Just Asking

A new report from IBM estimates that data breaches in Canada now cost companies nearly $7 million to recover from, and the risks to our personal information are growing. We look at what happens when your data is exposed, why it’s so valuable to cybercriminals, and what steps you can take to protect it, with advice from security experts.Yvette Elliott is an expert in AI and digital marketing and Brent Arnold is a Partner and Litigator with the law firm Gowling WLG. He works on cases dealing with data breaches and cybersecurity.

From ghosting to swipe fatigue, many people are rethinking online dating and looking for ways to meet partners in real life. We take your questions on how to navigate dating without apps, and explore how dating technology has reshaped the way we connect and build relationships. Myisha Battle is a dating coach, writer and host of the KC-RW Podcast, “How’s Your Sex Life?”Diana Parry is a professor in the Faculty of Health at the University of Waterloo.Rachael Brewin-Caddy is the host of Thursday Dating, an in- person event series for singles.

From splitting chores to navigating labour disputes, negotiation is everywhere, and it can be intimidating. Whether you're bargaining over rent, salary, or high-stakes union demands, we take your questions on how to become a more confident and effective negotiator. Helping us out are Nil Ataogul, Advisor for Mobilization and Labour Relations at the Quebec Federation of University Professors, and Fabiola Tassy, a lawyer and sessional lecturer at McGill University where she teaches negotiation. We also hear from Bob Bordone, senior fellow at Harvard Law School and founder of The Cambridge Negotiation Institute and author of 'Conflict Resilience: Negotiating Disagreements Without Giving Up or Giving In.'

More Canadians are exploring polyamory and consensual non-monogamy, but navigating those relationships can be emotionally complex. How do you know if it’s right for you? What does healthy communication look like across multiple partners? And how do you talk to your loved ones about it? Just Asking takes your questions with help from Kaleigh Trace, a registered psychotherapist and couples therapist, and Mel Cassidy, a somatic relationship coach who is solo-polyamorous.

As famine-like conditions grip Gaza, the flow of humanitarian aid has become a global flashpoint. Over 120 people have reportedly died of starvation since October 2023, most of them children, and international pressure is mounting on Israel to ease restrictions. To answer your questions about the humanitarian crisis, Just Asking spoke with Aya Batrawy, a journalist and Middle East Correspondent for NPR based in Atlanta, and Dr. James Smith, an emergency physician and professor at University College London who has spent over two months in Gaza since the war began.

The not-guilty verdict in the high-profile Hockey Canada sexual assault trial has sparked a national conversation about how we define and understand consent. As the legal system wrestles with questions around fear, coercion, and credibility, Just Asking looks at what consent really means in practice and how we can talk about it more openly. Joining us are Farrah Kahn, a consent educator and the CEO of Possibility Seeds, and Gillian Hnatiw, a Toronto-based lawyer who specializes in gender-based violence.

In this discussion, Elizabeth Mulholland, CEO of Prosper Canada, and Omar Fares, Assistant Professor of Marketing, dive into the world of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services. They explore the convenience and risks of BNPL, especially for younger consumers navigating financial pressures post-pandemic. The conversation spotlights the psychological factors driving its popularity, the security challenges these services pose, and the urgent need for consumer awareness and regulation to prevent potential debt traps.

According to the Supreme Court of Canada, the Crown has a legal obligation to consult Indigenous peoples before decisions are made that could infringe on their rights. What meaningful consultation actually looks like has come into sharp focus this week as Prime Minister Carney met with First nations leaders about Bill C-5, which aims to fast track approvals for major infrastructure projects like pipelines or mines. So what does the "duty to consult" in Canadian law actually mean? To answer your questions, Just Asking spoke to two experts. Sara Mainville is the managing partner of JFK Law. She’s also the former Chief of Couchiching First Nation. And Deliah Bernard is Partner and Co-Founder of Roots Strategies, which is an Indigenous affairs agency. She was also a former senior Indigenous affairs adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.Further Reading: What does the duty to consult First Nations, Inuit and Métis mean?

Summer is supposed to be a time for rest and relaxation — unless you're among the millions of Canadians who suffer from poor sleep. How do the changing seasons affect our sleep schedule? We spoke with Dr. Michael Mak, a sleep medicine specialist and psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Lynne Peeples a science writer and author of the book The Inner Clock: living in sync with our circadian rhythms.

This week, the RCMP revealed that four men are being accused of an alleged anti-government plot that involved creating a militia and seizing land. Two of the men arrested were members of the Canadian Armed Forces.Police are calling the plot an act of "ideologically motivated violent extremism." Last December, the RCMP, CSIS and the Five Eyes Alliance published a report warning about the rise in young people attracted to violent ideologies. So what are the driving forces behind these movements? What warning signs can family members look out for, and what more can be done to root out this extremism from institutions like the military? We spoke with Barbara Perry, the director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, David O'Brien, the director of Mental Health at Yorktown Family Services, where he works with young people to redirect them from violent extremism and hate groups, and Jeanette Manning, the co-author of Walking Away from Hate: Our Journey Through Extremism, which details her own experience with her daughter after her daughter left a white supremacist group.