The Ben Mulroney Show - Ben finds out the reason 20% of Children in Canada are Overweight or Obese

Episode Date: February 5, 2025

Guests and Topics: -Canadian preschoolers get nearly half their calories from ultra-processed foods. 20% of them are overweight or Obese by Age 5 with Guest: Dr. Dina Kulik, Pediatrician, Founder and director of Kidcrew medical -A historical look at Viola Desmond and George Dixon with Guest: Craig Baird, Host of Canadian History Ehx -Say hello to the superfakes: Dupes of luxury goods are the new hot item with Guest: Bernadette Morra, Luxury lifestyle writer, former editor-in-chief of Fashion magazine -Helping those with Criminal records contribute to society again with their own business opportunity with Guest: Emily O’Brien, CEO and founder of Comeback Snacks -Helping those with Criminal records contribute to society again with their own business opportunity with Guest: Lucy Cullen, Business Consultant & Serial Entrepreneur If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Canadian preschoolers are getting nearly half their calories from ultra-processed foods and it's putting them at risk of obesity. Now ultra processed foods that includes sweetened breakfast cereal, frozen meals, fast food, chips and candy. I mean, I think I had all of those things yesterday. And we're going to talk about what that means in a moment with our guest, Dr. Dina Kulik, pediatrician and founder and director of Kid Crew Medical. Doctor, thank you so much for being here. You're very welcome. with our guest, Dr. Dina Kulik, pediatrician and founder and director of Kid Crew Medical.

Doctor, thank you so much for being here. You're very welcome. So, I mean, I don't think I'm surprised that ultra processed food plays a role in our lives. But the fact that, you know, in those formative years where habits are made, kids are being fed far more ultra processed food than they probably should. That is absolutely true. Both adults and children alike are eating a lot more of these foods in their diet. They're making up a bigger percentage of their diet from breakfast till dinner, snacks included. And it can lead absolutely to many health issues, including obesity, high blood pressure, type two diabetes, et cetera. You know, in the past few years, we've been, especially people who look like me, have been asked to acknowledge our privilege.

And to the point that I'm just about done with it. But in that, now that that's part of our vernacular, I wonder whether simply telling someone you shouldn't eat those foods doesn't acknowledge the fact that they might not have the ability or the resources to go buy fresh produce and to cook fresh meals and to do all of the things to set their child up for a healthy, successful life. I'm not acknowledging my privilege when I say, oh, I can make a salad or I live close to a grocery store.

Is that part of it? Yeah. I can make a salad or I live close to a grocery store. You know, is that part of it? Yeah, I think that has a big role to play, but not exclusively. For sure, if people have less access to the grocery store, if foods that are highly processed that have these unhealthy fats and hydrogenated oils and these kinds of unhealthy products,

if they are cheaper, if they are more accessible, then it is going to be easier for a family who can't necessarily afford to buy the fruits and vegetables as you say, or they're not close to a grocery store and shopping at the convenience store or a dollar store is more accessible to them. Certainly there is going to be a divide. However, there are many, many higher SES populations that are also suffering from obesity epidemic and eating

more of these foods. To your point, you ate all those foods yesterday. Many, uh, many people from, you know, around Canada, the U S all around the world, particularly the Western, you know, areas are filling more and more of their diet, more and more of their calories are coming from these ultra processed foods. So when I mentioned it off the top, you said, you know, that it's not exclusively because of those things. So what other factors are at play here?

They are delicious, these foods. They are cheap, they are accessible, and they're made by companies who spend an awful lot of time on research and development to make these foods quite addictive. The sugars that are added in to these foods, the emulsifiers, the flavoring, they make them such that they're very difficult to stop eating and there becomes a bit of an addiction to it. Yeah. You know, I say to families all the time that like salad doesn't taste delicious.

You can make a salad taste as delicious as you possibly can, but it's certainly, you know, a vegetable, let's say broccoli, is not going to taste the same as a donut. A donut is going gonna be more delicious to the vast majority of the population. But broccoli has a role to play in our diets, right? That's what I teach my kids. I'm not gonna pretend that the cookie or the donut or the breakfast cereal isn't delicious, it is.

But we have to make sure that these things are a smaller part of the diet, especially as we're seeing these ginormous rises and childhood obesity, which leads to teen obesity, which leads to adult obesity and all the health concerns that go along with it. You know, I got to wonder, and I like to go back to the root causes of things,

because if you can understand why things happen, then there might be a way to fix it moving forward. And I go back to the pandemic being the source of a lot of things that ALS, later on the show we're gonna be talking about, the issues of alcohol that a lot of people developed during the pandemic. But we were starving for positive reinforcement,

for anything that gave us that rush. We weren't going out, we weren't seeing our friends, we weren't going to restaurants and tasting that delicious food. And so we would go, we would, we would, we would reach for the thing that gave us some type of joy, whether that's chips, or cheesecake, or any type of ultra processed food, it was there for us. It was there to make us happy in that small way.

And, and I've got to wonder whether that was the foundation for some people of these bad habits. Sure, you get a dopamine hit when you taste something delicious. It's meant to, it's designed to give you that same hit, just like pulling down on the slot machine handle or taking a hit of cocaine. These foods are addictive specimens and we should treat them as such.

The problem is when they're so accessible, when they're in kids' schools, when they're at the breakfast table, foods are addictive specimens and we should treat them as such. The problem is when they're so accessible, when they're in kids schools, when they're at the breakfast table, when kids are being exposed to such a crazy amount of advertising on social media, on YouTube, and they see these foods constantly. And then their parents are reaching for it too, because they are so addictive and they are so delicious and they're so readily available, it becomes really challenging

to remove these foods from our lives. And they're taking up an increasing amount of what we see on store shelves. Things like high fructose corn syrup is in so many products, right? It could be in salad dressings. You think you're eating this healthy salad, well, now you're covering it

in these very addictive substances that are gonna make you crave more sugar. They're gonna make you crave more fat, even when you're trying it in these very addictive substances that are going to make you crave more sugar. They're going to make you crave more fat, even when you're trying to eat cleanly. So we have to really become aware of all these various additives in our food, which are increasingly being added to food because companies know they're addictive and they want to, you know, they have to compete with the other companies that are also putting ingredients into their food.

So it becomes very challenging. I'm speaking with Dr. Dina Kulik, pediatrician. We're talking about the obesity epidemic and how it may possibly be linked to the amount of ultra processed foods that we're eating. Doctor, is the answer then, if your kids have never tasted McDonald's, to prevent them from tasting McDonald's as long as possible? I'm not, I'm not laying this all at the feet of McDonald's, but or does that make it the all at the feet of McDonald's, or does that make it the forbidden fruit and because of the advertising they're going to find it one way or another? It's a great question. I have to say I have four children. I don't know they've had much McDonald's before, maybe an occasional ice cream cone or something. I think that maybe is part of it. So to your point, if you never see it, sometimes those are the kids that go

to birthday parties and gorge on foods that they don't get exposed to. I think there's a role for processed foods. I eat some, you eat some, you know, I think we have to be realistic, right? I might have a pop once in a while, or I might have, you know, I, I think like my kids, I send them with a treat every day to school, a treat. They also get fruits and veg, they get a healthy, you know, entree. And at home we're focusing on healthful foods as well, but they might also get a treat after dinner.

Being mindful that it's a treat and it's a small part of their overall diet, I think will help curb that need to overindulge because you're not restricting it a hundred percent, but you're still recognizing that again, it's a small part of their diet. And it really should be, um, after eating the bulk of healthful food, healthy fibers, healthy fat, healthy protein, versus taking up the space of those more healthful items in our diet. I remember during the pandemic, my kids tried to get me to start adding dessert to breakfast. We had dinner and then every now and then we had lunch and then they're like, hey, we should really have it. We should be consistent, Dad. And I was like, things are

getting out of control. We need... The problem is that a lot of main meals for breakfast are actually dessert foods, if you will, if you look at the sugar content. Oh yeah! Cereals or waffles or pancakes that are as much sugar as sometimes a can of Coke, which most people won't readily offer their children for breakfast, but those kids are eating the very high sugar, cereals or yogurts or other things that people may think of as healthful

because they don't realize how much sugar and processed ingredients are in those foods. Yeah, it took me almost 50 years to appreciate that I could not eat all those things that I know I love every single day, but it makes me appreciate them more when I have them now. So hopefully we can get younger people to appreciate what it took this radio host so many years to get to. Dr. Dina Kulik, thank you so much for being here. I hope to talk to you again soon. Sounds good, thank you.

Well this is the regular segment every week where we highlight Canadian history. As you know, I'm a big history fan and I don't feel that we do enough to celebrate that history in this country. So we're doing our part with the Ben Mulroney show and we're welcoming back to the show Craig Baird, the host of Canadian History X. Craig, great to talk to you today. Thanks for having me. Well today we're getting a double dose and it's Black History Month. So we're focusing on the contributions of Black Canadians to our history. And we're going to start with probably somebody who, she was under the radar for a very long time.

And now it feels like she is getting her just due and that's Viola Desmond. Yeah, absolutely. She was definitely under the radar for decades and decades. I mean, everybody knew who Rosa Parks was, but nobody knew who Viola Desmond was. And then suddenly, you know, through a lot of work by her sister in the late 2000s, suddenly, you know, Viola Desmond started to appear everywhere and is now on our $10 bill. Yeah.

And for the longest time she was called Canada's Rosa Parks, but that does a disservice to her because she predated Rosa Parks. Absolutely, by about nine years actually. Yeah. If anything Rosa Parks is the US's Viola Desmond. Exactly, and this took place in Nova Scotia in New Glasgow. 1946 she went to see a movie. Why don't you tell us a story? Yeah, so Viola Desmond is actually, you know, she was a very successful beautician, so she actually actually, you know, she was a very successful beautician. So she actually owned her own salon. She trained other people. She had her own line

of beauty products and she was actually traveling up the coast of Nova Scotia and her car started to make some weird noises. So she pulled into new Glasgow and was getting her car repaired. The mechanic said it was going to be a few hours. So she thought, I'll just go see a movie. And she walked into the Roseland theater and she bought tickets and they gave her a ticket for the balcony. But because she was near sighted, she decided to sit in the four seats. And as soon as she sat down, they told her that you had to go to the balcony. So she thought there was just a mix up and she went and she tried to exchange her seats and was told that we don't sell tickets to you people for the floor. And that's because the Roseland Theatre was segregated.

And we don't really think too much about segregation in Canada because we didn't have like an official policy of segregation. It was kind of an underground, it depended on where you were, you know, the businesses and such. And the Roseland was one such place. And so she was actually dragged out and charged with tax evasion of all things for sitting on the floor seats. Right. Because there was a cost difference, right? And if there's a cost difference, there's a, there's a tax difference.

That is one of the most petty uses of, of the legal system, I could possibly imagine. And she was convicted, but then her, and then she appealed and that failed. I mean, that to me is, is a, an to me is even like it's sadness on top of tragedy. Absolutely, yes. She was convicted for the one cent difference in tax, which she offered to pay the tax difference. She was a very successful business person. They wouldn't accept that. She was charged $26 in order to pay her fine for sitting in the floor seats and she did appeal that her

lawyer was a white lawyer named Frederick Bissette and he really did try and get her appeal to go through and when he lost that case he actually refused to take her money and that money went to help other cases of racial injustice in Nova Scotia but yeah she was unsuccessful in getting that appeal put through and it was decades actually well after But yeah, she was unsuccessful in getting that appeal put through and it was decades actually, well after her death before she was finally, you know, exonerated of that. What, what were the, what's, what's her legacy in Canada? I think her legacy is she really not only kind of started a civil rights movement in Canada, but kind of, you know, put a spotlight on the fact that Canada had this underground type of

racism. It wasn't in your face like the United States in many ways. There's a famous case in the 1930s of a man who went to have a beer at the Montreal Forum and he was a black man and he was told that, you know, we don't serve you people. And that case went to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court actually said that it was the black man's fault for you know being thrown out because he kept insisting on trying to get a beer in a bar of all places you know it's kind of wild. Crazy. Now we've got a second story to share and this one I think will be new to more of our listeners and that this is the story of George Dixon. Let's listen to a little bit of your show. is the story of George Dixon. Let's listen to a little bit of your show. On December 21st, George Dixon went up against Eugene Hornbacher. For Bostons, this was an important matchup. His opponent was from their hated rival, New York City. Boston fans put hundreds of dollars on George Dixon to win. And he would make it rain, the Fall River Globe wrote.

Hornbacher was hit so hard that he was still groggy at the call of time and it was easily to be seen that the fight was almost over. And then Dixon danced around the ring, repeatedly punched his opponent and one minute into the second round, Hornbacher was knocked out. The entire fight lasted only 5 minutes. And with that knockout, Dixon became the American 115-pound champion and he was just getting started. A month and a half later, George Dixon would be in the ring for a marathon match. On February 7, 1890, in Boston, he faced Cal McCarthy, who was the first teenage title

holder when he won the 110-pound title in 1887 at 18 years of age. His bout against George lasted 70. Yes, 70 rounds. For four hours and 37 minutes, Dixon and McCarthy bobbed and weaved while throwing punches at each other. Now think back to Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson's event from late 2024. That fight was 8 rounds of 2 minutes each. Do you think Paul or Tyson would have lasted 70 rounds and nearly 5 hours in the ring? Not a chance. The Ottawa Journal wrote,

McCarthy forced Dixon upon the ropes many times, but the referee allowed no foul. McCarthy's left eye was closed and his mouth and face swollen, but Dixon showed only a little swelling under the left eye. I'm sorry, we gotta talk about this for a second. 70 rounds. This was a sanctioned event? Yeah, his boxing matches actually typically went longer because people enjoyed his boxing so much, but 70 rounds, almost five hours of boxing

between these two individuals, which is unbelievable. I actually had to double check to make sure that was actually the case. I looked at the old newspapers and it was actually confirmed. Okay, so let's go over some of the broad strokes of this champion that far too, far few people know about. So George Dixon, his career spanned from the 1880s into the early 1900s, born in Nova Scotia, so we're getting double dip of Nova Scotia today.

And he was the first black world champion in any sport. Yeah, absolutely, and also the first Canadian born boxing champion and also the first, uh, boxer to actually win two different titles in two different weight classes. So he was a featherweight champion and then a bantamweight champion. And yeah, he was what probably arguably the best boxer of his time and he was a black. So he still did fight against white boxers but typically against black boxers but one thing he did do was he actually developed the idea of shadow boxing which was kind of unheard of at the time and it is now

essentially a major part of training for boxing. You know if this were if he had been American there would have been five movies about him already and everybody would know at least some version of the story. Not to say that just because they make a movie, people know the history of that person. But yeah, that's, you know, this is, this is, this is why I love your show. It allows us to learn about these people that otherwise would go unnoticed. And I wish we could say that his story ended well, but he died in poverty and alcoholism in 2006. In 1906, I'm sorry.

Yeah, yeah. He, after one of his last fights, his career really started to decline at that point. And he kind of, yeah, he was living on the streets. He made $250,000 over the course of his career, which is a massive amount for that time. But over time, you know, the money started to disappear and he was living on the streets of New York City. His fans tried to get him back on his feet, but it was too late. He, he actually died in the alcohol ward of Bellevue hospital in January 6, 1908. But then his fans actually held a charity boxing tournament to kind of pay for the hospital costs for his family and everything. And, and now he's definitely getting his due, I think. George Dixon, my goodness, he sounds,

I wish I could have seen him, but 70 rounds, 70 rounds. Hey, I wanna thank you so much for joining us again. Craig Baird, the host of Canadian History X. Remind us if people want to hear more stories like this and wanna learn more about their Canadian history, how can they find Canadian History X? You can find Canadian History X on all podcast platforms or listen on your local chorus station every weekend. Just check the schedule.

And what are some other topics that are going to be coming up in the near future? I'm going to be talking about Rose Fortune and Richard Pierpoint who are two other very famous black Canadians from our past who left a major mark on Canada. So there are two episodes that are coming up. Craig Baird, always appreciate you. Thanks so much. Thank you. TD Direct Investing offers live support.

So whether you're a newbie or a seasoned pro, you can make your investing steps count. And if you're like me and think a TFSA stands for Total Fund Savings Adventure, maybe reach out to TD direct investing. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. You know, when my career started, I was shot out of a cannon. I went from being on a tiny little show to hosting Canadian Idol in very short order. And it didn't take long for me to try to chase, chase the appearance of success. I was already successful. But but I was chasing what what I thought I need to look like to be

successful spending a lot of money as I mean, if you're 20, and you're in your 20s, and all of a sudden, you got a big paycheck, you're gonna spend a lot of money and my money disappeared. And my dad taught me to stop coveting that which I do not have. And that which is not mine. And there was something very liberating to just not compare myself to other people anymore. And to chase my version of success.

And now, I mean, even I had the money today, which I don't, thanks to the economy and certain decisions that have been made at various levels of government, I wouldn't even I had the money today, which I don't, thanks to the economy and certain decisions that have been made at various levels of government, I wouldn't be able to chase that success or that appearance of success anyway. And so we're living in a time where it has never been easier to see

what we think success looks like, the trappings of that success. And yet we have less and less money and less and less disposable income. And I believe that those are two contributing factors to the conversation we're going to have right now. But the rise of super fakes, dupes as they're called, things that look exactly like the expensive, cheap versions of the most expensive things. And so we're joined now by someone who

has highlighted this in the Globe and Mail Bernadette Mora. She's a luxury lifestyle writer, former editor in chief of Fashion Magazine, covering fashion both here and abroad for years. Bernadette, welcome to the Ben Mulroney Show. Thanks, Ben. It's great to talk to you. I haven't seen you at the gym in a long time, but that's another conversation. That gym's too expensive for me. I got to work out in smaller places where I can get them for free. But Bernadette, no but seriously, that's IATRIB. Social media

and and so people want to look like they are successful but they don't have the money to buy the Louis Vuitton bags or the $2,000 shirts or the things that are emblazoned with the luxury logos. And so we're seeing the rise of really detailed fakes that look just like the real thing. It's true. It's really extraordinary what's gone on with counterfeits. So there's two, we should make a distinction here between the counterfeits,

which actually bear the logo of the brand. So the Louis Vuitton LV or the Chanel CCs and dupes, which are cheaper replicas, but don't necessarily bear the logo. But both of them are exploding. Now, counterfeits have been around for a long, long time, but it used to be that you would have to go to Canal Street in New York or you would be invited to some little secret little house party where a guy came with a big duffel bag and out came the fake Louise and Chanel. But today you can just get them a click away.

So the availability has made the counterfeits very, very popular. But on the other hand, there's this whole dupe culture too. And the dupes are also widely available, but it's younger people who don't necessarily carry a right. They want the trappings and they want that social flex. And so a lot of what's driving this, which is different from your day, is social media. And they see other people with the same thing. They want to be part of that tribe, part of that club. They want to feel included. And so they may go for the counterfeit or they may go for the dupe. But both of them are having a huge, huge impact. And another concern is that younger people aren't necessarily concerned with the ethical problems associated

with making these products at a cheap price. There have been investigations about really problematic labor practices and even Dior was caught up in one of the investigations and has admitted that it needs to do more to police its manufacturing. you know, a high-end sneaker company that operated in China. And they had the factory open for 12 hours a day, and they would make their sneakers, and then they would turn everything off, and everyone would leave. And then the Chinese government authorized a whole other group of laborers to come in and turn the machines back on and make exactly the same footwear that would then be sold as super fakes?

Well, and there are photographs circulating on social media of people sleeping beside their sewing machines in the factories where if an order comes in, then they wake everybody up and you have to start sewing. So that is really, really an unfortunate part of it. But the other thing is the demand is there. So if the demand is there from people who want these things, then the supply of course is going to keep churning them out. Bernadette, is this affecting the bottom line of these high-end brands? Because I gotta think,

if there's somebody who is looking to buy a super fake that costs $300 of a Dior bag, it's because there is no way on God's green earth they can afford the $3,500 version. In other words, I don't know that that person would ever be in the ecosystem where they could afford that thing. So are is this is this a separate problem or is this eating into their bottom line?

Well, what's eating into their bottom line is that they've raised the prices so high to absurd levels. And so people are just are even wealthy people are starting to say, Hey, I'm, I'm not paying that for this. It's not worth it. They know from these experts, letter goods makers who are tearing bags apart on Tik Tok and explaining, Oh, this bag that costs $3,000, it actually costs $50 to make. So customers have become very savvy and that had a big impact. But another shift that's happened is that in our day

we would save up for something and it would be special or we would receive it for a birthday or a graduation or some other getting a job promotion we would reward ourselves or someone would give it to us as a gift. And in today's social media world, people want that immediate, that item now. They wanna be able to post it today. And there's this never ending thirst and hunger to show that social flex.

And so that's another thing that is driving the appetite for dupes and for super fakes. And another knock on effect is, a lot of a lot of people, they, they'll wear these things, they'll buy these things. And then at some point, it's, it's, they want to, they want to resell it to a consignment shop. And that used to be par for the course, you know, you have someone come into your house and they say, Oh, I'll take this, this, this and this. But now there's the fear that they're buying a knockoff. Well, the resale companies are very, very careful about not selling counterfeit. Yeah.

And there's very sophisticated means now. There's a big company, one of the biggest, called Entropy, which uses, has proprietary technology where they take millions of data points of an item to ensure that it is authentic, and then they will give a certificate of authentication. And the RealReal has its own technology as well to ensure that what they are selling is real because they don't want to be caught selling counterfeits. Well, I'm glad that you've made the distinction

between Superfakes and dupes because I love the website dup.com, which for people listening, and this is not an ad, but if there's, you know, an Eames chair, for example, which is in the thousands of dollars, you know, that mid-century modern chair that you see that pops up in all these, on TV all the time, you know, very hard to get your hands on,

and if you do, it's very expensive, but there are plenty of companies that make chairs that look kinda like an Eames chair, and you can get it for far cheaper and you just have to drag and drop a picture of a Neem's chair and it'll tell you where to get the cheaper version. Can you believe it? Isn't it crazy? I love that. How accessible these things are. I know. And Bernadette Mora, thank you so much for joining us. This is a problem and an opportunity. I'm glad I missed the boat on it, to be honest. I'm glad I'm past that in my life. But I thank you so much for joining us

on The Ben Mulroney Show, and I hope you come back soon. Thanks, Ben. Welcome back to The Ben Mulroney Show. We're gonna be talking about a new initiative called the Comeback Catalyst, which has just secured a $655,000 investment to launch its inaugural program, a 12-week virtual course designed to help the formerly incarcerated bring their business ideas to life. Now, why is this important?

Why is this important? Well, I'm very glad to have back, well, not first time on this show, but back in conversation with me for the second time, Emily O'Brien, she's the CEO and founder of Comeback Snacks, as well as Lucy Cullen, business consultant and serial entrepreneur. Emily, welcome to the show. Thank you so much, Ben, how are you? I'm doing great.

Now you, your company is doing great. I just saw you in another grocery store. Comeback Snacks is a great business story, but your personal story is why I think our audience is going to resonate with our audience. So tell our audience a little bit about how you got to the point you're at now. Absolutely. So the rundown is I found myself in a lot of trouble. Actually, in 2015, I was arrested at Pearson

International Airport with two kilograms of narcotics strapped to my body, you know, no one ever thinks that that would ever be their life, you know, a drug mule. But I found myself involved with like a bad individual, bad substances, bad environment. And I had to pay the price for what I'd done. And I ended up going to prison. But I knew that I could change. I knew that I could make my life better. I knew I was always a good person though, because I looked back on my life and I had so many, so many great memories and so many great accomplishments and I wasn't going to let this ruin my life. And I knew I had to take ownership, take responsibility and do something really good. And I didn't

know what that was going to be. But the idea kind of popped in pop popped in prison where I met so many other people just like me that wanted wanted a second chance, but really want to share their story. And we bought it over food. Popcorn was a popular prison snack. I was like, I'm going to start a popcorn company and employ people from prison and prove that we are worth it. We are worthy of redemption, second chances and life after incarceration. And so, and hence comeback snacks were born. And I remember there was a lemon flavor that was really good.

I did not expect that flavor to pop as you would say, but damn, it was delicious. And so now there is this story on the CBC website that says nearly 4 million Canadians have a criminal record, but that three quarters of the 400 hiring managers that were interviewed for this report say that they had never knowingly employed anyone with a criminal record. And the

numbers also suggest that if they knew, they still wouldn't even give that person a chance. And that's how we bring Lucy Cullen, our other guest into this conversation. Lucy, welcome to the Ben Mulrooney show. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. And yeah, no, Emily and I, we, we co-funded the Comeback Catalyst program together. And so we're really excited to be launching this program together. And for, yeah, I'll lean on Emily to share a little bit more about why we do need to be giving people previously incarcerated second chances and supporting them and reintegrating into society.

But a big reason why we also built this program, we believe firmly in the fact that they do deserve second chances, but this program, we're building it because there are a lot more EMILYs in the world. My background is supporting entrepreneurs to start and grow their companies and building accelerators, and we came together on this idea because we know that there are so many individuals coming back into society who have incredible business ideas who are natural entrepreneurs, and they they need support in making

a reality and also bringing in their own income, in addition to getting second chances with employers as well. Well, look, you're speaking with someone by the way, who is working in the here and now with somebody with a criminal record. And this show would not be remotely the success it is were it not for him. So I absolutely appreciate that there

is a stigma that can hold people back. And we're talking so much today about unlocking the potential of the Canadian economy by way of breaking down inter-provincial trade barriers. But this is another barrier that we place on ourselves because we're not allowing 4 million people to unlock their full potential. And if they are able to do that,

then there are knock-on effects for everyone. Emily, is that part of what you're trying to do? Absolutely, absolutely. So when you can give someone a chance, whether it's through entrepreneurship or employment, not only do you help the individual, because at the end of the day, you also have to protect society.

You wanna help that person not offend again. And so if you provide them with an income, that's a major factor in recidivism, right? And then it's also good for the economy. When you see these ideas, you see these businesses, right? And you can boost economic growth through entrepreneurship. So it's kind of like a trifecta of benefits. What's the they also Lucy, it's also about allowing the notion of their self worth and how they identify it to to keep them from going back to that dark place. You know, if if all of a sudden, by walking, I mean, to use an inappropriate expression, but the straight and narrow, and on that path is how they, where they discover their self-worth and their identity and their value to society. They're going to want to stay with that.

Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. And it's about empowering them. That's what this program is built to do because we are already getting so many applications, which is exciting. You can check us out at comeback catalyst.ca. And when we look at the ideas that are coming in, it's not only a, is it empowering and to empower these individuals and their ideas and their ability to bring in their own income and create jobs and support their own communities. But when we look at some of the ideas, um, their ideas are so focused on supporting their own community

and supporting other people previously incarcerated to create more opportunities for those who are not being given those second chances. So it really is, I couldn't agree more with what Emily said around the trifecta, if you will, but yeah, it's about empowering them and building communities up and supporting our economy. Well, we're going to talk about the comeback catalyst in just a moment. But what do you say to those hiring managers? You know, if somebody, you know, they may not be an entrepreneur, but they definitely want to get back into the job market. They want to contribute. They want to have a positive effect on their families and their communities. What do you tell those

hiring managers who are essentially the gatekeepers preventing them from being the, as I like to say, the fullest expression of themselves. Well, I can say like the proof is in the popcorn and like comeback snacks has been like a living and breathing example that people deserve second chances and they are fantastic employees, I can say myself. And you know, I started this idea inside prison and I was talking the talk, but I had to walk the walk

and I knew that there was gonna be a lot of like, oh, no, it's not true. It's not going to happen. I was like, just just watch. And, you know, so over the last like four or five years, I've hired over 15 individuals who have like used it as a stepping stone or been with us the whole time. And I've seen tremendous growth, loyalty. It's like a family. You know, there's tremendous trust.

And when you can see them being their best selves, they actually want to like they want to continue to work with you. And then if you want to help them get connected somewhere else, you can see them being their best selves, they actually want to stay like they want to continue to work with you. And then if you want to help them get connected somewhere else, you can like I've written employment letters for them to get a job somewhere else. So it's I can really say that it's been the best. And yeah, even if you look like on the Internet, there's tons of employers in the U.S. that have done it. And I think we need to do more in Canada as well, because the U.S. is doing a great job of incorporating the formerly incarcerated into the, you know you know the corporate world and I think we need to I think we need to step up. Lucy for somebody listening who may have a record but they've got they've got entrepreneurship in their in their blood talk to them tell me about Comeback Catalyst. Yes thank you so it is a 12-week virtual

program available to Canadians across Canada. If you are 18 years or older, you have been incarcerated and you've got a business idea. Even if you were incarcerated five, 10, 15, 20 years ago, we would love to connect with you. You just need to have an idea for a business and we will support you in making it happen. It's 12 weeks online and it concludes the big demo day to showcase the business that you are launching and you get access to our whole network of partners, you get access to coaching support and we're really helping you every step of the way to make your business idea a reality.

And I mean, I have to assume that you've, I mean, you're getting the positive feedback now. So my guess is you're not just going to stop here is the goal to grow this program. Oh, sky is the limit. It absolutely is. And we actually already have partners who are interested in getting involved in our 2026 programming and expanding our offerings across the country further as well for more in person opportunities.

So yeah, it's very busy around here, but in the best the best possible way. We got big dreams. I mean, and we don't have a lot of time left, but then, so I'm musing off the top of my head, but I would think that eventually we would want to get to a place where if these formerly incarcerated people are productive members of society, that there would be some way, a legal way

to free them of their records so that they could then be free to travel and do all those other things. But that's a conversation for another day. Emily O'Brien, the CEO and founder of Comeback Snacks, and Lucy Cullen, business consultant, serial entrepreneur, and the founders of the Comeback Catalyst. To you, I say thank you and good luck because this is a great initiative

and I really hope it takes off. Thank you so much, Ben. Daniel Blanchard is no ordinary thief. His heists are ingenious. His escapes defy belief. And when he sees the dazzling diamond CC Star, he'll risk everything to steal it. His exploits set off an intercontinental manhunt.

But how long can CC Star stay lucky for Daniel? I'm Seren Jones, and this is a most audacious heist. Listen on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.