Listen to the broadcast of November 30, 2008.

Michael Enright, Host

Cate Cochran, Producer

Jean Dalrymple, Producer

Reynold Gonsalves, Producer

Peter Kavanagh, Producer

Mark Ulster, Producer

Karen Levine, Documentary Editor

Marjorie Nichol, Executive Producer

Michael's thoughts on food courts as high school cafeterias.

It had all been going so well. The Harper government had been returned, still a minority, but with increased numbers of seats. There had been a Throne Speech promising all sorts of political amity and co-operation. Prime Minister Harper had made a good impression in Washington and a better one in Lima. He returned, assuring Canadians he would save

the country's faltering economy.

Then on Thursday, his Finance Minister stood up in the House of Commons and blew the lid off any hope of a productive, stable government. The prime minister could be forgiven for thinking the Opposition would support his

government's economic update---after all it had failed to stand up to him so many times before. This time, though, it was different. This time, the three opposition parties were united in condemning the update for its lack of stimulus and particularly for killing federal subsidies for financing election campaigns.

The result: serious-minded New Democrats and Liberals talking seriously about forming a coalition government to replace the Harper Tories. All day yesterday, representatives from both sides met in Ottawa to advance the coalition plan. The PM for his part is accusing the Liberals of hijacking the Oct. 14 election.

Probably the only politician in the country with hands- on experience of a coalition is Liberal leadership candidate Bob Rae. In the mid-1980s, Mr. Rae, then leader of the Ontario NDP, signed an accord with the Ontario Liberal leader David Peterson that put Mr. Peterson's government in power, in one of the most legislatively productive administration's in the province's history. Mr. Rae later became premier of Ontario, defeating Mr. Peterson.

We have reached Bob Rae in Vancouver.

Some of your comments about our conversation with activist Ralph Nader about the auto bailout.

There's nothing quite like a brush with bad health news - even the possibility of it - to focus the mind, make the world and every colour in it seem brighter. A strange brew it is - of panic and dread, thankfulness and and determination. This morning, Judith Morrison from Toronto brings us an essay called The Appointment.

On September 15, 1885 a very large elephant set out to cross the railroad tracks in St. Thomas Ontario. He was the largest elephant in captivity - eleven feet tall - and he was the pride of PT Barnum's circus. Jumbo never made it to the other side. He was cut down by an unscheduled train and they say it took him days to die. All that's left today in St. Thomas is a lifesize statue of Jumbo, ears flapping, tusks to the wind on the edge of town.

And in this southwestern Ontario town once known as the railway capital of Canada, there's not much left of the trains either. Just a great brick railroad musem in the middle of town - reminding visitors of the pride and prosperity of a time when St. Thomas was the hub that connected Chicago and the eastern seaboard. St.Thomas traded the railroads for the auto industry.

And for the last few decades, the new architectural badge of prosperity in St. Thomas has been a necklace of non-descript buildings that surround the town - plants where trucks were made. Steering columns and dash boards, too. There's a big Ford plant just down the road. St. Thomas had a burgeoning population of young families, a surplus of a million dollars in its municipal budget, nearly 6,000 auto sector jobs - most of them well paid.

In the last 18 months, half of those jobs have gone up in smoke. The latest blow came in October when Daimler - after a series of layoffs - announced it was closing the Sterling truck plant for good. St. Thomas is one a string of auto towns along the 401 Highway in Ontario where any bailout may just come too late. Where people are shellshocked, where hotly held opinions and tough questions are on the table: Why did this happen? What did we do wrong? What do we do now?

Karin Wells brings us her documentary "Cream of the Crop."

The attacks have been horrifying, murderous and disturbingly frequent. In 1993, hundreds were killed in a series of coordinated bombings that began at the Bombay Stock Exchange. In 2006, hundreds more died when seven bombs, hidden in pressure cookers, exploded within minutes of each other on Bombay's crowded commuter trains. And on Wednesday night, in another well-planned assault, groups of young men armed with guns and explosives hit ten sites in the city we now call Mumbai.

But there was something different this time. In these latest attacks, the targets were members of Mumbai's elite class - and the foreigners who flock to the city to do business. It was an attack steeped in symbolism that was designed to attract the attention of the world outside India.

Suketu Mehta has played a very different part in bringing Mumbai to the consciousness of the west He spent his childhood in Bombay and returned there as an adult. His book about that experience, Maximum City, (pub. Vintage) made him a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize. And it's considered one of the defining works on the subject of modern Mumbai. Mr. Mehta now lives in Manhattan, where he teaches at New York University.

This is the kind of week - full of brutality and gloom - that could put a person off their food. In the search for a little light in the darkness - we've decided to reprise a documentary from earlier this year that made us laugh. Here goes:

In the world of right-thinking, high-minded environmentalists, chowing down on your sizzling bacon is the culinary equivalent of driving an SUV. A United Nations report says livestock farming is responsible for 40 percent more global warming than all planes, cars, trucks, and other forms of transportation in the world combined. Meat-guzzling North Americans have a lot to feel guilty about. Even most vegetarians are on the hook - since almost all eggs, cheese, come from livestock. But vegans? Well, they can feel pretty righteous.

Vegans are the most veggie of all vegetarians. They eat no animal products whatsoever - no meat, no fish, no dairy products, not even honey. Bees, after all, are living, buzzing, feeling creatures. And by and large, vegans are a healthy lot. They eat lots of beans and fruits and grains and vegetables. They don't feel threatened by bird flu or mad cow disease. But funny?

There are those who say that the very term "vegan humour" is an oxymoron. And, for sure its, it's hard to imagine how quinoa pudding, baked bean souffle or lentil muffins produce much joie de vivre, let alone hilarity. But some in the vegan world are trying to introduce a lighter touch into a community sometimes mocked for its self-importance and grimness. Heather Barrett went looking for them. Her documentary is called Why Did the Vegan Cross the Road?

In April 2007, Canadian violinist James Ehnes spent three days hidden away inside the Fulton Performing Arts Centre in Redmond, Washington. He was taking part in an extraordinary - and historic - recording session. Gathered inside the hall were twelve Old Master violins and violas that are part of the world famous "Fulton Collection". The instruments are worth an estimated 50-million dollars, but more importantly, they are some of the finest string instruments ever made. There's a 1709 Stradivarius known as "La Pucelle" ; a Strad Sassoon that was made in 1773, and a viola dating back to 1560 which was made by Gasparo Bertolotti.

James Ehnes played each and every instrument, choosing for each a selection of music he considered most appropriate. The result is a remarkable CD entitled Homage.

James Ehnes was born in Brandon, Manitoba where he began playing the violin at the age of four. He studied under the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin. He went on to study at the Julliard school in New York. At the ripe old age of 32, he has recorded more than 20 CDs. He's won numerous international awards, including a Grammy, a Gramaphone and five Juno awards. Last year he became the youngest person ever elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada.

James Ehnes joins us this morning from our studios in London, England.