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  • The Next Great Resource War May Not be Over Oil — But Over Water

    The Next Great Resource War May Not be Over Oil — But Over Water
    2025/06/25
    This week journalist and author Peter Annin joins Bill and Ben to explore the geopolitics, climate threats, and cross-border tensions surrounding the Great Lakes Water Basin.

    From the shocking history of water diversions to modern battles over access, privatization, and climate migration, this episode reveals why the next great resource war may not be over oil — but over water.

    Annin, author of The Great Lakes Water Wars, explains why this region could become a global flashpoint — and what’s being done to protect it.

    00:00 - Intro
    02:10 - Meet Peter Annin: Author, Journalist, Water Advocate
    06:40 - What Makes the Great Lakes So Unique (and So Vulnerable)
    10:55 - The Great Lakes Compact: A Deal That Changed Everything
    15:30 - Climate Change, Drought & U.S. Cities Looking North
    19:45 - The Chicago Diversion: Legal or Loophole?
    24:20 - Can the Great Lakes Be Bought, Sold, or Traded?
    28:50 - Why Canada Needs to Watch These Borderline Water Politics
    33:15 - The Role of Indigenous Communities in Water Protection
    36:40 - A Future of Climate Migration: Will People Come for the Lakes?
    40:55 - Final Thoughts
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    49 分
  • Modern Jobs, Real Purpose: Mining’s Pitch to the Next Generation

    Modern Jobs, Real Purpose: Mining’s Pitch to the Next Generation
    2025/06/18
    What if your career could offer purpose, adventure, six months off a year — and a six-figure salary?

    In this episode of the Backroads Bill Podcast, mining advocate Morgan Murphy breaks down the future of work in Ontario’s booming mining industry.

    From underground tours to video campaigns and real talk with youth, she’s on a mission to shift the story — and show that mining is more than just rocks.

    We cover everything from career paths and skilled trades, to women in mining, Indigenous partnerships, environmental impact, and why Gen Z is key to the industry's future.

    00:00 - Intro
    02:05 - Meet Morgan Murphy: Advocate, Storyteller & Tour Leader
    06:30 - Toronto to Timmins
    10:15 - What Youth Don’t Know About Their Phones & the Earth
    14:20 - Skilled Trades vs. University
    17:50 - Earning While Learning: Apprenticeships & 6-Figure Jobs
    21:40 - What Modern Mine Sites Really Look Like
    25:30 - Environmental Monitoring, Safety Culture & Tech Innovation
    29:00 - Mining and Mental Health
    32:15 - Indigenous Partnerships
    36:00 - Women in Mining
    39:30 - Future Pathways
    43:00 - Final Thoughts
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    45 分
  • Planting Kindness: How Trees for Nipissing Is Growing a Greener North Bay

    Planting Kindness: How Trees for Nipissing Is Growing a Greener North Bay
    2025/06/11
    In this special Kindness Week episode of Backroads Bill, we sit down with Peggy Walsh Craig and Cindy Lalande from Trees for Nipissing, a grassroots group that’s transforming the urban landscape — one tree at a time.

    They’re not just planting greenery. They’re pushing for policy change, promoting environmental education, and inspiring residents to rethink the value of trees in a city without a tree bylaw.

    Learn more about Trees for Nipissing at their website: https://trees4nipissing.org/

    00:00 - Intro
    02:05 - Meet Peggy & Cindy: The Roots of Trees for Nipissing
    06:30 - Why Trees Matter More Than You Think
    11:15 - North Bay Has No Tree Bylaw — Here’s Why That’s a Problem
    15:40 - School Plantings, Community Projects & Kindness in Action
    20:25 - The Power of Grassroots Movements in Small Cities
    24:50 - Volunteers, Grants & Making It All Happen
    29:30 - What They’ve Planted So Far (And What’s Next)
    33:45 - Advice for Other Towns: How to Start Planting Change
    37:10 - Outro
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    44 分
  • Heritage in the Rocks: Keeping Cobalt’s Mining History Alive

    Heritage in the Rocks: Keeping Cobalt’s Mining History Alive
    2025/06/04
    In this episode of Backroads Bill, we speak with Maggie Wilson, president of the Cobalt Historical Society, about the incredible past and uncertain future of one of Canada’s most historic mining towns.

    From the silver boom of 1905 to the modern-day fight to preserve headframes, mills, and trails, this is a story of resilience, rust, and remembrance.

    Whether it’s mining students from around the world or tourists walking the Heritage Silver Trail, the legacy of Cobalt lives on — but only if we choose to protect it.


    00:00 - Intro
    02:15 - Who Is Maggie Wilson?
    06:00 - “Ugly on the Eye”: First Impressions of a Mining Town
    09:05 - 1905 Silver Boom: The Discovery That Changed Canada
    13:45 - Separating the Museum from the Historical Society
    17:20 - Building the Heritage Silver Trail (and What’s Left of It)
    22:10 - The Problem With Preservation: Aging Boards & Fewer Volunteers
    26:30 - National Historic Site Status… With No Support
    31:00 - The Empire State Building… Funded by Cobalt’s Silver?!
    34:50 - Historic Photos, Fires, and the Rise of Heritage Tourism
    38:15 - Favorite Stops on the Silver Trail: McKinley Mill & Nipissing Mine
    41:40 - Will Mining Return to Cobalt? A Cyclical Legacy
    45:05 - Ghosts, Poets, and Preserving the Spirit of the Town
    49:00 - Why Younger Generations Need to Pick Up the Torch
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    46 分
  • How a Lost Silo and a 1950s Epidemic Sparked a Remarkable Canadian Novel

    How a Lost Silo and a 1950s Epidemic Sparked a Remarkable Canadian Novel
    2025/05/28
    Author and journalist Christine Fischer Guy joins Backroads Bill to explore the real-life inspiration behind her haunting novel The Umbrella Mender, set during the 1950s tuberculosis outbreak in Moose Factory, Ontario.

    Through in-depth research, remote travel, and family connection, Christine weaves a story that parallels past and present pandemics — from TB to COVID — and invites readers to rethink how we view medicine, memory, and Indigenous history in the North.

    Purchase the Umbrella Mender: https://christinefischerguy.com/the-umbrella-mender/


    00:00 - Intro
    02:33 - Who Is Christine Fischer Guy? Author, Journalist, Yogini
    06:18 - What TB in the 1950s Teaches Us About COVID
    10:45 - Google Earth, Floods & Finally Reaching Moose Factory
    15:10 - Meeting Elders & Uncovering Firsthand Stories
    19:45 - The Umbrella Mender: Why a Settler Nurse Tells the Story
    24:00 - How TB Devastated Northern Indigenous Communities
    28:30 - Writing Indigenous Characters With Sensitivity & Respect
    32:55 - Hazel, Gideon & a French Nickname with Meaning
    36:35 - The Symbolism of the Roofless Silo
    40:10 - Publishing in Canada: The Long Road to Print
    47:05 - A New Novel on the Horizon (Spring 2026 Preview!)
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    42 分
  • Nature Is Holy Too: A Theologian’s Call for Environmental Justice

    Nature Is Holy Too: A Theologian’s Call for Environmental Justice
    2025/05/21
    This week Bill and Ben sit down with Stephen Scharper, University of Toronto professor, theologian, and author of The Green Bible, to explore the deep connections between faith, creation, climate change, and our moral responsibility to the planet.

    From Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si to Indigenous wisdom, eco-spirituality, and the quiet power of “sit spots,” Stephen shares his views on what our focus should be regardless of personal views.

    00:00 - Intro
    02:00 - Meet Stephen Scharper: Eco-Theologian, Professor, Author
    06:00 - Why the New Pope’s Name Matters for Climate Action
    10:45 - Childhood Roots: Playing in Nature, Watching It Disappear
    15:30 - The Green Bible: Reclaiming Earth in Sacred Texts
    20:55 - Nature in the Bible You’ve Probably Never Heard Preached
    26:40 - Book Launch by Campfire: A Northern Ontario First
    31:10 - Always Winning? Why Falling in Love with the Earth Is Radical
    35:00 - How “Sit Spots” Transform the Way Students Think
    39:25 - Earth as Our Only Home — And Why That Matters
    44:00 - What Faith Communities Must Do Now
    48:30 - The Wild North: Where Stephen Feels Most Alive
    52:00 - Outro
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    42 分
  • From Quebec to Alaska by Bike: The Crazy Life of Pierre Beauregard

    From Quebec to Alaska by Bike: The Crazy Life of Pierre Beauregard
    2025/05/14
    In this week's episode, Pierre shares how embraced a lifestyle of biking everywhere and pedaled from Quebec to Alaska and back, all while giving motivational talks across Canada in his 2023 Crazy Tour.

    From Ironman races and desert marathons to sleeping in strangers’ yards and finding joy in every ride, Pierre proves that happiness isn’t a destination — it’s movement.

    Find Pierre's book here: https://pleinairenor.ca


    00:00 - Intro
    01:12 - The “Crazy Tour” to Alaska
    04:08 - How One Marathon in 2006 Changed Everything
    06:54 - Biking to Lake Placid... THEN Doing an Ironman
    09:55 - Why Pierre Gave Up His Car — and Never Looked Back
    13:33 - How He Protects His Body After 70+ Endurance Events
    17:20 - Discovering Northern Ontario on Two Wheels
    20:15 - Speaking in Francophone & First Nations Communities
    23:11 - Riding Through Remote Towns and Sleeping in Strangers’ Yards
    26:59 - The Book: *Always Winning – A Joyful Approach to Challenges*
    29:11 - What Pierre Teaches in His Talks
    31:40 - “Being on a Bike is Being Alive”
    35:34 - How He Trains Without Training
    39:01 - His Next Big Dream: Walking to New York, Sailing to Europe
    42:00 - What It’s Like to Cross the Border on a Bike
    44:33 - Final Thoughts
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    47 分
  • Bill Barilko Scored the Stanley Cup Winner… Then Vanished: Finding the Wreckage of the Infamous Crash

    Bill Barilko Scored the Stanley Cup Winner… Then Vanished: Finding the Wreckage of the Infamous Crash
    2025/05/07
    His body wasn’t found for 11 years. The Leafs didn’t win another cup until it was.This is the story behind one of Canada’s most chilling sports legends — told by the man who helped recover the wreckage, Kevin Vincent.

    From remote northern Ontario bush to Tragically Hip lyrics, from Stanley Cup glory to smuggled gold, this episode dives into the real history behind the myth — and why a movie could be on the way.


    00:00 - Intro: The Goal That Sparked a Legend
    03:00 - The Crash That Changed Hockey History
    06:12 - The Mission to Recover Barilko’s Plane
    10:32 - Trekking Through Muskeg: A Brutal Expedition
    13:15 - Rumors of Smuggled Gold & Holes in the Plane
    14:45 - The Leafs Curse & The Tragically Hip Connection
    16:58 - The Billboard, The Shrine & Timmins Tourism
    19:00 - Why No One’s Made the Movie (Yet)
    23:14 - Should Barilko Be in the Hall of Fame?
    25:00 - Where’s the Puck? The Amazing Story of Its Discovery
    28:00 - Gold Smuggling & Hockey Sticks with Secrets
    32:00 - Carrying the Legacy: Family, Fans, and the Future
    36:00 - A Children’s Book, A Screenplay & A 75-Year Wait
    40:52 - What Happens Next for Barilko’s Story?

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    44 分