Satire
It's Thursday March 27, 2008.
An Alberta man is out of jail after serving 18 and-a-half months for shattering the skull of another man with a baseball bat.
Currently, legal experts say he could have gotten off with 25 games if he'd just used a hockey stick.
This is the Current.
Terror Trial - Fighting Publication Ban
In June of 2006, more than 400 heavily armed police officers conducted a series of raids in and around Toronto, arresting 18 people in the largest operation ever carried out under Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act.
The allegations were spectacular: that the men and youths were inspired by Al Qaeda; that they planned to blow up the Parliament Buildings; and even behead the Prime Minister.
But we don't know much more. Charges against three of the suspects were dropped. Five others were released on bail while they await trial. But because of a publication ban, the media are not allowed to report why.
In March 2008, the first of the accused was brought to trial. The prosecution asked for a partial publication ban to prevent evidence in this trial from tainting the others that will follow. Some of the defense lawyers say they'd like a publication ban too.
But Paul Schabas has other ideas. He's a partner at the law firm Blake, Cassels and Graydon and he's representing the CBC, CTV, The Toronto Star and the Associated Press in a bid to get the publication ban lifted. Paul Schabas joined us in Toronto.
Terror Trial - Legal Expert
Publication bans are often the subject of heated debate both inside and outside the courtroom. For his perspective on when a judge is justified in curbing the public's right to know, we were joined by David Paciocco, who has worked as both a Crown prosecutor and a defence attorney and who now teaches law at the University of Ottawa.
Listen to The Current: Part 1
The Current: Part 2
Canadian Identity
Just "a few acres of snow." That was Voltaire's assessment of Canada. But we wanted to take a closer look at the suggestion behind those words: the idea that Canada is, essentially, dismissible. Once you take stock of our politics, economy, culture -- and maybe our weather -- exactly what does it mean to be Canadian ... and what does our national identity contribute to the world?
To debate that, we were joined from New York City by two expatriate Canadian authors: Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and Blink; and Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon.
On Sunday March 30, at the University of Toronto, they'll square off in a discussion hosted by Maclean's Magazine called Canada: Nation or Notion? Tickets are available at uofttix.ca.
Listen to The Current:Part 2
The Current: Part 3
Canadian Identity - Continued
We continued our conversation with Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Gopnik about Canadian identity.
Letters
We took a look at some audience feedback, with the help of this week's Friday host Mike Finnerty.
We were also joined by Simon Li, researcher of Chinese-Canadian history at Queens University and former host of a Chinese radio show in Toronto, and Winnie Hwo, Fairchild TV news director in Vancouver.
Last Word - "This Is Canada"
In tribute to our look at Canadian identity in this episode, we recalled a moment of bold, unabashed national pride. Back in 1967, a man named Bobby Gimby from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan composed a song that captured the optimism of Canada's centennial celebrations: Canada as recorded by the Young Canada Singers in 1967.
Listen to The Current:Part 3
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