The Decibel

Two days after a stabbing rampage in Saskatchewan, police are still looking for Myles Sanderson, who, along with his brother Damien, are suspected of killing 10 people and injuring 18 others. On Monday the RCMP confirmed that Damien Sanderson was found dead.The attacks happened in 13 different locations on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby town of Weldon. The Globe’s Alanna Smith visits the communities and tells us about the attacks, the possible motive behind them and how the community is responding to the tragedy.The Hope for Wellness Help Line is available to all Indigenous people across Canada at 1-855-242-3310. Orchat online at hopeforwellness.ca 24/7 in English, French, and upon request in Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As of Aug. 15, nearly 170,000 study permit applications were pending with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Although plans have been made to get many of these students to the start of their classes on time, many might have to be kept waiting.Will Tao is an immigration lawyer based in British Columbia who focuses on international student study permits. He tells us why we’re seeing so much delay in processing these permits and how the system often leaves applicants from the global south behind. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If we want great cities, people from all walks of life need to be able to live in them. But even with experts predicting that rising interest rates will drive national housing prices down by as much as 23 per cent by the end of this year, most of us would still consider those adjusted prices totally unaffordable. While most of the housing crisis  conversation has centered on supply — just build build build — there’s a lot more going on that’s causing the problem. In our last episode of the season, Adrian talks to three experts about other housing crisis factors that don’t always get the spotlight. Guests for this episode are Andy Yan, an urban planner and director of Simon Fraser University’s City Program; Naama Blonder, a Toronto-based architect and urban planner with Smart Density and  Rachelle Younglai, The Globe’s real estate reporter. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If you have three or more alcoholic drinks in a week, you’re putting your health at risk. That’s according to a new report from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction (CCSA). The government of Canada’s current recommendations are more than a decade old. Armed with new information from almost 6,000 studies, the CCSA is proposing an update to Canada’s low-risk drinking guidelines.Dr. Catherine Paradis is the interim associate director of research at the CCSA. She’s also the co-chair of this new report. She tells us what we’ve learned about how alcohol impacts our health, the new guidelines the CCSA hopes Canadians will follow and why they want mandatory portion labels on alcoholic drinks. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Kelp has traditionally been harvested for food, but we’re discovering other new ways we could be using kelp as well … like in packaging, to replace plastics, or even in animal feed to reduce the methane released by cows.National correspondent Wendy Stueck went out on a kelp harvest, and tells us why kelp farming could help coastal communities’ green economies, and be used as an innovative and sustainable new material. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As of Sept. 1, sugar sweetened beverages like pops, iced teas and energy drinks in Newfoundland and Labrador will be a bit more expensive. The province is bringing in a sugar tax, and it is controversial. The government says the goal is to make its residents healthier, as the province has some of the highest rates of diabetes and obesity in the country. Opponents say that the tax will only impact the poorest in the province or won’t make a substantial difference.Dr. Yann Le Bodo is a research fellow with the French School of Public Health, and he’s part of an international consortium of researchers looking into whether sugar taxes are effective or not. He tells us what the research is saying about sugar taxes and whether they actually lead to a healthier population. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

An explosion rocked downtown Wheatley, Ontario last year, injuring 20 people, destroying property and terrifying residents and shaking buildings kilometres away. The cause is assumed to be an “orphan” natural gas well tucked away near a building’s basement, one of many thousands left behind after the last 150 years of oil and gas drilling in Ontario.And while not all orphan wells have been uncovered, the building’s owner had been sounding the alarm about the noxious, highly-flammable gas leaking out of this one for months.Globe energy reporter Emma Graney tells us about what went wrong in Wheatley, and why experts tell her another explosion like it is “all but guaranteed.”Read more on The Globe’s investigation here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Your boss wants you back in the office, but after two years of remote work, you’re not sure you want to go. Whether you measure the cost in time or money, going back to work can be pricey. Many Canadians have grown to love their work from home lifestyle, and they’re eager to keep it. In the first episode of our new season, we hear from a 20-something who’s job-hunting because his employer is asking employers to return to the office two to three days a week. We also hear from a manager in her early 40s on why she decided to close her office for good. Plus, The Globe’s future of work reporter Vanmala Subramaniam speaks with Roma to discuss changes in the workplace and what to expect going forward. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In April, the federal government announced that it would expand Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program to allow employers to hire even more low-wage workers from abroad. The move is designed to help ease some of the labour shortages in a number of sectors.Advocates for migrant workers argue that the TFW program allows employers to exploit migrant workers because the person’s employment is tied to a work permit. There have been complaints about low wages, bad living conditions and dangerous work.The Globe’s future of work reporter Vanmala Subramaniam tells us about what the program is and why it’s expanding. Plus, we’ll hear from former migrant worker-turned-advocate Gabriel Allahdua about what it was like to work this type of job and why he’s advocating for migrant workers to have a pathway toward permanent residency. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Hudson’s Bay Company announced last week that it’s bringing back the discount store Zellers, people flocked to social media to share their memories of Zeddy the mascot, of the Zeller’s diner, and the Zeddy ride. HBC is hoping that nostalgia translates into foot traffic and dollars. The company is trying to modernize and stay relevant in a climate where department stores are shuttering.The Globe’s retail reporter, Susan Krashinsky Robertson, is here to tell us about this move to bring back Zellers, how else Hudson’s Bay Company is trying to offload millions of square feet of real estate and what the market looks like for Zellers now that the discount market has become even more competitive. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.