Explain Like I’m Five Episode 33: Canola Crisis, with Kelsey Johnson

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“People want to know what is being talked about at the kitchen tables in farm houses across Western Canada…it’s this.”

Kelsey Johnson, agriculture reporter at iPolitics joins Sarah Turnbull to talk about the significance of canola production in Canada and why the industry is facing major uncertainties due to a “scientific-based disagreement” with China.

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Explain Like I’m Five Episode 32: Cyber Security, with Stephanie MacLellan

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“If somebody was launching missile, you can see where it came from, you can see when it was launched, there’s a trail you can trace. With cyber activities it’s in some cases really difficult because you can mask your steps.”

Stephanie MacLellan, senior research associate at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, joins Sarah Turnbull to unpack cyber security. The two discuss how cyber threats have changed over the years, who monitors suspicious behaviour online in Canada, how regulations are enforced, and why we should be prepared for interference in the upcoming federal election.

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Explain Like I’m Five Episode 31: Boeing 737 Max 8, with Larry Vance

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“The more automated the airplane becomes the less the pilot has that hands-on feel for it all.”

Host Aaron Reynolds is joined by Larry Vance, former Government of Canada pilot, former investigator with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, and the original author of the organization’s Manual of Investigations Operations. Vance shares what’s known about the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash last weekend that involved a Boeing 737 Max 8 plane, its similarities to the Lion Air plane crash in Indonesia just five months ago, and the role of automation in aviation.

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Explain Like I’m Five Episode 30: The Federal Budget, with the Hon. John Manley

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“If you need to save money there are no easy ways. When politicians say there’s lots of low hanging fruit, there’s lots of waste, you know it just doesn’t usually add up to a whole lot.”

The Trudeau budget is set to land March 19th, so host Aaron Reynolds sat down with former Finance Minister John Manley to get a better sense of how a federal budget is made, what items are weighed more heavily than others, how it’s rolled out, and what’s with the new shoes tradition?

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Explain Like I’m Five Episode 29: The Justice Minister & Attorney General, with Solomon Friedman

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“It’s a delicate balance, it’s not an impossible one, but it certainly does have the potential for conflicts of interest.”

In the wake of the SNC-Lavalin controversy, host Aaron Reynolds speaks with Ottawa-based criminal defence lawyer Solomon Friedman about the roles of the Justice Minister and the Attorney General, why in Canada they’re held by one person, and the pros and cons of the model.

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Explain Like I’m Five Episode 28: Polling, with Nik Nanos

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“It’s not all going to be big data, and it’s not all going to be public opinion the way it was in the past. We’re going to be mixing those things in order to have a very complex understanding of what citizens think.”

Host Aaron Reynolds gets a behind the scenes look at what goes into a poll from veteran Canadian pollster and Chair of Nanos Research, Nik Nanos. The two discuss how polling data is gathered, its accuracy, how it’s changing in a tech-based world, and predictions for 2019.

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Explain Like I’m Five Episode 27: Ambassadorship, with Colin Robertson

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“Our embassies and our high commissions are responsible for the whole of government relationship with the host country…It’s the political relationship we may have with them, it’s the trade relationship we have with them.”

Colin Robertson, former Canadian diplomat and current Vice President and Fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, joins host Aaron Reynolds to explain what the work of an ambassador looks like, their role on the international stage, and the fine line between politics and diplomacy.

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Explain Like I’m Five Episode 26: Brexit, with Lauren Dobson-Hughes

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“If you drew a flowchart, it would take up six rooms and have four million different options. So if anyone tells you they know what’s going to happen at this point, I’d call them on that. “

Political strategist Lauren Dobson-Hughes joins Aaron Reynolds to explain Brexit: how it happened, the looming deadlines, and why it’s been so complicated to negotiate.

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Explain Like I’m Five Episode 25: Canadian Health Care, with Dr. Danielle Martin

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“Anything that’s provided in a hospital or by a doctor – if it’s deemed to be medically necessary – is covered, that was the vast majority of health care in the 1960s when these plans were developed, increasingly it leaves out a lot of important stuff.”

Dr. Danielle Martin, family physician and vice-president of Medical Affairs and Health System Solutions at the Women’s College Hospital, joins host Aaron Reynolds to explain how Canada’s health care system works, how it came to be, and what challenges it faces in adapting to changes in modern medicine.

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