Panama Papers to pesticide problems: 10 memorable I-Team stories from 2016

CBC's I-Team tackles a wide variety of stories in any given year. There are hidden camera shoots, accountability interviews, court cases, long hours on the phone with tipsters who want to remain anonymous, dozens upon dozens of freedom of information requests, and data-mining on all manner of topics.

This year, the investigative team tackled everything from health and safety issues in the nail salon industry to doctorswho faced disciplinary action. While we couldn't fit all of our favourite stories in this top 10list, we managed to cram it with some of the stories we think had an impact in 2016.

Bad malathion

It started quite by accident.

I-Team producer Vera-Lynn Kubinec was researching Health Canada's regulatory information for malathion and came across a small but vital change.

It stated that the insecticide should be stored no longer than one year. The longer malathion sits, the more likely it is to produce a more harmful toxin knownas isomalathion.

The problem was, Winnipeg's malathion stock was old some batches dating back 13 years. After being contacted by the I-Team, the city suspended all spraying and started working with Health Canada to getits stockpile of anti-mosquito chemicals tested.

The batch of malathionfrom 2009passed lab testing. Health Canada allowed the city to fog again.

However, the batch from 2007 contained excessive isomalathion levels which, according to the lab report, meant the toxicity could be two to four times the levelof the World Health Organization'sguidelines.

• Malathion sprayed in Winnipeg may not have met guidelines
• Health Canada tells Winnipeg it can't fog with years-old malathion

As for the much older 2003 batch ofmalathionthat was used throughout the city in June we'll never know what it contained. There was none of that batch left when the city realized the problem, and it was never tested forisomalathion.

Open automobile recalls

Car recalls in Canada

8 years ago

Duration 0:34

1 in 6 cars in Canada has an open recall, or roughly 22 million.

Sure, we already knew roughly one in six cars in Manitoba hasan open recall. We did that story in 2015.

But this year, we expanded our investigation and found the number holds true nationwide.

• CBC INVESTIGATES: Millions of vehicles with potentially dangerous recalls still on road

That means millions of cars in Canada have unfixed safety issues with things like brakes, steering, seatbelts and airbags.

Changes are coming at the federal level to give the transport minister more power to order recalls and testing on problem parts. But the solution, of course, doesn't just lie in tougher federal legislation.

Industry and industry watchdogs agree the provinces need to help catch open recalls at registration. Not a single province looks for open recalls when it rubber stamps a car for the road.

We'll be watching out for new federal legislation in 2017.

Panama Papers: DonnyLalonde

Before the public knew the so-called "Panama Papers" existed, investigative journalists around the world had spent monthsdigging through them,looking for names and connections of notable heads of state, leaders of businessand the occasional celebrity.

One name popped out at us Donny Lalonde, known as "the Golden Boy."

The Panama Papers revealed the charming Canadian boxer appeared to be involved in a complex tangleof real estate companies and developments in Costa Rica that had stalled. It didn't take long to find angry investors who were lining up to sue the Golden Boy for the hundreds of thousands of dollars they say they lost on a dream that never materialized.

• CBC INVESTIGATES: 'Golden Boy' boxer Donny Lalonde, named in Panama Papers, in Costa Rican investment controversy

We partnered with the Toronto Star and caught up withLalondein Malta, where he insisted he didn't have anything to do with the the Costa Rican developments anymore. The money, he told us, was all tied up in the projects which would still go ahead at some point.

• Against the Ropes

CormierandMr. Big

There was a palpable sigh of relief in December 2015, when Winnipeg Police announced they had made an arrest in the death of Tina Fontaine. The teen's death had renewed calls for an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.

But who was this man charged with her death? And how did police catch him?

Raymond Cormier invited us to the Brandon Correctional Centre to hear his side of the story. He told us he was ensnared in an elaborate "Mr. Big" sting and police fabricated evidence against him.

In a Mr. Big operation, police create a fictitious criminal organization and invite the target to join, in an effort to gather more evidence and secure a confession.

• CBC INVESTIGATES: Tina Fontaine's alleged killer says police fabricated evidence

Cormier admits he knew Fontaine, but insists police have the wrong man. He has even filed a Law Enforcement Review Agency complaint against police.

Expect more answers in May of 2017 when a preliminary hearing is slated to begin.

• CBC INVESTIGATES: Ray Cormier was spotted burning trash outside apartment connected to Tina Fontaine's death

Not-quite-all-in pricing

Birchwood hidden cameras

8 years ago

Duration 1:11

Extra fees added on the advertised price .

It was a simple concept: the price you see is the price you pay.

When Manitoba's Consumer Protection Office ushered in the new truth-in-advertising legislation for car dealerships in June 2015, there was much fanfare. Under the new regulations, car dealerships couldn't tack on extra fees to the advertised price of a car.

But when we put that to the test more than a year later, we found seven out of 10 dealerships we visited tried to add extra fees to the advertised price.

• CBC INVESTIGATES: Surprise! Car buyers still asked to pay 100s in extra fees despite new law
• Customers should ask for refunds on extra fees, car dealers association says

Since the story aired, the CPO began investigating dozens of complaints.

• CBC INVESTIGATES: Refunds roll in after I-Team car dealership investigation
• Think you paid fees over the advertised price for your car?

Father RonLgercharged again

Father Ron Lger was probably hoping the worst was behind him.

In 2015, the Roman Catholic priest pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault. But just weeks after being granted day parole in September, Winnipeg police picked him up again.

Four more men have come forward alleging they, too, were sexually abused by Lger. They shared their disturbing accounts of abuse, which they say began when they attended ayouth drop-in centre Lgerallegedly used like a spider web to catch young victims.

• Priest used youth drop-in centre as 'giant spider web' to catch victims

Unresolved: Investigating MMIW

Unresolved

8 years ago

Duration 1:00

A CBC investigation found 34 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women deemed 'no foul play.'

Partnering with the CBC Indigenous Unit and our CBC colleagues across Canada, we took a closer look at 34 cases involving the deaths ordisappearances of Indigenous women in which foul play had been ruled out.

• Unresolved: Missing and Murdered

The families of the women didn't agree with those assessments, and as our investigations unfolded we found more unanswered questions.

In fact, the one thing these cases seemed to have in common wasthat they all begged for more in-depth investigation.

Locally, the I-Team took a closer look at the case ofRocelynGabriel, who was was found nearly frozen to death outside the Portage la Prairie recycling depot in 2014. Gabriel died hours later in a Winnipeg hospital.

• CBC INVESTIGATES: Hypothermia or homicide? 2 Manitoba families question MMIW cases

Her sisterOliviais still looking for answers, and believes someone brought her to the depot that night and left her there.

• VIDEO: Olivia Gabriel, Roceyln's sister shows the recycling depot where her sister was found

Lead in Brandon water

Brandon has struggled with elevated levels of lead in its water for a few years now, but it had taken steps to combat the problem.

But when the I-Team tested 30 random samples of tap water in Brandon homes in February, it found10 per cent of the samples exceeded safe lead levels, even after a five-minute flush.

• CBC INVESTIGATES: Lead content still a problem in Brandon's drinking water, tests show

After the I-Team's story, the city council agreed to help subsidize home filtration systems for affected homeowners until it has flushed its lead problem for good.

Retailers sell restricted pesticides

Manitoba cracked down on the use of cosmetic pesticides with legislation that came into effect in 2015. But did retailers follow suit?

Our hidden camera investigation revealed retailers routinely flouted the rules governing the sale of cosmetic pesticides. Six out of the nine stores we visited sold our secret shopperthe product in contravention of the legislation.

• CBC INVESTIGATES: Restricted pesticides easy to buy in Winnipeg despite ban, I-Team finds

After our investigation, the retailers told us they were re-educating staff about the law and how the products could be sold. Under the legislation, Roundup can be sold for use on noxious weeds like poison ivy, but notfor harmless weeds like dandelions.

Woman declared dead, says she isn't

Alyanna Lapuz was hale and hearty and about to go to school in Toronto when she learned she was dead according to the taxman, anyway.

What started as a slightly amusing situation quickly became a major frustration and financial problem for the student.

• CRA apologizes, fixes mix-up after wrongly declaring woman dead

Dead girls don't get student loans, and herenrolmentin a dental hygienist program was in jeopardy.

For weeks,Lapuzgot the runaround from the Canada Revenue Agency. But the very day the I-Team told her story, the agency brought her back to life.