| Cox/McGill (Interview): The African country of Liberia has been besieged by political instability and two civil wars since a military coup in 1980. Abel McGill was 11 years old when he fled the fighting. He spent nine years in a refugee camp in Ghana.
McGill is now 21 years old. This December, he celebrates his second anniversary of his arrival in Canada.
Heather Cox spoke to McGill about his life in Africa and his future in Canada. By Heather Cox |  (7.7 MB) |
| Hooper/Cook (Interview): The 19th annual East Coast Music Awards will be held in Halifax on February 15th. Each year Nova Scotian artists take home a large number of the Music Awards. Reporter Whitney Hooper talks to the Chronicle Herald Arts reporter, Stephen Cooke to get an idea of what gives Halifax the competitive edge. OUTRO: Stephen Cooke is the Arts Reporter with the Halifax Chronicle Herald. He spoke with reporter Whitney Hooper. By Whitney Hooper | (6.9 MB) |
| Smallwood/Hughes (Interview): As power rates and gas prices increase many families in Nova Scotia struggle to heat their homes and fill their gas tanks.
Dr. Larry Hughes of the Energy Research Group at Dalhousie University says Nova Scotia’s access to energy resources is not secure.
Hughes has written reviews of the province’s energy strategy for more than four years. He says Nova Scotians will face a drastic energy shortage if the provincial government doesn’t’ develop reliable local energy sources.
Stuart Smallwood talked to Larry Hughes about energy security in Nova Scotia. By Stuart Smallwood | (6.5 MB) |
| Markan/Nahzat (Interview): An opinion poll has found people in Afghanistan are losing optimism. The poll by ABC News and BBC World Service was conducted in early December -- five years after the fall of the Taliban and amid rising violence in the country. The poll surveyed more than 1-thousand adults in 31 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces -- away from the most violent regions of the country. The number of people who think the country is on the right track has dropped 22 points - to 55 per cent - in the last year. Afghans surveyed say they’re pessimistic because of a poor economy and the resurgent power of the Taliban militia. The poll also found that most Afghans thought the U.S.-led invasion five years ago had positive effects on their country. Almost nine in 10 called the invasion a good thing for their country. Salam Nahzat, an Afghan-Canadian living in Halifax has a different view of the presence of United Nations military in Afghanistan. He’s the founder and program coordinator of Afghan Development Watch. His organization is devoted to scrutinizing western development efforts in Afghanistan. Zak Markan spoke with Mr. Nahzat about the effects of military action in Afghanistan. By Zak Markan | (9.1 MB) |
| Burnett/Scadden (Interview): In early December Australia’s House of Representatives voted to lift a four year ban on therapeutic cloning. The vote came after great debate and study. Scientists in Australia hope therapeutic cloning, a crucial process in stem-cell research, will lead to treatments for conditions such as diabetes and arthritis. While there is no law banning therapeutic cloning in the United States, research is limited because the federal government does not fund any of this research. Reporter Aaron Burnett had the chance to talk with Dr. David Scadden, the co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute on a visit to Halifax. At the time this interview was recorded, the Australia parliament was still debating the ban. By Aaron Burnett | (9.3 MB) |
| Kwan/Trudeau (Interview): Water – we don’t give it a second thought. We turn on the tap it comes out clean. But more than one billion people around the world don’t have safe drinking water. Women and children walk for hours each day to fetch contaminated water from polluted streams and rivers. They have no other choice. The results are devastating. Each year 2.2 million people, mostly children, die from preventable diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation conditions. This is equivalent to 6,000 deaths every day - a death every 15 seconds. WaterCan, a Canadian non-govermental organization is trying to do something about that. Since 1987 it has provided clean water and sanitation services to more than 1-million people in the developing world. Margaret Trudeau is the honorary President of WaterCan. She just returned from Ethiopia and is travelling to universities and colleges across Canada to talk about the water plight in Africa. Brett Kwan sat down with Ms. Trudeau. By Brett Kwan | (7.4 MB) |
| Lee/Bondar (Interview): It’s been almost 15 years since Dr. Roberta Bondar had the honour of being the first woman to go into space. Dr. Bondar now spends her time writing, photographing landscapes, promoting science for young women and talking about change in the corporate board room. Jamie Lee caught up with her on a recent visit to Halifax. By Jamie Lee | (5.4 MB) |
| Prentiss/Johnson (Interview): Police officers that work in forensic science say television dramas such as CSI are creating unreal expectations. Sandy Johnson, a veteran with the Halifax Regional Police, has been a forensic technician for the past two years. Mairin Prentiss spoke with her. She began by describing her job: By Mairin Prentiss | (6.9 MB) |
| Savoie/Bowman (Interview): The study of Canadian music, what’s the rush? Musicologist Durrell Bowman is giving Canadian music more exposure in the academic world. He’s turning his dissertation paper about Rush, Musicians’ Rock and the Progressive Post-Counter Culture into a book. Bowman taught at Dalhousie University this fall. Mandy Savoie sat down with him to talk about his upcoming book and the study of Canadian music. By Mandy Savoie | (9.8 MB) |
| Suyama/MacLean (Interview): The book Dr. Seuss, CD, Run DMC and movie, Full Metal Jacket have all had an influence on Luke MacLean’s filmmaking and poetry. MacLean used one of his poems as the narration for his short film, Bus Stop Love. The film won second place in the Halifax Student Film Festival and was screened at a poetry film festival in Berlin. Mari Suyama spoke with MacLean about his work: By Maru Suyama | (8.6 MB) |
| Paris/MacLeod (Interview): The Vagina Monologues is a staple at many universities. The play, by Eve Ensler, has sparked what’s called “V-day”, a day that aims at ending violence against women. In February, students will perform the play for three nights at Dalhousie University. Reporter Nina Paris spoke with Rachel MacLeod -- a gender study major at Dal and an actor in the play. By Nina Paris | (6.4 MB) |
| Cruikshank/O'Hara (Interview): Paul O’Hara has lived and worked in the Halfax north end for more than 21 years. As a social worker and activist, he has observed the changes in the community, including its recent gentrification. Whitney Cruikshank spoke with Mr. O’Hara about this trend: By Whitney Cruikshank | (5.7 MB) |
| Delorey/Breckenridge (Interview): New discoveries in science, medicine and technology are always changing our world. But what does it take to make those discoveries? The vice president of research at Dalhousie Univeristy, Dr. Carl Breckenridge (Breck-in-ridge) says happy research scientists with a big enough budget pay a huge role in making important discoveries. Erin Delorey spoke with Dr. Breckenridge about work underway at Dalhousie: By Erin Delorey | (6.8 MB) |
| Foster/Azizi (Interview): It’s been five years since the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan and women there still face huge obstacles. So do journalists. Mehria Azizi is both. She was one of the first women journalists to be trained in Afghanistan in over a decade. She was part of a team that travelled in 2003 to some of the most dangerous provinces in Afghanistan. She set out to document continued oppression of women in the film, Afghanistan Unveiled. As the violence mounts in Afghanistan, Reporters Without Borders and Canada’s International Development Research Centre brought Azizi to Canada to screen her documentary and talk about the need for journalistic freedom in Afghanistan. Anneke Foster spoke with Mehira Azizi on her stop in Halifax in November: By Anneke Foster | (8.8 MB) |
| May/Jacquard (Interview): Last year 63 people were killed just for doing their job. They weren’t soldiers. They weren’t firefighters. They weren’t police officers or construction workers. They were journalists. And they were simply trying to keep people informed. For the non-governmental organization, Reporters without Borders, freedom of the press should be an important issue for everyone. The international group lets people know about the struggles journalist around the world face to encourage press freedom. Canadian representative, Emily Jacquard has been working for Reporters Without Borders for five years. She spoke with reporter Katie May why she goes to work every morning: By Katie May | (5.5 MB) |
| Bourgon/Scavengers (Interview): People pushing grocery carts full of recyclables are a common sight around HRM. Scavengers collect recyclables from blue bags around the city and cash them in. Michael and Joseph have jobs, but when the money gets low they scavenge for bottles. They did not want their last names to be used in this interview with reporter Lyndsie Bourgon: By Lyndsie Bourgon | (5 MB) |
| Burnet/Ravindra (Interview): A retired Dalhousie professor has published a new book titled The Spiritual Roots of Yoga. Dr. Ravi Ravindra says his book shows that there’s more to yoga than posture and flexibility. Mary Burnet spoke with Dr. Ravindra: By Mary Burnet | (5.7 MB) |
| Klassen/Deschamps (Interview): The Community Access Program or CAP has provided Canadians with free Internet access and other computer services for the past 10 years. This fall the federal government cut funding for the program in half. More than 200 CAP sites in Nova Scotia will have to close next April if the federal government doesn’t restore funding. Ryan Deschamps is the E-Learning Services manager for the Halifax Library system. Andrea Klassen met him at the North End Library to find out about CAP and why library staff are fighting for its survival” By Andrea Klassen | (9.2 MB) |
| Mensahbonsu/Tynes (Interview): You’ve probably heard the smooth sounds of his sax while strolling down Spring Garden Road. Street musician Andrew Tynes has been livening up Halifax with his jazz tunes for years. He sat down with reporter Deborah Mensah-Bonsu to talk about his ife, his letdowns and his first love – music: By Deborah Mensah-bonsu | (9.6 MB) |
| Walsh/Shaw (Interview): The Coast has carved a niche for itself in the Halifax media world. Kyle Shaw and his co-founder wife Christine Oreskovich started the independent alternative newspaper 13 years ago on the advice of a university professor. The Coast has grown from a bi weekly put out by Shaw and Oreskovich to a weekly with a staff of 20 full time employees. Reporter Meghan Walsh sat down with Kyle Shaw to find out how at the age of 24 he started the newspaper fresh out of school with no business training. By Meghan Walsh | (7.2 MB) |
| Doody/Wappel (Interview): For the past four months, 103 citizens from across Ontario have been meeting in Toronto every second weekend. The members of the Citizen’s Assembly on Electoral Reform received a crash course on electoral systems. Now members are hitting the road to gather people’s views about what’s the best system for the province of Ontario. Half of Canada’s provinces have looked at alternatives to the “first past the post system”of electing political representatives. But British Columbia and Ontario are the only two provinces that have given the power to citizens rather than the political elite. Chris Doody spoke with Monica Wappel, a member of the Citizens’ Assembly from the riding of Scarborough East: By Chris Doody | (5.9 MB) |
| Mason/Watters (Interview): A body builder from Pictou County, Nova Scotia has already started training for the provincial competition next spring. In May Kirk Watters came second in the Mens Junior class at the Nova Scotia Amateur Body Building Association competition. Now he’s has his eye set on winning. Graham Mason spoke with Mr. Watters about what it takes to get and keep a sculpted body: By Graham Mason | (8.6 MB) |
| MacLeod/Laskey (Interview): Earlier this month an advisory committee to Community Services held closed doors hearings. The members wanted to hear from interested parties about Child Services Act – what’s working and areas of concern. The hearings follow the Shirley Street siege of May of 2004. Halifax police went to serve a Children’s Aid order and take five-month old Mona Clare from her parents Carline VandenElsen and Larry Fink. The couple refused. Over the course of the 67 hour standoff, a gun was fired inside the house and Mr. Fink’s mother died of natural causes.
This incident prompted Heather Laskey to form Committee for the Child and advocate for a public inquiry into the case. The government has not responded to the call, but it did reactivate the Children and Family Services Advisory Committee. Ms. Laskey spoke with Harris MacLeod before the advisory committee hearings in early December: By Harris MacLeod | (6 MB) |
| Robertson/Allen (Interview): Jumping out of a plane with a parachute is as close as a person can get to flying. The freedom and rush of the sport of skydiving are hard to beat. Skydiving has become Joey Allen’s obsession. He spoke with Meagan Robertson about the sport: By Meagan Robertson | (7.4 MB) |
| Jerrett/Stevens (Interview): Sexual abuse is a crime of violence. The website for the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre says that in Halifax on average police received one report of a sexual assault every day in 2002. It also says that just 10 percent of sexual assaults are reported and even fewer go to court. If you do the math that’s about 10 women and men sexually assaulted in Halifax alone every day. Andrea Jerrett spoke with a coordinator at Avalon, Jackie Stevens about sexual assault and the services of the centre. By Andrea Jerrett | (7.8 MB) |
