From mortgage fraud to the shocking conditions of hospital hygiene, to the health risks facing young cell phone users, CBC Television’s award-winning consumer investigative show MARKETPLACE puts pressure on people in power to set things right for consumers.
Canada’s favourite consumer watchdogs, Erica Johnson and Wendy Mesley return with stories sure to light a fire under the companies competing for our shopping dollars. The MARKETPLACE team has a proven track record of exposing the real story, pressuring companies to change their policies and practices. Nine days after last season’s “Miracle Makers or Money Takers?” aired, Canada’s regulatory body, Health Canada, pulled the license for the EPFX, a medical device that promised to help cure cancer, so it can no longer be sold.
And another episode, “Power of Persuasion,” resulted in substantial fines to some companies in Canada’s energy industry.
This season, the MARKETPLACE season premiere, airing Friday, Jan. 8, at 8:30 p.m. (9 NT), features host Erica Johnson, along with Canada’s home renovation guru Mike Holmes, revealing a new twist on home inspectors. More Canadians are buying houses that were formerly used as marijuana grow-ops—and Johnson discovers the disturbing practice of “papering over” evidence that a home has been used for this illegal activity. How could home inspectors miss the obvious signs?
Below are highlights of MARKETPLACE’s 2010 season:
January 15
Think you’re good behind the wheel? This investigation puts drivers to the test—and reveals how GPS devices put safety on the line.
January 22
The latest score for hackers looking to steal personal credit card information is a device that Canadians use everyday… if not a dozen times a day. MARKETPLACE shows viewers the heavy price of buying that latté.
January 29
With more and more Canadians looking for new ways to secure their financial future, MARKETPLACE looks into a world where the road to riches is promised at a free real estate investment seminar. We reveal the reality has less to do with buying and selling properties, and more to do with selling another seminar.
February 5
MARKETPLACE looks at the claims made by a leading Canadian diet company.
March 5
In this episode, Wendy Mesley reveals the results of a nation-wide search for the worst cell phone bill in Canada. The MARKETPLACE team uncovers the story behind the high cost of using cell phones in Canada.
MARKETPLACE invites fans to go behind-the-scenes of its award-winning investigations with a free special event with hosts Wendy Mesley and Erica Johnson, on Thursday, Jan. 7, at 12 p.m., in the Barbara Frum Atrium, 250 Front Street West (Canadian Broadcasting Centre). Hosted by the fifth estate’s Hana Gartner, Mesley and Johnson, along with the show’s senior researcher Marlene McArdle and special guest Mike Holmes, will share how the show is produced and provide a sneak-peak of the first episode of the season. The hosts will also be on-hand to sign autographs and take pictures with audience members.
MARKETPLACE is CBC’s award-winning consumer investigative show. Trusted by viewers across Canada, the program has been providing audiences with tough consumer reports for over 35 years. Executive producer is Tassie Notar.
