Ontario is seeing a surge in measles cases right now. Public Health Ontario is reporting 350 total cases since an outbreak began on Oct. 28, 2024. The number has increased by 173 cases in the last several weeks. To answer your questions about measles, Just Asking spoke with guests Dr. Brian Conway - President and Medical Director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre. And Devon Greyson - Assistant Professor at the School of Population and Public Health, UBC.
Mar 15, 2025•53 min
It's been another week of escalating tariffs and threats between the United States and Canada. The U.S. placed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports coming across the border, and Canada responded with its own counter-tariffs on U.S. goods. Whether it's dairy, lumber, or trade deficits, Donald Trump has made a lot of claims about the Canada-U.S. relationship the last few weeks. To help us fact-check, Just Asking was joined by Jim Stanford - an economist and the Director of the Centre for Future W...
Mar 15, 2025•1 hr
You can find a bully in many places - in a school yard, at work or maybe even at the highest levels of government. Some have accused U.S. President Donald Trump of being a bully, in a world of international politics, where diplomacy is the norm. Canadians have been forced to respond. When you've got no choice but to take on your bully, how do you do it? Just Asking spoke with Tony Volk, a Brock University professor and scientist who studies bullying as well as parenting, personality and psychopa...
Mar 08, 2025•58 min
It seems like the trade war is here to stay for the foreseeable future. That was the message from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after another week of threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. What do you want to know about tariffs and how this all affects your personal finances? We put your questions to Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood, a political economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and Bruce Sellery, an expert on personal finances.
Mar 08, 2025•56 min
More adults under the age of 50 are being diagnosed with cancer and doctors aren't sure why exactly. The trend is apparent in specific types of cancers, such as colorectal and breast cancer. And doctors say that an increase in obesity and sedentary lifestyles could be to blame. What questions do you have about early-onset cancer? Just Asking spoke with Tim Caulfield, Law professor and research director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta, and an expert in medical misinformat...
Mar 01, 2025•53 min
After an explosive press conference, a mineral deal between the United States and Ukraine is off the table for now. What does this mean for a war that has been going on for 3 years now? What's next for Ukraine? Just Asking was joined by two guests to answer all of your questions. Paul Goode is an Associate Professor and McMillan Chair of Russian Studies at the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at Carleton University. Ann Fitz-Gerald is the Director of the Balsillie School of In...
Mar 01, 2025•1 hr 2 min
The Liberal government has launched a six-year, multi-billion dollar design and development plan that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says will eventually lead to high-speed rail connecting Quebec City and Toronto. Just Asking was joined by two guests to answer your questions about the new project. Ryan Katz-Rosene is an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa's School of Political Studies, and Jonathan English is a Fellow at the NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management (based in Toronto)....
Feb 22, 2025•48 min
Late last month, the Ontario government announced that over $75 million dollars is going to municipalities to help them take down encampments in public spaces. That money would be going towards emergency shelter spaces and affordable housing units. To answer your questions about life in a homeless encampment, Just Asking brought in two guests. Justin Laflamme used to live in an encampment and currently lives in a respite centre. We've also booked Latonya Ludford, the Canada project manager at Th...
Feb 22, 2025•1 hr 5 min
Not all relationships are meant to go the distance. With dating apps, texting, IMs and ghosting... breaking up has never been more complicated. So how do you do it? To help explain, Just Asking brought in three guests. Jen Kirsch is a relationship expert and journalist. Andrew Sofin is a couples and family therapist and registered psychotherapist in Quebec. Kaitlyn Rosati is a travel blogger and writer.
Feb 15, 2025•52 min
The threat of tariffs, and the possibility of a trade war, have changed the way some Canadians spend their money - with many boycotting American products. But ‘buying Canadian’ isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. To answer all your questions on how to buy Canadian, we had two guests join Just Asking. Vass Bednar is Executive Director of the Master of Public Policy Program at McMaster University. Grant Packard is a professor of marketing at York University’s Shulich School of Business’....
Feb 15, 2025•1 hr 2 min
More than 6.9 million Canadians are experiencing some level of food insecurity. What got us to this point and what are we up against as we look for the solutions? Just Asking puts Canada's questions to Tyler McMann, Managing director at the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, and Rachel Engler-Stringer, a professor of community health and epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan. We also hear from Demian Lawrenchuk, the executive director for Food Matters Manitoba, on how his community of...
Feb 08, 2025•1 hr 3 min
Tech titans are tumbling, US firms are scrambling and a new name in AI has emerged: DeepSeek. This is a Chinese artificial intelligence firm that launched a new chatbot just a month ago. This week - for the second week in a row - it is North America's most downloaded app. But what does this all mean for you? What can DeepSeek do? Data scientist Nikita Roy and computer science professor Maura Grossman take our questions.
Feb 08, 2025•49 min
U.S. President Donald Trump will hit Canadian imports with a 25% tariff starting this Tuesday. To talk about these tariffs and how other Trump policies affect Canada, we spoke to two guests. Pedro Antunes is Chief Economist at The Conference Board of Canada. Laura Dawson is Executive Director of Future Borders Coalition.
Feb 01, 2025•1 hr 54 min
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he's pulling out of the Paris climate agreement. Canada is still in, as are many other countries. To explain what this all means, we spoke to two guests. Kathryn Harrison is a professor of political science at the University of British Columbia who teaches courses on climate and energy policy. Alienor Rougeot is a 26-yeard-old climate activist who has attended international climate conferences.
Jan 25, 2025•57 min
Donald Trump, Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland and Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde all gave speeches in recent days that captured at least national attention. So what makes a great speaker? What about those who have an anxiety about public speaking? We spoke to two guests about ways to overcome those fears. Dr. Martin Antony is a psychologist who says he's seen people turn down jobs to avoid public speaking, and students who avoid taking classes where they have to talk in front of their peers. Plus, Su...
Jan 25, 2025•54 min
About one million Canadians have an eating disorder according to numbers from Stats Canada. That number is likely higher, because so many people don't recognize they have one and never get help. At the same time, there is rampant misinformation about health and food on social media. To answer your questions about eating disorders, we spoke to three guests. Amanda Raffoul is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto. Gina Dimitropoulos is a Prof...
Jan 18, 2025•1 hr
A ceasefire deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas. But there are still a lot of questions to be answered about how it will work exactly, and whether each phase will be fully implemented. We spoke to two guests about what comes next in Gaza. Jon Allen is Senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Diana Sarosi is the Director of Policy and Campaigns at Oxfam Canada.
Jan 18, 2025•54 min
Many kids are back to school this week. They're cracking open their books and learning about migrating butterflies, where France is on a map, or what happens when you add vinegar to baking soda. There's so much information, and so many stories to be found between the covers of a book. But how do you get children excited about reading? We had two guests on Just Asking to help answer your questions about kids and reading. Marc Joanisse is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Western Unive...
Jan 11, 2025•56 min
Justin Trudeau has said he will step down as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, and as Prime Minister, once his replacement is found. And the race to replace him will soon begin. We had two guests on Just Asking to discuss who could replace Justin Trudeau. Zain Velji is a political strategist and partner at Northweather and has worked on leadership campaigns at the provincial level in Alberta. Daniel Béland is a professor of political science and director of the McGill Institute for the stud...
Jan 11, 2025•57 min
We've all heard the statistic less than 10 per cent of plastic used in Canada gets recycled. You may have met people who have given up on recycling altogether. This week on Just Asking we spoke with Myra Hird, Professor in the school of environmental studies at Queen's University about busting some myths around the Blue Box.
Jan 04, 2025•58 min
An estimated 6.4 million Canadians provide unpaid care to dependent adults. We spoke with two guests about situations that come up when caregivers are trying to navigate care for an aging adult. Dr. Samir Sinha is a geriatrician and clinician scientist at Sinai Health and the University Health System in Toronto. Laura Tamblyn Watts is the CEO of the national seniors advocacy organization, CanAge. She’s also an elder law lawyer and the author of Let’s Talk About Aging Parents.
Jan 04, 2025•57 min
Our guest experts answer your questions about sugar consumption during the holiday season.
Dec 28, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Our guest experts offer tips on how to make the holiday season a bit easier (or at least more fun) whether you are throwing a party or just attending one.
Dec 28, 2024•48 min
Our guest experts answer your questions about how a non-confidence motion actually works in the House of Commons.
Dec 21, 2024•31 min
Our guest experts answer your questions and offer advice on how to have difficult conversations about sexual assault.
Dec 21, 2024•1 hr 22 min
Our guest experts answer your questions about the uncertain future of Syria.
Dec 14, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Our guest experts answer your questions about the cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. We're joined by Claire Brownell, and Aravind Sithamparapillai from Ironwood Wealth Management.
Dec 14, 2024•53 min
Our guest experts answer your questions about Canada's family doctor shortage and how to solve it.
Dec 07, 2024•1 hr 18 min
Our guest experts answer your questions about holiday movies.
Dec 07, 2024•34 min
Our guest experts answer your questions about the tariffs being proposed by President-elect Donald Trump.
Nov 30, 2024•1 hr 10 min
