The Big Story

Since the early days of the pandemic, experts have been warning about the stress constant emergency work places on medical professionals. And after more than a year on the front lines of the pandemic, Canada has a nursing crisis. Why are nurses walking away? Why can't we recruit more quickly? And what happens in the fall if we see another wave of covid without enough nurses to keep the system running? GUEST: Tim Guest, president of the Canadian Nurses Association We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Masking has become second nature to most of us during the pandemic. But with the end cautiously in sight, how many of us will still cover up once we're no longer forced to? In eastern nations like Japan, masking in crowded public spaces in simply part of the culture — especially during flu season. Why hasn't that taken hold here, and how can masks continue to help us stay safe without remaining a battleground in the culture wars? GUEST: Dr. Mitsutoshi Horii, professor of Shumei University in Japan We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Their last game in Toronto was in September of 2019. Since then, the Blue Jays have been on one of sports' longest odysseys—playing home games as the road team, then in Buffalo, then Florida and back to Buffalo again, waiting for permission to enter Canada.That finally changes next week as the team comes home on July 30. The exemption that allows them to do so is the result of months of back and forth between the team and the government. And it could provide an emotional boost for a country that needs one, and a team that could use a real home crowd behind it for a pennant race.GUEST: Shi Davidi, Sportsnet We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Recent polls from across the spectrum show the Conservative Party of Canada struggling to mount a meaningful challenge to the Liberals in the next election—which seems to be fast approaching. More concerning than the low polling numbers is another statistic: The percentage of Canadians who would be willing to consider voting conservative. That’s at 41 percent, down seven points since 2019. The Conservative party’s current pool of voters is shrinking. Who are they losing, and why? What might bring them back into the fold? Are their other groups who might be drawn to a more centrist party and is the CPC willing to take the short-term pain of alienating a hard-right base to chase votes in the centre? GUEST: Max Fawcett We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

You’ve probably thrown something out when it was past the date on the package—even if it didn’t really seem like it had gone bad. Better safe than sorry, or as the campaign used to tell us, “When in doubt, throw it out.” But best before dates are not the same as expiry dates, and this misunderstanding is behind millions of kilograms of food wasted every year. Where did best before dates come from and what was their initial intention? Why does everything have a best before date now, even things like candy or chips … or water? How can we reverse decades of conditioning and teach people to use common sense and good judgement, rather than an arbitrary date, to determine when to toss otherwise edible food? GUEST: Lori Nikkel, CEO of Second Harvest We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

The public is currently being told to venture into the crown jewel of Vancouver’s park system “at their own risk” as dozens of people, including a two-year-old child, have been attacked by wild coyotes this year. And Stanley Park is not the only green space in Canada dealing with the newly-aggressive animals attacking human visitors. Something seems to have shifted in the way coyotes and humans are usually able to coexist in places like this, but what? How should cities deal with these animals? Are there options besides extermination? If given enough time, will the coyotes’ behaviour revert to form? And what will become of these parks if it doesn’t? GUEST: Colleen Cassady St. Clair, Professor, Biological Sciences, University of Alberta We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Last week, retired general Jonathan Vance, former chief of the defence staff, was charged with obstruction of justice related to an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. That sounds like a shocking piece of news, but really it was an almost inevitable conclusion of the latest scandal that put Canada’s military justice system, or lack thereof, on the front pages. This has been a story for decades now, and various governments and the armed forces have frequently vowed to fix it. Committees are formed. Reports are written. Recommendations are made. And then we end up here. Again. Why? GUEST: Marie-Danielle Smith, Maclean’s We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Most vaccines in Canada are administered by family doctors, so when Covid-19 vaccinations began to receive approval late in 2020, those physicians got ready to roll up their sleeves and dive in. But the call never came. While a few pilot projects let a relative handful of doctor’s offices receiving doses, the vast majority of family physicians were left out. And now that Canada’s vaccine uptake has plateaued and begun to decline, those doctors could be the key to reaching the holdouts. They want to leverage their relationships with patients to get results that mass clinics can’t. Will provincial governments let them into the game? GUEST: Dr. Elizabeth Muggah, President, Ontario College of Family Physicians We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

On Friday Canada’s largest province enters stage three of reopening—by far the biggest move since early this year, before the third wave of Covid-19 hit. Other places around the world have had varying degrees of success as they’ve come out of restrictions, but perhaps the best example to reassure anxious Canadians is out west, where Alberta has been almost back to normal for two weeks now, and—so far!—there has been no cause for concern. Is this really what back to normal feels like? What’s it like to realize you can remove your mask indoors if you want to? And is there a plan if cases do start to climb again? GUEST: Darcy Ropchan, video journalist, CityNews Edmonton We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

And why were the police so focused on the 15-month old’s parents in the wake of his death? Nathaniel died in 2015, after sustaining a severe brain injury. And in the weeks and months and years to come, the investigation narrowed to his parents as the prime suspects. It was a preoccupation that, in hindsight, many observers thought was strange. But then a reporter started asking questions about the investigation, and what happened that day, and how police conducted their work … and weeks later a charge was laid. Not against Nathaniel’s parents, but his babysitter, who is facing one count of manslaughter. What happened to Nathaniel, and what went so wrong with the investigation into his death? GUEST: Kevin Donovan, Chief Investigative Reporter, Toronto Star (Read Kevin’s five-part investigation right here.) We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter