The Decibel

The Globe and Mail

Context is everything. Join us Monday to Friday for a Canadian daily news podcast from The Globe and Mail. Explore a story shaping our world, in conversation with reporters, experts, and the people at the centre of the news.

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1,335 episodes
Updated Yesterday

Episodes1335

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Jun 23, 2023 · 19 min
Canada’s ministers are missing critical memos
Controversy followed Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendocino after he said he was unaware that notorious serial killer Paul Bernardo was being moved from a maximum security to medium security prison. His explanation follows a pattern of federal ministers saying they’ve missed emails or hadn’t been briefed by their staff on major files. Marieke Walsh, the Globe’s senior political reporter, joins us to break down what’s happening with all these ministers missing crucial communications and what t
Jun 22, 2023 · 17 min
The altercation that led to a Supreme Court Justice resigning
Usually the news coming from Canada’s Supreme Court is about the rulings they make, not about the Justices themselves. But the story of former Justice Russell Brown is unprecedented in many ways. It’s one that started in an Arizona hotel and ended with his resignation nearly six months later. The Globe’s Justice writer Sean Fine reports on what happened, how the investigation unfolded and what this means for Canada’s highest court both in terms of public confidence and its composition going forw
Jun 21, 2023 · 19 min
The sexual assault survivors fighting their own publication bans
Publication bans have become all but automatic in sexual-assault cases across Canada. These bans were put in place to protect survivors who have come forward. But My Voice My Choice, a group of women who are fighting those publication bans, argue that these bans prevent survivors who want to speak openly about their experiences. Molly Hayes and Zosia Bielski are national news reporters for The Globe and Mail. They’re on the show to explain the limits of these publication bans and the group fight
Jun 20, 2023 · 19 min
China’s control over Canada’s very rare and important mineral
As the world races to mine more critical minerals, China has managed to capture nearly 100 per cent of the cesium market. While not as well known as lithium, cesium is an even rarer mineral. There are only two mines globally, and one of them is in Manitoba. But its owners are based in Beijing. And that is raising a number of national security concerns. The Globe’s mining reporter, Niall McGee, explains why.
Jun 19, 2023 · 19 min
B.C. is sending thousands of cancer patients to the U.S.
British Columbia will send cancer patients across the border for radiation therapy to deal with growing wait times and backlog at home. The plan will cost the province three times the amount for treatment at home. Globe and Mail reporter Andrea Woo explains how this will work and what this says about the state of our healthcare system.
Jun 16, 2023 · 20 min
Secret Canada: The 'black hole' of Canada's immigration system
Canada’s immigration system is overwhelmed. Cases are backlogged and little information is being communicated to applicants. This has led to a surge of access to information requests, which has created another backlog, and has left people trying to settle in Canada in the dark. Tom Cardoso, an investigative reporter with The Globe, explains why people started using this workaround to get information on their immigration cases in the first place, and why things are likely going to get worse.
Jun 15, 2023 · 20 min
The reality of how your chocolate gets made
Chocolate may be sweet, but it comes at a steep cost. Labels that claim your favourite treat are sustainable can hide harsh realities for farmers. Millions of cocoa farmers in Africa and Latin America live in hunger and poverty because big corporations refuse to pay a fair price for their cocoa. In the face of this increasingly aggressive price war, some cocoa farmers have joined fair-trade, farmer-owned co-operatives. Together they are pooling their resources to better their communities and fut
Jun 14, 2023 · 18 min
Here’s why millennials are drowning in debt
Canada’s household debt is really high. In fact, we outrank France, Italy, the UK and even the U.S. And while, the debt load is high for Canadians of every age group, one particular generation stands by owing over $600,000 on average. Rob Carrick is The Globe and Mail’s personal finance columnist. He’s on the show to explain why Canadians owe so much and how over-indebted Canadians should be thinking about their finances.
Jun 13, 2023 · 19 min
Helping people escape the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ laws
In late May, the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed one of the world’s harshest anti-homosexuality bills into law. It authorizes the death penalty in certain circumstances and a 20-year prison sentence for anyone who “promotes” or “normalizes” homosexuality. The situation was already bad for queer people in Uganda, but this new law makes things much worse. Kimahli Powell is the CEO of Rainbow Railroad, a non-profit organization that helps at-risk LGBTQ people get to safety around the worl
Jun 12, 2023 · 21 min
Pressure builds for public inquiry after special rapporteur quits
David Johnston resigned as the special rapporteur on Friday after looking into foreign interference in Canadian elections. The former Governor General’s decision to step down came days after he appeared at a parliamentary committee on his work and was grilled by MPs from opposition parties. Steven Chase is The Globe’s Senior Parliamentary Reporter and he has been leading the foreign interference reporting with colleague Robert Fife. Steven joins the podcast to discuss where the investigation in
Jun 9, 2023 · 21 min
Secret Canada: The information laws governments keep breaking
When Canada first passed legislation to create its access-to-information system, it was seen as a world leader in terms of transparency. But fast forward 40 years and that same system is sluggish, overwhelmed and preventing Canadians from their right to government information. Globe and Mail investigative reporters Robyn Doolittle and Tom Cardoso spent more than a year reporting on the state of the system and what’s behind all the bottlenecks. The Globe has also built a website that lets you exp
Jun 8, 2023 · 20 min
How Greece got its economic groove back
The 2007-2008 financial crisis hit countries around the world hard. But, Greece’s economy really faltered. At the peak of Greece’s crisis, unemployment hit 28 per cent, a figure higher than unemployment during the U.S.’ Great Depression. Greece required three hefty bailouts from the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund which totalled almost €300-billion. The Greek population suffered under strict austerity measures which cut salaries and closed hospi
Jun 7, 2023 · 19 min
Canada’s unprecedented wildfire season
A lot of Canada is on fire right now – fires are burning in nearly every province and territory and the federal government says this season could see the most land burned since we started keeping records. Today, The Globe’s Lindsay Jones joins us from Halifax to talk about the biggest wildfire the province has ever seen, and why fires are so bad there this year. Then, The Globe’s Mike Hager tells us about the wildfires burning across Canada and how prepared the country is to deal with it.
Jun 6, 2023 · 18 min
What on Earth is going on with consumer spending?
Canadians have been dealing with high inflation for two years now. But, as consumers, we keep spending. However, the picture of where we spend our money and how much of it is a messy one. The Globe’s retailing reporter Susan Krashinsky Robertson explains why some stores are seeing a drop in some areas of spending, even as Canadians are spending at an extremely high rate.
Jun 5, 2023 · 16 min
Violence is rising in schools. How do we stop it?
The Toronto District School Board – the largest school board in the country – recently reported that more than 300 kids were involved in violent incidents this year. In March, Quebec’s education minister announced he was preparing a strategy to deal with increasing violence in schools. These are just two examples of the more frequent reports of violence in schools across the country, particularly among teenagers. Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt is a professor at the University of Ottawa and Canada Resear
Jun 2, 2023 · 19 min
A warning sign from the Big Banks of a possible recession
The six biggest banks in Canada – RBC, Scotiabank, BMO, CIBC, TD, and National Bank recently reported their second-quarter earnings. The majority did not hit target expectations. While banks don’t always meet analyst forecasts, the fact that so many of them had disappointing results in the same period is surprising. Stefanie Marotta reports on banking for The Globe. She’s on the show to explain what’s behind these lower-than-expected profit numbers and what it means for the economy – and Canadi
Jun 1, 2023 · 22 min
Inside Kyiv under fire ahead of the Ukrainian counteroffensive
After months of relative quiet in Kyiv, the city has been under attack this week by Russian drones and missiles. There have also been attacks within Russia. Looming over these events is the anticipated, and secretive, Ukrainian counteroffensive to regain territory it has lost to Russia in the war. Today, The Globe’s senior international correspondent Mark MacKinnon joins from Kyiv, Ukraine, to discuss these latest attacks and what a Ukrainian counteroffensive might look like.
May 31, 2023 · 19 min
A divided Alberta: What comes next?
Alberta is a province with a long history of conservative rule. And on Monday, Danielle Smith and the UCP added a new chapter by winning a majority. But it wasn’t a blowout. Rachel Notley and the NDP managed to score 38 seats, up from 23 in the previous sitting of the legislature. This is creating a new political dynamic in the province and Globe reporter and columnist Kelly Cryderman is on the show to explain what it means for the rest of the country.
May 30, 2023 · 19 min
Emergency rooms in Canada head into another tough summer
Throughout the pandemic, Canadians were warned about the potential collapse of emergency rooms. ERs were stretched to the limit, as surges in patients ran up against labour shortages of doctors and health care workers. But now that the worst of the pandemic is over the situation in ERs hasn’t improved. Patients and doctors now paint a grim picture of a dysfunctional medical care system that remains in crisis, with few long -term fixes on the way. Carly Weeks, health reporter for The Globe and M
May 29, 2023 · 18 min
The pandemic potential of avian flu
Avian influenza is getting more serious each year, as an unprecedented number of birds either succumb to the virus or are culled to prevent spread. After a dog in Ontario and thousands of sea lions died from the flu, there’s growing concern about this strain’s ability to infect mammals. Dr. Samira Mubareka is an infectious diseases physician, medical microbiologist and scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute. She explains what’s going on with avian flu right now, where it could be headed and