The Decibel

The federal government has restored its funding to Hockey Canada after removing it following the revelation that it settled a lawsuit accusing eight members of the 2018 world juniors hockey team of sexual assault. Since the scandal broke a year ago, Hockey Canada has endured audits, board resignations, and investigations. Its executives and board members have been called to Parliament Hill to testify at hearings, and big sponsors, like Tim Hortons and Canadian Tire, have fled.So, how much has the organization changed within the last year to justify this restored funding? Investigative reporter Grant Robertson explains the recent developments and the current state of Hockey Canada.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

The largest public sector union in Canada went on strike on Wednesday after talks broke down with the government over better wages and remote working rules. This strike is expected to cause serious administrative delays for Canadians, from passport processing to filing your taxes. It’s the most recent event in a long string of labour disputes from all over the country in the last two years.The Globe’s future of work reporter Vanmala Subramaniam explains what the significance of this strike is, how we got to this point and the effects it might have on the public, the government and unions going forward.Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Last month, Tennessee became the first state to pass-anti drag law and thirteen other U.S. states also have bills looking to ban or restrict drag performances. Over the past decade, drag has become more mainstream with the popularity of shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race, but this past year, drag shows have become the target of a U.S. political culture war.The Globe’s U.S. correspondent, Adrian Morrow is on the show to tell us what it is about this moment that has U.S. states targeting drag. Plus we’ll hear from Brian Hernandez, a performer in San Antonio Texas about their experience living in a state that’s trying to ban what they do for a living.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation has been coming under fire in the past few weeks over a controversial donation it received back in 2016. The Globe and Mail learned back in February that the donation – which was initially said to be from two Chinese billionaires – was allegedly tied to the Chinese government. Now, there’s even more to the story.Today, The Globe’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife is back on the podcast. He and Globe reporter Steven Chase have been breaking this news. He’ll tell us the story of this donation, how the Trudeau Foundation handled it and how this latest controversy ties into the larger web of Chinese interference.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

What happens when a Canadian company is accused of wrongdoing abroad? Well, in 2018, Ottawa announced the creation of a new ombudsperson to investigate these kinds of claims. But since then, the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise – also known as CORE – has yet to complete a single investigation of a complaint.Investigative reporter Tavia Grant – who went to Peru to see the effects of missing Canadian oversight – explains what she has found out about CORE.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Since 1951, 24 Sussex Drive has been the Prime Minister’s official residence. Recently, It’s been making international headlines, but for the wrong reasons. The mansion is in such bad shape that rodent carcasses line the walls and are affecting the air quality. There’s a laundry list of problems including mould, asbestos, leaks and a cold winter draft. In the eight years Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been in power, he and his family have never moved in.The Globe’s writer-at-large and political columnist, John Ibbitson is on The Decibel to tell us how the Prime Minister’s residence has fallen into such disrepair and why its fate has become as politically toxic as its insides.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Canadian officials have been warning since the war in Ukraine began of potential cyber attacks from Russia as retribution for Canada helping Ukraine. This week, at least two Canadian government websites were down, courtesy of Russian hackers, and claims surfaced that Russian hackers had compromised a Canadian gas company.Steven Chase is The Globe’s senior parliamentary reporter. He’s seen the documents detailing the alleged attack on the Canadian company. He’ll tell us about these attacks, and how they fit into Russia’s broader plan to punish supporters of Ukraine.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

For months now, Canada’s unemployment rate has been hovering around 5 per cent – a near historic low. It’s a number that economists are watching closely because they expect it to rise now that the Bank of Canada has hiked interest rates.But it hasn’t. And businesses are still complaining about a shortage of workers. So what’s going on? Economics reporter Matt Lundy explains.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

On April 4, the body of Linda Mary Beardy, a woman from Lake St. Martin First Nation, was discovered at a Winnipeg landfill. It’s the same landfill where, less than a year ago, the victim of an alleged serial killer was found. Police say Ms. Beardy’s death is not being considered a homicide, but it has brought renewed attention and outrage over the deaths of First Nations women in the area.In the last year, the remains of four First Nations women, believed to be victims of a serial killer, have been discovered or are believed to be in Winnipeg landfills. The outrage from the women’s communities is not just over their deaths, but also over what they say is failure and inaction from Winnipeg Police.The Globe’s crime and justice reporter Molly Hayes joins The Decibel to discuss why police have refused to search one of the landfills and the renewed fight for answers from the families and friends of missing and murdered Indigenous women.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Adrial and Adiah Nadarajah are the youngest twins ever born to survive to their first birthday – they were born at just 22 weeks, about half of a full term pregnancy. If they had been born just two hours earlier, medical staff would not have tried to resuscitate them. They would have been considered too young to live.Their story is part of the medical and moral challenges that arise when babies are born dangerously early. Kelly Grant spoke with the parents and doctors of the babies – and attended the twins’ first birthday party.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com