Partly, or mostly, because of his obvious belief that he's the smartest guy in every room he's ever been in. Take, for example, an interview he gave Jake Tapper of CNN yesterday. They were discussing the January 6th Committee hearings. And they came to a fundamental question: whether Donald Trump is capable of planning a coup? Now, John Bolton -- former security advisor to the former president -- said he wasn't. And Jake Tapper politely disagreed.

[sc]

JAKE TAPPER: I don't know that I agree with you, to be… to be fair. With all due respect, one doesn't have to be brilliant to attempt a coup.

JOHN BOLTON: I disagree with that. As somebody who has helped plan coup d'etat.

JT: Yeah?

JB: Not here, but, you know, other places, it takes a lot of work. And that's not what he did. It was just stumbling around from one idea to another. Ultimately, he did unleash the rioters at the Capitol. As to that, there's no doubt. But not to overthrow the constitution. To buy more time to throw the matter back to the states, to try and redo the issue. And if you don't believe that, you're going to overreact.

[/sc]

CH: John Bolton -- apparently stung by Jake Tapper's insistence that you don't have to be brilliant to attempt a coup -- brilliantly arguing that Donald Trump could not possibly have planned a true coup d'état, because he is not as smart as John Bolton, who has planned several.

[elevator music]

Part 2: NS Sex Worker Claim, Scottish Midge Forecast

NS Sex Worker Claim

Guests: Brogan, Emma Halpern

CH: When a client refuses to pay a sex worker, the sex worker usually just have to cut their losses and move on. But one woman in Nova Scotia is taking her client to small-claims court to try to get the money she says she's owed. And the case could test the law around sex work -- which makes it legal to get paid for sex, but not to advertise it or buy it. Brogan is the sex worker involved in the case. And Emma Halpern is her lawyer. We've agreed to use Brogan's first name only for safety reasons, including the fact that she's a survivor of human trafficking. We reached them both in Halifax.

RB: Brogan, take us back to what happened to you with this particular client. What went on when you tried to get paid?

BROGAN: What happened was… it's not the norm for me to wait to get payment until after. But I trusted the person. In the morning, when I went to leave, and he gave me his bank card to go withdraw money, I started to get a little suspicious about it. It seemed off to me. And then, I had… I got to the bank and went to withdraw the money, and he'd given me the wrong pin.

RB: How did you react in that moment?

B: It's always really humiliating, I'd say is the best word to describe it. It's… it just makes you feel really small.

RB: So, what did you do when you realized you weren't going to get paid?

B: I kind of, at first, was just upset. You know, it's usually a really horrible feeling to spend that much time on something and not get compensated, especially given the line of work. But I remembered that I had Emma Halpern with E. Fry. So, I took it to her to see if there's anything that we could do about it.

RB: Brogan, It sounds from what you're saying that this is not the first time that you've been jilted by a client?

B: Absolutely not. It's happened in so many ways, so many different ways, ways you would never even expect. It's a pretty common thing.

RB: So what made this instance different, that you decided to fight him and take him to small claims court?

B: I'm a… I'm a human trafficking survivor. So, I kind of have been able to completely exit that and become, you know, someone who works independently. And I view it as a… a job. So, what was different this time, I guess, was just that I was more able to act. I've always been super passionate about sex workers' rights and sexual exploitation. But anything that I can do to make a difference, especially in this province, I will do. So, I thought it was a great opportunity to make some waves, just get some attention to the issue because it's not talked about enough.

RB: Emma, as Brogan's lawyer, what did you think when she brought you this case?

EMMA HALPERN: Well, I had known Brogan for a little while. And I know, you know, her to be a very strong and articulate and passionate person. And when she brought this to me, and the injustice was so obvious, it seemed like absolutely a case that we were going to take on. Small claims court generally is a fairly straightforward process, but of course, this is a bit more nuanced. And we were eager to bring this issue forward for Brogan and for others who have been in positions like Brogan. And perhaps to bring this as an opportunity for others across the country.

RB: It sounds like, from what Brogan said, this is definitely not the first time it's happened to her. How often do you hear about it happening to other people as well, Emma?

EH: Certainly, in the nature of my work, we hear about this type of thing all the time. This is the first woman who's ever come forward and asked us to represent her in small claims court. And so, we are honoured to do so.

RB: Right now, Emma, certain aspects of sex work are legal in Canada, so selling of sex services legal, but purchasing of sex services is not legal. So, how do you hold the client to a contract that's not for a legal service?

EH: Well, that's the real meat of this case, and that'll be an important thing that the adjudicator will have to look at. It's quite unusual to have a circumstance like this where you have a legitimate contract and Brogan is contracting for services like anyone else, selling any service in this province. And yet, you're correct that the purchaser is performing an illegal act. And so, I think that's what we're going to be really looking at. And, of course, our argument is that Brogan should not be penalized for that reality when she is doing something very much legal and contracting within her rights, and should have all of the legal avenues available to her to seek compensation when she's been wronged.

RB: Is this not a case for a higher court in a way? I mean, what makes you think that it's going to be decided in small claims court?

EH: Well, small claims is designed for the amounts of money and for sort of basic contractual arrangements. So, we will see. In order to get to a higher court, we would need an appeal. And you never know. It might get there. We'll have to see what happens.

RB: Our colleagues at CBC Halifax have reached out to the client. He hasn't responded to interview requests. Any idea of whether he will show up to small claims court to defend himself?

EH: Well, he has been served. We know that. That process service served him. And so, he's aware of the court date tonight. And so, my assumption is he will be there, or he will have counsel there in his place.

RB: Brogan, Emma has said that it is rare. I mean, this is the first for her to see a sex worker like yourself fight a case like this in small claims court. And there's also still a lot of stigma around what you do. Why do you feel that it is important to speak up?

B: Anything that involves sex work that gets attention is good because it allows people such as myself to speak on the other issues that surround not only not getting paid, but also, you know, like the lack of protection that we have, the stigma, the trauma, the way that women are treated who escort.

RB: We're not using your last name, Brogan, but… but is there any part of you that is afraid to talk about this, about, you know, perhaps you might face repercussions?

B: Honestly, I've always been pretty fearless when it comes to talking about it. Being the first person to do it just opens the door for, you know, everyone else who's been through it to also do that. And when I was involved in the case before, I was the only one. And I'm used to it. I've done it before, and I'll do it again, and I'll keep doing it.

RB: Brogan, Emma, I appreciate your time today. Thank you.

B: Thank you.

RB: Bye-bye.

EH: Goodbye.

CH: Brogan is a sex worker. We've agreed to use only her first name. Emma Halpern is her lawyer. We reached them both in Halifax.

[electronica]

House Of Commons Ejection

CH: The British House of Commons is often a bit on the loud side. But today, it was positively rowdy. That was because the chamber was packed with MPs -- which was because it was Boris Johnson's first appearance in the House since announcing he would be resigning as prime minister. And two MPs in particular were not going to take his answers sitting down. The two members of the Scottish party Alba refused to take their seat, in protest of the prime minister's veto of a Scottish independence referendum. And speaker Lindsay Hoyle was having none of it.

[sc]

[lots of shouting]

LINDSAY HOYLE: Sit! Order! Order! Shut up a minute! Shusssshhhh. Can I get another word in? Order! Order, I say to the honourable gentlemen. I will not tolerate such behaviour.

[shouting]

LH: If you want to go out, go out now. But if you stand again, I will order you out. Make your mind up. Either shut up or get out!

[shouting]

LH: I warned the honourable member that they’ve been… shut up a minute. Does somebody want… [clears throat]

WOMAN: Shout and get them out.

LH: Order! Order! Sit down. You won’t be in the future. I now warn the honourable members that if they persist in refusing to comply with my order to withdraw, I shall be compelled to name both of them, which may lead to them being suspended from the House.

[shouting]

LH: To make sure that the honourable member complies. [coughs] I order. Neale Hanvey, I am naming you and Kenny MacAskill to leave this chamber. Sargent, deal with them. Deal with them. Deal with them. Just sit down. Out now! Sargent at Arms, escort them out.

[cheering]

[/sc]

CH: The Speaker of Britain's House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, ordering two MPs from the Scottish party Alba to leave the debate chamber, before Prime Minister's Questions today.

[poppy beat]

Scottish Midge Forecast

Guest: Jay Hutchison

CH: Scotland's most feared predator may well be its smallest: the midge. The tiny, ravenous flies are the scourge of the Scottish outdoors most summers. But this year, while unseasonably hot weather is adding to worry about climate change -- it's reducing the threat of the nasty little midge. From day to day, and from glen to bonny glen, midge numbers are tracked by Jay Hutchison, the entomology director of The Scottish Midge Forecast. We reached him in Dundee, Scotland.

RB: Jay, what's the midge forecast for Scotland today?

JAY HUTCHISON: Well, in Scotland for the last week or so and probably for the next little while, the midge forecast is quite good. This… in the U.K. and Scotland, we are having quite a warm summer. Quite a dry summer, a bit unusual. So, it's caused the midges to… well, not… they're not fans of the weather. Put it that way.

RB: Right. They like cool and wet conditions. Is that right?

JH: Yes. So, the… the problem with this weather is that adults emerge and they dry out. Basically, it's too hot for them, so they don't get a chance to mate and lay eggs. And the eggs that have already been laid kind of struggle to hatch as well when… when the soil is so dry. So they prefer it to be… well, they're quite fussy. So they prefer it to be a little bit warm, a little bit wet and not very windy, which is usually pretty much Scotland in the summer. So, this hot weather that we've got just now is just… it's not great for them.

RB: So, it's a little bit of a reprieve. How quickly could that change?

JH: Well, all we need really is a spot of… of rain and for it to cool down a little bit. Which again, being Scotland, we're quite well known for being a bit on the wet side. So, I reckon that maybe in the next few weeks, when this weather changes, we get some rain, it gets a bit cooler, then we'll start to see the midges come back out again, possibly with a bit of a bang as well.

RB: I understand that there are more than 35 different species of biting midge in Scotland. What's the worst one?

JH: So, the one that people most refer to is the Scotland… the Scottish Highland midge, which is Culicoides impunctatus -- that's its Latin name. And that's the one that anyone who's been to Scotland or indeed Northern England, Ireland, Wales, parts of Scandinavia. It'll be that one that you come across, and it's the one that sadly likes to bite humans.

RB: We're very familiar with mosquitoes here in Canada and North America.

JH: Yes.

RB: How do midges and mosquitoes compare?

JH: They're similar but different. So, similar in the sense that they both bite. They bite in order to get the protein from our blood, in order to generate the next batch of eggs, which use that protein to… to grow. But the main differences are, obviously, midges are tiny, tiny, tiny little things, and mosquitoes are a bit larger. And midges bite in a different way. So, you'd be familiar with mosquitoes with a long proboscis that they insert and take blood. Whereas what a midge actually does is it's got a saw, almost like a saw mouth part, and it cuts into your skin, and the blood comes out like a little pool of blood, and it sucks up. [chuckle] So, it's quite creepy when you think about it. But… so they're different but similar.

RB: Do midges have any redeeming qualities?

JH: Well, they're actually quite important for the ecosystem. So, things like bats and various insects, spiders, they all… they all feed on midges. And so, they are quite important in that… in that sense. Obviously, we all wish they could disappear tomorrow because they're such a nuisance, but it actually wouldn't be that great environmentally.

RB: What are the worst midge conditions you've ever had to forecast?

JH: Oh, I have seen it as bad as… if you think about when it snows, and we all go out, and we have a snowball fight, I have seen the midges so bad that you could have a snowball as such of midges in your hand. And [chuckling] it's been like you could scoop them up off like a windowsill, for instance. I've seen it that bad where you cannot be outside, there's nothing that will save you, and you have to just get indoors away from them. [both chuckle]

RB: Nothing that will save you! You can't even put… Well, I guess nobody walks around in mosquito nets in, you know, at Edinburgh or Dundee where you are.

JH: That's true.

RB: But it sounds like you would need that.

JH: If you wore a full-blown midge/mosquitoe suit, yeah, you'd probably be… [RB chuckle] like, you know what? They'd find a way. They're so small that they would find some sort of gap in your net, be it through your ankles or something. [chuckling] Even the… the world's best repellent would struggle sometimes. But when you mentioned, like, Edinburgh, Dundee, and Glasgow and stuff. Yeah, actually, if you're coming to Scotland and you're coming to one of the cities, you'll be fine. You'll be lucky to find any midges very rarely in the cities. So, you're safe.

RB: Okay. They like the rural areas. They're more country dwellers.

JH: Yeah, absolutely. the West Coast and the North of Scotland, especially. If you're going to the East Coast, you might see some, but it's nowhere near as bad.

RB: We talk about you being a midge forecaster. How do… how exactly do you forecast how bad… bad the midges will be?

JH: So, we have got midge traps. We've had midge traps all over Scotland in various places. And these traps attract midges in, and we use the data from these. So, we can estimate how many midges have been trapped in those… in those traps. So, we use that data, mixed with weather forecast data, and there's an algorithm that goes on in the background -- a mathematical algorithm --- working away, and it turns out a prediction, much like the weather forecast.

RB: Hmm!

JH: So we have a… for instance, if it's a number one, that means you're safe. You probably wouldn't see any midges. If it's a number five, you better get some repellent and possibly a midge suit, you know? It means it's going to be quite bad out there.

RB: And these midge trappers, do… does that require human beings behind them? Like, who are these midge trappers?

JH: Yeah, so they're like, I guess you could call them citizen scientists. So, these are just people that we have got to know over the years -- be them customers or clients or whatever. And we have kindly asked them if we could use their garden or ther farm or whatever piece of land, and we put a trap in their garden. And then, they will every so often, maybe once a week, they will take the midge catch from it and let us know the data. And so, it's kind of mutual benefit because we're getting something out of it. But they've also got this midge trap that keeps their garden sort of midge-free. And so, it's good for both parties, really.

RB: Are you hoping the hot, dry weather sticks around for a while?

JH: Well, I think for tourism, for instance, it's quite good when the midges aren't about. I can't remember the exact figure, but midges actually caused quite a lot of damage to Scottish tourism because people… some people think that it's dreadful and you can't move for them, and they do come here, you know, they'll avoid Scotland altogether. [chuckle] So, it's quite good in that sense because at the moment, we've got, like, the golf open at St Andrews. And I'd like to think that lots of people from North America are coming over. Maybe now they can explore the rest of Scotland and be free of midges. That must be quite nice. But anyone coming in a few weeks' time might need some repellent. [both chuckle]

RB: Good to talk to you today, Jay. Thanks so much.

JH: Thank you.

RB: Bye-bye.

JH: Bye-bye.

CH: Jay Hutchison is the entomology director of The Scottish Midge Forecast. We reached him in Dundee, Scotland.

[banjo!!!]

Monte Norman Obit

CH: When you hear "double-oh-seven", a few things that immediately come to mind. Martinis, shaken not stirred. Fancy suits -- the lapels of which have expanded and contracted over the decades. Completely outlandish sexism. And, of course, that theme song. Audiences heard that evocative tune for the first time in the first Bond film -- "Dr. No", which came out in 1962. And unlike the secret agent's suits, it has stayed cool and fashionable ever since. Monte Norman -- the man who wrote that theme song -- died this week. He was 94. Mr. Norman was a jazz singer and composer who performed with a lot of big bands and wrote songs for a number of musicals. But the Bond theme was his most famous work. Although you might have thought it was John Barry's most famous work. Well, Mr. Barry did rearrange it -- giving it his signature sound. But then, much to Monte Norman's annoyance, people started saying Mr. Barry had composed it as well. Mr. Norman was so annoyed, in fact, that he sued the U.K.'s Sunday Times for claiming, in an article, that he had been falsely taking credit for the theme. In 2001, a jury ruled in Monte Norman's favour -- awarding him 30,000 pounds -- plus court costs. Firmly establishing that he'd composed that music -- and, presumably, allowing him to compose himself.

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July 13, 2022 Episode Transcript

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