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Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered conversations that matter

In cities and towns across Ontario — and at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill — our journalists work for you. Their mission is to dig for answers and tell you what they find. This new podcast from Village Media — ‘Closer Look’ — is all about the stories we tell. Every weeknight, hosts Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith go beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

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Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered conversations that matter

A safe place to drop off unwanted babies

October 13, 2023

0:00 | 23:37

Alberta was the first Canadian province to establish one, and now they’re expanding to Ontario: a safe location where mothers can surrender their unwanted babies — no judgment, no questions asked. City council in Sault Ste. Marie is the latest to examine the idea of setting up its own “Hope’s Cradle,” ensuring mothers and caregivers who find themselves in a desperate situation have a place to turn. Jordan Guildford is the founder of Gems for Gems, the Calgary-based charity that launched the idea. She joins Frisco and Scott to talk about how the program works, why it’s so important, and why people shouldn’t be so quick to criticize the moms who have used it. Also on the program: If you accidentally killed someone with your car — and police spent the next 15 years trying to solve the hit-and-run — could you keep living life as if nothing happened?