Just Asking

The Liberal government has launched a six-year, multi-billion dollar design and development plan that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says will eventually lead to high-speed rail connecting Quebec City and Toronto. Just Asking was joined by two guests to answer your questions about the new project. Ryan Katz-Rosene is an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa's School of Political Studies, and Jonathan English is a Fellow at the NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management (based in Toronto).

The threat of tariffs, and the possibility of a trade war, have changed the way some Canadians spend their money - with many boycotting American products. But ‘buying Canadian’ isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. To answer all your questions on how to buy Canadian, we had two guests join Just Asking. Vass Bednar is Executive Director of the Master of Public Policy Program at McMaster University. Grant Packard is a professor of marketing at York University’s Shulich School of Business’. 

Not all relationships are meant to go the distance. With dating apps, texting, IMs and ghosting... breaking up has never been more complicated. So how do you do it? To help explain, Just Asking brought in three guests. Jen Kirsch is a relationship expert and journalist. Andrew Sofin is a couples and family therapist and registered psychotherapist in Quebec. Kaitlyn Rosati is a travel blogger and writer.

More than 6.9 million Canadians are experiencing some level of food insecurity. What got us to this point and what are we up against as we look for the solutions? Just Asking puts Canada's questions to Tyler McMann, Managing director at the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, and Rachel Engler-Stringer, a professor of community health and epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan. We also hear from Demian Lawrenchuk, the executive director for Food Matters Manitoba, on how his community of Fox Lake Cree Nation is returning to traditional practices like hunting to combat high food prices in the region.  

Tech titans are tumbling, US firms are scrambling and a new name in AI has emerged: DeepSeek. This is a Chinese artificial intelligence firm that launched a new chatbot just a month ago. This week - for the second week in a row - it is North America's most downloaded app. But what does this all mean for you? What can DeepSeek do? Data scientist Nikita Roy and computer science professor Maura Grossman take our questions.  

U.S. President Donald Trump will hit Canadian imports with a 25% tariff starting this Tuesday. To talk about these tariffs and how other Trump policies affect Canada, we spoke to two guests. Pedro Antunes is Chief Economist at The Conference Board of Canada. Laura Dawson is Executive Director of Future Borders Coalition.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he's pulling out of the Paris climate agreement. Canada is still in, as are many other countries. To explain what this all means, we spoke to two guests. Kathryn Harrison is a professor of political science at the University of British Columbia who teaches courses on climate and energy policy. Alienor Rougeot is a 26-yeard-old climate activist who has attended international climate conferences.

Donald Trump, Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland and Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde all gave speeches in recent days that captured at least national attention. So what makes a great speaker? What about those who have an anxiety about public speaking? We spoke to two guests about ways to overcome those fears. Dr. Martin Antony is a psychologist who says he's seen people turn down jobs to avoid public speaking, and students who avoid taking classes where they have to talk in front of their peers. Plus, Suzannah Baum is an author, speaker, and executive speech coach. We also spoke to Joze Piranian who is a lifelong stutterer turned International Keynote Speaker and Stand-up Comedian.

About one million Canadians have an eating disorder according to numbers from Stats Canada. That number is likely higher, because so many people don't recognize they have one and never get help. At the same time, there is rampant misinformation about health and food on social media. To answer your questions about eating disorders, we spoke to three guests. Amanda Raffoul is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto. Gina Dimitropoulos is a Professor of Social Work at the University of Calgary and research lead of the Calgary Eating Disorders Program. Chloe Grande is an eating disorder recovery speaker and writer.

A ceasefire deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas. But there are still a lot of questions to be answered about how it will work exactly, and whether each phase will be fully implemented. We spoke to two guests about what comes next in Gaza. Jon Allen is Senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Diana Sarosi is the Director of Policy and Campaigns at Oxfam Canada.