Our guest host was Brent Bambury.

Satire

It's Friday, November 24th.

After the Prime Minister introduced a motion recognizing that Québecers form a nation within Canada, the Bloc introduced an amendment that said the Québecois form a nation currently within Canada. Then the Liberals tried to amend that amendment by saying Québeckers form a nation within a united Canada.

Currently... how about this for a compromise? "Québecers live in a place east of Ontario."

This is The Current.

Spies – Mulvenna

One passport...one fake birth certificate...78-hundred dollars in five different currencies...three cellphones...a short-wave radio...and index cards with important events in Canadian history. Sounds like paraphernalia from a James Bond movie or a John le Carré novel.

But those were just a few of the items Paul William Hampel was carrying when he was stopped by the RCMP last week at Montreal's Trudeau airport. He was arrested on a security certificate describing him as a danger to national security.

CSIS alleges Hampel has operated as an elite Russian spy in Canada and abroad for more than a decade, posing as a citizen of a foreign country. In fact, authorities are saying Paul William Hampel is not even his real name.

But, the Russian Ambassador to Canada, Georgy Mamedov, says it's unwise to jump to any conclusions yet. We heard briefly from him.

Well, Paul William Hampel might not be able to compete with Casino Royale, but his case and another Russian spy story in Britain are getting a lot of media attention.

To talk about the so-called spies among us and what they're looking for, we were joined by Dan Mulvenna. He's a retired RCMP counterintelligence officer with 21 years experience. He's now a professor with the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies, based in the US. He joined us from Toronto.

Spies Overview

As we mentioned, Paul William Hampel isn't the only alleged spy story making international headlines. Yesterday, former Russian spy, Alexander Litvienko, died in a London Hospital, an alleged victim of a poisoning. Allies of Litvienko blamed the Kremlin for orchestrating the murder - a charge Russia vehemently denies.

To talk about what Russian spies like these might be looking for and why, we were joined now by Bill Gertz. He's a national security reporter for the Washington Times and the author of several books on international espionage, including The Enemies: How America's Foes Steal Our Vital Secrets and How We Let It Happen. He was in Bowie, Maryland.

Spies Factboard

Spies, and alleged spies, began coming in from the cold in Canada more than sixty years ago. On Sept. 5, 1945, a Russian clerk named Igor Gouzenko fled the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa and defected to Canada. With him, came more than a hundred documents proving the Soviets were spying on Canada and the West, a revelation that sparked a media sensation and - according to some - launched the start of the Cold War. We aired some of what Mr. Gouzenko had to say about the spy ring on This Hour has Seven Days.

Then in 1966, a political sex scandal rocked the Canadian government as the sordid details from the Gerda Munsinger case began to surface. Ms. Munsinger was the East German nightclub hostess accused of being a KGB spy, and of having dalliances with top ministers in Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's government.

Fast forward thirty years to 1996, when a CSIS investigation concluded that a married couple in Toronto--- who went by the names Ian Mackenzie Lambert and Laurie Brodie--- were actually Russian spies. Friends and co-workers were stunned to learn they were actually "sleeper" agents for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR, the successor to the notorious KGB. Even worse, they had taken the identities of two dead Canadian children. We aired a news report from that time.

And, just a few years ago, two more Russians were kicked out of the country. Both were military attaches at the Russian Embassy in Ottawa and were suspected of being involved in espionage. Then last summer two Chinese defectors who'd found their way to Australia went public with a bold assertion that the Chinese government has nearly a thousand spies living and working in Canada. We heard from the former diplomat, Chen Yonglin, speaking to reporters in Australia about the claim.

Listen to The Current: Part 1

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The Current: Part 2

Traditional Medicine – Pro/Con

Pin-pricks, chi and energy meridians in this half hour we wanted to diagnose the state of Chinese traditional medicine and acupuncture in Canada. We first started with some pointed feedback on the practice from the streets of Toronto.

Ontario is considering legislation that will allow practitioners to self-regulate, a move that's spurring reaction on all sides. And it's similar to measures already in place in B. C., Quebec, and Alberta, a move our next guest has been lobbying for around the world.

Cedric Cheung is the President of the Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Association of Canada, and the Vice-President of the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Society -- the only acupuncture association recognized by the World Health Organization. He has a busy practice in London, Ontario, but this morning he was in our Toronto studio.

Dr. Stephen Barrett is a doctor and publisher of a popular internet medical website called Quackwatch. He lives in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Traditional Medicine – Overview

It's a complicated diagnosis---on the one hand, we have a critic arguing that acupuncture itself isn't scientific. On the other.... a proponent who says we're talking about differing philosophical approaches to medicine altogether.

So to get some perspective on the practise, we were joined by Jacalyn Duffin. She's the Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine at Queen's University in Kingston and a practicing doctor herself. She was in Glenburie, Ontario.

Listen to The Current: Part 2

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The Current: Part 3

String Theory Talk Tape

Two years ago, string theory marked a much-celebrated 20th anniversary, but if some recent books are anything to go by, the long honeymoon with the public and the press might soon be over.

Often hyped as the theory of everything, string theory claims to explain what makes up everything from the tiniest bits of matter to the entire universe. Along the way, it has made big stars out of theoretical physicists like Brian Green, whose book, The Elegant Universe, sold a million copies and became a PBS series.

Now, two books-- The Trouble with Physics, by Lee Smolin, and Not Even Wrong, by Peter Woit----are fostering further discord and discontent in physics departments and research institutes around the world. And there's a sense that the much-touted and much-beloved theory hasn't lived up to the hype.

Chris Wodskou, a producer with the Current, has been trying to wrap his head around all this string fighting, and he joined Anna Maria in our Toronto studio.

Last Word – Munsinger

We began the Current on a note of intrigue this morning. While a former Russian spy dies in a London hospital and an alleged Russian spy awaits his fate in a Montreal holding cell, we re-opened the files on long dormant cases in Canada.

From cold war spying to the current trend of corporate espionage. And we briefly mentioned a woman by the name of Gerda Munsinger, who sparked Canada's first major parliamentary sex scandal----our own Perfumo Affair, you could say.

Gerda Munsinger was a German immigrant who worked as a nightclub hostess in Montreal, and more famously was suspected of being a Russian spy. The revelations of her affairs with two high-profile ministers in John Diefenbaker's cabinet, John Hees and Pierre Sevigny, scandalized the government and sent the press scurrying to Germany where she'd been deported.

We ended the show this week with the CBC's David Halton, in March of 1966, who found her besieged by reporters in Munich.

Listen to The Current: Part 3

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

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