Your Questions: Ask CBC

A new season of The Hour kicks off on Monday September 15, 2008 with acclaimed actors Tim Robbins and Ricky Gervais.

The Gemini award-winning show will feature another year of unbeatable guests, launch a national environmental campaign this fall and help search for Canada's new hockey anthem.

What amazing guests will hit the stage with George this year? What's new online? Will George wear anything other than black?

Join us on Friday, September 12 as host George Stroumboulopoulos takes your questions on the season ahead.

George Stroumboulopoulos (Photo by Dustin Rambin)

CBCNews.ca wants your questions.

How to participate

Remember, when sending in your question:

• A short question is better than a long one.
• One question is better than many.
• If a question needs some context, keep it brief.
• Preference will be given to questions from those who give a full name and location.
• Questions may be edited for length and clarity.

The Toronto International Film Festival kicks off next week with a bang.

Who's in town? What films are a must-see? How can you get the most from your TIFF experience?

Jesse Wente

CBC radio movie columnist Jesse Wente is your inside guide to the festival. On Wednesday, September 3 he took your questions on the comings and goings of TIFF 2008.

Read his responses after the jump.

Patrick Brown is CBC's correspondent in Beijing who has released a new book, Butterfly Mind: Revolution, Recovery, and One Reporter's Road to Understanding China.

We invited our readers to ask him about the extraordinary changes seen in China over the years.

Brown lives in Beijing. He first visited the country in 1989 during the protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

"For centuries, foreign scholars, missionaries, traders, diplomats and journalists have been swapping explanations of why China is the way it is, how to handle it, and where it is going," he says in his book.

But Brown cautions it'll be difficult for observers to pinpoint accurate predications about China because the country is too big and complex, "and the Chinese too numerous and various."

As the countdown to the Olympic games in Beijing winds down, our athletes prepare to compete against the world's best.

How do they prepare for the games? What emotions precede an event like this? What is it like to compete in the Olympics?

Mark Heese

Three-time Olympian and bronze medalist Mark Heese is one of Canada's premier beach volleyball players. Though he won't be joining the team this summer, he's got plenty of experience in international competitions.

On Thursday, July 24 he took your questions on what it's like to gear up for the Olympics.

Read his answers after the jump.

Colleen Jones is at work before the sun rises, delivering sports and weather reports from around Atlantic Canada for CBC News: Morning.

The married mother of two and world champion curler has been a broadcaster for more than 25 years.

Colleen has interviewed some of the biggest names in sports and delivered the weather in blazing heat, tropical storms and blizzards — all live on air.

Colleen Jones

On Friday, July 18 she took your questions on everything from curling, to strange interviews and of course, that amazing hat collection!

Read her answers after the jump.

Apple's iPhone officially launches in Canada this Friday, July 11. While many Apple fans have been anticipating the arrival for some time, excitement has been tempered by Rogers' announcement of the phone's pricing plans.

Limited data plans, hidden fees and a mandatory three-year contract have led to disappointment in many consumers and outrage in others. An online petition has sprung up, as well as several Facebook groups protesting Rogers.

Will Rogers adjust its pricing to meet customer demands? Why is there such a discrepancy between cell phone plans in Canada and the United States? Can Rogers feasibly offer unlimited data plans?

Senior science and technology writer Peter Nowak takes your questions on the iPhone.

Read his answers after the jump.

Joan Leishman has worked with CBC for more than 20 years, both in Canada and as a foreign correspondent.

She was based in South Africa during the final years of apartheid and reported on the first election in which black people were allowed and covered Rwanda during the 1994 genocide.

Last month, Joan returned to Rwanda to work with a Canadian NGO called "The Rwanda Initiative." It recruits teachers to give courses at the National University. Joan taught "Broadcast Announcing and Presentation" to 30 students. She saw her class, which included Hutu's, Tutsi's and former soldiers, as a microcosm for a country desperately working toward reconciliation.

Joan Leishman

On Wednesday, June 25 Joan took your questions on Rwanda and her experiences teaching at the National University.

Read her responses after the jump.

After hearing arguments from media organizations and the Crown, an Ontario Superior Court judge has released copies of a videotaped interview between Toronto police and convicted murderer Paul Bernardo.

Bernardo was interviewed at the Kingston penitentiary in June 2007 about whether he had any involvement in the disappearance of University of Toronto student Elizabeth Bain, who has not been seen since June 1990. Her then-boyfriend, Robert Baltovich, was originally convicted of second-degree murder in her death and spent eight years in jail before his acquittal by an Ontario Superior Court at a second trial last month.

His lawyers had argued that Bernardo should have been seen as a suspect in the disappearance because he had admitted to attacking women near the Scarborough campus that Bain attended.

The tape does not contain any graphic images or descriptions of Bernardo's crimes.

While several media outlets have decided to air the entire 31-minute interview either online or on-air, the CBC decided it would not run the footage in its entirety.

CBC News Executive Editor Esther Enkin took your questions on the CBC decision.

Read her answers after the jump.

A few weeks ago a wave of xenophobia, directed at immigrants and refugees erupted in violence across South Africa. More than five million migrants, mostly from Zimbabwe and Mozambique, have flocked to South Africa to work in its mines and tourism sector. Soaring food and fuel prices helped fuel the violence, along with the persistence of black poverty in the country, many years after the dismantling of the apartheid system.

CBC News' Africa correspondent David McGuffin was there recently and on Thursday, June 5 he takes your questions on South Africa.

CBCNews.ca wants your questions.

How to participate

Remember, when sending in your question:

• A short question is better than a long one.
• One question is better than many.
• If a question needs some context, keep it brief.
• Preference will be given to questions from those who give a full name and location.
• Questions may be edited for length and clarity.

A special CBC investigation recently published the findings of an RCMP-led special task force examining Toronto police drug squads.

Dave Seglins

Award-winning radio journalist Dave Seglins has been following the story for years. On Thursday, May 1st he takes your questions on the Toronto police drug squad case.

CBCNews.ca wants your questions.

How to participate

Remember, when sending in your question:

• A short question is better than a long one.
• One question is better than many.
• If a question needs some context, keep it brief.
• Preference will be given to questions from those who give a full name and location.
• Questions may be edited for length and clarity.