Viewpoints

This week we’ll feel like nature lovers, and talk about the birds, the trees, and the recyclees… We’ll first turn to the sky again this week. Not for a total solar eclipse, though. Instead, we’ll be on the lookout for thousands of sandhill cranes returning to the Bulkley Valley in British Columbia. Summer is not far ahead! Then to Toronto, which is celebrating this April, the 65 years of the sakura tree donations by Japan or cherry...

On today’s show we will, of course, as many others recently did, turn to the sky. Some of us witnessed on April 8 the best of what astronomy can bring. Derek Bullard met up with people in Sherbrooke’s Jacques Cartier Park, where the Sun and the Moon drew big crowds. From Sherbrooke to Montréal to catch a glimpse of the last days of a popular children’s bookstore. La Petite Librairie Drawn & Quarterly closes its doors after six ...

Québec’s $11 billion deficit is a result of its own fiscal choices say researchers and opposition parties. The Alberta government spends 5M$ to boost women’s shelters across the province. Ontario farmers are bracing for unpredictable weather as spring arrives. Dams in Nanaimo, British Columbia, are in bad shape and could kill hundreds if they fail, says an expert. In Nova Scotia, the Queens County wind farm is getting closer to rea...

Access to a life-saving intra-nasal Naloxone programme could end soon in New Brunswick. Community workers worry that the life-saving measure could be harder to get. The Cortes Island Food Bank off the BC coast released its annual report showing a 600% increase in need for food. In Kitchener, Ontario, the Irish Real Life Festival has some alternative ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in a city where drunken St. Patrick’s Day parti...

In New Brunswick, self-serve community food banks, fall victim to abuse. In British Columbia, a local school principal looks at the realities of cell phone use, as the province legislates to ban cells in class next September. Alberta introduces a new program to prepare for floods and droughts. Health authorities are in high alert across the country as measles is making a comeback. A growing number of cases have been reported in fou...

We will all be hoping for a clear sky on April 8th trying to catch a glimpse of the total eclipse of the sun. Saying whoosh to the clouds! A $250M revenue-sharing agreement is reached with BC’s northwest communities. In Ontario, the Elora Centre for the Arts gets an extra $1.2 M in government funding to help its expansion. Millinery artist Natalia Baquero introduces hat-making in the Eastern Townships. And we’re celebrating the 100...

Communicating with the unhoused during extreme weather? What lessons were learned from the Jan 8th snowstorm in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Remembering the late Robbie Robertson—Jace Martin talks about the Lifetime Achievement Award that almost didn’t happen. Global warming is not happening and is based on junk science? Well, yes, according to Julian Fell, Alternate Director for the Regional District of Nanaimo’s Electoral ...

Greater autonomy or devolution is granted to Nunavut. What does it mean and how it could be applied to Northern British Columbia? The VISTA Radio group absorbs 21 Interior B.C. radio stations from BCE. And the Haldimand Township crier is looking to retire. Anyone up for the job?

Thanks to our journalists Jeff Gard and Ian Gregg. To our national editors, Victoria Fenner and Maureen McEwan. Host and producer Boris Chassagne. Viewpoint...

Ten thousand patients are in desperate need of a family doctor in Sault St. Marie, Ontario. In a 1996 interview with singer-songwriter Robbie Robertson brings back memories for Six Nations radio station and community. A new Nanaimo Art Gallery exhibition looks at “stories that animate us.” We celebrate Black History Month by remembering Green Hill, a New Brunswick area once called the “Locus of Black life” in Westmorland Parish. Lu...

February is Black History Month and we’ll have a great story for you. Canada Post honours Mary Ann Shadd, an activist, publisher, lawyer, teacher and journalist who was influential in the Underground Railroad movement. A new stamp was revealed in honour of her accomplishments. One of her descendants shares her excitement with us.
Ottawa caps international student permits. Changes will mainly affect BC, Quebec and Ontario. We’ll...

In Montreal, Ravers rally to save nightlife group, Montreal 24/24. Out in BC, the former Green Party deputy leader was found guilty of contempt of court. Hundreds of Sackville area properties see assessment spikes of over 25%. Citizens wonder how to face the tax hikes that go with it. And to Nova Scotia, where city officials gamble to support people experiencing homelessness taking on the provincial government’s responsibility. And...

Transportation advocates say passenger rail service in the Maritimes is doomed if no investments are made. Prince Edward County subsidizes a popular ride sharing company. Five thousand three hundred rides completed in 2022. In Québec, Loisir Sports Outaouais offers free skis and snowshoes to sports enthusiasts. In B.C., Paige Pierce, age 21, is appointed to the position of Youth Poet Laureate by the Nanaimo city council. And after ...

Halifax is poised to provide more affordable housing. This as homeless encampment sweeps continue in Edmonton, despite community pushback. And as the city of Cobourg, Ontario, opens its first overnight warming centre. We then move to BC where a baker breaks bread to help civilians in Gaza and the occupied territories. And we go to Nanaimo where the late Craig Evans has been honoured with the Medal of Good Citizenship for his work i...

Indigenous youth, trains for radio production. OYA Black Arts Coalition celebrates five years of helping black creatives, in Toronto. Quebec confirms tuition hikes for out of province English University Students. And even adds French requirements on top. McGill University has decided it will foot the bill for the tuition hike. And the Calgary Ring Road is finally fully completed ahead of schedule.

Thanks to our journalists...

On today’s show:
In B.C., NDP Federal M. P. Taylor Bachrach, wants parliament, to move faster on a Red Dress Alert system. The University of Northern British Columbia is all smiles as it lands $17M in Research Funding. Alberta residents hit by flooding and forest fires will get $68M. And after a record-setting fire season, SOPFEU, Quebec’s provincial firefighting agency, is recruiting and getting ready for the next. The Toronto...

On today’s show:
The College of New Caledonia has just welcomed its first female president, in 54 years. The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence culminates on December 10. We’ll travel to Smithers, BC, and to Knowlton, Québec, where women’s coalitions and organizations are working to break the cycle of physical, verbal and psychological violence. And back to Revelstoke, British Columbia, where the residents of two...

On today’s show:
Google will spend $100M to compensate Canadian media for lost revenues. What impact could Google’s millions have on the Canadian community radio sector if any? Will it get its share of the pie? Representatives from media outlets from across the country appeared in front of the CRTC to voice their ideas and concerns around the reform of the Broadcasting Act. Small business programs in Toronto will get $3M from t...

On today’s show:
We’ll be all about housing and go to Halifax where the Housing Minister wants to get construction projects rolling. And then to Montréal, where protesters met at the Olympic Stadium to disturb Housing Minister Elaine Duranceau’s speech at the East Summit. In Peterborough, 50 shipping containers will be transformed into a new housing community for the homeless. Things are looking up in Kitchener, Ontario,  where...

On today’s show, nature and literature will be our beat:
We’ll first take a long walk through the Pickard Quarry: a “little pocket” of wilderness in the middle of residential Sackville. And then we’ll have a chat with environmental writer Katharine Fletcher of the Pontiac in Quebec, who has decided to retire from writing her column, after 34 years. And get to learn more about Kingston author Iain Reid who has made the Governor ...