Cross Country Checkup

In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s decisive victory last week, political watchers are reflecting on why Trump won, why Harris lost, and what it could all mean for Canada. The top issues in the U.S. election – the economy, immigration, and political polarization – also resonate with voters here in Canada, as Canadian parties prepare for their own election campaigns.David Herle is a partner with the consultancy firm The Gandalf Group, a former Liberal campaign strategist, and the host of the Herle Burle podcast. Ken Boessenkool is a partner at Meredith-Boessenkool policy advisors and served as a campaign advisor to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. They joined us to take your questions about the U.S. election result and what it means for Canadian politics.

A staggering $1 trillion is set to be handed down from older Canadians to their heirs over the next two years. According to CPA Canada, it's the largest transfer of generational wealth in Canadian history. Behind the numbers are lots of issues, from the impact on house prices to our basic sense of fairness. What conversations are you having about inheritance? How should we spread the wealth between generations?

A.I. is already having an impact on Canadian creators, employers, and students. A 2023 survey by KPMG consulting found over a third of the companies they spoke to are regularly using ChatGPT in their work. So what are the concerns around artificial intelligence and how should Canadians prepare for the future?David Gerhard is the head of Computer Science at the University of Manitoba. He took your questions about A.I.

Across the country, Canadians are watching what Donald Trump has been saying during his campaign, how he says it, what he promises to do if he gets elected, and what impact it will have on this side of the border.What would a Donald Trump victory mean to you? What could it mean for Canada?

Wherever you are in the country emergency department wait times are a concern for many people. How are they affecting you?And in our second hour, Ontario premier Doug Ford has a tabled a bill that would require the province to approve any new bike lanes and give it the power to remove existing lanes built in the last five years. The premier says the goal is to reduce gridlock. But many experts say bike lanes actually reduce congestion on streets with provinces like BC and the city of Montreal spending millions of dollars on cycling infrastructure. When it comes to bike lanes do your streets have too many or too few?

Ontario premier Doug Ford has a tabled a bill that would require the province to approve any new bike lanes and give it the power to remove existing lanes built in the last five years. The premier says the goal is to reduce gridlock. But many experts say bike lanes actually reduce congestion on streets with provinces like BC and the city of Montreal spending millions of dollars on cycling infrastructure. When it comes to bike lanes do your streets have too many or too few?

There’s a lot at stake for Americans in this election and that’s also true for Canadians - America’s closest ally and largest trading partner.On this podcast you’ll hear from callers on both sides of the border, across Canada and the United States. Our question: What’s at stake for you in the US Election? This is “America Votes: A Cross Border Conversation" - a co-production between CBC, The Middle, and WDET in Detroit.

SpaceX launched its fifth Starship test flight on Sunday. The company's goal is to build a resuable rocket that could reach the moon one day, and maybe even Mars. Colonel Chris Hadfield was the first Canadian to walk in space, completing multiple space missions, spacewalks, and even serving as commander of the International Space Station back in 2013. With SpaceX reaching a new milestone this week, he joined us recently to take your questions about all things space-related.

Late last month a video surfaced of a 13 year old girl being attacked with about 30 young people there as bystanders. Police charged five youth who were identified as the “aggressors”. it's not an isolated incident. Statistics Canada says youth crime was up 5 percent IN 2022. is this a recent phenomenon? Or do we just have more videos on social media now to prove it? Have you been affected by youth violence? What conversations are you having at home?

According to CBC’s Poll tracker, the Conservatives have almost a 20-point lead over the governing Liberals, and their lead has been holding steady for months. We know that there will be an election before October 2025, though it could come sooner. We wanted to take stock of who Pierre Poilievre is and what a possible Poilievre government might look like. Shannon Proudfoot is a feature writer at The Globe and Mail, Stephanie Levitz is a Senior Politics Reporter at the Globe and Mail. They answered your questions about the Conservative Party leader. 

For many of us, the most important role we'll ever have is "parent". It's also one of the most challenging. So it's no surprise the US Surgeon General recently issued a warning about the potential toll of parenting on mental health. Which parenting issue is causing the most stress in your family? How did the way you were parented affect the way you parent today?

In less than a year, NASA is sending four astronauts to fly around the moon as part of the Artemis II mission. The 10-day flight will test NASA's space exploration capabilities with astronauts aboard for the very first time. And Ontario’s Jeremy Hansen will be part of that crew, making him the first Canadian astronaut – and first non-American – to fly to the moon. Jeremy Hansen joined us to answer questions about space exploration, his career journey, and the Artemis II mission.

Addiction can be agonizing and, far too often, deadly. It can tear apart families and communities. So it's not surprising that politicians are under pressure to do something about it. And increasingly, some provinces are calling for involuntary care: forcing some people into treatment and keeping them there until the program is finished. There are still lots of questions. Does it work? Will it reduce the number of people using dangerous drugs? And how will governments decide who should be sent to treatment, without their consent? Will that power be exercised fairly?

Our AMA guest today will be a familiar voice to our listeners. Carol Off spent sixteen years co-hosting CBC’s As It Happens, after a career as a correspondent reporting from all over the world. The thousands of interviews she’s conducted have laid the groundwork for her new book entitled “At a Loss for Words: Conversation in the Age of Rage.” Each chapter is devoted to a politically-charged word - freedom, democracy, truth, woke, choice and taxes. The book delves into how the meaning of each of these words has been weaponized to further drive divisiveness in society. Carol joined us to answer your questions about her new book and the state of polarization in politics.

A lot of Canadians are feeling the pain of polarization. In politics for sure. But many felt pushed apart by the pandemic, from masks to vaccines to where you got information you trusted. Debate is sometimes replaced by slogans. People and their positions reduced to a single word: Marxist, fascist, elitist, extremist. So how is polarization affecting you? How are you handling political disagreements?

A new report from the World Health Organization suggests that teens, including Canadians, are using condoms less. At the same time STI’s like syphilis, chlamydia, and HIV have been on the rise in Canada. Cory Silverberg is a sex educator and author of "You Know, Sex" a book geared towards young people and all the questions they have. They answered your questions about how to start these conversations with your own teen.

Parents often say they'd do anything to make sure their children are well cared for. But what happens when that relationship shifts as those children become adults caring for an aging parent? Finding the answer can strain family finances and families themselves. How have you dealt with caring for an aging family member?

There is so much at stake in a US Presidential race. One gaffe or the perfect quip in the debate just might be enough to determine the winner in one of those too close to call swing states. And if truth matters, everyone will have their hands full on Tuesday night fact checking a barrage of problematic or misleading claims. So why does the Trump-Harris debate matter to you? What will you be watching for? Todd Graham is a professor of debate at Southern Illinois University and an expert on the theatre of presidential debates. He joined us in addition to callers to see what he is going to be watching for as well.

Suddenly, we could be one House of Commons vote away from a federal election. If that vote was a confidence motion on the budget for example, it would trigger a federal election. For the Conservatives, riding high in the polls, that may be an exciting prospect. For supporters of other parties, maybe less so. What do you think? Should there be a fall election? And are you satisfied with your options for Prime Minister?And then in our second topic, we discuss why the Trump-Harris debate matters to you. One gaffe or the perfect quip in the debate just might be enough to determine the winner in one of those too close to call swing states. And if truth matters, everyone will have their hands full on Tuesday night fact checking a barrage of problematic or misleading claims. So why does the Trump-Harris debate matter to you? What will you be watching for? Todd Graham is a professor of debate at Southern Illinois University and an expert on the theatre of presidential debates. He joined us in addition to callers to see what he is going to be watching for as well.

The Bank of Canada looked at data from 2018 gathered by Statistics Canada. It determined that workers in their 40’s with a university degree earned about 10 dollars more per hour than those who graduated from college or another post-secondary school. But that gap was larger back in 1997 and the economy has certainly changed since 2018. Joel Westheimer is a professor of democracy and education at the University of Ottawa and has written and talked about the value of a university degree. He’s also an education columnist with CBC Ottawa. He answered your questions about whether or not a University degree is still worth it.