Hello, it's Therese Kehler and John Mazerolle.

Today we've got two investigative stories coming from the teams at Marketplace and The Fifth Estate, both of which are launching their new seasons today. Our Marketplace team chased a tip about problems in Ontario's truck driving schools, while The Fifth Estate spent months in the small B.C. city of Dawson, where 11 people have been murdered or disappeared in the last three years.

The Morning Brief will be taking a break to enjoy Thanksgiving, but we'll be back in your inbox on Tuesday.

Bribes, forged documents and rigged testing: Here's what we learned about truck driver training in Ontario 

Marketplace went undercover to truck school training yards to hear what instructors would reveal about their training practices. (CBC)

The system for testing truck drivers in Ontario has been compromised by bribes, forged documents and rigged testing, says a memo leaked to CBC's Marketplace by an industry insider.

In the investigation launched by that memo, Marketplace journalists discovered numerous issues with training at truck schools. Some instructors were bypassing mandatory training protocols. Some students were being passed when they shouldn't have been because of internal pressures. 

Before becoming eligible for their road test in Ontario, prospective truckers must complete "mandatory entry-level training." The training was introduced in Ontario in 2017 and has since been introduced in a majority of other provinces in Canada, plus the Northwest Territories. 

Concerns about training quality have grown amid rising accident rates involving commercial vehicles, prompting calls for stricter oversight of driving schools.

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Think driving a semi is no big deal? Trust me. It's really big

ASHA TOMLINSON, MARKETPLACE INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST

Ever white-knuckled the steering wheel while driving beside a big rig? Ever imagine what it’s like to drive one? 

As the Marketplace team put together this week's story about problems in trucking that impact public safety, it had us asking, “How difficult is it to drive a semi?” The answer? Go find out.

That’s how I ended up in the cab of an 18-wheeler, where I could barely reach the brakes. A mere touch on the gas pedal has it reverberating, rolling and rocking side-to-side. There are multiple side-view and rear-view mirrors plus that long trailer to consider. Every little push on the brakes jerks you forward and back; you need to remember to brake gently … and much sooner than you'd think

It’s a lot, and that’s without delivery deadlines and wintry conditions.
  
In case you were wondering, I did all this under the supervision of Dave Robson, an instructor and paragon of calm at KRTS Transportation Specialist Inc., a family-owned truck driving school in Caledonia, Ont. The company's owners are among a growing number of voices seeking better training for truckers, such as a Red Seal apprenticeship program similar to those for plumbers or electricians. 

My little lesson made me appreciate the skills needed by these professionals who travel the highways beside us as they keep our supply chain moving. 
 

Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Japanese organization representing atomic bomb survivors

The head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Joergen Watne Frydnes, holds a mobile phone displaying an illustration with the name of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, in Oslo, Norway, on Friday. (Javad Parsa/NTB/Reuters)

The latest: The Japanese grass roots group Nihon Hidankyo, comprised of survivors of Second World War atomic bombings, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo today.

Why did it win? The committee said the award given to the group was timely given what it said were "alarming" and increasing threats to wield nuclear power in war. The  group "is receiving the Peace Prize for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its citation.

Group wins more common recently: Organizations have been honoured by the committee with increasing frequency in the past 20 years, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (2005), the European Union (2012), the World Food Program (2020) and Russia's Memorial and Ukraine's Centre for Civil Liberties, joint winners along with Belarussian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski in 2022.

How are the winners chosen?: The Norwegian Nobel Committee is comprised of five individuals and makes its decisions based on nominations that must be submitted by Jan. 31. The committee seeks a consensus on its selection. If there is none, the decision is reached by majority vote.

Why have so many people been killed or gone missing in Dawson Creek, B.C.? 

Three of 11 people who have been killed or gone missing in Dawson Creek, B.C. (Credits: darylyn.supernant.3/Facebook; renee.rose.106/Facebook; submitted by Julie Hosack)

In Dawson Creek, a small city in northwestern B.C., 11 people have been killed or gone missing in the past three years. The incidents are part of a spike in violent crime that has shaken the community to its core.

In a months-long investigation, The Fifth Estate has revealed previously unreported connections between two unsolved killings, along with a possible motive, and uncovered key details about the final moments some of the victims were last seen alive. 

It also discovered widespread frustration with the RCMP.

BEHIND THE SCENES

We gave people a voice and pushed RCMP for answers

MARK KELLEY, CO-HOST, THE FIFTH ESTATE

As investigative journalists in the field, we sometimes find ourselves in a situation and wondering,  “What have I done?” And perhaps more importantly, "How do I get out of this?"

That happened this summer, while I was in Dawson Creek, B.C., a city of 12,000 people in northeastern B.C., investigating a violent crime spree that has left 11 people murdered or missing in the past three years. I was with our crew in an encampment in the woods, interviewing a man with a long criminal past who was rumoured to be involved in some of those murders. That's when four RCMP officers arrived on the scene. I thought they were there to arrest him. Turns out they wanted to make sure we were safe.

It was a telltale sign of a town on edge.

A Fifth Estate viewer had urged us to tell the story of Dawson Creek, to share the fears and frustrations of people in that town with all Canadians. They feel their voices are not being heard, a situation compounded by the fact that most local news outlets in town have disappeared. The Fifth Estate spent months on this story, giving people a voice and pushing the RCMP to explain why, after three years, there have been no arrests, no charges, no closure for the families.

Remember Nikki Haley? Kamala Harris sure does — and she's aimed her campaign straight at Haley's supporters 

Kamala Harris is courting a certain type of Republican — the type that opposed Donald Trump in the primaries. One example was her appearing at an event in Wisconsin this month with one-time Republican power broker Liz Cheney, seen here. (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press)

Joel Akers is a Republican whose support of Donald Trump waned after the January 6 violence and he'd decided to back candidate Nikki Haley. Then Trump romped to the Republican nomination.

Months later, millions of voters like Akers remain a wild card in this election. The question now is: Where will Haley's supporters turn?

Akers, a farming equipment salesman, told CBC News he is not thrilled with his choices in this election. He's not a fan of Kamala Harris but he figures he'll back her or choose a third-party candidate.

Anecdotes like this offer Harris a degree of hope — and vindication. It would validate the strategy she's built her campaign around: play for disaffected Republicans.

It's the reason Harris keeps talking about how she owns a gun — and would use it. Why her summer convention at times resembled a Republican rally, from the crowd chants of "U-S-A!", to the numerous Republican speakers featured, to Harris extolling the lethal power of the American military. It's why she's memory-holed her past left-leaning policies.

She's courting middle America right down to cracking open a can of Wisconsin suds on late-night TV. She's even promised to include a Republican in her cabinet.

In other words, she's betting on the Haley voter. 

In case you missed it

• Toronto-Dominion Bank is facing fines totalling about $3.09 billion US after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act and commit money laundering.
• Not all 'service dogs' have the same training, and it's a problem for guide dog owners. One owner of a certified trained guide dog in London, Ont.,  says the proliferation of service dogs is causing her problems accessing public spaces.
• With Hezbollah's missiles still raining down on them, Israelis want military to deliver a knockout blow.
• Newly released court records show Halifax lawyer Billy Sparks was accused of extorting explicit photos from vulnerable clients with little money before he died earlier this year following a police search of his home and office.

And, in today's quirky news of the day...

I'm Adrian Ma, journalist. So is he. This is the story of how I met my doppelgänger

This summer, Toronto journalist Adrian Ma, right, took a trip to meet Washington journalist Adrian Ma, left. Turns out, the two had more in common than just their name and profession. (Submitted by Adrian Ma)

When you live on a planet with nearly eight billion humans, you're going to come across other people with your name. But somehow it just hits differently when you find out they also happen to do the same job as you.

It hits a little harder yet when their job is as host of an incredibly smart podcast for National Public Radio (NPR) in Washington, D.C. 

Toronto journalist Adrian Ma — we can call him Canadian Adrian — had known about NPR Adrian for quite some time, thanks to misfired emails and misdirected social media tags. This summer, Canadian Adrian fired off an email of his own: Hey, wanna meet?

NPR Adrian did. What ensued is a delightful story of the two Adrians who spent a day together and discovered many things they had in common, including a love of Chinese food (natch), parents who wanted their boys to be lawyers — and the realization that they'd been envying each other from afar for a while.