The 519 Podcast

The old saying is that it is the world's oldest profession. 
 
But most women's advocates will tell you, it's not a profession at all.  
It's something that many women are forced into either by pimps and traffickers, or by circumstances that are often beyond their control. Things like extreme poverty, addiction, or mental health issues. 
 
Whatever the reason a woman ends up in the sex trade, there is one truth that stands above all others. 
 
Sex trafficking is driven by one thing. 
 
Demand. 
 
The demand from men to be able to buy sexual services for money. 
 
That's the focus of the third and final episode in our series Trafficking 401, hosted by Craig Needles. 

It's often said that no young girl dreams of growing up to work in the sex trade. It's certainly not something any parent would want their child to do when they get older. 
But sadly, scores of young women in this country are lured into it. And once they get in, it is very hard to get out. 
One of those women is "Natalie." In part two of our series, Trafficking 401, host Craig Needles speaks with "Natalie" about her experiences being sex trafficked. 

It is an undeniable part of our region's reality. Sex trafficking is happening here, and it's far worse than most people probably think. Young women, controlled by pimps, are being trafficking along the 401/402 corridor and forced to sell their bodies to men in hotel rooms in Windsor, London, Sarnia, and elsewhere.  
On this episode of the Blackburn News Podcast, we present the first part of a three-part series of sex trafficking in southwestern Ontario, called Trafficking 401. 
In later parts, we'll hear from survivors of sex trafficking and a woman who runs a so-called "John School" for men who've been busted in prostitution stings. 
In this first episode, host Craig Needles talked to police and the head of the London Abused Womens Centre about why this region seems to be such a magnet for traffickers. 

Five years after police broke up a dog fighting ring in Tilbury, Ontario, we check in on where some of the seized dogs are now and how they were rehabilitated to the point where they could be adopted. This episode of the Blackburn News Podcast is hosted by Hayley Cheng. 

In November of 2015, when asked why his cabinet was 50% female, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, "Because it's 2015." A little over five years later, why are those in the halls of power still overwhelmingly male and white? Host Craig Needles examines that question with former London city councillor Cheryl Miller, Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky, and political insider Shobhita Sharma. 

Have you noticed your butter isn't as soft as it used to be, even at room temperature? In Episode 4, host Craig Needles takes a look at #buttergate with Sylvain Charlesbois of Dalhousie University and Daniel Lefebvre, Chief Operating Officer of Lactanet. 

In this second of a two part episode, host Craig Needles examines homelessness in London with Craig Cooper, manager of homelessness prevention with the City of London, and Dr. Jodi Hall, co-founder of Safe Space London. 

In the first of a two episode series on homelessness, host Craig Needles speaks with London Mayor Ed Holder about how the city achieved the "functional eradication" of homelessness among veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces, and how London and other cities can do the same for other groups such as Indigenous people, people with addictions, and people with mental health challenges. 

In this first episode of The Blackburn News Podcast, host Craig Needles examines the reasons why some people are not willing to follow COVID-19 guidelines, such as mask wearing and avoiding social gatherings.