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The AIH transcript for June 1, 2023

HELEN MANN: Hello, I'm Helen Mann, sitting in for Nil Köksal.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Good evening, I'm Chris Howden. This is As It Happens.

[music: theme]

Prologue

CH: Tonight:

HM: Fuelling the firefighters. A Nova Scotia bakery owner has transformed her business into an assembly line for meals -- and she's delivering them to the frontlines of the wildfires.

CH: Correspondence Course. A mexican activist whose brother was kidnapped almost a decade ago says she published an open letter to the leaders of 10 cartels urging peace because they are human beings, too.

HM: The greenwashing economy. A formerly loyal customer filed a class action lawsuit against Delta Airlines -- because she says she was misled by its claims that it’s carbon-neutral.

CH: Swarm and buzzy. Temperatures are rising in the U.K. And with them, loud swarms of honeybees. An expert tells us you can't miss them -- because when they pass by, it sounds like a lion's roar or a jet engine.

HM: Surprise package. Fans are baffled by the oddly prominent bulge on a new statue of a great Argentine soccer player and coach, which really hits below the belt.

CH: And… pretty sweet deal. The mayor of Watson Lake, Yukon is still trying to get a handle on the fact that his town's famous sign collection is on the wrapper of a popular chocolate bar. He's also trying to get a handle on one of the bars.

CH: As It Happens, the Thursday edition. Radio that has the courage of its confections.

Part 1: NS Fires: Bakery, Mexico Cartel Peace Agreement, Watson Lake Sign Post Forest

NS Fires: Bakery

Guest: Lindsay Moussi

CH: Nova Scotians are praying for rain. For days, crews have been battling enormous wildfires in the Halifax area and in the southwestern part of the province. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated, and hundreds of homes have been damaged or destroyed. Here is Premier Tim Houston speaking at a briefing today in Halifax.

SOUNDCLIP

TIM HOUSTON: Sixteen fires in the province right now, four out of control. Two hundred homes destroyed, and almost 20,000 exhausted, scared, evacuated Nova Scotians. It's really hard to get the head around. The numbers are really breathtaking. But 11 water bombers are hitting the Shelbourne and Barrington areas. Six more water bombers are on the way from Montana. Firefighters are on the way from the United States. Firefighters are on their way from Costa Rica. And I want to assure each and every evacuee that everyone is completely focussed on fighting these fires and supporting you. We do not know when the evacuation will be lifted, but we are working to get there. None of, none of this effort changes the fact that our province is experiencing tremendous trauma. It's an incredibly difficult time for Nova Scotians. There are many stories around the province of people stepping up. You know, I've seen them in the comfort centres. I've seen them on the, on the frontlines. There are certainly many stories of Nova Scotians stepping up, and that's kind of what keeps us all going. My, my colleague, Minister LeBlanc, shared a story with me about a health care worker who is one of his constituents who opened their cottage to complete strangers. And when they arrived at the cottage, after fleeing from the Barrington Lake Fire, they arrived to a fully-stocked fridge and pantry and a safe place to stay. So, that's a blue noser way. We're seeing that come through in many, many ways time and time again. We need some rain, and we need some rain. I'm hopeful it will come this weekend.

CH: That was Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston speaking at a briefing on the wildfires today. Lindsay Moussi is doing her part to help. She owns White Sails Bakery and Deli, and she's been making hundreds of meals and delivering them to hungry firefighters on the frontlines. We reached her in Tantallon, Nova Scotia.

HM: Lindsay, first of all, tell me what you're up to right now.

LINDSAY MOUSSI: I'm actually just on my way back to the bakery. We just delivered 285 meals.

HM: What kind of response do you get when you show up at the, at the firefighting site with these meals?

LM: You know, they're, most of them are just coming out of the woods, and they're so happy to see us with, like, warm, good home-cooked meals. Like, tonight on the menu, they had jerk chicken with rice and vegetables. And I had taken up a vegan soup and then gluten-free pasta bake, gluten-free apple crisp, as well as charcuterie boards.

HM: What did they say to you when they get these meals?

LM: They honestly don't even know what to say other than thank you for just taking the time to, to do it and make sure that they're fed well. You know, as much as they appreciate, like, sandwiches and stuff, like, the home-cooked stuff really hits home, especially being away from family so long.

HM: What's your sense of how they're doing out there?

LM: It's hot. It's really hot there. They're coming out. They're exhausted. They're tired. You know, some, some of them are frustrated with all of the heat. So, we're all praying for some rain. But they are, they're all amazing. They're strong. They're they're just doing amazing.

HM: What's it like in your kitchen these days? Describe the scene there.

LM: Oh, man, there's so many people coming in and out. All the smiles. Everybody just helping each other. It's hot, that's for sure. Definitely hot with all the ovens going, the stovetop and our grill still open, as well as I'm using the apartment upstairs to cook. I got the assembly line outside. So, we're just all over the place getting things done, making sure we're feeding not only them, but we're doing prepared meals for those who've been displaced or evacuated, who have lost everything. We have everything here that they need.

HM: This can't be cheap. How are you paying for all of this?

LM: So, Sunday and Monday, my husband and I blew through all of our inventory that we had. And then we reached out to the community to help. So, we have, everybody has been helping, dropping off stuff, bringing in cash, bringing in gift cards. All the gift cards are going back to families. We've been giving them all out and just buying supplies as needed. And all, all the restaurants downtown are starting to help. And a lot of the bigger companies are donating, as well as Sobeys, Tantallon Superstore, TRA, Cash and Carry, Gordon Food Service, Sysco. We have accounts with them all. And they, they get our support. And now, it's their time, and they're supporting us too to help feed the community.

HM: The premier talked today about the blue noser spirit in your province, people helping people. When you see the generosity of all these folks around you, what does it mean to you?

LM: It warms my heart. I, you know, didn't come from much growing up. My parents did everything to make sure we had everything. And, you know, they say it takes a village to raise a child. And I honestly believe that. Now, it's our time as a village to help raise those families and help those families out. And, you know, when we lost our daughter in October of 2022, we wouldn't have been able to get by without our community and all the support from them, bringing meals, checking in on us, and helping us with our, only one of our sons at that time. I was 20 weeks pregnant with our third. So, community means a lot to us, and she's one of the big reasons we do this.

HM: Yeah, let me just talk about her a little bit more. This is your four-year-old daughter, who died last year. I understand you actually bought this bakery that you operate in honour of her because she loved to bake.

LM: We did, White Sails. I grew up in this community. I'm from here. I've been here. It's right on the water, which my daughter also loved. And we had looked at it during COVID, but it just, we had seen it. But it wasn't a great time for us. And then, after losing her, my husband and I, we looked at each other. We said, we need to find something that's going to keep us busy that we can do as a family. And, and that's, that's White Sails.

HM: Your daughter loved baking. She loved the water. I'm told. She also loved firefighters. It's just amazing that this congruence of things happening.

LM: She did. I shared a Facebook post today on my business page of her in her last Halloween costume, which was 2021. And she was like, Mommy, I need you to put makeup on my face. She goes, I need to look like I have smoke. And 2021 was a rainy one. But she, she loved it. Like, we have really good friends that are firefighters. My dad, my uncle, one of my best friend's husbands was Kennedy's idol. Like, he always included her and kept her up to date on all the news. And, yeah, they're good. They're great people. And it's our turn to fight for our first responders and make sure that they're getting what they need. And it's what Kennedy would want.

HM: Are you guys getting any sleep? It sounds like you're working at this all day and night.

LM: So, I, we do have a 17-month-old and a three and a half-month-old at home as well. So, sleep was very few and far before the wildfires. I mean, my husband and I are here nine, 10, 11 at night. Back again between seven and eight every morning. I actually have my three-and-a-half-month-old with me every single day here. And he's having a time with all the, all the friends that he's gotten to play with over the last week.

HM: I bet. Have you had any concerns about your own property?

LM: So, yesterday, there was a scare on the road behind us. There was a fire, but they, they got down there quick. We had everybody's cars ready to go if we had to move, and we, we would have moved.

HM: Wow. How long do you think you can keep this going?

LM: I'm going to try to do it as long as I can. You know, I want to be here for my community. I'd say probably at least another week, if not two. If I can. I'm, we're going to do our best.

HM: Lindsay, you and your husband and all these other people, your mom, the volunteers, it's just very inspiring. Thank you so much. I wish you the very best.

LM: Thank you.

HM: Good to talk to you. Bye.

LM: Bye.

CH: Lindsay Moussi is the owner of White Sails Bakery and Deli. We reached her in Tantallon, Nova Scotia.

[folk]

Mexico Cartel Peace Agreement

Guest: Delia Quiroa

CH: Delia Quiroa is pleading for peace. And she's making that plea to Mexico's drug cartels. Nine years ago, Delia's brother Roberto was kidnapped. She has been searching for him -- or, at the very least, for his remains -- ever since. Now, she's issued an open letter to the leaders of 10 cartels -- asking them to sign her peace pledge, and upload it to social media. In response, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told reporters that he would support a peace agreement. When he was elected five years ago, he promised a new approach that he called "hugs, not bullets." But more than 30,000 people have been killed in the drug wars every year since. And thousands of others have disappeared -- just like Delia's brother. We reached Delia Quiroa, who is part of a national victims' advocacy group, in Mexico City.

HM: Delia, what has it been like for you all of these years not knowing what happened to your brother?

DELIA QUIROA: The government is not sending the victims, is not investigating. And we are so preoccupied for the localization of our family.

HM: You're preoccupied with the whole idea of trying to find your lost family members.

DQ: Yes. Yes.

HM: We know you are not alone in this. Why did you think, why did you decide that the answer was to appeal directly to the cartels, to try to get them to stop the violence?

DQ: Because I think they are human beings, too. And I see how the soldiers here in Mexico see the cartels in the streets and don't do something. The soldiers and police let the people of the cartel do anything they want.

HM: So, the cartels basically get to operate as they want because police and soldiers don't do what you think they should.

DQ: Yes. Yeah.

HM: You say that you think that the cartel members are human beings. We look at the degree of violence, all these people killed, all these people who disappeared. Why do you think appealing to their, their humanity will work?

DQ: Because we have the mothers of the people of the cartels. People in the cartels are missing, too. And the mothers are looking for them. And that mothers look for us for help. And I think they can help us to stop the violence and the kidnapping, the people, and disappear these persons.

HM: So you are appealing to the members of the cartel to think of their mothers and the love of mothers?

DQ: Yes, the people of the cartels need to change. They have family, too. Their families, our families and all the people here in Mexico has been affected for this violence and for this missing persons.

HM: If the deal were to happen, would these drug cartels continue to do what they do? Would they continue to, to deal and traffic in narcotics and other drugs?

DQ: I think that is not a stop because it's a business. It's a business for some people of the government, and it's a business for them. Here in Mexico, a lot of politics work with the cartels. And I don't think that traffic drugs a stops. But my wish is live in peace here. I want to go to the supermarket in peace. I want to keep my children, my daughter and my son, go to the school. And I, I don't need to stay preoccupied for the security of my daughter and my son.

HM: You want to know your children are safe.

DQ: Yes. That's why I decide to talk with the cartels. It's like a dream. I know that it's very, very, very impossible to happen. But somebody needs to tell they are a danger to people.

HM: Some people say that this kind of a deal might actually make the cartels feel bolder. Might even make them feel more powerful. Do you think there is a risk of that if this agreement were to happen?

DQ: It's already happened. They have the power. The Mexican government gived, the government don't, do nothing. Nothing. Nothing. They are free here in Mexico.

HM: President López Obrador says that he does support the idea of a peace deal. Do you think he will actually follow through and make this happen?

DQ: I don't know. Because they don't call me and they now do nothing for us.

HM: So you are acting on your own. You don't have any government support or any contact with anybody in the government?

DQ: Yes.

HM: You've asked the cartels to sign this pledge in the next two weeks. What happens if they do not respond?

DQ: We want to look for them. Go to the states where they are and try to talk with them and tell our reasons why we want the peace.

HM: Tell me a little bit about your brother. You must miss him a great deal. What do you think of when you think of him?

DQ: My brother was a good person. And he have two little kids. He was a good man. And I miss it a lot. I wish he can come back to home, but I think he died. I look for him every day, and the only thing I want is now what happened with him? Is die? Is alive? Or they disappear. I want to know what happened with him.

HM: Thank you very much for telling us about, about your efforts. I appreciate it.

DQ: Thank you very much.

HM: All right. Goodbye.

DQ: Bye-bye.

CH: Delia Quiroa is the spokesperson for the Mexican victims' group Diez de Marzo. She's in Mexico City.

[hip-hop]

Watson Lake Sign Post Forest

Guest: Chris Irvin

CH: If you're travelling northbound on the Alaska Highway out of B.C., Watson Lake is the first community you'll encounter in Yukon. You can tell from the sign as you pull into town. Well, the 80,000 signs. Watson Lake is home to an unusual attraction known as the Sign Post Forest, which is about to get a lot more famous now that it's appearing on the labels of KitKat bars in stores across the country. Chris Irvin is the mayor of Watson Lake. We reached him on the road between Dawson Creek and Grand Prairie.

HM: Chris, tell us about the moment you first saw this attraction from your town appearing on a Kit Kat bar.

CHRIS IRVIN: Oh, it was a very exciting moment. It was completely a big surprise. We didn't have any idea that it was going to happen, and for it to show up, it was, it was exciting.

HM: Who saw it the first time? Who showed it to you?

CI: The first time I saw it was on Facebook, actually. We have a really cool website in our town called Watson Lake Sunshine, and it's all about good news. And someone shared the Kit Kat wrapper on that page.

HM: Have you actually got any of the bars in the town?

CI: We don't, actually. As soon as it was noticed, people went out and bought them before I could get myself one of those chocolate bars.

HM: You'll have to contact the company and get some sent.

CI: [chuckling] Yeah, that's right, right? I hope so.

HM: What does the wrapper look like?

CI: Well, it's a Kit Kat bar, and it's a take-a-break. So, it's take a break on your road trip. And it's got the silhouette of the Signpost Forest in the background.

HM: Do you have any idea how this ended up on the Kit Kat wrapper? [chuckle]

CI: I don't have. Like, we have, we're trying to guess. And I've actually inquired with our government to figure out how this may have happened. Because if you look on the Kit Kat wrapper, it just says credit of Yukon government. So, whether the Kit Kat wholesaler found that picture or whether the Yukon government provided that as a request, we don't know yet.

HM: Hmm. So, for anyone who's not familiar with your Signpost Forest, what does it look like?

CI: Well, there's 80,000 signs. And it's kind of built-in between the forest on the corner of two major highways. And there's just random posts all over the place with signs from around the world.

HM: Does it mimic a forest? Is that why they call it a forest?

CI: I mean, I mean, that's the goal. It doesn't necessarily look like a forest, but it's very nice. Like, it's quite tranquil, actually. And there's some big poplar trees and pine trees, and it's beautiful. It's well-kept. We've got quite a few little things. We've got a little gazebo and lots of benches and some stairs going down into it. So, it looks kind of grand when you pull it off the highway.

HM: Can you see it at all from the road when you're driving along the Alaska Highway?

CI: Yeah, you bet. It's right on the Alaska Highway. So, you can't, you can't miss it. It's kind of fun, actually. There's a bit of a corner right at the signpost for us. So, as you're turning, your lights in the night will hit all the reflective signs. So, it just lights up like a Christmas tree.

HM: How did this attraction come to be in the first place?

CI: The Signpost Forest started in 1942 when a gentleman named Carl Lindley was working on the highway -- on the Alaska Highway --, and he was about homesick, and he was stationed in Watson Lake. So he plunked a post in the ground and a few of his comrades put a few signs up, pointing in the direction of their hometown and the kilometres away from town.

HM: And over, what, 80 years, it's grown to 80,000 signs?

CI: Yeah. 1942 to, yeah. Yeah, exactly.

HM: How did the signs end up there?

CI: Well, just people learn about the attraction, and then people just start bringing it in. It's actually recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest public display of stolen property.

HM: That's what I was going to ask. [CI cuckles] It's not like people are just coming across these signs. Do you think people are, like, prying them off the highway and coming to Watson Lake [chuckling] to bring them to you?

CI: No, yeah, well, there's some great big signs from all around the world that, you know, they're the big green reflective signs for different communities.

HM: Do you have a favourite sign?

CI: I remember putting some up back when I was in playschool, and we put a few of our own up here and there. And there was one really cool right out, right out in front, someone took a pair of moose antlers, and they had put their hometown and signed it. It looked great on top of one of the big posts.

HM: You say they come from all over the world. Give me an idea of some of the places that stand out to you.

CI: Well, there's a few from Germany. Quite a few. We get lots of German tourists, so there's quite a few German. And it's like, you know, Austria. And then there's some from Grand Forks, Alberta, and there's lots from the States, Alaska, lots from California you can see. I've seen quite a few from New York, a couple Florida. It's from everywhere, yeah.

HM: Do people, do people visit first and then send you the signs afterwards in some cases?

CI: No, we, it's all, it's all do it yourself. We don't try and put people's signs up. It would just turn into a pretty big job, honestly.

HM: So people have to bring their own?

CI: Yeah, exactly.

HM: Do you think that having this for us on the wrapper of a, of a chocolate bar will actually bring more tourists to Watson Lake with signs in hand?

CI: Well, we were having this conversation yesterday, and I really, I hope so. You know, I think it's a fun little spot. And if people recognize it, they'll definitely make a little more effort to check it out, right? I think it's just neat. You know, there's no better word to describe it. It's just different, and it's really nice. It's a great place to grab a snack and just spend a couple of hours walking around and stretching the lake while you drive and highway.

HM: What's the reaction like in the town to the, to the chocolate bar wrapper? Is it, like, all anything everybody's talking about?

CI: You know, Watson Lake doesn't always get recognized in this form, right? So, to get this kind of recognition has been, it's just exceptional. We're really excited to be a part of it.

HM: I would hazard a guess that you are the smallest community to ever end up on a chocolate bar wrapper.

CI: [laughing] I guess. I would assume that's correct.

HM: Listen, it's lots of fun.

CI: Yes.

HM: Thank you so much for telling us the story. I hope it brings you extra company this summer.

CI: Awesome. Thank you for reaching out, and thanks for letting us be part of it.

CH: That was Chris Irvin, the mayor of Watson Lake, Yukon. We reached him in between Dawson Creek and Grand Prairie.

[hip-hop]

Statue Bulge

CH: Some are born great. Some achieve greatness. And some have greatness thrusting out of them. On Saturday, fans of the Buenos Aires soccer club River Plate gathered to celebrate Marcelo Gallardo -- a player-turned-coach who has proven phenomenal at both jobs. The main event was the unveiling of an eight-metre-tall statue of Mr. Gallardo -- that is 26 feet -- outside the stadium. And as the countdown began, the excitement was palpable. After which, the excitement was… visible.

SOUNDCLIP

[a race timer beeps a countdown. A woman speaks Spanish. People cheer]

CH: Now, we’re still trying to figure out a way to show you pictures on radio, but for now, we’ll have to describe the statue through the crude medium of sound. Now, it is technically a gold statue of Mr. Gallardo, holding a trophy over his head. But what the crowd was expecting was something majestic. Like this.

[a majestic trumpet line]

CH: What they got was this.

[a dong]

CH: What I mean is: one unfortunate anatomical anomaly really wound up casting a shadow over the celebration. An inappropriately long shadow. The statue of Marcelo Gallardo has an enormous bulge in its golden crotch. It's easily the dominant feature of the whole thing. It's like one of those paintings where the eyes follow you, but much, much worse. And yet, despite a combination of public amusement and public disgust, the sculptor insists she has precisely realized her vision. "It's not sexual," she said in an interview. "It has to do with other things, such as vitality. The real fans understand it." Oh, they really don't. Seems like not many people do. But even its harshest critics have to admit: it really showcases a prominent member of the community.

[EDM]

Part 2: Delta Carbon-Neutral Suit, U.K. Bees

Delta Carbon-Neutral Suit

Guest: Jonathan Haderlein

CH: Since March 2020, Delta Air Lines has proudly advertised itself as the world's first carbon-neutral air service. It was even printed on their napkins. Quote: "Travel confidently, knowing that we will offset the carbon emitted on your Delta flight." Unquote. And the messaging worked. Mayanna Berrin was one of many passengers who believed they were making an eco-friendly choice by choosing to fly Delta -- and therefore, they felt comfortable paying more for their tickets. But now, Ms. Berrin has filed a consumer class action lawsuit, claiming Delta's campaign was, in fact, not factual. Delta disputes the allegation. Jonathan Haderlein is Ms. Berrin's lawyer. We reached him in Los Angeles.

HM: Jonathan, what was your client expecting when she bought these Delta tickets?

JONATHAN HADERLEIN: You know, our client is a loyal Delta customer, especially over the last couple of years. And a big part of that is that she believes in Delta as a brand and trusted that they were an ecologically-conscious and climate-friendly airline based on the representation that Delta made.

HM: So that was her rationale for choosing Delta as opposed to another airline?

JH: That's right.

HM: Now, the lawsuit alleges that this did not happen. Why does your client believe that she has been misled by Delta's carbon-neutral marketing campaign?

JH: You know, our client's perspective is that when a company states that they are carbon-neutral, especially if they say that they are a carbon-neutral airline, that's a statement of fact. That's a promise that the green efforts that they're making, you know, on a global corporate level, based on the investments that they choose to put into place, have meaningfully and substantially mitigated the emissions of the company on a global basis. And the reality is that a variety of investigative reporting that has come out in the last year has seriously undermined the veracity of those claims. And specifically, because this airline predicated those very carbon-neutral representations on their purchase of offsets that have since been revealed by scientists to not be nearly as effective as what would be required to actually render Delta carbon-neutral.

HM: So, can you give me some specific examples of how Delta overpromised and under-delivered?

JH: Yeah, I think that the claim that we are a carbon-neutral airline and have been since March 2020 is a verifiable claim. And Delta has done more than that. They've explained it in greater detail. We have quotes in the complaint from a sustainability officer at Delta, you know, going on a podcast and explaining that for every amount of carbon we emit, we offset it. You know, that's a specific claim about the effectiveness of their offsets. And the offsets themselves have serious issues. More than half of Delta's offset portfolio is predicated on prevented deforestation and green technology investments, and both of these have been identified as extremely error-filled and also just fundamentally poorly designed to actually create the emissions reduction that they claim.

HM: Delta told us the lawsuit is without legal merit. I guess I need to know more specifically what kind of evidence you have that's that specific that supports this greenwashing claim.

JH: Yeah. So, the fact is that for Delta to have been telling the truth about their carbon neutrality, their offset portfolio would have needed to be effective. And the very specific offsets that Delta purchased, and therefore, predicated that claim on, were not, in fact, capable of creating the emissions reductions that they claim in either the timeline they claim or even really at all. And so, there's four different factors that researchers in this area use to evaluate the quality of an offset. And Delta offsets specifically fail to meet the standards under any of those four requirements.

HM: And I'm assuming you're planning on calling some of these experts as part of your evidence?

JH: That's right. So, you know, we've marshalled evidence from the European Union, from researchers at MIT, from independent researchers doing a cross-sectional analysis of solar and wind farms in India, which is one of the largest offset programs in the world. And it’s existed since the Kyoto Protocol. And our intention is to hopefully have some of these experts represent the class and, you know, present their findings to the court. Because we truly believe that, you know, we're not guessing on the science. We think the science is fully on our side. And as civil discovery progresses and as we have the chance to marshal those resources, the truth is only going to become more clear.

HM: Okay. Delta said that it committed to carbon neutrality in March of 2020, but since then, it has, and I'm quoting, fully transitioned its focus away from carbon offsets toward decarbonization of our operations, focusing efforts on investing in sustainable aviation fuel, renewing our fleet for more fuel efficient aircraft and implementing operational efficiencies. Does that give you any comfort?

JH: Frankly, no. I mean, the first thing I'd have to say about that is that Delta never said only, you know, we're on the path to net zero, or we're trying to do better. They said they are carbon-neutral and have been since March 2020. And so, that's an empirical statement. And it's going to have to the court to decide whether or not that was true. But if they are now announcing that they were or were not carbon-neutral during that time or have at some point become carbon-neutral recently, that's very different than what they have said so far. They've issued no retractions to their consumers or any apologies for previous misrepresentations.

HM: Delta isn't the first company to face these accusations of greenwashing. KLM was in court last month, facing some similar claims. Do you expect we're going to see more of these cases in the future?

JH: I think it really depends on how much a company has overstated what they've done. I mean, I think that the reality is that, you know, if a company is making best efforts and is clear to consumers that, you know, it's going to be a long process, then they haven't violated the law, and there shouldn't be an issue. And I think that many companies have been going in that direction and has been very careful. But I think that there are other companies who have been far too loose with their use of words like carbon-neutral. And I think we would hope that other people are inspired to also hold them to account.

HM: What is your client doing now? Has she, she got some other mechanism for addressing her carbon concerns?

JH: Well, you know, I mean, I think all of us who are climate-conscious try to do our best to consume in an ethical way because the climate crisis is also a consumption crisis and a supply chain crisis. And so, you know, I think that she has these values aligned in, you know, every choice she makes. None of us can be perfect. But we all, you know, are trying to make strides and hopefully support companies that are actually doing the right thing.

HM: Jonathan, thank you very much for the update.

JH: You have a great one.

HM: Bye-bye.

CH: Jonathan Haderlein is a lawyer and a partner in the firm Haderlein and Kouyoumdjian in Los Angeles.

[country]

Patton Oswalt Commencement

CH: As May turns to June, and spring begins to turn into summer, it's graduation season time for institutions of higher learning to flex and show off just how high-profile a commencement speaker they can lure to campus to dispense wisdom to the kids in the flat tasselled hats. From Oprah to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, from Tom Hanks to Liz Cheney, the range this year has been impressive. Now, comedian, Patton Oswalt, may not be quite that level of household name, depending on how highly you rate the man who gave the rat Remy from Ratatouille his voice on the fameometer. But he did distinguish himself with these words delivered at his alma mater, William and Mary University in Williamsburg, Virginia.

SOUNDCLIP

PATTON OSWALT: To the, to the president, to the administration, five words, which is thank you for this privilege. And to my teachers, my professors who I had then and to the professors here now, I say four words: I cherish your guidance. And to the graduating class of 2023, I say three words: you poor bastards. [laughs] Thank you. Democracy's crumbling. Truth is up for grabs. The planet's trying to kill us. And loneliness is driving everyone insane. [a single woo] Okay. [laughs] Let's hear it for the nihilists out there, huh? Yeah. I basically breeze into a world full of trivia and silliness, and fun. You are about to enter a hellscape where you will have to fight for every scrap of your humanity and dignity. [woos] Oh, and I literally. [chuckling] I literally wrote down say something positive here. [laughs] This is. Wait a minute. This is the positive thing. I'm a comedian. I'll get out of this hole. Watch this. This will be amazing. [laughs] You do not have a choice but to be anything but extraordinary. Those are the times you're living in right now. And it's been amazing. It's been truly amazing to see how your generation has rebelled against every bad habit of mine and every generation that came before me. Everything that we let calcify, you have kicked against and demolished. You've rejected apathy. You've rejected ignoring your mental health because you got a muscle through it no matter what. [claps and cheers] You've rejected alienation and cruelty. You've rejected not trying to include everyone. And you've rejected not looking out for each other. And those are hard things to reject because accepting them sometimes makes life way easier. If you just shut off yourself from the world, life is way easier. It's also way less colourful. It's way less complicated, way less nourishing and way less memorable. And despite all of the callousness and violence that gets beamed out seemingly from every screen, big and small, every second of the day, there are as many, if not more, people, and most of them are your age and younger, that are beaming out understanding and forgiveness and honesty. It's stunning to see it. It's truly stunning to see what you guys are standing up against.

[claps]

CH: Comedian Patton Oswalt delivering the commencement speech at William and Mary University in Williamsburg, Virginia this week.

[acoustic guitar]

U.K. Bees

Guest: Alan Deeley

CH: All winter and through the long, cold, wet spring, they buzzed around indoors, doing various projects and dreaming of their moment in the sun. Now, that moment has come. It's getting warmer, and their homes are overcrowded -- so it's time for British honeybees to start exploring the real estate market. They don't do that one at a time, though. They do it in swarms of 15,000 to 25,000 bees. Finding yourself in the path of such a swarm can be deeply unsettling -- as can learning that your garbage can or beach umbrella is suddenly crawling with bees, which is why Alan Deeley has been getting A LOT of calls lately. Mr. Deeley is a beekeeper and swarm-catcher based at the University of Warwick. We reached him in Burton Green, Warwickshire.

HM: Alan, how does the swarming that you're seeing this year compared to previous years?

ALAN DEELEY: Well, we're certainly seeing a lot more swarms this year. Personally, I have received at least twice as many phone calls every day for people reporting swarms.

HM: Why is this happening so much right now?

AD: Well, we had some unusual weather patterns last year and this year. So last year, it was very warm weather right up until sort of December. And what that meant for the bees was that they went into the winter period where they hibernate very, very strong. That was then followed by quite a long, cold, wet spring in sort of March and April time. And as beekeepers, we meet about 15 degrees Celsius, and we just simply didn't have many of those days in the early spring. And meanwhile, the bees were doing what the bees were doing. And they fly at about 10 degrees Celsius and go out foraging. And they sort of get to a point where they feel crowded, and that's a trigger for them to swarm. So, when we get the of sunny day, the bees are off. The queen of the colony leaves with about half of the bees and about half of the honey, and they leave to set up a new home. It's a perfectly natural process.

HM: They just basically split in two and go their separate ways. [chuckle]

AD: Yes. So, what she does, or the colony, they leave behind some queen cells where a new queen will emerge, and then she will go off, get mated and start a new colony. But what we can have is multiple queen cells. So, as each queen emerges, they can then swarm, and you get into this spiral of swarming. That, at times, can be quite difficult to stop as a beekeeper.

HM: Explain for us, especially for anyone who's never seen or experienced what a bee swarm is actually like.

AD: So, at the height of the season, which is fairly soon, a beehive will contain up to about 50,000 bees when they swarm, about half of those, so you can reckon on about 15,000 to 25000 bees. It's like a roar, a lion's roar, or a jet engine almost. It's, it's such a loud noise that you can't miss it. And typically, then what will happen, they will settle very quickly, and they're quite docile actually, at that point, because they have no home to defend. They've gorged themselves on honey before they leave, so they're quite docile, actually.

HM: So do they find a, like, a resting place until they find a new location?

AD: Yes. So, then having found that resting space, they will send out scout bees to look for about 20 litres of volume is the ideal space that they're looking to move into. As woodland creatures, their ideal space is a hollow in a, in a tree trunk. But that's becoming [chuckle] a little rare, unfortunately, in the modern world. So, they'll turn up in buildings. And we had one in a 14th-century church clock tower last year that we were asked to remove.

HM: Tell me what you have to go through when you get one of these calls? What's a swarm catching like?

AD: So, we start the call by asking the caller to establish that these are really honey bees. And having established that, what we do is go to where the swarm is located. We'll typically put a sheet, some sheeting on the ground, and then we will then shake those bees into a large basket, which we call a skip or a cardboard box or something similar to that. If we get the queen at that point with all these cluster of bees, we put those on the ground. If the queen is in there, the guard bees will send a pheromone to attract the other bees into that basket. And then, over a period of two or three hours, all the bees will go into there. And that makes it very easy for us then to collect and rehome them in a new hive. And then, we literally just pull the bees in, or we can run them in on a ramp. And when you do that, it's quite exciting because you get like a river of bees [HM chuckles] going into the hive. It's quite a sight, a natural wonder actually, to see that happening.

HM: You've had quite a bit of trouble keeping up with the demand this year. I'm just wondering about the timing of these calls. Is there an urgency getting hold of these bees before they find a final spot?

AD: Exactly. Yes. You've hit the nail on the head there, because if we don't catch them as swarms when they find a home, it could quite often be in a building. It could be in an office building, it could be in someone else's house. And they will go into any cavity and set up their new home there. Once they're in there, if it's in a loft space, or a chimney, or a building cavity, it becomes very difficult for us to remove them at that point.

HM: So, how are the public reacting right now to this increase in swarms?

AD: Very positively, actually. I think some people see it as a positive thing that the bees are sort of going through a revival that they're seeing so many. And, fortunately, it's been a sort of an education process to encourage people to contact their local beekeeping association, to arrange for somebody to come and collect them. And we're, we're seeing a lot more calls as a result of that, too.

HM: You know, we've done so many stories about the depletion of bee populations. This sounds like this is good news?

AD: Sort of. It's, the bees are still very much under threat, and it's becoming more and more difficult. So, with pests and diseases we have, and mites -- a parasitic might call varroa. And if it wasn't for beekeepers, many of the wild feral colonies are dying out. So, beekeepers are very much keeping honeybees alive.

HM: Well, you're doing good work. Thank you very much for telling us about it.

AD: Okay. You're very welcome. Anytime.

HM: Nice to talk to you, Alan. Bye-bye.

AD: Yeah, you too. Bye-bye.

CH: That was beekeeper, bee catcher and bee expert Alan Deeley. He's in Burton Green, Warwickshire.

[percussive jazz]

Scripps Spelling Bee Update

CH: You might remember the name Isaac Brogan. He's the 11-year-old spelling wizard you heard on our program last week, speaking to Windsor Morning's Nav Nanwa -- shortly before Isaac left to compete in the 95th Scripps National Spelling Bee near Washington, D.C.

SOUNDCLIP

NAV NANWA: What do you find the most fun about spelling?

ISAAC BROGAN: Just not hearing the bell and knowing that you got a word right. [laughing all around] And also, like getting to, like, it’s kind of like a talent showish. Yeah, it's just some kind of thrill and spelling a word for a competition.

IB: Tenrec. All right, I'm going to try this out. But I'm probably going to fail. Tenrec. T-E-N-R-E-C-K. Tenrec.

[the bell]

IB: No!

HOST #2: Isaac, you have represented your country of Canada so well. And at 11, you have more chances to face the dictionary on this bee stage. And we recognize your dedication in all that you do, not just in spelling. But as a brown belt, so don’t take on Dr. Bailey and karate. [laughs all around] But please, do keep studying. We'll look forward to seeing you back.

IB: All right. Thanks.

[claps and cheers]

CH: Eleven-year-old Isaac Brogan in his final round at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. He's the only Canadian kid to make it to the semifinals this year.

[hip-hop]

Part 3: Brazilian Land Law, U.S. Lighthouse Giveaway

FTR: Kara-Murza Canadian Citizenship

CH: When our former host Carol Off spoke with prominent Vladimir Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza in 2021, he knew he was being targeted. At that point, he had already been poisoned twice. And he was calling for a criminal investigation into what he called a "squad of professional assassins". Instead, when he returned to Russia, he was arrested. Mr. Kara-Murza is currently serving a 25-year sentence for treason. He has reportedly lost 55 pounds and no longer has sensation in his feet and left arm, from the failed assassination attempts. Today, a cross-party group of Canadian MPs and allies of Vladimir Kara-Murza said that his life is in danger. They are trying to secure him an honorary Canadian citizenship as a pathway to his release. For The Record, here is the former Attorney-General of Canada, Irwin Cotler, who championed the Magnitsky Act alongside Mr. Kara-Murza.

SOUNDCLIP

IRWIN COTLER: Our main purpose at this point is to advance this as quickly and as effectively as possible. Vladimir Kara-Murza's life is on the line, as has been mentioned. When I tabled the first Magnitsky legislation in 2011, Vladimir Kara-Murza came here together with Boris Nemtsov, then the leader of the democratic opposition in Russia, to support it. Regrettably, Nemtsov was assassinated in February 2015. At that point, re: adoption of Magnitsky sanctions legislation, Vladimir Kara-Murza was the principal witness again in 2017 when we adopted it. On both occasions, he returned to Russia after testifying here. And on both occasions, he was poisoned and almost died. He emerged from those assassination attempts to champion Magnitsky legislation globally. And he has been an architect of the global justice for Sergei Magnitsky movement, an architect of the global movement for justice and accountability in Ukraine, and an architect of the global movement with respect to those arbitrarily detained in Russia, which are now over 24,000. So, he is the personification of justice, the embodiment of the struggle for democracy, and therefore, in seeking to secure honorary citizenship for Vladimir Kara-Murza, we will be honouring all those cases and causes for which he has stood so bravely, which reflect and represent Canadian values. And we trust that one of the two routes that we mentioned, which was the point of your question, will be the one most pursued, efficaciously and with all deliberate speed.

CH: For The Record, that was Irwin Cotler, who is the special envoy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Community of Democracies in the case of Vladimir Kara-Murza, speaking in Ottawa earlier today.

[instrumental]

Brazilian Land Law

Guest: Idjahure Kadiwel

CH: In Brazil, Indigenous people have long struggled to have their land claims recognized. And that bad situation may be about to get even worse. If a bill that passed the lower house this week becomes law, Indigenous people will have to prove that they physically occupied their land on October 5th,1988, the day the Brazilian constitution was enacted. Otherwise, their land claim won't be legally recognized. Idjahure Kadiwel is an anthropologist and a member of the Terena and Kadiwéu Indigenous peoples of Brazil. We reached him in Campo Grande.

HM: Idjahure, we will get to the specifics of this bill in a moment. But first, what words would you use to describe it?

IDJAHURE KADIEL: Two days ago, it passed a bill under deputy chamber in Brazil, which the Indigenous leaders are calling it legislated genocide.

HM: That is a very strong statement. Why do you see it as legislated genocide?

IK: So, it's the word of some of the Indigenous leaders from the social movement, social Indigenous movement, as well as the Indigenous Peoples Minister, Sonia Guajajara, and Célia Xakriabá, Indigenous deputy in this same chamber, which is very conservative and has passed this bill on the interests of agribusiness and mining enterprises in Brazil.

HM: The bill would require Indigenous people to prove that they occupied the land in 1988. If they can't do that, what happens to the land?

IK: Well, it becomes property, like, a disposable land that can be bought and sold and so on. So that would end up becoming agribusiness or mining mainly are these interests that dominate Brazilian politics.

HM: One congressman who voted in favour of the bill, Bebo Nunez, says that it makes sense given that nearly 14 per cent of Brazil's territory is in the hands of Indigenous people. And that those people represent only 0.4 per cent of the population. What do you say to him and his argument?

IK: Well, I could go back and say that the whole, this whole so-called America continent once belonged to Indigenous people from, from here in Brazil to in Canada. And I don't know how the struggle for identity and land goes on in there, in Canada. But the thing is, we still exist. This struggle for indigenous lands, for Indigenous dignity, today, conveys with the climate change issue as well. Because 90 per cent of Indigenous lands in Brazil are in the Amazon, they are forest that is more preserved even that environmental agencies of conservancy. So Indigenous land are interests of Indigenous peoples in Brazil as well as all humanity, I believe, in this, in the face of this climate change issues today.

HM: Earlier this week, Brazil's lower house passed this bill 283 votes to 155. You've said conservative support it, agribusiness will benefit, mining will benefit. What is the broader reaction in Brazil to the passage of this legislation? Is there much support for it outside of the legislature?

IK: What I've been seeing is the, the 305 different Indigenous people in Brazil are making demonstrations, are making articulations against this, this policy. This, as I said in the beginning, legislated genocide, that it is going against it. I definitely don't see it as a popular, actually, Brazilian popular, interest. It's the interests of some ruling class, some political class that have this kind of influence in Brazilian politics.

HM: President Lula da Silva has said he is against the bill. Is there anything he can do? Is there anything this upper chamber can do? Is there any veto power, any way they can vote against it?

IK: Lula can sanction or not the bill once it has passed in the Senate. But these, these congressmen have the veto choice. They can veto the, the, the, the president's -- Lula’s -- choice on this. That's why I'm emphasizing the importance of the Supreme Court in this matter.

HM: You are a member of the Terena and Kadiwéu Indigenous nations. What do your nation's ancestral lands mean to you?

IK: The lands of my people mean the possibility to, to have some kind of university or a school, some kind of institution to learn from. My ancestors thought language ways. It's not an individual matter. It's a collective matter to have Terena and Kadiwéu and other Indigenous lands existing in Brazil. It's, it's the home of our culture. It's where the memories and the practices can be expressed.

HM: What do those lands mean to you personally?

IK: They are very sacred because they, they connect me with an immemorial sphere, with, with the landscape, with the river and with my ancestors.

HM: Will Terena and Kadiwéu lands be affected if this law passes?

IK: Yes. All Indigenous peoples’ lands would be affected. It would affect the indigenous lands that are already demarcated, that have already been recognized as well as the Indigenous lands which want recognition.

Speaker 1: Idjahure . Thank you very much for telling us about the implications of this bill and what you're doing to fight it. I appreciate it.

IK: Thank you for the opportunity to share a bit of what's going on here.

CH: Idjahure Kadiwel is an anthropologist and a member of Terena and Kadiwéu indigenous peoples of Brazil. We reached him in Campo Grande.

[brisk piano]

SOD: Montreal 3-1-1

CH: Automated telephone answering services can be frustrating. I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that swearing from callers isn't unheard of. But today the City of Montreal's 3-1-1 general service number was asking for the oaths. It's the first day for a list of restrictions on the use of languages other than French in Quebec -- the result of Bill 96, the new language law the province passed last year. It's still possible to get service in English under the law, but only if you meet some strict criteria. So here's what Montrealers heard when they called 3-1-1.

SOUNDCLIP

AUTOMATED VOICE: Bienvenue a la ville du Montreal. Pour le service en Français, presse un. For service in English, press two. In accordance with the charter of the French language, we will be pleased to provide service in English. If you ask us in good faith that you are covered by one of the following exceptions. If you are a person declared eligible to receive English education. If you are an Indigenous person. If you are a recently arrived immigrant residing in Quebec for less than six months. If you are calling from outside of Quebec. Or if you corresponded solely in English with the city of Montreal prior to May 13, 2021. If you are in good faith, please press two. Otherwise, please press one.

CH: That's the new, post-Bill 96 sound of Montreal's 3-1-1 number for non-emergency calls today. That was our Sound of the Day.

[bright piano]

U.S. Lighthouse Giveaway

Guest: John Kelly

CH: Perched on the edge of the sometimes-angry ocean, a lighthouse once served as a beacon guiding ships in danger back to land. Also, Captain Highliner lived in one, where Billy regularly joined him for fish sticks. But with advances in GPS technology, lighthouses are now mostly obsolete. So the U.S. government is looking to find them a new purpose. This year, the government is giving away six lighthouses -- that's a record number -- to organizations or agencies willing to handle their upkeep and make them publicly available for educational, recreational, or cultural activities. Four lighthouses will also be auctioned off to the highest bidder. John Kelly is the director of the U.S. General Services Administration’s office of real property disposition. We reached him in Boston.

HM: John, which of the lighthouses would you choose if you could have one as your very own?

JOHN KELLY: I think the Warwick Neck Lighthouse in Warwick, Rhode Island. It's a beautiful lighthouse great architectural features, sitting on a prominent cliff overlooking Narragansett Bay on an acre of land.

HM: How old is it?

JK: That one’s probably about 85 years. I don't have the exact age of it, but certainly close to a hundred years old.

HM: The picture most of us have of lighthouses, remote, on a rocky kind of spot, usually. Is that what most of these are?

JK: Well, such a variety of lighthouses. We have some that are miles offshore. We have some that are located on break walls. And then we have others that are located in residential communities. So, it runs the whole gamut.

HM: How old are most of them?

JK: Oh, well over 100 years.

HM: And I guess most of them have not been used for some time.

JK: Yeah. With the advent of the global positioning satellite, lighthouses have become less relied upon by mariners for navigation purposes. And that, in large part, led to the decision by the United States Coast Guard to divest of these lighthouses.

HM: Tell us what most of them look like.

JK: Well, most have conical towers, and they're associated with a, a lighthouse keeper’s dwelling. Some would have a fog signal station associated with them, and many would have a locker for paints and other materials needed, needed for maintaining the lighthouse.

HM: Would most of the time, they contain residences? Would there would be a permanent lighthouse keeper in them?

JK: Yes, most are required a permanent lighthouse keeper. And that was the means of lighting the light. Sometimes, with oil and manually sounding the foghorn during fog seasons. Currently, there’s only one lighthouse that's currently has a person in it today. It’s the Boston Harbour Lighthouse. And that was a requirement in legislation from the late Senator Kennedy required that lighthouse to remain a manned lighthouse. So, there is just one lighthouse in the country today that has a lighthouse keeper associated with it.

HM: Why is that one still manned?

JK: I was a decision made by Senator Kennedy at the time. He was able to get a law passed, and that requirement passed on to the Coast Guard.

HM: And no one's revisited that, even though there is, as you point out, GPS?

JK: Correct. I just think it's, I think people, I think that role of the lighthouse keeper is more ceremonial, obviously, with the advent of technology. So, I think it's people enjoy fulfilling that role.

HM: Are all of these wooden structures?

JK: No. Many are brick. Many are concrete. I’d say wooden is probably the exception, not the norm.

HM: Really. And do they contain stairways? Can you climb to the top of most of them?

JK: Oh, most, yes. Most have them. And that seems to be the big draw. But who wants to climb to the top of the tower and look, gaze across to the ocean? So, many do have that spiral staircase to take you up through the conical tower, up to the lantern room.

HM: Given that they're not being used for the designed purpose, what are most of them being used for now?

JK: Many are used for interpretive places for the history of the lighthouse. Some have been turned into private residences. But more often than not, they are just a part of the community, and they’re a focal point for that community offering recreational and cultural opportunities.

HM: And there's this historical significance as well. Give us a sense of what these structures meant to the communities at the time and what they mean now?

JK: Well, at the time, they were tremendously important for commerce purposes. The lighthouse was a way to guide mariners into your port, and you're able to tax the commerce that came off the boats. And over time, they became a focal point, a gathering spot in the community. And many of these lights, as they become available, the local communities have stepped up either by themselves or in partnership with non-profit entities to acquire the lighthouses, to preserve them for future generations.

HM: You know, one of the most photographed tourist sites in Canada is Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia, and it's very famous for the lighthouse tower there. Is, have these become primarily tourist attractions recently?

JK: I think they're certainly tourist attractions. I know it's not often you, if you go anywhere on the roads, especially in Michigan, with over 100 lighthouses, I believe it's a top one or two tourist destinations in the state of the lighthouses. So, they're a tremendous draw for tourism. The state of Maine has over 60 lighthouses. So, clearly, they draw an office that is a real fan base for lighthouses, just really enthusiastic people are about lighthouses. And, I guess, the sense they have of being close to the lighthouse, the need to gaze out up out of the tower. And many are open to the public, which presents great opportunities for the tourists as well.

HM: Right. So there's these lighthouse aficionados that go from, from one to the other as a holiday site, that kind of thing.

JK: Yes, they do. There are lighthouse trails that come out. There are lighthouse boat rides. You can go out to the Long Island Sound in New York. They’ll will take you out to four or five lighthouses on a two-hour cruise. So very popular.

HM: I understand you grew up along the coast. What kind of memories do the old lighthouses bring up for you?

JK: Oh, memories of sailing and certainly fishing. And oftentimes, when you went out farther out of the sea, as you came back in, you'd see the lighthouse, and you knew you're coming close to home. So, certainly, very fond memories of lighthouses and thrilled to be part of the preservation effort today.

HM: And do the lighthouses include a certain parcel of land around them as well?

JK: If there's land associated with them, yes, land will go. Some do, some don't. Some of the offshore lighthouse are literally sitting on a, on the floor of the ocean. So, it has no land to go with it.

HM: Wow. Right. Are they all in good shape, or they're going to need some repairs?

JK: Yeah, most will need some repair. The Coast Guard does their best to maintain the lights, to keep them in, you know, weather-tight. But over time, given their locations close to the ocean and the salty air, they do need repairs.

HM: Yeah, I imagine the upkeep will be quite significant because of their positions as well.

JK: Yes.

HM: So, what kind of future do you see for these buildings? Are, are, do you fear they'll disappear?

JK: I think this lighthouse bill that we're working on now, the preservation of the lights, is really the critical role here. We, I think the government made a decision a long time ago that it can no longer spend the money to keep these lighthouses up. And by allowing them to transfer to new owners, those new owners have an opportunity now, far greater opportunity than the government, to invest in these lights to preserve them.

HM: Well, I wish you great luck in finding the right people to, to keep these places and to maintain them as well. Because I agree with you, there, there's a great history to them. Thank you so much.

JK: My pleasure. Helen, thank you so much for your time today.

CH: John Kelly is the director of the U.S. General Services Administration’s office of real property disposition. We reached him in Boston.

[hip-hop]

Jamal Murray

CH: The NBA finals begin tonight in Colorado -- where the Denver Nuggets will take on the Miami Heat. The Toronto Raptors, of course, are out. But Canadian fans still have someone to root for: Number 27 on the Nuggets, Jamal Murray. He started his journey to the pros in Kitchener, Ontario -- where he began playing at the age of three. By the time he was six, he played in a league with 10-year-olds. And before he hit his teens, he was playing against high school and college players, on public courts in the Stanley Park area. Vladimir Tchourakov and Yazan Hashem are among the locals who grew up watching a young Jamal Murray shoot hoops.

SOUNDCLIP

YAZAN HASHEM: Summer nights were, are the most memorable for me because we stay up here, like, when the sun is low, the evening and there's a bunch of people around here. His father used to come, come give him pointers when he was playing with the big kids. He takes him aside and gives him a few pointers, and, and, yeah, it's inspirational.

VLADIMIR TCHOURAKOV: Yeah. The lights stay until 11. So there's basketball here every night, right? As long as the lights are on, somebody is playing usually.

YH: Anywhere, like, you go around, especially this neighbourhood, the Grand River area, like everybody knows him just by him being around the courts, playing here, playing down by Grand River courts. Like, everybody that actually grew up here and knew him, like, there was a big hype around him for sure, especially when he first got drafted, It was a bit, well, I know amongst my friends, we were we had a big celebration party for him. And Hasan, one of his friends, actually, like, got on a call with him, congratulated him. It was a good moment for us.

VT: I mean, it's definitely inspirational, right? It's, like, it gives you, like, hope that other people can do the same thing, right? It's not just this, like, far away fallacy from places like Toronto or the States, some big city, and you never hear anybody succeeding from around here. You know it's doable because it was done right here, right? Like, that's pretty amazing.

YH: If you don't know him directly, you most likely know somebody that knows him directly.

VT: We're, I mean, we're a decent-sized city, but at the same time, like, it's still small. Like, you can, like, name so many different people, like, and the connections are just there, right? Everyone definitely still knows each other. Word gets around. Like, it's, so it has small town vibes because of that. Just because everyone's so close to each other at the end of the day.

YH: It's inspiring to see because you could tell the younger generations like, look, you could come up from these, from these areas and, you know, make a big name for yourself and you just have to apply yourself and, you know, have that commitment. So, like, he's one of our own. And they want to, like, put him on a pedestal because he came from here. And just, just to show, like, like Vlad said, like, anything's, anything's possible. You just have to apply yourself. And, yeah, we definitely look up to him around here.

CH: Vladimir Tchourakov and Yazan Hashem speaking to Kitchener-Waterloo's Morning Edition.

[EDM]

FOA: Kentucky Derby Saftey

CH: The home of the Kentucky Derby says it's making changes to protect horses. Last month, seven horses died in the lead-up to the derby. Five more have died in the weeks since then. Today, Churchill Downs instituted new rules limiting horses to four starts during an eight-week period, and limiting payouts and bonuses to trainers. But the new rules aren't like to placate critics. From our archives, here is Nil speaking to Wayne Pacelle, the president of Animal Wellness Action.

SOUNDCLIP

WAYNE PACELLE: We know that this is not completely unusual. The Jockey Club, which is a U.S.-based organization that represents the industry, has tabulated 7,200 horse deaths on track preceding 11 years. This is certainly an unusual cluster for the Kentucky Derby, but horses are running at 45 miles an hour. They are running on pretty thin legs with thin bones and tendons in their legs. We know that doping has been rampant in the horse racing industry for decades. We know that horses are whipped to kind of push them beyond their, their normal and natural limits. And this has been a regular feature of American horse racing, horses breaking down. And in some cases here, two horses just having a sudden death experience. They ran a race without injury. And then afterwards, they just fell over and died.

WAYNE PACELLE: Well, we know that this is not completely unusual. The Jockey Club, which is a U.S.-based organization that represents the industry, has tabulated 7,200 horse deaths on track preceding 11 years. This is certainly an unusual cluster for the Kentucky Derby, but horses are running at 45 miles an hour. They are running on pretty thin legs with thin bones and tendons in their legs. We know that doping has been rampant in the horse racing industry for decades. We know that horses are whipped to kind of push them beyond their, their normal and natural limits. And this has been a regular feature of American horse racing, horses breaking down. And in some cases here, two horses just having a sudden death experience. They ran a race without injury. And then afterwards, they just fell over and died. I mean, this is unacceptable that our racetracks are turning into crash sites.

CH: From our archives, that was Wayne Pacelle, the president of Animal Wellness Action. Today, the home of the Kentucky Derby announced new rules to protect horses, after a spate of deaths.

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CH: You've been listening to As It Happens on the CBC. Listen app. Our show can be heard Monday to Friday on CBC Radio One after the World at Six.

HM: And you can read more about the stories and conversations we feature here on As It Happens on our website: www.cbc.ca/aih. I'm Helen Mann. Thanks so much for listening.

CH: And I'm Chris Howden.

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June 1, 2023 Episode Transcript

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