The payday loan industry – which features very high interest rates and minimal payback terms – has long been criticized for preying on those who can least afford it. Over the past decade there has been a lot of growth in this sector of Canada’s financial system. On the feature interview today, we speak with Brian Dijkema from the Cardus Foundation, about a research project they’re embarking on entitled, “Banking on the Margins.” This study aims to find community-based alternatives for people who need financial assistance. 

In the news: 

The federal government has promised to reinstate the so-called “Court Challenges Program” which was defunded by the Harper government in September of 2006. The program has always been openly hostile towards organizations looking to defend “traditional” positions such as the sanctity of life or heterosexual marriage. Diane Watts with REAL Women of Canada in on the program this week, and she’s not particularly optimistic that the new iteration of the program will be any better. 

With the new Trudeau government there is concern that Bill C-36 – the new Prostitution law that was enacted last year – will be up for debate again. The new law has been criticized for compromising the safety of sex-trade workers, claiming that legalizing the industry would be a better option. The new Minister of Justice, Jody Wilson-Raybould, told MacLean’s Magazine last week that “the safety of the workers is fundamentally important” in the coming review of the law.  We talk to Julia Beazley, a policy analyst with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. She argues Bill C-36  is actually built on the idea that men should not have an intrinsic right to pay for sex, and that any move toward legalization of prostitution would perpetuate misogynistic attitudes.

Lastly, a very brief, poignant comment about the Paris terrorist attack taken from Franklin Graham’s Facebook page.  (If you want to read it for yourself, you’ll have to scroll down to find the comment we reference – it was posted on the Saturday morning after the attacks.)