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March 2012 Archives

Changes to Old Age Security

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The age of eligibility for Old Age Security will go up starting in April 2023, rising gradually to age 67 from 65, affecting everyone born after April 1, 1958.

Is the Federal Budget making you rethink retirement?

CBC Reporter James Fitz-Morris explains how the budget will affect you.

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G.Marquis Silver Line 2010 Pinot Noir

Thumbnail image for BEST - GM_SILVER_10PinotNoir.jpgHear about Konrad Ejbich's pick of the month.

Wine: G.Marquis, The Silver Line 2010 Pinot Noir [Niagara-on-the-Lake]

Ontario Price: $19.95 (includes bottle deposit)

Producer: Magnotta

Address: 4520 Ontario St. PO Box 399 Beamsville, ON L0R 1B0

Telephone: 905-738-9463

Emailmailbox@gmarquis.com

Url: http://gmarquis.com

Availability: At LCBO outlets and restaurants.

CLICK HERE to email Konrad directly.

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Do brothels make prostitution safer?

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Christine Barkhouse burst into tears when she heard that the Ontario Court of Appeal had ruled brothels were legal. 

She started in the sex trade in Toronto at age 11.

Today, at age 25, she works for Sex Trade 101, a group that describes itself as Toronto's only "exit organization".

Christine is pictured here confronting Terri-Jean Bedford, a Toronto dominatrix after Bedford won her case before the Appeal Court.

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Can you live with this budget?

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Finance Minister Dwight Duncan's budget for Ontario aims to cap salaries for government employees who collectively consume about 55 cents of every dollar the province spends.

The budget's belt-tightening measures include delaying and cancelling infrastructure projects; implementing a means test for seniors' drugs; pooling public sector pensions; closing schools and merging school boards; and cutting a subsidy for large electricity users.

 

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Can you live with this budget?

The PC leader says no. Now it's up to the NDP to keep this minority government alive or not.

CLICK HERE for more budget highlights.

Spending too much on policing?

Thumbnail image for si-peter-politis-220.jpgThe Sunshine List includes lots of first class constables and sergeants who bring home more than $100,000.

The Ontario Association of Police Service Boards says the cost of policing is rising 5-7% a year and municipalities can no longer afford to pay.

Cochrane Mayor Peter Politis (in photo) says policing costs in his community have doubled in the last 5 years.

Hear Alok Mukherjee, President of the Ontario Association of Police Service Boards, Mike McCormack, President of the Toronto Police Association, Peter Politis and callers debate whether police costs are out of control.

 

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Appeal Court strikes down ban on brothels

li-620-bedford-scott.jpgThe Ontario Court of Appeal says Canada's prostitution laws banning common bawdy-houses and living off the avails of prostitution are unconstitutional in their current form.

The court upheld the ban on solicitation, saying that prostitutes should not be able to communicate with their clients in public places.

 

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Gardening: Ed's Ant recipe and Advice

Ed Lawrence's Ant Recipe

2 cups boiling water

6 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon boric acid

Dissolve the sugar in the boiling water. Add the boric acid and stir until dissolved.

Take any pint-sized plastic container and cut small holes into the sides at the bottom to allow ants access to crawl inside. Dip cotton balls into the solution, and place inside the container. Seal the container with the lid, and place the container on a pathway that the ants are using.

The ants will eat the solution, and take it back to the other ants in the nest, where it will "build up" and eventually destroy the nest. The solution can be refrigerated and stored for a couple of weeks if it is carefully labelled.

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Flat Stanley from Bowmore Public School in Toronto visits Ontario Today.

Injuction ends wild cat strike at Air Canada

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Baggage handlers and ground staff returned to their jobs Friday after Air Canada obtained an injunction to end a wildcat strike.

Callers are caught in the middle and taking sides in the labour disputes at Air Canada.

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The Hunger Games

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Romance? Rich versus poor? Rebellion?

What are you getting out of this story?

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Toxic Workplace?

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Bullying, harassment and nastiness at work leads many to conclude the only way out is to leave.

Ruth Sirman says, you don't have to leave to escape a toxic workplace. She is a professional mediator and the owner of Can Mediate International in Ottawa.

Hear her advice about what you can do to change the atmosphere at work.

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Auditor General critiques Ornge air ambulance

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Jim McCarter says the Health Ministry did little to oversee the $700 million it handed Ornge while funding to the agency increased 20% and patient transports dropped 6%.

CBC Provincial Affairs Reporter Mike Crawley lays out the highlights of the Auditor General's report.

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Is it loopy to teach handwriting?

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Cursive writing is barely mentioned in the curriculum.

Many educators say, as long as it's legible, it's fine.

In this digital world, is it loopy to still teach kids how to write?

Our guest is Shelley Stagg Peterson. She is an Associate professor in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.

Hear a pastry chef at George Brown who says her students can't write on a cake and a courrier who says some people can't sign their name to accept a package. Others say they hate it and teaching it is just nostalgia.

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What is a good death?

What does a good death look like?

Is it possible to plan for it?

Our guest is veteran palliative care nurse Maryse Bouvette,

She is the co-ordinator of the palliative pain and symptom managment service at Bruyere Continuing Care in Ottawa.

 

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CLICK HERE to read a CBC special on-line report on palliative care in Canada.

A Good Death explores how attitudes and practices are evolving, and examines what changes are needed to put palliative care onto the public agenda. It also shows how, in a world devoted to longevity, we are failing to meet the needs of the dying in Canada.

It is a CBC News co-production with students from the Graduate Program in Journalism at the University of Western Ontario.

 
Links mentioned on the program :
 
 

London Riot

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How a St. Patrick's Day street party got out of control.

Hear eye witness accounts of the clash with police; plus London's reaction; and Veronica Barahona, the president of the Fanshawe College Student Union.

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Gaps in Palliative Care

It's a crapshoot whether you get good palliative care in this province.

So says our guest, Dr. Larry Librach.

Dr. Librach has more than 30 years experience in the field. He is the Sun Life Financial chair in Bioethics and the director of the University of Toronto's Joint Centre for Bioethics.

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Join us Tuesday March 20th for: What is a good death?

Dial 1-888-817-8995 to join the on-air  conversation, 

Gardening: Fruit and Vegetable Carving

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Fruit and vegetables carved into the most breathtakingly beautiful shapes.

Hear about watermelon carved into roses and a squash candle holder.

Wadee Deethongkham is leading a workshop on the ancient Thai tradition of fruit and vegetable carving at Canada Blooms, Saturday March 24th.

Plus, advice from Ed Lawrence for your spring garden: what to do about moss in the lawn; mulch; and protecting garlic that's come up early.

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Mark your calender

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Monday: Palliative care is getting better but it's still a crapshoot whether you get it.

 

Tuesday: What is a good death?

 

Wednesday: In a digital world, is it loopy to teach kids cursive writing?

 

Friday: What do you get out of the popular trilogy, The Hunger Games?

To join the on-air conversation, dial 1-888-817-8995

User fees or higher taxes?

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Drivers are paying more for plates and licenses. But GO Transit parking remains free.

CLICK HERE to see how much more you'll be paying.

Would you rather just pay a bigger chunk at tax time?

Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli explains why he's going this route to help eliminate the deficit. NDP Transportation critic Gilles Bisson says his constituents are complaining, it is a tax through the back door.

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Basement Renovations

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Avoid ripping everything out after you're done.

Ontario Today's home reno contractor Jorge Rodrigues explains what you need to know BEFORE you start the work on your basement.

 

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CLICK HERE to email Jorge directly.

The OLG pulls the slots out of three racetracks

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Prize horse breeder predicts raceways in Ontario will be closing within 2 years.

 

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Why do you care about the Kony campaign?

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 The interviews in the Invisible Children video are old. Joseph Kony, the head of the LRA, was driven out of Uganda years ago. But he's still kidnapping children.

Is it okay to sacrifice a few facts for this cause?

 

Our guest is Opiyo Oloya.

He is a columnist for the Ugandan newspaper New Vision. His book Child to Soldier: Stories from Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army will be published next year. He is also the Superintendent of Education for the York Catholic District School Board.

 

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Immigrant Parents and Canadian Kids

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Grades at school; parties on the weekend; jobs.

Raising teens can be enough of a challenge.

But immigrant parents and their kids can clash on a whole other level.

Our guest is Naila Butt, an immigrant parent from Pakistan and the director of the Social Services Network in Markham.
 
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To hear more stories from Metro Morning's series Great Expectations, CLICK HERE
 

Terri-Lynne McClintic Begins Testifying

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Terri-Lynne McClintic is serving a life sentence for the brutal abduction and murder of 8-year-old Victoria Stafford.

McClintic is the Crown's star witness in the trial of her former boyfriend, Michael Rafferty. He has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, sexual assault and murder in the little girl's death. McClintic was 18 at the time.

CBC reporter Colin Butler is covering the trial.

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A Conversation about Addictions

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Incredible highs and lows.

Our guest is Victor Bains Marshall.

He was a DJ at some of the most exclusive clubs in Toronto and Montreal. He also spent seven years homeless and most of his life addicted. He wasn't sure he should even bother getting clean. But he did at 50.

Ontario's Drug and Alcohol Helpline is 1-800-565-8603.

CLICK HERE to go to the Helpline website for referrals to treatment in your community.

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The OLG's Expansion Plans

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Toronto is getting a new casino. Ottawa could get one too.

There will be more slots away from race tracks. And you'll be able to get lottery tickets at the grocery store checkout and at big box stores.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation is trying to recover from a decade of losing money, going from $800m in net revenue in 2001 to $100m in 2011.

Hear the details from CBC reporter Aaron Saltzman, plus reaction from Toronto city councillor Adam Vaughan and callers both for and against the expansion plans.

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Gardening: Getting Great Shots of the Garden

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Trish Symons travels around the world taking gorgeous pictures of gardens and teaches others how to do the same. She's giving a workshop at Canada Blooms March 16th.

Hear her advice and open lines with Ed Lawrence.

Ed Lawrence will be one of the master gardeners featured at Canada Blooms March 18th,

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No strike or lockout at Air Canada

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Canadians can fly away for March break.

Labour Minister Lisa Raitt has referred two labour disputes at Air Canada to the Canadian Industrial Relations Board.

We invited the people who are taking off to tell us how they feel about the government's action.

Our guest is Marvin Ryder. a professor at the De Groote School of Business at McMaster University in Hamilton.

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Is our butter boring?

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Salted and unsalted.

There is not a lot of variety on the butter shelf in your grocery store.

But Stirling Creamery in Stirling, Ontario, has broken the mold and started making butter with 84% butter fat. 

That stirred up a conversation about whether you want better butter.

Our guest is Nadege Nourian, a French pastry chef and owner of two pastry shops in Toronto called Nadege.

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The Biggest Solar Storm in 5 Years

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A massive blast of particles from the sun began colliding with Earth in the early hours of March 8 during one of the largest solar storms in the last decade.

Our guest is Paul Delaney, a professor of physics and astronomy at York University.

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Are savers losers?

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Less than dazzled by the 1 per cent interest on your GIC?

Our guest is Professor Nicholas Rowe, an economist and monetary policy expert at Carleton University in Ottawa.

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Giant chicken comes home

A 2.5 meter statue of a chicken that was stolen from a farm in Vanessa turns up in a backyard in Milton.

CLICK HERE to see the recovered chicken.

 

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Police recover 13 barrels of stolen X-rays

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A Toronto man is facing fraud charges for taking thousands of X-rays from clinics across Ontario. He was apparently after the silver inside.

Billy Demetro was arrested in Smiths Falls with a Uhaul full of xrays .

Our guest is Staff Sgt. Kevin McCaffery with the Ottawa Police.

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Lost and Found

A camera lost at sea comes back. A ring lost in the war is returned. Missing clothing turns up.

The marvellous stories of how our stuff makes its way back to us.

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Why did you stay?

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If you are in a violent relationship now, you can reach the Assaulted Women's Helpline toll-free at 1-866-863-0511. On-line counselling is available from Shelternet.ca by CLICKING HERE.

One woman's story of why she remained with her boyfriend for six years even after he'd knocked her down, pinned her to a wall and threatened her.

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Part 1

 

 

In Part 2 and 3, we ask why did you stay? Sherry Lewis with the Assaulted Women's Helpline is our guest.

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Part 2

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Part 3

 

After the live program we recorded this call with a woman who believes her partner's attack caused her to miscarry.

Now that she's left, she says she lives in constant fear, almost on the run. 

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Extra Call

Wedding flowers from your own garden

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Ideas and advice about what you can grow yourself to make your big day special.

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End banked sick days and freeze wages

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In a video released on Youtube, Premier Dalton McGuinty asks teachers for a two-year wage freeze and decreased sick leave benefits.

Is the Province on the right track with teachers?

Open lines with the union leaders Kevin O'Dwyer of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association and Ken Coran of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation.

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Province talks tough with teachers

Elementary school teachers object to a two-year wage freeze and losing banked sick days. 

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Private insurers continue to cover oxycodone

Is it a double standard?

oxycodone.jpgIf you get your painkillers through the Ontario Drug Benefit Plan, OxyContin-type drugs are going to be more difficult to get. But if you have private health insurance, not much changes.

Our guest is Barbara Martinez, a drug specialist with Mercer. That's a company that helps employers choose what kind of coverage to offer their workers.

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Freak Accidents

One moment he was chopping frozen chicken. The next, Senators goaltender Craig Anderson needed surgery after he sliced the tendon on his pinky finger. Now he is out indefinitely.

Your stories of embarrassing accidents that ended up in the emergency department.

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