The Decibel

Just over a year after the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act, an inquiry has found that the Liberals acted appropriately, even though the Act gave them sweeping powers. This report – by Justice Paul Rouleau – marks the end of a commission that investigated the trucker convoy protest, the breakdown in policing and governing that lead to the Emergency Act being invoked.Political columnist John Ibbitson discusses the importance of this report for our democracy, the political winners and losers and what he hopes will be done with Justice Rouleau’s recommendations.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Canada’s national women’s soccer team is protesting unequal treatment by the sport’s governing body. The players say Canada Soccer is not transparent with its finances, and that they won’t agree to be paid less than the men. The men’s team supports them.On Thursday, the team was forced to play in the SheBelieves cup under threat of legal action. Federal MPs have noticed, and called for Canada Soccer to explain itself at a parliamentary committee.Rachel Brady is The Globe’s sports reporter, and she’ll tell us about the dispute, the growing business case for equally funding women’s sport, and how that’s fuelling professional women’s soccer in Canada.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Investing your money can grow your wealth faster than just saving it— or shrink it, if you put your money in stocks that fail, or have to withdraw your money from the market while it’s down.Erica Alini, the Globe’s personal finance reporter and author of the newsletter MoneySmart Bootcamp, shares her tips for how to think about investing wisely.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Tuesday, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and NDP MP Alistair MacGregor held a news conference about medical access to psilocybin – better known as magic mushrooms. The psychedelic is illegal in Canada but there’s increased interest in the potential therapeutic benefits of the drug.This is happening while still-illegal magic mushroom dispensaries have begun to pop up in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa. The Globe’s Mike Hager went to one, and explores the business behind magic mushrooms.Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the span of nine days, we’ve seen the takedown of four flying objects over North America by U.S. fighter jets. It has both Canada and the U.S. on high alert with speculation of Chinese spying. The White House has had to tamp down questions of whether aliens could be involved. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Trudeau says the search for debris in Yukon, where one of the objects was taken down is currently under way.The Globe’s senior parliamentary reporter, Steven Chase is on the show to tell us what we know so far about the mysterious flying objects and why all of a sudden, they’re being detected.Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Fusion – the act of deriving energy by smashing atoms together – has long been the stuff of science fiction. But thanks to a recent scientific breakthrough, there has been an increase in public excitement that one day, we might be able to use this as a continuous, clean source of energy.The catch? We might not get the technology before our 2050 net-zero climate goals arrive.Science Reporter Ivan Semeniuk explains exactly how fusion works and the Canadian efforts that are working to take this theory and turn it into a viable and widespread energy source.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The federal government has offered to bring some Canadian children being held in detention camps in Syria to Canada – but their mothers can’t come with them. This is part of an ongoing issue for the government over what to do about men and women who are suspected of joining the Islamic State terrorist organization — and what to do with their children.The Globe’s Janice Dickson has been covering this issue since the Islamic State fell in 2019 and has spoken to one of the mothers facing this difficult decision.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ottawa announced Tuesday a proposed $46.2-billion injection in new federal health care funding for the provinces and territories.For years, there have been calls to reform Canada’s health care system. People have died in emergency rooms waiting for care, 15 percent of Canadians don’t have a regular health care provider and there are ongoing issues facing long term care.Will this new money help fix these systemic problems?Health reporter Kelly Grant asked leaders in health care what they make of the deal, and she’ll detangle what this money can and can’t do for our ailing healthcare system.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Canada is facing increasing calls to grow its critical mineral industry as the world pivots toward its net-zero goals and batteries are becoming increasingly important. But at the moment, Canada only has one functioning lithium mine and no refineries.Compare that to China, which dominates the entire critical mineral industry globally and has extensive reach into Canada’s current operations. So what can Canada do to get going? Mining reporter Niall McGee explains how Canada has found itself in this position.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A Canadian sniper, whose codename is Teflon, was set up in an apartment building in the destroyed city of Bakhmut, Ukraine, shooting waves of Russian soldiers. He says it was almost too easy: “I actually got to a point where I was like, can you stop? I’m tired of killing people ... I shouldn’t be killing people this easily.”Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, has seen heavy fighting for months because invading Russian forces see it as strategically important. The Globe’s Mark MacKinnon spoke with the sniper about his role in the war, and how the battle for Bakhmut has been playing out on the ground.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.