The Best of The Simi Sara Show - Will the legal challenges to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion be allowed to proceed? Surrey RCMP officers will be able to transfer their pensions if they join the new municipal police force and more.

Chapter 1

🔥🔥 Hot question of the day 🔥🔥

✅ @SimiSara980’s 🔥 question of the day 

Each day, the sitting of the BC Legislature begins with a prayer. Research by the BC Humanist Association suggests the prayers are overwhelmingly religious and reform is needed.

Should the daily prayer be scrapped?

Yes, it’s inappropriate.

No, what’s the problem?

 

Chapter 2

Will the legal challenges to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion be allowed to proceed?

The Federal Court of Appeal is to reveal today whether a new set of legal challenges to the Trans Mountain pipeline project can proceed.

The federal government has twice approved a plan to twin an existing pipeline from Alberta's oil patch to the B.C. coast. Last year, the Federal Court of Appeal tore up the original approval, citing both an insufficient environment review and inadequate consultations with Indigenous communities.

The Trudeau Liberals say they fixed both problems and approved the expansion a second time in June. 

Environment groups still say there are not adequate protections for endangered marine species that will be affected by tanker traffic picking up oil from a terminal in suburban Vancouver.

Several First Nations say the federal government came into the most recent discussions having predetermined the outcome.

Guest: Keith Baldrey

Global’s BC Legislative Bureau Chief

 

Chapter 3

How Boris Johnson is losing control of the UK’s House of Commons

An attempt by British lawmakers to stop the country from leaving the European Union without a divorce deal has cleared its first major hurdle.

The House of Commons has voted to approve in principle the bill to block a so-called ``no-deal'' Brexit, sending it on for further debate and another vote later today.

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, says Britain must leave the EU, with or without a deal, by the October 31st deadline.

Guest: Gavan Reilly

Political correspondent for Virgin Media Television in Ireland

 

Chapter 4

Federal court allows half of Trans Mountain pipeline legal challenges to proceed

The Federal Court of Appeal has allowed six of 12 applications to proceed by environmental groups and the City of Vancouver, who are trying to stop the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project.

They are challenging the federal government's second approval of the project, arguing it is not adequately protecting the marine environment in general, and the southern resident killer whale population in particular, from the increased tanker traffic.

Last year, the Trudeau government approved the project, but that was overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal which ruled the government had not adequately consulted with Indigenous communities and had not adequately taken into account the impact on the marine environment in BC.

After more consultation on those issues, the government approved the project a second time in June.

Guest: Margot Venton

Lawyer with the group Ecojustice

 

Chapter 5

Surrey RCMP officers will be able to transfer their pensions if they join the new municipal police force

It was a lingering question for months:  if Surrey moved to a civic police force, would RCMP members pension be impacted.

We now have the answer.

The City of Surrey says an agreement has been formalized that will allow RCMP officers to fully transfer their pension over to a civic police force.

The pension portability agreement was reached between the municipal pension plan and the RCMP pension plan.

The city says RCMP officers who join the Surrey Police Department can take their pensionable service with them and roll it into the civic pension plan. 

The pension issue was a key concern among many RCMP officers, especially those with long time service. The agreement has been months in the making.         Global News has reached out to the Mayor for comment.

Guest: Janet Brown

Global News Senior Reporter

 

Chapter 6

Should the daily prayer at the B.C. Legislature be scrapped?

When the BC Legislature is in session, that’s how Speaker Darryl Plecas begins the proceedings every day: with an invitation to prayer.

And it’s that prayer that has the B.C. Humanist Association calling on members of the public to write to their MLA - because they say the practice is outdated and doesn’t reflect society’s values in 2019.

Here’s an example of the kind of prayers that they’re objecting to.

Just before we came on air today I spoke to Ian Bushfield. He’s the Executive Director of the B.C. Humanist Association. He told me why they’re looking to get these prayers scrapped.

Guest: Ian Bushfield

Executive Director of the B.C. Humanist Association 

 

Chapter 7

New study suggests narcissists have weaker cognitive abilities than they think

A new study from the University of Waterloo examines how narcissistic personality traits impact critical thinking. It’s a fascinating study that looks at the inner workings of the brain of someone who has narcissistic personality traits, and how the personality trait impacts their thought process. 

Shane Littrell is the lead author of the study and is a cognitive PhD student at the University of Waterloo, and I caught up with him to learn more about the study. The first thing he told me is that there are two types of narcissism… 

We often hear about how narcissism affects those around them, but Shane Littrel wanted to find out how narcissism affects people internally and their thought processes. He told me about how he conducted the study… 

As you just heard, people with narcissistic personality traits did poorly on these tests. So what does that mean in regards to critical and reflective thinking? 

Remember when Shane spoke about the two different kinds of narcissists? The grandiose and the vulnerable? Well, Shane said that there was a slight difference between the two when it comes to the outcome of critical and reflective thinking… 

Shane told me that what sets this study apart from other studies on narcissism is that it looks at a pattern of thoughts and not just the outward behaviour. 

Shane has a follow up study which will dig deeper into the thought processes of narcissists. It will look at whether or not narcissists are able to use effective logical reasoning. Pretty fascinating stuff!!

Guest: Claire Allen 

CKNW Contributor

 

Chapter 8

Season 2 of When Life Gives You Parkinson’s launches today

Larry Gifford is a 47 years old husband and dad with a great career and a degenerative brain disorder without a cure.

Join him, his wife Rebecca and their son Henry as they share with you, and co-host Niki Reitmayer, the journey into what it’s like to live and work with the disease.

Season 2 launches today. It’s available now on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

Guest: Larry Gifford

Host, When Life Gives You Parkinson’s

Chapter 1

🔥🔥 Hot question of the day 🔥🔥

✅ @SimiSara980’s 🔥 question of the day 

Each day, the sitting of the BC Legislature begins with a prayer. Research by the BC Humanist Association suggests the prayers are overwhelmingly religious and reform is needed.

Should the daily prayer be scrapped?

Yes, it’s inappropriate.
No, what’s the problem?

 

Chapter 2

Will the legal challenges to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion be allowed to proceed?

The Federal Court of Appeal is to reveal today whether a new set of legal challenges to the Trans Mountain pipeline project can proceed.

The federal government has twice approved a plan to twin an existing pipeline from Alberta's oil patch to the B.C. coast. Last year, the Federal Court of Appeal tore up the original approval, citing both an insufficient environment review and inadequate consultations with Indigenous communities.

The Trudeau Liberals say they fixed both problems and approved the expansion a second time in June. 

Environment groups still say there are not adequate protections for endangered marine species that will be affected by tanker traffic picking up oil from a terminal in suburban Vancouver.

Several First Nations say the federal government came into the most recent discussions having predetermined the outcome.

Guest: Keith Baldrey

Global’s BC Legislative Bureau Chief

 

Chapter 3

How Boris Johnson is losing control of the UK’s House of Commons

An attempt by British lawmakers to stop the country from leaving the European Union without a divorce deal has cleared its first major hurdle.

The House of Commons has voted to approve in principle the bill to block a so-called ``no-deal'' Brexit, sending it on for further debate and another vote later today.

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, says Britain must leave the EU, with or without a deal, by the October 31st deadline.

Guest: Gavan Reilly

Political correspondent for Virgin Media Television in Ireland

 

Chapter 4

Federal court allows half of Trans Mountain pipeline legal challenges to proceed

The Federal Court of Appeal has allowed six of 12 applications to proceed by environmental groups and the City of Vancouver, who are trying to stop the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project.

They are challenging the federal government's second approval of the project, arguing it is not adequately protecting the marine environment in general, and the southern resident killer whale population in particular, from the increased tanker traffic.

Last year, the Trudeau government approved the project, but that was overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal which ruled the government had not adequately consulted with Indigenous communities and had not adequately taken into account the impact on the marine environment in BC.

After more consultation on those issues, the government approved the project a second time in June.

Guest: Margot Venton

Lawyer with the group Ecojustice

 

Chapter 5

Surrey RCMP officers will be able to transfer their pensions if they join the new municipal police force

It was a lingering question for months:  if Surrey moved to a civic police force, would RCMP members pension be impacted.

We now have the answer.

The City of Surrey says an agreement has been formalized that will allow RCMP officers to fully transfer their pension over to a civic police force.

The pension portability agreement was reached between the municipal pension plan and the RCMP pension plan.

The city says RCMP officers who join the Surrey Police Department can take their pensionable service with them and roll it into the civic pension plan. 

The pension issue was a key concern among many RCMP officers, especially those with long time service. The agreement has been months in the making.         Global News has reached out to the Mayor for comment.

Guest: Janet Brown

Global News Senior Reporter

 

Chapter 6

Should the daily prayer at the B.C. Legislature be scrapped?

When the BC Legislature is in session, that’s how Speaker Darryl Plecas begins the proceedings every day: with an invitation to prayer.

And it’s that prayer that has the B.C. Humanist Association calling on members of the public to write to their MLA - because they say the practice is outdated and doesn’t reflect society’s values in 2019.

Here’s an example of the kind of prayers that they’re objecting to.

Just before we came on air today I spoke to Ian Bushfield. He’s the Executive Director of the B.C. Humanist Association. He told me why they’re looking to get these prayers scrapped.

Guest: Ian Bushfield

Executive Director of the B.C. Humanist Association 

 

Chapter 7

New study suggests narcissists have weaker cognitive abilities than they think

A new study from the University of Waterloo examines how narcissistic personality traits impact critical thinking. It’s a fascinating study that looks at the inner workings of the brain of someone who has narcissistic personality traits, and how the personality trait impacts their thought process. 

Shane Littrell is the lead author of the study and is a cognitive PhD student at the University of Waterloo, and I caught up with him to learn more about the study. The first thing he told me is that there are two types of narcissism… 

We often hear about how narcissism affects those around them, but Shane Littrel wanted to find out how narcissism affects people internally and their thought processes. He told me about how he conducted the study… 

As you just heard, people with narcissistic personality traits did poorly on these tests. So what does that mean in regards to critical and reflective thinking? 

Remember when Shane spoke about the two different kinds of narcissists? The grandiose and the vulnerable? Well, Shane said that there was a slight difference between the two when it comes to the outcome of critical and reflective thinking… 

Shane told me that what sets this study apart from other studies on narcissism is that it looks at a pattern of thoughts and not just the outward behaviour. 

Shane has a follow up study which will dig deeper into the thought processes of narcissists. It will look at whether or not narcissists are able to use effective logical reasoning. Pretty fascinating stuff!!

Guest: Claire Allen 

CKNW Contributor

 

Chapter 8

Season 2 of When Life Gives You Parkinson’s launches today

Larry Gifford is a 47 years old husband and dad with a great career and a degenerative brain disorder without a cure.

Join him, his wife Rebecca and their son Henry as they share with you, and co-host Niki Reitmayer, the journey into what it’s like to live and work with the disease.

Season 2 launches today. It’s available now on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

Guest: Larry Gifford

Host, When Life Gives You Parkinson’s