The Current for March 2, 2021
Today on The Current:
The Globe and Mail's health columnist, André Picard, says he's sick of reading reports on the pandemic's devastating toll on long-term care homes, because "they all say the same thing … and we don't really act on them." He talks to Matt Galloway about his new book Neglected No More: The Urgent Need to Improve the Lives of Canada's Elders in the Wake of a Pandemic, and why we need a philosophical change in how we treat the elderly.
Plus, COVID-19 often robs people of their sense of smell and taste — a particular problem for chefs and food writers. We talk to foodies Jenni Lessard, Suriya Bala and Justin Burke about what that experience was like, and hear some tips about regaining those senses from Barry Smith, the founding director of the Centre for the Study of the Senses at the University of London's School of Advanced Study.
Then, a U.S. report lays the blame for journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder at the feet of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. We discuss the fallout from the report, and what it means for other Saudi dissidents, with Washington Post reporter Sarah Dddouch, and Ben Hubbard, Beirut bureau chief for the New York Times and author of MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman.
And with a critical housing shortage, residents of Eabametoong First Nation in northern Ontario are forced to live in makeshift homes, exposed and uninsulated in temperatures that sometimes reach below -40 C. We talk to Sol Mamakwa, the NDP MPP for the Kiiwetinoong riding in Ontario, who's trying to help.