- COVID and kids: What we know and what to expect in September
Friday, August 20th 2021
Guest: Dr. Karina Top, pediatrician, vaccine researcher and associate professor at Dalhousie University
In what is increasingly being called a pandemic of the unvaccinated, the largest cohort that cannot receive vaccines yet are children under age 12. With the Delta variant spreading rapidly and the fourth wave accelerating, there has been a surge in cases and hospitalizations of children with COVID-19 in the U.S. There are fears something similar could occur in Canada, just as kids go back to school. Experts predict that cases will rise when school starts, but with Canada having one of highest rates of vaccination in the world and the enforcement of other precautions, the goal is to keep kids as safe as possible.
- An unwinnable situation: American foreign policy after Afghanistan
Thursday, August 19th 2021
Guest: Craig Whitlock, Washington Post investigative journalist who broke The Afghanistan Papers
While many question the United States government’s decision to withdrawal from Afghanistan, within the government it has long been known it was an unwinnable conflict. The truth is laid bare in The Afghanistan Papers, a 2019 Washington Post investigation that included a series of documents and recordings with U.S. officials speaking frankly about the conflict. Much of this week’s events were telegraphed in that document, but there are larger questions. What happens next? Where does American foreign policy go from here?
- Canada's two Michaels and China's long history of 'hostage diplomacy'
Wednesday, August 18th 2021
Guest: Joanna Chiu, Toronto Star reporter covering Canada-China relations and author of “China Unbound”
It’s been almost three years since former diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor (collectively known as the “two Michaels”) were arrested by the Chinese Communist Party. The move was seen as retaliation against Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who is currently standing trial for possible extradition to the United States. Now, just this month, Michael Spavor was found guilty of espionage charges and sentenced to 11 years in a Chinese prison, while another Chinese court rejected Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg’s appeal against a death sentence for drug trafficking. It all seems so shocking, but as Star reporter Joanna Chiu reports, this form of hostage taking diplomacy and death threat diplomacy is not new. Why is no one talking about other Canadians that have been taken as political prisoners by China?
- How COVAX is getting vaccines to nations that need it the most
Tuesday, August 17th 2021
Guest: Dr. Margaret Harris, infectious diseases expert and spokesperson for World Health Organization
As the pandemic continues, low-income and developing nations remain left behind in vaccination efforts. The reason is simple. Many countries cannot afford vaccines because the contracts tied to them are tied to the most powerful nations in the world. Can a pandemic truly end if billions around the world don’t have access to vaccines? COVAX, a program developed by the World Health Organization, is designed to solve that problem by bridging the gap between have and have-not countries. We’ll talk about the challenge and cost of delivering doses, the responsibility of rich countries to share, and why failures affect all of us.
- Canada’s federal election is on. Here’s what you need to know
Monday, August 16th 2021
Guests: Susan Delacourt and Alex Boutilier of the Star’s Ottawa bureau
After months of speculation, it’s happening: the Canadian federal election is set for September 20. The stakes are historic and could not be higher. Who should lead Canada out of the pandemic? How does this country begin to recover economically? What do Canadians care about most right now? We gather a political roundtable to discuss the 36-day campaign ahead, the state of the Liberals, Conservatives, the NDP and the Greens, and the expected talking points for the weeks ahead.
