Storylines CBC

It’s fairly well known that some Canadians fought with the American armed forces in Vietnam, but fewer know about Canada’s official peacekeeping role there.

But between 1954 and 1973, close to 2000 Canadians went to Vietnam to observe and safeguard peace accords. Erin Moore’s grandfather, Doug, was one of them. He wrote dozens of letters home documenting the realities of the war. Erin still has his letters. They reveal a demanding and at times impossible mission, being carried out by young men whose efforts have largely been forgotten.

As a family physician, Dr. Melissa Lem knew she couldn't stay silent on the health dangers of climate change. But when she spoke out against the use of fossil fuels, the backlash was more vitriolic and personal than she ever expected.

She's not alone.

From death threats to sexual intimidation and sinister phone calls, Dr. Melissa Lem, Tzeporah Berman, and Judy Wilson have paid a high cost for their climate advocacy work. It’s a trend that has alarmed human rights organizations like Amnesty International, who say that women—especially racialized and sexually diverse women—are disproportionately targeted.

On this week’s Storylines, producer Molly Segal meets three climate advocates who set out to speak up for the planet, and are now needing to speak up for themselves.

Over more than half a century, Canada welcomed close to 3,000 South Korean children, orphans, to be adopted by Canadian families. But new information is emerging that those adoptions aren’t all that the Canadian government – or adoptive families – thought they were. Journalist Priscilla Ki-Sun Hwang investigates the stories of adoptees Kelly Foston and Kim McKay.

Andrew Anderson never told his family the whole story of what happened during the years he spent as a spy in the Norwegian resistance during WWII. Nor did he share all the details about what happened next, as he fought to survive for nine months – held prisoner by the Nazis. But growing up in rural Saskatchewan in the 1970’s, Andrew’s son Gary could always feel the echoes of his father’s past.

On this week's Storylines, 77 years after the end of the war, reporter Eric Anderson is heading to Norway with his dad to learn everything they can about their family lore. But following in Andrew's tracks, uncovers some uncomfortable secrets...

About a hundred years ago you could take passenger trains all over Canada. Rail was king… until the automobile and planes came on the scene, making the train look antiquated. Alongside a shift in federal spending and political attitudes, trains were pushed into the past.

But if we’re serious about fighting climate change, then getting people out of cars and planes, and onto a fast, affordable and plentiful electric train service could really help.

On this week's Storylines, Craig Desson takes us on a journey to uncover what happened to Canada’s once-glorious passenger rail service, and explore whether getting it back could be a climate solution.

In 1987, the remains of a sailor were discovered on the coast of Labrador. A skeleton, wrapped in a shroud, buried with an overcoat, a loose key, and a knife with the initials “W.H.”

He is believed to have been buried in the 1800s.

There are many questions about the man now known as W.H. Who was he? Where was he from? And what brought him to the coast of Labrador 200 years ago?

Because W.H.’s remains may be more than a surprising archaeological find. They may point to an untold chapter in Newfoundland and Labrador’s Black history.

On this week's Storylines, documentary producer Alisa Siegel weaves together the voices of scientists, historians, and an artist who are trying to unravel the mystery of W.H. To uncover what they can and — in the case of Bushra Junaid, author of “The Possible Lives of W.H., Sailor” — imagine what she can’t.