The Decibel

A big part of the federal government’s plan to end the convoy protests and blockades includes targeting the flow of money to them. Banks were granted expanded powers and liability protection as part of the Emergencies Act announcement on February 14.But how comfortable are Canadian financial institutions with policing their own customers and freely sharing information with law enforcement? Banking reporter James Bradshaw has been speaking with officials at the big banks and explains exactly how they think they’ll be proceeding under these new powers. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Canada’s women’s hockey team is going for gold at the Beijing Olympics. They’ll face off against their rivals: Team USA. It’s the sixth time these teams have met in an Olympic final. While these two teams have dominated since women’s hockey was introduced to the Olympics in 1998, other countries have struggled to keep up.Globe sports reporter, Rachel Brady, is in Beijing covering the Olympics. She’s on the show to tell us why Canada and the U.S. keep meeting in the finals, what needs to be done for women’s hockey to continue to grow and why there are still so few opportunities outside of the Olympics for these elite athletes. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Three weeks into the convoy protests, political leaders on all levels of government are looking at what levers they can pull. On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act. Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is keeping the province in a state of emergency. And Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is attempting to negotiate with the truckers who remain in residential neighbourhoods in the capital.Jeff Gray, The Globe’s Queen’s Park reporter, gives us an update of what happened over the weekend and explains the various moves Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario’s Doug Ford have made in recent days as the public’s patience wears thin on the ongoing protests and blockades at various border crossings and in Ottawa. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Valentine’s Day and red roses go hand-in-hand, and for those of us heading to local shops across Canada to pick up a bouquet, you might be surprised to learn those flowers most likely came from Colombia. The country is the second-largest flower exporter in the world, and they ship about 650-million stems overseas just for Valentine’s Day.Yader Guzman is a freelance photographer based in Bogota who documented the journey of some of these flowers for The Globe. He tells us how they go from greenhouses in Bogota to local stores in Canada and how this became such a huge industry for Colombia. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Life for Zexi Li has been a bit of a roller coaster these last few weeks. The Ottawa resident lives just a few blocks away from Parliament Hill, which meant that after the trucker convoy rolled into town the soundtrack to her life was horns. Protesters had been blaring their truck horns from 7 a.m. to as late as 1:30 a.m., until lawyer Paul Champ approached Zexi and a civil suit led to an injunction that muted the honking.Globe reporter Erin Anderssen spoke to Zexi after an Ontario Superior Court justice granted a 10-day injunction against the use of horns by the protesters. Zexi shares what it’s been like living amongst the cacophony, how she slept and why she agreed to be the public face of the proposed class-action suit. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The occupation of streets in downtown Ottawa and blockades at two border crossings to the US, including our busiest in Windsor, Ont. continues.Reporter Colin Freeze tells us more about who the leaders are of the Freedom Convoy, including those fundraising millions of dollars to support it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Canadians fell in love with the Olympic sport of ice dancing after Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won gold at both the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2018 Olympics in South Korea. But they’ve since retired and reigning world bronze medallists, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, are hoping to capture the hearts of fans and place on the podium.Timothy Moore, a videographer for The Globe, spoke with Gilles, Poirier and one of their coaches, Carol Lane, to learn about how they construct their highly technical rhythm dance routine, what they think about when they are performing and why they decided to wear bright orange spandex on the world stage. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Monday afternoon, a judge granted a temporary injunction to stop the incessant honking in downtown Ottawa by protestors dubbed the “Freedom Convoy.” The injunction is part of a proposed multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit started by a 21-year old resident of the city. The question is: will it work?It’s been more than 10 days now since trucks and protestors took over the capital’s downtown neighbourhoods around Parliament. And the movement spurred other protests around the country this past weekend, against vaccine mandates and public health restrictions more generally. But none established the kind of presence Ottawa has seen.Parliamentary reporter Janice Dickson details the experience of downtown Ottawa residents, and how city government and police have handled the ongoing situation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It has taken billions of dollars and more than two decades to build, but the successor to the Hubble Telescope is in space and waking up. Thanks to its ability to observe infrared light, the James Webb Space Telescope is able to see way beyond Hubble’s range and further back in time.Science reporter Ivan Semeniuk explains how this new telescope works, what scientists hope to learn from it and why Canada’s contributions are critical to the mission’s success. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The 2022 Winter Olympics are on in Beijing. It’s the first city in the world to host both a winter and summer Games (the latter of which happened back in 2008). These Games are shaping up to be much different. COVID-19 restrictions and a diplomatic boycott by a number of countries put a bit of a damper on the hype.Asia correspondent James Griffiths is in Beijing. He tells us what it’s like inside the Olympic bubble and how politics are playing into these Games. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.