Midweek October 2, 2019

Midweek this week was for the birds — and for the bees — and for those trying to scrape by living on the streets — and for those trying to hold politicians accountable for their promises — and for a whole lot more than all that, too.

This week’s show opened with reporter Devon Platana speaking with a Carleton University film studies professor about her efforts to help boost the presence of transgender filmmakers and representation on screen.

Lauren Hicks then told us about the hazards local birds have to navigate in the city, including some unexpected dangers when what looks like sky turns out to be unyielding glass. She spoke with Patty McLaughlin and others at the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre about what they’re doing to help.

With less than three weeks to go until the federal election, Alexandre Robaey brought us the details on what one policy adviser is saying about what politicians — and voters — can do to change attitudes towards voting, and engage with the election process in a healthier way.

Reporter Sarah Williscraft gave us a primer for the federal election debate to be held at Carleton University the day after our show. She spoke with Melissa Houseman, a political science professor at the university, about the importance of students in particular attending and paying attention to the debate.

Speaking of the upcoming election: One issue is whether Canadian governments should give so much money to other countries. Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat, told Meaghan Brackenbury his views on Conservative party leader Andrew Scheer’s announcement that he would be reducing foreign aid funding by 25 per cent.

Closer to home, there are folks in Ottawa who don’t debate whether they should help others; they just get out and do it. Meaghan B. had this story, too: She spent an afternoon out on the streets with a group who go around, wagons in tow, giving food and necessities to their homeless neighbours and telling them they matter.

Midweek’s Graham Neysmith took us to the rink to ask some former NHL players to look back and reflect on what hockey taught them beyond the game. Then we were off with reporter Sarina Mohan to a Sound of Music sing-along fundraiser.

Reporter Meagan Casalino tracked down the webmaster behind “culearn.ca,” a mischievous URL meant to be confused with Carleton’s course administration web application for students. Aaron van den Enden is an engineering student who bought the site to use as a meme page on a whim — a fun project, he insists.

Reporter Katherine Sherwood asked a Carleton University foot patrol volunteer about his experiences throughout the year walking the campus to keep students safe. He described how frosh week was a particularly busy time, with fewer volunteers and more calls than other times of the year.

Julie Tierney looked into how the Carlingwood Shopping Centre came down with a case of the hives — bee hives, that is, up on its roof — and also did a breaking story for us that wasn’t sweet at all: She spoke to Niagara Regional police about folks who keep complaining about far-off Amber Alters, and he said they should … well, he was polite.

Dancing, crafts and stories. Those were just a few of the experiences at the Moshkamo Family Day event, and absolutely fun for all. Midweek’s Menaka Raman-Wilms walks us through the celebration of Indigenous culture hosted by Ottawa’s National Arts Centre.

Reporter Alexandre Robaey, meanwhile, was off at Lansdowne Park attending a Bicycle Ball held by environmentalists to celebrate what fun a sustainable future could be — while practising what they were preaching. That’s what folks at a local clothing swap were doing, too: aiming for zero waste by giving old clothes new homes.

Oh — and Midweek’s KC Hoard introduced us to someone who wants us to know he’s not perfect…just in case we were confused. He’s written a song about being not perfect, in fact, and he wants us to know we should also be fine being not so perfect, just in case that’s true of us too.

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