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On Cross Country Checkup: year-round schooling
 
Those long, languorous summer breaks are fast approaching ...but the fact is most children learn better with year-round schooling and British Columbia would like to make it more common. 

What do you think?  Is year-round schooling a better way to go?

With guest host Lorna Dueck, Sunday on Cross Country Checkup. 

On Cross Country Checkup
 
Newspapers are struggling to stay alive in a world of free online news ...Canada's two national papers among them.  Some are moving to online-only, or charging for access.

How do you get your news? Is free online-news killing the newspaper?
 
With guest host Suhana Meharchand.

On Cross Country Checkup: changes to EI

Employment insurance has been called the third rail of Canadian politics ...touch it and you die.  The government is proposing changes to encourage repeat users to consider other options.  Critics say it will hurt seasonal workers.  What do you think of the plan?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: student protests

The Quebec government is taking emergency measures after the protests are becoming increasingly confrontational. Some say the measures go too far.  What do you think?

Are there limits to reasonable protest?

Who should back down in the Quebec student protest?

On Cross Country Checkup: political report card

It's the one-year anniversary of the majority Conservative government ...and also of the NDP as Official Opposition.

How would you grade their performance at the end of their first year?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: caring for seniors

As Canada's baby boomers jog and rollerblade into their senior years, some experts are warning of a looming demographic time bomb. It's something Canada's health ministers will have to address in the new health accord. But before then, are seniors today getting the care they need now?

With host Rex Murphy.

                                                                                          Blog entry by Emily Burke

On Cross Country Checkup: teaching math

As Canadian students continue to slip in international rankings of math skills, more children are being enrolled in tutoring programs to get them through the school year.

Is there something wrong with the way math is being taught?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: fighter jet controversy

The report by the Auditor-General reveals serious errors in the procurement process for Canada's hoped-for stealth fighter/bombers.
With the final price-tag now appearing much higher, the whole F-35 purchase is in doubt.

What's your reaction to the findings of the Auditor-General?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: the federal budget

You'd have to go back to Paul Martin's 1995 'come-hell-or-high-water' budget to find another one so anticipated. Expectations of a deep cutting austerity budget were everywhere. But when it was finally revealed, many wondered why all the concern.

What are your thoughts on the federal budget?

With host Rex Murphy.

Read more >>

Live Chat - Budget special

On Cross Country Checkup: a new NDP leader

The New Democratic Party of Canada has chosen a new leader ...Thomas Mulcair automatically becomes the Leader of the Official Opposition and by some estimates also the unofficial Prime Minister-in-waiting.

What's your reaction? What does it mean for the future of the party?

With host Rex Murphy.

An Air Canada strike would mean a major disruption for travellers and businesses, especially during March Break. The federal government has intervened.

In the past, the government has shown a willingness to intervene or even legislate ...but is that fair?
Should Air Canada employees be allowed to strike?

With host Rex Murphy. 

Read more...                                                             Blog entry by Gordie Wornoff

Thanks to everyone who participated in our online chat experiment and for the feedback to help us it a even better experience for next time.

On Cross Country Checkup: robocalls

The House of Commons has been in uproar all week over allegations that Conservatives placed misleading and possibly illegal calls to voters during the last election campaign.

The Conservatives say the opposition is just playing politics.  What's your reaction?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: learning for jobs
 
The evidence is piling up that many post-secondary students are studying subjects for which they will never find jobs.

At the same time there are jobs going begging ...but no graduates to fill them.

What do you think?

Should the education system be tailored to better fit the job market in Canada?
 

With guest host Andrew Nichols.

On Cross Country Checkup: Internet privacy
 
A proposed law that would make it easier to track online criminal activity such a child porn is drawing cries of foul from critics.
They say it's an intrusion that will violate the privacy of citizens.
 
What do you think?  Does the proposed law go too far?
 
With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: Go west everyone?

New census figures show Canada is tilting westward.  Economic activity is shifting west and people are following.

This news comes on the heels of the prime minister's trip to China where he reached an agreement to boost trade and relations.

What does a westward movement and beyond mean ...for today and the future?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: pensions

As aging boomers crowd towards retirement, others worry about the security of old age pensions.

With four workers now for each senior ...in 20 years it'll be 2:1.

Is it time to tweak Canada's pension system?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: Parliament resumes

On Monday MPs pickup where they left off before Christmas.  The economy, native affairs, pipelines, healthcare, pensions are all issues that boiled over while they were away.

What will you be watching for in the weeks and months ahead?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: cruise ship disaster

The story of the Costa Concordia would be a comedy of errors,  if it weren't so tragic.

It raises a range of questions from ship safety to courage in the face of danger ...as well as memories of other disasters.

What are your thoughts on the foundering of the Italian cruise ship, Costa Concordia?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: remaking the Liberal Party of Canada

They are huddling at a weekend convention in Ottawa to figure out a way back.

What do you think? Can the Liberals rebuild in time for the next election?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: Haiti revisited

It's been two years since an earthquake turned Haiti's capital city to rubble, burying two-hundred thousand souls.

Canada opened its heart and wallet to help but has it been enough? What do you think of the effort ...and the result?

With host Rex Murphy, and guest David Morley, President and CEO, UNICEF Canada.

New Years Day on Cross Country Checkup: health system review

As we enter the new year, Canada's health system -- now 47 years old -- is ailing. Health ministers and Finance ministers across the country have all huddled to discuss the prognosis and later in January it'll be the First Ministers' turn.

We called in our own doctor to help.

How well is the health care system working for you ...and what are your expectations looking ahead?

With guest host Dr Brian Goldman.

On Cross Country Checkup: Year end review
 
As the end of 2011 draws near, Checkup looks back at this year's big news stories.

What are the stories that stand out in your memory?
 
With host Rex Murphy.
 
Toll-free number 1-888-416-8333 (works only during the broadcast)

On Cross Country Checkup: Christmas books

Whether browsing titles in your local book store or clicking your way through digital downloads, help compile Checkup's annual Christmas list of good reading.

What book do you recommend?

Everything from fiction to non-fiction, classics to modern, poetry, reference, and how-to.

With host Rex Murphy.

  See the booklist

 
For more on books: CBC Books

On Cross Country Checkup: Attawapiskat

When the Red Cross was called in to Attawapiskat, the misery was displayed for all to see.

Now as many scramble to assign blame, it becomes clear that there are a hundred other communities in similar condition.

What's the solution: more money or better ideas?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: Afghanistan retrospective

The last five years were hard combat for Canadians in Afghanistan ...and the re-examinations of the war have just begun.

Author Terry Glavin has produced one such account.  He says there wasn't enough honest discussion at home, and not much understanding either.

What do you think?

Did Canadians know what they were there for ...and what was done?  Was it worth it?

What lessons did Canada learn from its Afghanistan mission?

With host Rex Murphy and his guest.

On Cross Country Checkup: fighting crime

The Conservative government says it's taking aim at crime with a sweeping new law-and-order bill.  But critics say it misses the mark. 

What do you think? Is the tougher legislation what Canadians need?

Join host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: the long-gun registry

It's all over for the contentious practice of registering shotguns and hunting rifles.

On Cross Country Checkup: toppling dictators

The death of Moammar Gadhafi promises to bring a quick end to Canada's participation in the NATO military mission in Libya.  Some suggest it also validates the use of military intervention to remove dictators.

What do you think? Should Canada help topple other dictators?

With guest host Suhana Meharchand.

On Cross Country Checkup: women in politics

The election of Kathy Dunderdale's Progressive Conservatives in Newfoundland and Labrador makes four sitting women premiers, including the territories.

What do you think? Have women finally arrived in Canadian politics?

With guest host Suhana Meharchand.

On Cross Country Checkup: managing suicide

There's a move in Parliament to create a national strategy for suicide prevention. 

So often concealed, it's a subject that needs to be coaxed from the shadows.

 What do you think?  Can Canada do more to prevent suicide?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: campus letdown?

As students settle into university classes across the country, some are now wondering what they're doing there. 
But perhaps even worse, some professors are wondering the same thing. 

Is the value of a university education being oversold?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: economic crisis?

The looming economic storm in Europe threatens to envelop the world and push it back into recession.

What do you think? Will Canada be able to ride this one out?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: royal visit

Canadians are flocking to see the world's most photographed couple on their first foreign tour.

Will the interest in William and Kate revitalize the monarchy in Canada?

With guest host Ann Medina.

On Cross Country Checkup: public shaming

Pictures of Vancouver rioters caught in the act of breaking the law are all over the Intenet ...and some have been deliberately mailed to families, employers and schools.

Is it digital justice ...or a throwback to the Middle Ages?

With guest host Mercedes Stephenson.

On Cross Country Checkup: Vancouver riot

All the hope and good feeling of weeks of Stanley Cup hockey evaporated in the aftermath of the Canucks' loss. 

Some in the streets used the occasion to trash and burn the city.

How did it come to this?  What's your reaction?

With guest host Peter Armstrong.

On Cross Country Checkup: postal strike

There was a time when a postal strike brought the country to its knees. Now, though small businesses and charities are hurting, many people don't even notice.

How important is the post office in the age of e-mail?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: hockey heaven

Many fans are thrilled to cheer a Canadian team in the Stanley Cup finals ...but some say they're not cheering for the Vancouver Canucks.

What do you think? Are the Canucks Canada's team in the cup finals?

With guest host Heather Hiscox

On Cross Country Checkup: Slave Lake fire

After a fire swept through the northern Alberta town last Sunday, many of Slave Lake's seven-thousand  evacuated residents are still wondering when they can return.  Most left town in a panic-filled rush with nothing. Now some are finding out they have nothing to return to either.

What are your thoughts?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: Manitoba flooding

Residents are scrambling to protect their lives and property as the waters rise.

Things are so bad that the government has decided to purposely flood some areas in order to save others.

What are your thoughts?

With Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: election surprise

The election that nobody wanted has ended up transforming Parliament and possibly Canadian politics.

A majority Conservative government. A strong NDP opposition. The Liberals and the Bloc humbled. And the Greens, a new party in the House.

What's your reaction?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: election eve

It started out as an election nobody wanted, but it turned into a campaign of surprises.

Did you change your mind along the way?

Has the campaign changed the way you planned to vote?

With Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: election conundrum
 
The party leaders say this campaign is being fought to decide whose vision of Canada should prevail.

Polls suggest changes are underway, but what if after the vote, nothing is decided ...and that the outcome in Parliament is pretty much the same?
 
With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: the election

The campaign has been going for a week now and despite a few spending promises, issues have been trumped by jostling over leaders' debates, coalitions, and trustworthiness.

What issues are important to you, what are being missed?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: the election

Parliament has been boiling for months and now the pressure can no longer be contained. So, we're off ...into Canada's fourth general election in seven years.

What's at stake for you in this election?

With host Rex Murphy. 

On Cross Country Checkup: Two topics - Libya and Japan

The UN has moved to help Libyan rebels falling under the shadow of Gadhafi's guns. What do you think?

And, how can the world help the Japanese fight a series of disasters that would stagger most nations?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: Japanese devastation

The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on Friday have caused untold misery.

And damage to nuclear power plants is raising fears of a meltdown.

What's your reaction to the disaster in Japan?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: politics

With a federal budget two weeks away, and MPs wrangling over everything from campaign financing, and Senate reform, to NGO funding ....is there also an election coming? 

Should the opposition vote down the budget to trigger an election?
                                                                  
With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: Libya

The revolutionary fervour sweeping the Arab world has come up against a bloodier leader in Moammar Gadhafi.

Some say the West should impose sanctions, a no-fly zone or even more.

What do you think? Should Western nations intervene to help the people of Libya?

With guest host Andrew Nichols.

On Cross Country Checkup: mental illness

It used to be the condition nobody would talk about. Five years ago a Senate report ...the first-ever national study of mental health and addiction, said Canada badly needed a strategy to deal with mental illness.

What has changed since then? Is support for mental health improving?

With guest host Andrew Nichols.

On Cross Country Checkup: A new beginning

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been driven from power by peaceful protest ...but what comes next?

What's your reaction ...and your hopes and fears for the future of Egypt and the region?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: Egypt

The continuing turmoil in the streets of Egyptian cities raises a whole series of concerns for the protesters, the country, the region, and the world.

Are you concerned about the consequences of the Egyptian crisis?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: Egypt

It is one of the Arab world's most ancient and stable countries ...but now it is in turmoil. 

Are you watching? Will 'the street' prevail? Will the protests spread throughout the Arab world?  What does it mean for Canadians?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: funding politics

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he'll campaign in the next election to end the public subsidy for political parties. The opposition parties are all against it.

What do you think? Should parties raise their own money ...or should a portion come from public funds?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: Haiti one year later

It took just a few minutes to devastate tiny Haiti ...and to galvanize the world. The horror was tempered only by the hope that perhaps this was a chance for the impoverished country to start anew.

What happened? How could the best intentions of so many, amount to so little? Has progress been too slow?

With host Rex Murphy.

On Cross Country Checkup: Person of the year

Tell us about someone you think affected the lives of others.

It could be a newsmaker or someone who worked beyond the media radar.

Who is your choice for person-of-the-year in 2010?

With guest host Andrew Nichols.

On Cross Country Checkup: books!

'Tis the season to curl up by a crackling fire with a good book.

We want to hear about the books you couldn't put down,  ...fiction, non-fiction, classic or

modern ...for our winter list of good reading.

With guest host Anne Lagacé Dowson.

On Cross Country Checkup: household debt

Deep into spending season along comes the fun killer: the news that Canadians are now deeper in debt than even the Americans.

Economists say it's a dangerous situation ...for both individuals and the country.

What do you think? Are you spending too much?

With guest host David Gray.

On Cross Country Checkup: failing schools?

Canadian children have always excelled in international education surveys ...but the latest one from the OECD suggests China and other Asian countries have surged ahead.

What do you think?  Are Canada's education systems the best they can be?  Does Canada risk falling behind?

With guest host David Gray.

On Cross Country Checkup: WikiLeaks

A deluge of confidential U.S. communications has torn aside the diplomatic curtain on the superpower's relations with dozens of countries.

The leaks are being described as everything from cataclysmic to a triumph for democracy.  What do you think?

With guest host David Gray.

On Cross Country Checkup: royal match

When Prince William announced his engagement to Kate Middleton, media around the world went into overdrive.

What do you think? Will this marriage revive some of Diana's royal magic and help re-charge the monarchy ...here in Canada too?

With guest host David Gray.

On Cross Country Checkup: Afghanistan

As Canada's own deadline for complete troop withdrawal approaches, suddenly there's a new plan to stay and train Afghan forces.

What do you think? Is Canada's job in Afghanistan finished? What do you think of the new plan?

With guest host David Gray.

On Cross Country Checkup: foreign takeovers

When the federal government put the brakes on the proposed takeover of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, many cheered. Others shook their heads at the surprise intervention by a free-trade talking government. What was your reaction?

With guest host David Gray.

What's at stake when Canadian companies are taken over by foreign buyers? Are some industries too important to allow them to be bought by foreign companies? How much politics and how much economics go into such decisions? Should Canada develop a clearer set of rules for foreign takeovers? What resources are 'strategic'?

*Note: Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan is not a wholly-owned Canadian company.

On Cross Country Checkup: municipal politics

Citizens in Calgary, Brandon, Toronto and Ottawa have rushed to install new mayors.  Some say it's evidence voters are angry, and all politicians better take note.

How about you ...are you angry?  How important are local politics?

With guest host David Gray.

On Cross Country Checkup: covering the Williams case
 
The conviction of the sex murderer revealed horrific and disturbing details ...some say far too many. But in a democratic justice system that relies on transparency, how much is too much?

What are your thoughts on the case, the coverage and the effect on you and your community?
 
With guest host David Gray.

On Cross Country Checkup: Chilean miners

'The whole world's watching' was once a political protest chant that was based more on hope than fact. This week's rescue of 33 trapped miners made the slogan a reality. Estimates of the number of people who watched reached over a billion.

Why was the story so compelling to so many? What was your reaction?

With guest host Andrew Nichols.

On Cross Country Checkup: shrinking families

Statistics Canada has found that Canada's families are getting smaller. Some say this will affect our lives and economy in many ways.

What do you think? How will it change our society, our communities ...and what does it mean for our health care, pensions, and education?

Has family become less important ...or just less affordable?

With guest host Suhana Meharchand.

On Cross Country Checkup: Ottawa politics

Parliament resumed this week and the appeals for civility were quickly forgotten amid partisan jostling and renewed election rumours.

What do you expect this session from your elected representatives?

With guest host Rosemary Barton.

On Cross Country Checkup: the long-gun registry.
 
When Parliament returns next week, one of the first orders of business will be to vote on whether to end the long-gun registry.

It is an issue that has divided parties, regions and citizens. 

What do you think? Is there room for compromise?
 
With guest host Peter Armstrong.