The Agenda with Steve Paikin (Audio)

Multiple school boards across the province are in the red and students are seeing the effects in staffing, program and supply cutbacks. The Ministry of Education recently reported that 21 boards are reporting in-year deficits of $200 million. The Agenda looks at why these boards are in the shape they're in.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Donald Trump poised to return to the presidency, what will this mean for the war in Ukraine? Will Canada and other western nations step up? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Research by Brock University has found that disruptive behaviours in students has increased in Ontario classrooms since the return of in-person learning following the pandemic. The Agenda invites one of the researchers behind this study and a long-time Ontario educator to discuss what is causing rampant student incivility. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is the greatest piece of music ever written? If you said Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, you'll get no argument here. But how to describe a documentary about the Ninth which includes Russia's immoral war against Ukraine, Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel a year ago, and the cartoonist who created Charlie Brown? Complicated? You bet. Here are the director, writer, and narrator Larry Weinstein; and one of the producers Liam Romalis.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new report from the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project argues Canada's food system is being undermined by monopoly. And while grocery stores have become an easy target for consumer anger over the cost of food, this report says consolidation has occurred at all levels of the supply chain. The Agenda looks at the implications of the report.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Almost every province has an identity. Whether you're an Albertan, a Quebecer, or a Newfoundlander, identifying with your province comes a lot easier for some. But what about here in Ontario? How often do you hear anyone refer to themselves as an "Ontarian"? Joining Jeyan Jeganathan to discuss whether there is such a thing as an Ontario identity are, Gord Knowles, Councillor for the town of Atikokan and the Director of Economic Development for Destination Northern Ontario; Andrew Parkin, Executive Director of the Environics Institute; Helen Chimirri-Russell, CEO of Ontario Heritage Trust; George Carothers, Senior Director of Ideas and Insights at the Institute for Canadian Citizenship; and Amanda Simard, former MPP for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you add up the number of professional sports franchises in North America -- that's men and women's pro hockey and basketball, baseball, soccer, the NFL, and CFL -- you'll find we have 180 teams. The person who signs the cheques is called "the owner" for all except one of those teams. Ever since he bought Canadian football's Hamilton Tiger-Cats two decades ago, Bob Young has insisted on being called the "caretaker" and he joins Steve Paikin to discuss that journey. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ontario's minimum wage rose to $17.20 from $16.55 on October 1, an increase of almost 4 percent based on the province's consumer price index. But advocates argue that the wage is still too low in places with a higher cost of living. There's even a movement to introduce a living wage, one that is indexed to local costs. Minimum wage workers in Toronto and Hamilton for example would be paid more per hour than those in Sudbury or Thunder Bay. But business owners say that they can't be expected to bear the sole cost of increasing wages. Some say that the government has a bigger role to play in helping low-wage workers improve their skills to graduate better paying jobs. So, what is the best way to support Ontario's low-wage workers?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As tipping creeps into more and more of our transactions, some restaurants have bucked the trend and ended the practice all together. It means higher prices on the menus and more costs for the restaurants' owners, but they say it is a better and more fair way to treat their employees. How are these eateries faring in a time when the industry is already struggling with rising costs, labour shortages and shifting consumer habits?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In an era of growing geopolitical tensions paralleled by deepening digitalization of economies and societies, has technology become the new battleground in the geopolitical quest for power? Host Steve Paikin asks: George Takach (author, "Cold War 2.0: Artificial Intelligence in the New Battle Between China, Russia and America"), Rachel Ziemba (Center for a New American Security), and Bessma Momani (University of Waterloo). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pakistani-Canadian journalist Sadiya Ansari investigates the life of her mysterious grandmother Tahira, who leaves her children to follow a lover in post-Partition Pakistan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the trenches of Korea to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, "Forgotten War" has detailed these post-World War II conflicts through the eyes of Canadian veterans who were there. But do Canadians know much if anything about this history? Has our peacekeeping past become more myth than reality? And from the days as a middle power punching above our weight, has Canada lost its place in the world? For the final episode of "Forgotten War", Steve Paikin and a panel of historians consider Canada's relationship with this history and the increasingly unstable world we face in 2024.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Battle of Britain was one of the hardest fought in the Second World War. In "Battle of Britain: Canadian Airmen in Their Finest Hour," historian Ted Barris details how Canadian flyers were vital in the battle and helped win it alongside their British counterparts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Agenda's week in review looks at the evolution of Holocaust education, the return of Donald Trump to the presidency, one woman's crusade against intimate partner violence, and the complicated meaning behind the term "Black Excellence".See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With hashtags or even school programs called Black Excellence, a term that praises Black individuals for their accomplishments, is it time to have more conversation about the constructed and racialized societal expectations of what it means to be an exceptional Black person? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After the Second World War Yugoslavia and its six republics were unified under the communist rule of Josip Broz Tito. But by the early 1990s it all came undone. More than 100,000 people were killed in the Yugoslav wars for independence, many through deliberate campaigns of ethnic cleansing. What happened? Why did Serbs, Bosnian Muslims, and Croats descend into civil war? And what role exactly did UN peacekeepers have to play during an on-going war? Episode four of "Forgotten War" explores the history of the Yugoslav wars for independence along with guest Sandra Perron. She was Canada's first female infantry officer and deployed to both Bosnia and Croatia. Perron explains the difficulty of being a peacekeeper "when there is no peace to keep," the ethnic tensions that exploded throughout the region, and the personal battle she had within a military that wasn't ready to accept women in combat roles. This video was made in partnership with Canada Company. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lawyer and activist Pamela Cross has been at the forefront of helping survivors of intimate partner violence for 30 years. She shares her insights on the problems and solutions to addressing IPV in her new book. It's called: "And Sometimes They Kill You: Confronting the Epidemic of Intimate Partner Violence." Pamela Cross joins Steve Paikin to discuss.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leading up to election day, the race for the next president of the United States of America has been closely tied. Now, a day after the most important night of the year for Americans, what can we expect for the future of American democracy? The Agenda invites top experts in political and election science to discuss a Trump presidency.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Haliburton Sculpture Forest, the largest sculpture forest in Ontario, is home to kilometres of paths bordered by artworks of all kinds. Visitors of all ages are welcome to engage with the works by touching, climbing, and enjoying nature and art free of charge.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This year's annual Golden Rescue Picnic, in Peterborough Ontario, is competing for two Guiness World Book Records: The Most Golden Retrievers Married and The Biggest Dog Cake. Find out if they win and why the heck a cuddly Golden Retriever needs a rescue organization in the first place. And wait... is that Lloyd Robertson in a gold robe officiating the wedding? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.