While the Liberal Party celebrated winning its fourth mandate in a row in the latest federal election, thousands of Albertans spent the night calling for a referendum on separatism. This week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith addressed growing frustrations in her province and shared her demands of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new federal government.

This isn’t the first time separatism has been considered in Western Canada. But now, Alberta may soon get to vote on the question of separation.

The Globe’s Carrie Tait joins the show from Edmonton. She’ll make sense of ongoing Western discontent, how Danielle Smith is responding and where the movement may be headed.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team are currently on trial for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room seven years ago. Each of the accused players has pleaded not guilty.

The complainant – publicly known as E.M. – has told the jury her version of events and now is under cross-examination by the players’ defence lawyers.

Globe reporter Robyn Doolittle has been reporting from the courthouse from London, Ont. She recaps what the jury has been told so far.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Prime Minister Mark Carney met with U.S. President Donald Trump face-to-face in Washington, D.C. for the first time on Tuesday. Tensions between the two leaders’ nations are at a historic high: a trade war, escalating tariffs and threats against Canada’s sovereignty have all been major issues since Trump’s re-election. For many Canadians, the central question in the recent federal election was how the next prime minister would handle U.S. aggression. Carney is now facing that reality.

Doug Saunders, The Globe’s international affairs columnist, joins The Decibel to analyze the Carney-Trump meeting and what it signals about the Canada–U.S. relationship now.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

The U.S. government is ramping up its efforts to deport immigrants. On Monday, the Trump administration announced a new policy offering anyone illegally in the U.S. $1,000 and a flight to leave the country. And on Sunday, President Donald Trump didn’t commit to upholding the right to due process for citizens and non-citizens alike.

Sara Mojtehedzadeh is an investigative reporter with The Globe, and she’s been covering Trump’s crackdown on immigration. She’ll explain the rise in detentions along the Canada–U.S. border, the impact of the Trump administration’s policies on asylum claims, and what it could mean for immigration into Canada.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Problem gambling is a real issue in Canada – where reporting shows young people having even higher rates than adults. The increasing monetization of games, especially online, often uses similar mechanics to gambling, despite it being illegal for youth to gamble in Canada. And some experts say these apps and games are reinforcing feelings of risk and reward.

Dr. Loredana Marchica is a pediatric psychologist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital and a psychiatrist at Pathways Psychology Clinic. Her research focuses on gambling among young people. She’ll tell us how the line between gaming and gambling is becoming blurred – and how to tell it’s become a problem.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

At 18 years old, Andean Medjedovic was a math prodigy, finishing his master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Waterloo before most young Canadians can legally drink. Medjedovic was involved in cryptocurrency trading – and according to the U.S. Department of Justice – engaged in “cryptocurrency hacking schemes” that allegedly netted him US$65-million in digital tokens. Now, he’s on the lam.

Alexandra Posadzki, The Globe’s financial and cybercrime reporter, is on the show to talk about how Medjedovic allegedly pulled off the trades, the cases against him, and how the controversial philosophy of “Code is Law” in the world of decentralized finance plays into his story.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Now that the election is over, we’re bringing you another edition of Campaign Call, The Decibel’s weekly election panel that makes sense of the major issues.

Where does Pierre Poilievre go from here without a seat in the House of Commons? What kind of Prime Minister will Mark Carney be and how will he actually handle Trump? How do the NDP rebuild?

Globe columnists Robyn Urback, Andrew Coyne and Gary Mason are on the show to discuss the path ahead for the leaders and their parties.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu festival was supposed to be a celebration of Filipino culture and traditions. Instead, it became a scene of horror on Saturday, after a man accused of driving an SUV into a crowd, killed 11 people and injured dozens more. Police say the youngest victim was five years old; the oldest was 65. The accused has been charged with eight counts of murder.

Globe national reporter Nancy Macdonald, based in Vancouver, was on scene on the night of the attack. She brings us stories of eyewitnesses, what we’ve learned about the victims and the suspect and how communities are reeling after one of the darkest days in Vancouver’s history.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com