Just Asking

Stories of strict enforcement at the Canada-U.S. border have left many wondering if it's safe to travel. As we hear reports of more scrutiny, devices being searched, even arrests and detention, it can be scary to approach a border that, until now, has been celebrated for its peaceful nature and lack of significant military presence. What do you need to know when approaching the U.S. border? Will you need a burner phone, or to delete your social media accounts? Two guests took your questions. Melissa Babel is a Canadian immigration lawyer and Laura Dawson is the executive director of the Future Borders Coalition, an organization dedicated to better trade relations between the U.S. and Canada.

You might not need a study to tell you that Canadians aren't particularly happy right now, but in case you do, the Global Happiness Report has Canada ranked as the 18th happiest country in the world. That's down from last year's ranking, and much lower than fifth place which was Canada's highest rank ever (back in 2015). To answer your questions about how to be happy, Just Asking spoke to two guests. Gillian Mandich is a happiness researcher, and Dr. Saunia Ahmad is a clinical psychologist. We also heard from Darren Hamilton, assistant professor of music education at the University of Toronto, and the University of Toronto Faculty of Music Gospel Choir.

Canadian military spending hasn't traditionally been a top election issue. But thanks to Canada's shifting relationship with the United States, it certainly is right now. To answer your questions about Canada's military readiness, Just Asking was joined by two guests. Richard Shimooka is a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute who studies defence policy. And Whitney Lackenbauer is the Canada Research Chair in the Study of the Canadian North, and an expert on Arctic security. We'll also hear from former Nunavut Premier Paul Quassa on Arctic sovereignty and defence.

Tariff uncertainty has slowed Canada's housing market, and reports show that the national average asking price for rent has gone down for five months in a row. So is this finally good news for renters and buyers? Whether you are renting, buying, leasing, or selling - Just Asking was joined by two experts with advice for you. Tom Storey is a realtor in Toronto, and Sydney Blum is a community legal worker at Dalhousie Legal Aid.

Another federal election campaign means we are about to be bombarded by opinion polls. Weekly polls, local polls, aggregate polls, there is a ton to keep track of. To answer your questions about political polls and how they work, Just Asking brought on two guests. Mario Canseco is a pollster and the President of Research Co., and Feodor Snagovsky is a professor of political science at the University of Alberta who specializes in the comparative analysis of elections and political behaviour.

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 Work in Vancouver. And Rambod Behboodi - a trade lawyer and senior counsel at the law firm Borden Ladner Gervais.

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.

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 psychopathy and Linda Crockett, the founder of the Canadian Institute of Workplace Bullying Resources.

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.

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 International Affairs and a Professor in Wilfrid Laurier University’s Political Science Department.

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 misinformation.

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).

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 The Shift.

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’. 

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.

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.  

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 Fox Lake Cree Nation is returning to traditional practices like hunting to combat high food prices in the region.  

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.

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, Suzannah Baum is an author, speaker, and executive speech coach. We also spoke to Joze Piranian who is a lifelong stutterer turned International Keynote Speaker and Stand-up Comedian.

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.

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.

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 Professor of Social Work at the University of Calgary and research lead of the Calgary Eating Disorders Program. Chloe Grande is an eating disorder recovery speaker and writer.

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 study of Canada.

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 University. Katelyn Bryant is a psychologist and assistant director of the Mary J. Wright Child and Youth Development Clinic.

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.

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.

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.

Our guest experts answer your questions about sugar consumption during the holiday season.

Our guest experts answer your questions and offer advice on how to have difficult conversations about sexual assault.

Our guest experts answer your questions about how a non-confidence motion actually works in the House of Commons.

Our guest experts answer your questions about the uncertain future of Syria.

Our guest experts answer your questions about the cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. We're joined by Claire Brownell, and Aravind Sithamparapillai from Ironwood Wealth Management.

Our guest experts answer your questions about holiday movies.

Our guest experts answer your questions about Canada's family doctor shortage and how to solve it.

Our guest experts answer your questions about the tariffs being proposed by President-elect Donald Trump.

Our guest experts answer your questions about preventing your car from getting stolen.

Our guest experts answer your questions about how we determine Indigeneity.

Our guest experts answer your questions about how to extend your attention span, and when to allow your mind to wander.

Our guest experts answer your questions about the Taylor Swift phenomenon

Our guest experts answer your questions about the Canada Post strike and the future of unions.

Our guest experts answer your questions about perfectionism.

Our guest experts answer your questions about relationships and politics.

Our guest experts answer your questions about two astronauts that have been stuck on ISS since this summer.

Our guest experts answer your question about the next week in American politics.

Sean Tucker, a professor of occupational health and safety, and Malini Vijaykumar, an employment and labour lawyer, answer your questions about health and safety on the job and your rights at work.  

Personal finance columnist Rubina Ahmed-Haq and senior economics lecturer Moshe Lander answer your questions planning for retirement.

Our guest expert answers your question about how to deal with grief.

Our guest expert answers your question about the future of the Liberal Party.

Our guest experts answer your question about how to distinguish between a disorder and narcissistic traits, and how to deal with the narcissist in your life.

Our guest expert answers your question about about picky eaters.