Hosts Ash Abraham and Jenn Colavincenzo
Producer Astara van der Jagt wielded her chalk deftly and wisely on Wednesday, Feb. 6, as she lined up that day’s edition of Midweek, and the outcome was yet another rich mix of stories running from City Hall budget fights through what powwows mean to their participants and on to…chocolate. Local chocolate. Lots of it. And ethical, too.
Along the way, we found out about an intriguing but not trouble-free new approach to town-hall meetings tried out by Ontario MPP Jeremy Roberts, We also met an immigrant from Mexico who’s gone from geomatics to making a business of furniture refinishing — and loves it.
We got an update on this year’s Megaphono music fest in Ottawa, heard what library users whispered they wanted to see in Ottawa’s planned new central branch, and heard about those left out in the cold by a lack of affordable housing. We also found out about proposals to get help more quickly for children with autism, worries about threats to the habitat of Ontario’s endangered species, and what WUSC — the World University Services of Canada — has meant to so many.
Copy editors Dylan Parobec and Josh Weinberger display, respectively, a dapper fashion sense (left) and questionable taste in hockey teams (right).
On powwows: we heard from Hanyoso’tsihawahode Wade, a Haudenosaunee dancer, about what the beaded and feathered regalia he wears in the ceremonies means to him — and how not to behave when you approach a powwow dancer. (Pro tip: They are ordinary folks, not some sort of exotic species, he says, so speak to them accordingly.)
And chocolate: the perfect end to any satisfying meal…or show: a tour of Hummingbird Chocolate, the award-winning and innovative company in Almonte, 39 mouthwatering minutes southwest from our studio…
All that and much more on Midweek!
This week’s production team: producer Astara van der Jagt, audio producer Katherine Lissitsa, copy editors Dylan Parobec and Josh Weinberger, music producers Hanna Berge and Kunqin Wang, and chase producer Olivia Robinson.