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• High seas search for Hubert Marcoux / Will zapping lobsters replace boiling ? / Phone-in: Is Canadian beer getting better or worse ?

  November 20, 2009 2:06 PM

  

  Despite reports of 60-knot winds and 10-meter seas, Lucy Milroy remains confident her brother, sailor Hubert Marcoux, is safe on his voyage to Bermuda

  By any measure, New Brunswick-born Hubert Marcoux is a remarkable man. He's well-known in sailing circles for his 18-year circumnavigation of the world (which took two sailboats) and his book describing that remarkable journey.
  Mr Marcoux set off on his vessel, the "Mon Pays", from Eastern Passage, NS, on November 9th  heading to Bermuda, but he's become the subject of a high seas search. We reached Lucy Milroy, Mr Marcoux's  sister, in Bedford.
  
  Electrocuting lobsters before they're cooked may sound grisly, but some say it's better than condemning them to a frantic death in a boiling pot of water.
  That's where CrustaStun comes in. British inventor and entrepreneur Simon Buckhaven told us on 19 November that he was driven to come up with a more humane way of killing lobster out of concern for the pain they might feel.
  He has two models of CrustaStun in development - one for commercial use and another "stove top" model. When Janet Macleod of Charlottetown and Kim Crawford of Antigonish heard the interview, they got in touch.
  
  As we heard on our 19 November show, Barry Fox of Falmouth, Nova Scotia, wants to do his bit to save the planet. He wants to buy an environmentally-friendly dual flush toilet from a list of models pre-approved for a rebate under Ottawa's eco-energy program. But he recounted in mordant detail (you really should listen to the Thursday podcast...) how his diligent search for help securing such a toilet got mired in bureacracy in government and buck-passing in the private sector.
  Judging from your calls, Barry's saga struck a chord with you.
  
  When you strip away the marketing - all the funky names, the graphically-striking labels, and the TV ads of party-hearty 20-somethings in a ski lodge - what remains of the beverage we know as beer ?
  Nicholas Pashley has strong views on the marketing, but stronger views on the quality of the drink on which Canadians spend nearly $8 billion a year.
  His latest book - entitled "Cheers ! An Intemperate History of Beer in Canada" - describes his exhaustive field work.
  We asked : Is Canadian beer getting better or worse ?
  

  Podcast - requires flash to listen

• Why is it so hard to find a "green" toilet ? / Comments on preventing family violence / A device to make boiling lobsters obsolete / Phone-in: Should governments cut programs or raise taxes to curb deficits ?

  November 19, 2009 3:30 PM

  

  Not a black-and-white issue : Finding a government-approved, ecologically-sensitive toilet

  Have you ever tried to do the right thing - I mean, really, really tried - but run into an incredible number of obstacles - which combine to foil your best intentions ?
  Did you get tired of waiting for just one person who wanted to help you ?
  Why do we ask ?
  Well, it's all because of a call we received from Barry Fox of Falmouth, Nova Scotia. Listen to his tale of watercloset woe...
  
  Do you love lobster but can't bear to imagine the silent screams as you plunge them into boiling water ?
  Simon Buckhaven may have the answer for you. He's a British entrepreneur who's come up with a way of zapping lobster before they hit the pot and begin flailing about in agonizing death throes. It's called CrustaStun, and it comes in models suitable for processors, restaurateurs and domestic cooks...for a price.
  We reached Mr Buckhaven in the village of Studham, just north of London,  England.
  
  Wednesday, we asked for practical ideas that could help eliminate family violence. After the phone-in, Marian Pappenhausen of Saint John called to say she was surprised the discussion was couched in terms of "family violence" rather than "violence against women".
  And when one caller spoke about the intersection between mental health issues and family violence, that struck a chord with Bob Whitman of Westville, Nova Scotia. He's a member of New Leaf, which offers group counselling to men on  domestic violence issues, and refers adolescent males showing signs of becoming abusive.  
  
  
  There's a fair amount of sweat being shed in provincial finance departments these days. After years of balancing their budgets - largely due to deep spending cuts in the 1990s and healthy tax revenues from a booming economy - the provinces are back to deficit financing.
  Since we both pay the taxes and use the services - from health care and education to business incentives and highways - next spring's budgets are shaping up to generate effects that'll be felt in every home.
  So if governments in NB, PEI & NS are to avoid slipping deeper & deeper into red ink in the next decade, how should they deal with the money in & the money out ?
  Our question : "Should governments cut programs or raise taxes to curb deficits ?"
  Our guest was Dr Tim O'Neill, past president of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council and former Chief Economist with the Bank of Montreal. But most recently, he was part of a 4-person panel that reviewed the Nova Scotia government's situation. To read the report, click here.
      
   

  Podcast - requires flash to listen

• Your ideas on opening job market bottlenecks / Phone-in: Peace in our homes : What's the most effective way to prevent family violence ?

  November 18, 2009 2:17 PM

  

  The main paths to the job market seem to be through community college or university, but what should guide your choice ?

  You never know where the discussion that starts on a phone-in will lead.
  Monday, we asked for your thoughts on the costs and benefits of a university education. But it ended up ranging into many aspects of post-secondary education in the Maritimes.
  Maritime Noon's Producer, Deb Woolway, popped into the studio to go through some of the many responses we received - including those on what it would take to help train enough nurses to end the shortage in that profession.
  
  Family violence can start with a dismissive put-down and escalate to a shove, a slap in the face or even homicide. But why do some people hurt the ones they say they love ?
  Over the decades, research into that question has yielded insights into what drives that aggressive behaviour. But how well are we using that knowledge to make life safer in Maritime homes ? What kind of social changes would it take to eliminate domestic abuse ?  Should we concentrate efforts on adults or children or both ?
  Our question was, "What's the most effective way to prevent family violence ?"
  Our guests were Therese Murray, Executive Director of the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Foundation, and Rina Arsenault, Associate Director of the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research.
  And for a link to the "Toolkit" entitled "Family Violence : It's Your Business" (designed to help employers and employees recognize and respond to family violence and how it affects the workplace), click here.
  

  Podcast - requires flash to listen

• Nursing supply and demand / Transition Year Program at Dal / Phone-in: Dr Eric Carnegy on pet care

  November 17, 2009 1:26 PM

  

  Is there a connection between the nursing shortage in the Maritimes and the requirement of a 4-year university degree ?

  Is the 4-year university degree requirement contributing to the nursing shortage by raising the financial bar too high ? Or are the time and cost necessary to meet the demands of modern nursing ?
  Roxanne Tarjan is Executive Director of the Nurses' Association of New Brunswick.
  Dr Vera Dewar's efforts contributed to the opening of the UPEI School of Nursing in 1992, making the Island the first province in Canada to set the baccalaureate degree as the entry-level requirement for nursing.
  They defended the baccalaureate requirement and pointed to other reasons for the inadequate supply of new nurses.
  
  The days when a high school diploma was enough to launch you into a career are long over. On Monday, we heard from Ray Ivany - President of Acadia University, an former head of the Nova Scotia Community College system. He explained how labour shortages have created a desperate need to recruit and train new workers, and mentioned heightened efforts to tap into groups which have traditionally been under-represented - including young people in the aboriginal & African-Canadian communities.
  The Transition Year Program at Dalhousie University helps students make the passage into university. Its one-year program is aimed squarely at First Nations and African-Canadian adults, and prepares them to meet standard Dalhousie entrance requirements. Its director, Patti Doyle-Bedwell, told us what it's been able to accomplish.
  
  We've already heard plenty about the flu - both H1N1 & seasonal - and what's being done to protect humans. But are there seasonal diseases that strike pets ? Can we infect them ? Can they infect us?  Dr Eric Carnegy answered all your questions about looking after your pets
  

  Podcast - requires flash to listen

• NB cancer rates / Ray Ivany on obstacles to education / Is a university degree worth the cost ?

  November 16, 2009 1:26 PM

  

  NB's Conservation Council says there's a link between carcinogens released by big industry and cancer rates.

  There's plenty of medical evidence to help us decide what to do and what not to do in order to reduce our risk of developing cancer. Stop smoking. Improve your diet. Exercise. But what if you've done all the right things and the community in which you've lived and worked all your life turns out to be a risk factor ?  The most recent study by the Conservation Council of New Brunswick points to several towns and cities which have much higher incidence rates of certain cancers than the provincial rate. We spoke with Inka Milewski, the  Health Watch Director for the Conservation Council.
  
  The days when you could leave school in your teens and step into a job for life are history.
  Whether you aspire to be an electrician, an accountant, a nurse or the manager of a franchise, you'll need - not only your high school diploma - but some post-secondary schooling. The question of whether a university education is worth the price is a more pointed question than ever because of labour shortages emerging in just about any occupation you'd care to name in the Maritimes. But there are broader issues about who has access to post-secondary education and what employers count as education. Ray Ivany is well-positioned to comment on both the community college and the academic university streams. He's a former President of the Nova Scotia Community College & now president of Acadia University. He spoke about the kind of post-secondary system we've inherited, who's traditionally been left out, and the gap that keeps many qualified people from finding their niche in the labour market.
  
  Parents everywhere are hardwired to want to create more opportunities for their children than they had. They want their kids to prosper financially, and for many Maritime families, sending them off to university has been one way to better the odds of landing a good job. But students are graduating with massive debt loads attached to their academic degree, and no certainty they'll find work. On the phone in we asked: Is a university education worth the price ? Our guests were Peter Halpin is the Executive Director of the Association of Atlantic Universities, and Mark Coffin, the executive director of The Alliance of Nova Scotia Students' Associations. 
  

  Podcast - requires flash to listen