The Agenda with Steve Paikin (Audio) Ron Sexsmith: Reflections of a Canadian Troubadour

When politicians hold a news conference to make an important announcement, then take questions from reporters, only to not answer the questions, then what? Four guests from all sides of the experience join Steve Paikin to discuss whether ministers and other politicians are being over-prepared for their public interactions.

The Horseshoe Hill train crash in Caledon, Ont., killed seven people on September 3, 1907. It affected countless families across Ontario but it also brought some good. A group of women used the tragedy to bring Orangeville its first hospital. In this episode of Living History, we'll visit the site of the wreck, see the old railway roadbed, explore the health-care legacy as it stands today in Orangeville, and hear how this deadly railway would claim more lives until the day it was ripped up.

He was at the helm when Ontario actually built housing. He was Ontario's first Black cabinet minister and first Black Speaker of the House. He was Canada's envoy to the Dominican Republic. And famously when Mike Harris vowed to "Make Ontario Great Again" and introduced a massive omnibus bill he stood up in the legislature and spoke for 18 straight hours to protest what many saw as a threat to democracy. This is the story of Alvin Curling.

Digging into allegations of system racism in Thunder Bay. Then, can pension funds be made to be spent in Canada? A conversation with Wade Davis, and what can be done to help incarcerated individuals with mental illness.

People with mental illness are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, often encountering the law due to symptoms of their illness, incredible gaps in mental-health care, a lack of supportive housing, and social exclusion. Most inmates (80 per cent), in the provincial institutions are awaiting trial. And only some are diverted into our forensic mental-health system. This prevalence is compounded by the overrepresentation of Indigenous, Black, and other racialized communities. To help us understand this issue, we welcome: Yusuf Faqiri, founder of Justice for Soli and brother of the late Soleiman Faqiri; Glenda O'Hara, patient of the forensic system and chair of the Client Advisory Council at The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Care Centre; Dr. Mara Muraven, psychiatrist with Forensic Programs at Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care; and Mick Kunze, reintegration specialist from St. Leonard's Community Services.

Losing your parents as an adult is a unique experience that sometimes defies explanation. In "I Miss My Mommy," author and illustrator Alison Garwood-Jones presents a cast of characters in various stages of grief - from denial to acceptace. She talks about the nature of this type of loss, why her art helped her through it, and why she wanted to share her insights.

Renowned anthropologist, and former Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, Wade Davis discusses his latest collection of essays, "Beneath the Surface of Things."

The Liberal government wants to know how to encourage Canadian pension funds to invest more at home. But that is not always in the interests of beneficiaries. A look at Canada's potential, and problems, when it comes to attracting massive investments.

Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt may be the greatest leaders in the history of democracies. Their achievements in winning the Second World War are well known, but perhaps less well known is the role their mothers played in their success. Historian Charlotte Gray's latest book is called "Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons: The Lives of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt," and she joins Steve Paikin to discuss who these mothers were.