Francesca Fionda

Author Archives

• ‘Any spark could set it off’: An in-depth look at the dangers of coal mining

  Gordie Peckham has spent over two decades, thousands of feet below the earth, in the coal pits of Canada. It’s a risky job, where one small spark can have tragic consequences.

  Canada

  Apr 22, 2016
• Official linked to U.S. mine disaster resigns from Cape Breton’s Donkin mine project

  A top official, helping to open the new Donkin coal mine in Cape Breton, has resigned after media raised questions regarding his involvement in a U.S. mining disaster.

  Investigations

  Apr 18, 2016
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• Detained abroad: Are Canadians’ human rights protected?

  Canadians may think their human rights are protected when travelling overseas, but the law is opaque when it comes to the federal government's responsibilities to its citizens detained abroad.

  Canada

  Mar 18, 2016
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• 10 years later, family of Canadian in Chinese prison still looking for answers

  It's been 10 years since a Canadian citizen was arrested and eventually sentenced to life in prison in China on widely condemned terrorism charges, and his wife and four young boys are still searching for answers.

  Canada

  Mar 17, 2016
• The biggest Ponzi schemes: Stanford vs Madoff

  Robert Allen Stanford’s $7.2-billion fraud is known as the second-biggest Ponzi scheme in North American history when compared to Bernie Madoff’s $65-billion scam. But Madoff’s billions were mostly fictional, and in terms of victim-investors and lavish lifestyles, Stanford is - by far - the biggest.

  Crime

  Jan 30, 2016
• Allen Stanford’s house of cards: How TD banked the 2nd-largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history

  Allen Stanford’s con was epic. He was responsible for the second biggest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history outdone only by Bernie Madoff.

  Canada

  Jan 29, 2016
• Kidnapping victim’s family speaks out for the first time

  When Zachary Miller was 10 years old he was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by one of Canada’s most notorious pedophiles, Peter Whitmore.

  Jan 23, 2016
• Following the path of a sexual offender

  More than 1,400 adults were found guilty of sexual offences against children in 2013-14, according to numbers provided by Statistics Canada’s Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Integrated Criminal Court Survey.

  Canada

  Jan 21, 2016
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• Convicted pedophile Peter Whitmore’s criminal history full of red flags and warnings

  One of Canada’s most notorious pedophiles, Peter Whitmore, was released early three times over his criminal history despite a pattern of re-offending and sexual deviancy, documents show.

  Canada

  Jan 20, 2016
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• INTERACTIVE: The hidden cost of abandoned oil and gas wells in Alberta

  There are over 50,000 abandoned well sites in Alberta, no longer in production, that need to be restored and cleaned up according to 2014 numbers provided by Alberta Environment and Parks.

  Canada

  Oct 30, 2015
• INFOGRAPHIC: Alberta’s inactive, abandoned oil and gas well problem

  16x9 calculated there are approximately 22 million metres of inactive well infrastructure buried in Alberta. That’s nearly enough to stretch all the way to the other side of the Earth and back.

  Oct 29, 2015
• Map: Alberta littered with inactive oil and gas wells

  Over 400,000 oil and gas wells have been drilled across Alberta. 16x9 mapped out all the wells using data from the Alberta Energy Regulator.

  Canada

  Oct 28, 2015
• When the oil stops: 16×9 takes a closer look at old wells in Canada

  The relationship between landowner and oil company is an old one. But what happens when an oil company goes bankrupt?

  Canada

  Oct 27, 2015
• Controversial guardrail system installed on roads across Canada

  Safety critics are calling on North American transportation authorities to do a more rigorous review of a controversial guardrail system that lines highways across Canada and the U.S.

  Canada

  Oct 22, 2015
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• Guardrail safety questioned after critics and accident victims raise serious concerns

  We hardly notice them when we're driving – guardrails along the side of the highway. They’re easy to overlook when they're doing their job but when they don't work, some say the consequences can be deadly.

  Investigations

  Oct 20, 2015
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• Ontario announces new rules restricting pesticides linked to bee deaths

  Ontario’s farmers will have to reduce their use of a widespread pesticides linked to bee deaths by 80 per cent in the next two years, according to new final rules issued today by Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.

  Environment

  Jun 9, 2015
• Senate Committee asks feds not to delay results of pesticide re-evaluation

  Senators, part of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, are asking the federal government to finish their re-evaluation of neonicotinoids pesticides. Neonics are widely suspected of contributing to bee losses around the world.

  Canada

  May 27, 2015
• Banning neonics will have smaller impact on agriculture than industry estimates: leaked draft report

  Banning neonics will have a minimal effect on corn and soybean yields, an internal federal government draft report shows.

  Canada

  May 21, 2015
• Proposed ban of suspected bee killer sets off massive fight in rural Ontario

  Bees in Ontario have been dying in record numbers, close to 60 per cent last winter alone.

  Canada

  Apr 17, 2015
• Getting the facts on honey production

  Honey bees in Ontario are dying in record numbers and the provincial government says a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids is partly to blame.

  Canada

  Apr 17, 2015
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• Critics challenge Ebola respiratory protection

  Some experts say it’s “biologically possible” for the Ebola virus to spread through small droplets.

  Jan 23, 2015
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• Controversy surrounds respirator used for protection against asbestos

  The disposable respirator is a simple enough device—a cheap, easy to use mask designed to keep dust out of the lungs. But over the years, critics of that simple respirator have raised serious questions. They say some masks didn’t go far enough to protect workers against deadly dust, like asbestos.

  Investigations

  Jan 21, 2015
• TIMELINE: Yellowknife’s Giant Mine

  The lure of gold helped build the fledgling northern community of Yellowknife when the Giant Mine site opened in 1948, but it came at a heavy cost.

  Nov 20, 2014
• Is there a contaminated site near you?

  Yellowknife's Giant Mine is just one of more than 22,000 contaminated sites owned by the federal government in Canada.

  Canada

  Nov 19, 2014
• Toxic dust buried under Yellowknife’s ‘Giant Mine’ to cost taxpayers $900M

  The gold extraction process used at Giant Mine created a highly toxic by-product. Today, there is an almost unfathomable amount of toxic dust still buried underneath the site.

  Canada

  Nov 18, 2014