Victoria Brenton and her fiancé, Jim Sheehan, left for Pearson Airport at the crack of dawn on June 19, careful not to wake their 4-month-old baby, but when they arrived at the airport they realized their WestJet trip to Yellowknife had been cancelled. What followed was a week-long ordeal, which included many hours at airports, on the phone, and in hotels to get back home to Yellowknife. "Frustrated would be the best word to describe how we were feeling. Also annoyed because we felt helpless because no one could help us. Anytime we asked someone, they would tell us to stand in a lineup," said Brenton, a Yellowknife high school teacher.

Almost every province in Canada has now removed its mask mandates in public schools. But many are questioning if now is the right time, and some are even challenging the decision. Today we hear from Sophia Alexanian, a 16-year-old high school student from Toronto, who co-founded a group called Ontario Students for COVID Safety. She organized a province-wide school walkout to protest the end of the mask mandate in schools. We also talk to Caroline Alphonso, an education reporter for The Globe and Mail. She talks to us about how the conversation about removing the mask mandate in schools is playing out across Canada.

The Ontario NDP moved a motion at the beginning of March to remove the tolls on Highway 407 for transport trucks, saying it would shorten commute times in the GTHA. But behind this motion is also a years-long push from advocates and a recent research study that suggests removing tolls for truckers on Highway 407 is a cheaper, more effective, and more environmentally conscious alternative to the proposed Highway 413. Removing 407 tolls for truckers was first proposed as an alternative traffic congestion solution to building Highway 413 by Transport Action Ontario in 2020.

The struggle for high-speed internet access in rural Wilmot has been top of mind for the community since the pandemic hit last year, but Kevin Thomason’s fight for decent internet access began almost 20 years ago in Bell Canada’s head office with $50,000 in a briefcase. “Even 20 years ago we needed bandwidth that didn’t exist,” said Thomason. Thomason, who is a tech startup coach and mentor, lives in the far north-east corner of Wilmot near Sunfish Lake, a practically deadzone in terms of internet access. Back then he and his neighbours were inquiring with Bell about the possibility of hooking into the high speed fibre optics of the new Waterloo subdivisions that were creeping towards their community.

Vital Metals announced Monday that it's selling its stockpiled rare earth material to the Saskatchewan Research Council for $3.3 million. This material comes from the North T deposit at the Nechalacho mine, 110 kilometres from Yellowknife.Natural Resources Canada, along with Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, directly facilitated this transaction, which has the effect of keeping rare earth materials out of Chinese hands.

Drew Spolestra is a dairy and grain farmer operating just outside of Binbrook, Ontario. Being located so close to the Hamilton border, his land has been threatened by urban sprawl for many years. “We’ve got land we used to work that is now a soccer park, movie theatres, Home Depots, and road extensions,” says Spoelstra. And it’s a familiar experience for him. Spoelstra’s story is a familiar one in the agricultural community. Conversations about urban sprawl and advocacy for the protection of farmland are often predominantly led by those impacted the most — the farmers who stand to lose their land. But that may be changing. The fight to protect farmland is spreading into urban communities. The main driver of this change? The affordability crisis being felt by all Ontarians.

Horses have been a part of Alisha Wilson's life since she was in diapers. "It's just in my blood. It's a way of life," said Wilson. Her grandfather was a western rider and a huge lover of horses, and he passed that love on to Wilson's mother who, in turn, passed it on to her. Now Wilson has taken her love of horses and channeled it into Transitions Equine Assisted Learning, a business where she teaches people leadership and transferable life skills with the help of a horse. I decided to take the leap, which was terrifying. But I did and now I love it."

In late April, the municipal council for the Township of Norwich passed a new bylaw that restricts the types of flags that can be flown on township property and lampposts. The original version included language that specifically excluded Progress or Pride flags; however, this language was removed in a last-minute amendment with worries it could trigger a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Pride Month celebrations and the organization of 2SLGBTQ+-specific events, resources, and support groups have historically belonged in Ontario’s cities. But these recent events in Norwich amplify the growing debates in rural, predominantly agricultural municipalities about what Pride should — or in some cases like Norwich — should not look like.