Satire

It's Tuesday, April 11th. Canada has added the Tamil Tigers to its list of banned terrorist organizations. It is now against the law to be a member of the Tigers, or to support them in any way. But, it's still perfectly legal to be a member of a biker gang.

Currently, former Tamil Tigers interested in motorcycles and first-degree murder are invited to apply to the Bandidos Motorcycle Club. Apparently, new positions have just opened up.

This is The Current.

Shedden Talk Tape

With a population of some 300 people, it's not much of a stretch to say that media might have outnumbered residents in Shedden, Ontario, over the past few days. Ever since the grisly weekend discovery of eight bodies stuffed in four abandoned vehicles in a farmer's field, the eyes of the world have been on this little village best known for its Rhubarb festival -- but now famous as the site of Ontario's biggest mass murder.

Yesterday we learned that all eight of the victims were affiliated with a motorcycle gang called The Bandidos. We know their names and ages, and what else they had in common: they were all from the Toronto area -- and they were all shot to death.

Current producer John Chipman spent the day in and around Shedden, still reeling from the aftershock of sudden violence and he joined Anna Maria in studio to share his insight.

Hells Angels

As we mentioned, eight bodies in a field in southwestern Ontario is certainly the worst single example of bike-related murder we've seen in this country. That kind of brazen violence begs the question why the problem of organized crime seems to be beyond the control of the police---despite the various task forces and special units working across the country.

For the past few months, CBC Gary Symons has been working with CBC's investigative unit to get some answers to those questions. He joined us from our Vancouver studio with the first part of CBC's investigative series - "Gone to Hell".

Listen to The Current: Part 1

(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)

The Current: Part 2

Jeffrey Baldwin

The discovery of the body of Jeffrey Baldwin started with a 911 call. The woman who called was Elva Bottineau, Jeffrey's grandmother, who had custody of the young boy. When police arrived at her home, they discovered Jeffrey's lifeless body. His bones were visible under his skin. The house smelled of urine and feces. And although Jeffrey was five years old, he weighed only 21 pounds.

Last Friday, Elva and her partner Norman Kidman were convicted of second degree murder in the death of Jeffrey Baldwin. But this was not the first time Elva had run-ins with the law over her treatment of children in her care. In fact, both adults were convicted child abusers, something many say Children's Aid should have known about.

Gillian Findlay is a host with CBC Television's the fifth estate. In her documentary, 'Failing Jeffrey', airing this Wednesday, she looks at what happened to Jeffrey Baldwin, and tries to get some answers. She joined us our studio.

'Failing Jeffrey' airs this Wednesday April 12, at 9pm/9:30 in Newfoundland.

Child Protection Debate

Well, as we heard, Ontario's system of child protection is unique in this country--and one that many say needs to change. Just last week, legislation granting Ontario's Ombudsman the power to investigate complaints involving the province's 53 children's aid societies, passed first reading at Queen's Park.

To discuss how to prevent another death like Jeffrey Baldwin's and to further improve the province's child protection system, we were joined by Andre Marin, Ontario's Ombudsman. He was in San Diego, California this morning. And Jeanette Lewis is the executive director for the Ontario Association for Children's Aid Societies. She was in Toronto.

Listen to The Current: Part 2

(Due to various rights issues this segment has been edited for internet use)

The Current: Part 3

Female Aggression – Author

There was once a time when men were men and women were women. But these days there is a dizzying array of labels you can choose from to describe the sexes. Men with a traditionally feminine interest in fashion or grooming can be called "metrosexuals”.

And because of their seemingly masculine propensity for raunchiness and rude behaviour, some sexually aggressive women have been called "female chauvinist pigs". We'll call it "gender blending "--when each sex plucks a characteristic typical of the opposite sex for its own. And for the next half hour, we'll explore what happens when the line between traditionally male and female behaviour gets blurred.

But right now, it's girls first, and according to our next guest, more and more girls are exhibiting the kind of aggressive behaviour usually attributed to boys. They're hitting, fighting, biting, yelling and acting out. In fact, throughout the nineties, crimes committed by girls jumped sixty-eight percent in Canada.

Jim Garbarino is the author of See Jane Hit: Why Girls Are Growing More Violent and What We Can Do About It. He's also a psychology professor at Loyola University, in Chicago.

Female Wrestling

As we mentioned, learning to channel aggression might be the key to helping angry girls become bold, assertive women...women a little like the Rumbelinas. The Current recently visited the Toronto-based all-female wrestling troupe to find out why these gals like grappling with this kind of physical sport.

Gender Role Debate

You may still think of wrestling as a traditionally male sport, up there with boxing and jockeying. But since the days of the feminist revolution, the lines that separate male and female characteristics and practices have become increasingly blurred. It's what we've been calling gender-blending.

We were joined by two people who've spent much of their careers examining this phenomenon, from either side of the sexual divide.

Harvey Mansfield is a professor of government at Harvard University. He is also the author of a new book called Manliness. And Rosalind Barnett is the director of the Community, Families & Work Program at Brandeis University. Her latest book is called Same Difference: How Gender Myths are Hurting Our Relationships, Our Children, and our Jobs. They were both in Boston, Massachusetts.

Last Word: Tim's Kandahar

Last month we told you about Tim Hortons' plans to open a franchise at the Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. Well, yesterday was your final deadline to submit your resume to the Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency--which is responsible for making life a little easier for our troops, here and abroad.

The agency runs the military's convenience and retail stores, its gyms, bars and mess halls. And now it'll be in charge of serving Timbits and double doubles. In other words, it serves those who serve.

Successful Tim Horton's candidates will have to complete standard health and psychological tests. But they will be also be subjected to enhanced security checks, as well as something called a "pre-deployment operations training program".

We're not sure what that entails. But we thought we'd end the show today with what a recruitment video might sound like if candidates for the Kandahar Tim Horton's were, well, scarce.

Listen to The Current: Part 3

(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)

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