rabble radio: Recent Episodes
rabble.ca
Hosted by Breanne Doyle, rabble radio is the flagship podcast of rabble.ca. rabble breaks down the news of the day from a progressive lens. It's a good place to catch up and catch on to what's happening in Canadian politics, activism, environmentalism, and so much more. We catch you up on the news of the week and take you further into the stories that matter to you.
Content Warning: This interview includes personal accounts of homophobia and experiences of violence. Please listen with care and sensitivity.
It’s Pride Month, and while advocating for queer and trans rights is a year-round commitment, this June feels especially urgent. Countries once considered relatively safe—like the UK and the US—are rolling back protections and adopting increasingly hostile policies.
And in many parts of the world, same-sex relationships are criminalized, people who defy gender norms face punishment, and simply living authentically can put someone’s life at risk.
An organization that works to protect queer and trans lives globally is Rainbow Railroad.
In 2023 alone, Rainbow Railroad received more than 15,000 pleas for help from LGBTQI+ individuals facing life-threatening danger. While not everyone can be relocated, the organization works with global partners to get those at risk to safety.
This week on the show, we’re joined by: Devon Matthews, the head of programs at Rainbow Railroad to discuss the important work the organization is doing to support 2SLGBTQIA folks across the globe; and also Rahma Esslouani, a newcomer to Canada originally from Morocco.
Rainbow Railroad is a global not-for-profit organization that helps at-risk LGBTQI+ people get to safety worldwide. Based in the United States and Canada, they are an organization that helps LGBTQI+ people facing persecution based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics. In a time when there are more displaced people than ever, LGBTQI+ people are uniquely vulnerable due to systemic, state-enabled homophobia and transphobia. These factors either displace them in their own country or prevent them from escaping harm.
About our guests Devon Matthews (she/they) is the Head of Programs at Rainbow Railroad, where they lead global initiatives to support LGBTQI+ individuals facing persecution. Since joining the organization in 2018, Devon has led the organization through numerous major international emergency responses, helping to deliver life-saving support to thousands of queer and trans people at risk. She holds a BA (Hons.) from Dalhousie University and an MA at the University of London under the Refugee Law Initiative.
Rahma Esslouani is a newcomer who relocated to Toronto, Canada, from Morocco via Turkey.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
If you’ve been tuning in to rabble radio for a while, you’ll know that every summer, we return to a familiar —and vital— discussion: climate change is a labour issue. In the past, we’ve spoken about how extreme weather events affect working Canadians, how climate change affects agricultural workers and the economy, and we’ve chatted with advocates in Ottawa calling for a National Firefighting Agency.
There’s no debate: climate change and labour are inextricably linked.
Today on rabble radio, we’re spotlighting an organization in British Columbia calling for the implementation of a maximum working temperature.
The Worker Solidarity Network is urging the provincial government to introduce legislation that would protect workers from the dangers of extreme heat on the job.
Currently, BC has no regulations in place to set temperature limits in workplaces—but with the increasing threat of deadly heat waves, advocates say the time for action is now.
About our guest Jiyoon Ha is the communications coordinator at the Workers’ Solidarity Network based in British Columbia. WSN consists of workers throughout the province that share an invested interest in the well-being of precarious employees that struggle under capitalism. Ha brings five years of experience in the service industry to her role at the WSN. She was emboldened to fight for labour justice after growing up in a working-class community and having worked precarious jobs, where she experienced unfair working conditions that upheld harassment and wage theft, among other things.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Fundraising music used with permission from: uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/sunny License code: JJOU2WYAPVKYRO1H
It’s Asian Heritage Month in Canada – and this week on the show, we’ll be joined by Sadaf Ahsan and Sarah Sahagian to discuss Asian representation in Canadian pop culture.
From books and television to music, the Canadian cultural landscape has made significant strides in embracing diversity—offering richer, more nuanced portrayals of Asian characters and (mostly) moving away from stereotypes and tokenism. Yet, as our conversation reveals, we still have a long way to go.
In this conversation, Sarah and Sadaf share some of their recent favorite films, TV shows, books, and music. They also discuss why diversity should be viewed as a valuable opportunity—not a risk—by investors, and emphasize the vital role of behind-the-scenes representation in shaping authentic stories.
About our guest Sadaf Ahsan is the senior editor at 3 Magazine, co-host of Frequency Podcasts’ The Reheat, columnist at The Globe & Mail, contributing editor at RepresentASIAN Project, and a Humber College journalism professor. Her work has appeared in The Walrus, CBC, The Cut and more. She previously worked at The Juggernaut, Canadian Press, The Discourse, NOW Magazine, and the National Post. More about Sadaf here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
It’s been a big month in Canadian politics. With the election of Prime Minister Mark Carney and the rollout of his new cabinet, there's a lot to unpack. While the Liberals and Conservatives surged at the polls, smaller progressive parties like the NDP and the Greens saw their support take a hit — raising big questions about what comes next for progressive politics in Canada.
That was the topic of this month’s Off the Hill panel. We looked at what lies ahead — both on and off Parliament Hill — for the NDP and the Green Party. How can progressives keep pushing key policies forward? And how do we organize and stay active in a political landscape that’s shifting toward the centre?
This month we were joined by Mike Morrice, former Green Party MP for Kitchener Centre; Joel Harden, former Ontario NDP MPP and federal candidate in Ottawa Centre; poet, educator, and activist El Jones; and Karl Nerenberg, rabble.ca’s senior parliamentary reporter.
About our guests After being elected as the first-ever Green MP in Ontario, Mike Morrice served as a Member of Parliament from 2021 to 2025 Ontario’s first Green MP, championed disability rights, climate action, and housing affordability. He pushed for the Canada Disability Benefit, fair housing policy, and corporate tax reforms. Morrice also advocated for electoral reform and a windfall tax on fossil fuel profits to fund climate and affordability solutions. Before politics, he founded Sustainable Waterloo Region and Green Economy Canada.
Joel Harden is a lifelong community organizer who represented Ottawa Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2018 to 2025 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party. During his time at Queen’s Park, Harden served as the party’s Critic for Transit and Active Transportation, where he championed accessible, affordable, and sustainable public transit solutions across the province.
El Jones is a poet, author, journalist, professor and activist living in Halifax. She is the author of Abolitionist Intimacies (2022) and Live from the Afrikan Resistance! (2014).
Karl Nerenberg is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker, working in both English and French languages. He is rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week, we share a clip from the latest episode of the Courage My Friends podcast series.
In this episode, host Resh Budhu sat down with visiting professor and dean of the faculty of agriculture and veterinary medicine at Gaza’s Al-Azhar University, Dr. Ahmed Abu Shaban. The two discuss the weaponization of already fragile food systems in Gaza, the acceleration of the climate crisis through conflict and Palestinian resilience under occupation.
Listen to the full episode here. And, if you’d like to hear more from the Courage My Friends podcast, please subscribe to Needs No Introduction. Available on rabble.ca, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
About our guest Dr. Ahmed Abu Shaban is a visiting professor at York University in the faculties of liberal arts & professional studies and environmental and urban change. He is also dean of the faculty of agriculture and veterinary medicine at Al-Azhar University in Gaza. His work focuses on food systems and climate vulnerability, particularly the impact of conflict on agricultural production and food security in the Gaza Strip. Dr. Abu Shaban plays a leading role in advancing higher education in crisis settings and co-founded the Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
As of April 2025, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of at least seven million people globally. The true toll is likely even higher, as many countries have stopped reporting reliable data. Without clear data, it can feel like the pandemic is behind us—but that perception is far from reality. For disabled people and those living with long COVID, the crisis is ongoing. COVID remains a serious, disabling, and deadly threat.
This week on rabble radio, rabble.ca’s Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Ashleigh-Rae Thomas spoke with Fatima Adam about what COVID realism is and how it’s connected to disability justice.
Links mentioned in this interview:
How To Talk To Your Loved Ones About Covid
Crip Crash Course by Sins Invalid
I Don't Know How To Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People (Kayla Chadwick, Huffpost, 2017)
Relevant episodes to cue up after this one!
Disability justice is the antithesis of capitalism on rabble radio
What does disability justice look like in the workplace? on rabble radio
About our guest Fatima Adam (she/her) is a Toronto based writer, arts administrator, and facilitator, with a focus on disability justice and COVID realism.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
On April 26, a violent attack took place at the Lapu-Lapu Day festival in Vancouver — an event meant to honour Filipino heritage and community. At least 11 people were killed, and many others injured. In the days since, members of the Filipino community in Canada and their allies have been coming together to grieve, reflect, and support one another through this difficult time.
This week on rabble radio, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga spoke with Zuha Zubair from Migrante Ottawa to reflect on the recent Lapu Lapu Day tragedy in Vancouver, and to shed light on the often-overlooked struggles faced by Filipino migrants in Canada.
About our guest Zuha Zubair is a Filipino and a community organizer with Migrante Ottawa, a chapter of an international migrants organization fighting for national liberation and genuine democracy in the Philippines. Zubair was born in the Maldives to parents who were overseas Filipino workers, known as OFWs. She came to Canada in 2019 as an international student and is currently pursuing a masters’ degree in anthropology. Zubair’s research focuses on overseas Filipino workers and the political connections they have to the Philippines.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
After announcing that he would not seek re-election as the NDP Member of Parliament for Timmins–James Bay, Charlie Angus has stepped into a new role — as a vocal leader in what he calls Canada’s “resistance” against U.S. President Donald Trump, fascism, and rising threats to democracy.
This week on rabble radio, Charlie Angus joins rabble editor Nick Seebruch to discuss The Resistance, the growing threat of “maple MAGA,” and how everyday Canadians are pushing back against creeping U.S. influence and far-right politics in their own communities.
About our guest Charlie Angus is the former Member of Parliament for Timmins-James Bay, serving two decades from his first election in 2004. He has been the NDP critic for Ethics, Natural Resources, FedNor, Indigenous Youth, Income Inequality and Affordability, and Deputy Critic for Labour. Charlie is a member of the Council of Canadians and was instrumental in developing the Pledge for Canadians. He is the author of nine books, including the most recent, Dangerous Memory. Charlie is a songwriter, musician and lead singer with the Juno-nominated Grievous Angels. He is a grassroots activist leading The Resistance.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
On April 28, 2025, Canadians will head to the polls and elect members of the House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament – and with it, a Prime Minister.
Canadians have a lot to weigh in this election—from the cost of living crisis and rising inequality, to the ongoing trade tensions with the United States, and a range of other pressing issues.
So, this month on our Off the Hill panel, we discussed Election 2025: What’s next for Canada? Joining us this month were former NDP Member of Parliament for Toronto—Danforth Craig Scott; poet and activist El Jones; community organizer and political commentator Jennifer Arp; and rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Libby Davies.
About our guests Craig Scott is a professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University and a former Member of Parliament for Toronto-Danforth from 2012-2015. While an MP, he served as the Official Opposition Critic for Democratic and Parliamentary Reform, during most of which period the government minister for this portfolio was Pierre Poilievre.
El Jones is a poet, author, journalist, professor and activist living in Halifax. She is the author of Abolitionist Intimacies (2022) and Live from the Afrikan Resistance! (2014).
Jennifer Arp is a community leader and non-profit professional. Previous roles include interim national president and CEO with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada and senior vice-president of the community at MS Canada. She had the privilege of representing her community on the Toronto District School Board as trustee and vice-chair from 2014-2018 where she led numerous initiatives including the Enhancing Equity Task Force. Other experience includes working at both the federal and provincial level for multiple cabinet ministers. She recently completed her Master of Arts in International and Intercultural Communications at Royal Roads University.
Karl Nerenberg is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker, working in both English and French languages. He is rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Audio of pro-Palestine demonstration at the Vancouver Art Gallery on March 18, 2025
The Freedom of peaceful assembly – or, in other words, to protest – and the freedom of association are among the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Protest has been a vital aspect of Canada’s democracy and social fabric since the country's formation, playing a key role in advancing Indigenous rights, environmental causes, 2SLGBTQ+ and feminist issues, and labour rights.
This past week alone, people in various cities across the country came together to protest against the threats to Canadian sovereignty made by US President Donald Trump.
And sure, we might not all agree with every protest which happens in our cities and communities (the Freedom Convoy of 2022 comes to mind). But as stated in our Charter, as long as the protests do not include hate speech, become violent, incite violence, or pose a danger to public safety, we have decided – as a country – that the right to protest is more important than agreeing with every protest that is organized.
It is crucial that we are able to express our opinions, criticize our governments and institutions, and participate in public discourse.
Which is why the City of Toronto’s recent survey and proposed bylaw about demonstrations near vulnerable institutions is sounding some alarm bells.
This week on rabble radio, Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Ashleigh-Rae Thomas sits down with Samira Mohyeddin to talk about what this bylaw is and why it is being considered, why the right to protest is so important, and the “Palestine exception.”
About our guest Samira Mohyeddin is an award winning journalist and producer. For nearly ten years she was a producer and host at CBC Radio and CBC Podcasts. She resigned in November of 2023 and founded On The Line Media. Samira has a Master of Arts in Modern Middle Eastern History and Gender from the University of Toronto and Genocide Studies from the Zoryan Institute. She is currently working on a documentary about the People's Circle for Palestine student encampment at the University of Toronto.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
*Audio courtesy of Jase Tanner.
Working Canadians are facing a multitude of issues in 2025.
Between 2023 to 2024, in Ontario alone, one million people used food bank services – a 25 per cent increase from the year before. Canada's housing market is among the most unaffordable in the world. And of course – the latest crisis on everyone’s mind – the ongoing trade dispute with the United States.
With a federal election at the end of the month, there’s a lot to consider for working Canadians.
This week on rabble radio, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Deena Ladd, one of the founders and executive director of the Toronto Workers' Action Centre. The two discuss the issues facing working Canadians today, how workers without union support are often more vulnerable to these issues, and how the Workers' Action Centre advocates for fair work for all.
About our guest Deena Ladd is one of the founders of the Toronto Workers' Action Centre and currently serves as its executive director. Ladd has 30 years of organizing experience. She helped build grassroots campaigns like the Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign. Beyond the Workers’ Action Centre, Ladd has also fought for migrant justice through her involvement with the Migrants' Rights Network and the Migrant Workers' Action Centre.
The Workers’ Action Centre (WAC) is a worker-based organization. They are committed to improving the lives and working conditions of people in low-wage and unstable employment. They believe that the leaders in the fight for decent work should be the workers directly affected by poor working conditions. Workers have firsthand experience of problems at work, and have the best insight into what will bring fairness and dignity to Ontario’s workplaces.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
On Friday, March 14, 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney was officially sworn in at Rideau Hall, and with that, he revealed his selections for the new cabinet. In a significant move, Carney has reduced the cabinet size from 37 members under former prime minister Justin Trudeau to just 24—a notable trim. This reshuffling means that several former ministers have lost their roles, some portfolios have been consolidated, and certain positions have been entirely eliminated.
One such casualty of this restructuring is the cabinet position for the Ministry for Women, Gender Equality and Youth.
This marks a departure from Trudeau’s cabinet, which was intentionally designed to reflect a commitment to progressive values, including a strong feminist agenda. Trudeau’s cabinet also had gender parity between men and women; Carney’s cabinet does not. With this change, Carney appears to be charting a different course for the government’s priorities moving forward.
Today on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Jacqueline Neapole, the executive director of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. The two discuss what this removal means for gender equality in Canada and what’s at risk for women and gender diverse people heading into a federal election.
About our guest this week
Jacqueline Neapole is the executive director of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW). Jackie has been with CRIAW since 2013 working with community and academy-based researchers to conduct feminist research for action. A feminist activist for over 20 years, she has previously worked and volunteered in various capacities with other social justice organizations to advance women’s rights and equality, including the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action. She currently serves on the board of the Women’s History Project.
Since 1976, CRIAW-ICREF has been researching and documenting the economic and social situation of women in Canada. Using intersectional frameworks, they have developed and undertaken a variety of important, ground-breaking research that is women centred. CRIAW-ICREF is a not-for-profit member-based organization.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we’re sharing a clip from the latest episode of the Courage My Friends podcast series in which Henry Giroux and Resh Budhu discuss the rise of authoritarianism in the US and around the world as an updated fascism, its attack on democracy and the urgent need for solidarity.
About our guest
Henry A. Giroux currently holds the McMaster University Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest in the English and Cultural Studies Department and is the Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy. His most recent books include Pedagogy of Resistance: Against Manufactured Ignorance (Bloomsbury 2022); Insurrections: Education in the Age of Counter-revolutionary politics (Bloomsbury in 2023), co-authored with Anthony DiMaggio, Fascism on Trial: Education and the Possibility of Democracy (Bloomsbury, 2024) and Burden of Conscience (Bloomsbury, 2025).
Listen to the full episode here, on Needs No Introduction – home of the Courage My Friends podcast series.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, CEO and founder of Moms at Work, Allison Venditti sits down with rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga to talk about the challenges facing mothers in the workforce in 2025 and what her organization is doing about it.
About our guest
Allison Venditti is a career coach, HR expert, salary negotiation whisperer and founder of Moms at Work. She has over a decade of experience helping women make more money, grow their careers, and build communities designed to support and advocate. She has worked in many sectors including health care, technology and startups, nonprofit, manufacturing, finance, banking, consulting, mining, engineering, insurance, government, corporate real estate, transportation and more.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week, Michael Bueckert from Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, sits down with Libby Davies. The two discuss how CJPME hopes to make solidarity with Palestine an election issue this year, as well as how his own education and activism led him to his current position as acting president of the organization.
About Michael Bueckert and CJPME
Dr. Michael Bueckert has a PhD in sociology with a specialization in political economy from Carleton University. He has written for publications including Africa Is A Country, Jacobin and Briarpatch. He is co-editor of Advocating for Palestine in Canada (Fernwood Publishing, 2022). He joined CJPME as vice president in June 2020, and became interim president in January 2025.
CJPME’s mission is to enable Canadians of all backgrounds to promote justice, development and peace in the Middle East, and here at home in Canada. To learn more about Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, please visit: https://www.cjpme.org/
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we’re sharing a clip from our February Off the Hill political panel.
In this panel, our guests – including community organizer and political commentator Jennifer Arp; writer and policy researcher Chuka Ejeckam; political, advocacy and communications professional Sabrina Grover; and rabble’s own parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg – discussed the ongoing high-stakes Liberal leadership race.
Review the entire panel here.
About our guests
Chuka Ejeckam is a writer and policy researcher. His work focuses on inequity and inequality, drug policy, structural racism, and labour. He is also a columnist for rabble.
Sabrina Grover is an experienced political, advocacy and communications professional with an expertise in the international development and global health and nutrition sectors. Grover served as the campaign manager for the Mark Sutcliffe Campaign for Mayor in Ottawa, and in 2021 Sabrina ran as the Federal Liberal Candidate for Calgary-Centre. She also sits on the board of several organizations including the Public Affairs Association of Canada, the Sled Island Music Festival and HomeSpace where she primarily supports stakeholder relations and building partnerships with government and private sector partners. She’s also a frequent political commentator on CBC Calgary, CTV Power Play and the Vassy Kapelos Show.
Karl Nerenberg is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker, working in both English and French languages. He is rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter.
Jennifer Arp is a community leader and non-profit professional. Previous roles include interim national president and CEO with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada and senior vice-president of the community at MS Canada. She had the privilege of representing her community on the Toronto District School Board as trustee and vice-chair from 2014-2018 where she led numerous initiatives including the Enhancing Equity Task Force. Other experience includes working at both the federal and provincial level for multiple cabinet ministers. She recently completed her Master of Arts in International and Intercultural Communications at Royal Roads University.
About Off the Hill
Since 2019, Off the Hill has been rabble.ca’s live political panel. Through this series, we break down important national and international news stories through a progressive lens.
This webinar series invites a rotating roster of guest activists, politicians, researchers and more to discuss how to mobilize and bring about progressive change in national politics — on and off Parliament Hill. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week, we share a clip from the latest episode of the Courage My Friends podcast series.
In this episode, host Resh Budhu sat down with author and storyteller Carolyn Roberts, dean of the Centre for Preparatory and Liberal Studies at George Brown College, Susan Toews, and director of Student Well-Being and Support at George Brown College, Alex Irwin to discuss this year’s upcoming Mental Health Conference. This year’s conference theme is Thriving Together in the Classroom: Creating the Conditions for Student Well-Being.
About our guests
Carolyn Roberts uses her voice to support Indigenous resurgence through education. She is a St’at’imc and Sto:lo woman belonging to the Thevarge family from N'quatqua Nation and the Kelly Family from the Tzeachten Nation and under the Indian Act she is a member of the Squamish Nation. Carolyn is a speaker, author, Indigenous academic, and a faculty member in UBC Teacher Education and NITEP programs. She has been an educator and administrator for over 20 years in the K-12 system. Carolyn’s work is grounded in educating about Indigenous people and the decolonization of the education system. She works with pre-service teachers to help build their understandings in Indigenous history, education, and ancestral ways of knowing, to create a brighter future for all Indigenous people and the seven generations yet to come. She is also the author of Re-Storying Education: Decolonizing Your Practice Using a Critical Lens (2024).
Alex Irwin is an accomplished educator with broad experience managing people and projects and developing innovative education programming for a wide range of students, both domestically and overseas. He is director of Student Well-Being and Support at George Brown College, where he oversees counselling, accessible learning services, deaf and hard of hearing services, and the college’s peer wellness programming. He is also a clinical social worker, with a history of working at community-based mental health and treatment centres.
Susan Toews has over 35 years of experience in education, with the last 18 years of her career at George Brown College, where she has served in leadership positions in both academic roles and service areas. She is currently the Dean, Centre for Preparatory and Liberal Studies. Susan is a strong advocate for a whole campus/whole student approach to student mental health and believes in the wide application of Universal Design for Learning, as it provides guidance for creating accessible, inclusive and engaging student-centered learning opportunities – critical to student well-being. Susan holds an M.Ed. from OISE/University of Toronto and, as a committed lifelong learner, continually engages in professional development in education, including graduating from UBC’s Organizational Coaching program in 2024.
For online registration, conference fees and information about the February 27, 2025 conference, please click this link.
Listen to the full episode here, on Needs No Introduction – home of the Courage My Friends podcast series.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Ahead of a provincial election in Ontario, rabble’s Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Eleanor Wand sits down with Sarah Jama to talk about her re-election campaign as an Independent MPP for Hamilton Centre and how Jama believes that voters between parties have more in common than they think.
About our guest
Sarah Jama is running for re-election to continue representing Hamilton Centre as MPP. Her community work spans over a decade in Ontario and beyond, including leading intersectional leadership programs, civic engagement initiatives for youth, and grassroots efforts addressing social inequities such as food insecurity. Before being elected, Jama was a sessional faculty member at McMaster University and the executive director of the Disability Justice Network of Ontario.
Sarah creates and amplifies spaces for young people by promoting skill-building, knowledge-sharing, and community organizing.
As an MPP, Sarah Jama brought her grassroots organizing experience and deep community connections to Queen’s Park, providing platforms for disenfranchised individuals who are often dismissed. She has consistently advocated for public healthcare, rent control, affordable and supportive housing, childcare, protected bike lanes, environmental sustainability, and increased funding for education. She has also opposed unnecessary highway expansions, private healthcare, and policies that fail to prioritize the well-being of our communities. Sarah puts working people first, and working people are the heart of Hamilton Centre.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
What does it mean for a workplace to be truly accommodating for all? How can we advocate for more people-first workplaces? Where are governments and companies failing us and how can we better protect each other?
Labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Brad Evoy, the executive director with Disability Justice Network of Ontario to discuss all this and more.
About our guest
Brad Evoy is the executive director with Disability Justice Network of Ontario. Brad is a member of the Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation and has worked across Ontario and Newfoundland as a governance and community organizing nerd. His experiences as a Disabled person—with Cerebral Palsy and high myopic vision—have helped ground him in community and the interlocking fight for justice. DJNO was founded in 2018 by racialized, disabled community members in Hamilton, Ontario to build a world where disabled people are free to be, able to thrive and grow in community together, and have the power to hold the powerful to account.
The Disability Justice Network of Ontario (DJNO) aims to build a just and accessible Ontario, wherein people with disabilities: have personal and political agency; can thrive and foster community; and build the power, capacity, and skills needed to hold people, communities, and institutions responsible for the spaces they create. For more information about DJNO, visit here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week, we share a clip from the first episode of the latest season of the Courage My Friends podcast series. In this episode, independent journalist and public historian Taylor C. Noakes, author, political economist and senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Ricardo Tranjan and social justice activist and former organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, John Clarke reflect on the current state of progressive politics in Canada.
Listen to the full episode here, on Needs No Introduction – home of the Courage My Friends podcast series.
About our guests
John Clarke is a writer and activist who became involved in anti-poverty organizing in the 1980s, when he helped to form a union of unemployed workers in London, Ontario. In 1990, he became an organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and stayed in this role until 2019 when he became Packer Visitor in Social Justice at York University.
Taylor C. Noakes is an independent journalist and public historian from Montreal.
Ricardo Tranjan is a political economist, senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, frequent media commentator in English and French, and author of two books, including the national bestseller The Tenant Class.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
In 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned in the United States, it sent shockwaves through Canada as we questioned how this decision might impact us. For many, it sparked a new sense of concern that similar actions could be taken here, prompting a closer examination of the work needed to strengthen and expand reproductive rights and access in Canada.
This week, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. While he promises to usher in a “golden age,” in the five days he’s been in power, he’s already made extremely harmful decisions concerning health care, gender identity, citizenship, the environment and much more.
And so we’re forced to consider, again, what these actions could mean for Canada. Leading up to a federal election of our own, one where a Conservative federal leader seems the likely outcome, we’re asking: what is the state of reproductive rights in Canada – and what’s at stake in the upcoming election?
This week on the show, Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Eleanor Wand sits down with Joyce Arthur, the founder of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada to discuss all this and more.
About our guests
Joyce Arthur (she/her) has been an abortion rights activist for over 30 years. She is the founder and executive director of Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, where she carries out lobbying work, activist campaigns, and public education. She’s also a writer, media spokesperson, and speaker on abortion and other gender rights and social justice issues.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we’re sharing a clip from our first Off the Hill political panel of 2025.
In this panel, our guests – including NDP MP Niki Ashton, senior researcher at the CCPA National Office Stuart Trew, economist Jim Stanford, activist and writer Judy Haiven and rabble’s parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg – talked about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation announcement, his accomplishments and failings during his time as leader, parliament’s current prorogation and what’s next for Canada.
Review the entire panel here.
About our guests
Niki Ashton is NDP Member of Parliament for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski in Manitoba.
Stuart Trew is a senior researcher at the CCPA National Office and the past editor of the CCPA Monitor. He is director of the CCPA’s Trade and Investment Research Project.
Jim Stanford is an economist and the director of the Centre for Future Work, a labour economics research institute with operations in Canada and Australia.
Karl Nerenberg is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker, working in both English and French languages. He is rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter.
Judy Haiven is a former professor of Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She retired to become a volunteer human rights activist and writer. She is a founder of Equity Watch, a nonprofit organization that fights bullying, discrimination and harassment in the workplace. A founding member of Independent Jewish Voices Canada, Judy supports the struggle to end Israel’s genocide against Palestinians. Her social justice newsletter, Another Ruined Dinner Party, is available for free on Substack.
About Off the Hill
Since 2019, Off the Hill has been rabble.ca’s live political panel. Through this series, we break down important national and international news stories through a progressive lens.
This webinar series invites a rotating roster of guest activists, politicians, researchers and more to discuss how to mobilize and bring about progressive change in national politics — on and off Parliament Hill. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, journalist and filmmaker Nelofer Pazira-Fisk sits down with Libby Davies to discuss her experience completing her late husband’s book on Middle Eastern politics and shares her reflections on how Western mainstream media could be doing a better job reporting on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
For more information about Night of Power: The Betrayal of the Middle East, visit this website.
About our guest
Nelofer Pazira-Fisk is an award-winning Afghan-Canadian author, journalist and filmmaker. She was based in Beirut for fifteen years working alongside her late husband, Robert Fisk. She reported for Canadian television and radio as well as UK and Canadian newspapers from Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Egypt and Syria. In 2001, she starred in the film Kandahar, based on her real-life story and has directed and produced several films including Return to Kandahar (2003), Act of Dishonour (2010), and This is Not a Movie (2019). Nelofer’s 2006 book, A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan, won the Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize.
She is a recipient of Gemini Award, New York’s Media Award, Gabriel Award and A.D. Dunton
Award of Distinction. She has a degree in journalism and English literature (Carleton University), an MA in Anthropology, Sociology and Religion (Concordia University), and two honorary doctorates from Carleton and Thomson River universities in Canada.
Recently, she saw the completion and publication of Robert Fisk’s last book – Night of Power: The Betrayal of the Middle East. Nelofer shares her time between Dublin and Ottawa.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
It’s hard to believe, but it’s already time to say goodbye to 2024 and ring in a new year. Before we do, however, we’d like to take the next half an hour to review some of our favourite interviews of this year. It’s become a tradition at rabble radio, after all! Let’s dive right in.
2024 at a glance…
In January, then-Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Madison Edward-Wright sat down with associate professor at Concordia University Ted Rutland to talk about his research work on anti-Black racism and policing in Canada – and specifically, in Montreal. In this clip, Rutland will take us through a brief history of policing in Quebec and give us a temperature check of the situation today.
At the end of her term as Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow in 2023, Kiah Lucero covered the Kearl mine tailings leak, and how the Alberta Energy Regulator and Imperial Oil both failed to report those leaks for a disastrous nine-month period. Brandi Morin, an award-winning Cree/Iroquois/French journalist, released Killer Water, a documentary which shines a light on the environmental impacts of Alberta’s oil sands industry. Morin shares with Lucero the grave ways the community of Fort Chipewyan has been impacted by the Kearl mine tailings spill.
May is Asian Heritage Month in Canada, and this year we were very excited to share with our listeners a two-part discussion on the history of Asian labour in Canada. Kiah Lucero sat down with Patricia Chong and Karine Ng from the Ontario and BC branches of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance. In this clip, we’ll hear them dive into the concept of a “model minority” and how all racial justice fights are intertwined.
This year, a major win for the pro-choice movement – and indeed a win for women’s health across Canada – came in the form of an announcement by the Liberal federal government that crisis pregnancy centers and charities must now clearly reveal to their clients whether they offer abortion or abortion referrals. This new policy will prevent anti-choice pregnancy crisis centers from misleading women to try to deter them from having an abortion. In the months leading up to this policy being announced, Joyce Arthur, the founder and executive director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, joined rabble editor Nick Seebruch to talk about belief-based denial of care and the state of abortion rights in Canada.
And finally, listeners, the last clip we wanted to highlight today came from a conversation between Nick Seebruch and Louise Smith from Independent Jewish Voices Canada. Solidarity with Palestine was a huge topic of conversation this year on the podcast and on rabble.ca, and in this interview Smith and Seebruch outline the important work Independent Jewish Voices Canada does to advocate for peace and justice in Israel-Palestine and explain how all forms of oppression are connected. In this clip, Smith aims to dispel the myth that solidarity with Palestine equals antisemitism and criticizes the Jewish groups in Canada which tout that sentiment.
Did we miss a favourite interview of yours from 2024? Let us know on social media or by leaving a review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or YouTube!
Thank you for listening to rabble radio!
Our show would not be possible without listeners like you. So thank you!
From all of us here at rabble, we want to wish you and your communities a very merry holiday season and a safe and happy new year!
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Last week, our Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Eleanor Wand shared a piece on rabble.ca which examined the Ontario government’s decision to move forward with plans to close 10 of its 19 supervised consumption and treatment sites, despite a report from the auditor general criticizing the decision for lack of planning and consultation.
In the piece, she explained that experts and advocates argue that the decision to close these sites – which have been shown to reduce harm and save lives – will worsen the opioid crisis and increase public health and safety risks.
Today, Wand sits down with Dr. Alexander Caudarella, the CEO from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) and family physician, to talk about the benefits and misconceptions of supervised consumption sites and how whole communities must work together to discover what feels safe for all.
About our guest
Dr. Alexander Caudarella is a bilingual family physician with specialty training in substance use health issues. As a leader and clinician, he brings years of collaborative substance use healthcare experience to CCSA from his work across the country. Previously, Alexander served as the medical director of substance use services (SUS) at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, and lead SUS physician with Inner City Health Associates. In his work as a researcher and clinician he frequently advised public health officials on issues related to substance use health.
As one of the key leaders of the Toronto Opioid Overdose Action Network, Alexander coordinated the implementation of in-hospital substance use components and developed a regional system to access rapid expert support. He has served as a substance use consultant and clinician for the Government of Nunavut. For more than a decade, Alexander worked on Indigenous-lead programs in Canada and abroad aimed at building capacity, decreasing stigma and building local workforces.
He joined CCSA as Chief Executive Officer in August 2022. Through CCSA’s work with national and international partners, Alexander wants people in Canada to understand the scope of substance use health and the solutions they can put in place in their communities. He passionately believes that collaboration across sectors is essential in improving the health and well-being of people who use drugs and alcohol.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Earlier this year, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced dramatic changes to that province's approach to the healthcare, education, and inclusion of transgender youth.
READ MORE: In Alberta’s new war on trans people, children will suffer
Since then, queer activists and groups supporting the rights of 2SLGBTQIA folks have come together to challenge and speak out against policies like the ones proposed in Alberta and have done their best to support queer and trans youth across the county.
This week on rabble radio, Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Eleanor Wand sits down with Bennett Jensen, the director of legal at Egale Canada to discuss what’s at stake under the proposed legislation targeting trans youth in Alberta.
“When there are restrictions on access or information around queer and trans people, that communicates that there is something wrong with being queer or trans.”
About our guest and Egale Canada
Bennett Jensen (he/him) is the director of legal at Egale Canada where he develops, leads and directs strategic litigation in furtherance of 2SGLBTQI rights. Jensen began his career as a litigator at a leading law firm in New York City, before becoming the deputy head of the firm’s award-winning pro bono practice and leading responses to national rights violations like the Muslim travel ban and the family separation crisis.
Prior to joining Egale, he served as a policy advisor and then as director of litigation to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada where he supported the passage of the criminal ban against conversion “therapy.” He has been recognized as a Rising Star by the American Bar Association, as one of the LGBTQ+ Bar Association’s Best 40 Lawyers under 40, and, most recently, with the 2024 Canadian Bar Association’s National SAGDA Hero Award.
Egale Canada is the country’s leading 2SGLBTQI rights organization. Egale’s vision is a Canada, and ultimately a world, without homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and all other forms of oppression so that every person can achieve their full potential, free from hatred and bias.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: How just is Canada’s justice system?’
Our panel featured poet and activist El Jones; and rabble’s own parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg.
About our guests
El Jones is a poet, author, journalist, professor and activist living in Halifax. She is the author of Abolitionist Intimacies (2022) and Live from the Afrikan Resistance! (2014).
Karl Nerenberg is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker, working in both English and French languages. He is rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
By now, we’ve all heard about the poor working conditions Amazon workers face globally. So, why then, are there only two unionized Amazon factories in North America?
Labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga talks to Félix Trudeau, the president of the first union to be certified at an Amazon warehouse in Canada, about his efforts unionizing his colleagues and what other Canadian workers can learn from their experiences.
About our guest
Félix Trudeau is the president of the first union to be certified at an Amazon warehouse in Canada. The union was created in May 2024 and is a part of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN). Trudeau and his colleagues have entered their first round of collective bargaining with Amazon. Members continue to mobilize to secure the first collective agreement in the history of the multinational.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Well, it’s official: Donald Trump will be the 47th president of the United States.
So… now what?
For those in and out of the States, the news comes as a bit of a shock. Despite the presidential race being a tight one, particularly over the past few weeks, there were those who held out hope that Kamala Harris and her “new way forward” was going to win out.
But no. Instead, the convicted felon with a history of sexual abuse toward women won.
This week on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch joins parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg by phone from France to discuss what Trump’s win means for America, Canada and beyond.
Karl Nerenberg is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker, working in both English and French languages. He is rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Photo by: Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Thomas et al v. Canada is a class action lawsuit which was filed in the Federal Court of Canada in 2020 on behalf of Black Canadians employed in the Public Service of Canada.
The action seeks to address and dismantle the systemic racism and discrimination within the Public Service of Canada. Specifically, for Black individuals who applied for employment with the Public Service and were denied entry based on their race, and those who were employed but were denied promotions based on their race (including those who have been employed within the past five decades).
rabble.ca and labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casusa have been following this story as it develops, and this week Calugay-Casuga sat down with Bernadeth Betchi, a representative plaintiff who shared why seeking justice through the court is meaningful to her.
About our guests Bernadeth Betchi is a representative candidate for the Black Class Action lawsuit.
In 2023, Betchi ran for the position of president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE). Her candidacy was historic, she was the first Black woman to ever put her name forward for the position. Betchi is also a co-founder of the Ottawa-Gatineau Black Breastfeeding week, which aims to bring awareness to the realities of Black parents and their access to support when it comes to breastfeeding. Outside of organizing, Betchi is a PhD candidate in her fourth year of studying philosophy, feminist and gender studies.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Last year, the big headline to come out of the COP28 conference held in Dubai, was the news that an agreement had been made amongst participating countries to transition away from fossil fuels.
With Canada being the fourth-largest oil producer in the world and the fifth-largest producer of natural gas, where does this leave us? And what are we expecting to see come out of the upcoming COP29 conference in November?
Today, Andréanne Brazeau from the David Suzuki Foundation sits down with rabble editor Nick Seebruch to talk about COP29, the work the foundation does to research and report on climate progress (and regress), and how Canadians can participate in climate action.
About our guest and the David Suzuki Foundation The David Suzuki Foundation is a national, bilingual non-profit organization headquartered in Vancouver, with offices in Toronto and Montreal. Through evidence-based research, education and policy analysis, the Foundation works to conserve and protect the natural environment and help create a sustainable Canada.
Andréanne Brazeau is a senior policy analyst based in Québec. Her expertise is in climate governance in Quebec, Canada and internationally; public policy related to the environment, climate, energy and consumption; sustainable transportation; international climate negotiations and the just transition.
Brazeau has held various positions in policy analysis, government relations, communications, research and advocacy before joining the David Suzuki Foundation. She has worked for Équiterre, the UNESCO Chair in the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Extremism at the Université de Sherbrooke, ENvironnement JEUnesse, the Réseau québécois des groupes écologistes and the Young Diplomats of Canada.
To read material from the David Suzuki Foundation, visit their website here or catch up on the latest from the foundation on rabble here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: Catching up on Canadian and U.S. politics.’
Our panel featured NDP MP Niki Ashton; rabble columnist and policy analyst Chuka Ejeckam; poet and activist El Jones; and rabble’s own parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg.
About our guests
Niki Ashton is NDP Member of Parliament for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski in Manitoba.
El Jones is a poet, author, journalist, professor and activist living in Halifax. She is the author of Abolitionist Intimacies (2022) and Live from the Afrikan Resistance! (2014).
Chuka Ejeckam is a writer and policy researcher. His work focuses on inequity and inequality, drug policy, structural racism, and labour. He is also a columnist for rabble.
Karl Nerenberg is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker, working in both English and French languages. He is rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Monday, October 7, 2024 marked the one year anniversary of the deadly Hamas-led attacks in Israel-Palestine, which was followed by Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.
Over the past year, activist organizations, groups and citizens worldwide have done their part to call for an end to this genocide. One such organization is Independent Jewish Voices (IJV).
Today, Louise Smith from IJV sits down with rabble editor Nick Seebruch to talk about the work IJV does to promote peace in the Middle East, how solidarity with Palestine does not equal antisemitism, and how all forms of oppression are connected.
“There are a lot of really strong voices in the Jewish community that are invested in confusing people about anti-semitism and anti-zionism. And the Israel Lobby and funders of the Israeli state, they really want people to be so afraid of being accused of anti-semitism that they stop protesting any of the humanitarian violations committed by the state of Israel.
And we really need to make a distinction between people who are critical of Jews for being Jewish or Jewish conspiracy theories that are focused on Jewish people or perceived Jewish traits and separate that from legitimate criticism of state decisions. It is very normal for people to criticize state actions, state policies; and that shouldn’t be any different for the state of Israel.”
– Louise Smith
About our guest and Independent Jewish Voices Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) is a grassroots organization grounded in Jewish tradition that opposes all forms of racism and advocates for justice and peace for all in Israel-Palestine. IJV has active chapters in cities and on university campuses across Canada. Learn more about IJV here.
Louise Smith grew up in and lives in Toronto, on Dish with One Spoon territory. She is proudly Jewish and organizes in solidarity with Palestinians as part of Independent Jewish Voices and the Jews Say No to Genocide coalition.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
To tip or not to tip?
Tipping culture has become a large conversation in Canada over the past few years, as both customers and service workers across the country struggle to meet the demands of the cost-of-living crisis. Receiving tips to supplement a small paycheque becomes all the more necessary. Meanwhile, giving generous tips feels all the more harder.
So how would you react to knowing that a portion of the tips you’re giving are not even being collected by the people who are serving you – but rather, upper management.
This is called tip theft, and in one Atlantic province it’s perfectly legal.
Nova Scotia is one of the only provinces in Canada without anti-tip theft legislation, and organizers at the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre are trying to change that.
This week on the show, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with community organizer Syd Blum to talk about their work organizing workers in Nova Scotia and trying to bring the issue of anti-tip theft to the attention of the provincial government.
About our guest Syd Blum (she/they) is a community, political, and union organizer living in Mi’kma’ki / Nova Scotia. They are the organizer for the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre, a community legal worker at Dalhousie Legal Aid, and the vice-president of IASTE Local B-778.
They were previously a head organizer with the ACORN Tenant Union, where they led successful campaigns for a rent cap and anti-eviction policies in Atlantic Canada, and a union-cooperative developer. They have a profound commitment to building a strong labour movement in Nova Scotia, fighting for a union at home, at work, and in our communities.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Alistair Hepburn, executive director of ACTRA Toronto. The two discuss the do-not-work notice placed on Mr. Beast’s Beast Games in Toronto and other actions ACTRA is taking to protect Canadian performers.
About our guests Alistair Hepburn is the executive director of ACTRA Toronto, the largest branch of ACTRA (the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists), the union representing performers in the film, radio, television, and new media industries.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Off the Hill co-hosts to review how rabble’s monthly panel series came to be and where we hope to go in the future.
About our guests Robin Browne is Off the Hill’s co-host. Robin is a communications professional and founder of the 613-819 Black Hub, living in Ottawa. His blog is The “True” North.
Libby Davies is Off the Hill’s co-host and author of Outside In: a Political Memoir. She served as the MP for Vancouver East from 1997-2015, and is former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we share a clip from the first episode of the new season of the Courage My Friends podcast: Climate and the city: Are we ready?
In this episode, host Resh Budhu sits down with former mayor of Toronto, David Miller to discuss the crucial role of cities in “fixing” the climate crisis and what we can learn in building sustainable and equitable urban communities. Miller and Budhu also explore the question of just how prepared Canadian cities are to meet the challenges of this crisis.
About our guest Miller was Mayor of Toronto from 2003 to 2010 and served as Chair of C40 Cities from 2008 until 2010. Under his leadership, Toronto became widely admired internationally for its environmental leadership, economic strength and social integration. He is a leading advocate for the creation of sustainable urban economies.
Miller has held a variety of public and private positions and served as Future of Cities Global Fellow at Polytechnic Institute of New York University from 2011 to 2014. He has an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Waterloo in Environmental Studies, an Honorary Doctor of Laws from York University and is currently executive in residence at the University of Victoria.
David Miller is a Harvard trained economist and professionally is a lawyer. He and his wife, lawyer Jill Arthur, are the parents of two children.
About Courage My Friends The Courage My Friends podcast is presented by rabble.ca and the Tommy Douglas Institute, with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation.
If you’d like to hear more from the Courage My Friends podcast, please subscribe to Needs No Introduction - a podcast by rabble which presents a series of speeches and lectures from the finest minds of our time. Available on rabble.ca, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Earlier this month, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) launched a campaign this month highlighting how the fossil fuel industry in British Columbia is increasing healthcare system costs and reducing access to care. The campaign shared billboards and transit ads, held a press conference in front of Vancouver General Hospital and shared an open letter from over 300 doctors and nurses calling for immediate action to protect communities and the healthcare system.
Today on rabble radio, Dr. Melissa Lem, the president of CAPE, joins rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga to discuss in more detail about this campaign, and how CAPE works with other healthcare organizations and unions to create a healthier planet and population.
Lem last joined us on rabble radio in 2022 as part of our Boiling Point series. She and Stephen Wentzell explored the many ways in which climate change is a health issue and why it’s so important for governments, at all levels, to put policies in place to protect people during extreme weather events.
About our guest Dr. Melissa Lem is a Vancouver family physician who also works in rural and northern communities within Canada. President of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, she is an internationally recognized leader in the field of nature, biodiversity and health. Lem has also engaged in advocacy and policy work on a broad range of other issues ranging from extreme heat and hydraulic fracturing to sustainable health care and low-carbon transportation. A widely published writer, climate change panelist on CBC Radio's Early Edition, in-house medical columnist for CBC TV Vancouver and clinical assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, one of her major priorities is knowledge translation.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Mahendra Pandey. Mahendra shares his experience as a former migrant worker in Saudi Arabia, as well as his work organizing migrant workers today.
About our guest Mahendra Pandey is the senior manager of forced labor and human trafficking at Humanity United. Through this role, he focuses on the human trafficking in labor migration portfolio. Before getting involved in advocacy work, Pandey worked in Saudi Arabia as a migrant worker and experienced first-hand the poor working conditions that many Nepali migrant workers face.
While in Saudi Arabia, he developed a Nepali migrant rights network, Pravasi Nepali Coordination Committee (PNCC). Pandey holds a master’s degree in digital media and storytelling from American University at Washington D.C. and recently completed a leadership organizing and action course at Harvard University.
To learn more about Humanity United, visit this link.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Nick Seebruch sits down with Joyce Arthur, founder and executive director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada to talk about belief-based denial of care and the state of abortion rights in Canada.
About our guest Joyce Arthur is the founder and executive director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada.
The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC) is a broad-based national feminist organization consisting of groups and individuals who support ARCC’s vision and mandate. It recognizes and respects the cultural and political diversity of our country and its provinces and territories, works to represent as many women and communities as possible, and operates in both official languages.
ARCC acts as a “voice for choice.” Its primary mandate is to undertake political and educational work on reproductive rights and health issues.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Being an activist brings an emotional burden.
The issues we deal with are intense, difficult and sometimes without any immediate solution. And often, we try to deal with these issues through logically planning a strategy and communicating issues using words. It’s an intellectual process, but with a lot of underlying emotional baggage.
Elisa Lee has some thoughts about how to get under the intellect to connect with ourselves and people in our communities on a deeper level. She, and many other people involved in grief work, think that it’s important to deal with the full range of emotions ranging from anger and fear to hope and joy.
Today on rabble radio, we’re re-releasing an episode from May 2020, in which former rabble radio host Victoria Fenner sat down with Elisa Lee to talk about climate grief and how activists can better take care of themselves. This interview was originally a part of rabble’s series on Climate Hope in the Time of the Pandemic. To listen to the original episode, please click here.
About our guest For the past 15 years, Elisa Lee has been promoting personal development in collaboration with nature as a specialist teacher in ecological education, a self-care facilitator and a rite of passage guide. She holds a masters degree in environmental education with a focus on women’s rites of passage and is the founder of Fire & Flower, a rite of passage organization for girls.
Lee’s current activism focuses on community grief rituals and nature-based rites of passage for girls and adults. A big part of that sense of being is getting beyond the intellectual processes which help us explain the world to ourselves and others, but does not get to the root of our reactions to the complex issues that we all face in these difficult times.
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In January last year, rabble’s parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg shared a piece calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh to revive the idea of electoral reform for Canada – and on the podcast, he joined Réal Lavergne, former president of Fair Vote Canada, to dissect Canada’s current voting system and discuss how a fairer way to vote might be accomplished in the future.
Today, we’re revisiting the topic of proportional representation and electoral reform in Canada.
Next year is an election year in Canada, and with a decline in popularity for current Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and with far-right extremism on the rise (and apparently influencing certain Conservative leaders across the country), many Canadians are already wondering how they might cast their vote.
Joining us on rabble radio this week is Ted Cragg, a spokesperson for Fair Vote Canada.
Ted Cragg has been involved with Fair Vote Canada since 2009, during the British Columbia referendum on electoral reform of that year. He previously served as president of the organization's national capital region chapter. He currently lives in Saint-Léonard-d'Aston, Québec, a province showing promising signs of being the first to adopt proportional representation in Canada.
Fair Vote Canada seeks broad, multi-partisan support to embody in new legislation the basic principle of democratic representative government and ultimate safeguard of a free society: the right of each citizen to equal treatment under election laws and equal representation in legislatures.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
On July 8, workers at the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa (CASO) walked off the job after contract negotiations broke down with their employer over issues of funding and a strained workforce for essential child care services. On Tuesday OPSEU/SEFPO, the union representing CASO, took to X (formally Twitter) to announce a tentative agreement had been reached with their employer.
"Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa workers, members of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 454, reached a tentative agreement last night after braving 24 days on strike. Further details to follow once the ratification vote concludes this afternoon – solidarity!"
On Wednesday, it was announced the deal had been ratified. However, as Michele Thorn, president of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 454 and adoption worker at CASO, says: the fight is far from over. Michele Thorn has worked at the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa since 1995 and was a child protection worker for 20 years. She is currently working as an adoption worker. She has been the president of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 454 since 2017 and has now been on the bargaining team six times since 2009. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
On April 17, 2024 a pro-Palestine protest encampment was built at Columbia University where students called on their school to disclose and divest their investments in companies linked to Israel and its war on Gaza. This inspired a movement in universities across North America –and the globe– for students to create their own on-campus encampments.
After months of peaceful protest, the encampments at UofT, McGill, UOttawa have now been dismantled, but the pressure for divestment continues.
Today on rabble radio, freelance reporter Stephen Wentzell sits down with journalist and activist Desmond Cole to outline the misconceptions some had about the student encampments and what responsible reporting for Palestine looks like.
Desmond Cole is a journalist, radio host, and activist. His debut book, The Skin We’re In, won the Toronto Book Award and was a finalist for the Forest of Reading Evergreen Award and the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. It was also named a best book of 2020 by The Globe and Mail, NOW Magazine, CBC, Quill & Quire, and Indigo. Cole’s writing has appeared in the Toronto Star, Toronto Life, The Walrus, and the Ottawa Citizen, among others. He lives in Toronto.
Stephen Wentzell is a journalist based in New York City covering politics, social issues, and the criminal legal system. A former national politics reporter at rabble.ca, Stephen has also worked at publications including CTV Atlantic and CityNews Halifax. In 2023, Stephen began studying at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, where he is concentrating in local accountability journalism, as well as health and science reporting. When he's not working, Stephen can be found snuggling with his cat Benson and watching the latest episode of the Real Housewives.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, Nick Seebruch sits down with Deblekha Guin, the executive director of Access to Media Education Society. The two discuss the work the organization does to educate and empower youth through storytelling, artistic collaboration and peer facilitation.
In 1996, Deblekha (she/her) founded Access to Media Education Society (AMES), a non-profit that supports directly impacted youth in making and sharing personally and socially transformative digital stories. Since AMES's emergence Guin has co-visioned and coordinated 50+ distinct participatory media and digital arts production programs that have engaged over 2000 youth from equity-deserving communities in the creation of 500+ videos, animations and digital works.
Guin was recognized for her extensive BIPOC-centred, intergenerational and intersectional creative community-building work through an Intercultural Trust Award at the BC Multiculturalism and Anti-racism Awards in 2020.
To learn more about Access to Media Education Society please click here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, Libby Davies sits down with Avi Lewis to talk about a lifetime of activism and his plans to run in the next federal election.
Avi Lewis is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, educator, and activist. Lewis is also the co-founder of The Leap, a grassroots climate organization launched to upend our collective response to the crises of climate, inequality and racism. Lewis engages in transformative change locally and globally. He was a candidate for the NDP in the last federal election and is currently an associate professor in geography at the University of British Columbia.
Libby Davies is the author of Outside In: a Political Memoir. She served as the Member of Parliament for Vancouver East from 1997-2015, and is former NDP deputy leader and house leader. Davies is also a recipient of the Order of Canada. She currently co-hosts rabble.ca’s monthly political panel, Off the Hill.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
“Unions are not just a place for rank and file issues – they are also political.”
This week, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Ala’ Qadi to discuss how student unions and labour issues intersect with the crisis in Palestine.
Ala’ Qadi is the second vice chair of the Coalition of Racialized Workers at Ontario Public Service Employee Union (OPSEU). He is also a steward of Algonquin College faculty union and one of the coordinators of Labour 4 Palestine, Ottawa Chapter.
To learn about and donate to Labour for Palestine’s defense fund, please click here.
Ala’ is the former second vice president of Algonquin College Faculty Union, OPSEU Local 415. He has been active in union movements and social justice advocacy in Ottawa and Ontario for the last seven years and has been involved in organizing with unions and student movements throughout his life – in Palestine, Canada and the United States.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
On Tuesday, June 25, more than 300 people rallied outside SickKids Hospital in Toronto to call on the employer to end their decades-long pension holiday. Today, Leonora Foster, patient service aid and president of the CUPE local at the hospital joins rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga to talk about the need for a new pension plan for SickKids employees.
Leonora Foster is a patient service aid at SickKids Hospital and a union steward for CUPE 2816. She has been working at SickKids for 36 years. After decades of backbreaking labour, Foster says she wants to secure a decent pension plan for herself and her co-workers to escape the clutches of poverty in her sunset years.
To read the full story from Calugay-Casuga, click here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: Pride in Canada – The fight continues.’
Our panel featured NDP MP Blake Desjarlais; rabble columnist Charlotte Dalwood; podcaster Shawn Dearn; professor Fritz Pino; and activist Martine Roy.
About our guests
MP Blake Desjarlais (he/him) was born in ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Edmonton) and raised on the Fishing Lake Métis Settlement. Prior to his election as the Member of Parliament for Edmonton Griesbach, Desjarlais was a community activist and national director of the Métis Settlements General Council. Desjarlais made history in September 2021 when he was the first openly Two-Spirit person ever elected to the House of Commons and the first Indigenous representative from Edmonton.
Charlotte Dalwood (she/they) is a Student-At-Law at Prison & Police Law in Calgary, AB, and an incoming Master of Laws student at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. She holds a Master of Arts in Religion from Yale University and is a monthly columnist on legal and 2SLGBTQ+ issues for rabble.ca. Their first book, Until At Dawn We Wake: Gender, Madness, Theology is forthcoming from Quoir in 2025.
Fritz Pino is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Regina. Her work focuses on queer and trans philosophies and theories; racialized LGBTQ immigrant communities; decolonial approaches to social work research; and more. Her work aims to create culturally-grounded interventions and approaches by centering the cultural knowledge and practices of marginalized groups and communities.
Martine Roy serves as the regional director for 2SLGBTQ+ Business Development in Québec & Eastern Canada for TD Bank and is committed to bridging the gap between the 2SLGBTQ+ community and the workplace. In the past, Roy served as a member of the board of directors of Pride at Work Canada for 10 years and served as president of Fondation Émergence until 2015. In 2017, she was awarded the Medal of the National Assembly of Quebec, and in 2023, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada for her tireless efforts as a leader, activist and advocate for diversity, inclusion and equity in Canada's 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
Shawn Dearn is an award-winning podcaster, broadcaster and strategic communications executive. He is co-founder at Montreal-based social impact entertainment firm, Secret Agents, and Shawn is the host of Queer Legends: An Oral History Podcast. Shawn spent the last two years researching and conducting interviews for an eight-part documentary series about Canada's LGBT Purge, which is now streaming everywhere you get your podcasts.
Check out the entire panel on rabbleTV or rabble’s YouTube channel!
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch joins Josh Bizjak, executive director of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation, to talk about the history of the organization and current research projects and initiatives.
Josh Bizjak was the founding director of development at the Broadbent Institute until joining the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation in January 2021, as the executive director. In his past role, he was instrumental in the Broadbent Institute's financial success and growth over the past decade. In 2018, Bizjak was senior advisor to the national director of Canada’s New Democratic Party under the leadership of Jagmeet Singh, and served in this position until 2021.
To learn more about how the DCL partners with rabble, be sure to check out the Jack Layton Journalism for Change Fellowship page on rabble.ca. And, to discover the current research projects and initiatives of the DCL, be sure to visit douglascoldwelllayton.ca/.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
It’s June, listeners! And in Canada and the US, June marks the start of Pride Season. Pride is when 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and allies gather in solidarity to celebrate queer identity and visibility, to commemorate the history of resistance to discrimination and violence, and to come together to fight current issues facing queer people.
This week on rabble radio, we’re re-releasing an episode from 2019 where Victoria Fenner sits down with Lyla Miklos, a queer activist from Hamilton, Ontario to talk about the city’s record of hate crimes and what other small communities in Canada can learn from Hamilton.
Continue the conversation on Pride in Canada by joining us for Off the Hill this month! Guests include rabble columnist Charlotte Dalwood and assistant professor in the Faculty of Social Work, Fritz Pino. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies. Register today to save your spot for our panel on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 at 4:30pm PT / 7:30pm ET.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Under the Rachel Notley NDP government in Alberta in 2015, and in response to public outcry over excessive compensation and benefits for public sector senior executives, the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act (PSCTA) was introduced. With the Act came “sunshine lists” which outlined the compensation of all public sector workers whose earnings exceeded a certain threshold.
In a blogpost by the Parkland Institute, Jason Foster explains the act and lists were originally created in hopes that disclosing names, salaries, and benefits would “curb tendencies toward financial excess by senior executives.”
He continues: “Whether it has worked as intended is an open question. What is clear is that it is something of a blunt tool.” And this blunt tool may not be the best solution.
This week on rabble radio, rabble labour reporter Kiah Lucero joins Foster to discuss the design flaws and shortcomings of the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act and sunshine lists in Alberta.
About our guests
Jason Foster is the director of Parkland Institute and an associate professor of human resources and labour relations at Athabasca University. He is the author of Gigs, Hustles, & Temps (2023) and Defying Expectations: The Case of UFCW Local 401 (2018), as well as co-author of Health and Safety in Canadian Workplaces (2016). His research interests include workplace injury, union renewal, labour and employment policy, and migrant workers in Canada. Foster is committed to sharing research to as broad an audience as possible, so that it might contribute to policy change and making people’s lives better.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we’re sharing a clip from our most recent Courage My Friends podcast series episode, hosted on Needs No Introduction.
In this episode, host Resh Budhu sits down with professor and researcher Dr. Chandni Desai and professor, author and policy analyst Dr. Muhannad Ayyash. The three discuss the destruction of Gaza’s educational systems and the role of scholasticide within genocide.
About our guests
Dr. Muhannad Ayyash was born and raised in Silwan, Al-Quds, before immigrating to Canada where he is professor of Sociology at Mount Royal University. He is also a policy analyst at Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network. He is the author of A Hermeneutics of Violence, has co-edited two books, and is the author of multiple journal articles, book chapters, and opinion pieces.
Dr. Chandni Desai is an assistant professor in the Critical Studies of Equity and Solidarity at the University of Toronto. Her areas of research, teaching and supervision include: comparative settler colonialisms, Palestine studies, the politics of the Middle East, state violence (carceral politics, militarism and war), cultures of resistance and revolution, political economy, third world internationalism, solidarity, memory, oral history, anti-racism and feminism. She is working on her first book Revolutionary Circuits of Liberation: The Radical Tradition of Palestinian Resistance Culture and Internationalism. Desai also hosts the Liberation Pedagogy Podcast.
Check out Scholars Against the War on Palestine and SAWP’s International Actions Against Scholasticide Toolkit.
To listen to the full episode of Scholasticide and solidarity: The mind and memory of Gaza, please tune into Needs No Introduction. Needs No Introduction is available on rabble.ca, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
The Courage My Friends podcast series is presented by rabble.ca and the Tommy Douglas Institute, with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: The myths and realities of Canada’s labour shortage’
Our panel featured MP Matthew Green, economist Jim Stanford, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour Laura Walton and researcher and policy analyst at the CCPA, Véronique Sioufi.
About our guests
MP Matthew Green was first elected Member of Parliament for Hamilton Centre in 2019 and re-elected in 2021. Previously, he served for the 2014-2018 term as the Ward 3 Councillor, and first person of colour to be elected to Hamilton City Council. Green is NDP Critic for Employment and Workforce Development; Labour; Ethics; and Deputy Critic for Public Services and Procurement.
Laura Walton is the President of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), Canada’s largest provincial labour federation. The OFL represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. Laura previously served as the President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees’ Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU), which represents over 55,000 education workers across the province. In 2022, Laura led an historic strike that won unprecedented gains for OSCBU members and that led to the defeat of Bill 28, the provincial government’s landmark anti-labour legislation.
Jim Stanford is an economist and the director of the Centre for Future Work, a labour economics research institute with operations in Canada and Australia.
Véronique Sioufi is the racial and socio-economic equity researcher and policy analyst at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives BC.
Check out the entire panel on rabbleTV or rabble’s YouTube channel!
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
It’s Asian Heritage Month in Canada – and this month, we’re very excited to bring you a two-part discussion on the history of Asian labour in Canada.
This week’s episode is a continuation from last week’s conversation in which rabble labour reporter Kiah Lucero, and Patricia Chong and Karine Ng from the Ontario and BC branches of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance discussed the history of the Alliance; key moments of Asian labour in Canada; and how racism, systemic discrimination, and “othering” still shows up in Canada today.
Today, we continue that discussion and dig into the concept of a “model minority,” what it means to be an immigrant on stolen land, and how all racial justice fights are intertwined.
About our guests
The Asian Canadian Labour Alliance (ACLA) is a national organization that represents the voice of Asian Canadian trade union members, Asian Canadian workers and the Asian community at large. Through educational events, organizing and strike support, the ACLA hopes to establish a wide network of labour and community activists in Canada.
Patricia Chong holds a MA in Labour Studies from McMaster University and a Masters in Labour Policies and Globalisation from the Global Labour University (Germany). She is a short documentary film maker and a member of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance Ontario Chapter. She has worked as an organizer for both public and private sector unions and has successfully unionized workers in Ontario, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Yukon.
吳珏穎 Karine Ng (she/her) is an immigrant-settler on Turtle Island, a spore blown across the Pacific from then British colonized Hong Kong, with ancestral roots in what is known today as China. Her work is anchored in education, spanning across diverse ages and socio-cultural settings in the ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and the Tseil-Waututh people and elsewhere.
For additional information on the organizations mentioned please visit:
- ACLA Ontario
- Canadian Sikh Heritage
- Challenging Racist “British Columbia”: 150 Years and Counting
- Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC
- Chinese Canadian Museum
- Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
For reading and watching materials:
- Addressing Anti-Asian Racism: A Resource for Educators A Resource for Educators
- White Riot: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver
- Toronto Solidarity Rally Against Anti-Asian Racism (2021)
More about Emmie Tsumura, the artist who worked on the Asian Canadian Labour History banners
- Asian Heritage Month designs
- Follow her on Instagram here
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
It’s Asian Heritage Month in Canada – and this month, we’re very excited to bring you a two-part discussion on the history of Asian labour in Canada.
Over the next two weeks, we’re sharing a conversation between rabble’s own labour reporter Kiah Lucero, and Patricia Chong and Karine Ng from the Ontario and BC branches of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance. The three discuss the history of the Alliance; key moments of Asian labour in Canada; and how racism, systemic discrimination, and “othering” still shows up in Canada today.
About our guests
The Asian Canadian Labour Alliance (ACLA) is a national organization that represents the voice of Asian Canadian trade union members, Asian Canadian workers and the Asian community at large. Through educational events, organizing and strike support, the ACLA hopes to establish a wide network of labour and community activists in Canada.
Patricia Chong holds a MA in Labour Studies from McMaster University and a Masters in Labour Policies and Globalisation from the Global Labour University (Germany). She is a short documentary film maker and a member of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance Ontario Chapter. She has worked as an organizer for both public and private sector unions and has successfully unionized workers in Ontario, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Yukon.
吳珏穎 Karine Ng (she/her) is an immigrant-settler on Turtle Island, a spore blown across the Pacific from then British colonized Hong Kong, with ancestral roots in what is known today as China. Her work is anchored in education, spanning across diverse ages and socio-cultural settings in the ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and the Tseil-Waututh people and elsewhere.
For additional information on the organizations mentioned please visit:
- ACLA Ontario
- Canadian Sikh Heritage
- Challenging Racist “British Columbia”: 150 Years and Counting
- Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC
- Chinese Canadian Museum
- Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
For reading and watching materials:
- Addressing Anti-Asian Racism: A Resource for Educators A Resource for Educators
- White Riot: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver
- Toronto Solidarity Rally Against Anti-Asian Racism (2021)
More about Emmie Tsumura, the artist who worked on the Asian Canadian Labour History banners:
- Asian Heritage Month designs
- Follow her on Instagram here
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Alex Stratas from Climate Justice uOttawa to talk about the work they do fighting for climate justice on and off campus.
Climate Justice uOttawa is a student run, grassroot organization aimed towards achieving climate justice within the uOttawa community and beyond. Their mission includes encouraging universities to fully divest from organizations which fund fossil fuel projects.
Alex Stratas (she/her) is a third-year political science and communications student at the University of Ottawa with experience in advocating and organizing grassroots campaigns on the climate crisis through her work as co-president of Climate Justice Climatique uOttawa (CJCUO). She is passionate about community advocacy, world literature, and international politics—mostly regarding the SWANA region and the intersection of identities. She is often found reading, listening to music, or complaining about the public transit system in Ottawa.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: Dissecting the 2024 federal budget.’
Our panel featured economist at the Centre for Future Work Jim Stanford, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives David Macdonald, and writer and policy researcher Chuka Ejeckam. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
About our guests
Jim Stanford is an economist and the director of the Centre for Future Work, a labour economics research institute with operations in Canada and Australia.
David Macdonald is the senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). He has been a commentator on national policy issues, appearing often in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and Canadian Press.
Chuka Ejeckam is a writer and policy researcher. His work focuses on inequity and inequality, drug policy, structural racism, and labour. He is also a columnist for rabble.ca.
Check out the entire panel on rabbleTV or rabble’s YouTube channel!
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with executive director of the Institute for Change Leaders, Mike Perry. The two discuss the training the ICL offers organizers, activists and campaigners as well as the importance of building relationships and storytelling when organizing.
A lawyer and social worker by profession, Mike Perry is the Institute for Change Leader’s executive director. An experienced teacher and skilled organizer, Mike has served as legal advisor to the Metis National Council; director of communications for the National Capital Region YMCA-YWCA's Capital Campaign; and executive director of the Kawartha Lakes Family Health Team. In 2022, Mike was elected councilor for Ward 3 in the City of Kawartha Lakes.
Mike is also an alumnus of the public leadership program at Harvard, where he is currently a teaching fellow for the Leading Change: Leadership, Organizing, and Action course, and served on Institute for Change Leader’s board of directors prior to his appointment as executive director in 2023.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, Dr. Lisa Everitt joins Kiah Lucero to talk about the emotional labour and burnout that teachers and education assistants in Canada are facing. The two also discuss the “HEARTcare” plan – a research project aimed at improving educator well-being.
About our guest and the HEARTcare project
Dr. Lisa Everitt has worked as an executive staff officer with the Alberta Teachers Association since 2006. Everitt has held several roles at the association and has developed expertise in labour relations, employee benefits plans, educational research, and women in leadership. Prior to joining the Association, Everitt taught high school mathematics in the Northwest Territories and Alberta. While her interest in compassion fatigue, emotional labour and educator burnout includes an academic perspective, it also has been informed by her work as a teacher working with vulnerable young people as well as her experience assisting teachers and school leaders struggling with mental emotional health.
Research conducted by the association over the course of the COVID19 pandemic revealed high levels of moral distress, symptoms of burnout, and compassion stress for Alberta teachers. This session focuses on the findings of these studies and addresses HEARTcare planning, a guide based on collective compassion to plan for mental emotional wellness for teachers and school leaders. The HEARTcare plan was designed by Dr. Astrid Kendrick of the University of Calgary following an Alberta Teachers Association and Alberta School Employee Benefit Plan sponsored two year study that examined the consequences of providing emotional labour at work.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, and ahead of International Transgender Day of Visibility this weekend, rabble’s Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Madison Edward-Wright sits down with the former research director at JusticeTrans, Alexis.
The two discuss the reports, events and plans JusticeTrans is working on to help Two Spirit, trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming communities in Canada.
About our guest and the JusticeTrans
Alexis is the former research director at JusticeTrans. They are a white settler of French and Scottish descent. They live and play in Nitaskinan, which is the occupied motherland of the Atikamekw Nehirowisiw First Nation. Alexis is non-binary, trans, queer, and multiply disabled.
To learn more about JusticeTrans, visit their website here: https://justicetrans.org/.
Follow JusticeTrans online at:
https://www.instagram.com/justice.trans/
https://www.facebook.com/JusticeTrans
https://www.linkedin.com/company/justice-trans
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: We want gender equality and affirmative action, not lip service.’
Our panel featured social entrepreneur pk mutch and professor Nadia Abu-Zahra in discussion and analysis. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
About our guests
pk mutch is an award-winning sustainability/social entrepreneur and former C-suite publishing executive (McGraw Hill, Canada and John Wiley & Sons, NY), journalist, writer and educator who is deeply committed to creating an inclusive, just post growth economy by transforming entrepreneurship narratives, ecosystems, policy and education. mutch is also a columnist for rabble.ca and the former publisher of Liibseth Magazine.
Dr. Nadia Abu-Zahra (she/her) speaks five languages and has worked in multiple spaces of colonial and neocolonial conflict. She has collaborated on two books and over 30 other publications on freedom of movement, community mobilization, systematic oppression, and resistance. She held the Joint Chair in Women’s Studies from 2019 to 2023 at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. Dr. Abu-Zahra is an associate professor of International Development and Global Studies.
Check out the entire panel on rabbleTV or rabble’s YouTube channel!
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with 2SLGBTQIA+ advocate Fae Johnstone to talk about the recent attempted political moves across provinces to take away trans rights – and how organizations like Momentum are fighting back.
Fae Johnstone, MSW, is the executive director of Wisdom2Action, a progressive consulting firm and social enterprise, as well as the (part-time) executive director of the Society of Queer Momentum — a 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy nonprofit. She is a prominent advocate for queer and trans rights and a recurring voice in Canadian news on 2SLGBTQIA+ issues. She was the Grand Marshal of the Ottawa Capital Pride Parade in 2023, and recipient of the Young 2SLGBTQIA+ Entrepreneur of the Year award from Canada’s 2SLGBTQIA+ Chamber of Commerce, also in 2023.
To learn more Momentum and the work they do, visit: https://www.momentumcanada.net/
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This week on rabble radio, rabble’s Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow sits down with Sarah Jama, Independent MPP for Hamilton Centre. The two discuss Jama’s removal from the NDP caucus due to her “early” calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and how Jama’s activism influences her politics.
A bit about our guest
Sarah Jama is an Independent Member of Provincial Parliament for Hamilton Centre. Jama’s community work spans over a decade in Ontario and beyond, and includes running intersectional leadership, education, and civic engagement programming for youth, starting grassroots organizations for different social inequities, including food insecurity programming, and championing anti-oppression initiatives in her communities. Prior to being elected, Jama was a sessional faculty member at McMaster University, and the executive director at the Disability Justice Network of Ontario.
A well-known changemaker, Jama amplifies and creates spaces for young people by promoting skill building, knowledge sharing, and introductions to community organizing. As a Member of Provincial Parliament, Sarah Jama brings her grassroots organizing experience and deeply rooted connections in the community to Queen’s Park to provide platforms for disenfranchised folks who are often dismissed. She encourages them to share their experiences, suggestions, and grievances on a provincial level.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, Kiah Lucero sits down with Brandi Morin to talk about her coverage of two top stories from the past year. The first: Imperial Oil's massive Kearl Mine tailings leak in Treaty 8 Territory; and the second: the brutal displacement of an Indigenous homeless camp in Edmonton – and her ensuing arrest.
Brandi Morin is an award-winning Cree/Iroquois/French journalist from Treaty 6 territory in Alberta. For the last 10 years Brandi has specialized in sharing Indigenous stories, some of which helped spark change and reconciliation in Canada’s political, cultural and social landscapes. Her debut memoir Our Voice of Fire: A Memoir of a Warrior Rising became a national bestseller within days of its August 2022 release.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: How whiteness impacts federal policy.’
Our panel featured poet and activist El Jones; social responsibility and equity communications consultant Beisan Zubi; and assistant professor in the Faculty of Social Work, Fritz Pino. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
About our guests
El Jones is a poet, author, journalist, professor and activist living in Halifax. She is the author of Abolitionist Intimacies (2022) and Live from the Afrikan Resistance! (2014).
Beisan Zubi is a Canadian of Palestinian heritage who was born in Toronto, raised in Ottawa and has called Waterloo Region home for eight years. She works as a social responsibility and equity communications consultant with local nonprofits and recently founded a nonprofit that works to provide support and mentoring for Palestinian youth in Canada.
Fritz Pino is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Regina. Her work focuses on queer and trans philosophies and theories; racialized LGBTQ immigrant communities; decolonial approaches to social work research; and more. Her work aims to create culturally-grounded interventions and approaches by centering the cultural knowledge and practices of marginalized groups and communities.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This month, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that an Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Children, Youth, and Families (Bill C-92), which Parliament passed in 2019, is constitutional and not beyond Parliament’s jurisdiction as was claimed by the attorney general of Quebec in an appeal from 2022.
Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution affirms and recognizes Indigenous peoples’ right to self-govern. Bill C-92 additionally affirmed that the right to self-govern included “jurisdiction in relation to child and family services,” meaning Indigenous communities have sole authority over the care of their children.
Here to break that down is rabble’s Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Madison Edward-Wright and Naiomi Metallic, who worked as counsel to the intervenor, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society.
How might this decision impact future fights for Indigenous sovereignty, in regard to Land Back, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit Peoples and more?
Naiomi Metallic is from the Listuguj Mi’gmaq First Nation located on the Gaspé Coast of Quebec, known as the Gespegewagi district of Mi’kma’ki. She is an associate professor of law, the chancellor's chair in Aboriginal law and policy, and Aboriginal law certificate coordinator at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. Through teaching, writing, and speaking, Metallic outlines the issues facing Indigenous peoples in Canada, and how the law can be a tool for reconciliation and improving the lives of Indigenous peoples.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Cathy Holtslander, the director of research and policy for the National Farmers Union (NFU). The two discuss the meaning of seed sovereignty and how the NFU are taking action through the Farmers’ Seed Act.
Cathy Holtslander is the director of research and policy for the National Farmers Union. She has been advocating for sustainable and just farm policy since the early 1990s, including as a member of the committee that led a class action suit against Monsanto and Bayer to stop GMO wheat and make them liable for GMO canola contamination of organic farms. Since 2008, she and her partner have operated a certified organic grain farm near Mont Nebo, Saskatchewan.
To read Calugay-Casuga’s full analysis of what’s at stake, click here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we’re sharing a clip from our most recent Courage My Friends podcast series, hosted on Needs No Introduction.
In the last four years, the world's five richest men have doubled their wealth, while five billion people have become poorer. And where it may take over two hundred years to end poverty, we may see our first trillionaire within only ten years. Are inequality, oligarchy and monopoly power the new normal? Or is there still time to reclaim our states for people, planet, and the common good?
This week, Lauren Ravon and Michèle Biss join host of the Courage My Friends podcast series Resh Budhu to talk about Oxfam’s latest report, Inequality, Inc. and the unprecedented rise in global inequality.
Lauren Ravon is the executive director of Oxfam Canada and Michèle Biss is national director of the National Right to Housing Network.
To listen to the full episode of Inequality Inc: Corporate power vs. public action, please tune into Needs No Introduction. Needs No Introduction is available on rabble.ca, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
The Courage My Friends podcast series is presented by rabble.ca and the Tommy Douglas Institute, with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, our Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow, Madison Edward-Wright sits down with Ted Rutland.
Rutland is an author and associate professor at Concordia University. His latest book, which he co-authored with Maxime Aurélien, is Out to Defend Ourselves which shares the history of Montreal’s first street gang.
Today on the podcast, Rutland and Edward-Wright discuss Rutland’s research work on anti-Black racism and policing in Canada — specifically, in Montreal.
Check out these resources:
- Defundpolice.org
- By Robyn Maynard: Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present
- By Andrea Ritchie and Mariame Kaba: No More Police: A Case for Abolition
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: The influence of U.S. politics in Canada.’
In this panel, our guests dissected the explosive world of U.S. politics and discussed the many ways our neighbours south of the border influence Canada.
Our panel featured MP Charlie Angus; senior researcher at the CCPA Stuart Trew; and rabble editor Nick Seebruch.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we’re re-releasing an episode from 2020 in which former rabble radio host Victoria Fenner sat down with Jean Leggett, a game developer from Oakville, ON to talk about why diversity and ethical storytelling needs to be encouraged in the gaming world.
Jean Leggett is the CEO of One More Story Games.
Note: In 2019, Leggett was a recipient of a scholarship from the International Game Developers Association Next Gen Leaders Program. The goal of the scholarship is to bring diversity into the gaming world by supporting participants with personal and professional development opportunities. This is the scholarship she is referencing in the interview.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
And just like that, another year has come and gone.
It’s become a bit of a tradition here at rabble radio to share a “best of” collection for the last episode of the year – so, if you’ll indulge us, for the third year in a row, let’s revisit some of our favourite episodes of 2023. Let’s dive right in.
2023 at a glance…
Let’s start in March, when rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga was joined by Ethel Tungohan to discuss the expectations and assumption of care work in Canada. There is an “invisibilization” of care work in Canada, particularly for women and racialized communities; and the pair talk about how a complete breakdown of colonized thinking, learning and working in Canada must take place in order for true labour equity to take place.
In April, Stephen Wentzell sat down with Dr. Brandon Doucet about his new book, About Canada: Dental Care and the challenges of Canada’s dental care system. In this year’s federal budget, the Liberal government announced a $13-billion plan to expand dental care to families earning less than $90,000 a year, fulfilling the government’s commitment to the New Democrats. This is, of course, a major step forward for dental care in Canada. But is it enough? Or do we also need to rethink the structure of dental care in Canada as a whole?
In June, Olivia Chow made history by becoming the third woman and first ever racialized mayor in Toronto’s history. Ahead of her being elected, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell sat down with Chow to talk about her plans on making Toronto a more “caring” city.
And in June, Stephen Wentzell sits down with Red Buffalo Nova Weipert, an Ojibwe Two-Spirit, transgender artist, filmmaker, and storyteller to talk about how their multi-layered Indigenous identity informs their creative and professional work.
Affordable housing and the housing crisis has been a hot topic this year on rabble. In August, Georgia Kelly sat down with Marva Burnett, national president of ACORN Canada. The two discuss the ways ACORN Canada is committed to achieving livable and affordable housing for all Canadians. The conversation on housing continued with ACORN Canada in our October political panel, Off the Hill: What to do about our affordable housing crisis.
And finally, in November this year, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Jade Ho, a labour studies instructor at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. The two discussed what is possible for university students when they are given opportunities to learn about –and get involved with– social justice and labour issues in their own communities.
Did we miss a favourite interview of yours from 2023? Let us know in the comments below!
Thank you for listening to rabble radio
Our show would not be possible without listeners like you. So thank you!
From all of us here at rabble, we want to wish you and your communities a very merry holiday season and a safe and happy new year!
If you’re in the giving mood and would like to support our show today, please visit rabble.ca/donate.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
This week on rabble radio, Nick Seebruch sits down with Dr. Anabela Bonada, manager and research associate at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo. The two talk about COP28, climate anxiety and community action.
Dr. Bonada brings extensive experience and education to the field of climate science. At the Intact Centre, Dr. Bonada leads and supports research projects including a national wildfire guide, infographic development and formulating recommendations for scaling up nature-based solutions to lower risk of wildfire, extreme heat and flooding, at the home, community, and landscape levels.
She holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Guelph, where her research focused on the effect that climate change has on tree growth, which gave her insights on the repercussions of extreme events, such as drought, on forest ecosystems. Dr. Bonada earned her B.Sc. in environmental science from the University of Waterloo and holds a diploma in ecosystem management from Fleming College. At the University of Waterloo, she serves as the staff representative on the president’s advisory committee on environmental sustainability. Additionally, Dr. Bonada is the vice chair on the board of directors of the Canadian Association of Professionals in Climate Change.
Don’t miss next week’s episode, when we’ll be reviewing highlights from our top rabble radio episodes of the year! Will your favourite episode make it on our list? Tune in next week to find out.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Continuing our coverage from this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, this week Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Meseret Haileyesus to talk about an often overlooked aspect of gender-based violence: financial and economic abuse.
Meseret Haileyesus is an economic justice and health equity advocate, thought leader, businesswoman, philanthropist, change-maker, and entrepreneur. She is a founder of the Canadian Centre for Women’s Empowerment, with a keen interest in addressing systemic barriers and other challenges that prevent women and girls from fully realizing their human rights. Haileyesus works to influence public policy decisions that support domestic violence survivors to make a successful transition to economic independence.
Missed last week’s episode? Catch up here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This Saturday marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and the start of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. This annual, international campaign was started by activists in 1991 to call out and speak up on gender-based violence.
This week on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch speaks with Andrea Gunraj, the vice president of public engagement at the Canadian Women’s Foundation. The two discuss the ways gender-based violence shows up in Canada and what you can do to prevent it.
Gunraj has 20 years of experience in community-based program development and communications and a passion for innovative public education and non-profit leadership for social change. She is a trainer, public speaker, published author, and holds a Masters in Criminology from the University of Toronto.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: Media accountability and covering Gaza.’
In this panel, our guests analyzed the media coverage the conflict in the Gaza Strip has received. Our panel included Chris Farris Zabaneh, Beisan Zubi, El Jones and Karl Nerenberg. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch speaks with Karen Rodman, executive director of Just Peace Advocates. Just Peace Advocates is engaged in advocacy around the protection of human rights of Palestinians and offers advice and support to those engaged in non-violent pro-Palestinian activism.
Karen Rodman is a human rights advocate, and serves as executive director of Just Peace Advocates. She is also founder of Palestine Just Trade. Rodman was ordained as a United Church of Canada minister in 2015 and has served as a human rights volunteer observer in Palestine through the World Council of Churches. She retired from senior management leadership with the Ontario Public Service, after over a three-decade career.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Jade Ho, a labour studies instructor at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. The two discuss what is possible for university students when they are given opportunities to learn about –and get involved with– social justice and labour issues in their own communities.
Yi Chien Jade Ho 何宜謙 is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education at SFU. Jade also teaches various courses in the Faculty of Education, Labour Studies, and Global Asia. Outside of academia, she has been an housing justice and labour organizer in Vancouver. Her doctoral work centers on developing a radical pedagogy of place through the lens of decolonization in cross-cultural contexts and the connection between place, land and identity in marginalized communities in Taiwan and in Vancouver.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Robin Browne joins rabble radio this week to talk about his activist work with the 613-819 Black Hub and his work to address anti-Black racism in Canada.
Browne is an activist and communications professional based in Ottawa, ON. He is also founder of the 613-819 Black Hub, and rabble.ca’s Off the Hill co-host, alongside Libby Davies. His blog is The “True” North.
Read more from Robin Browne on rabble.ca here and catch up on Off the Hill here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: Why we’re in an affordable housing crisis and what to do about it.’
In this panel, our guests discussed how such a large-scale housing crisis can exist in such a wealthy country and discuss what needs to be done now to develop affordable accessible housing for people.
Our panel included Tanya Burkart, Alex Hemingway and Karl Nerenberg. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
It’s Islamic History Month in Canada.
This week on rabble radio, we’re re-releasing an episode of the show in which former host Victoria Fenner sat down with Graeme Truelove, author of: Un-Canadian: Islamophobia in the True North. The two discuss Truelove’s inspiration behind the book, Islamic history as a part of Canada’s history and more.
Featuring Edward Moll reading excerpts of the book.
You can read more from Graeme Truelove on rabble here.
If you’re interested in continuing the discussion on Islamophobia in Canada, we encourage you to check out last year’s Off the Hill panel, Confronting Islamophobia in Canada featuring Senator Salma Ataullahjan, Monia Mazigh, Nuzhat Jafri and Karl Nerenberg here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Ahead of World Mental Health Day on October 10, we wanted to know: what does true mental health support look like in a workplace?
While we might often think of support in terms of resources and services, might true workplace wellness go deeper than that?
This week on rabble radio, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sat down with Elizabeth Houlding to talk about wellness in our workplaces.
Houlding is an Ottawa-based pediatric physiotherapist and organizer with Justice for Workers and the Decent Work and Health Network.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, editor Nick Seebruch sits down with CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn to discuss the recent momentum in the labour movement in Canada.
Hahn last joined rabble radio in November last year when CUPE Ontario’s negotiations with the Doug Ford government were stalling. CUPE Ontario was demanding better wages, more support services – and the Ford government wasn’t budging. Instead, Ford invoked the notwithstanding clause to force a contract on the union and effectively wipe away its bargaining rights.
In the days that followed Hahn’s interview on rabble radio, CUPE Ontario’s 55,000 education workers as well as some local chapters of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) and the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) all went on strike. In the end, Ford blinked, and labour won.
Today, Hahn reflects on the impact of this historic labour action from last November, why it’s so important for the labour movement to be at the forefront of social justice issues, and what CUPE Ontario is focused on today.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: Summer of fire – what’s Ottawa got to do with it?’
In this panel, our guests discuss the social and environmental impact the wildfires had on Canada this summer, how Canadians can get involved in climate justice and how we can hold the federal government accountable for climate solutions.
Our panel included MP Leah Gazan, Clayton Thomas-Müller, Chuka Ejeckam, Diana Yoon and Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne and Nick Seebruch.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Today, Friday September 15, a worldwide climate strike is happening. In Canada, people are joining the fight against climate change on Parliament Hill, calling for the government to end the funding of new fossil fuel projects. The strike on Parliament Hill is organized in part by Fridays for Future Ottawa.
On rabble radio this week, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga speaks to Shana Quesnel. Ahead of this day of action, the two discuss why strikes like this are crucial and the importance of youth becoming involved in climate action.
Shana Quesnel is a fifth-year student at the University of Ottawa in history and political science. She is passionate about climate activism, a scene she has been part of since 2021. She is currently a volunteer for Fridays for Future Ottawa and also the co-president of Climate Justice uOttawa.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on the show, national politics reporter Scott Martin sits down with Sean Smukler. Sean Smukler is an associate professor in applied biology and soil science at University of British Columbia (UBC) and director of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm.
Martin and Smukler discuss the current challenges farmers are facing in Canada due to climate change – and wonder aloud where Canada is headed.
“We are facing a climate emergency, and we’re pretending like it’s something for the next generation to deal with. No one grasps the fact that if we don’t deal with it now, the next generation can’t deal with it.” - Sean Smukler
To learn more about the state of Canadian agriculture in the face of climate change, read Scott Martin’s full piece here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on the show, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calguay-Casuga sits down with Laura Sullivan, a spokesperson from On2Ottawa.
“We are ordinary Canadians stepping into nonviolent civil disobedience to get urgent government action on the climate crisis, starting with the formation of a permanent, professional national firefighting agency sized to meet the enormity of the crisis.
The climate crisis is real and it is now. We face the consequences daily. Canadians are dealing with fire, flood and drought because our governments have been failing us for decades. Until we zero our emissions it will keep getting worse.” – https://on2ottawa.ca/
On2Ottawa is calling on the government to implement a National Firefighting Agency that trains and employs 50 000 firefighters, and legally binding citizen's assemblies to address the climate crisis. The campaign is in the midst of its first action phase, disrupting traffic to call for action on these demands.
Sullivan has been with On2Ottawa since its creation early this year. She's been arrested twice, for painting Woolly the Mammoth, a statue in the Royal BC Museum, and painting the iconic "Toronto" sign in Nathan Phillips Square to draw attention to the On2Ottawa campaign.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Georgia Kelly sits down with Elsa Perry and Rebekah Hansen of Shelter Movers. Shelter Movers is a Canadian organization which helps survivors of gender-based violence transition to a better, safer life.
Shelter Movers collaborates with local businesses and community services who refer clients that have decided to leave an abuser, and have a safer place to go. Shelter Movers makes all the arrangements to move and store survivors’ belongings securely, on the clients’ terms. The organization seeks to empower survivors as they transition to a life free of violence.
For volunteer opportunities with Shelter Movers, please visit: www.sheltermovers.com/volunteer/
About our guests
Elsa Perry comes to Shelter Movers with extensive experience in the non-profit and private sectors throughout western Canada. She has a background in developing and implementing educational outreach materials and programs for children and youth. Perry is originally from rural Southern Alberta, just under the mountains in Kananaskis Country.
Rebekah Hansen, chapter director for Shelter Movers Edmonton, began her work in the gender-based violence sector in January 2016. Since 2018, Hansen has served on the board of directors for Boys and Girls Club Whitecourt & District and continues to support them in her role as past president. When Hansen discovered the work of Shelter Movers, she resonated with the mission and knew she had to get involved.
Georgia Kelly is a third-year undergraduate in the University of Toronto’s Ethics, Society, and Law program. In addition to her work at rabble, she is also an associate editor for her student newspaper, the Varsity.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, rabble assistant editor Georgia Kelly sits down with Marva Burnett, national president of ACORN Canada. The two discuss the ways ACORN Canada is committed to achieving livable and affordable housing for all Canadians.
About our guests
Burnett is the chair of Scarborough ACORN and the national president of ACORN Canada. She is also a child care worker and a mother. She has been a passionate leader with ACORN since it first started organizing in Scarborough in 2005 and has led countless campaigns over the years.
ACORN Canada is an independent national organization of low and moderate income people with over 160,000 members in over 20 neighbourhood chapters across nine cities.
Georgia Kelly is a third-year undergraduate in the University of Toronto’s Ethics, Society, and Law program. In addition to her work at rabble, she is also an associate editor for her student newspaper, the Varsity.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll sits down with David Fancy, a disability advocate and co-founder of the Well Earth Collaborative.
Fancy talks about his own experience with an “invisible” disability and how it affects his life and work, and about co-founding Well Earth Collaborative with Dr. Riina Bray.
About David Fancy
David Fancy is a professor in the Department of Dramatic Arts at Brock University, the co-founder of Well Earth Collaborative, an experienced disability advocate, and is finishing training as a registered psychotherapist.
Well Earth Collaborative “pursues reciprocal healing between humans and the earth” by educating people about environmental health and providing tools for those living with environmental health issues. To learn more about Well Earth Collaborative, visit their website here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on the show, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Doug Allan, a researcher for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), to discuss the crisis in and surrounding Ontario’s healthcare system.
About Doug Allan
Doug Allan has been a researcher for the Canadian Union of Public Employees for over 30 years. He writes the blog Defend Public Healthcare.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on the show, national politics reporter Scott Martin speaks with Donald Kingsbury to talk about Canada’s historic and present relationship with the Organization of American States and foreign policy in South and Central America.
This month, Stuart Savage was appointed Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS). Notably, Savage previously served as Canadian ambassador to Haiti between October 2019 and November 2021.
In an article by Martin this week, he wrote: “The appointment of Savage to serve as ambassador to the OAS shows the relation between Canada’s spotty history in Haiti, the imperialist function of the institution, and Canada’s role in its implementation.”
Here to break down that spotty history is Donald Kingsbury.
About Donald Kingbury
Donald Kingsbury teaches political science and Latin American studies at the University of Toronto. His work centers on extractivism, decarbonization, and social movements in the Americas. Don's recent work can be read in Environmental Politics, The Journal of Political Ecology, Cultural Studies, The Anthropocene Review, The and Latin American Research Review.
His latest book, Populist Moments and Extractivist States in Venezuela and Ecuador: The People's Oil? (with Teresa Kramarz) examines the role of oil economies for states in Latin America and grassroots responses to environmental harms and political exclusion that come with extractivist politics across political affinities.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on the show, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell sits down with Leta McCollough Seletzky, author of The Kneeling Man: My Father's Life as a Black Spy Who Witnessed the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
About Leta McCollough Seletzky
Leta McCollough Seletzky grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, and now lives in Walnut Creek, California. A litigator-turned-essayist and memoirist, her work appears in The Atlantic; the New York Times; the Grio; O, The Oprah Magazine; the Washington Post, and elsewhere. Her essay “The Man in the Picture,” published in O, The Oprah Magazine, was selected as a notable essay in Best American Essays 2019. She holds a BA from Northwestern University and a JD from the George Washington University Law School.
The Kneeling Man tells the life story of Seletzky’s father and his witnessing of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Learn more about The Kneeling Man here.
Photo of Leta McCollough Seletzky by Gretchen Adams.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Patrick DeRochie, the senior manager at Shift: Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health. The two discuss how Shift is fighting to protect pensions and the climate.
“We track Canada's 11 or 12 largest public pension plans, together they have over $2 trillion Canadian and assets under management. What we've found so far in our research is that none of these funds are aligning their massive investment portfolios with climate safety, with limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and ensuring that their own beneficiaries have a safe climate future to retire into.” – Patrick DeRochie.
About Shift: Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health
Patrick DeRochie is the senior manager for Shift: Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health, a charitable project that mobilizes pension plan members to engage their investment managers on the climate crisis.
At Shift, DeRochie is focused on tracking and analyzing the fossil fuel investments and climate plans of Canadian pension funds and building a network of pension beneficiaries advocating to invest their retirement savings in a zero-carbon future. Previously, DeRochie was climate and energy program manager with Environmental Defence Canada and a political organizer with SEIU Healthcare, one of Canada’s largest healthcare labour unions. DeRochie has been deeply involved in developing federal and provincial climate and energy policy and regulations and acts as a regular commentator in national media.
Shift: Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health is a charitable initiative that works to protect pensions and the climate by bringing together beneficiaries and their pension funds on the climate crisis. Shift helps Canadians understand where their retirement wealth is invested by tracking pension fund investments and strategy. Shift helps educate and empower Canadians on how to engage constructively with their pension funds to address the climate crisis.
Do you want to take action today? Want to learn more about who your own pension manager is? Learn more about Shift and the work they do here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we share a segment from our most recent episode of the Courage My Friends podcast series, hosted on Needs No Introduction.
In this episode of Courage My Friends, podcast series, host Resh Budhu sits down with Ana Guerra Marin and Dara Wawaite-Chabot of Iron & Earth. The three discuss what a just transition can look like for those working and living in Canada’s oil patch and for Indigenous communities.
About our guests
Ana Guerra Marin, communities director and just transition lead, started her career in Colombia, listening to and empowering oil, gas and mining workers at various work sites through forming partnerships and understanding worker issues. As Marin delved into the extractive industries, she became more aware of how important it is to address the environmental and socio-economic impacts she was witnessing, and how urgent it is to create long-lasting solutions rooted in community-based initiatives that focus on the most vulnerable persons.
This started a 15-year career focused on helping communities achieve self-determination through social and environmental justice in Latin America and Canada. As a white, cisgender, immigrant woman with invisible disabilities, Marin recognizes her position in the world and challenges societal ideas by creating transformative change through a praxis informed by intersectional and Black feminism, womanism, critical race theory, Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge, decolonization, and critical consciousness.
Dara Wawaite-Chabot, Indigenous lead researcher, is a single parent who studies political science full-time at the University of Ottawa and works part-time for Iron & Earth. They support their small family by creating art and working remote contracts fighting for environmental justice in so-called Canada.
The Courage My Friends podcast series is presented by rabble.ca and the Tommy Douglas Institute, with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation.
If you’d like to hear more from the Courage My Friends podcast, please subscribe to Needs No Introduction – a podcast by rabble which presents a series of speeches and lectures from the finest minds of our time. Available on rabble.ca, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and more.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, Stephen Wentzell sits down with Red Buffalo Nova, an Ojibwe Two-Spirit, transgender artist, filmmaker, and storyteller to talk about how their multi-layered Indigenous identity informs their creative and professional work.
About Red Buffalo Nova Weipert
Red Buffalo Nova Weipert (he/him/they/them) is an Anishinaabe Ojibwe, Two-Spirit and transgender interdisciplinary artist, writer, director, educator and storyteller. Nova is a proud enrolled member of the Pinaymootang First Nation located in Treaty 2 territory, and is a recent graduate of the Master of Fine Arts program at Emily Carr University of Art + Design.
They are a long time collaborator, producer and video mentor with Access to Media Education Society (AMES) and their work has screened at festivals such as imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival (2021) and Vancouver Queer Film Festival (2022).
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: Truth before reconciliation.’
This month, our Off the Hill panel was informed by National Indigenous People’s Day. From coast to coast to coast, Canadians want to see reconciliation – but are they willing to hear the truth first?
Our June panel dissected this question and more. Special guests this month included: Joan Phillip, Melanie Mark and Rachel Snow. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
About our guests
Robin Browne is Off the Hill’s co-host. Robin is a communications professional and founder of the 613-819 Black Hub, living in Ottawa. His blog is The “True” North.
Libby Davies is Off the Hill's co-host and author of Outside In: a Political Memoir. She served as the MP for Vancouver East from 1997-2015, and is former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader.
Joan Phillip is a respected community leader and Indigenous Elder who has dedicated her life to fighting for social justice, human rights, and climate action. Her work experience includes youth counsellor at Britannia School, program director at the Aboriginal Friendship Centre, and lands manager for the Penticton Indian Band.
Melanie Mark served as the MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant from 2016 to 2023. Mark is the first First Nations woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and the first First Nations woman to serve in the Cabinet of British Columbia. Mark is Nisga'a, Gitxsan, Cree and Ojibway.
Rachel Snow is Iyahe Nakoda, the daughter of late Reverend Dr. Chief John Snow. She holds a juris doctor from the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan and is an outspoken educator, speaker, writer and co-contact person for the Indigenous Activist Networks. Rachel resides on her ancestral lands in Mini Thni which is west of Calgary, Alberta. Rachel is also a columnist for rabble.
Photo: Tungsten Rising on Unsplash
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell sits down with Khaleel Seivwright, a carpenter who has made headlines over the past four years as he created tiny shelters for the houseless population in Toronto.
Wentzell and Seivwright discuss the need to provide meaningful quality of care for the houseless and also speak about the audience response to Someone Lives Here, the recent documentary following Seivwright’s work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About Khaleel Seivwright
Khaleel Seivwright is a carpenter known for formerly building tiny shelters for unhoused people in Toronto in the fall of 2020. Currently he is working with a team building tiny home communities for unhoused people in Toronto.
In 2021, rabble columnist Cathy Crowe followed Seivwright’s important work and his fight with the City of Toronto and then-mayor John Tory throughout his process.
Someone Lives Here follows Seivwright during the COVID-19 pandemic as he launched a project of building small private shelters for homeless people in Toronto, against the bureaucratic resistance of the city government. The film premiered at the 2023 Hot Docs Festival where it was awarded the Rogers Audience Award.
Join us for Off the Hill next week for National Indigenous People’s Day
On Wednesday, June 21 at 4:30pm PT / 7:30pm ET, join us for our final Off the Hill political panel before our summer hiatus.
This month, we focus on National Indigenous People’s Day. What is causing the slow-moving action on the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada? What can Landback look like across Turtle Island? And are we any closer to true reconciliation?
Register for this free event today!
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll sits down with Ontario educator Frank Domenic to discuss the state of Ontario’s universal health care system.
Health care privatization in Ontario is something rabble writers have been closely following over the past year. For further reading, please see the following pieces:
Linda McQuaig – Ontario’s shift to private health care will cost much, much more (May 23, 2023)
Doreen Nicoll – Groups working to save public health care in Ontario (May 18, 2023)
Karl Nerenberg – Doug Ford’s private surgery plan is driven by ideology not innovation (January 17, 2023)
rabble radio – The ongoing fight against privatized healthcare (September 16, 2022)
rabble radio – The privatization of long-term care homes in Ontario must be stopped (May 6, 2022)
About our guests
Frank Domenic is a teacher in Ontario who creates content on social media focusing on news and politics, ranging from global issues to niche local Ontario content. You can follow him on Twitter @TheFrankDomenic and on TikTok @frankdomenic.
Doreen Nicoll is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to rabble.ca She is diligently working to end poverty, hunger, and human rights abuses across Canada and the globe.
Join us for Off the Hill
On Wednesday, June 21 at 4:30pm PT / 7:30pm ET, join us for our final Off the Hill political panel before our summer hiatus.
This month, we focus on National Indigenous People’s Day.
What is causing the slow-moving action on the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada? What can Landback look like across Turtle Island? And are we any closer to true reconciliation?
Register for this free event today!
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Alberta political analyst Dave Cournoyer to review the recent provincial election in Alberta, and the newly re-elected Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith.
READ MORE: Smith’s UCP ekes out a win in Calgary, secures majority
Smith and Alberta New Democrat Leader Rachel Notley were neck and neck for most of this election; but even after scandal after scandal, and despite losing some seats, Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party was able to amass enough support to overtake Notley and the New Democrats.
READ MORE: Despite election win, UCP shut out of Edmonton
For more analysis on the recent Alberta election and for all-things Alberta politics, we encourage you to check out David Climenhaga’s contributions on rabble.ca.
About our guest
Dave Cournoyer is an Edmonton-based writer, political watcher, and communications professional. He writes about Alberta politics at daveberta.substack.com and is the host of the Daveberta Podcast. He can be found on Twitter at @davecournoyer and on Instagram at @daveberta.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: Labour in high gear for action and change.’
Recent months have seen significant activity in Canada’s labour movement — including a public service strike, actions against austerity across the country, and the CLC convention in Montreal. This month our panel dove into recent developments and wondered what’s next for the labour movement in Canada.
Our panel included MP Alexandre Boulerice, OSBCU - CSCSO president Laura Walton, policy expert and rabble columnist Chuka Ejeckam and rabble parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, Georgia Kelly and Norm di Pasquale discuss why the current renovation plans for Ontario Place may not be in the best interest of Ontarians – or the surrounding wildlife and environment.
Norm di Pasquale is the co-chair of grassroots advocacy group Ontario Place for All. Norm has been fighting for waterfront public space for a decade, leading the NoJetsTO fight against jets at the island airport. di Pasquale has been an elected school board trustee in Ontario and has also run in federal and municipal elections.
About Ontario Place for All
Ontario Place for All is a grassroots organization which aims to ensure Ontario Place redevelopment plans truly serve the public of Ontario, maintains the cultural heritage of the building and respects the surrounding environment.
Learn more about Ontario Place for All here – and, for those of you who want to donate to the cause, visit this page.
Join us for Off the Hill this month!
Recent months have seen significant activity in Canada’s labour movement — including a public service strike, actions against austerity across the country, and the CLC convention in Montreal.
This month, rabble’s Off the Hill political panel takes a dive into recent developments and what’s next for the labour movement in Canada. Register for this free event here!
Guests this month include: MP Alexandre Boulerice, OSBCU - CSCSO president Laura Walton, policy expert and rabble columnist Chuka Ejeckam and rabble parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on the show, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell sits down with Olivia Chow, currently running for mayor of Toronto. The two discuss her platform, her history and why she believes it’s all about love and ‘creating a caring city.’
“People in Toronto are feeling stuck. They’re stuck waiting for the bus, stuck in traffic or stuck on lists for housing, childcare and recreation programs. After a decade of conservative mayors, the city has become more expensive and less liveable for people,” said Chow. “We can give in to fear and pessimism, or we can choose to channel our frustration into hope. We can open up city hall and work together to build a more caring, affordable and safer city.” – OliviaChow.ca.
About Olivia Chow
Olivia Chow has served two terms as a school trustee, four terms as a Toronto city councillor and eight years as New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for Trinity—Spadina from 2006 to 2014. Chow is a well-known public figure for social justice and progressive political change. She is also the founder of the Institute for Change Leaders where she has trained thousands of activists in political organizing.
Join us for Off the Hill this month!
Recent months have seen significant activity in Canada’s labour movement — including a public service strike, actions against austerity across the country, and the CLC convention in Montreal.
This month, rabble’s Off the Hill political panel takes a dive into recent developments and what’s next for the labour movement in Canada. Register for this free event here!
Guests this month include: MP Alexandre Boulerice, OSBCU - CSCSO president Laura Walton, policy expert and rabble columnist Chuka Ejeckam and rabble parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Gabriel Allahdua, an outreach worker working with migrant workers across Ontario. The two discuss the harsh realities of Canada’s farm labour system and how Canadians can take action to create fairer working conditions for all.
“Migrant workers are made invisible. We are made invisible, and that’s not an accident – that is by design. From the very foundation of Canada, from the Chinese railroad workers … Canada continues to use unjust immigration and unjust labour laws to work in tandem, to keep migrant workers vulnerable. To keep migrant workers in precarious situations. To exploit migrant workers, essentially. That’s not something new to Canada.” – Gabriel Allahdua.
About our guest
Gabriel Allahdua is a former migrant farm worker from Saint Lucia and is now an outreach worker working with migrant workers across Ontario. Allahdua is also the University of Guelph's first Activist-in-Residence. He is the author of Harvesting Freedom: The Life of a Migrant Worker in Canada.
Harvesting Freedom is available through Between the Lines Publishing, here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we’re sharing a clip from our most recent Courage My Friends podcast series, hosted on Needs No Introduction.
The planet is telling us it's high time we change our ways and transition to a clean economy, but what does that look like? Specifically, what does that look like for workers?
This week, senior program manager for Blue Green Canada, Jamie Kirkpatrick joins host of the Courage My Friends podcast series Resh Budhu to talk about the alliance between labour and climate movements in the push for a clean energy economy and the Just Transition we need to get us there.
To listen to the full episode of Good jobs, clean economy: Pushing for a Just Transition, please tune into Needs No Introduction. Needs No Introduction is available on rabble.ca, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
The Courage My Friends podcast is presented by rabble.ca and the Tommy Douglas Institute, with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: Corporate interference and the climate crisis.’
Corporate interference – or corporate capture – refers to the means by which large corporations can (and do) influence politicians and political decision-making. We have to wonder: how does corporate Interference affect the climate crisis in Canada?
Our April panel included MP Leah Gazan, Diana Yoon and Gordon Laxar. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
Happy birthday, rabble.ca! This week, rabble is celebrating 22 years of sharing progressive news and views! And it’s all thanks to the support from our rabble rousers.
Thanks to the financial support of rabble rousers like you, rabble can continue to publish journalism that matters - reporting on the news from progressive social and labour movements and providing context and analysis to national and world events that you will not find elsewhere.
Help us celebrate our birthday! We’re giving away vegetable seed packets, books and our new union-made tote bag to new donors. Become a rabble rouser today at rabble.ca/donate.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
In this year’s federal budget, the Liberal government announced a $13-billion plan to expand dental care to families earning less than $90,000 a year, fulfilling the government's commitment to the New Democrats. This is, of course, a major step forward for dental care in Canada. But is it enough? Or do we also need to rethink the structure of dental care in Canada as a whole?
This week on rabble radio, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell speaks to Dr. Brandon Doucet about his new book, About Canada: Dental Care.
About our guest
Brandon Doucet is a Nova Scotia-based dentist, founder of the group Coalition for Dentalcare, and author of About Canada: Dental Care.
You can get a copy of About Canada: Dental Care at FernwoodPublishing.ca or order it at your favourite local bookstore.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
What does it mean for a workplace to be truly inclusive for all workers?
This week on rabble radio, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Jade Pichetter from Pride at Work to discuss creating safe and inclusive workplaces for trans, non-binary and agender people.
Through dialogue, education and thought leadership, Pride at Work Canada empowers employers to build workplaces that celebrate all employees regardless of gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation. -- Pride at Work Canada
About our guest
Jade Pichette is an inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility professional based in Tkarón:to/Toronto. Currently, Pichette serves as the director of programs at Pride at Work Canada, where they work with over 250 large employers across Canada around gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation inclusion. Pichette was one of the authors of Transitioning Employers, a survey of policies and practices for trans inclusive workplaces.
To learn more about the work Pride at Work Canada does, please visit their website here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, Georgia Kelly sits down with Franz Hartmann from The Alliance for a Livable Ontario. The two discuss the Alliance’s goals for holding the Ontario government accountable and creating vibrant communities across the province.
Want to learn more about The Alliance for a Livable Ontario? Visit their website here.
About our guests:
Franz Hartmann is the coordinator of The Alliance for a Liveable Ontario. Before this role, Hartmann was the executive director of the Toronto Environmental Alliance (or TEA) for 11 years. He also served as chair of the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance for four years and helped the Alliance build vast community support for the Greenbelt. Prior to working at TEA, Hartmann was the environmental advisor to Jack Layton when he was city councillor and oversaw Layton’s civil society engagement activities in Ottawa.
Georgia Kelly is a third-year undergraduate in the University of Toronto’s Ethics, Society, and Law program. She works as an associate editor for the student newspaper, the Varsity, and is working towards a career as a journalist. She primarily reports on labour issues on campus and local business issues around Toronto.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: Mind the gap – the federal budget and income equality.’
The federal budget for 2023 is soon to be announced. Who decides the budget? Who influences it? And where does all that money go? Last year’s budget was aimed at growing the economy in Canada and making life more affordable and equitable. But did it? Our guests dissected these questions and more in our Off the Hill panel this month.
Our March panel included MP Niki Ashton, Chuka Ejeckam, David Macdonald and Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
Happening next week: Book launch, ‘Advocating for Palestine in Canada’
Join rabble for a very special book launch webinar on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 8pm ET / 5pm PST.
Through the experiences of the contributing authors, Advocating for Palestine in Canada offers an indispensable and first-hand view into the complex social and historical forces at work in one of the world’s most urgent issues, and one which also has huge implications for freedoms enjoyed by Canadians.
This webinar will feature contributing authors from the book to share their unique views and wide experiences on advocating for Palestine in Canada, revealing a solid civil society movement in the face of strong institutional opposition. Our panelists share how they came to Palestine activism, why they continue and where they see the movement going.
Register for this free event today!
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga is joined by Ethel Tungohan. Today, Tungohan and Calugay-Casuga discuss the expectations and assumption of care work in Canada.
Calugay-Casuga and Tungohan talk about Matatag: Filipina Care Workers During COVID-19, a photo series project by Filipina nurses, support workers, and caregivers during COVID-19. The two also talk about the “invisibilization” of care work in Canada, particularly for women and racialized communities and how a complete breakdown of colonized thinking, learning and working in Canada must take place in order for true labour equity to take place.
Tungohan appeared on a recent episode of Courage My Friends: ‘Migrant workers and ‘the pandemic paradox’: The unseen hands that truly keep us afloat.’ In this episode, she joined Jhoey Dulaca and Chris Ramsaroop to discuss temporary foreign workers in Canada. Be sure to tune into that episode after this!
Tungohan’s new book, Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement-Building, and Communities of Care is set to be released August 2023.
Join us for Off the Hill next week!
The federal budget for 2023 is soon to be announced. Who decides the budget? Who influences it? And where does all that money go? Last year’s budget was aimed at growing the economy in Canada and making life more affordable and equitable. But did it? Our guests will dissect these questions and more in our Off the Hill panel this month.
Guests include MP Leah Gazan, rabble columnist and policy researcher Chuka Ejeckam, economist David Macdonald and rabble parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
Save your spot for this free event today! Join us this March 23, 2023, 7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM PT.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell is joined by Dr. Martha Paynter.
Paynter last joined rabble radio in June of 2022 to talk about the misconceptions people have about access to abortion in Canada and the other threats facing reproductive justice in the country.
Today, Wentzell and Paynter discuss Paynter’s new guidebook for providing abortion care in prison, a new jail facility being built in N.B., and the need for universal contraception coverage in Nova Scotia.
Dr. Martha Paynter is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of New Brunswick. She is the affiliate scientist for the Nova Scotia Women’s Choice Clinic. In addition to this, she is the founder and past chair of Wellness Within: An Organization for Health and Justice. She is also the author of Abortion to Abolition: Reproductive Health and Justice in Canada.
Join us for Off the Hill this month
The federal budget for 2023 is soon to be announced. Who decides the budget? Who influences it? And where does all that money go? Last year’s budget was aimed at growing the economy in Canada and making life more affordable and equitable. But did it? Our guests will dissect these questions and more in our Off the Hill panel this month.
Guests include MP Leah Gazan, rabble columnist and policy researcher Chuka Ejeckam, economist David Macdonald and rabble parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
Save your spot for this free event today! Join us this March 23, 2023, 7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM PT.
Save your spot: Advocating for Palestine in Canada, book webinar Through the experiences of the contributing authors, Advocating for Palestine in Canada offers a first-hand view into the complex social and historical forces at work in one of the world’s most urgent issues, and one which also has huge implications for freedoms enjoyed by Canadians.
This webinar will feature contributing authors from the book to share their unique views and wide experiences on advocating for Palestine in Canada, revealing a solid civil society movement in the face of strong institutional opposition. Our panelists share how they came to Palestine activism, why they continue and where they see the movement going.
Save your spot for this event here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll speaks to Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, to talk about two important campaigns by Democracy Watch.
The first, an ‘honesty in politics’ law which fines politicians who make false promises or misleading statements during elections and while in office. This campaign involves the proposal of an independent “watchdog agency,” and gives the watchdog agency the power to investigate and penalize the politician caught lying.
The second campaign is focused on ending secret, unethical lobbying. Because of loopholes in lobbying laws, it is legal for lobbyists to be secretly bankrolled by wealthy interests to buy influence and trade favours with politicians and government officials in secret.
On this, Conacher says: “Secrecy is a recipe for corruption, waste and abuse of the public and the public interest.”
Democracy Watch is a national non-profit, non-partisan organization, and Canada’s leading citizen group advocating democratic reform, government accountability and corporate responsibility. Since its formation in 1993, Democracy Watch has won more than 200 changes to federal and provincial good government and corporate responsibility laws.
Save your spot: Advocating for Palestine in Canada, book webinar
Through the experiences of the contributing authors, Advocating for Palestine in Canada offers an indispensable and first-hand view into the complex social and historical forces at work in one of the world’s most urgent issues, and one which also has huge implications for freedoms enjoyed by Canadians.
This webinar will feature contributing authors from the book to share their unique views and wide experiences on advocating for Palestine in Canada, revealing a solid civil society movement in the face of strong institutional opposition. Our panelists share how they came to Palestine activism, why they continue and where they see the movement going.
This event is sponsored by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), Fernwood Publishing, Another Story Bookshop, Independent Jewish Voices Canada. With partners Zatoun and, of course, rabble.ca.
Save your spot for this event here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on the show, rabble editor Nick Seebruch speaks to Medea Benjamin, co-founder of women-led peace group Code Pink. Code Pink is a grassroots NGO with an anti-war mandate.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine began on the morning of February 24, 2022, which makes today the one year anniversary.
Today, Seebruch and Benjamin discuss the global efforts Code Pink and like-minded organizations have made to encourage a peaceful resolution to this war.
Reflecting on the one year anniversary of the war, Benjamin says: “I feel like the human community has not evolved far enough to recognize that this way of dealing with conflicts is not only unjust, inhumane – but untenable.”
Benjamin appeared on rabble radio in May of last year to speak with Libby Davies about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. You can listen to that episode here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: Tackling systemic inequalities.’
This month is Black History Month. In our political panel this month, we examined the critical issues facing us in Canada this month including the privatization of health care in federal-provincial agreements, the ongoing space right wing sentiment has in mainstream culture and some of the initiatives happening across the country to address systemic racism and inequality.
Our February panel included MP Matthew Green, Richard Sharpe, Stephen Brown and Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll speaks to Katie Purdy, a drag performer in Oakville, Ontario. Purdy is on a mission to host more drag events in the Great Toronto Area.
Katie Purdy (or, as they’re known in drag, Capt Danny Bailey) is a new face in the Canadian drag scene. Largely influenced by the style of Elton John, The Beatles, and Ninja Sex Party, Purdy’s drag act is fluid – one performance may be drag king, next may be queen. Out of drag, Purdy identifies as a pansexual gender queer or "cis-ish" and does not care about labels.
Later this month, Purdy is hosting Take Me to the Drag Show! Learn more about this event below.
Take Me to the Drag Show!
When: February 18, 2023 (doors open at 7pm show starts at 8pm)
Where: Seasons Brasserie, downtown Oakville, Ont.
Hosted by local drag artist Capt Danny Bailey, featuring home town icon Adrianna Exposée, plus Toronto stars Krēme Inakuchi, and Tash Riot! Join us at the historic Seasons Brasserie for an evening of memorable drag numbers, and delicious hor d'oeuvres. Show will be 18+ due to the possibility of adult themes and profanities. Tipping the performers is encouraged. Tickets are available via Eventbrite.
Join us for Off the Hill this month!
Black History Month is our lens for a dive into critical issues facing us in Canada this month. Our panel will also dig into some of the initiatives happening across the country to address systemic racism and inequality.
This month we’re joined by: Matthew Green, MP Hamilton-Centre; Richard Sharpe, director of the Black Equity Branch, Treasury Board Secretariat in the Ontario Public Service; Stephen Brown, CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, and rabble’s own senior parliamentary reporter, Karl Nerenberg.
You don’t want to miss this panel. Join us this February 15, 2023, 7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM PT.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with CUPE Ontario secretary-treasurer Yolanda McClean. The two discuss ways of achieving gender and racial equity inside and outside of Canada’s labour movement.
The two also discuss CUPE Ontario’s recently launched initiative, Women in Leadership Development (WILD) program for Indigenous, Black and racialized women.
You can learn even more about CUPE Ontario’s WILD program here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: Will 2023 be a year of competing crises? On climate and the economy.’
Off the Hill takes a deep dive into the politics of cooling the economy - and the planet - as Parliament returns. The Canadian parliament returns on January 30. The spotlight is on the economy and the impact on Canadians. Our panel will unpack the critical issues related to the economic outlook and the climate emergency.
Our January panel included MP Leah Gazan, Jim Stanford, Clayton Thomas-Müller and Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne and Nick Seebruch.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
This week on rabble radio, rabble parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg and Réal Lavergne, president of Fair Vote Canada, join editor Nick Seebruch to debate what electoral reform might look like in Canada.
At the top of the month, Nerenberg shared a piece calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh to revive the idea of electoral reform for Canada. In the piece, he explained that Canada’s current ‘winner-takes-all’ system often puts an unpopular leader in power. He wondered: might a ranked system be a more equitable way of deciding the leader of the country? Might we aim for that way of voting by the next election?
Lavergne thinks it’s not that simple.
Together, the three dissect Canada’s current voting system and discuss how a fairer way to vote might be accomplished in the future.
Join us for Off the Hill this month!
Mark your calendar! In our first political panel of 2023, join guests MP Leah Gazan, economist Jim Stanford, Indigenous campaigner and climate activist Clayton Thomas-Müller and parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg as they speculate what’s to come in the year ahead.
Register for this free event here!
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
In our first episode of 2023, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with economist David Macdonald to discuss the huge wage disparity between CEO pay and average workers' salaries in Canada.
On Tuesday last week, the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released a report outlining the new all-time high for CEO pay in 2021. According to the report, the top 100 best-paid chief executive officers (CEOs) in Canada made 243 times what the typical worker earns.
But why is this enormous wage gap happening, and how? Why does it seem to be that a pandemic and inflation is hitting average Canadians so hard and seemingly having the opposite effect on CEOs? And can anything be done to even out the playing field?
Seebruch and Macdonald break down all of this and more.
Join us for Off the Hill this month!
Mark your calendar! In our first political panel of 2023, join guests MP Leah Gazan, economist Jim Stanford, Indigenous campaigner and climate activist Clayton Thomas-Müller and parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg as they speculate what’s to come in the year ahead.
Register for this free event here!
Photo by: John McArthur on Unsplash
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Well folks, another year has come and gone!
As we reflect on the year that’s passed, we here at rabble radio are remembering some of our favourite interview moments on the show this year. We had so many wonderful guests — ranging from activists, to professors, to filmmakers, economists, healthcare workers, poets and writers — the list goes on.
In today’s episode, we’ll be sharing a few of our personal favourite interview clips of this year. (Which was no easy task for a 28 minute show, I’ll tell you that!)
Here are some of our top rabble radio episodes of the year…
In February of this year, Paul Taylor, executive director of FoodShare Toronto and a lifelong anti-poverty activist joined rabble radio to speak with Libby Davies about the impact the pandemic had on FoodShare. And how activists should allow for room for fatigue and frustration during difficult times.
No one felt the COVID-19 pandemic harder than our health care workers in Canada. In early 2022, rabble partnered with the Canadian Federation of Nurses’ Unions. Together, we developed the Nurses’ Voices: Stories of courage and determination in the face of COVID-19 book. It highlights over 20 interviews from health care professionals across Canada. The book illustrates how the pandemic upended nurses’ lives – and how, despite it all, their commitment to their patients remained unwavering.
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. This piece of legislation made abortion access a federal right in the United States. The decision sent a shockwave through the States which was felt in Canada. That week, Stephen Wentzell interviewed writer and registered nurse Martha Paynter for rabble radio. They spoke about the misconceptions people have about access to abortion in Canada and the other threats facing reproductive justice in the country.
As part of rabble’s Boiling Point series, Stephen Wentzell spoke to Dr. Melissa Lem, to talk about how recent extreme weather events are affecting the physical and mental health of Canadians.
Also a part of our Boiling Point series, Jillian Piper spoke to Breanne Lavallee-Heckert, the research manager at Indigenous Climate Action. Breanne explained the work she does at the organization, and the importance of Indigenous stewardship in regard to the climate crisis.
The labour movement in Canada grabbed the attention of the nation in late autumn this year, when CUPE Ontario went to war with Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government over fair wages and for education support workers. In November, CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn joined rabble radio to speak with Nick Seebruch about what was at stake in this labour dispute.
Another huge story of 2022, was, of course, rising inflation. In November, economist Jim Stanford sat down with editor Nick Seebruch to discuss the state of Canada's economy. The two also talked about how progressive organizations, activists, and groups must band together as we move forward into what’s sure to be a tough year economically and politically.
Did we miss a favourite interview of yours from 2022? Let us know in the comments below!
Thank you for listening to rabble radio
Our show would not be possible without listeners like you. So thank you!
From all of us here at rabble, we want to wish you and your communities a safe and happy new year!
If you’re in the giving mood and would like to support our show today, please visit rabble.ca/donate.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Off the Hill: Looking back to leap ahead.’
From the Freedom Convoy, to major action in Canada’s labour movement, to the ongoing war in Ukraine, to political leadership races on the provincial and federal levels, our panel reflected on the major news events of 2022 and wondered aloud: What does this mean we can expect for the year ahead?
Our December panel included MP Leah Gazan, Chuka Ejeckam, El Jones and Karl Nerenberg. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
Also – don’t miss next week’s episode, when we’ll be reviewing highlights from our top rabble radio episodes of the year! Will your favourite episode make it on our list? Tune in next week to find out.
Do you know a rabble rouser to watch?
We are now accepting submissions for our ‘rabble rousers to watch’ of 2023. Tell us about the activists in your community who have made a difference, and whose work you think rabble should be covering. Nominations are open until midnight, December 31, 2022. Everyone who participates in our survey will be entered into a draw to win a rabble tote bag.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
This week on rabble radio, Libby Davies interviews Harley Augustino, organizer and trainer, to talk about his experience volunteering for two separate congressional districts in the most recent U.S. midterm elections.
Oregon 5 and Washington 3 had two very different projected outcomes when Augustino volunteered to organize with them. Oregon 5 was considered a ‘class toss up,’ with about a 50/50 chance of going with a Republican or Democratic candidate. Washington 3, however –a Republican district– was projected to have only a 2% chance of becoming a Democratic district.
In this interview, Augustino walks Davies through the results of these campaigns and explains why good, old fashioned door-to-door organizing shouldn’t be underestimated.
Harley Augustino appeared on rabble radio earlier this year to talk about ‘Base Building for Power’ a collective he works with which trains future activists and organizers.
Photo by: Maximillian Conacher on Unsplash
Do you know a rabble rouser to watch?
We are now accepting submissions for our ‘rabble rousers to watch’ of 2023. Tell us about the activists in your community who have made a difference, and whose work you think rabble should be covering. Nominations are open until midnight, December 31, 2022. Everyone who participates in our survey will be entered into a draw to win a rabble tote bag.
Don’t miss our final Off the Hill event of 2022!
This December, our panel is taking a look back to look forward, as we close off 2022 and think ahead to 2023.
From the Freedom Convoy, to major action in Canada’s labour movement, to the ongoing war in Ukraine, to political leadership races on the provincial and federal levels; our esteemed panel will reflect on a year that had no shortage of newsworthy events, and then ask: what does this mean we can expect for the year ahead?
Our panel includes MP Leah Gazan, El Jones, Chuka Ejeckam and Karl Nerenberg. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies. Join us this December 14, 2022.
Register for this free event here!
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
This week on rabble radio, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell speaks to Dr. Jane McArthur. McArthur is the Toxics Program director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE).
McArthur, other members of CAPE and advocates for environmental protection and public health are calling on Parliament to expedite passage of Bill C-226, Canada’s first environmental racism law.
Bill C-226 was first introduced by former MP Lenore Zann as Bill C-230 in the last session of Parliament. It was approved by the House of Commons in June last year, but died on the order paper when Parliament dissolved for elections. In February of this year, now co-leader of the federal Green Party Elizabeth May re-introduced the same legislation as Bill C-226.
The time is now to develop and implement a national strategy on environmental racism and environmental justice, McArthur says.
“Canada talks about itself as a country of kindness, but we need to see that reflected in our policies and we should not be tolerating vulnerablization of any community.”
- Dr. Jane McArthur
Photo: Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Don’t miss our final Off the Hill event of 2022!
This December, our panel is taking a look back to look forward, as we close off 2022 and think ahead to 2023.
From the Freedom Convoy, to major action in Canada’s labour movement, to the ongoing war in Ukraine, to political leadership races on the provincial and federal levels; our esteemed panel will reflect on a year that had no shortage of newsworthy events, and then ask: what does this mean we can expect for the year ahead?
Our panel includes MP Leah Gazan, El Jones, Karl Nerenberg. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies. Join us this December 14, 2022.
Register for this free event here!
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
This week on the show, rabble editor Nick Seebruch is joined by the director of the Centre for Future Work, economist Jim Stanford. Together, they walk us through the state of Canada’s economy – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Earlier this month, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem made headlines when he remarked that inflation was due to what he called an “overheated” labour market. Stanford says that’s unfair; Canadian workers being able to easily find employment and the slightly higher wages they’ve been receiving are not to blame for inflation – and therefore shouldn’t be punished.
Seebruch and Stanford also discuss how progressive organizations, activists, and groups must ban together as we move forward into what’s sure to be a tough year economically and politically.
Photo: Charles Deluvio on Unsplash
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Today is Remembrance Day in Canada. And across the country, communities gather to pay tribute to veterans and military members.
But not all veterans are feeling cared for. Some are asking if the government cares about them or their wellbeing at all, or if Veterans’ Affairs Canada is operating under the old “deny, delay, and die” adage.
This impression is brought about in large part due to the $560-million plan to sub-contract veteran rehabilitative and vocational services away from the Veterans’ Affairs case workers and into the hands of the for-profit company: Partners in Canadian Veterans Rehabilitation Services. This company is composed of WGC International and Lifemark Health Group. The contract is set to come into effect this month.
Veterans Affairs Canada says the contract will help overworked case managers while ensuring veterans have timely access to the care they need. However, the Union of Veterans’ Affairs Employees (UVAE) believes this contract is going to have the opposite effect. UVAE argues this will add more paperwork to the workload of case managers, disrupt the relationships case managers have built with veterans, and add an extra level of bureaucracy veterans will be left to deal with.
UVAE says the only group this contract will benefit will be the profit-making corporation.
A statement from UVAE and the Public Service Alliance of Canada reads:
“Veterans and their families deserve better. They have already paid for these services with their sacrifice. Let’s not make them fight and pay again.”
This week on the show, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga speaks with Virginia Vaillancourt, the national president of UVAE. Vaillancourt argues Veterans Affairs Canada must stop using private sector companies to do public sector work.
Join our Off the Hill discussion this week!
When marijuana was legalized in 2018, it drastically reduced the number of cannabis-related drug convictions, while also creating a multibillion-dollar industry. But what does the cannabis industry look like today? Who wins? Who loses? Who calls the shots, and what’s next?
Our dynamic panel will give us an inside look into what’s really going on with Canada’s drug reform policy on marijuana and much more.
Our panel includes “princess of pot” Jodie Giesz-Ramsay, rabble columnist and drug policy researcher Chuka Ejeckam and MP Don Davies. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
Join us this November 17, 2022. Register for this free event here.
Photo: Ellie Pourreza on Unsplash.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Today is Remembrance Day in Canada. And across the country, communities gather to pay tribute to veterans and military members.
But not all veterans are feeling cared for. Some are asking if the government cares about them or their wellbeing at all, or if Veterans’ Affairs Canada is operating under the old “deny, delay, and die” adage.
This impression is brought about in large part due to the $560-million plan to sub-contract veteran rehabilitative and vocational services away from the Veterans’ Affairs case workers and into the hands of the for-profit company: Partners in Canadian Veterans Rehabilitation Services. This company is composed of WGC International and Lifemark Health Group. The contract is set to come into effect this month.
Veterans Affairs Canada says the contract will help overworked case managers while ensuring veterans have timely access to the care they need. However, the Union of Veterans’ Affairs Employees (UVAE) believes this contract is going to have the opposite effect. UVAE argues this will add more paperwork to the workload of case managers, disrupt the relationships case managers have built with veterans, and add an extra level of bureaucracy veterans will be left to deal with.
UVAE says the only group this contract will benefit will be the profit-making corporation.
A statement from UVAE and the Public Service Alliance of Canada reads:
“Veterans and their families deserve better. They have already paid for these services with their sacrifice. Let’s not make them fight and pay again.”
This week on the show, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga speaks with Virginia Vaillancourt, the national president of UVAE. Vaillancourt argues Veterans Affairs Canada must stop using private sector companies to do public sector work.
Join our Off the Hill discussion this week!
When marijuana was legalized in 2018, it drastically reduced the number of cannabis-related drug convictions, while also creating a multibillion-dollar industry. But what does the cannabis industry look like today? Who wins? Who loses? Who calls the shots, and what’s next?
Our dynamic panel will give us an inside look into what’s really going on with Canada’s drug reform policy on marijuana and much more.
Our panel includes “princess of pot” Jodie Giesz-Ramsay, rabble columnist and drug policy researcher Chuka Ejeckam and MP Don Davies. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
Join us this November 17, 2022. Register for this free event here.
Photo: Ellie Pourreza on Unsplash.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
This week on rabble radio, we’re sharing an interview between CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn and rabble editor Nick Seebruch. The two spoke on Nov. 2 to explain what’s at stake in the labour dispute in Ontario.
At the time of this episode’s posting, CUPE has announced that it will strike on Friday, Nov. 4 and OPSEU – the Ontario Public Services Employees Union – says its 8000 education workers will join them. The Ontario Federation of Labour has also taken to social media to share their support for CUPE.
But how did we get here?
To recap, CUPE Ontario has been negotiating with the Ford government, trying to secure better pay for its educational support workers.
As Marc Belanger explained on a special RadioLabour episode this week, when inflation is taken into account, the lowest paid educational worker in Ontario has seen their wages effectively cut by 11 per cent since 2012.
CUPE has been seeking a wage increase of $3.25 per hour in each year of a three year collective agreement.
On Sunday, October 30th, 97% of CUPE Ontario’s 55,000 education workers voted to give the Ford government the legally necessary five day notice of a potential provincial-wide strike should their wage demands not be met.
Despite a long week at the bargaining table, the Ford government was not to be persuaded.
On Thursday evening, the Ford government passed Bill 28 which imposes a new work contract on educational support workers with a pay increase of 2.5 per cent, well below the rate of inflation.
Ford invoked the Constitution's notwithstanding clause which allows the provincial government to override part of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and bypass the union’s right to bargain and strike. The use of the notwithstanding clause means that Bill 28 cannot be challenged in court.
In doing so, Judy Rebick says the Ford government has effectively called a “class war against unions.”
CUPE president Laura Walton has pledged that their members will strike on Friday, November 4 and that the strike will continue "for as long as it takes."
The Ontario Federation of Labour took to social media saying: “Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce have declared war on 1 million union members, 7 milllion workers, 14 million Ontarians. Get ready to fight.”
This is a developing story. Join in the conversation on our discussion board, babble.
Photo: Courtesy of CUPE
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Homelessness is a major social and healthcare disaster that has been plaguing Canada for decades, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this issue.
Are provincial and municipal governments doing enough to combat homelessness in our communities? Or are the solutions that they’re coming up with making the problem worse?
In Displacement City: Fighting for Health and Homes in a Pandemic, outreach worker Greg Cook and rabble columnist and retired street nurse Cathy Crowe collect stories which shed a light on infrastructure of displacement through prose, poetry, and photography.
Contributors to the book include those who have lived experience of homelessness in Toronto. Each chapter reports on different areas of the realities of this crisis and how community members responded. Whether that be by providing disaster-relief supplies and tiny shelters for encampments, by advocating for shelter-hotels where people could physically distance, by taking the city to court, or by rising up against encampment evictions.
The book also provides particular insight into policies affecting Indigenous peoples and how the legacy of colonialism and displacement reached a critical point during the pandemic.
You can order your own copy of Displacement City: Fighting for Health and Homes in a Pandemic here.
You can catch up on Cathy Crowe’s column, where she regularly reports on issues surrounding homelessness, housing, advocacy and activism here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Homelessness is a major social and healthcare disaster that has been plaguing Canada for decades, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this issue.
Are provincial and municipal governments doing enough to combat homelessness in our communities? Or are the solutions that they’re coming up with making the problem worse?
In Displacement City: Fighting for Health and Homes in a Pandemic, outreach worker Greg Cook and rabble columnist and retired street nurse Cathy Crowe collect stories which shed a light on infrastructure of displacement through prose, poetry, and photography.
Contributors to the book include those who have lived experience of homelessness in Toronto. Each chapter reports on different areas of the realities of this crisis and how community members responded. Whether that be by providing disaster-relief supplies and tiny shelters for encampments, by advocating for shelter-hotels where people could physically distance, by taking the city to court, or by rising up against encampment evictions.
The book also provides particular insight into policies affecting Indigenous peoples and how the legacy of colonialism and displacement reached a critical point during the pandemic.
You can order your own copy of Displacement City: Fighting for Health and Homes in a Pandemic here.
You can catch up on Cathy Crowe’s column, where she regularly reports on issues surrounding homelessness, housing, advocacy and activism here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was 'Off the Hill: Confronting Islamophobia in Canada.'
This month is National Islamic History Month. This month’s panel dove into what political actions are needed to confront the rise of Islamophobia in Canada. Our panel also explored what role the media has in all of this.
Our September panel included Senator Salma Ataullahjan, Monia Mazigh, Nuzhat Jafri, and Karl Nerenberg. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Nick Seebruch speaks to two members of Health Providers Against Poverty (HPAP) to talk about destigmatizing people fighting addiction, homelessness, and poverty.
This week on the show, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Sara Pishdadian and Adriana Di Stefano, both active members of Health Providers Against Poverty.
Healthcare Providers Against Poverty is a group of healthcare workers who strive to make healthcare provision equitable for all.
Pishdadian and Di Stefano explain how addressing the social determinants of health, meaning the economic and social conditions at play which affect one’s health status, need to be addressed in order to reduce health inequity. Destigmatizing homelessness, poverty, and drug addiction is also key in providing care to every Canadian.
The two also dive into the many resources, events, campaigns, and support groups that are available through Healthcare Providers Against Poverty.
“In a country where we are so proud of equitable healthcare, efforts such as this are of utmost importance to ensure that our healthcare system truly does remain accessible for all.” – https://healthprovidersagainstpoverty.ca/
Also on the show this week, we feature a song by Ish Theilheimer, in honour of his friend, Mel Watkins. Listen to “Mel, the Parry Sound Babysitter” today.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Last month, Buckingham Palace broke the news that Queen Elizabeth II had passed away at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. The queen was 96, and Canada’s longest serving monarch.
Now, Canada has a new head of state: Queen Elizabeth’s eldest son, King Charles III.
This week on rabble radio, editor Nick Seebruch interviews royal historian, teacher, and author Carolyn Harris.
While the Pope made a public apology for the Catholic Church’s role in residential schools, Indigenous peoples never got an apology from Queen Elizabeth II before her passing. Might the new King Charles III make that apology? And how might a new sovereign leader might affect public opinion of the monarchy in Canada? Harris ponders these questions and more with Seebruch this week.
Dr. Carolyn Harris is an instructor in history at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. She received her PhD in European history from Queen's University at Kingston in 2012. She is the author of three books, Magna Carta and Its Gifts to Canada (Dundurn: 2015), Queenship and Revolution in Early Modern Europe: Henrietta Maria and Marie Antoinette (Palgrave: 2015) and Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting (Dundurn: 2017). She is the co-editor of English Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty, a four volume history of English royal consorts published in 2022 by Palgrave Macmillan, and the proofreading editor of The Royal Studies Journal.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
This week on rabble radio, Stephen Wentzell sits down with Joshua Whitehead, author of ‘Making Love with the Land.”
Whitehead is an Oji-Cree/nehiyaw, Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer member of Peguis First Nation (Treaty 1). He is the author of the novel ‘Jonny Appleseed’ (Arsenal Pulp Press), which was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and shortlisted for a Governor General's Literary Award in Fiction. He is also the author of the poetry collection ‘full-metal indigiqueer’ (Talonbooks), which was shortlisted for the inaugural Indigenous Voices Award for Most Significant Work of Poetry in English and the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry. Currently, he is working on a PhD in Indigenous Literatures and Cultures at the University of Calgary's English department (Treaty 7).
Today, Whitehead explains to Wentzell about ‘Making Love with the Land’ - a book which is part memoir, part poetry, part literary criticism. Whitehead explains how this genre-bending of traditional colonial literary standards is a “radical act of freedom” and more similar to a Indigenous form of storytelling.
Whitehead also shares how touring for Jonny Appleseed and experiencing nature, break-ups, and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic influenced his writing this book. Finally, Whitehead shares what truth and reconciliation means to him.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was Off the Hill: What does reconciliACTION look like?
We discussed how Indigenous Peoples are exercising sovereignty every day, the tangible ways settlers can support Indigenous Peoples in their communities, and what action must be taken at the federal and provincial levels for meaningful change.
Our September panel included MP Leah Gazan, Georgina Lazore, and Breanne Lavallée-Heckert. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: Bekky Bekks on Unsplash
In 1959, the then-premier of Saskatchewan, Thomas Douglas envisioned a universal, pre-paid and publicly administered health care system – the first of its kind in North America. This plan for Saskatchewan prompted the federal government to initiate a national strategy to subsidize socialized medicine and support provinces in the shift to a universal system.
He’s recognized as “the father of Medicare,” and the one to thank for our universal healthcare system as we know it in Canada today.
But is this system in trouble?
This is not a conversation which is new to rabble radio.
In May, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll sat down with Natalie Mehra, the executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition to talk about the privatization of long-term care homes in Ontario. Nicoll spoke to Sarah Jama, the co-founder of the Disability Justice Network of Ontario, later that month to talk about the importance of accessible health services in regard to those who are differently abled.
This week, we continue the conversation by sharing an interview from the first episode of the newest season of Courage My Friends.
In this interview, host Resh Budhu speaks to JP Hornick, the president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, and palliative care physician and health justice activist, Dr. Naheed Dosani. The three discuss the current crisis facing public healthcare in Ontario.
Courage My Friends is a podcast series presented by rabble.ca and the Tommy Douglas Institute at George Brown College, with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation.
Hosted on Needs No Introduction, a sister podcast to rabble radio, this season’s Courage My Friends will focus on housing, education, erosion of public goods, just economics, the plight of migrant workers, and the climate crisis.
Join our Off the Hill conversation next week!
Join panelists MP Leah Gazan, Georgina Lazore, and Breanne Lavallée-Heckert and co-hosts Robin Browne and Libby Davies as they deconstruct truth and reconciliation.
On Thursday, September 22 at 7:30pm eastern time, join our panel via Zoom and engage with our panelists as they discuss how Indigenous Peoples are exercising sovereignty every day, the tangible ways settlers can support Indigenous Peoples in their communities, and what action must be taken at the federal and provincial levels for meaningful change.
Register today at: https://bit.ly/OffTheHillSeptember22
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: Marcelo Leal on Unsplash
This week, Jillian Piper speaks to Kimberly Carroll; an animal rights advocate and coach for changemakers.
For 13 years, Carroll has empowered and counseled thousands of activists, social entrepreneurs, and mission-driven leaders who want to make a bigger difference in the world.
By taking clients through a journey of deep inner work, finding empowering habits, and developing a strategy to unlock one’s activism superpowers, Carroll has made a name for herself as one who “helps the helpers.”
Today, Carrol joins Piper to talk about what inspires her about this work and how activists can better take care of themselves through this demanding – and often underappreciated – work.
Are you interested in improving your activism?
Kimberly Carroll wanted to share a few free resources for our audience:
A five-part video mini course on preventing burnout and becoming a more impactful joyful and resilient changemaker on Kimberly Carroll’s website.
A six-week course which focuses on self-empowerment, how to lobby politicians, how to get the media’s attention, and how to organize in your community - brought to you by Animal Justice Academy.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: Angèle Kamp on Unsplash
This week on the show, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calguay-Casuga joins The Coalition For Women In Journalism founder Kiran Nazish to talk about protecting female journalists in Canada. The Coalition For Women in Journalism is a New-York based, international support organization for female and LGBTQIA journalists from around the globe.
Today, Nazish joins Calguay-Casuga to talk about the increasingly vitriolic landscape female journalists in Canada are facing today – particularly, journalists of colour.
In September 2021, Canada was one of the top five countries in the world guilty of cyber violence against women, according to The Coalition for Women in Journalism.
What can be done to better protect our female and LGBTQIA journalists in Canada? And what do these staggering statistics say about our media landscape as a whole?
Read Calugay-Casuga’s full analysis on this interview and research on rabble.ca this week.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: Thomas Charters on Unsplash
This fall, someone will be replacing John Horgan as NDP Leader of British Columbia. Could that person be Anjali Appadurai?
This week on the show rabble’s national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell sits down with the Appadurai to talk about what inspired her to run for leadership and how her experience in grassroots organizing is guiding her campaign.
“My role as an insurgent candidate is to open the door for the voices of community and the voice of the grassroots to be lifted on this platform and to be lifted, ultimately, into the halls of power.”
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: Fruit Basket Agency
This week on the show, Breanne Lavallée-Heckert, the research manager at Indigenous Climate Action, talks about the importance of Indigenous stewardship in regard to the climate crisis and how people can support Indigenous Climate Action.
Founded in 2015, Indigenous Climate Action is an Indigenous-led organization guided by a diverse group of Indigenous knowledge keepers, water protectors and land defenders from communities and regions across Turtle Island. The vision of the organization is “a world with sovereign and thriving Indigenous Peoples and cultures leading climate justice for all.”
Indigenous Climate Action inspires action through the development of tools and opportunities created with, by and for Indigenous communities, with the goal of uplifting Indigenous voices, sovereignty, and stewardship of the lands and waters for future generations.
Today, Breanne Lavallée-Heckert joins rabble audience editor Jillian Piper to talk about the idea of joy for Indigenous youth as an act of rebellion, defunding the police, and why climate solutions cannot happen without Indigenous governance.
This podcast is part of rabble’s series “The Boiling Point.” The Boiling Point examines the ways increasingly high temperatures due to the climate crisis are affecting our summers in Canada on a social, institutional, and ecological level. The series also explains how Canadians can take action against climate change and make real differences in their communities. Follow more stories here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: Aaron Burden
This week on the show, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll speaks to Leila Sarangi, national director of Campaign 2000.
Campaign 2000 is a network of national, regional and local partner organizations who have come together to increase public awareness of the levels and consequences of child and family poverty in Canada. Each year, the organization releases a national report card, measuring the progress – or lack of progress – of reaching the goal of eliminating poverty.
Last month on the site, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell detailed the government’s announcement that it would begin the recovery of Canada Emergency Response Benefits (or, CERB) from recipients that the CRA considers ineligible.
In response to this announcement, Campaign 2000 released a statement saying that these clawbacks will have the gravest effect on mothers – in particular, those with multiple children living on an earned income of $33,000 a year.
Today, Sarangi joins Nicoll to talk about this statement and also about how poverty is a systemic issue - brought on by colonialism’s ongoing legacy in Canada. Solutions to poverty must look at things through a lens of dismantling racist systems in place.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: note thanun
This week on the show, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga speaks to poet and activist El Jones.
Based on Halifax Nova Scotia, Jones is a powerhouse in social movements focused on anti-racism, human rights, and decarceration.
In September 2020, she was appointed chair of a 15-person subcommittee which was tasked with defining “Defund the Police” in Halifax. Jones and the subcommittee compiled a 218-page report which featured 36 recommendations to reallocate resources away from the police to more appropriate service providers.
Jones has also appeared on past Off the Hill political panels, including Off the Hill: Whose budget is it anyway? and Off the Hill: Games of the Throne. You can listen to segments from both of those panels on previous rabble radio episodes, or find the full versions of the panels on rabbleTV.
Today, Jones joins Calugay-Casuga to talk about how we ‘value’ work and how to move past capitalist ideas of labour. The two also talk about how to create inclusive spaces in activist movements.
Jones, on how anyone can support transformative justice:
“There's this idea that there’s a class of people that ‘do activism,’ but that's not a mass movement. A mass movement is when everybody has the skills and capacity, everybody is called upon to do what they can, everybody gives what they can, everybody is empowered and given the ability and resources to do that.”
Read Calugay-Casuga’s full article on this subject here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo credit: Koshu Kunii https://unsplash.com/photos/ILpe0MpOYww
This week on the show, we’re sharing an interview which is part of rabble’s summer Boiling Point series. The Boiling Point examines the ways increasingly high temperatures due to the climate crisis are affecting our summers in Canada on a social, institutional, and ecological level.
Today, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell speaks to Dr. Melissa Lem to talk about how the recent wildfires, heat domes, and record-breaking hot temperatures are affecting the physical and mental health of Canadians.
A clinic assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Lem also serves as the President-Elect for the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (or CAPE). Lem first became a member of CAPE when she was still in medical school. Since then, she has worked on policy and advocacy campaigns around the climate crisis, including wildfires, active transportation, and the need to connect to nature for health.
She and Wentzell dive into how climate change is a health issue and why it’s so important for governments, at all levels, to put policies in place to protect people during extreme weather events.
“If, as physicians [and] healthcare workers, we want to make sure that our patients have the best health status, we have to start looking beyond our offices and our hospitals,” she explained. “We have to start looking at social determinants of health and ecological determinants of health, like making sure we have clean air to breathe, healthy temperatures, and have green space and trees to shade us and cool our cities to keep us healthy.” - Dr. Lem.
Read Wentzell’s full article on this subject here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo credit: Landon Parenteau
The concept of a guaranteed basic income has gained a lot of attention over the past few years. And on rabble, the idea has been discussed, debated, and deliberated from a variety of angles.
In May this year, MP Leah Gazan and Senator Kim Pate joined us as part of our Off the Hill political panel series, talking about their proposed bills, Bill S-233 and Bill C-223 which urge the government to implement guaranteed livable basic income. They believe in a guaranteed livable basic income as a tool, not as a final solution, to combat the growing inequality in Canada.
However, there are others who believe a basic income isn’t key in solving inequality in Canada. Some argue that a program like basic income cannot adequately address the many issues that contribute to poverty in our country, such as the cost of housing, poor labour standards, access to health care and child care, and so on.
Basic income, or a guaranteed income, the term has many different names - and means different things to many different groups.
This week on the show, Doreen Nicoll speaks to Ron Hikel, a political scientist who has spent decades studying the economics of a guaranteed minimum income. They discuss what it would actually take to make a basic income program work in Canada.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo credit: Ilana Gotz on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/lqHhxCrG_JI
This week on rabble radio, we dive into the world of natural - or green, as it’s sometimes called - burials.
For many of us, talking about death isn’t easy – let alone talking about what happens to your body once you’ve passed away.
But what if there was a way to think of your burial as a way to help the environment?
Since the 1990’s, the natural burial movement has steadily gained interest as more and more people are exposed to the idea.
With a natural burial, the body is not exposed to any chemical embalming. And instead of a traditional casket, the body is wrapped in a shroud or buried in a biodegradable casket. Rather than rows of tombstones on a manicured lawn, picture a meadow or woodland, restored and protected in its natural ecosystem. In place of tombstones, imagine graves marked with a small stone, a native plant, or a communal dedication.
Some Canadians admire the spiritual connection to the earth that a natural burial grants. Many also find peace of mind knowing that their burial will have a very small ecological footprint.
Yet despite the enthusiasm for the burial alternative, there are shockingly few places in Canada to be buried naturally.
Susan Greer, the executive director of Natural Burial Association, speaks to Doreen Nicoll about the organization’s mission to make natural burial more accessible in Canada.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.Photo credit: Kristine Cinate on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/QvjL4y7SF9k
This week on the show, Doreen Nicoll speaks to author and professor Dennis Raphael about the idea of “social murder” and how it applies to Doug Ford’s government.
The expression “social murder” was first introduced by Friedrich Engels, a German political economist in the 1840’s. In his book, The Condition of the Working Class in England, Engels describes the misery and class division he witnessed in day-to-day English life. His conclusion? Proletarian revolution was necessary.
Then in 2007, the term was re-introduced by Canadian economists Robert Chernomas and Ian Hudson. Their book called “Social Murder and Other Shortcomings of Conservative Economics” outlined how the influence and size of corporate power is shaping the world in a negative way - corporations are able to wreak social and environmental havoc with few serious consequences.
Fast forward again to today and the term has gained popularity when referring to the recently re-elected Premier of Ontario Doug Ford and his government. And specifically - the cuts the Ford government has made to Ontario’s healthcare system.
Dennis Raphael explains why this term is being used, and what exactly it means in today’s interview.
Photo: Orfeas Green on Unsplash
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
It would be an understatement to say that COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed life in Canada. After two years since the pandemic came into our lives, we’re still grappling with a “new normal” and grieving the experiences, time, and loved ones we lost during the worst waves of the pandemic.
No one knows this grief better than our healthcare workers.
Nurses and healthcare workers stepped up during the pandemic to face COVID first hand; working extended shifts with decreased or no time off; adapting to changes in the methods of delivering care; facing burnout, stress, anxiety, and sometimes contracting COVID themselves. All the while they were also encountering a small population of the public convinced that COVID-19 was something not to take seriously.
Today, we give our healthcare heroes a voice.
The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions and rabble.ca present: Nurses' Voices: Stories of courage and determination in the face of COVID-19. We interviewed over 25 healthcare professionals from across the country and asked them to share what they’d like our audience to know about their experiences working through this deadly virus.
Today on rabble radio, we share snippets of those interviews.
If you’d like to read Nurses' Voices: Stories of courage and determination in the face of COVID-19, you can find a digital copy here.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
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This week on the site, rabble’s national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell reviewed Martha Paynter’s new book, Abortion to Abolition: Reproductive Health and Justice in Canada. This week, we’re sharing an interview between the two where Paynter dives into the misconceptions people have about access to abortion in Canada and the other threats facing reproductive justice in the country.
Paynter explains that Canadians generally view our country as the most progressive in the world with respect to abortion care. The truth, though, is that abortion access is poorly understood in our country, and so are the continual threats to reproductive justice in Canada such as sexual violence, gun violence, homophobia and transphobia, criminalization of sex work, reproductive oppression of Indigenous women and girls, privatization of fertility health services, and the racism and colonialism of policing and the prison system.
Abortion to Abolition: Reproductive Health and Justice in Canada tells the empowering true stories behind the struggles for reproductive justice in Canada, celebrating past wins and revealing how prison abolitionism is key to the path forward.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
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This week on rabble radio, Libby Davies sits down with Liz Marshall, the writer, director, and producer of the recently internationally released documentary, Meat the Future.
“Imagine a world where real meat is produced sustainably without the need to breed, raise and slaughter animals. This is no longer science fiction, it’s now within reach.” - meatthefuture.com
Meat the Future tells the story of Dr. Uma Valeti, the co-founder and CEO of Upside Foods, the leading start-up of the cultivated - or “clean” as it's sometimes called - meat revolution.
Marshall sits down with Davies to talk about the film and the powerful impact clean meat can have on agriculture and the climate emergency.
Marshall last joined rabble radio to talk with Victoria Fenner about the documentary during our ‘Climate hope in the time of pandemic’ series. At that point, the film had just been released. Now, with a global audience, Marshall explains the response the film has received from policy makers and filmgoers alike.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo credit: Lomig on Unsplash.
This week on rabble radio, we featured a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was Off the Hill: Hot summer in the West.
The Alberta political scene is in upheaval with the departure of the current (disgraced) premier and the federal conservative leadership race is becoming increasingly vitriolic. Amid this time of turbulence, what can we expect to see unfold in Alberta and in Ottawa? And what will the impact be on the political scene overall?
Our latest panel was made up by special guests Rachel Snow, David Climenhaga, Chuka Ejeckam, Karl Nerenberg and co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo credit: Kevin Mueller on Unsplash
This week on rabble radio, we share a segment of this year’s debut episode of the Courage My Friends podcast series, hosted on Needs No Introduction.
In the first episode of this year’s Courage My Friends podcast series, we welcome Henry Giroux.
Does education have a moral and political purpose? What do we mean by critical pedagogy - and why is it so vital in these times? Giroux joins host of the Courage My Friends podcast Resh Budhu to talk about education, critical pedagogy and the future of learning in a post-pandemic world.
If you’d like to hear more from the Courage My Friends podcast, please subscribe to Needs No Introduction - a podcast by rabble which presents a series of speeches and lectures from the finest minds of our time. Available on rabble.ca, Apple Podcasts, and now available on Spotify.
The Courage My Friends podcast is presented by rabble.ca and the Tommy Douglas Institute, with the support of the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation.
Upcoming news
Our next Off the Hill is right around the corner: On Tuesday, June 7 at 7:30pm ET join us for Off the Hill: Hot summer in the West.
The Alberta political scene is in upheaval with the departure of the current (disgraced) premier and the federal conservative leadership race is becoming increasingly vitriolic. Amid this time of turbulence, what can we expect to see unfold in Alberta and in Ottawa? And what will the impact be on the political scene overall?
Join guests Rachel Snow, David Climenhaga, Chuka Ejeckam, Karl Nerenberg and co-hosts Robin Browne and Libby Davies as they connect these burning issues and knit together the connections, disconnections, challenges, and possible scenarios of unfolding current events.
Register for this free event today at: bit.ly/OffTheHillJune7 Thanks to Between the Lines publishing, we’ll be giving away 10 copies of just released book, Women Winning Office: An Activist’s Guide to Getting Elected, by Peggy Nash. Everyone who registers for this upcoming panel will be entered in the draw!
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo credit: Susan Q Yin on Unsplash
This week on the show, Libby Davies speaks to Medea Benjamin, co-founder of women-led peace group Code Pink. Code Pink is a grassroots NGO with an anti-war mandate. The goal of Code Pink is to divest from the “war machine” and from companies that derive their profits from U.S. military interventions, the global arms trade, and the militarization in the streets.
Benjamin sits down with Davies to talk about the inception of the NGO back in 2002 and looking for a non-military solution to end Russia's occupation in Ukraine.
Benjamin says: “It is so difficult to cut through this incredible propaganda machine; now the call is we have to make sure Ukraine wins this war. As if there is any winning in this war.”
Upcoming news
Our next Off the Hill is right around the corner: On Tuesday, June 7 at 7:30pm ET join us for Off the Hill: Hot summer in the West.
With the Alberta political scene in upheaval with the departure of the current (disgraced) premier and the increasingly vitriolic conservative leadership race federally, what can we expect to see unfold in Alberta, in Ottawa, what will the impact be on the political scene overall?
Join guests Rachel Snow, David Climenhaga, Chuka Ejeckam, Karl Nerenberg and co-hosts Robin Browne and Libby Davies as they connect these burning issues and knit together the connections, disconnections, challenges, and possible scenarios of unfolding current events.
Register for this free event here: bit.ly/OffTheHillJune7
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo credit: Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash
This week on rabble radio, we featured a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our panel discussed the idea of a guaranteed livable basic income. What is it, how would it work, and how much would it cost us?
Our panel was made up of MP Leah Gazan, who in December of last year introduced Bill C-223 which, if passed, would establish the first national framework for an unconditional guaranteed livable basic income for everyone over 17 in Canada. Senator Kim Pate also joined us this week, she is responsible for Bill S-233 for Unconditional Basic Income. Rounding out our panel were Sheila Regehr, the co-chair of Basic Income Canada Network, and Karl Nerenberg, rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter.
If you missed out on this event and would have liked to attend, don’t worry! Our next Off the Hill event will take place in June. Please stay tuned for updates on that event and be sure to sign up for rabble’s newsletter at rabble.ca/alerts to make sure you get the invitation.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: PiggyBank on Unsplash
This week on rabble radio, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll speaks to Sarah Jama. Jama is the co-founder of the Disability Justice Network of Ontario.
Through the Disability Justice Network, Jama has been challenging the Ontario government and its health services to move from policing people with disabilities to allowing them to have personal and political agency and to thrive within their communities.
Nicoll and Jama talk about the importance of accessible health services and creating a society where people are seen beyond their ability to produce.
Jama says: “If we can begin to build a world that isn’t just focused on economics and my ability to produce, we can build a world that fits everybody and we can stop the warehousing of disabled people and the ways in which people who can’t work are discarded.”
If you’d like to learn more about Jama’s work with the Disability Justice Network of Ontario, be sure to check out Nicoll’s piece on rabble.ca this week.
Upcoming news:
Don’t miss it! Our next Off the Hill political panel is happening Tuesday, May 17 at 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PST. This month, our panel talks about the idea of a guaranteed livable basic income. What is it, how would it work, and how much would it cost us?
Here to join us for that conversation is MP Leah Gazan, who in December of last year introduced Bill C-223 which, if passed, would establish the first national framework for an unconditional guaranteed livable basic income for everyone over 17 in Canada. Also joining us is Sheila Regehr, co-chair of Basic Income Canada Network. Karl Nerenberg, rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter, will also be joining us.
You won’t want to miss it! Register for that free event here: bit.ly/OffTheHillMay17
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
This week on the show, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll interviews Natalie Mehra, the executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition.
The Ontario Health Coalition is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest activist coalition and network whose primary goal is to protect and improve Ontario’s public health care system. The coalition works to protect the health system from threats like cuts, delisting and privatization.
This is partly done by raising public awareness about Ontario’s current healthcare systems programs and services. This includes long-term care homes.
During the height of COVID-19, the average death rate in these private, for-profit care homes was 5.7%. Compare that to non-profit long term care homes - which saw 2.8%. Lower again at 1.4% for municipal facilities.
Currently, 60% of Ontario’s long-term care homes are private, for-profit. And despite these private care homes being notoriously understaffed, failing inspections, and responsible for the deaths of thousands of Canadians during COVID-19, the Ford government has just issued 30-year licenses and expansions for 18,000 additional LTC beds for private long-term care homes.
All the while, public funding for health care in Ontario is the lowest in the country.
Ahead of the Ontario election, Mehra is hoping the privatization of the province’s long-term care homes becomes a key issue.
“What’s happening in Ontario should be a blight on all our consciences,” Mehra tells Nicoll. “We have to win this one. This is our chance to do it. Let’s make [the government] accountable for what’s happened so far, and let’s win real change this time.”
If you’d like to learn more about how to support the Ontario Health Coalition’s campaign to end privatization in long-term care homes, please visit their website at ontariohealthcoalition.ca. You can also check out Nicoll’s piece on rabble.ca this week.
Upcoming news:
Don’t miss it! Our next Off the Hill political panel is happening Tuesday, May 17 at 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PST. This month’s panel will be co-hosted by Libby Davies and Robin Browne and will feature MP Leah Gazan. Additional guests to be announced. Register for that free event here: https://bit.ly/OffTheHillMay17
Also: last month, we celebrated our 21st anniversary! If you’re a fan of the show and would like to celebrate with us - we’d love you to consider making a donation. We're only $7k away from our target goal of raising $21,00 in 21 days! Please visit this link to learn how.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: Gert Stockmans on Unsplash
This week on rabble radio, Brent Patterson interviews Sleydo' Molly Wickham, a Gidimt’en Checkpoint spokesperson and Wing Chief of the Cas Yikh (Grizzly Bear) House.
In November of 2021, Sleydo' was arrested at gunpoint during a militarized RCMP raid of her territory and held for five days in a jail cell.
Brent Patterson spoke with Sleydo' earlier this week about the construction of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on Wet'suwet'en territory.
If you’d like to read more of our coverage on the RCMP’s involvement in the Coastal Gas Pipeline construction on Wet’suwet’en lands, please visit rabble.ca. Patterson has kept a close eye on the situation as it unfolds.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: Stephanie F / Unsplash
This week on rabble radio, Graham Flint of the Reform Gravel Mining Coalition joins Doreen Nicoll to talk about the importance of gravel reform in Ontario.
The province has authorized annual extraction limits of over 13 times the actual amount of gravel used in Ontario annually. This calculation does not account for the 15 per cent of aggregate sites that have been granted unlimited extraction tonnage limits.
160 million tonnes of aggregates are produced each year. That amount of aggregate could fill enough trucks to circle around the entire world six times.
Enough is enough, so says the Reform Gravel Mining Coalition.
The “Demand A Moratorium Now” petition looks at the new approvals for gravel mining in Ontario. Gravel mining is destroying natural habitats and damaging communities across Ontario. The Reform Gravel Mining Coalition believes the people affected should have a say in the matter.
Also: rabble has turned 21!
This Monday, April 18, we celebrated our 21st anniversary! If you’re a fan of the show and would like to celebrate with us - we’d love you to consider making a donation. We’re hoping to raise $21,00 in 21 days! Please visit this link to learn how.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: Alexander Cifuentes on Unsplash
This week on rabble radio, we're bringing you a segment of our latest Off the Hill political panel which took place on Thursday April 14th.
This month, the theme was “Will Budget 2022 build Canada forward?” It featured special guests Avi Lewis, Jim Stanford and MP Leah Gazan. They deconstructed the recently released federal budget. Those guests joined regular hosts, Libby Davies and Robin Browne.
If you missed the last Off the Hill and would have liked to attend, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to never miss an invite!
Also: rabble is turning 21!
This Monday, April 18, we’re celebrating our 21st anniversary! If you’re a fan of the show and would like to celebrate with us - we’d love you to consider making a donation. We hope to raise $21,00 in 21 days! Please visit this link to learn how.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: Josh Appel via Unsplash
This week on rabble radio, we're bringing you an interview with Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah.
Owusu-Akyeeah has been the executive director of the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity since July 2020. The organization is a national LGBTQ organization dedicated to eliminating all forms of bullying, discrimination, and homophobia in schools.
She speaks to rabble’s national reporter, Stephen Wentzell, about how the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, set to go into effect in Florida, could impact education on gender diversity and sexual orientation of young Canadians.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: Teddy Österblom on Unsplash // https://unsplash.com/photos/owiVf9bFKHM
This week on rabble radio, we're bringing you an interview with Harley Augustino of Base Building for Power.
Base Building for Power is a collective of activists and organizers. The collective offers programs for individuals who wish to become better organizers themselves – notably, through the ‘Summer Justice’ program. This paid, two-month program provides hands-on training for young BIPOC activists in Vancouver to develop concrete organizing skills.
This is Augustino’s second year as a trainer for the program. He talks about what he’s hoping this summer’s students will take away from the program, and what lessons his students have taught him.
Augustino spoke to Libby Davies, author of Outside In and former long-time MP for Vancouver East.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: Tanushree Rao on Unsplash / https://unsplash.com/photos/kYjDNNRmR7c
This week on rabble radio, journalist Wayne MacPhail interviews Deirdre Pike, of the Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters.
Hamilton has found itself in the middle of a housing and homelessness crisis. The Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters, or HATS, is a new project inspired by Kitchener’s ‘A Better Tent City,’ to serve as a temporary solution to the housing crisis in Hamilton by providing small homes for people in need.
In 2020, the City of Hamilton released a report which set a framework on ending chronic homelessness by 2025. But this goal can’t be achieved without concrete plans and real community action. That’s where HATS comes in.
Pike is a senior social planner at the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton. Pike speaks with Wayne MacPhail about the challenges the project has faced so far. They discuss what the community has to say about the project, and what services will be available to people who will occupy these cabin community living spaces.
“The way things are moving, we’re not sure if 2025 is going to be a goal that’s met in terms of ‘the end of homelessness,’” Pike says. “If it is, then that should mean small communities like this [The Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters] are temporary and would fold up. But in the meantime, we’re making sure that people don’t live like this next winter … This is really an opportunity to have people live with some dignity and, probably for the first time in many years, an experience that this is their own place.”
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo by: Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
This week on rabble radio, we're bringing you an interview with long-time British Columbia politician Joy MacPhail.
MacPhail is best known for her roles in BC politics - but there is much more to her story. Many will remember her as Deputy Premier of British Columbia. MacPhail is a longtime member of the BC NDP, and member of the BC Legislative Assembly, representing Vancouver-Hastings.
Over her ground-breaking, and at times controversial career - that began in the BC labour movement before being elected to politics - she served as Minister of Finance, Minister of Education, Minister of Heath, Minister of Social Services and Seniors, and more. Currently, MacPhail chairs the ICBC board (the Insurance Corporation of BC), and is an owner of OUTtv, the world's longest airing LGBTQ+ television network. She was appointed to the Order of Canada this past January where she was recognized for her “pioneering contributions to politics and for her tireless advocacy of underserved and marginalized communities”.
MacPhail speaks to fellow politician and friend, Libby Davies. Davies is also a life long political activist and politician, but at the municipal and federal levels. She was a long time Vancouver city councilor and former Deputy Leader and House Leader of the federal NDP, representing the riding of Vancouver East from 1997 to 2015. Davies is also a member of the Order of Canada.
MacPhail reflects on a lifetime of experiences as a woman in Canadian politics. She recounts the gender-biased scrutiny she faced from the media, and shares what it was like trying to balance being a mother while breaking ground for women in politics. She also discusses how she maintains motivation for positive change to this day.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
This week on rabble radio, we're bringing you a segment of our latest Off the Hill political panel which took place on Thursday March 10th.
This month, the theme was “In the extreme.” It features special guests Seth Klein, Chuka Ejeckam and MP Leah Gazan. They deconstructed the recently released IPCC report, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the visible rise in right-wing populism. They joined regular hosts, Libby Davies and Robin Browne.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Libby Davies interviews Sophie Harkat, wife of Mohamed Harkat, to discuss the ways life for the couple has been “turned upside down” for nearly two decades.
In December of 2002, Mohamed was taken into custody, suspected of being an al Qaeda sleeper agent. Although he denied any involvement with terrorism, he was arrested on a national security certificate and deemed to be a threat to national security. He has been imprisoned, and then under strict house arrest - all while never been shown evidence against him. Despite this, Sophie remains optimistic as the couple fight for the right to “live a normal life.”
“I still believe justice will prevail eventually. It may take time - it may take [all the] energy I have to get through this … but I feel there’s a purpose behind this. I feel we’re setting precedence. It’s not just our battle; it’s a battle for a lot of people.”
If you’d like to learn more, rabble.ca has featured extensive coverage about Mohamed Harkat’s case since 2011, including a piece by Sophie herself in 2015.
If you’d like to donate or find ways to support Mohamed and Sophie, visit their website: https://www.justiceforharkat.com.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
This week on rabble radio, Doreen Nicoll interviews environmental lawyer Phil Pothen. Phil and Doreen have been following the ongoing situation in Halton Region regarding the ‘Stop Sprawl Halton’ movement.
5200 acres of farmland are at stake. Regional council wants to develop this land as part of a ‘preferred growth plan’. But Halton Region residents believe there is a better solution. Listen to Phil and Doreen discuss how this proposed growth plan came to be and what residents would like the future of Halton region to look like.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
If you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo credit: Allison Batley on Unsplash
This week on rabble radio, Libby Davies interviews Paul Taylor, the executive director of FoodShare Toronto and a lifelong anti-poverty activist. They talk about how the pandemic has encouraged his non-profit to re-evaluate self-care days. They also discuss how activists should allow for room for fatigue and frustration during difficult times.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
If you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Photo credit: Timon Studler on Unsplash
Hello and welcome to rabble radio. It’s Friday, February 11, 2022. I’m your host, Breanne Doyle. Thanks for tuning in.
rabble’s got its finger on the beat of the issues that matter to you. If you’re curious about the latest news in Canadian politics, labour, environment, or social justice – you’ve come to the right place to find the stories that matter. Free of corporate influence.
What’s on the show today:
We're bringing you a segment of our first Off the Hill political panel of the year which took place last night, Thursday February 10th. The theme of last night’s show was Whose budget is it, anyway?
Our panelists, including special guests El Jones, MP Leah Gazan and David MacDonald, deconstructed the federal budget to help us understand: why is it important and what power does the government really have in designing a federal budget? They also zeroed in on recent events in Ottawa - such as the ousting of Conservative leader Erin O’Toole and the so-called “Freedom Convoy” and the visible rise in right-wing populism.
If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
If you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Hello and welcome to rabble radio. It’s Friday, February 4, 2022. I’m your host, Breanne Doyle. Thanks for tuning in.
rabble’s got it’s finger on the beat of the issues that matter to you. If you’re curious about the latest news in Canadian politics, labour, environment, or social justice – you’ve come to the right place to find the stories that matter to you. Free of corporate influence.
This week, rabble recognizes the first week of Black History Month. We also continue our coverage of the so-called “Freedom Convoy 2022” as it unfolds in Ottawa. As well, Amnesty International asserts Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid against Palestinians. Is it finally time for international intervention? We’ll dive into all those stories and more, a bit later on our show.
First - we present to you a conversation between Professor Amina Mire and documentary filmmaker Jennifer Holness to discuss Holness’ new documentary: Subjects of Desire.
Subjects of Desire investigates the cultural shift in North American beauty standards towards adopting Black female aesthetics and features. The documentary exposes the deliberate and often dangerous portrayals of Black women in the media. Subjects of Desire attempts to deconstruct what we understand about race and explores the power behind beauty.
The film premiered on TVO on February 1.
Mire is an associate professor at Carleton University. Her research interests include interdisciplinary analysis and critical research in gender and the cinema, anti-racist/anti-colonial research, political thought, and women and health.
Holness is a director, writer and producer living in Toronto. Her recent work includes the award-winning documentary Stateless and the Shoot the Messenger tv series. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Women in Film and Television's Creative Excellence Award. She is a key part of numerous committees including the chair of the Black Screen Office and co chair of The Canadian Independent Screen Fund for BPOC Creators.
This week, Mire sat down with Holness to discuss Subjects of Desire, and touched on their own experiences of confronting the beauty standards and harmful stereotypes of Black women.
Here is a snippet from that conversation. Take a listen.
(interview - 20 minutes)
That was Professor Amina Mire and director and writer Jennifer Holness, talking about Subjects of Desire. Thanks very much for that, Amina and Jennifer.
If you’d like to know more about this documentary, you can find Mire’s review on rabble.ca.
Now it’s time for In Case You Missed It.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
This week, rabble marks the first week of Black History Month.
Markiel Simpson kicks off coverage with a piece that argues African, Caribbean and Black Canadians should be celebrated all year, not only during Black History Month. While the significant contributions made by African, Caribbean and Black Canadians - the ACB diaspora - need to be recognized, undoing centuries of systemic racism and oppression cannot be restricted to only one month.
Also this week, Natasha Darling shares how Black sex workers are leading intersectional movements for smashing injustice and the patriarchy, in her must-read column .
Also this week, rabble’s staff writers and contributors continued coverage of the so-called “Freedom Convoy 2022”.
Karl Nerenberg, rabble senior politics reporter and Ottawa resident, shares what he and his Ottawa neighbours have been experiencing since the beginning of the protests last week, while the police stand idly by:
“Never before has a protest movement in the Canadian capital been accompanied by hundreds of massive, multi-wheel rigs, spewing clouds of noxious diesel fumes, and blaring their oversized horns in a 24-hours-a-day cacophonic symphony,” he writes, noting the hateful signage and behaviour of some associated to protest. The presence of all these trucks and protestors poses a challenge the city - one that has experienced thousands of protests - “has never before had to deal with.”
While local residents fume knowing what would happen to them if they simply parked illegally, no doubt indigenous and other activists are asking where the capitals' usual security forces - so often immediately on the scene for vigils and demonstration - are?
Nerenberg points out that the Ottawa police, “with reinforcements from across the country, are claiming that they are doing their best to keep the peace, but are treading carefully in dealing with the protesters.”
David Climenhaga was one of the first to break the story of the far right involvement in the convoy’s GoFundMe page, where this protest began online. This week he ponders whether some of those funds might go towards damages from the protests.
Climenhaga has also been keeping the spotlight on Alberta’s political leaders - and reporting on their involvement in the protests and in far right ideology. He ponders, for example, whether Premier Jason Kenney encouraged the copycat Coutts blockade which he now condemns? It would be ironic, Climenhaga writes, if Kenney’s dubious claim a week ago that Ottawa’s vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers was leading to empty shelves in grocery stores, ended up being what is causing real shortages.
While the protestors in Ottawa have been calling for Justin Trudeau’s departure, it was another leader who was ousted this week. Karl Nerenberg reflectsErin O’Toole’s eviction as leader of the Conservative party - and shares his thoughts on the prospects for Pierre Poilievre, the MP for Carleton, who inspires enormous loyalty from a large swath of the Conservative base.
Some observers say Poilievre would provide Donald Trump-style leadership in Canada; and like Trump, Poilievre plays politics only in one emotional key – the key of anger. And it seems anger – Nerenberg writes – “is exactly what the Conservative base wants from a leader.”
Last Saturday was the fifth anniversary of the January 29th Quebec mosque shooting. In her column, Monia Mazigh considers this first National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia. Now more than ever, Mazigh says, “it is important to ask ourselves: what has Canada done to prevent future Islamophobic attacks? I am afraid to say: very little.”
In international news, rabble contributor and board member, Thomas Woodley writes that the report published by Amnesty International on Monday - asserting Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid against Palestinians - means there should be no further question that international intervention is required. Amnesty joins a long list of Israeli human rights organizations who have also found Israel guilty of the crime against humanity. Those groups include Gisha, Breaking the Silence, Peace Now Israel, and more. Canadian leaders, he argues, must now respond.
Also:
Don’t miss out! rabble’s Off the Hill political panel is back on Thursday, February 10, 2022 at 7:30pm EST. This month’s theme: Whose budget is it, anyway?
Join hosts Libby Davies, Robin Browne, and guests MP Leah Gazan, CCPA economist David MacDonald, activist, poet and scholar El Jones and Karl Nerenberg. They’ll be taking your questions and discussing the parliamentary agenda including the upcoming federal budget. Will major political moments like the turmoil in the Conservative party or the truck convoy make a difference to how the budget plays out in parliament? Tune in or join the live audience on zoom to find out.
Register now to join this free event, via Zoom.
The last thing I’d like to leave you with, listeners, is this: we are in the homestretch of our annual fundraiser, and we have a special offer for all of you rabble radio listeners!
Support rabble a monthly donation of $8 or more before midnight Saturday, February 5th, and you will receive a free copy of Indigenous activist and author Clayton Thomas-Müller's book, Life in the City of Dirty Water. Clayton's book is one of the top 5 contenders in Canada Reads 2022!
EXTRO
And that’s it for rabble radio this week. Thanks as always for tuning in. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts or whatever podcast app you use. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
If you have feedback for the show – ideas, stories, opinions you’d like us to cover – I’d love to hear about. Get in touch with me anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Thank you to Amina Mire and Jennifer Holness for their conversation this week. Thank you to Karl Nerenberg for his reporting and for supplying the music for this show. Thank you to all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca. And lastly, thank you to you for tuning into rabble radio.
I'm Breanne Doyle, and I’ll talk to you next week.
Photo credit: Hungry Eyes Media Inc. used with permission.
Hello and welcome to rabble radio. It's Friday, January 28, 2022. I'm Breanne Doyle, the host of rabble radio. Thanks for tuning in.
rabble’s got its finger on the beat of the stories that matter to you. If you’re curious about the latest in Canadian politics, labour, environment, or health – you’ve come to the right place to find the stories that matter to you. Free of corporate influence.
This week we’ll cover two stories on the growing tension between Russia and Ukraine. We ask the question that’s on everyone’s mind: how likely is it that this situation becomes a war? Plus - our national reporters cover Quebec’s Law 21 and the Halifax police force looking to define “defunding the police.” We’ll check in all that and more, a bit later on in our show.
First, rabble contributor Libby Davies joins political scientist Dr. Jeanette Ashe again this week. It’s part two of their special two-part series. Dr. Ashe and Davies discuss what responsibility political parties have in upholding gender equality in Parliament. They ask what success might look like when we implement equity mandates.
Dr. Ashe is the Chair of the Political Science Department at Douglas College. She’s also a Visiting Faculty at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, King’s College, London. She also advises legislators on drafting legislation on gender equity and democratic reform.
Libby Davies is the author of Outside In: a Political Memoir. She served as the MP for Vancouver East from 1997-2015, and is former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader. Libby’s also a recipient of the Order of Canada.
Here are Libby and Jeanette in conversation, in part two of our two part special.
Take a listen: (interview – 22 mins)
That was Dr. Jeanette Ashe in conversation with Libby Davies. You can hear part one of their conversation from last week’s episode. Thanks for that, Dr. Ashe and Libby, it’s always great to hear from the both of you.
Now, it's time for a segment we call, In Case You Missed It.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT.
This week rabble.ca delves into the growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
Guest writer Fred Weir has been living in Russia and writing about the former Soviet Union since 1998. In his article, he asks: how likely is Russia to invade Ukraine? He implores readers to consider, despite the widespread media expectations of a blitzkrieg-like invasion, an all-out Russian assault on Ukraine is less likely than they might think.
Rather than going to war, Weir writes, “Russian foreign policy experts suggest that an acceptable outcome for the Kremlin would be to create a system of neutral states between NATO and Russia, perhaps something like Finland or Austria during the Cold War.”
Weir also notes that the idea of war is largely unpopular for Russian citizens. He points to a survey by the Levada Center in Moscow, which found 54 percent of Russians felt positive toward Ukraine, compared to 31 percent who did not.
As tensions mount as a result of speculation about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, columnist Bill Blaikie reflects on how things might have been different. Blaikie highlights key moments in Russia’s recent history, from the Cold War until now, pondering the question: What role did the West have in creating the situation at hand?
In Canadian Politics, senior national politics reporter Karl Nerenberg reports on the declining support for Law 21, which the Quebec government enacted back in 2019. In December, a school board in western Quebec transferred a teacher from her Grade 3 classroom to a behind-the-scenes role because she wore a hijab. In January, the firm Leger Marketing conducted a poll on attitudes toward Law 21 for the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies that found support for the law in Quebec has dropped from 64 per cent to 55 per cent. More importantly, the poll found a huge generation gap in attitudes toward Law 21. While older Quebecers still support it strongly, over 70 per cent of young people in the 18-to-24 age group do not support it.
Meanwhile, Stephen Wenzell looks to the Halifax Regional Municipality which is set to become the first jurisdiction in Canada to define the phrase “defunding the police”. The move comes as the result of a report that features 36 recommendations to reallocate resources away from the police to more appropriate service providers.
Also on the site this week, columnist Rachel Snow criticizes the National Post for publishing a piece she deemed a “racist, historical slant that counters the lived experiences of thousands of First Nation peoples.” The piece, written by National Post columnist Barbara Kay, keeps colonial narratives alive implying that residential schools were somehow beneficial for Indigenous children and that the unmarked graves found of hundreds of Indigenous children simply can’t be true.
Snow writes: “These narratives state that the kidnapping and forced labour of First Nation children in residential schools did not happen."
rabble contributor David Climenhaga was among the first to report on far-fight influence in the online campaign for rolling truck blockades to protest vaccine mandates.
Climenhaga argues the campaign raises questions about the potential use of the GoFundMe site to get around election financial reporting laws for what are clearly intended to be political campaigns attacking one party.
That was, in case you missed it. You can find all those stories and much more, on rabble.ca
rabble.ca is proud to announce the return of our Off the Hill political panel series in February. The theme of the upcoming show is: Who’s budget is it, anyway? A new federal budget is about to be announced that will affect us all in big and small ways. Our panelists will focu s on deconstructing and understanding what a federal budget is all about: why is it important and what power does the government really have in designing a federal budget? We will also zero in on what a federal budget could look like for ordinary people to benefit.
You can register to attend the entire panel on Thursday, February 10 in the link in our bio or catch a highlight of this event on our February 11th rabble radio episode.
The last thing I’d like to leave you with today is this: rabble's annual fundraiser is on the go and we are looking for indie media heroes! Is that you? Please consider making a donation at rabble.ca/donate. The generous support from our readers is what makes it possible for quality journalism to support transformative political action.
And that’s it for rabble radio this week. Thanks as always for tuning in. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts or whatever podcast app you use. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
If you have feedback for the show – ideas, stories, opinions you’d like us to cover – I’d love to hear about. Get in touch with me anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Thank you to Libby Davies and Dr. Jeanette Ashe for their interview this week. Thanks also to Stephen Wentzell and Karl Nerenberg for their reporting - and Karl, too, for supplying the music. Thank you to all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca. And lastly, thank you to you for tuning into rabble radio.
I'm Breanne Doyle, and I’ll talk to you next week.
Credit for photo: Roya Ann Miller / Unsplash
https://unsplash.com/photos/nlmq5jC9Slo
Hello and welcome to rabble radio. It's Friday, January 21, 2022. I'm Breanne Doyle, the host of rabble radio. Thanks for tuning in.
rabble’s got its finger on the beat of the stories that matter to you. If you’re curious about the latest in Canadian politics, labour, environment, or health – you’ve come to the right place to find the stories that matter to you. Free of corporate influence.
This week we talk about why hazard pay isn’t enough for our front-line workers in grocery stores. We’ll also mark the passing of former NDP leader, Alexa McDonough. Karl Nerenberg and Monia Mazigh share their stories of Alexa. We’ll check in all that and more, a bit later on in our show.
First, rabble contributor and former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader, Libby Davies, interviews political scientist Dr. Jeanette Ashe. In part one of this special two-part series, Davies and Dr. Ashe delved into the question of what a gender-sensitive parliament would look like. They take on topics of the gender-based heckling that takes place among elected representatives in our government, and how COVID-19 has affected women in politics.
Dr. Ashe is the Chair of the Political Science Department at Douglas College. She’s also a Visiting Faculty at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, King’s College, London. Her research interests include political recruitment, political parties, representation, and gender and politics. She is the author of Political Candidate Selection: Who Wins, Who Loses and Under-representation in the UK. Other recent publications include Gender Sensitivity Under Trudeau: Facebook Feminism or Real Change?, and Canada’s Political Parties: Gatekeepers to Parliament . Dr. Ashe advises legislatures, parties, and organizations on assessing gender and diversity sensitivity. She also advises legislators on drafting legislation on gender equity and democratic reform.
Libby Davies is the author of Outside In: a Political Memoir. She served as the MP for Vancouver East from 1997-2015, and is former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader. Libby’s also is recipient of the Order of Canada.
Here are Libby and Jeanette in conversation, in part one of our two part special.
Take a listen: (interview – 22 mins)
That was Dr. Jeanette Ashe in conversation with Libby Davies. Join us again next week when we’ll hear part two of that conversation. Thanks for that, Dr. Ashe and Libby. Looking forward to it.
Now, it's time for a segment we like to call, In Case You Missed It.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT.
This week rabble remembers Alexa McDonough. McDonough was Canada’s first woman to lead a major political party when she was elected the Nova Scotia New Democratic in 1980. She passed away on Saturday, January 15, 2022 at the age of 77.
Monia Mazigh was a close friend of McDonough. In her column, recalls how Alexa McDonough stood by her when her husband, Maher Arar, was held in US custody for two weeks after a family vacation in Tunis. Mazigh recalls McDonough standing against injustice when the Canadian government became complicit with the American authorities. The Americans had rendered her husband to Syria – a country he had not called home since he was 17 years old.
Mazigh writes: “Alexa was not intimidated by the whispers that warned her my husband was a “hot potato.” She stood with me and remained faithful to her principles of social justice and human rights. In 2003, my husband came home after spending more than a year in prison where he was never charged with any crime and endured torture. Upon his return, Alexa continued to be a pillar in our road towards justice.”
Karl Nerenberg shares a history of some of the highs and lows of McDonough’s political career. He praises her as single-handedly re-building the NDP’s presence in the Maritimes. There she established the party as a force for social justice and positive change on the national scene. That paved the way for her NDP successor, Jack Layton.
Nerenberg observes: “Keeping the movement alive and relevant during its darkest hour might, indeed, be Alexa’s greatest legacy.”
Also this week on the site, Stephen Wentzell criticizes grocery store CEOs reaping record profits while their grocery store workers remain among the lowest paid workers in Canada. Grocery chains in our country instituted hazard pay for a brief moment at the outset of the pandemic two years ago. But now, workers are back to unsafe conditions, minimum wage, and, often, with little or no paid sick leave.
Wentzell writes that, even with a so-called “hazard pay” pay increase, it still leaves many low-income Canadians far from a livable wage.
Lisa Cameron, writer and organizer with the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre, tells rabble.ca that workers have devoted themselves “tirelessly” to their frontline work, while being both “underpaid and unappreciated.”
“Major grocery chains should recognize the risks undertaken by their employees and compensate them accordingly,” Cameron says. “Even if these grocery chains reintroduce hazard pay for their employees, the fact remains that the minimum wage is too low across the country.”
Cameron adds that governments can’t keep trusting employers to do the right thing when it comes to paid sick days, livable wages, and access to health and dental coverage. “These aren’t decisions that we ought to leave in the hands of employers. These are decisions that ought to be determined by law,” Cameron says.
The last thing I’d like to leave you with today is this: rabble's annual fundraiser is on the go and we are looking for indie media heroes! Is that you? Please consider making a donation at rabble.ca/donate. The generous support from our readers is what makes it possible for
quality journalism to support transformative political action.
And that’s it for rabble radio this week. Thanks as always for tuning in. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts or whatever podcast app you use. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
If you have feedback for the show – ideas, stories, opinions you’d like us to cover – I’d love to hear about. Get in touch with me anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Thank you to Libby Davies and Dr. Jeanette Ashe for their interview this week. Thanks also to Stephen Wentzell and Karl Nerenberg for their reporting - and Karl, too, for supplying the music. Thank you to all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca. And lastly, thank you to you for tuning into rabble radio.
I'm Breanne Doyle, and I’ll talk to you next week.
Credit for photo: Photo by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash - https://unsplash.com/photos/TzVN0xQhWaQ
Hello and welcome to rabble radio. It's Friday, January 14, 2022. I'm Breanne Doyle, your new host of rabble radio. Thanks for tuning in.
Where is Chelsea? Where, indeed. Well, as some of you may be aware, our dear Chelsea Nash has taken a job at the Hill Times in Ottawa. We’ll miss her here at rabble, and wish her well!
You may have heard my name on this podcast before - I’ve been behind-the-scenes here at rabble radio since we launched in October. I’ve been the podcast editor and chase producer - so I’m no stranger to the show. I’m excited to be bringing you the news you need to know from rabble.ca every week!
So, let’s jump right in.
The top stories of this week include Omicron in our schools. National politics reporter Stephen Wentzell asks: “What will it take to open schools safely?” Some authorities say children have to get back to the classroom as quickly as possible. But epidemiologists warn that if we re-open in-person education without smaller classes and better ventilation schools will become “the single largest contiguous block of unvaccinated people.” We’ll discuss that and more, a bit later on in our show.
First, a different story from Stephen: We listen to his conversation with Chris Draenos. Draenos is the Community Based Research Centre's National Sexually Transmitted and Blood-borne Infection Testing and Linkage Implementation Manager. Draenos tells Stephen how the company supplies HIV rapid tests across the country. He also explains why - whether in COVID-times or not - having accessible sexual health-care is something the government should focus more attention on.
Here are Stephen and Chris in conversation:
(interview – 20 mins)
That was Chris Draenos in conversation with Stephen Wentzell. You can read more about Chris’s work in Stephen’s piece on the site this week. The piece is titled: “With health resources stretched, self-tests for HIV/AIDs could be a valuable resource.” Thanks for that, Chris and Stephen.
Now, it's time for a segment we like to call, In Case You Missed It.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT.
This week at rabble, our biggest story was - you guessed it - the COVID-19 Omicron variant in Canada.
Stephen Wentzell explores the many-sided issue of sending Canadian children back to school after the winter break in the face of the quickly-spreading Omicron variant. The World Health Organization tallied 9.5 million new cases of COVID-19 around the world over the past week. That’s a 71 percent spike from the week before.
In Nova Scotia, students were supposed to return to in-person classes on Wednesday - that has now been pushed to January 17.
The province has also announced it is suspending contact tracing for schools, and this could lead to fewer reported cases and a greater risk of exposure to the wider population. Most importantly, it won’t give Nova Scotians an accurate and up-to-date picture of how safe from COVID-19 the province’s schools are.
Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Robert Strang nevertheless argues that schools are the safest place for children. The province’s teachers have a different view. Paul Wozney, president of the Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union (NSTU), points out that Strang doesn’t work in schools. The research Strang has based his opinion on “does not disclose the real truth” about how COVID-safe schools actually are, Wozney says.
Are we stuck in an Omicron cycle? Evelyn Lazare addresses the question in her latest column, writing: “in Canada, we are between a rock and a hard place. Remember when we were trying to flatten the curve? With Omicron, we are, one more time. The only thing that can help defeat Omicron — and the Delta variant — is to increase the number of people vaccinated. We must also continue with masking, hand-washing, social distancing and isolation/quarantine when necessary.
This is old news, but it does not make either the rock or the hard place any softer.” she says.
Also on the theme of the pandemic, columnist Cathy Crowe shares how the collapse of Toronto’s shelters under COVID-19 could have been prevented. Crowe reflects on the recent disease history in Toronto. This analysis, she says, proves the decades of neglect has led to the collapse of the shelter system under COVID-19.
David Suzuki encourages readers to challenge large corporations on greenwashing habits; until we do, they’ll continue to grind up nature and spit out profit where rivers, forests and meadows once stood.
And on a different theme, Doreen Nicoll visits Bela Farm, a farming community in Erin, Ontario. Sustainability and community is at the heart of everything it does. In collaboration with Everdale Community Farm, Bela Farm was able to distribute 100,000 pounds of organic vegetables to locals in need this year. Nicoll writes that the story of Bela Farms proves: “It’s time to embrace new farming and food systems that benefit many while reducing our collective carbon footprint.”
Finally, it is with great sadness that the rabble community mourns the loss of author and rabble contributor, Joyce Nelson, who passed away in hospital following an illness, last week in Toronto.
Joyce Nelson was the author of seven books and many hundreds of articles and essays published by a variety of magazines and websites – including The Watershed Sentinel and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Over her more than 30 years as a full-time writer, Joyce’s work appeared in at least 25 book-length anthologies published in Canada and the U.S. She also created 23 hours of radio documentary broadcast by CBC Ideas, all re-broadcast by popular demand. A sought-after speaker, she lectured at locales as diverse as the Banff Centre for the Arts and Harvard University. Joyce taught at Queen’s University and the University of Victoria. She was also an artist and fiction writer, as can be gleaned on her website.
Joyce was a long-time and stellar contributor to rabble.ca -- never more so than over the past year when she turned her attention to the climate emergency, exposing the dangerous liaisons between corporate interests and elements of the green economy, and Canada’s role in the world, in pieces on such diverse issues as Tech workers challenge the giants who employ them, Big Plastic’s trashy lawsuit, Canada’s ancient forests are being turned into toilet paper, and Sri Lanka shipping disaster and Canadian consumerism.
We encourage everyone to read and share Joyce Nelson’s work. Joyce was a long-time and stellar contributor to rabble.ca -- never more so than over the past year when she turned her attention to the climate emergency, exposing the dangerous liaisons between corporate interests and elements of the green economy, and Canada’s role in the world. Our deepest condolences to her family, friends and community.
That was In Case You Missed It. You can find all those stories and much, much more on rabble.ca.
The last thing I’d like to leave you with today is this: rabble's annual fundraiser is on the go and we are looking for indie media heroes! Is that you? Please consider making a donation at rabble.ca/donate. The generous support from our readers is what makes it possible for quality journalism to support transformative political action.
And that’s it for rabble radio this week. Thanks as always for tuning in. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts or whatever podcast app you use. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
If you have feedback for the show – ideas, stories, opinions you’d like us to cover – I’d love to hear about. Get in touch with me anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Thank you to Stephen Wentzell and Chris Draenos for their interview this week. Thanks also to Karl Nerenberg for supplying the music, and to all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca.
I'm Breanne Doyle, and thanks so much for listening to rabble radio.
Hello and welcome to rabble radio. It’s Friday, December 17, 2021. I’m the host and the editor of rabble, Chelsea Nash. Thanks so much for listening!
Rabble breaks down the news of the day from a progressive lens. It's a good place to catch up and catch on to what's happening in Canadian politics, activism, environment, and so much more. Listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We catch you up on the news of the week and take you further into the stories that matter to you.
This week on rabble radio we’re reflecting back on our year, highlighting 2021’s most newsworthy stories – and let me just say, there were plenty of stories to choose from! 2021 presented a plethora of newsworthy moments for us here at rabble to dive into – from environmental news to Indigenous justice, to politics, rabble was there keeping you up-to-date on all the current news as it happened this year.
To begin, let’s start on the Pacific side of Canada – all the way at Fairy Creek, British Columbia. This old-growth forest in the southern portion of Vancouver Island has made headlines in the past year, being the site of ongoing protests against old-growth logging.
In November, friend of the rabble family Libby Davies interviewed climate activist and land defender Rita Wong. In a clip, Rita discusses her role at Fairy Creek and why the site has had such an impact on activists in B.C..
Keeping the conversation on environmental justice and Indigenous rights, this year rabble correspondent Brent Patterson kept us all up to date on the latest news in his coverage of Wet’suwet’en territory.
The protests concerning the construction of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline through 190 kilometres of the unceded lands of Wet’suwet’en First Nation territory have been ongoing, ever since Wetʼsuwetʼen hereditary chiefs opposed the project back in 2010. But it wasn’t until last year, 2020, when action really started amping up.
On our December 10th show, Brent sat down with sisters Eve Saint and Jocey Alec, Indigenous land defenders who were both criminally charged in the past two years protecting their traditional territory from the pipelines. Here’s a clip from that interview of Eve Saint detailing the day she had been arrested.
That was Brent Patterson in conversation with Eve Saint. You can listen to the full interview with Eve and her sister Jocey Alec in our December 10th episode – it’s an incredibly powerful listen and we so appreciate the two sisters taking the time to speak with us. Thank you also to Brent Patterson for keeping such a detailed eye throughout the year with his coverage of Wet’suwet’en. You can be sure we’ll be following this story into the new year.
Switching gears now from environmental news to the world of the Internet – this year saw Facebook become engulfed in controversy and ultimately rebranded.
In October, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook was to be rebranded as “Meta” – however, critics believed that the re-naming was a just distraction from the controversies the social media conglomerate had found itself in. Canadians began to wonder – what will the government do to implement regulations for social media giants like Facebook?
To break down this question and all-things regarding policy and Facebook, our national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell sat down with Dr. Michael Geist back in October. Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law. He’s also the author of the 2015 book Law, Privacy, and Surveillance in Canada in the Post-Snowden Era. Here’s a piece of that interview.
This year also saw a snap election, of course; the result being Trudeau being re-elected for a third term as prime minister, with his second minority government. Though the Liberals were no doubt hoping to win a majority government when Trudeau called the election back in August, the results were for the most part unchanged from the 2019 Canadian federal election. Having said that, there was much news to be made out of the election and the actions Trudeau has made since then.
Keeping rabble informed and up-to-date on everything going on at Parliament Hill was very own our senior politics reporter Karl Nerenberg. On the site, Karl brought us stories every week detailing how decisions made at Parliament would affect Canadians.
In October, Karl joined me on the podcast to discuss Trudeau’s cabinet shuffle and suggest why, at 39 members, the cabinet is as big as it is. Take a listen.
That was Karl Nerenberg from our October 29 episode when we discussed Trudeau’s 2021 cabinet.
This month, on our Off the Hill political panel, we delved into Justin Trudeau’s government once again, this time dissecting the speech from the throne. To break it down, hosts Libby Davies and Robin Browne prompted our panelists Karl Nerenberg, poet and scholar El Jones, MP Leah Gazan, and Indigenous activist and writer Clayton Thomas-Muller. Our esteemed guests discussed what was said during the speech, what was notably not mentioned in the speech, and what it all meant for activists.
Our panelists were in agreement that while pretty words about Indigenous reconciliation, solving climate change, and keeping Canadians safe and healthy through the pandemic were said, the speech was devoid of real substance. MP Leah Gazan speaks in a clip from the panel.
Those were our top stories on rabble radio this year. Now let’s take a look at the top stories of the week on rabble.ca in a segment we call “in case you missed it.”
In case you missed it:
This week at rabble, the Omicron variant appears to be taking hold around the globe. Have we actually learned anything from the last two years? Are our governments capable of providing support for society's most vulnerable to the virus? Are we making any progress on improving indoor air quality in communal spaces like schools? Are travel restrictions making any sort of difference?
As Nora Loreto, author of the newly released book Spin Doctors: How Media and Politicians Misdiagnosed the COVID-19 Pandemic says, "it feels like Groundhog Day." You know, the Bill Murray kind. Here we go again.
I reviewed Nora's book this week on the site. It's an insightful, compelling and -- you've been warned -- depressing read about the government and media failure that in many ways paved the way for COVID-19 to wreak the havoc it has. Nora takes readers through the first 18 months of this pandemic: from January 2020 through the end of June 2021. As we well know by now, the pandemic didn't end then, and we are still grappling with many of the same challenges we faced one year ago. However, as Nora proves, at this point, we ought to know better.
That's why in Karl Nrenberg's analysis of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's fall economic update, he wonders why there isn't more money being dedicated to improving indoor air quality for Canadians. There is indeed a section of the update most overlooked on Clean and Healthy Indoor Air.
The finance minister’s update includes a Small Business Refundable Tax Credit of up to $10,000 per location and $50,000 per business organization, which businesses can receive for “eligible air quality improvement expenses.”
There is, in addition, $100 million for provinces and territories for “improvements to ventilation” in schools, and an additional $70 million to the $100 million the government announced a year ago “to support ventilation projects in public and community buildings such as hospitals, libraries and community centres.”
It’s something, but it’s not much, considering the degree to which stopping the spread of this virus entails getting it out of the air we breathe.
Speaking of lessons unlearned, over in Alberta, where Premier Jason Kenney infamously declared the pandemic "over" last summer, the government is restricting COVID-19 restrictions for the holiday season, David Climenhaga reports. Groundhog Day, indeed.
Also this week on rabble.ca:
In case you missed it, 34 people's names were commemorated at this month's Toronto monthly Homeless Memorial on December 14. Of those 34 names, 19 people died inside city shelters in the month of October, writes street nurse Cathy Crowe. In response, the Shelter Housing Justice Network demands that Toronto City Council must immediately strike a task force charged with taking all reasonable steps to reduce such deaths but also take measures to ensure safe shelter, an expansion of housing allowances, harm reduction measures and to stop encampment evictions.
In case you missed it, Stephen Wentzell spoke to activists about the federal government's new bill to remove some mandatory minimum sentences from the Criminal Code. Toronto journalist, activist and author Desmond Cole panned the bill as "deeply cynical” and an “incomplete policy" as he calls for all mandatory minimum sentences to be dropped -- including those for crimes involving gangs -- and for life sentences to end.
“I just think the government needs to spare us all of the rhetoric about race, when the sentences that they are keeping up will also continue to disproportionately put Black and Indigenous people in jail,” Cole said.
Justice Minister David Lametti said the government “will continue to address the social determinants of crime" and marked the bill as an important step.
And with that, that is our show this week – and for this year. Rabble radio is taking a few weeks off for the holiday season, although the writers and contributors at rabble.ca will continue to bring you the up-to-date news throughout the month, so look out for that. As for rabble radio, you can tune into our next episode on January 14, 2021.
If you liked what you heard on this week’s show, please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, share it with your friends -- it only takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble but it means so much. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. And if you have feedback for the show, I’d love to hear it - get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. On behalf of everyone here at rabble, we want to thank you for tuning in and supporting our show – and we also want to wish you a safe and happy new year!
Thanks to our podcast producer Breanne Doyle. Thanks to Karl Nerenberg for the music, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this year’s content on rabble radio, Off the Hill and rabble.ca.
Photo by Erwan Hesry at Unsplash
Hello and welcome to rabble radio. It's the week of Friday, December 10. I'm your host and the editor of rabble.ca, Chelsea Nash.
This week on the podcast, rabble contributor Brent Patterson interviews Wet’suwet’en land defenders Eve Saint and Jocelyn, or Jocey, Alec. Eve and Jocey are sisters who have been arrested and criminalized for defending their sovereign territory in northern British Columbia from a fracked gas pipeline being built on those lands without consent.
Eve was arrested by the RCMP on February 7, 2020, at the Gidimt’en checkpoint blockade at the 44-kilometre mark on the Morice River Forest Service Road.
There were 60-100 police officers present, including the Emergency Response Team (ERT), dressed in army green and carrying automatic weapons.
Before she was arrested, Eve said to them:
“This is Wet’suwet’en territory. We are unarmed. We are peaceful. This is unceded territory. This is the territory of Woos. I am his daughter. You are invaders. You are not allowed here. You are not welcome.”
Eve was charged with obstruction of justice and held in custody for four days.
More recently, Jocey was arrested by the RCMP on November 19, 2021, while inside a cabin at Coyote camp near the 63-kilometre mark on the road.
That cabin was built on the Marten Forest Service Road near Morice River to stop Coastal GasLink from drilling under the river to lay the pipe for its pipeline.
Jocey was inside the cabin when the RCMP used an axe and then a chainsaw to tear down its front door as an ERT officer pointed an automatic weapon at those inside. Journalist Michael Toledano filmed this dramatic footage of the assault.
Jocey was charged with civil contempt for breaching the terms of an injunction granted to Coastal GasLink not released from custody until November 23.
Eve has said: “The post-traumatic stress is real. As Indigenous peoples, we don’t like to see these images of our relatives and loved ones being invaded with these colonial forces.”
Take a listen to these two powerful women as they discuss their experiences with Brent.
That was rabble contributor Brent Patterson interviewing Wet’suwet’en land defenders Eve Saint and Jocelyn Alec.
Now, it's time for the segment we call:
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT.
This week at rabble, a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives shows just how much higher the risk of contracting COVID-19 is for Indigenous, racialized workers, senior national politics correspondent Karl Nerenberg reports.
The new report does an analysis of jobs that require close physical contact with others and where risk of infection is highest. This includes jobs in health and long-term care, retail and warehousing and food processing. Here, the researchers’ findings are striking. They identify not only a race and ethnicity gap, but also a gender gap.
Indigenous women had the highest share of employment — over 30 percent — in the occupations that ranked as most dangerous and risky due to the physical proximity to others these roles demand. Next were non-Indigenous women at 28 per cent, followed by Indigenous men at 14.6 per cent.
Non-Indigenous men had only a 12.5 per cent share of these dangerous and risky jobs.
Racialized workers held well more than half — 57 per cent — of the jobs that included, to some degree, what the CCPA describes as “close proximity” to others. It is interesting to note that white women worked these jobs at almost as high a rate. On the other hand, a third of racialized men and only 28 per cent of white men worked in such high-risk situations.
Overall, the CCPA notes that:
“the fault lines of the pandemic have been drawn between low-wage and high-wage workers, between women and men, between those who could safely work from home and those who risked infection at work, between Indigenous Peoples and settlers, and between racialized and white Canadians (sic).”
The study also noted that From July 2020 to June 2021, 28 per cent of Indigenous and 31 per cent of racialized households lived with economic insecurity. They lacked adequate funds to pay for basic needs such as food, housing and medicines. For white households, the proportion was much smaller: 16 per cent.
It's these exact systemic disparities that authors Karen-Marie Elah Perry and Shila Avissa say are being brushed aside in our governments' ongoing pandemic response. Why are we being asked, they wonder, to return back to "normal" or to build "back," when "normal" is what got us here in the first place? Why are we being told that the pandemic is over because businesses have reopened meanwhile new variants are spreading rapidly across the globe, and the majority of the Global South is left without access to vaccinations?
"Whether driven by a focus on the economy above the wellbeing of workers, white supremacy’s refusal to acknowledge the pandemic’s ongoing impacts on racialized communities, or toxic masculinity’s tendency to conceal vulnerability and “push through” the emotional pain of the pandemic, gaslighting is culturally systemic," the authors write.
Also this week:
Writer and land defender Kelly Tatham writes about her decision to divest her personal funds from the Royal Bank of Canada due to its involvement in funding fossil fuel projects like the Coastal Gaslink project currently being pushed without consent through Wet'suwet'en land. There’s absolutely no reason to continue letting the big banks use our savings to bulldoze through Indigenous rights and fund the destruction of the planet. Even if there isn’t enough money in your account to make a measurable difference in fossil fuel project investments, closing your account sends a message and creates a ripple effect, both inspiring others to do the same and empowering you to take on more tangible actions in your day-to-day life, Tatham writes, as she encourages others to take similar action.
Stephen Wentzell reports that Canada has been failing children living in impoverished conditions across the country for decades. At the current rate, childhood poverty won't be eradicated until the 2070s, according to a recently published report from Campaign 2000. The report concluded Canada has over 1.3 million children living in poverty, making up nearly one in five children. Between 2018 and 2019, just 24,170 children were lifted out of poverty, representing less than one per cent of Canada’s impoverished youth.
That's it for this week! If you like the show please consider subscribing. Rate, review, share it with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble and your time and effort is invaluable to us. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca, and if you'd really like to support us directly, you can make a donation at rabble.ca/donate. You make indie media happen.
Got feedback for the show? Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Thanks to our producer Breanne Doyle, to Brent Patterson for contributing this week's interview, and to Eve Saint and Jocey Alec for coming on the show.
I'm your host Chelsea Nash. Thanks for listening to rabble radio -- I'll talk to you next week for our final episode of 2021.
Photo: Gidimt’en Checkpoint Twitter
Hello, and welcome to rabble radio! It's the week of Friday, December 3, 2021.
The top stories of this week include the Liberal government's ban on conversion therapy finally passing the House with unanimous consent, both Justin Trudeau and Doug Ford received failing grades on their environmental policy, and, Syrian refugees need Canada to act. Has it forgotten them?
Rabble breaks down the news of the day from a progressive lens. It's a good place to catch up and catch on to what's happening in Canadian politics, activism, environment, and so much more. Listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
We catch you up on the news of the week and take you further into the stories that matter to you.
This week on the show, we're bringing you a segment of our monthly live politics panel: Off the Hill. This month, the theme is Games of the Throne. Libby Davies and Robin Browne host guests MP Leah Gazan, poet and scholar El Jones, Indigenous activist and writer Clayton Thomas-Müller and rabble's own national senior politics reporter Karl Nerenberg.
Parliament is back, and our guests unpack the speech from the throne and what it means for activists. If you can believe it, this is the final show of 2021, and our panel looks back at the year that was — and takes a look forward to the new year. Take a listen:
(OFF THE HILL)
That was a clip from our live politics panel which took place last night, on Thursday, Dec. 2. Thanks to all who tuned in and to our wonderful guests for their insight. Stay tuned for details about January's Off the Hill panel early in the new year.
Now, it's time for:
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT.
This week at rabble, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell covered two huge milestones for the 2SLGBTQ movement in Canada. First, a trans person became a leader of a major federal political party for the very first time when the Green Party of Canada appointed Amita Kuttner as its leader. Kuttner, 30, is the youngest, first trans person, and first person of east Asian descent to lead a national political party. Kuttner, who uses they/them pronouns, calls the appointment an “honour and a serious responsibility.” They succeed Annamie Paul, the first Black and Jewish leader of a major federal party, who departed as leader amid controversy and major internal strife.
Wednesday was another day of hope for the 2SLGBTQ community, when the House of Commons unanimously passed Bill C-4, an Act that, if passed, will criminalize so-called "conversion therapy" in Canada. A conversion therapy ban had been set to pass through the Senate late last summer, but fell off the order paper when Parliament was dissolved for the election. The new legislation goes further than its predecessor, however, as it bans the harmful practice for children as well as adults. The unanimous vote in the House of Commons was noteworthy, as previously, there were 62 votes against the legislation from Conservative Party members.
For Mike Smith, a survivor of conversion “therapy,” the ban means others won’t have to suffer like they did, Wentzell reports. Smith was subjected to efforts to change their sexual orientation and gender identity at the age of 18, and suffered horrific trauma as a result. Read more at rabble.ca.
Also this week:
Karl Nerenberg reports on the failing grades received by both the Trudeau and Ford governments. Two days after the Trudeau government presented a throne speech that was disappointingly weak on plans to combat climate change, the federal environment commissioner blasted Canada’s emissions reduction record. On that same day, Ontario auditor general (AG) Bonnie Lysyk reported that the Doug Ford government would not achieve even a fifth of the emission reductions it has promised to achieve by 2030 if it stays the course.
Krystal Kraus writes about the need for the activist community to confront death and to develop new strategies for mutual and communal support for those in the movement who might be struggling with mental illness. She reflects on activists in the Toronto activist community who have died in recent years, and writes about the lessons each of them taught her.
Columnist Rachel Snow wants Canadian settlers to ask themselves what they really know about the First Nations who reside in Canada.
"The truth is that Canada does not see or understand First Nation people," Snow writes. "In fact, Canada has lumped together First Nations, Inuit and Métis into a potent mixture; Canada labels us “our” Indigenous peoples, as if this broad group could ever be possessed by the colonial state."
That's it for this week! If you like the show please consider subscribing. Rate, review, share it with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Got feedback for the show? Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.
Thanks to our producer Breanne Doyle, to Off the Hill hosts Libby Davies and Robin Browne, guests El Jones, Clayton Thomas-Muller, Karl Nerenberg and MP Leah Gazan. Thanks to Karl Nerenberg for the music and his reporting, Stephen Wentzell for his reporting, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca.
Hello and welcome to rabble radio. It's the week of Friday, November 25. I'm your host and the editor of rabble, Chelsea Nash.
The top stories of this week include the Trudeau government's return to Parliament. On Tuesday, we heard the Governor General deliver the speech from the throne. While Parliament will only resume for a very short time before it breaks again for the holidays, what did we learn about what's to come? And, rabble's coverage of the Wet'suwet'en crisis is ongoing. Contributor Brent Patterson traveled to the region to cover events as they unfolded. You'll hear the latest on that in just a few minutes.
Rabble breaks down the news of the day from a progressive lens. It's a good place to catch up and catch on to what's happening in Canadian politics, activism, environment, and so much more. Listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
We catch you up on the news of the week and take you further into the stories that matter to you.
This week on the show, we welcome back Libby Davies as she interviews political scientist Dr. Jeanette Ashe about the state of women in politics in Canada.
Dr. Ashe is the Chair of the Political Science Department at Douglas College and Visiting Faculty at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, King’s College, London. Her research interests include political recruitment, political parties, representation, and gender and politics. She is the author of Political Candidate Selection: Who Wins, Who Loses and Under-representation in the UK (Routledge, 2020). Other recent publications include Gender Sensitivity Under Trudeau: Facebook Feminism or Real Change? (University of Toronto, 2020), and Canada’s Political Parties: Gatekeepers to Parliament (Palgrave, 2020). She advises legislatures, parties, and organizations on assessing gender and diversity sensitivity and advises legislators on drafting legislation on gender equity and democratic reform.
Libby Davies, as you may know, is the author of Outside In: a Political Memoir. She served as the MP for Vancouver East from 1997-2015, and is former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader, and is recipient of the Order of Canada.
The two discuss the barriers that continue to exist for women in Canadian politics, despite the fact that the electorate is actually more likely to support women candidates. After an election like the one we just had, which saw the Liberals lose four female cabinet members, it's a good time to once again examine how our political parties here in Canada have a tendency to not support women and other diverse candidates.
Here's their conversation, take a listen.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
This week at rabble, contributor Brent Patterson goes to the Wet'suwet'en territory and reports on the RCMP's raid of the protestors' blockade there as they defend the land against the Coastal GasLink pipeline project.
Just days after the conclusion of the United Nations COP26 climate summit in Glasgow and calls from international groups to stop the criminalization of Indigenous land defenders, militarized police violence against defenders in Canada has seemingly become normalized, Patterson writes. Over 30 people and three journalists were arrested on November 18 and 19. It was the third RCMP assault on Wet’suwet’en territory in support of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline being constructed on their territory without free, prior and informed consent, with the first two taking place in January and February of this year.
Patterson raised some questions about the infrastructure that enabled the raids. RCMP officers were seen arriving at Smithers airport and being carried away in two white school buses. In the days after the raid, the same make of white school buses were seen emerging from the Coastal GasLink man-camp on the Morice River Forest Service Road -- the same road that had been blockaded. This begged the question: were the RCMP using the Coastal GasLink camp to stage their raid? What other state infrastructure did they use to carry out the raid? Patterson reviews what they've used before.
Further, Patterson reports there are first-hand witness accounts of the RCMP in Coastal GasLink cars on the territory and RCMP officers arriving in Coastal GasLink-marked buses in the nearby town of New Hazelton to break-up a rail blockade in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en.
According to Patterson, all of this is compounded by the Canadian government's financial involvement in the GasLink project -- notably its $275 million investment in June 2019 supporting the LNG Canada export terminal along with Export Development Canada’s $250 million to $500 million loan to Coastal GasLink in May 2020 for the construction of the pipeline.
The appearance of collusion between the police and an energy company, along with the disregard of international human rights norms raise profound concerns that must be addressed, Patterson concludes.
Also on the site this week:
John Miller reports on a new survey from the Canadian Association of Journalists about who is telling you the news. Thursday, the CAJ released its inaugural measurement of the diversity of people who assign, cover and present the news. CAJ measured 3,873 news people at 209 media outlets, making it the largest-ever survey of the demographics of television and radio broadcasters, online news operations, and daily and community newspapers. Unsurprisingly, the typical Canadian newsroom is not representative of the Canadian population, with more than half of the newsrooms surveyed only employing white journalists.
Joyce Nelson reports on a terrible paradox facing the so-called green energy transition: to develop windmills, solar panels, and the like, many metals and minerals will need to be mined. MiningWatch Canada is estimating that “[Three] billion tons of mined metals and minerals will be needed to power the energy transition” – a “massive” increase especially for six critical minerals: lithium, graphite, copper, cobalt, nickel and rare earth minerals. With mining being an exploitative and dirty industry -- of which Canadian companies are at the fore -- perhaps the green energy transition is more red than green after all.
Plus -- Karl Nerenberg breaks down the speech from the throne, though as he reports, there's not much to break down. It was a speech full of platitudes and lacking in clear commitments, he writes. Catch Nerenberg and our other distinguished panelists next week for our Off the Hill live politics panel, where the theme is "Games of the Throne" and the return of Parliament. MP Leah Gazan will be there, as will Indigenous activist and writer Clayton Thomas-Müller and poet and scholar El Jones.
Find all the details of that and so much more at rabble.ca. There are a few other must-reads on the site this week I'd recommend you don't miss -- so head there now!
EXTRO
That's it for this week! If you like the show please consider subscribing. Rate, review, share it with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Got feedback for the show? Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything you write in.
I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. Thanks for tuning in and we'll talk next week!
Thanks to our producer Breanne Doyle, Libby Davies and guest Dr. Jeanette Ashe. Thanks to Karl Nerenberg for the music and his reporting, Brent Patterson for his reporting, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca.
Hello and welcome to rabble radio. It's the week of Friday, November 19 and I'm your host and the editor of rabble, Chelsea Nash. Thanks so much for listening!
Rabble breaks down the news of the day from a progressive lens. It's a good place to catch up and catch on to what's happening in Canadian politics, activism, environment, and so much more. Listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
We catch you up on the news of the week and take you further into the stories that matter to you.
This week on the show, friend of the rabble family Libby Davies interviews climate activist and land defender Rita Wong.
Libby Davies is author of Outside In: a Political Memoir. She served as the MP for Vancouver East from 1997-2015, and is former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader, and is recipient of the Order of Canada.
Rita Wong is a poet-scholar who has written several books of poetry. She understands natural ecosystems as critical infrastructure that must be protected and cared for in order to survive the climate crisis. In other words, old growth forests are what remains of the Earth’s lungs.
They discuss Fairy Creek -- the site of ongoing protests against old-growth logging on the southern portion of Vancouver Island. The protests have been going on for over a year now, with many activists -- Rita included -- travelling to and from the region when they can at the invitation of Pacheedaht First Nation elder Bill Jones and hereditary leader Victor Peter, upon whose lands the logging is taking place.
Rita has written about her experiences and the plight of the land defenders at Fairy Creek before for rabble.ca, writing:
"The time I’ve spent at Fairy Creek is some of the most inspiring I’ve ever experienced, with creative, generous, kind and talented people, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, all spontaneously co-operating to uphold what Jones has asked us to: the responsibility to protect sacred forests for future generations."
Libby and Rita also take some time to discuss the recent passing of Indigenous writer Lee Maracle, who was a mentor of Rita's.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Let's stay in B.C. for just a moment. This week at rabble, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell writes about that province's proposal to "remove criminal penalties for people who possess small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use."
The proposed exemption is a big win for decriminalization activists, who have long-argued that decriminalization will help reduce the fear and shame associated with substance use that can be a barrier for people requiring care.
At the same time, some activists working to combat the opioid crisis say it's not enough. Wentzell spoke to Donald MacPherson, executive director for the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, who said he applauds the B.C. provincial government for its proposed shift, though he worries that leaving lower jurisdictions to implement varying decriminalization laws will create inconsistent and “piecemeal” policies around the country.
“This is a federal law. The federal government hasn’t taken this leadership,” MacPherson said. “They should be taking the leadership to decriminalize simple possession for drugs across Canada.”
Also on the site this week:
It's Trans Awareness Week, with Trans Remembrance Day taking place tomorrow, November 20. To mark the week, Charlotte Dalwood, a freelance writer based in Alberta, tells the story of how one woman went from being a trans ally to being an anti-trans activist, and back to an ally again (if not a passive one). Rather than arguing that trans exclusion is anti-feminist, writes Dalwood, trans women and our allies ought to instead mobilize the stories of ex-gender criticals (as the trans exclusionary movement likes to call themselves).
"Whatever such people have done in the past, they are in a unique position now to pull others out of the gender-critical movement. That makes them invaluable allies."
Earlier this week, columnist Chuka Ejeckam issued a warning to be wary of those who claim to speak for the Black community writ large. He tackles the controversial and, as he points out, unfounded opinion piece in the Toronto Star by Royson James, in which James attempts to take down former Star columnist and writer and activist Desmond Cole.
Speaking of the Star, former Star reporter John Miller writes about the major problem facing Canadian media: a loss of public trust. He has some ideas on how we might repair that trust.
All that and more, as always, on rabble.ca.
EXTRO
That's it for this week! We'll see you around the site, I'm sure. If you like the show please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, share it with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Got feedback for the show? Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything you write in.
I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. Thanks for tuning in and we'll talk next week!
Thanks to our producer Breanne Doyle, Libby Davies and Rita Wong. Thanks to Karl Nerenberg for the music, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca.
Photo by: A.Davey (via WikiCommons)
This week on the show, Hamilton local Wayne MacPhail interviews rabble contributor and fellow Hamilton-area local Doreen Nicoll about what she sees as the threat of urban sprawl in Hamilton, Ontario. On November 9, Hamilton City Council held a meeting to discuss whether or not to expand its urban boundary onto the surrounding farmland and the final vote will take place November 19. That farmland is squished between the current urban boundary and the Greenbelt, but is not protected. There are a number of factors at play, including the lack of affordable housing in the city, the erasure of prime farmland, and, as with anything else, the climate crisis.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Yesterday, November 11 was Remembrance Day, of course. Here at rabble.ca, we featured some coverage that is worth reading beyond just one day. Our own national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell wrote about the military's discriminatory history against queer folks, urging us to think about our veterans as having had intersectional identities and complex relationships with their fellow service members, the governments they served and the enemies they fought.
Ottawa writer Morgan Duchesney delves into how it's most often the working class that ends up going to war, and the upper classes that end up in politics. Our veterans, especially our wounded veterans, deserve better. "Poppies remind me that wars are fought by working people who are often discarded when their courage is no longer required," writes Duchesney.
Finally, Darrell Rankin wrote about the importance of remembering the Mac-Paps. That's the nickname for the Mackenzie-Papineau battalion, which, in 1937 through 1939, fought fascism in Spain for the International Brigades -- an effort closely associated with the Communist Party. Those volunteers went to join the fight in Spain illegally, against the wishes of then-prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. When they returned, they were ostracized. Many faced discrimination and lost their jobs. All were denied official recognition as veterans, meaning there were no health benefits or military pensions available to them.
Also on the site this week:
Karl Nerenberg looks at the results from the municipal elections throughout Quebec, which concluded on November 7, and sees hope for progressives across the country. A record number of young people and women were elected, and five of the ten largest Quebec cities are now led by women, he notes. Nerenberg sees the re-instalment of Valérie Plante as mayor of Montreal as a victory not just for her, but for her party, Projet Montreal, and the progressive, grassroots movement it spawned from.
Politics in our time can be excruciatingly transactional, especially at the local level. Municipal leaders often focus intently on satisfying the narrow interests of powerful groups, particularly developers. The municipal administrations of Ottawa and Toronto are textbooks examples of that approach, writes Nerenberg. They should be taking notes.
Columnist Rachel Snow spilled some ink on the site this week as she examined the settler-colonial concept of "progress" and its detrimental relationship with First Nations. Are First Nations moving forward? If Canadians want the truth, Snow writes, they will have to understand that the way forward for First Nations people must come from the actual voices of all the First Nation people. We are still waiting to talk.
Finally, Brent Patterson writes about the need for the federal government to consider the emissions of the fighter jets it is working to acquire before it signs any contracts. This, especially in the wake of calls at COP26 for military emissions to be included when countries are discussing CO2 targets. As it stands, all the fuel they burn running jets, tanks and the like just… doesn't exist, as far as many nations' CO2 emissions measurements go.
I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. Thanks for tuning in and we'll talk next week! Thanks to our producer Breanne Doyle, Wayne MacPhail and guest Doreen Nicoll. Thanks to Karl Nerenberg for the music, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca.
Photo: Rick Cordeiro (Creative Commons)
Hello and welcome to rabble radio: rabble.ca's weekly audio magazine. I'm your host and the editor of rabble.ca, Chelsea Nash. Rabble has its finger on the beat of the issues that matter to you and every Friday, we break it down for you - no matter where or how you're listening. It's a good way to catch up on the news of the week and, as with all rabble news, look at current events through a progressive lens.
This week on the show, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell speaks with American legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky to talk about his new book: Presumed Guilty: How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil Rights, in which Chemerinsky makes the case that the United States Supreme Court has been far more likely to uphold government abuses of power -- including those done by police against racial minorities -- than to stop them. Chemerinsky is the dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
This week at rabble, senior politics reporter Karl Nerenberg had his suspicions confirmed when Justin Trudeau's government made the sly attempt to bury the news that it had filed an appeal to Federal Court Justice Paul Favel's September 29 ruling which upheld a Human Rights Tribunal order that the government pay $40,000 to all victims of the underfunded First Nations child and family welfare system.
The government's lawyers waited until the very last minute last Friday to announce the appeal -- doing so after 5pm so as to attract as little public and media scrutiny as possible.
"The only surprise in the late Friday announcement was that the government will suspend its appeal process for a couple of months in order to work on a negotiated settlement with the complainants, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society headed by Cindy Blackstock and the Assembly of First Nations," writes Nerenberg.
The newly-minted ministers responsible for this file, Justice Minister David Lametti and newly-named Indigenous Services and Crown-Indigenous Relations Ministers Patty Hajdu and Marc Miller, played their cards close to their chest. Government officials reached out to Blackstock but it wasn't until the day before the appeal that they approached her with the intention to have discussions.
Blackstock and her partners at the Assembly of First Nations -- who have been fighting this fight for 14 years now -- have accepted the government’s olive branch and are ready and eager to undertake good faith talks.
Speaking of the new cabinet, street nurse and housing advocate Cathy Crowe weighed in on Trudeau's decision to appoint a new minister of housing. Sure, there have been ministers responsible for the housing file before, but until now, there had never been a minister with housing in their title. Ahmed Hussen now takes on that role with the official title of "minister of housing and diversity and inclusion."
Crowe, having been let down by government promises on housing for decades, remains sceptical. "Our country needs a minister of housing," she writes. "We now have one in name, but with a catchall title that suggests some boxes were ticked off in Minister Hussen’s appointment."
In the media interviews the minister has done since his appointment, Hussen has predictably followed the Liberal's election platform pretty closely. It's what's missing there that concerns Crowe. Nowhere in the Liberal platform, nor in Hussen's interviews, has she heard the term "social housing."
"We will truly have a minister of housing if the minister’s mandate letter includes funding for social housing and rent-geared-to-income housing, creating a co-op housing stream, providing rehabilitation funds for old housing stock, ensuring that seniors’ pensions are increased so they can afford to stay in their homes, and creating long-term care standards so our seniors can be housed safely in their later years, and the same for home care," Crowe writes.
Also on the site this week:
Our coverage of COP26 continues. Brent Patterson writes about how the prime minister's promise to cap Canada's oil and gas emissions will do nothing to stop the criminalization of Indigenous land defenders.
Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan point out that because of vaccine apartheid and the U.K.'s obstructive visa requirements, COP26 is the whitest and most privileged of the United Nations' climate summits since 1992.
Plus, two Indigenous films -- one a documentary -- are reviewed by Humberto DaSilva and Doreen Nicoll.
Da Silva reviews Portrait From A Fire -- a small, award-winning film that follows a First Nations youth on a supernatural journey to unravel his family’s secret tragedy. Portraits From a Fire is being screened in select Canadian theatres starting November 1 and will be released through video on demand on November 9.
Nicoll reviews the documentary film: Kimmapiiyitssini: The Meaning of Empathy. Kimmapiiyitssini [GEE-maa-bee-bit-sin], the Blackfoot word for, “Giving kindness to each other,” is key in reducing deaths from drug poisoning in the Kainai community in Southern Alberta. Filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers tells the story of the opioid crisis and how through harm reduction, compassion and de-colonizing recovery, the community has begun to heal. That film opens today, Nov. 5 in Vancouver with screenings scheduled across the country throughout November.
Also in arts and culture this week, sex worker columnist Natasha Darling looks at the many ways sex workers contribute to pop culture. From the movie Zola to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's music, sex workers are most accurately represented when they themselves are in control of how they are depicted, Darling argues.
Finally, last Friday, V.S. Wells takes a look at how Canada media is importing British transphobia.
It started with Toronto Star columnist Rosie DiManno, writes Wells. Her Oct. 16 piece claimed gender-neutral language in healthcare erased women. It’s not a particularly new or interesting take, and one that’s been thoroughly critiqued over the years, but the Star gave the piece a full page (A3) in the news section — despite it being opinion. The online article also received a traffic boost due to being (controversially) tweeted by author Margaret Atwood on Oct. 19.
A few days later, Atwood shared another article — this time from the CBC, decrying “toxic, in-your-face activism.” The opinion piece was written by a trans woman, Jessica Triff, but was filled with transphobic talking points. Triff implied that trans people who do not transition medically are “risks to women’s safety,” and that the label “trans woman” should only be used to refer to someone who has “gone through therapy, hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgeries.”
Finally, there was also a CTV “investigation” into trans children and youth who are seeking gender affirming medical treatment. That story relied heavily on the stories of two cis women in the U.K. who identified as trans men, before re-transitioning back to live as women — in order to argue that trans affirming youth healthcare in Canada is too easy to access.
This sudden resurgence in feminist-cloaked anti-trans media rhetoric is probably due to that strategy’s success in my home country, the U.K. Wells breaks down the differences between American and British transphobia, and why we've been seeing a heightened degree of transphobia in Canadian media in recent weeks.
Find all that and much more at rabble.ca, where as always, we're bringing you the latest in political, social and arts and culture reporting, opinion and analysis.
EXTRO
If you like the show please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, share it with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
Got feedback for the show? Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything you write in.
I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. Thanks for tuning in and we'll talk next week!
Thanks to our new podcast producer Breanne Doyle, Stephen Wentzell for his reporting, Karl Nerenberg for the music, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca.
Some might say the unveiling of a new cabinet is like Christmas for political nerds...I guess here at rabble we are no exception.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Trudeau introduced his new cabinet to the country, shaking up his inner circle and giving us a peek into who he trusts most. There's a lot we can learn about a government from the PM's cabinet picks. What regions are represented? Whose got the chops for the top portfolios, like finance or global affairs? While there aren't any "official" demotions… who is being given a less prestigious portfolio and who is being cast out of cabinet completely? There's a lot to unpack.
This is rabble radio, and this is what's up for discussion. I'm your host and the editor of rabble.ca, Chelsea Nash. This week, I'm joined by rabble's senior politics reporter Karl Nerenberg as he breaks down the meaning behind the prime minister's cabinet decisions.
After that, I'll take you through this week's top stories at rabble.ca, including lots of talk about next week's United Nations Conference of Parties 26 - that is, the UN's global climate change conference happening in Glasgow, Scotland.
Karl and I talk about the new ministers in three key portfolios: Global Affairs, Environment and Indigenous Services. Karl has been covering Parliament Hill for rabble.ca for ten years. He's been a journalist and filmmaker for over 25 years including the eight years he spent as the producer of the CBC Radio show The House. Here's what he had to say about what we can expect from this government's newly unveiled cabinet.
You can read Karl's stories about the cabinet announcement and all things Canadian politics at rabble.ca.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The upcoming UN climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland is a crucial one, as columnist Lois Ross points out this week on the site. Many say COP 26 is our last chance to try to reach an international agreement that will limit the global temperature change to 1.5 to two degrees. Seeing as global agriculture contributes 20 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, Ross argues that figuring out how to slash emissions in this industry should be a keystone discussion at the conference.
COP 26 isn't just about a gathering of world leaders, however. Joyce Nelson reports on three major issues that activists will be pushing on the sidelines next week, both before, during and after the conference which runs October 31 through November 12.
Activists want the 197 participant countries to include at least three more sectors in the requirements for nations’ emissions reporting and cutting. The first sector is the plastics industry, which the fossil fuel sector has fully embraced as its financial life-line. When we think of plastics, we may think of the thousands of plastic particles polluting our oceans and drinking water, or we might think of wildlife getting caught in plastic trash. The plastics industry has more to answer for than that, writes Nelson, as a new report from the Beyond Plastics program at Bennington College in the U.S. reveals that plastics production is on track to release more emissions than coal.
The second sector is the world's militaries, which are currently exempt from having to report on emissions at all, thanks to the United States' insistence that the Pentagon be exempted from all international climate agreements during the 1997-98 negotiations for the Kyoto Accord on climate. Apparently, it's a matter of national security. During those same negotiations, the U.S. obtained an exemption for all countries’ militaries from having to report or cut their carbon emissions.
Lastly, activists would like to see large hydro-dam projects held accountable for the emissions they produce, despite often being touted as a climate “solution.”
Also on the site this week:
Stephen Wentzell spoke to new Nunavut MP Lori Idlout about the water crisis in Iqaluit. Idlout only won her seat in the federal election two weeks before she received the news about her city’s water contamination. In early October, Iqaluit residents began writing Facebook posts complaining of a foul odour in their tap water stemming from a municipal water service.
That foul odour was fuel. This presented a big challenge to the territory's rookie MP, especially as the water crisis started just before a territorial election.
As Toni Morrison wrote, “all water has a perfect memory.” The revelation that an MP is being forced to live without safe drinking water should be a wakeup call for all Canadians, Wentzell writes.
And, Monia Mazigh has a task list for Justin Trudeau if he is actually going to prove he is as serious about fighting Islamophobia as he made out during last month's Islamophobia summit. You'll remember that summit was organized in the wake of the fatal attack on a Muslim family in London, Ontario.
Finally, David Climenhaga has the latest in what he's now calling the implosion of the government of Alberta. He breaks down the sexual harassment allegations being levied against members of Jason Kenney's cabinet -- the latest scandal in a government that cannot seem to catch a break. There ain't no rest for the wicked. Catch up on this and all the latest headlines as always at rabble.ca.
That’s a wrap for this week’s episode of rabble radio. Stay tuned for more of our social and political coverage next week -- I'm sure we'll be bringing you more coverage of COP 26 as it unfolds. If you like the show please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, share it with your friends -- everything helps. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
If after listening, you feel like you have something to tell me, I'd love to hear from you. Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything.
As always, check the site for the latest in-depth analysis, insightful opinions and breaking news. I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. Thanks for listening!
Thanks and welcome to our new podcast producer Breanne Doyle, Wayne MacPhail for his advisement, Karl Nerenberg for the music, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca.
Image: Saffron Blaze, via http://www.mackenzie.co
These days Facebook is dominating the news. Under fire from regulators and lawmakers over its business practices, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is planning to rebrand itself -- and will be giving itself a new name that’s going to have something to do with the metaverse.
Critics argue that the re-naming is a just distraction from the controversies Facebook has found itself in. Not the least of which are centered in Canada. In a press conference Monday, Charlie Angus, MP for Timmins-James Bay, called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to implement a multi-faceted plan to regulate social media giants like Facebook. The social media company also owns global social media platforms Instagram and WhatsApp.
The Canadian who arguably is most well versed in the policy and regulation questions concerning Facebook is Dr. Michael Geist. Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law. He’s also the author of the 2015 book Law, Privacy, and Surveillance in Canada in the Post-Snowden Era.
National politics reporter Stephen Wentzell spoke to Michael Geist this week for rabble.ca as part of his report on Facebook regulation in Canada. Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law. He’s also the author of the 2015 book Law, Privacy, and Surveillance in Canada in the Post-Snowden Era.
In Case You Missed It
the stories we think matter most on good ol’ rabble.ca this week, include:
Joyce Nelson writes that both Amazon and Google are planning to expand data centres in Montreal and Toronto. But, she says, if the tech giants don’t renounce militarism and cancel Israel’s Project Nimbus, they may find significant pushback in both of those cities. Project Nimbus is a cloud-based technology that could provide AI-assisted surveillance tools to the Israeli military and government.
Still on tech, Penney Kome writes about truck “platooning” - one truck driver leading a conga line of autonomous vehicles along Canada’s highways. If that sounds like a train on asphalt, that’s pretty much the idea. But, perhaps rail is more efficient, and maybe only the biggest trucking companies will be able to afford the new cyberconga tech.
Now to Indigenous & political actions. Brent Patterson told us that as carbon emissions increase, Indigenous land defenders opposed to fossil fuel megaprojects have continued to be criminalized despite the commitments made at the COP21 summit in Paris in December 2015. He calls on Trudeau to end the criminalization of frontline land defenders and water protectors opposed to the extractive megaprojects that are accelerating the climate crisis.
And finally, David Suzuki writes that we should, literally, leave well enough alone and let tree debris to stay on your lawn. Saves you trouble and, he says, helps out pollinators like butterflies whose chrysalises hide out in the duff and tree debris. Who knew?
Theme Music: composed and performed by Karl Nerenberg.
Every election cycle, the conversation of electoral reform is revived to some extent. 2021 was no different.
Consider this: In Toronto, the Liberals only won 48.9 per cent of the votes, but they won more than 90 per cent of the seats in Canada's largest city, electing 48 of the 53 MPs there. The NDP won 14.5 per cent of the vote in Toronto, but ended up with no seats. The nearly 400,000 voters who voted for them now have no representation in Parliament.
This is rabble radio, and this is what's up for discussion. I'm your host and the editor of rabble.ca, Chelsea Nash. Let's dive in.
On Thursday evening, rabble hosted its monthly live politics panel Off the Hill. This time, the theme was Back to a Hung Parliament: How do we make it work for people? This was the first time our illustrious panelists were able to get together since the recent election, and, seeing as how we're still waiting for Parliament to be recalled sometime this fall, the topic of discussion was about lessons learned from this election campaign, and, if the election results were really more or less the same, how can we make this minority government different?
Robin Browne and Libby Davies are Off the Hill’s co-hosts. Robin is a communications professional and the co-lead of the 613-819 Black Hub, living in Ottawa. Libby Davies is the author of Outside In: a Political Memoir. She served as the MP for Vancouver East from 1997-2015, and is former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader.
Guests include:
Leah Gazan, who was recently re-elected to her post as Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre. She is currently the NDP Critic for Children, Families, and Social Development, as well as the Deputy Critic for Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship. Leah is a member of Wood Mountain Lakota Nation, located in Saskatchewan, Treaty 4 territory.
Chuka Ejeckam is a political researcher and writer, and works in the labour movement in British Columbia. He focuses on political and economic inequity and inequality, both within Canada and as produced by Canadian policy. Read Chuka’s regular column on rabble.ca.
Rachel Snow is Iyahe Nakoda and the daughter of late Reverend Dr. Chief John Snow. She holds a juris doctor from the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan and is an outspoken educator, speaker, writer and co-contact person for the Indigneous Activist Networks.
Last but not least: Karl Nerenberg is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker, working in both English and French languages. He joined rabble as parliamentary correspondent in 2011.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Let me remind you what we talked about at the beginning of this episode; how the Liberals won 90 per cent of the seats in Toronto with less than half of the popular vote. This means that more than half of Toronto voters won't have their interests represented on Parliament Hill or in various caucus meetings.
Nerenberg points out how the first-past-the-post system serves to deepen Canada's regional differences, painting entire sections -- or entire cities -- with broad swaths of Conservative blue or Liberal red, with some of the NDP's orange and the Bloc's light blue peeking through.
Take Saskatchewan, for instance. In that prairie province, the NDP managed to garner more than one-fifth of the votes, 21.1 per cent. That is more than three points higher than the NDP’s national popular vote share. But the New Democrats didn't win a single Saskatchewan seat. The Conservatives won all 14.
The voter demographic in Saskatchewan and other prairie provinces is not nearly as monochrome as our electoral results suggest. This pits entire regions against one another rather than taking into account the nuance of demographic voting habits across the country. Read the rest of Karl's analysis at rabble.ca.
Also this week, Stephen Wentzell writes about five ways the incoming Parliament could make history. First on the list? Commit to more ambitious emissions targets.
With increased heat waves, drought, wildfires and more extreme weather events, Canada is warming at twice the global rate. Five-year targets on our way to a net-zero 2050 aren’t cutting it -- and as overnight temperatures hit records in addition to days above 20 degrees Celsius -- Canadians don’t have time for deliberating anymore; we need leadership on climate action, writes Wentzell.
He also writes that this new session could implement universal pharmacare with dental care, enhance resources and supports for nurses who have been left burnt out by the pandemic, extend COVID-19 financial supports which are set to expire on October 23. And, finally, this new Parliament could end the discriminatory ban on the donation of LGBTQ+ individuals’ blood.
Also on the site this week:
Cathy Crowe writes that every month in Toronto, there is a monthly homeless memorial that's been hosted for over twenty years. While there used to be between one and five names of unhoused people, the numbers are now routinely in the double digits. The October memorial saw 15 names of people added. It’s a tragedy, writes Crowe, but one that is avoidable. Toronto’s Shelter and Housing Justice Network (SHJN) recently released its evidence based winter and spring plan to provide emergency and shelter support and infrastructure so the city's homeless population can have a shot at surviving the fast-approaching winter.
Brent Patterson breaks down everything we know about the RCMP's militarized "resource extraction protection unit" which has been arresting and perpetuating violence upon land defenders across the country.
And, Philip Lee writes about how the lack of language diversity on the internet actually makes it a whole lot less accessible than we might think it is.
All that and more at rabble.ca.
EXTRO
That’s a wrap for this week’s episode of rabble radio. Stay tuned for more of our social and political coverage next week. If you like the show please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, share it with your friends and, maybe more importantly, your enemies. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
If after listening, you feel like you have something to tell me, I'd love to hear from you. Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything.
As always, check the site for the latest in-depth analysis, insightful opinions and breaking news. I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. Thanks for listening!
Thanks to Victoria Fenner for production, Wayne MacPhail for advisement, Karl Nerenberg for the music, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca.
This week on the show, we're talking about the absence of agriculture from Canada's political discourse. Of course, during an election campaign that was only five weeks long, it's hard to fit everything in, but rabble columnist Lois Ross makes the case for turning our politicians' relatively scattered attention span to agriculture. It's not an issue that necessarily garners the most headlines, but it is an issue that intersects with some of the most pressing crises of our time: climate change, worker's rights, globalization, and ever-increasing market concentration.
\Food systems are crucial to our survival but are becoming increasingly precarious due to climate disasters, supply-chain disruptions, and the environmental impacts of land concentration. Farmers, of course, are crucial to food systems. In her latest column for rabble, Lois makes the case for a basic guaranteed income for farmers, touches on the need for co-operatives in farming, and warns us that simply due to a matter of median age, in the next ten years, more than half of Canada's farmers will be retiring. This is no simple matter.
Lois has spent the past 30 years working in Communications for a variety of non-profit organizations in Canada, including the North-South Institute. Born into a farm family in southern Saskatchewan and trained as a journalist and photographer, she is the author of both fiction and non-fiction books. She is passionate about agriculture, rural and international development, and health. You can read her monthly column at rabble.ca, of course.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
It's impossible to consume everything on the Internet, even more so when the social media we reluctantly rely on disappears for a day. Not to worry, here's a recap of this week at rabble: in case you missed it.
First thing's first: you may have noticed that rabble is looking a little different these days. We are happy to say we've completed a soft launch of our new website. Things are coming together, but of course, moving over 20+ years of content is a challenge, so please do bear with us as we work out any kinks. We're excited to show you what we've been up to these past months though, and everything should be back up to speed soon!
Beyond that: This week at rabble, Stephen Wentzell sits down for an interview with the only Green MP who isn't Elizabeth May: but is Mike Morrice. Morrice is the Green's newly-elected member of Parliament in the Ontario riding of Kitchener-Centre, which he won after a tight race with the NDP candidate in that constituency, Beisan Zubi.
As it turns out, Morrice is going to spend his first term focused on serving his neighbours in Kitchener Centre rather than turn his attention to leading a party that is in no uncertain terms badly wounded in the wake of the departure of its leader, and the first Black and Jewish leader of a federal party ever, Annamie Paul.
Of course, there are other ways to make change outside of government. Columnist Minister Faust takes us through the benefits of what he calls pro-social competition -- where activists, unions, social entrepreneurs, or governments can open competitions to fuel social innovation, solutions, and generally improve society's conditions.
This is a model that has seen success on the African continent, Faust writes. Collective minds are always going to field more solutions than any individual entity. And, competitions don't have to be capitalist.
"Unlike corporate contests that let contest-convenors seize all rights to submissions, a pro-social contest allows all contestants to own their results to build value wherever they can via their own co-ops, community groups, and teams. Or, the convenor can hire winners to do the work they’ve proven they can do. Every contestant who’s created practical solutions is now far closer to making the world better."
Also on the site this week:
Sarah Macharia writes about how the international community has an obligation to stand in solidarity with girls and women in Afghanistan, especially those working in journalism and media whose entire families are now at risk of violence from the Taliban.
Yves Engler assesses the hypocrisy of Canadian politicians who condemn the People's Party of Canada while continuing to endorse Canada's support for far-right movements abroad.
Michael Hackl writes this month's Pro Bono column, in which he describes what legal options you might have if you're experiencing online harassment.
Plus much more!
EXTRO
If you like the show please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, share it with your friends and, maybe more importantly, your enemies. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.
If after listening, you feel like you have something to tell me, I'd love to hear from you. Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything.
As always, check the site for the latest in-depth analysis, insightful opinions and breaking news. 2I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. Thanks for listening!
This week on the show, rabble editor Chelsea Nash sat down for a conversation with rabble's own columnist Chuka Ejeckam. Chuka is a writer and policy researcher who works in the labour movement. The son of Igbo immigrants to Canada, he grew up in Winnipeg.
They talked about what was missing from this federal election, and as Chuka notes, we were in large part missing substantive media coverage. They also talked about the first ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation which took place on Thursday. What does it tell us about how the federal government approaches ongoing issues of colonialism and racism?
Chuka Ejeckam is also a regular panelist at our monthly politics show: Off the Hill. You can read his writing on the site, where he focuses on inequity and inequality, drug policy, structural racism and labour. You can also find him on Twitter @ChukaEjeckam.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
This segment is where we review the week's top headlines. Here's the rundown.
Yesterday was of course the very first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation -- though it was far from the first Orange Shirt Day. Since 2013, Indigenous peoples across Canada have been honouring survivors and victims of Canada's Residential School System by wearing an orange shirt. The shirt symbolizes the loss of childhood residential school attendees experienced, in honour of Phyllis Webstad's bright orange shirt she wore when she arrived at a residential school, but was quickly stripped of as she and all the other children were forced into uniforms. She never saw that shirt, which had been a gift from her grandmother, again.
Even though the day has passed, uncovering Canada's truth and engaging in reconciliation is an ongoing process, not something to be thought of once a year.
Here at rabble, we were grateful to Rachel Snow, an Indigenous activist and educator of the Iyahe Nakoda nation, for debuting her first rabble column on Thursday, in which she transformed the word "reconciliation" into "wreck-onciliation" spelt wreck. A wreck it has been. Rachel takes readers through the very recent history of the impacts ongoing colonialism has on First Nations and how the federal government continues to fall short.
On Wednesday, September 29, Federal Court Justice Paul Favel rejected the Trudeau government's appeal of those decisions. Karl Nerenberg has that report, concluding that unfortunately, this may not be the last of this battle. The federal government could in fact file for a further appeal.
Meanwhile, politics reporter Stephen Wentzell wrote about how Indigenous MPs were marking the day, noting that the 12 elected Indigenous MPs (a record number, by the way -- in 2019 there were 11) occupy only 3.5 per cent of the seats in the House of Commons.
Also on the site this week:
Pam Palmater writes about how the rise of the People's Party of Canada is a symptom of government inaction on rising levels of hate that primarily Black, Indigenous and other people of colour are experiencing.
Penney Kome writes about the inevitability of electric vehicles.
Doreen Nicoll writes about North America's first Black food sovereignty plan which Toronto City Council will be voting on today, Friday October 1.
Plus much more!
Well, the 44th federal election is behind us, and things aren't that different. Did we go through that process and learn nothing? Maybe, maybe not. We will see how Parliament plays out upon its return. I expect we won't be hearing the last of one of the biggest issues on the campaign trail: the fact that there was even an election in the first place.
It's likely that the Trudeau government will re-enter the House of Commons with its hat in its hand, ready to face regular Question Period verbal lashings from all sides of the opposition about his ill-advised decision to send Canadians to the polls.
In the meantime, here at rabble we're unpacking this election one story at a time. Today on the show, I meet up with Joyce Arthur, the executive director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada who is also a rabble columnist. You'll hear that conversation in just a moment, after which I'll take you through the stories of the week you might have missed. Maybe the election coverage was just too overwhelming, and you're taking a break from political news, or maybe you've been so oversaturated with post-election analysis you missed what was going on at rabble. Not to worry, we've got you covered.
ACCESS TO ABORTION
This week, I'm joined by a special guest to talk about why on earth Canadian politicians are still making abortion an election issue. It's like clockwork, really. Will it ever be put to bed? How much influence does the deterioration of abortion rights in the United States have on abortion rights here? And, what's next in the fight for increasing access to abortion? Here's my conversation with Joyce Arthur. In case you are wondering about the banging in the background, that's just some construction noise.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
This week at rabble, the anticlimactic results of Monday's election left us wondering, what is up with Parliament? What is up with our electoral system? And, what is up with the People's Party of Canada gaining nearly 850,000 votes?
Senior political reporter Karl Nerenberg weighed in on Elections Canada's decision to have fewer polls this year -- including not running its Vote on Campus program for students staying outside of their riding to attend school. We're lucky, in Canada, to have an arm's-length, independent organization like Elections Canada running our elections, he writes, rather than partisans getting involved as they do in the U.S. However, it was a short snap election, and Elections Canada did have little time to prepare. This led to long line-ups at the polls on election night, low voter turnout, and a lack of special ballots actually being delivered to those who requested them.
The truth is, writes Nerenberg, that the Trudeau government decided to call an election in the midst of a pandemic knowing full well that campaigning and voting would be more difficult than in normal times.
This, despite the fact that Elections Canada had previously signalled to the government that if an early vote were to happen, they would prefer a somewhat longer campaign. Justin Trudeau ignored that request and chose the shortest campaign possible under the law: 36 days.
The fact that this is the second minority government in a row, with the results eerily similar to those in 2019, has once again re-opened discussion about electoral reform. Just before election day, Trudeau said he would be open to considering a ranked ballot system, but not proportional representation.
Ole Hendrickson argues that the low voter turnout for this year's election indicates that all is not well with democracy in Canada. We need a thoughtful and detailed study of alternative electoral systems, he writes.
Hendrickson speculates that it might also give way for a progressive environmental agenda at Parliament. On the flip side of the coin, some are concerned that a proportional representation electoral system would give more power to far-right fringe parties, like the People's Party of Canada.
Speaking of the PPC, Shira Lurie, an historian of American politics at Saint Mary's University, writes that Canada had better heed the warning bells that ring loudly from across the border. The siege on Capitol Hill on January 6 to contest the 2020 American election should not be pushed aside here in Canada. "We are starting to feel the tremors of a shifting political climate here at home; one in which lies and conspiracy theories radicalize the discontented and sew distrust in our political institutions and processes. How long before those targeting campaign stops decide instead to terrorize polling places? The House of Commons?" she asks.
Maxime Bernier did, in fact allege voter fraud on Twitter early in the campaign, and after the election, was restricted by Twitter for 12 hours for putting the emails of journalists who were attempting to cover his campaign on Twitter, accusing them of "disgusting smear jobs," and telling his supporters to "play dirty."
ENDNOTES
Stay tuned for more of our special election coverage next week, where of course, we will be diving deep into analysis of the results and what it all means for you. If you like the show please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, send it to a friend – you know the drill. Follow us on social media, @rabbleca on both Instagram and Twitter.
Got feedback on the show? I'd love to hear from you. Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything.
Catch more of our election coverage at rabble.ca.
Stay engaged, register to vote, and keep listening.
Hello and welcome to rabble radio: the election edition! We're here for half an hour every week of this federal campaign diving deep into the issues that matter to you.
OFF THE HILL
On Sept 17 we heard from our amazing panelists at our live politics panel: Off the Hill. You'll hear a clip of their discussion. Host Robin Browne takes panelists through an insightful discussion of the real issues facing us on E-Day, and how we can make this election count. We're down to the wire, after all.
You'll hear from guests including former NDP MP and seasoned election veteran Libby Davies based on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast, policy expert and rabble columnist Chuka Ejeckam who is based in Vancouver, Indigenous activist and educator Rachel Snow joins from Calgary, climate activist Diana Yoon is in Toronto, and Karl Nerenberg, rabble's senior politics reporter, weighs in from Ottawa.
If you'd like to catch the rest of that discussion, you can find it here.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
This week at rabble, as Election Day fast approaches on Monday, September 20, we're talking about political engagement.
The NDP candidate for Halifax -- Lisa Roberts -- hopes to follow in the footsteps of her predecessors Meghan Leslie and Alexa McDonough. Halifax is a riding that was held by the NDP from 1997 until 2015, when it was won by Liberal Andy Fillmore.
As a mother working the campaign trail, Roberts told our national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell that a September election is an even bigger hurdle for parents -- primarily for women candidates, who often take on much of the child care for their families.
"I think the beginning of September is an inappropriate time to be making important decisions about who our leaders will be," Roberts said, adding it's so far from an ideal time to be asking people to engage in political debate. "I am in a party and was in a provincial caucus with a high number of female candidates with relatively younger families, and it makes it very, very difficult," Roberts said.
Meanwhile, Libby Davies sat down -- virtually -- for a Q&A with Regina -- Lewvan candidate Tria Donaldson, who is running for the NDP.
Donaldson spoke about facing a "Blue wall" meaning in her province of Saskatchewan, there is a slate of Conservative incumbent candidates.
That wasn't necessarily what Donaldson was worried about in this election, however. Here's what she told Davies:
A lot of people are feeling powerless. Especially in Saskatchewan. A lot of folks I talked to have this idea that [the election] doesn't matter because things are decided far away in Ontario and that by the time our polls close, things are already being decided in eastern Canada.
So there's a lot of disengagement and disillusionment. The way we combat that is by getting down to what power is and what kind of power people have. Voting is one form of exercising our power, but so is mobilizing. We need to make sure that we're holding our politicians accountable. The cynicism people have is really challenging and something we all need to overcome when we're encouraging people to live their politics and get out and vote or take action for things like public health care or education funding. These are many issues people care about, but they don't feel like voting will make a difference. I think we just need to do a lot of work on getting people to engage politically.
Also this week at rabble, Robert Hackett writes about how you can vote strategically and still vote your conscience: vote for the climate. Instead of voting automatically for a particular party, support candidates with a reasonable chance of winning, and a strong track record of backing climate action inside or outside Parliament. The campaigning organizations LeadNow and 350.org have identified thirty candidates as "climate champions." For a list of those champions, head to the site to read his article.
As far as strategic voting in the traditional sense goes? It's utter bullshit, writes Judy Rebick. She unpacks what a feminist vote actually looks like this election cycle. I'll leave you with her advice: Vote for the candidate you support. Having strong local and progressive representation in government matters.
ENDNOTES
Stay tuned for more of our special election coverage next week, where of course, we will be diving deep into analysis of the results and what it all means for you. If you like the show please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, send it to a friend – you know the drill. Follow us on social media, @rabbleca on both Instagram and Twitter.
Got feedback on the show? I'd love to hear from you. Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything.
Catch more of our election coverage at rabble.ca.
Stay engaged, register to vote, and keep listening.
THE MUSICAL QUESTION
Oh, and the music for this podcast? It’s the jazz stylings of our political boffin, Karl Nerenberg.
Hello and welcome to rabble radio: the election edition! Rabble radio has its finger on the beat of the issues that matter to you. We're here once a week, for half an hour, coming to you for the last few weeks -- and just one more week after that! -- with election coverage.
CLIMATE TALK This week, we're talking about how climate change has featured in this election so far. It's a critical moment. Are we rising to the challenge?
Coming to us from Toronto, climate and housing activist, and former NDP candidate herself, Diana Yoon is on the show to talk about how the issue of climate change is playing out in this election.
You can catch Diana Yoon on our election-time Off the Hill panels, where we invite political experts with a progressive point of view to discuss grassroots, community-centred issues. Our next panel, titled "Election 44: Down to the wire," will feature Diana as well as rabble's own politics reporter Karl Nerenberg, Indigenous activist and educator Rachel Snow, rabble columnist and policy expert Chuka Ejeckam, and former NDP MP and author Libby Davies. Should be a lively discussion just three days before election day -- things are getting tense, that's for sure.
Off the Hill is happening Friday, Sept 17 at 7 pm EST or 4 pm PT. Register for the zoom event to ask panelists questions directly.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Now, it's time for the segment we call "in case you missed it," where we give you a rundown of all the rabble highlights you might have missed. It's never a slow news week during an election, so let's get into it.
This week at rabble, two candidates-to-watch talk about the challenges of campaigning in the midst of wildfires, the fourth wave of the pandemic, and rising hate on the campaign trail.
National politics reporter Stephen Wentzell spoke to Hawa Yahia Mire, who is running for the NDP in the riding of York South -- Weston about the violent threats, and, in some cases, actual assaults on Liberal leader Justin Trudeau throughout this campaign.
Mire wants candidates, including Trudeau, to keep in mind that Black, Indigenous, and people of colour are subjected to much of the same on a daily basis in Canada. The vitriol people like Trudeau now face are the result of allowing hate to fester for far too long.
"We've seen the rise of organized hate groups across this country for a very long time. I don't think our elected officials have taken that rise very seriously," Mire said. "And now we're seeing the consequences of what happens if you don't take that hate seriously."
Including rocks being thrown at the prime minister, this continues to be one of the most unique elections in Canadian history, as candidates like the NDP's Joan Phillip are on the campaign trail -- a trail that is, literally, on fire in the B.C. interior.
This week, Libby Davies interviewed Phillip, who is running in the riding of Central Okanagan -- Similkameen -- Nicola against Conservative incumbent Dan Albas, about the experience of campaigning during a climate catastrophe.
"It makes it very hard for people to focus on an election when you're talking about daily survival," Phillip said.
Mire spoke of the other big distraction in her Toronto riding: the pandemic.
In her view, a pandemic election is anti-democratic because it presents more barriers to voting for society's most vulnerable, like seniors, the immune-compromised, and people who fear contracting COVID because they cannot afford to work. This is especially true in densely populated areas, like Mire's riding, she said.
Both candidates spoke of the need to ground federal politics in the local; communities are what makes up Canada, and it's the voices of our neighbours that deserve to be heard on the Hill.
Also on the site this week, Charlotte Dalwood makes her rabble debut with an interesting analysis of Western alienation. Instead of giving up on what appear to be Conservative strongholds in provinces like Alberta, writes Dalwood, leftists should see the desire for an overhaul of the existing political and constitutional order that separatists want as a means to adopt them into the socialist movement.
And, Doreen Nicoll has the latest on the civil war in Ethiopia, where the Tigray People's Liberation Front is using child soldiers as human shields, but the international community -- including governments and NGOs -- have gone radio silent on the matter. Nicoll breaks down why there seems to be selective humanity within the realm of international law.
THE MUSICAL QUESTION Oh, and the music for this podcast? It’s the jazz stylings of our political boffin, Karl Nerenberg.
ENDNOTES Stay tuned for more of our special election coverage next week. If you like the show please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, send it to a friend – you know the drill. Follow us on social media, @rabbleca on both Instagram and Twitter.
Got feedback on the show? I'd love to hear from you. Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything.
Catch more of our election coverage at rabble.ca.
Stay engaged, register to vote, and keep listening.
Produced by Victoria Fenner
THE RUNDOWN Hello and welcome to rabble radio, the proud reemergence of our weekly audio magazine. Rabble radio has its finger on the beat of the issues that matter to you. This week, we're talking about the issues that are conspicuously absent from the federal election thus far. And, we're talking youth voting. After that I'll take you through last week's headlines in a segment called "in case you missed it." But it's been a busy week -- so don't be too hard on yourself. That's what we're here for!
BTW, if you like what you hear, remember we here at rabble.ca cover and produce a lot more timely news, commentary and even events online. You can find it all at rabble.ca.
STUDENT VOTING Our national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell joins us to talk about his story about how students feel their vote isn't valued.
You can keep up with his reporting on the site, and be sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter so you never miss a beat.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Here are some stories you might have missed on rabble.ca this week.
Joyce Nelson breaks down why we should be paying more attention to military spending this election. The federal government is set to award a $5-million contract for drone procurement this fall, in addition to the upfront cost of $19 million for the 88 new fighter jets it is proceeding with purchasing (the No New Fighter Jets Coalition pegs the full life-cycle cost of these jets at $77 million.) All this spending–in addition to a recent joint statement from Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan and his American counterpart -- could signal that Canada is planning to participate in the U.S. ballistic missile shield -- the purpose of which is to create a North American shield to enable to U.S. to wage a "winnable" nuclear war.
And, Rachel Snow laments that this federal election -- much like the 43 before it -- will not advance the interests of the First Nations peoples. Instead, the Canadian electorate is focused on "first-world problems," she writes.
"We live within a shadow world of structural and economic apartheid that is so ingrained that many no longer question it," Snow notes of the living conditions of many First Nations.
Snow observes that talk about reconciliation during this election is all about platitudes, politics, and public perception.
Take the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, for instance, the first observance of which will take place on September 30. Rather than make reparations with Indigenous folks or address systemic challenges like clean water supply and living conditions on reserves, Trudeau "stepped out in front of the parade" and created a symbol.
"The catastrophic state of Indigenous communities sits in the balance as Canadians ponder which party has the more progressive policies for some future, amorphous 'reconciliation,'" she writes.
Plus, Aidan Simardone writes much of the same but about the Liberals' approach to Islamophobia.
The Liberals' modus operandi towards Muslims is centred around "fairness," he writes.
"It means opposing direct discrimination–hate crimes, slurs and exclusion from the halls of power. Rather than being systemic, it suggests that discrimination is the fault of individuals."
The solution to Islamophobia (and to reconciliation) is not found in supplying each group with equal opportunity under capitalism; rather, more radical options are necessary, he writes.
Also this week, Kelly Tatham reports from the blockades of Fairy Creek where she is participating in the resistance to and protest of the logging industry cutting back the old-growth forests. Amid increasing police raids, and after witnessing police violence directed to the Black and Indigenous forest defenders, Tatham questions whether any of it is really about the trees anymore–has it ever been? Read her piece to learn about the human cost of Fairy Creek.
And, senior politics reporter Karl Nerenberg brings you up to speed on the first parallel look at the five major party leaders' TV performance after Radio-Canada hosted the first such event earlier this week. Jagmeet Singh was surprisingly on top of his game, Nerenberg noted, seeming to give on-top answers in good–if not perfect -- French, and overall giving off an air of amiability. The question remains if he -- as the only party leader who wears a turban -- will be able to overcome the xenophobia he faces in that province. Check out the rest of Nerenberg's analysis at rabble.ca.
Candidates to watch
This week, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell profiled Vancouver Centre candidate Breen Ouellette. Ouellette, in his second election campaign against long-time incumbent, Liberal Hedy Fry. In 2019, Ouellette managed to come second, nabbing 23.7 per cent of the vote. His career in politics has not been without its challenges, though: Ouellette told Wentzell he has been subjected to repeated violent threats from anti-maskers while out on the campaign trail.
Another candidate to watch this week: Libby Davies profiled Kamloops–Thompson -- Cariboo candidate Bill Sundhu, who sees a realistic path to victory in the BC interior. Conservative Cathy Macleod is not running for reelection there, and Sundhu feels there is Conservative fatigue among voters, giving the NDP a shot at taking that seat. Sundhu -- driven by social justice and informed by his own life experiences with racism, disability services, and much else -- wants the people of his riding to know they should expect more from their Member of Parliament.
In cahoots
Six human rights and environmental groups are requesting precautionary measures for activists opposed to the Escobal mine in Guatemala, according to Mining Watch Canada.
We can't forget: this weekend is Labour Day! UFCW Canada wants to remind you that as we recover from COVID-19, we must ensure that we do not return to the status quo. Worker's rights are a big part of that, as we've seen from this pandemic.
Now for our top five headlines, all of which you can find at rabble.ca.
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Stephen Wentzell: Student voters decry suspension of Vote on Campus program
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Bruce Campbell: Climate crisis cannot be separated from extreme wealth inequality
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David Climenhaga: No media welcome: Jason Kenney reappears to answer curated questions on Facebook Live
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Yves Engler: Afghanistan and the failure of Canadian 'aid'
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David Suzuki: IPCC report could be a legal game-changer for climate
THE MUSICAL QUESTION Oh, and the music for this podcast? It’s the jazz stylings of our political boffin, Karl Nerenberg.
END NOTES Stay tuned for more of our special election next week. If you like the show please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, send it to a friend – you know the drill. Follow us on social media, @rabbleca on both Instagram and Twitter.
Got feedback on the show? I'd love to hear from you. Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything.
Catch more of our election coverage -- including some fantastic, in-depth policy analysis, more candidates to watch, and some radical opinions -- at rabble.ca.
THE RUNDOWN This first episode is the proud rebirth of our weekly audio magazine, rabble radio. Rabble radio tunes in on the issues and actions that matter to you. And, this week, what could be more timely and top-of-mind than a federal election. Well, okay, the Delta variant and Afghanistan, but it's top of mind for us because of the Off the Hill event we hosted last Wednesday night. More on that below.
BTW, if you like what you hear, remember we here at rabble.ca cover and produce a lot more timely news, commentary and even events online. You can find it all at rabble.ca.
OFF THE HILL Last Wednesday night rabble.ca presented our monthly edition of "Off the Hill" - a panel that takes a look at federal politics from a progressive, grassroots perspective. This month, the theme was "Election 44: No Time to Waste on the Status Quo." Our esteemed panelists included: former NDP MP Libby Davies, climate activist Diana Yoon, Indigenous activist and educator Rachel Snow and rabble's own columnist and policy expert Chuka Ejeckman. Here’s the first twenty minutes of their discussion, hosted by the Ottawa-based Robin Browne.
We bring you the first 20 minutes in this podcast.
If you’d like to hear the full length discussion you can check it out at https://rabble.ca/rabbletv/.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Here's a rundown of this week’s top headlines on rabble.ca.
Introducing rabble.ca's new national politics reporter: Stephen Wentzell profiled Kitchener Centre NDP candidate Beisan Zubi in his rabble debut, speaking with Zubi about how her own experience with housing precarity and the affordability crisis has informed her politics. Keep an eye out for more "candidates to watch" -- a special series profiling up-and-coming progressive candidates who are here to shake things up.
Economist Jim Stanford warns of coming austerity measures if the Conservatives manage to win a majority next month. "The pandemic proved something progressives argued for years: there is virtually no financial constraint to the ability of governments to mobilize resources in the interests of social and environmental well-being -- if they choose to do so," he writes. This challenges just about everything the Conservatives stand for, and all of the progress made during the pandemic could quickly be undone if O'Toole finds power.
The election issues
In this month's Pro Bono column, lawyer Celia Chandler reflects back on how she seems to be writing about the same thing every election cycle: the housing crisis. Will this time be any different? Street Nurse Cathy Crowe and professor David Hulchanski take readers through how the decades-long housing crisis has manifested.
Plus, Linda McQuaig makes the case that this election should not, in fact, be about the climate crisis, but instead about curtailing the power and influence of the fossil fuel industry, which at this point, pulls far too many strings.
Accountability on Afghanistan
Columnist Matthew Behrens wrote a scathing and insightful indictment of Canada's well-documented war crimes in Afghanistan.
Monia Mazigh joined Behrens in calling for a public inquiry into Canada's involvement in the twenty-year, fruitless war. And, Rick Salutin looked back at what started it all: 9/11.
From our In Cahoots partners this week:
The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees is filing formal policy grievances against employers, including AHS, for refusing to acknowledge the newly created National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
With September approaching, Ontario's teacher unions believe that everyone working in, or attending a school who is eligible and can be safely vaccinated, should be vaccinated, according to a statement from the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario.
Now, a look at five not-to-be missed headlines:
- Rita Wong: RCMP at Fairy Creek blockade ignore the real emergency
- David Climenhaga: Where is Jason Kenney? Alberta premier unseen since August 9 as COVID cases rise
- Martha Friendly: Conservatives go back to the future for child-care proposals in this federal election
- Sara Speicher: Afghanistan: Is digital communication a blessing or curse?
- David Suzuki: Federal election requires serious shift on climate, justice and health
THE MUSICAL QUESTION Oh, and the music for this podcast? It’s the jazz stylings of our political boffin, Karl Nerenberg. Such a polymath.
ENDNOTES Got feedback on the show? Great. Send it along to editor@rabble.ca. We’d love to hear from you. And you’ll find lots more at rabble.ca. Until next time: Stay informed, stay active and register to vote.
OFF THE HILL PANELISTS Robin Browne is Off the Hill's co-host. Robin is a communications professional and the co-lead of the 613-819 Black Hub, living in Ottawa. His blog is The "True" North.
Libby Davies is author of Outside In: a Political Memoir. She served as the MP for Vancouver East from 1997-2015, and is former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader, and is a recipient of the Order of Canada.
Chuka Ejeckam is a political researcher and writer, and works in the labour movement in British Columbia. He focuses on political and economic inequity and inequality, both within Canada and as produced by Canadian policy. Read Chuka's regular column on rabble.ca.
Rachel Snow is Iyahe Nakoda, the daughter of late Reverend Dr. Chief John Snow. She holds a juris doctor from the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan and is an outspoken educator, speaker, writer and co-contact person for the Indigneous Activist Networks. Rachel resides on her ancestral lands in Mini Thni which is west of Calgary, Alberta.
Diana Yoon is a climate and housing justice activist and community organizer based in Toronto/Tkaronto. Diana works as the climate specialist at Toronto Environmental Alliance, a leading environmental advocacy non-profit, while pursuing her Masters. Diana ran in the 2019 federal election as the NDP candidate in Spadina-Fort York and sits as an Ontario Rep for NDP Federal Council.
In the sixth and final episode of the Courage My Friends podcast special series, we welcome eco-feminist, scientist, author and celebrated global climate justice leader, Dr. Vandana Shiva.
Our discussion takes us beyond borders to the global realties of this pandemic -- a pandemic that is most acutely felt by low-income nations who must contend with deep legacies of poverty amid the callous disregard of a global economic system that continues to leave the south behind.
According to Shiva: "We need to see the multiple pandemics right now. The pandemic of COVID. But there's a pandemic of hunger. There's a pandemic of unemployment and shutting down of small local businesses. There's a pandemic of heartlessness and fear."
Where "these new diseases are really a result of invasions into forests," the stage had long been set for (and what many are now describing as) the age of pandemics -- COVID-19 being its most recent and opportunistic arrival.
Bats and pangolins aside, the disastrous impacts, accompanying crises and worrying predictions of the current pandemic are the result of distinctly human-made systems. Systems firmly rooted within what Shiva sees as the death spiral of modern capitalism.
"I talk about this as an anti-life ideology that has been kept in place by force for over 500 years. And now at the time where the pandemic should be making us put life and care and mutuality and cooperation at center stage, that's precisely the time where this anti-life philosophy is being put on fast-forward."
For the world's marginalized, especially those in the global south, this is part of the ongoing legacy of conquest and colonialism.
"You know, I've never found a day when capitalism was born. I have found a process in which it was crafted. And that process is colonialism. Basically creating a civilizing mission. Giving yourself the right to invade other countries. And then declaring the land, the wealth, the economies as yours. And collecting rents and revenues from it."
From structural violence -- fomented through centuries of conquest and colonization, decades of exploitative structural adjustment, debt, climate destruction and continuing plunder by the global north, its corporations and "philanthro-imperialist" billionaires, to the current vaccine apartheid, Shiva speaks to how the Global South stands at the forefront of the converging crises of COVID, Capitalism and Climate.
"First you spread, in irresponsible ways, these new pandemics, because of a globalized neoliberal limitless greed system. And then you deny people treatment. This is what's happening right now. And, you know, instead of governments being able to take care of their national health systems, they're having to fight patent battles at WTO."
Established in the early 90s by the Dunkel Draft, the World Trade Organization (WTO) together with the IMF and World Bank, now set the rules for global trade. Regularly finding in favour of global north economies and multinationals -- often involving the exploitation of global south markets, resources and labour -- the WTO as Shiva sees it is nothing less than, "an organization created for recolonization."
As southern fields continue to feed northern appetites for 21st century cash crops, i.e. GMO (genetically modified) Soya and BT (pest-resistant) cotton; local farmers contend with hunger, poverty, desperation, and the collapse of local agricultural economies begun by the Green Revolution decades ago.
The genetic material (plant, animal, mineral) of the global south and traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples the world over continue to be stolen, misappropriated and commercialized through the biopiracy of patent and Intellectual Property systems, allowing multinationals to own the very building blocks of life -- from seed to animal to water and alas to vaccines. As Shiva says, "The race for vaccines started even before the vaccines were there."
And where the ensuing vaccine apartheid leaves India, the world's largest democracy gasping for breath and Africa, the cradle of humanity, at a less than one per cent vaccination rate, for Shiva this deserves nothing less than the strongest condemnation.
"The big debate in WTO right now, the whole issue of patents on vaccines and denying people the right to survive is... writing their death-knell…This to me is genocide," she said.
The economic orthodoxy of neoliberalism, placing the private over the public, profit over people, the corporate over the commons and industry over environment, does indeed feel like a reprise of colonialism -- but with a twist:
"First of all, colonialism was about commerce. But commerce by force, commerce with military might. And commerce with a letter patent -- you know, it was a patent in involved! Columbus was given a letter patent, which according to the King and Queen, they had the power to do this from the Pope who got it from God directly. And the difference between that colonization and this colonization is the billionaires are the gods. The billionaires are the Popes -- they write the religions. The billionaires are the Kings and the Queens. They rule the world."
Those billionaires who are also prolific names in charity and global "problem-solving," for Shiva, they are merely philanthro-imperialists, pretending "to be giving when they're actually grabbing."
As she speaks to us surrounded by sickness and death (of what will eventually manifest as the Delta variant around the world), for Shiva, this moment reveals the true and horrifying face of colonial capitalism and its legacy, "in the virus of greed combined with a virus of impunity and of indifference."
However, where she is also witness to farmers fighting for food sovereignty, Sikh langars offering food and oxygen to those in need and global south nations and their allies coming together to challenge patent monopolies held by multinationals, this also becomes a moment of hope. A hope borne of solidarity and resistance:
"We need a new solidarity with the Earth. We need a new solidarity with Indigenous people. And most importantly...a leadership of Indigenous cultures. The leadership of women. The leadership of working people to bring us out of these multiple crises, which have only one outcome - extinction of humanity and collapse of ecosystems."
In this age of borderless pandemics, climate destruction and global capitalism, is this a time of reckoning, redress and decolonization of the very systems that brought us to this point?
Where the well-being of one is intertwined with the well-being of all, can we finally engage in a meaningful solidarity within and between nations?
Can we begin to build regenerative and circular economies that protect the planet and all of its peoples?
Where Shiva long ago decided that she could "take on the empire with a little seed," what possibilities lie within a global solidarity movement intent on growing "gardens of hope?"
Host and co-producer Resh Budhu begins the conversation with a focus on India during the onset of the deadly 2nd wave of Covid-19 in early May, 2021.
Note: All quotes in this article are the words of Dr. Vandana Shiva.
About today's guest:
Dr. Vandana Shiva
Named an "Environmental Hero" by Time Magazine in 2003, “One of the five most powerful communicators of Asia” by Asia Week and as one of the "Top Seven most Powerful Women on the Globe" by Forbes Magazine in 2010, Dr. Vandana Shiva combines sharp intellectual enquiry with courageous activism. In 1982, she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology in Dehra Dun, to address the most significant ecological and social issues of our times. In 1991, she founded Navdanya, a national movement to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seed, the promotion of organic farming and fair trade. In 2004 she started Bija Vidyapeeth (or Earth University), an international college for sustainable living in Doon Valley in collaboration with Schumacher College, U.K. Dr. Shiva has received numerous awards, including the Alternative Nobel Prize (Right Livelihood Award,), Order of the Golden Ark, the Global 500 Award of the United Nations, the Earth Day International Award, the Sydney Peace Prize, the Doshi Bridgebuilder Award, the Calgary Peace Prize, the MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity, and the International Environment Summit Award.A prolific writer of over 40 publications, Dr. Shiva’s most recent book is Oneness Vs. The 1%: Shattering Illusions, Seeding Freedom.
Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute
Image: Dr. Vandana Shiva. Used with Permission
Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased
Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (General Intro./Outro.), Miriam Roopanram, Sharon Russell Julian Wee Tom (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote)
Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Victoria Fenner (for rabble.ca), Ashley Booth, Chandra Budhu, John Caffery, Michael Long
Produced by Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Victoria Fenner, rabble.ca
Host: Resh Budhu
In episode 5 of the Courage My Friends podcast, urban planner and author Cheryll Case and community organizer, author and activist Dave Meslin discuss our cities, their structures, priorities, politics and the relationships they foster with those that call them home.
With more people now living in urban areas than at any other time in human history, cities are of increasing importance.
Centres of commerce and industry, focal points of political and social engagement and cultural crossroads of greater and greater diversity, our cities are sites of complexity and innovation.
From the opioid epidemic and the climate crisis to the current pandemic, cities also stand on the frontlines of so many of our current crises; crises made all the worse as they play out against the backdrop of deeply entrenched inequalities.
What has COVID-19 revealed about our cities? According to Meslin, if we’ve been paying attention, not much that we didn’t already know:
"…all the problems we're seeing with COVID were already all there -- I mean, except for the disease itself, of course. But in terms of how it's impacted racialized communities and those with lower paying jobs, where folks have to go into a factory and then have to get crowded onto a bus. I mean, those are just symptoms of problems that have been lingering forever."
Problems that are inherent to a system that insists on prioritizing economic growth over social well-being. Or as Case puts it "a system that is rigged in favour of the wealthier people…[while] past harms done unto marginalized groups, including women, lower-income people, racialized communities, and Indigenous nations is underdeveloped."
From Case's human rights approach to urban planning to Meslin’s activism on public engagement across a range of areas from bicycles to ballots and billboards; much of their work (and much of this discussion) is focused on Toronto. Yet, where Toronto holds the distinction of being the world’s most diverse city, the lessons it offers are far-reaching.
Toronto is plagued by deep intersections of race and class. As Meslin says: "I just think we have to stop pretending that Toronto isn't highly segregated and that income and class and ethnicity and skin color aren’t tied together...we should all be absolutely disgusted with the degree of economic segregation in Toronto, right now in 2021."
By hook or by crook or just sheer short-sightedness, cities like Toronto routinely exclude its most marginalized members from having a say in the policies that directly impact their lives. Be it in our competitive winner-take-all electoral system that feeds into increasingly centralized systems of government or the lackluster (if not outright lack of) meaningful consultation in infrastructural design, vulnerable communities tend to be sidelined; sidelined in city planning, but frontline when those plans fail.
However, community-centred approaches to municipal planning offers us a way forward. According to Case, this means, "building the capacities of the marginalized members of society to understand the system as it is. To develop their own opinions on how the system should function and then work with people in power so that policies can be developed -- so that their interests are also met."
For Meslin, this also means moving toward decentralized systems of power, defeating top-down approaches to politics and reinvigorating local democracy by meaningfully integrating the wisdom, work and needs of communities. Perhaps even creating a fourth level of community government:
"Public space should be designed in a way to maximize bottom up, neighbourhood, diverse community expression. And our democracy should be designed, not for a handful of dinosaur parties who've been around for generations, but for new innovative voices. Younger voices. Diverse voices… I think if we decentralize power, problems will sort themselves out. Because collectively we have the wisdom to figure all these things out."
For Case, the work is already being done by communities themselves.
"You'll find oftentimes that the community work that they do supplements the work that cities do…The city has these visions for inclusivity and diversity, [but] the city cannot achieve this vision without the labour of these residents."
This work is now being collated into the Toronto Atlas of Neighbourhood Groups and Organizations or TANGO, a collaborative project involving Case, Meslin and others advocating for a more just city.
How do we envision urban centres that are built on rights rather than capital?
Can we redesign more meaningful and inclusive systems of local democracy?
How do we make cities a place of belonging for all of us and that we are all truly proud to call "home"?
Host and co-producer Resh Budhu begins the conversation on the meaning of an inclusive and human rights approach to cities and city-planning.
About today's guests:
Cheryll Case
Cheryll Case practices a human rights approach to community planning. As founder and Principal Urban Planner of CP Planning, Cheryll coordinates with charities, private sector industries, and communities to resource the systems necessary to secure dignified living for all peoples. This includes housing as a human right, urban agriculture, and improving the ability for marginalized residents to access arts and culture opportunities. She has lead a Toronto wide and grassroots led consultation on housing as a human right, as well as work local to the Eglinton Avenue West neighbourhood. In partnership with Black Urbanism TO, she led Black Futures on Eglinton, an arts based community research project. She is author and editor of "House Divided: How the Missing Middle Will Solve Toronto's Affordable Housing Crisis" shortlisted for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario's 2020 Speaker's Book Award. She served as a member of the City of Toronto's Expert Advisory Committee on the 2020-2030 Affordable Housing Plan, is currently a co-chair of the Balanced Supply of Housing Node of the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative, and is a member of the ULI Equity Diversity and Inclusion committee.
Dave Meslin
With one foot planted firmly in the world of mainstream politics and the other in the more vibrant universe of grassroots activism, urbanist, community organiser, trainer and political entrepreneur, Dave Meslin has found ways to turn energy into action. Leaving a trail of campaigns and organisations in his path, including the Toronto Public Space Committee, Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto, Unlock Democracy Canada, Dandyhorse Magazine and Cycle Toronto, Dave has spent the last twenty years as a passionate transpartisan political disruptor and political biologist exploring the strange and mysterious worlds of protest movements, party politics and non-profit organizations. Dave has worked as an executive assistant at both city hall and the provincial legislature, painted do-it-yourself bike lanes on the street, organized hundreds of volunteers, started a handful of non-profits, worked as federal lobbyist, helped draft provincial legislation, survived tear-gas riots in three countries, buried his car and got thrown in jail. Not in that order. His best-selling book, Teardown: Rebuilding Democracy from the Ground Up, is a roadmap for change and a cure for cynicism.
His TED talk about apathy and his 90-second video clip using Lego to explain our voting system has garnered millions of views online.
Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute
Images: Cheryll Case and Dave Meslin. Used with Permission
Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased
Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (General Intro./Outro.), Miriam Roopanram, Sharon Russell Julian Wee Tom (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote)
Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Victoria Fenner (for rabble.ca), Ashley Booth, Chandra Budhu, John Caffery, Michael Long
Produced by Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Victoria Fenner, rabble.ca
Host: Resh Budhu
A co-production of the Tommy Douglas Institute, George Brown College, Toronto, and rabble.ca with the support of theDouglas Coldwell Foundation.
This is Episode Four of the Courage My Friends podcast: From epidemic to pandemic: rethinking health.
We discuss how people are coping in the pandemic and the ways populations are impacted differently. Where is the most vulnerability? The discussion highlights the realities for those in poverty, particularly the under-housed. Together we discuss how Indigenous teachings and harm reduction practices can inform our responses to these current crises and help us to move forward in a compassionate way that does not leave people behind.
Today's guest host John Caffery is joined by two guests -- Zoë Dodd, community scholar at the University Health Network and harm reduction activist, and Keith McCrady, who has worked with Indigenous children and youth for over 25 years. He is now the executive director of 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations, an organization that focuses on prevention, education and support for 2-Spirit, including First Nations, Metis and Inuit people living with or at risk for HIV and related co-infections in the Greater Toronto Area. The organization bases its work on Indigenous philosophies of holistic health and wellness.
Recent studies have shown that people are struggling to cope; rates of suicide, eating disorders, domestic violence, and substance use have all significantly increased since the pandemic began. Ontario has been in an opioid crisis for a decade and the pandemic served to exacerbate the situation with overdose deaths increasing by 76 per cent according to the report Changing Circumstances Surrounding Opioid-Related Deaths in Ontario during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
In discussing the social determinants of health, Dodd expressed the need to see people as whole beings.
"The pandemic has shown us we have so much grave inequality with the impacts of colonization, racism, poverty, some of the biggest social determinants of health have been around housing and income and the massive inequality in so many ways causing people to die," she said.
As the conversation shifts to discussing the environmental conditions in Canada and the boil water advisories in Ontario, McCrady noted that the lack of access to drinking water on Indigenous reserves is "pure evil."
"If this was any other community, I think it would be solved long ago, the people in power are failing us and adding to the problem…to even feel that you are worthy of water…we need to focus on the areas that we are failing, including Indigenous people, we need to service families as a whole."
The episode is a tender, powerful, and thought provoking discussion amongst people who have worked on the frontlines for years and who share their insights of how to care for one another and create a more humane and just world for us all to live in.
About today's guests:
Zoë Dodd is a long-time harm reduction worker and advocate for drug user health and liberation living and working in Tkaronto/Toronto. She spent 15 years co-facilitating Hepatitis C support groups that are rooted in popular education and harm reduction. She was instrumental in developing a community-based model of Hep C care that prioritizes people who use drugs. She is a vocal critic of government responses to the overdose crisis; an expert in overdose response, she helped to establish Ontario’s first overdose prevention site, Moss Park OPS which ran illegally in a park for a year before receiving government funding. Zoë is a co-founder and co-organizer with the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society. She is currently working as a community scholar with MAP centre for Urban Health Solutions focused on the harms of involuntary drug treatment. She is an abolitionist, anti-capitalist and is strongly committed to dismantling the drug war.
Keith McCrady grew up in the community of Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek, and relocated to the GTA over 13 years ago and now calls Scarborough home. Keith, the proud father of four has dedicated his life to supporting the goals and dreams of Indigenous communities, particularly in Toronto. Initially, he focused on children and youth programs, and eventually expanded into Indigenous education, employment, human trafficking, physical literacy and housing. Keith McCrady’s advocacy and leadership also come with his identity as a two-spirited person. “It’s not just a sexual orientation or a gender identity,” he says. “It’s also my role in my community and a place in our circle.” As the executive director of 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations, Keith's goal is to walk alongside the 2SLGBTQ communities and provide education and support to members of the 2-Spirit community and reclaim our place in the Circle.
With guest host John Caffrey.
A transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute
Images: Zoe Dodd and Keith McCrady. Used with Permission
Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased
Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (General Intro./Outro.), Miriam Roopanram, Sharon Russell Julian Wee Tom (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote)
Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Victoria Fenner (for rabble.ca), Ashley Booth, Chandra Budhu, John Caffery, Michael Long
Produced by Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Victoria Fenner, rabble.ca
Host: Resh Budhu
A co-production of the Tommy Douglas Institute, George Brown College, Toronto, and rabble.ca with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Foundation.
In episode three of the Courage My Friends podcast, we are joined by Paul Taylor, a life-long anti-poverty activist, current Federal NDP candidate and Executive Director of FoodShare Toronto, Canada’s largest food justice organization.
As Taylor says, "One of the ways I've come to think about our work is we are working alongside communities, across the city of Toronto, that have faced chronic underinvestment -- that have been on the brunt, or the receiving end, of systemic racism, sexism, those sorts of issues. And we're working with these communities… to build community-led food infrastructure."
Where this pandemic seems to have reserved its harshest realities for those already most marginalized within our communities -- impoverished, Black, Indigenous, racialized, seniors -- according to Taylor this moment is only the latest development in a long-standing food crisis impacting far too many:
"I think it's really important to contextualize what's happening with food insecurity in this country. Before the pandemic there were 4.5 million people that were food insecure across this country. That number has skyrocketed. The last count that I saw is now 5.5 million people that are food insecure. So that is like the populations of Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg combined."
The food crisis during this pandemic is not just about food access but also about the dangers facing frontline food workers, who grow, pack, sell and deliver our food -- working populations who also, and ironically, are forced to deal with food insecurity in their own lives.
"We need to have a bigger conversation about paying the actual costs of food, and also making sure we're paying livable wages," Taylor says.
This, of course, is only one of a number of painful ironies discussed by Taylor.
Another is the existence of hunger and poverty in a wealthy country like Canada that celebrates corporate philanthropists for treating people as "compost bins" and policy-makers who continue to rely on the grace and commitment of over-burdened and under-resourced food banks as a way to absolve themselves of delivering on a vital social right.
It is this promotion of charity-based solutions that Taylor finds particularly troubling. As he says, "We feel a moral imperative. I get it. We know that people are struggling with access to food, and we want to do something. I think the problem is what's been constructed as our default is food banking."
Reflecting on his own sense of social justice and anti-poverty activism, Taylor locates his awakening in the mid-90s and the so-called Common Sense Revolution, when we were treated to the sauceless pasta and unbuttered bread of neoliberalism in Ontario.
"I was raised by a single mom, powerful Black woman, you know, doing all that she could to support our family. And when I was 13, the province elected Mike Harris, and one of the first things he did was he cut welfare by 22 per cent. And for me as a child, you know, that was the first time I saw my mother cry. And it was earth shattering for me to try and understand what was happening and why someone would make a decision to make it harder for my family to eat."
Food insecurity is not just a food issue, it’s an issue of systemic oppression and policy failure that demands an overarching or "joined up policy" response. According to Taylor:
"I think we've really got to be challenging these underlying systems: White supremacy, classism, capitalism, all of these organizing principles, ableism...that have so much of an impact on who has food in this country to eat and who doesn't."
It also demands that we do not allow ourselves to fall into resignation and hopelessness. As Taylor tells us:
"I hear more and more people speaking to me as if they feel that hunger and poverty are inevitable. And I think as soon as we believe that these things are inevitable, that homelessness is inevitable, we've lost…we deserve a refund on what we've been sold from previous governments."
Can we finally secure that "refund?" And is it in the right to eat in a post-pandemic world?
About today's guest:
Paul Taylor is the executive director of FoodShare Toronto and a lifelong anti-poverty activist. He also teaches at Simon Fraser University, is a regular political commentator on CTV and has written numerous op-eds and columns on various social issues. Growing up materially poor in Toronto has inspired Paul to commit his life to doing what he can to dismantle the systems and harmful organizing principles that cause and uphold poverty, food insecurity and wealth inequality, including racism, white supremacy and neoliberalism. In 2020, Paul was named one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40, one of Toronto Life’s 50 Most Influential Torontonians and voted as Best Activist by Now Magazine readers.
Paul Taylor is the Federal NDP candidate for Parkdale-High Park, Toronto.
Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute
Image: Paul Taylor. Used with Permission
Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased
Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (General Intro./Outro.), Miriam Roopanram, Sharon Russell Julian Wee Tom (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote)
Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Victoria Fenner (for rabble.ca), Ashley Booth, Chandra Budhu, John Caffery, Michael Long
Produced by Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Victoria Fenner, rabble.ca
Host: Resh Budhu
A co-production of the Tommy Douglas Institute, George Brown College, Toronto, and rabble.ca with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Foundation.
In episode two of the Courage My Friends podcast, we are joined by anti-poverty activist and former organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, John Clarke and Paul Meinema, national president of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), representing essential workers including "food workers from field to fork."
Clarke and Meinema discuss the ways in which this pandemic has forced us to confront what Clarke sees as a "crisis in capitalism" -- its path forged well before the arrival of COVID. John Clarke says "As the pandemic is unleashed in the neoliberal world, the virus literally followed the trail that was laid down for it by the whole neoliberal reordering of the workforce, and the neoliberal reordering of societies…. In a thousand ways, the neoliberal society and the neoliberal city created a route for the pandemic to go down."
Decades of mounting inequality has been a defining outcome of neoliberalism. The impacts of this inequality have been disproportionately endured by our most vulnerable -- poor and largely racialized communities and front-line workers who have always been essential, but until COVID largely invisible.
As Meinema describes them: "Workers that we've looked past... when you go into a grocery store, or retail store, or often a person who's cleaning your hotel room … They're almost invisible people. But they're the people that we are relying on now, to get us through this."
And here we are in what Clarke sees as, "a situation of really unprecedented economic dislocation, unprecedented suffering. And clearly, governments were not prepared for this crisis. And governments have not responded to this crisis in a way that meets people's needs."
Are we continuing to meet an unpredictable pandemic with predictable policy responses -- the kind of thinking that paved the way for this crisis in the first place? How can we designate workers as essential and yet treat them as though they are expendable?
According to Clarke, "It's sometimes been regarded as hyperbole to say that the corporate profits are worth more than human life. But I think this pandemic and the experience of the pandemic has actually demonstrated that very, very, very starkly. ..here has been a readiness to abandon people, a readiness to, if you'd like, sacrifice people."
What is the way forward? Can we move from banging pots to making policies that support our most vulnerable? Can we find an answer in a universal basic income? What is the role of unions? What about our communities?
As we move toward a post-pandemic (but still perhaps pre-pandemic) world, is it possible to release ourselves from exploitative economies?
Meinema reminds us that, "we cannot let any of these things that have occurred to us slip through our fingers and not remember them." What lessons do we take with us into the future?
Can the post-pandemic world also be a post-poverty world?
Host and co-producer Resh Budhu begins the conversation with a focus on the most critical issues facing vulnerable communities and front-line workers in this moment of crisis.
About today's guests:
John Clarke became involved in anti-poverty organizing in the 1980s, when he helped to form a union of unemployed workers in London, Ontario. In 1990, he moved to Toronto to become an organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and stayed in this role until 2019. He is presently Packer Visitor in Social Justice at York University.
Paul Meinema is the national president of United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW), the country's leading and most progressive private sector union with more than 250,000 members. He is also an executive vice-president of the UFCW International Union and a member of the UFCW International Executive Committee. Paul's service with UFCW spans four decades, beginning in the 1980s when he first volunteered to serve his co-workers as a shop steward while working on the floor at the Fletcher's meat processing plant in Red Deer, Alberta. Paul also serves as Canadian sector representative on the board of directors of the International Foundation of Benefits, and as a trustee of various UFCW Canada benefit and pension plans.
Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute
Images: John Clarke and Paul Meinema. Used with Permission
Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased
Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (General Intro./Outro.), Miriam Roopanram, Sharon Russell Julian Wee Tom (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote)
Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Victoria Fenner (for rabble.ca), Ashley Booth, Chandra Budhu, John Caffery, Michael Long
Produced by Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Victoria Fenner, rabble.ca
Host: Resh Budhu
A co-production of the Tommy Douglas Institute, George Brown College, Toronto, and rabble.ca with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Foundation.
In the pilot episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, we feature a conversation with Ed Broadbent former leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada and Chair of the Broadbent Institute, and Kofi Hope, thought leader, Toronto Star columnist and CEO of Monumental. They discuss this current crisis that reveals, even as it accelerates, deepening fractures within our societies.
Looking at the extraordinary crisis facing Canada and the rest of the world over the last year, Broadbent and Hope focus on the disproportionate and devastating impacts it has had on our most marginalized members -- low-income, largely Black and Brown communities, who also make up the majority of those in front-line, insecure and precarious jobs that this pandemic has made both essential and deadly.
However, where inequality may have been amplified by Covid-19, it certainly didn’t start here. From employment protections to vaccine roll-outs, we discuss how current inequalities and political responses are connected to “bad policies” rooted in old systems. Systems shaped by four decades of neoliberal capitalism. As Broadbent says, "Covid came along just at the moment that the intellectual bankruptcy of neoliberalism was being revealed."
Did four decades of neoliberal erosion of social welfare set us on a course of disaster? Has an economic and social ideology trumpeting unfettered profit, deregulated markets and competitive individualism torn away at the social fabric and resiliency that would have enabled us to better withstand the shock of this pandemic?
As Hopes states, "equity, the idea that we have to focus on the vulnerable… it’s not enough to talk about it and to have empathy. This is where structure and systems and power actually need to change, if we’re actually going to see different outcomes moving forward."
If the remedy to what Oxfam International has dubbed "The Inequality Virus" lies within equity and equality, how do we make this core to our policy, practice and political instinct?
According to our guests, perhaps the answer lies in the vision set out by the Broadbent Principles for Canadian Social Democracy and in what Hope describes as the social power found within our communities and within ourselves.
If COVID-19 was the trigger for a disaster waiting to happen, is it also a chance for us to redeem ourselves by building communities and nations that honour the rights and dignity of all.
Host and co-producer Resh Budhu of the Tommy Douglas Institute at George Brown College in Toronto starts by asking about our guests' initial thoughts on these unprecedented times and the convergence of Covid, Capitalism and Climate.
About today's guests:
Kofi Hope is a Rhodes Scholar and has a Doctorate in Politics from Oxford University. He is the co-founder and CEO of Monumental, a new start-up focused on supporting organizations work towards an equitable recovery from COVID-19. Currently he writes a monthly opinion column for the Toronto Star newspaper and is an emeritus Bousfield Scholar and current adjunct professorat UofT’s School of Geography and Planning. He also serves as a Senior Fellow at the Wellesley Institute and is a board member at the Atkinson Foundation. In 2017 he was winner of the Jane Jacobs Prize and in 2018 a Rising Star in Toronto Life’s Power List. Kofi was the founder and former Executive Director of the CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals. In 2005 he established the Black Youth Coalition Against Violence, which became a leading voice for advocating for real solutions to gun violence in Toronto and led to him being named one of the Top 10 People to Watch in Toronto in 2006 by the Toronto Star.
Ed Broadbent was first elected to Parliament in 1968, and served as an MP for 21 years, 14 of which were spent as leader of the New Democratic Party. His concern for the deepening of inequality in Canada has been a consistent theme in all of his professional and volunteer endeavours. First elected to Parliament in 1968, Ed served as an MP for 21 years, 14 of which were spent as leader of the New Democratic Party. During his time in Ottawa, his focus was on Aboriginal and economic rights, women’s equality, child poverty, ethics in government, and tax equality. The founding president of Rights & Democracy, Ed has a Ph.D. in Political Theory and has taught at several prestigious universities. He has been invested as a Member of the Privy Council (1982), Officer of the Order of Canada (1993), and Companion of the Order of Canada (2002).
Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute
Images: Ed Broadbent and Kofi Hope. Used with Permission
Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased
Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (General Intro./Outro.), Miriam Roopanram, Sharon Russell Julian Wee Tom (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote)
Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Victoria Fenner (for rabble.ca), Ashley Booth, Chandra Budhu, John Caffery, Michael Long
Produced by Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Victoria Fenner, rabble.ca
Host: Resh Budhu
A co-production of the Tommy Douglas Institute, George Brown College, Toronto, and rabble.ca with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Foundation.
In December, we at rabble.ca asked "What are the organizations that inspire you? Who are the activists leading progressive change? Who are the rabble rousers to watch in 2021?" And you responded. Over the next while, we'll be running both print and audio features about the people and organizations you nominated. Follow our rabble rousers to watch here.
Today on rabble radio's rabble rousers to watch series, we go to Regina to talk to Maureen Huot. Maureen currently has gained media attention because of a petition to declare the west lawn of the Regina legislature as a space for Indigenous peoples. She is working in consultation with signatories of her petition: Elders and Matriarchs, educators, artists, and Saskatoon NDP MLA and Opposition critic for First Nations and Métis Relations and Truth and Reconciliation, Betty Nippi-Albright. Maureen is a consummate ally, having worked with youth setting up climate strikes in Saskatchewan, with First Nations communities towards the goal of environmental justice and sustainability, and a whole lot more.
On September 19 way back in 2019, rabble podcast producer and host Victoria Fenner did a panel discussion with a group of students about the work they were all doing organizing climate strikes. Maureen was one of the guests on that show. She's not the same age as the students by a few decades, but we included her in the conversation as an adult ally. That's something that Maureen does well.
Maureen's activism is multifaceted and wide-ranging. She is a founding member of EnviroCollective, a grassroots initiative to promote action for climate change. She's also involved in health issues and food sovereignty. She is a person with a disability, and is interested in any issue which improves our collective and individual quality of life.
In her own words:
"When my friend Shanon Zachidniak invited me to what has become EnviroCollective, I never knew how deeply it would resonate with me, what an impact we could have, or what other opportunities it would lead to. Volunteering is about trying, not perfection; capacity is not the same as competency. What really matters are the connections, the collaborating, and maintaining credibility. Many non-profit groups hold integral pieces of the environmental puzzle, and typically have to do more with less against well-funded opposition. Creating a bridge between the knowledge and efforts of Indigenous peoples and settler descendants can change the current unsustainable trajectory of our planet and society; we are all Treaty people."
The conversation starts with some reflections about her rabble rousers to watch nomination and it what it means to her.
Image: Maureen Huot. Used with permission.
Music: Karl Nerenberg/La touladie en hiver. Used with permission.
In December, we at rabble.ca asked "What are the organizations that inspire you? Who are the activists leading progressive change? Who are the rabble rousers to watch in 2021?" And you responded. Over the next while, we'll be running both print and audio features about the people and organizations you nominated. Follow our rabble rousers to watch here.
Our guest today is heading for a courtroom on Monday.
"We had made a decision, many of us, that we were willing to get arrested, that we weren't willing to voluntarily lift the blockade. And so we stayed in place and after about four days of the RCMP showing up to see if we would change our minds, they arrested nine of us ... and charged us with a criminal charge, which was a bit of a surprise, of disobeying a court order." -- Nina Newington
Nina describes herself this way: "Writer, gardener, carpenter, Nina Newington lives with her wife on a farm by the Bay of Fundy. Her second novel, Cardinal Divide, came out last year. She delights in the unsettling of colonialism, the unbinding of binary, the necessary transformation of our relations with nature."
She was nominated as a "rabble rouser to watch" because of her work through Extinction Rebellion in defending Nova Scotia forests and waters from destruction in the name of profits. She was arrested, along with other protesters in December for blocking clear-cutting of a forest in southwestern Nova Scotia, specifically for not obeying a court injunction.
WestFor, a consortium of 13 mills and industrial forestry groups, is behind the harvest plans on Crown land. They applied for an injunction prohibiting protests which could hinder the company from doing their business. An interim injunction was granted, and a group of protesters, which included Nina, was charged with disobeying the interim injunction.
On reflection about her current situation and her life to date: "The forest protector camped on a logging road in southwest Nova Scotia feels remarkably close to the tomboy playing truant in the woods of my native Britain 50 years ago: disobedience has been a theme."
Image: Nina Newington/Just Before Our Arrests. Used with Permission.
Music: Karl Nerenberg/La touladie en hiver. Used with permission.
In December, we at rabble.ca asked "What are the organizations that inspire you? Who are the activists leading progressive change? Who are the rabble rousers to watch in 2021?" And you responded. Over the next while, we'll be running both print and audio features about the people and organizations you nominated. Follow our rabble rousers to watch here.
In 2020, amidst the pandemic, the district government of Muskoka has declared a climate emergency and endorsed a plan which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and take them down to zero by 2050. This is a region which votes staunchly conservative every provincial and federal election. Muskoka is also cottage country, full of lakes, rivers, forests and a premium destination for people who want to protect the great outdoors. But, environmental action doesn't happen by itself. Today we'll hear about an organization that is finding success in building awareness. The organization behind the curtain is Climate Action Muskoka.
Today we hand the microphone over to my friend and colleague, Maya Bhullar. Maya is the editor of the Lynn Williams Activist Toolkit. Maya has also written an article about Climate Action Muskoka, and we thought you might want to hear from her guests in their own words and in their own voices.
Maya talked to Sue McKenzie and Linda Mathers on February 5, 2021. Sue McKenzie is a retired elementary teacher, a longtime activist, a mother, and a co-founder of Climate Action Muskoka. Sue, her husband Len Ring and children have had the privilege of extensive world travel but have now committed not to travel by air again to cut their carbon footprint. Linda Mathers is also a retired educator. She has been a long time volunteer and climate advocate at both the community and political level as a key organizer with Climate Action Muskoka, as a mobilizer of volunteers for the Ontario Green Party and as an advocate for environmental stewardship on her community association.
Image: Climate Action Muskoka. Used with Permission.
Music: Karl Nerenberg/La touladie en hiver. Used with permission.
In December, we at rabble.ca asked "What are the organizations that inspire you? Who are the activists leading progressive change? Who are the rabble rousers to watch in 2021?" And you responded. Over the next while, we'll be running both print and audio features about the people and organizations you nominated. Follow our rabble rousers to watch here.
We begin our podcast series with a nomination from Barrie, Ontario. In fact, there were several nominations from Barrie, one for the organization you're about to hear from.
rabble podcast producer Victoria Fenner was especially interested in the Barrie nominees because she lived in Barrie for the past five years. She can personally attest that it is a very tough place to be a progressive. She says, "After all, it's the only place east of Manitoba that ever elected a Reform party MP. It's solid Conservative country ... and we're not talking red Tories here. But, there is change afoot, and progressive people are starting to come out of the woodwork."
There are many communities like this in Canada, so talking to the nominees from Barrie could be useful for other communities of a similar political stripe. Our two guests today talk about what they, and other Barrie residents, are doing to shift the dynamic through the organization called Engage Barrie, one of the rabble rousers organization nominees.
Our guests today are:
Alyssa Wright -- Alyssa was also nominated in her own right for the work she has been doing in Barrie on a wide range of issues. She describes herself as "musician, writer, educator, advocate, activist, actor, and wearer of far too many hats." In the conservative city of Barrie, Alyssa has connected a community of progressives who are eager for change. She is one of the organizers for Engage Barrie, an initiative designed to reconnect a community with its local politics. She is also an advocate for installing a supervised consumption site in Barrie -- what would be the city's first.
Alyssa is also a cello player, and it's her life mission to use arts to tackle difficult issues. She's currently co-writing a musical theatre feminist manifesto, in response to Barrie being rated 2019's "Worst City to be a Woman" by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. (A title she reckons the city will win again for 2020). "This past year has shown me that there is more compassion in this community than is evidenced in our political leadership," says Alyssa. The people of this city have shown me that there are lots more reasons for optimism than despair."
Brandon Rhéal Amyot is an activist, writer, and life-long learner. Growing up in Simcoe County for most of their life, they have been involved in various causes and communities over the past 10 years, with a specific focus on the 2SLGBTQ+ community, Indigenous community, the student movement, and local causes. Brandon Rhéal is in their third year of the interdisciplinary studies degree at Lakehead University's Orillia Campus with disciplines in political science and media studies. At Lakehead they have been involved with campus life, most recently as a board member on the Lakehead University Student Union. Brandon Rhéal also has a diploma in Aboriginal Community and Social Development from Georgian College. Brandon Rhéal was a founding member of Fierté Simcoe Pride. In their time with the organization, Brandon served in several roles ending in their time as president (2017- 2019). Shortly after helping form Fierté Simcoe Pride, they served a term as student trustee at the Simcoe County District School Board.
A note about our theme music: The theme music featured in the podcast is a composition by rabble.ca's parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg. It's called La Touladie en hiver. In Karl's own words --
"It is a tune that came to me while walking in the Hampton Park woods, near our house. I was thinking of a grey, December day, and of appropriately languorous, not-rushed and not-too-complicated music. My ridiculous mind then made the leap from a grey day to the grey trout, the large member of the trout/salmon/char family that was once plentiful in most of the Great Lakes, then was almost destroyed by invasive, parasitic sea lampreys, but is now coming back. It is a winter fish. It thrives in cold water in fact. Grey trout are especially happy that, in winter, they can swim casually in shallow waters where the little fish they like to eat live. In summer, grey trout need to go deep, where the water is cold enough for them -- but where there are few little fish (which prefer warmer water). In the deeps, all they have to eat, pretty much, is plankton. In Quebec, they most often call the grey trout le touladi, a word of uncertain origin, but most likely Indigenous."
You can hear the whole composition, and see Karl playing ... here ...
Image: Alyssa Wright/Barrie City Council. Used with permission.
Music: La touladie en hiver - performed and composed by Karl Nerenberg. Used with permission.
A couple of weeks ago we did an interview with a classical musician who told us how important the online environment is to musicians. With live performances cancelled, the online world is the only way for them to reach their audiences. Today we hear from a director of photography in the film world who says that musicians are keeping film makers busy.
And before that we take a dive into the world of video gaming. We wanted to include video game designers in this series because, first of all, it's an example of an industry that hasn't been hard hit by the pandemic. With so many people at home, the video gaming industry is booming.
Stephan Reilly is a professional game designer, semi-professional writer and a self described completely amateur human trying his best to pay rent and make cool stuff. He is originally from Ontario, but has relocated to Halifax. Follow along with his shenanigans on Twitter @StephanReilly.
Heather Cleveland is a game designer at HB Studios. She spent four years earning her bachelors in game design at Sheridan College in Ontario. After graduating in the spring of 2020 she packed up her life and moved to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and entered the video game industry as it shifted to remote work. She's been working from home since the beginning of pandemic. An interesting side note -- she started her job after the pandemic started, so she's never met some of her colleagues in person because nobody is going in to the office. She says she wouldn't recognize some of them if she ran into them in the grocery store.
And for the final interview, host Victoria Fenner caught up with Gabriela Vanden by phone while she was waiting for a train in Churchill, Manitoba, back on November 19. Gabriela tell us what she was doing way up there and why she was waiting for the train to take her back to Toronto. And also how she's been able to use COVID downtime for some reflection, rest and recharging. She's created some innovative projects too.
Gabriela is a Venezuelan/Canadian cinematographer based in Toronto Canada. With a background in visual arts, she uses her intuitive esthetic sense to elevate the narrative of the projects she works on, whether that be documentary or fiction films. Volcano (2019) directed by Karen Moore and shot by Gabriela was selected and premiered at TIFF. Her work has screened at Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival, Images festival and has been distributed by CBC, NFB, and TV5. Her talent has led to opportunities outside of Canada, including the U.S., South America, Europe and Asia.
Her cinematography thesis The Rambler (2016) was selected to screen at CAMERIMAGE and won her an internship shadowing Phedon Papamicheal ASC GSC on Alexander Payne's Downsizing where she worked as a camera trainee on the Norway division of the 73-day shoot. She graduated from York University with a bachelor of fine Arts in honours film production.
Images: Heather Cleveland, Stephan Reilly, Gabriela Vanden. Used with permission.
Music theme for the series: reNovation by airtone. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Before we started this series My Art Wears a Mask, rabble.ca podcast producer Victoria Fenner sent a shout out on rabble inviting emerging artists to share their experiences doing art in the time of COVID-19. Here is one of the responses she received:
"My name is Tricia Robinson and I'm a a 30-year-old female illustrator in Montreal, Quebec. I'm also a labour organizer and founder of a labour union in 2019 with my previous part time job. Since the pandemic lockdowns started unravelling, I hit over-drive on the art production. I started producing loads of illustrations daily on my social media, and being laid off and then fired from my part time job, was really not sure what my income and financial state (which was already unstable) would look like. Art didn't only become a coping mechanism for me, but it became more of a survival tactic than it ever was.
It's been a really wild ride, and doesn't seem to be slowing any time soon."
Tricia describes herself as "an activist who often likes to contribute her skills and resources toward fundraising and awareness-raising efforts for organizations like Pride, Rock Camp Montréal, her own non-profit initiative: The Hair Project, women's shelters and other community organizations throughout Canada."
You can see her artwork and read more about Tricia Robinson here.
Music: You Gotta Die by Tricia Robinson. Used with permission.
Artwork: Tricia Robinson. Used with permission.
Music theme for the series: reNovation by airtone. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Today we're going to hear two conversations with two classical musicians, and also, some really fabulous music. Today's guests are both string players -- Maxime Despax is a viola player whose family home is in Gatineau, Quebec, but he's studying in Toronto right now. Yanet Campbell is a violinist who was born in Cuba. She is now studying at the Glenn Gould Studio of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
Musicians are especially hard hit by the pandemic. Live music, which is the lifeblood of most performers, has come to a stand-still. What you'll hear from both of our guests today are stories of adaptability. And, in case you're wondering how music is happening in the virtual space, our guests have some insights into that too.
Maxime plays in a number of ensembles, including a string quartet Quatuor Despax, comprised of Maxime and his three brothers and sisters. The ensemble was formed in 2003, and before the pandemic they played concerts in Canada and Europe.
Yanet Campbell is an accomplished soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. Her skilled and sensitive playing has enabled her to perform not just in some of the most important venues in Cuba, but throughout Europe and the Caribbean. Yanet has performed in major international music festivals in Europe. She received her master of music from Memorial University of Newfoundland and she is currently in the first the year of the artist diploma program at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
Thanks to both of our musicians for giving us permission to play some of their music on today's show:
Jean Sibelius's Violin Concerto in D Minor -- First Movement -- Yanet Campbell, violin
Prelude for Viola by Benjamin Harry Sajo -- performed by Maxime Despax, viola
Fantasy for String Quartet -- performed by Quatour Despax -- Maxime, Cendrine, Valerie and Jean Despax, written by their late father Emmanuel Despax.
Image: Yanet Campbell and Maxime Despax. Used with permission.
"I think the thing about this pandemic and everything going online has made it more accessible for people like me who live in remote places or for people who don't live in remote places but as disabled but who can't leave their house still." -- Kimberly Edgar
Kimberly Edgar is an award-winning comic artist living on Tr'ondek Hwech'in land in so-called Dawson City, Yukon. Kimberly's work reflects on their experiences of both the medical system and the ennui that comes with being sick with no end, often comparing human bodies with the land-as-body. Kimberly also holds a Broken Pencil Zine Award for best comic in 2019, and is the recipient of grants from Cue, Canada Council, and from the On Yukon Time program, a special initiative by the Yukon government to support artists and organizations in this time of lost revenue and uncertainty. They also have pieces in two permanent art collections in Canada, and are currently curating a northern comics anthology and working on a graphic novel, thanks to funding from the Yukon Government.
Kimberly is originally from Ottawa, and they talk to Victoria Fenner about life and art in Canada's north. Surprisingly, the isolation and small community is working well for them and has created conditions that allow their art and economic life to be better than it was before the pandemic.
Just a note about the timing of this interview. It was done on November 11, which was only a bit over two weeks ago. But, in those two weeks, a few things that Kimberly talked about in the interview have changed. At the time of the original conversation, there were no cases of COVID-19 in Dawson City. In a report by CBC this week, there is now a case of COVID-19 in Dawson City.
In this interview, Kimberly shares how they are doing during COVID-19 and talks about the unique arts community that exists in the territory.
Image: "Feel Deeply" Copyright Kimberly Edgar. Used with permission.
Music theme for the series: reNovation by airtone. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
A few months ago when all of the rabble staff members were talking about what we could do to focus on the effects of COVID, our editor-in-chief, Matt DiMera, suggested that we do a podcast series focusing on Canada's emerging artists.
This series you will hear over the next six weeks is exactly that. Every week until December 24, we'll be sharing the ideas, words and art of six emerging artists from across Canada.
Series producer Victoria Fenner reflects that she is surprised by the range of stories she's heard so far, and she still has three more interviews to do. She reflects, "I expected to hear mostly stories about economic insecurity and fear. And for sure, that element is there -- these are scary times for all of us. But I was surprised and happy to hear a hopefulness, a sense of resilience and even a few cases where the shutdown has been good for our guests' art. Despite the devastatingly difficult times, good things are also happening."
The series starts with Mya Gomez. She describes herself this way: "Singing from the raw; Mya Gomez is a mixed Indigenous urban artist who writes from the the most honest parts of the human condition, hoping to bridge gaps for her audiences and tell her stories. Mya strives to connect with people through her powerful voice, and emotion."
She's from Waterloo and the Ottawa Valley, and is now living in Toronto. We did this interview a few weeks ago just before a competition she refers to -- she was nominated for an Indigenous Music Award in the Music Video Competition for Novice Artists. Spoiler -- she placed third.
This interview features two of Mya's songs -- Take My Hand and I Can't Breathe. Click on the links to see the songs with video. You can find Mya's web page here.
Mya asked us to let all of you know that she wants I Can't Breathe to raise money for Black Lives Matter Canada, or two of the other organizations she supports – The Outside Looking In dance program for Indigenous youth, and a Go Fund Me project for Indigenous Youth Outreach.
Image and music: Mya Gomez. Used with permission.
Music theme for the series: reNovation by airtone. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
Why are so many people saying that we can deal with climate change, or we can put all of our efforts into stopping COVID-19, but we can't do both at the same time?
Today's show is about a report that says we can, and must, look at this in a holistic way.
Farmers for Climate Solutions is putting forward proposals that link recovery from COVID-19 with solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change. The report is called "A Better Future starts on the Farm: Recommendations for Recovery from COVID-19 in Canadian Agriculture." Farmers for Climate Solutions is a pan-Canadian coalition of more than 16 member groups.
Today's interview is with Dana Penrice, a grain and cattle farmer who lives near Shoal Lake, Manitoba. She is also Prairie program manager with member organization The Young Agrarians, a farmer-to-farmer resource network for new and young farmers with a lens on ecological, organic and regenerative agriculture in Canada. She talked to rabble.ca podcast host and producer Victoria Fenner a wide range of topics relating to food security and agriculture, always circling around and coming back to COVID-19 and the lessons we are learning from the pandemic which we can use in the fight for climate change.
Related reading: rabble.ca's columnist on food security and agriculture, Lois Ross, also wrote a related story about this topic this week: read her story here.
Image: Victoria Fenner/rabble.ca
This year's Pride celebrations all over the country are very different from years past because of COVID-19. It's taking a lot of creativity, amidst a whole bunch of disappointment to create celebrations which can't include getting together in person.
A lot of festivals are going online. Pride Hamilton just had its online festival online this past Sunday, June 14. This year's festival would have been different in tone regardless of COVID-19, because of violence that broke out at last year's festival that the LGBTQ2s communities are still grappling with.
On today's show, rabble radio host Victoria Fenner talks to Cameron Kroetsch of the Pride Hamilton board of directors. They talk about what happened last year, and its effect on Pride Hamilton this year. There have been demands for accountability from the police and city hall ever since last year's Pride, and the police actions have cast a long shadow over the past 12 months. The topic of defunding the police is something that is especially relevant in Hamilton this month.
Here's a brief recap of what happened last year -- a group of protesters, some with fundamentalist religious beliefs and others associated with the yellow vest movement, also came to Gage Park where Pride Hamilton was being held. Their intention was to disrupt the festival. Violence broke out, several people were injured, and the police did not intervene. Those defending the police say it's because they weren't ready for it. But a lot of other people believe the police stood back because they chose not to get involved.
There have been many reports done -- an independent report released just last week on June 8, called Pride in Hamilton – An Independent Review Surrounding Hamilton Pride 2019, commissioned by Hamilton Police Services Board, also draws the conclusion that the response by the police fell far short of what it should have been.
To quote the report, written by lawyer Scott Bergman, "On June 15, 2019, homophobes, white supremacists and organized agitators disrupted Hamilton Pride 2019. Their activities could reasonably have been anticipated by police, but they weren't. As a result, the police response was inadequate -- before, during and after the event."
But, despite the after effects from last year, Cameron Kroestch says it was a great online Pride Hamilton Festival this year. Though it was hard not to be able to celebrate in person, they discovered a whole bunch of new ways to engage with the community. The discussions with the city and the Hamilton police board about last year and ongoing issues will continue.
Image: Digital Pride Hamilton. Used with permission
In the ongoing coverage of the COVID-19 crisis, there are many places that we don't hear a lot about. One of the places is Africa. On today's rabble radio, we're playing two interviews from rabble contributors who have reached out to their colleagues and contacts in Africa -- one in Mozambique, another in Tanzania.
In some ways, the challenges people face there aren't a lot different from here. Businesses, schools and government offices are shut down. People are told to wear masks and to social distance. And the problem of misinformation, rumours and fake news exists there as well as here. But, as we'll hear in these two interviews, it's a lot harder in places where people don't only have to fight off the virus, but also have to deal with systemic poverty and, especially inadequate health care.
In a May 20 article, the BBC reported a World Health Organization prediction that nearly a quarter of a billion Africans could contract COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic. Numbers are still low so far -- as of today, there are just over 111,000 cases and almost 2,800 deaths, which is lower than other places in the world according to a June 3, 202o report by the WHO.
Today's show features two interviews:
1.) On May 21, David Kattenburg of the Green Planet Monitor spoke with GPM correspondent Josephat Mwanzi, in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam. In an interview from May 21, 2o2o, they talked about the what Mwanzi was seeing on the streets, and how people are reacting to the COVID-19 threat.
2.) Our second interview focuses on Mozambique and comes to us from the Saskatoon-based radio program Making the Links. Don Kossick posted this interview on May 22. It's with Jessie Forsyth, project director of the Mozambique Canada Maternal Health Project, talking to Making the Links host Don Kossick about the impact of COVID-19 in Mozambique, and initiatives there to deal with the impact.
Both interviews on today's show were excerpts from longer interviews. To hear the entire interviews, go to greenplanetmonitor.net for the interview with Josephat Mwanzi and to Soundcloud for the interview with Jessie Forsyth.
Image: Victoria Fenner
Liz Marshall's new film Meat the Future focuses on a new way of producing meat -- one where the animal doesn't have to be killed. Instead, cells are taken from a living animal and meat is produced from those cells.
The possibility presents a brave new world of animal agriculture, a world where we can still eat meat without participating in the harm and suffering that is rampant in the current industrial animal husbandry model. While more and more people are deciding that a vegetarian diet is the way to go, meat consumption continues to grow. Is cell-based meat a compromise that can reduce the environmental costs of a diet that contains meat? The film also explores the environmental costs of our meat-based diet and presents a way forward.
The central character in the film is cardiologist Dr. Uma Valeti, the co-founder and CEO of start-up company Memphis Meats. The industry, and his company is so new that none of its products are on grocery store shelves yet.
Documentary writer, producer and director Liz Marshall believes that Dr. Valetti is on the right track. "What the future holds for cell-based meat is unclear," says Marshall, "but I believe its revolutionary promise and historic journey into the world will stand the test of time."
She talks to rabble radio host and producer Victoria Fenner in this edition of rabble.ca's series Climate hope in the time of pandemic.
You can see the documentary for yourself on the CBC website. It’s posted as part of the Hot Docs@Home collection.
Image: Thainafreitas/Pixabay
The seeds we buy to plant our gardens are an exercise of hope in a tiny package. After all, how do we know that those little bitty things are ever going to amount to anything? For farmers, the annual spring seed shipment can bring with it a whole mixture of emotions as they wondered what those bags would bring. What kind of weather conditions will exist this year? Will it be a full harvest, or would the elements conspire to reduce the family’s income through rain, hail, drought or a bug invasion? There is a lot of hope and fear connected to those bags of seeds.
Today, as part of our series Climate Hope in the Time of Pandemic, we're talking about the power of seeds. SeedChange (formerly known as USC Canada) is a non-profit organization that works with farmers in Canada and around the world to save seeds and grow food sustainably. SeedChange has launched a public education campaign to help ensure a more resilient Canadian food supply post-COVID-19. It's rolling out its programming with farmers coast to coast to continue improving Canada's seed security during the pandemic. SeedChangeis enlisting more than 200 farmers across the country this summerto grow sustainable local vegetable seed crops, save seeds at risk of extinction, promote biodiversity, and breed new seed varieties best suited for local climate and soil conditions.
Victoria Fenner, rabble radio's producer, had a conversation with Jane Rabinowicz, SeedChange's executive director and Chris Sanford, from Yonder Hill Farm near Lunenburg in Nova Scotia about the program and how individual gardeners can get involved. And lots of useful info -- the interview also includes a how-to about saving seeds from rotting tomato guck.
SeedChange has some resources to help gardeners find companies which produce seeds sustainably. You can also look for seeds by a particular variety. For more info, click here.
Image: ParentingPatch/Wikimedia
Being an activist brings an emotional burden.
The issues we deal with are intense, difficult and sometimes without any immediate solution. And often, we try to deal with these issues through logically planning a strategy and communicating issues using words. It's an intellectual process, but with a lot of underlying emotional baggage.
Elisa Lee has some thoughts about how to get under the intellect to connect with ourselves and people in our communities on a deeper level. She, and many other people involved in grief work, think that it’s important to deal with the full range of emotions ranging from anger and fear to hope and joy.
Lee bases a lot of her work on the groundbreaking work of Joanna Macy. Macy turned 91 on May 2, and is still connecting with people on issues of environmental activism and grief. Throughout her life, she has been a spokesperson for the anti-nuclear movement, peace, justice and environmentalism. She has created a framework for both personal and social change and has created a workshop methodology to help people move work with social change in a way which helps them connect with their deeper selves.
Lee's current activism focuses on community grief rituals and nature-based rites of passage for girls and adults. Both grief rituals and rites of passage profoundly changed her internal world, creating a strong foundation of embodied being that continues to guide and nourish her through life. A big part of that sense of being is getting beyond the intellectual processes which help us explain the world to ourselves and others, but does not get to the root of our reactions to the complex issues that we all face in these difficult times.
For the past 15 years, Lee has been promoting personal development in collaboration with nature as a specialist teacher in ecological education, a self-care facilitator, and a rite of passage guide. In addition to the teachings of Joanna Macy, Lee draws on teachings from Alan Wolfelt, Francis Weller, Martin Prechtel, Animas Valley Institute, The School of Lost Borders, The Haven, and her personal sacred experiences in the wild. She holds a masters degree in environmental education with a focus on women's rites of passage and is the founder of Fire & Flower, a rite of passage organization for girls.
On today's rabble radio, Elisa Lee talks to Victoria Fenner as part of rabble.ca's series on Climate Hope in the Time of the Pandemic.
Image: Elisa Lee
Last year, when rabble.ca staff had one of our rare in-person staff retreats, we were talking about the climate crisis and how difficult it was to get around the fear that we all felt. So we decided to make it an editorial focus.
That was back in August. At the time we came up with the idea, we had no way of knowing that our fear would be even greater because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, when we talked about the subject again at the beginning of March as the pandemic was in the process of unfolding, our idea seemed especially relevant.
Today rabble radio starts its contributions to our Climate Hope series on climate grief and hope in the time of pandemic, with a conversation between rabble radio producer and host Victoria Fenner and media artist Claude Schryer.
Schryer is a sound artist, arts administrator and cultural worker born in Ottawa and raised in the francophone community in North Bay, Ontario. From an early age he developed a passion for art, environment and social action. In the 1990s, his work focused on acoustic ecology and soundscape composition, notably as a founder and first administrator of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology. That focus has continued throughout the past few decades. Earlier this year, he attended a conference on Creative Climate Change Leadership with artists from around the world in Arizona called Crisis: Principles for Just and Creative Responses.
He has just started a new blog dedicated to arts and climate action where he writes:
"In May 2019, my climate denial bubble burst. It was a terrifying and disorienting experience that made me question everything about my life. In retrospect, I realize this was a zen-like gift of 'terrified awakening,' of 'clear seeing,' but at the time, I was paralyzed with emotion and dread.
What triggered my climate denial bubble to burst?
I feel compelled to share this personal experience, in the hope that it might help others who are also struggling with the current sustainability crisis and searching for a path forward…"
Image: Sabrina Matthews. Used with permission.
Are you one of those people who would like to try vegan cooking but you just dont know how to get started?
On today's rabble radio, we'll help you out, as our contribution to rabble.ca's vegan challenge.
The vegan challenge is a good way for "veg-curious" people to try a vegan diet for a short time in a fun environment along with other rabble staff and readers. It's a way to encourage each other to go vegan -- or as close to it as possible -- for a week to help protect the environment, show compassion for animals and enjoy some wholesome nutritious and yummy food. Because going vegan is one of the best ways to contribute to climate justice and Earth Day. It can drastically reduce your carbon footprint, diminish air and water pollution and help reverse the destruction of ecosystems being used to produce feed for farm animals.
Today's guest is Karen Burson, an accomplished cook who has worked in a wide range of food and community development environments in her home city of Hamilton, Ontario. Among many other accomplishments, she was the founding chef of the Bread and Roses Cafe in Hamilton, which was a project of the Sky Dragon Community Development Cooperative. She's also a co-founder of the Good Food Box Network at Environment Hamilton. Currently her passion for healthy food is being put to work at St. Matthew's House, preparing healthy, heartwarming breakfasts and lunches at their Seniors Centre for an enthusiastic group of East Hamilton elders. She's off on self-isolation right now, though, like a lot of us so she had time to talk to us about how to get started cooking vegan food.
Recipes in today's program:
Jamaican Curried Tofu with Chick Peas
Vegan Pancakes
Image: plesektomas/Pixabay
Covering a country like Canada while COVID-19 is wreaking havoc is a difficult thing to do. Canada is so large with lots of regional differences. And nowhere in the country is the difference so stark as it is between Canada's North and the rest of the country.
Today we have two interviews from two different parts of the north -- one from Cumberland House in northern Saskatchewan, and another from a bit further north and west, up in Yellowknife. With Yellowknife being a city, and Cumberland House a much smaller community, there are differences between the two. But there are some commonalities as well that come with being two relatively isolated communities cut off from the mainstream in southern Canada.
1) Marlene McKay is a resident of both Cumberland House and Saskatoon where she is a professor of social work with the University of Regina. Her partner runs one of the local stores in the town of Cumberland House and on a nearby reserve. Cumberland House is in COVID-19 lockdown right now. This interview is an excerpt from an interview done by Don Kossick from his program Making the Links with community radio CFCR 90.5 FM in Saskatoon.
2) George Lessard, media specialist and consultant who has lived in Yellowknife and other parts of the North for many years. He talks about Yellowknife as a hub to remote communities.
As of today, April 16, there are still no confirmed cases in Nunavut, five in the Northwest Territories and eight in Yukon, according to the government of Canada website. As for Cumberland House, the Saskatchewan government website says there are seven cases in the far north, but do not break down by community where they are.
Image: Victoria Fenner
There are thousands of people in Canada involved in international humanitarian work.
According to CARE Canada in a 2011 study, there were 14,000 full-time and 32,000 part-time workers working in international development in our country. And there are also thousands of volunteers who go oversees to provide health-care relief, build schools, help out in community radio stations, and assist in environmental initiatives, among other things.
That's a lot of people. Most of them are working from home right now, and many have likely lost their jobs. The exact numbers aren't known yet. And we don't know how many volunteer placements have stopped. One thing is pretty sure -- they're wondering and worrying about the people they help. It's especially difficult because they can't physically go there to see the situation first hand, and in many cases communications infrastructure is either unreliable or unavailable.
Today we're talking to two people who work in international development:
David Barth is the executive director of World Accord in Waterloo, Ontario. Barth was with a group of volunteers in Honduras when airports started to close and countries were shutting their borders to stop the spread of COVID-19. They are back home now with a lot of stories to tell about what they went through. He also talks about World Accord's partners and his hopes and fears as the pandemic spreads.
Simon Chambers is the director of communications for ACT Alliance. The ACT Alliance is a coalition of Protestant and Orthodox churches and church-related organizations engaged in humanitarian, development and advocacy work. The alliance has 135 members working in over 120 countries. Up until a few months ago, he was spending a lot of time on planes going to international meetings. Not now. He's in Toronto, still working but from home. Chambers talks about how the pandemic is shifting priorities for NGOs, and is hopefully not sidelining climate change efforts.
Image: Victoria Fenner
Gaza is only 365 square kilometres and home to almost two million Palestinians. It's been under a comprehensive Israeli land and sea blockade for 13 years. Israeli military assaults in 2008-2009, 2012 and 2014 have laid waste to much of its infrastructure.
Poor sanitation, lack of clean water, poverty, unemployment and an acute shortage of hospital beds and equipment are a perfect storm for disease transmission.
The people of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories -- under permanent military rule and denied the most basic civil and political rights -- are particularly ill-equipped to protect themselves.
The first two cases in Gaza were diagnosed on March 21. That was 12 days ago. As of April 2, there are 12 reported cases of COVID-19 in Gaza, and 155 in Palestine as a whole.
David Kattenburg is the publisher of The Green Planet Monitor, a Canadian online news magazine based in Winnipeg. The situation in Palestine is one of his main ongoing areas of coverage.
He spoke with Mariam Abu Alatta about the current situation early last week just after the announcement of the first two cases. Abu Alatta is project and fundraising officer of the Aisha Association for Woman and Child Protection.
Image: Gigi Ibrahim/Flickr
Lois Ross, our agriculture columnist at rabble.ca has been a frequent visitor to Cuba. This year's trip was a little different and somewhat unnerving as she watched the COVID-19 pandemic cross the ocean and start to affect North America. She got home over a month ago, and the situation she was seeing was worrying, though not like it is today. She's home, she's safe ... with some thoughts about the precarious situation we find ourselves in.
While Havana seems like a different world, Lois says there are lessons to be learned from Cuba which we should heed here in Canada. Her most recent column focuses on how the tiny country became self-sufficient in agriculture. rabble radio host and producer Victoria Fenner gave her a call to expand on some of her ideas.
They talked about Cuba, and also how Canada is vulnerable when it comes to self-sufficiency in food production because, well, we're not self-sufficient. The gaps in grocery store shelves that we're seeing now because of the interruption of the food supply chain due to COVID-19 is a warning which we need to pay attention to.
Rounding out the show on our theme of sustainability and urban agriculture is a short documentary done in 2006 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, by Victoria Fenner for Earth Chronicle Productions in Manitoba (now called The Green Planet Monitor). Colombo is a very dense city, full of concrete with a shortage of land. Nonetheless, urban farming was being encouraged and a very young group of people were getting lessons in farming from a very young age. They'd be all grown up by now, but there are still some things to learn from them.
Read Lois Ross' column "Cuba Is Teaching The World Lessons in Sustainability," published on March 18.
Image: Indrid__Cold/Flickr
Those of us who are gig workers and small business owners were relieved to hear the announcement yesterday that there will be some support for people like us in this time of COVID-19. But, we're not out of the woods yet. We don't know how it’s all going to work. And if it works like employment insurance does, 55 per cent of already marginal incomes isn't much money.
On today's rabble radio, Victoria Fenner talks to three vulnerable workers. They're sharing their questions, their fears and some of the unique dynamics of their occupation in the place where they live.
1.) Alyssa Wright is a cellist, singer/songwriter, author, advocate, activist and occasionally, an actor living in Barrie, Ontario. She talks about the idiosyncracies of life as a musician, and what she hopes the government realizes about how artists work as it puts together the financial package to help them out.
2.) Hannah McIlveen is an artist, animal rights advocate and owner-operator of Open Arms Dog Daycare and Boarding in River Ryan, Nova Scotia. She lives in Cape Breton with her husband, Kevin Kiosis, a paramedic, and a veritable zoo of pets!
3.) Karen Burson has worked in a variety of food-related occupations ... everything from owning an artisan small batch ice cream shop, to municipal food policy work and to her current role as cook and food security coordinator at St. Matthew's House in North Hamilton.
And music by Alyssa Wright.
This podcast topic was partly inspired by an article written by Karl Nerenberg on Tuesday this week called "Government Must extend EI to Low-Income and Gig Workers. It's an excellent article and it was good news to hear news of financial assistance yesterday from Ottawa. Though the actions of the government will help, it's only a partial solution. You'll hear some more reasons why on today's show.
Image: Alyssa Wright by Scott Cooper. Used with permission.
Music: Alyssa Wright. My Cup. Used with permission.
People who haven't been to university in a very long time might think of a student union as a club on campus.
The reality is that most student unions in Canadian universities are sizeable employers. The student unions at larger universities employ a few hundred people, and not just students. Full-time people rely on their jobs with the students union to pay their mortgates and feed their families. They also administer dental and health plans, have seats on the governing bodies of the university and work to protect students' rights on campus. If that conforms to the definition of a "club," it's a really big one.
Student unions are independent corporations, with complex agreements in place with the university administration to operate on campus and receive student fees. Most of the time, the relationship is straightforward. But not always.
Ryerson University and the Ryerson Students' Union have had a fractured relationship for a couple of years, stemming from allegations of mismanagement of funds by the RSU a couple of years ago. The dispute went to court last week because the university challenged the status of the student union on campus and refused to hand over funds for the union to operate.
This has been going on for a couple of years now, and the legal deliberations aren't over yet. But there was a favourable decision last week for the Ryerson Students' Union's case.
Nicole Brayiannis is president of the Continuing Education Students' Association at Ryerson, also known as CESAR. CESAR had intervenor status in the case, and Nicole was in the courtroom. She talked to Victoria Fenner.
Image: Hoice/Wikipedia
Podcasters Itisha Giri and Bhrikuti Rai are fed up with the male-dominated discourse in Nepali media and are determined to change it. The hosts of Boju Bajai are using their platform to speak to women, for women and about women in a space where many voices are left behind.
Giri, a writer, and Rai, a journalist, met in 2016 at an audition for The Vagina Monologues in Kathmandu. They bonded over how they think the country’s media has failed women, time and again.
Maxine Betteridge-Moes is a freelance journalist and podcast producer from Guelph, Ontario, who is now in Nepal. She's a big fan of the podcast. She is in Nepal working with an NGO called the Blue Diamond Society, established in 2001 to advocate for the rights of Nepal's marginalized gay, transgender and other sexual and gender minority communities. A graduate of Carleton University, she has worked in media and international development in Malaysia, Ghana and now, Nepal.
She is an avid listener of Boju Bajai and wanted to share what she's heard with rabble listeners. She spoke to Victoria Fenner from Nepal over Skype and shared some of the best clips from the show.
Thanks to Maxine Betteridge-Moes for doing this for rabble radio, and also to the producers of Boju Bajai for letting us air portions of their show and for providing us the picture for our show notes.
If you want to hear the show yourself, you can listen here. It's also available on Apple Podcasts.
Image: Manjushree Thapa. Used with permission
Audio Clips: Boju Bajai. Used with permission
Increasing diversity in the newsrooms of the nation is a topic which has been talked about and strategized around for several decades. But has all that talk resulted in action which has increased the number of people of colour and Black journalists in Canada's news media?
Our two guests on rabble radio today say there is still a long way to go. Anita Li of Canadian Journalists of Colour; and Nadia Stewart of the Canadian Association of Black Journalists say our newsrooms aren't there yet. They just co-authored a study called Canadian Media Diversity: Calls to Action.
The report was released earlier this month after six to seven months of data collection, meetings with industry leaders, data collection and producing the document.
For Li and Stewart, it wasn't enough to produce more statistics. They wanted a living document which provides tangible, concrete which has specific recommendations for changes which, if implemented, have the potential to bring more people of colour and Black journalists into the country's newsrooms.
The Canadian Association of Black Journalists and Canadian Journalists of Colour share the same goal -- they want to see a media industry which is equitable and truly representative of Canada's racial diversity and commitment to multiculturalism.
Image: Victoria Fenner/rabble
Video gaming is a pastime which keeps growing and growing with no signs that it's ever going to stop.
According to the Entertainment Software Association of Canada in a 2018 report, 23 million people in Canada play video games. They say that makes Canada one of the biggest per capita populations of gamers in the world.
They also have another surprising figure -- half of those gamers are women. For people not into gaming, that's surprising because the gaming world also has a reputation for being an exclusive club for young men. The 2014 Gamergate controversy happened recently enough that people still remember it. Gamergate was a harassment campaign targeting female game developers, specifically naming feminists as the kind of people they didn't want in gaming. And their contempt extended to anyone who was trying to bring diversity of any kind into the culture.
It can be a tough place for anybody who is trying to work with games which counter these values and work towards inclusion, not exclusion.
Jean Leggett is a feminist video gamer and game developer from Oakville, Ontario, who actively resists the people she calls "the angry toxic dude bros" by fostering an environment which is accepting of all. In her role as CEO with One More Story Games, she's a frequent speaker at gaming conferences where she talks about gaming and inclusion. She has just received a scholarship from the International Game Developers Association Next Gen Leaders Program. The goal of the scholarship is to bring diversity into the gaming world by supporting participants with personal and professional development opportunities.
She talked to Victoria Fenner about the scholarship, and most importantly, why diversity needs to be encouraged in the gaming world.
Image: Jean Leggett, One More Story Games. Used with permission.
Too often, the issue of climate change is believed to be an either/or situation, as in, we can have a healthy environment, or we can have economic growth. Farmers tend to be a fairly cautious bunch of people who are slow to change when they perceive that what they're doing is working fine. There isn't widespread agreement that change is necessary. Or when there is agreement, what to be done about is contentious. Just ask a group of farmers about the carbon tax and see what happens.
But, of course, this isn't true of all farmers. Today we're going to hear from Stewart Wells, a prairie farmer from the Swift Current, Saskatchewan area who is one of the voices in a new campaign called called Farmers for Climate Solutions. The campaign got underway this week on Tuesday, launched on National Agriculture Day. Farmers for Climate Solutions is being spearheaded by a coalition of farmer-led organizations and supporters, mostly from the organic agriculture sector.
Wells is also on the executive of the National Farmers Union (NFU), one of the coalition partners. In December, the NFU released a report called "Tackling the Farm Crisis and the Climate Crisis." It has a lot of facts, figures and ideas about building sustainability in agriculture which balances economics with climate action.
He talked to Victoria Fenner about his own 1,400-hectare organic farm where he and his partner grow grains, alfalfa and pulse crops (beans, dried peas etc.), about the NFU report and what farmers can be to to sustain both their livelihoods and the environment.
Image: Victoria Fenner/rabble.ca
The long awaited overhaul of Canada's broadcast and telecommunications acts came another step closer to realization last week with the release of the report "Canada's Communications Future: Time to Act."
The report was commissioned in June 2018 by the Trudeau government because the current acts are outdated, especially because of all the changes that have happened because of the internet.
The report has been a year and a half in the making, and recommends sweeping changes to everything from the structure of Canada's broadcast regulators, to fixing Canada's broken news media and how Canadian content will be funded. And of course, what to do about Netflix, which is the part of the report that's getting the most attention.
Today's guests on rabble radio are Barry Rooke of the National Campus and Community Radio Association and Cathy Edwards, executive director of the Canadian Association of Community Television Stations and Users, also known as CACTUS. They say they're disappointed that the non profit community media sector was barely included in the report. Victoria Fenner talked to them yesterday.
Disclosure: Victoria Fenner works with Cathy Edwards at CACTUS.
You can also read Karl Nerenberg's take on the policy review document last week on rabble: "Trudeau Must Not Ignore Bold Report on Media in Internet Age."
Image: CHCO Community TV, Charlotte County, NB. Used with permission
We’re hearing a lot about the benefits of 5G wireless networks, the next generation of broadband which will give us faster speeds on our wireless devices, but the downside of the technology isn’t getting near as much press. Among its benefits: it will make self-driving cars possible, enable robotics in factories which are managed from remote servers, and improve the delivery of remote medical care.
In Canada, the rollout is beginning this year. 5G has the potential to drastically improve internet performance in rural areas where there is no access to wired infrastructure. Anybody who’s out in a rural area and who has to go to a webinar or online meeting understands why that’s a good thing.
But despite the benefits that 5G will bring, there are voices that are saying “not so fast.” Today’s two guests are among those who are cautioning that the evidence is not clear that 5G wireless technology is safe.
There is a wide range of studies which go between extremes. On one extreme there are some whosay it’s perfectly safe, while others raise fears of the coming 5G apocalypse. For non-scientists, it’s hard to know what to believe. In the middle are voices which are not anti-technology, but are raising the caution flag.
Today’s rabble radio guests are in that category. We’ll hear from Frank Clegg, a former president of Microsoft Canada. With 40 years experience in IT, he is now CEO of Canadians for Safe Technology. This interview was done by Michael Welch of the Global Research News Hour in September of 2019.
In our second interview Victoria Fenner talks to Mark Gildenhaar of Kingstonians for Safe Technology about organizing at the local level.
Image: Alistair McIntyre/Pixabay
Finding care for a loved one with a serious ongoing medical condition is heartwrenching for families. When long-term care or homecare is needed, it’s also frustrating and confusing. There are few options, and the standards of care can vary significantly from one provider to another.
And most of the time, there are few choices. Though the provinces are supposed to fund this kind of medical care, it’s not funded very well. This is a complex subject that labour beat intern Zaid Noorsumar has been delving into while he’s been with with us here at rabble.ca. His research focuses on Ontario, but he says similar conditions exist in other provinces too.
He talks to Victoria Fenner about the challenges that health-care workers and their patients face, and why their needs are not being met.
Zaid is our sixth labour beat intern. He is a journalist who has contributed to CBC, The Canadian Press and Rankandfile.ca, among other news outlets. He’s covered issues spanning labour, politics, social justice and sports.
You can read his other stories written during his internship here.
And, rabble.ca welcomes Alex Cosh to his new position as opinions editor. He says hello to our listeners and talks about what he brings to the job from his home office in Powell River, B.C.
Image: truthseeker08/Pixabay
Many people were frustrated and angry when the federal Liberals broke their 2015 campaign promise that electoral reform would happen before the next election. Dave Meslin, community activist and organizer from Toronto, decided that it was only a setback. He’s continued doing his research and organizing people to fight for proportional representation.
On December 1, he launched a Kickstarter campaign with Unlock Democracy Canada, a non-partisan organization for democratic renewal and political transformation. Called “Time to Topple,” the goal of the new project is to create a roadmap to reform municipal electoral processes and reclaim city halls across the country. The campaign exceeded its goal of $15,000. The research will draw from lessons learned in London, Ontario, which is the first municipality in Canada to adopt a ranked balloting system in its city elections.
Meslin is a longtime proportional representation advocate. Among his many activities, he founded the Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto. In 2019, he released the book Teardown: Rebuilding Democracy from the Ground Up, which covers his accumulated experience to date around his three main themes of concern “billboards, bicycles and ballots,” especially advocating for an intelligent redesign of our governance systems.
Dave Meslin spoke to Victoria Fenner, rabble’s executive producer of podcasts.
Image: “Time to Topple” campaign graphic. Used with permission.
Anybody with a family who has to rent will tell you that a lot of landlords don’t like to rent to families. This is especially true if the head of the family is a teenager with very small children.
Today’s guest is Melissa Tremblay, a University of Alberta assistant professor in educational psychology. She has received a Mitacs Award for Outstanding Innovation in the Indigenous category, presented on November 26, 2019. The Mitacs Award for Outstanding Innovation — Indigenous is presented to an Indigenous student or post-doctoral fellow who has made a significant achievement in research and development innovation during their Mitacs-funded research.
Mitacs is a national, not-for-profit organization that has designed and delivered research and training programs in Canada for 20 years. It works with 70 universities, 6,000 companies, and federal and provincial governments to build partnerships that support industrial and social innovation in Canada.
Melissa Tremblay received the award for her innovative work to develop and evaluate a housing support program for pregnant teens and teen moms and dads. She talked to Victoria Fenner about what her research told her about the challenges of being a teenager with children, especially in this very difficult housing market, and some of the innovative research techniques she used to get teenagers to open up about their lives.
Image: sathyatripodi/Pixabay
COP 25, this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, was scheduled in Madrid from December 2-13. It went into overtime and didn’t end until two days later on December 15. Simon Chambers, today’s rabble radio guest, was at COP 25 in his capacity as communications director for the ACT Alliance.
The ACT Alliance is a global organization of more than 145 churches and related organizations working together in over 120 countries. The organization’s mandate is to create positive and sustainable change in the lives of poor and marginalized people. It’s an international organization, and Chambers is a Canadian living in Toronto.
He joins Victoria Fenner today to talk about his impressions of this year’s proceedings. They talked about Canada’s performance and also about protest actions which happened because activists were frustrated with the slow pace of change from the official government delegations who were negotiating.
Image: Simon Chambers/ACT Alliance
Now that the holiday season is upon us, you’re maybe thinking about what kind of gifts to give that doesn’t add to the amount to the stacks of stuff that so many people already have too much of.
Here’s a gift idea — you can give a piece of land to the people of your community. Or, if you don’t have land to give, you can make a financial gift to your local land trust, if you have one. Or you can volunteer your time.
Today’s guest on rabble radio is Sheila Ziman, one of the founding members of the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust. The Haliburton Highlands is a small rural district about two and a half hours northeast of Toronto. It’s cottage country, and a place where preserving the environment is a high priority among some of its residents.
Sheila Ziman joins Victoria Fenner to talk about what a land trust is, and how land trusts work.
There are land trusts all over the country. The Ontario Land Trust Association has a list of them here.
Image: Haliburton Highlands Land Trust. Used with permission.
Here in Canada, we like to believe that we are a welcoming people, kind and generous to anyone who shows up on our doorstep. Today’s guest challenges that assumption.
Graeme Truelove’s book Un-Canadian: Islamophobia in the True North looks specifically at our treatment and attitudes towards Muslims. The book looks further back, and demonstrates that our treatment of Muslims isn’t all that different than our treatment of other people of non-white heritage throughout our history.
He talked with Victoria Fenner about what those myths are, and also a couple of excerpts from the book, with permission of the publisher, Nightwood Editions.
Thank you to Edward Moll for reading.
Read another excerpt from UnCanadian: Islamophobia in the True North on rabble.ca.
Image: Pixabay/Alfred Dielman
As the nation down south tucks into turkey dinners this year, there is bound to be a lot of interesting and even volatile conversations around the dinner table. Because, with the American presidential election just a little under a year away, not to mention the impeachments proceedings happening right now, dinner time could get a little fractious. Good luck with that!
To recognize American Thanksgiving, our interview today is our contribution towards building democracy. Our advice to Americans living in Canada: register to vote! Today’s first guest is David Mivasair. He’s been living in Canada for many years but he’s still very connected to his American roots. So much so that he’s working hard to get other Americans living in Canada involved in helping determine the outcome for his country in November 2020. Today you’ll be hearing about his organizing efforts with Democrats Abroad and why he’s working hard to get fellow Americans living in Canada registered to vote.
If you’re a citizen of the U.S. and you want to register, go to either Democrats Abroad or Americans Abroad to find out how.
And second, it’s not just American Thanksgiving this week. It’s Black Friday, that post-Thanksgiving celebration of consumerist excess about buying. And buying. And buying. Campbell McClintock is a writer and artist committed to social change who lives in Halifax. He’s also an American citizen living in Canada. He shares his thoughts about how to burst the consumerist bubble this season.
Image: David Mivasair
In Montreal, there are currently numerous Guinean asylum seekers facing deportation from Canada. Some of them, along with other community activists, have come together to protest the Canadian government’s moves to deport refugees to West Africa. In the last year, stories of numerous cases of Guinean refugees have been shared widely on social media in Montreal and also discussed in the mainstream media.
A grassroots campaign against the deportation of Guinean refugees was launched a couple years ago with a press conference, supported by the Immigrant Workers Centre, in Côte-Des-Neiges. Since that time, a series of protests and actions have been taking place across the city. Asylum seekers directly impacted by deportations, the wider Guinean, as well as broader West African community networks have been working steadily to convince the federal government to halt the deportations.
Stefan Christoff, Montreal musician, community activist and radio host, produced this report for rabble radio. To highlight this community campaign against deportations he spoke with Mostafa Henaway from the Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal and also Guinean asylum seeker Mohamed Barry who has been campaigning against the forced deportations.
Editor’s note, November 22, 2019: An earlier version of this story was incorrectly posted with an image of the Guinea-Bissau flag. The accompanying image has been changed to the flag of Guinea.
Image: jorono/Pixabay
Over the past year, we’ve brought you stories on rabble about Edwin Espinel, a political prisoner in Honduras who was arrested in January 2018 following anti-government protests and held in a maximum security prison in deplorable conditions.
It was the best of news when he was released on bail just this past August, after 18 months behind bars. But he’s far from out of danger because his bail could be revoked at any time before the trial scheduled for next May.
Edwin is married to Karen Spring who grew up in Elmvale, Ontario, and works with the Honduras Solidarity Network in Tegucigalpa.
Janet Spring is Edwin’s mother-in-law who still lives in Elmvale. She has been tirelessly campaigning to get the Canadian government to put pressure on the Honduran government to drop all charges against him. Janet has started a local support group in the small town Elmvale, the small central Ontario town where she lives. It’s called Simcoe County Honduras Rights Monitor, and she now fears that recent events surrounding the president in Honduras could have repercussions for Edwin, other political prisoners, and everyone who works for social justice in the country.
Janet Spring dropped by Victoria Fenner’s studio in nearby Barrie and talked to her on November 5, just last week, about the current situation that Edwin and her daughter Karen are dealing with in Honduras.
For more information on the situation as it evolves, you can go to the Honduras Solidarity Network, a network of approximately 30 organizations from across Canada and the United States that are committed to demonstrating and advocating for solidarity with the Honduran social movement.
Image: Janet Spring/Edwin Espinel and Karen Spring in Honduras.
In recent weeks, mass protests have been shaking Chile. The protests began on October 7 as a fare-evasion protest by high school students. Throughout the rest of the month and now into November, the protests have rapidly escalated into a comprehensive challenge to the political and economic order established by Augusto Pinochet in the nation’s 1980 constitution.
On today’s rabble radio, we’ll also look at the background to these protests, starting with Chile’s use under the brutal Pinochet dictatorship as a laboratory to test the neoliberal policies that would later be brought to the rest of the world, how the protests relate to the current state of the left across Latin America, and what their prospects of success are. As many as ten per cent of the country’s population were on the streets on the biggest day of protest.
We’ll be hearing Corvin Russell talk to Carlos Torres about the protests. Torres is a long time activist and writer of the Chilean left, and a former political prisoner, who spent many years in Montreal and Toronto doing research, social justice, and international solidarity work, including serving on the World Social Forum International Council. Russell is an activist, writer, and educator living in Toronto.
Carlos Torres has written recently for Amandla magazine in South Africa, and for Alternatives in Montreal. Most recently he has written three books — one on Che Guevara in the 21st century, one titled Venezuela: Democracy or Dictatorship?, and a book on the revolutionary left in Chile. He is currently finishing a PhD at the University of Buenos Aires, now lives in Santiago, which is where Corvin Russell reached him.
This podcast features two different interviews. The first interview was done last Monday October 28. And because things are evolving and changing rapidly, Corvin did a followup interview with Carlos at the beginning of this week.
Image: Wikimedia/Carlos Figueroa/Protestas en Chile de 2019, Plaza Baquedano, Santiago, Chile
We’re well into the semester for Ontario’s post secondary students. Reading week is over and everybody is settling in.
One thing that isn’t settling in yet, though, is the budgets of students unions, radio stations, student newspapers, food banks and all the other services which are being affected by the Ontario provincial government’s Student Choice Initiative.
Last spring, the program was announced, which would give students greater choice about what student they want to pay for and not. Most services on campuses like libraries, and athletic fees weren’t affected, and critics of the plan say that this was ideologically driven to diminish student voices, opinion and action.
The Canadian Federation of Students has launched a lawsuit which has been heard earlier in October, with a decision expected in six to eight weeks.
Kayla Weiler is the Ontario representative for the CFS. She talked to Victoria Fenner about the status of the lawsuit, and also about the effects of the Student Choice Initiative on campuses so far.
Image: Canadian Federation of Students Ontario. Used with permission.
The dust is settling on the 2019 election and we’re all still figuring out what it all means. Minority governments can be messy, but it can also be a time for creative solutions too. In theory, it means that more voices will be heard, not just the governing party. Hopefully that will mean that some of the marginalized voices will be able to speak and be heard, including the voices of women.
This time around, a record 98 women were elected on Monday. That’s up from 88 in the previous Parliament, but still less than 30 per cent of the House.
Last time around, the Liberals made big commitments to increase the impact and role of women in the government. How much that really happened is of course, a matter of interpretation. We will see in weeks to come if the commitment to women in positions of power continues in the same way it did during the previous Parliament. And whether or not the presence of more women will result in substantive change in how our government operates and the priorities it identifies.
That’s a big question — if there are more women in power, does it make a difference? Today’s guest on rabble radio looks at that question. Sylvia Bashevkin is the editor of a new book called Doing Politics Differently? Women Premiers in Canada’s Provinces and Territories. It’s a collection of articles about 10 women premiers from coast to coast, an analysis of how they rose to power, what kept them in power and what caused their exits from the office of the premier in their various provinces.
Sylvia Bashevkin is a professor in the department of political science at the University of Toronto. Her primary research focus is gender and politics, notably women’s impact as public leaders.
Image: Connor Mah/Flickr
This election is a nail biter. Will it be a minority government? Which party will have the most seats? What kinds of deals are going to be going down as the parties make their power plays to be the one who will lead our country. And, since it’s looking like it won’t be a majority government, which parties are positioning themselves to be king-makers? There are many questions and there won’t be an answer until Monday. And maybe not a clear answer until later than that.
Things are changing so quickly that we’re posting this podcast a bit early — this conversation with rabble parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg was held on Tuesday, October 15. With the speed things are moving, this is one interview which shouldn’t sit on the shelf. Because it might all change by tomorrow.
Image: Ishmael Daro/Flickr
For a long time, many campus and community stations have considered themselves to be a force for social change in their communities. So, once again, they’re using their airwaves towards that end.
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Facts are Free is a collection of public service announcements that are being aired on campus and community radio stations across the country in the weeks leading up to the election. The non-profit and charitable radio sector in Canada has launched a campaign to raise awareness about climate change and environmental issues facing Canadians. The campaign is called Facts are Free and it’s been created in cooperation with with Environmental Defence and the VX3 Exchange. Luke Smith is a learning and development officer with the National Campus and Community Radio Association. He talked to Victoria Fenner.
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Canada’s youth have the opportunity this election to shift the political landscape considerably. For the first time in Canada’s history, millennials and Gen Z make up the largest voting bloc — 37 per cent of the electorate — so there is a lot of opportunity to force politicians to focus on youth issues that are otherwise ignored. If youth come out to vote, there could be far reaching consequences. Whether they’ll take advantage of the opportunity remains to be seen. Future Majority is an organization set up to work towards that end.
Shreya Kalra is working as a field organizer with Future Majority. As a part of this campaign, she’s been speaking to about 100 students everyday at Seneca College’s Newnham campus about the issues that are affecting their everyday lives. She took a break from organizing to talk to rabble radio on October 2, 2019.
Image: Victoria Fenner
With the election less than a month away, all of us who are politically engaged are reflecting on how well our government has worked over the past few years. And governments of all kinds are operating very differently than they did even 10 years ago, thanks to digital innovation and theories of information management which arise from new technologies.
The digital age has had a profound effect on the way our country and our government operates. You can explore these themes in Amanda Clarke’s new book Opening the Government of Canada — The Federal Bureaucracy in the Digital Age.
For example — she has a section in her book where she considers the legacy of former prime minister Stephen Harper as “Canada’s first digital era prime minister.” Considering the secrecy and information control rampant in the Harper era, it wouldn’t surprise most of us that the transition towards open government has had its bumps along the way. And it still does, despite the very different style of the Trudeau government.
While it’s easy to criticize the federal government for being pretty slow about about figuring out new models to navigate the digital age, Clarke says there needs to be a balance. She makes the case for a more open model of governance, but says that the model also needs to be balanced with the democratic principles embedded at the heart of our parliamentary system of governance. It’s a tricky thing.
rabble podcast producer Victoria Fenner talked to Amanda Clarke about how those dynamics are playing out on Parliament Hill.
Amanda Clarke joined the faculty of Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration in July 2014. Her research examines public sector reform, policymaking and civic engagement, focusing in particular on the impact of digital technologies on these domains. Prior to joining Carleton, Clarke completed a doctorate at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, as a Pierre Elliott Trudeau scholar, a Clarendon Press scholar and a fellow of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She is co-editor of Issues in Canadian Governanceand author of Opening the Government of Canada: The Federal Bureaucracy in the Digital Age. In 2017, Clarke was appointed Carleton University’s Public Affairs Research Excellence Chair and in 2019, the Canada School of Public Service named her a Digital Government Research Fellow. She is the founder of the Canadian Digital Governance Research Network.
Image: Open Knowledge Foundation/Flickr
This month, starting tomorrow until September 27, students across Canada are organizing a week of action to call attention to climate change. People around the world are seeing more and more severe weather. Oceans are rising, deserts are growing and the planet is in trouble. We are glad to work with organizers who are demanding that every government and industry take on climate change as a priority. Today on rabble we’re talking to Climate Strike organizers across the country about what they are planning for upcoming week of action.
This edition of rabble radio is done in partnership with rabble’s Lynn Williams Activist Toolkit, and the help of toolkit editor Maya Bhullar.
Panelists:
- Rebecca Hamilton: Vancouver
- Sydney Chadwick: Regina
- Alex Flett: Regina
- Maureen Huot: Regina (adult ally)
- Allie Rougeot: Toronto
- Nick Lorraway: Kingston (Queens)
- Anna Morineau: Ottawa Gatineau
- Michael James: Edmonton
You can find more information about the strikes on climatestrikecanada.org. Spread the word among students and, if your school days are over, come out as allies.
Image: Climate Action Toronto, May 3 2019. Payton Mitchell. Used with permission.
James Gordon thinks that we might be able to sing our way towards a solution in dealing with the climate crisis. Not just through song alone, of course, but by mobilizing groups of people and lifting the mood a little bit with a whole theatrical range of seriousness, scariness, inspiration and hopefulness.
Today on rabble radio, podcast executive producer and rabble radio host Victoria Fenner talks to James Gordon at his debut performance at a house concert in Barrie, Ontario. And he even gave her permission to play some of his songs from the show.
James Gordon, for those of you who haven’t heard him before, is a singer songwriter whose career goes back some 40 years. He has recorded over 40 albums and has written for symphony orchestras, musical theatre, dance, film scores, as well as performing his own work all over North America. He was even a song writer in residence for CBC Radio. He’s still touring and writing, but now has to divide his time between songifying and sitting in city council chambers of Guelph, where he is in his second term as a councillor.
One of the things he’s been known for, especially in the run up to the 2015 election, was his production Stephen Harper – the Musical. That’s one of the hazards of tying your songs to the news agenda. Sometimes you have to retire some of your repertoire when the world moves on. But as you’ll hear, Gordon is good with that. And now, his tradition of interpreting the news in song and dance continues with his latest production.
Image: James Gordon/Facebook
Music: from “Emergency Climate Musical” – Used with permission of James Gordon
As the climate crisis escalates, new solutions and new groups are emerging to becoming part of the dialogue. Extinction Rebellion is a fairly new one — it started just last year in the U.K. on May 18, 2018. Its first major action was the blocking of five bridges across the Thames just last November.
Since then, there have been Extinction Rebellion groups coming together in other parts of the world, including here in Canada. Their core values are summarized in three points — tell the truth, act now and form a citizens’ assembly to determine how the changes will happen. The group’s actions are very direct, very visible and include non violent civil diobedience.
Civil disobedience is something that is little understood by the general population here in Canada. rabble podcast executive producer Victoria Fenner called Rocky Petkov, an organizer with Extinction Rebellion in Toronto. They talked a lot about that, and also their plans to have an effect on the results of the upcoming election.
Image: Sebastian Dooris/Flickr
Hamilton, Ontario. Factory city, crime-ridden downtown, mafia stronghold. At least that’s what people used to think of Hamilton.
That’s been changing in recent years as people from “away” have been discovering the good things about the city as they’ve moved to escape high real estate in Toronto. They’ve been discovering what longtime residents have known all along — that it’s a city full of people with good hearts and pride in their city.
Yet there is still a dark underbelly in the Hammer.
Hamilton has just earned the dubious distinction of being community No. 1 in police-reported hate crimes in Canada, according to a July 2019 report by Statistics Canada. According to the report, the rate was 17.1 people out of 100,000. As a comparison, the national rate was 4.9, while Toronto was 6.4.
Judging by recent events, it’s not getting better. Over the past few months there have been visible demonstrations of hatred. In June, Hamilton Pride was targeted by far-right hate groups. Yellow Vesters have been showing up at city hall every Saturday morning for several months to demonstrate. There are a few more elements in this toxic stew, which today’s guest explores.
Lyla Miklos is the former chair of Pride Hamilton and the LGBTQ advisory committee for the City of Hamilton. A resident of Hamilton since 1982, she is an engaged citizen who thinks the local city council and mayor’s actions are inadequate to address the problem of hate in her city. She also thinks that the problem didn’t rise up out of nowhere.
Her conversation with rabble podcast executive producer Victoria Fenner begins with a recap from Miklos about recent happenings related to hate in the city, and then moves into what other communities can learn from what’s going on in Hamilton.
Victoria Fenner is executive producer of rabble’s podcast network.
Image: Lyla Miklos
Today marks the anniversary of the death of Jack Layton. He passed away from cancer on August 22, 2011, leaving a void in Canadian politics which will never be filled in quite the same way. Because Jack Layton was one of a kind.
His message resonated with people so much that he brought the NDP party from 37 seats in the 2008 election to 103 seats in 2011. Under Jack Layton’s leadership, the NDP became the official opposition in Parliament for the first time ever after the 2011 election.
The quote for which he is best remembered comes from the end of a letter he wrote to the Canadian people in his final days. The letter concludes with the now well known passage:
“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”
Today on rabble radio you’ll hear excerpts from Jack Layton’s state funeral, held at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto on August 27, 2011.
You’ll hear Shawn Atleo, who, at the time, was the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. He delivered a blessing on behalf of Canada’s First Nations community. You’ll also hear a welcome message from Anne McGrath, chief of staff during Jack Layton’s time in office, and speeches by Stephen Lewis, a friend, humanitarian and fellow NDP member who was leader of the Ontario NDP in the 1970s. And we finish with Mike Layton, Jack Layton’s son.
Image: Elliott Margolies/Flickr
When rabble.ca podcast producer Victoria Fenner heard that Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was coming to the small conservative city of Barrie, Ontario, on July 18 for a pre-campaign town hall and rally, she could think of a lot of things to talk to her about.
Barrie is right in the middle of Tory blue country and tough territory for progressives. It’s the biggest city in Simcoe County, located on the traditional territory of the Haudensaunee, Ojibway/Chippewa and Anishnabek First Nations. This territory is covered by the Upper Canada Treaties. Colonization by Europeans began about 400 years ago by French explorers. The first elections here happened way back in 1823 after the British took over and it’s been Conservative country for a very long time. It’s close enough to Toronto that a lot of people commute every day from the south part of the riding. The north part of the county, not so much. But out towards Collingwood, cottagers and skiiers from Toronto contribute a lot of money towards the local economy.
There are very few Red Tories in this county. Remember the Reform Party? That upstart right wing party that shifted politics further right in the late ’80s and the ’90s? The former riding of Simcoe Centre, which was right in the heart of the city of Barrie, was the only place in Canada east of Manitoba that ever elected a Reform Party MP. That’s an indicator of how conservative this area of the country is. The Liberals do come close sometimes but not enough to get them elected. In the 2015 election, the Green Party was the distant fourth party.
The Green Party message is a tough sell in places where people think they have to choose between a stable economy and a healthy environment to live in. But that’s not just here — that kind of dichotomous thinking goes on in so many places. The good news is that this can change with people moving in from other places, and a growing sense that the environment needs to be a bigger priority.
In today’s rabble radio, Victoria Fenner and Elizabeth May talk about that and a wide range of subjects — the disconnect that some people see between economy and environment, the first-past-the-post system, how international trade agreements have affected the health of the planet, and the role of media in fostering an empowered, informed citizenry.
Image: Victoria Fenner
When you think about it, public libraries are a pretty remarkable. Fascinating fact — did you know that the first free tax-supported public libraries in Canada opened in 1883 in Saint John, Guelph and Toronto? And now every town has one.
Where else can you get access to thousands of books, magazines, newspapers, CDs and DVDs for the amazingly low price of free? (Well, except for the overdue fines, that is.) It’s a staggeringly great deal when you think about it.
That’s not the only amazing thing about libraries, Olivia Robinson has discovered. She’s the recipient of this year’s Jack Layton Journalism for Change Fellowship. You’ll be able to read her resulting series “The Future of the Public Library” starting on Tuesday, August 13, 2019.
Robinson is rabble.ca’s second recipient of the Jack Layton Journalism for Change Fellowship. The fellowship is a joint project by rabble.ca and The Institute for Change Leaders, and supports emerging writers and journalists who are passionate and engaged in developing unique voices in social change reporting.
Robinson has discovered that the role of the library is changing. No more the stuffy, deadly quiet space with lots of rules, libraries are becoming the living room of our communities. And everyone is welcome. That includes people who live on the margins of society for whom reading in a warm space, using a computer or getting out of the cold is a lifeline. It brings about a whole other set of challenges for library staff, but there are some great examples where they are rising to those challenges.
rabble podcast exec producer Victoria Fenner has been watching the progress of Robinson’s series and has recorded two conversations with her that you’ll hear today. The first part took place at the very beginning of her fellowship in January 2019 where she talked about her background and interest in libraries and the stories she was researching. The series started to go in a different direction in April when Doug Ford’s Conservative government brought in some major cuts to libraries in Ontario. So Victoria gave Olivia a call again in May to find out how the project was going, and especially how this latest news in Ontario was shaping her coverage.
Photo: Olivia Robinson
Pamela Palmater’s Reconciliation Book Club successfully launched with the first book club event last Saturday. The book club is her way to help people learn about reconciliation and Canada’s First Nations in a safe and supportive space. To date, it has received almost 1,000 views and over 60 comments online, so it seems to have hit the right notes.
The first book she chose was Whose Land is it Anyway: A Manual for Decolonization published by the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators in B.C. It is available for free download by clicking the link above.
Here at rabble, we really like this idea and we’ve done some stories about it in the last couple of weeks. We were all curious about how it went, and her plans for future editions so Victoria Fenner, rabble’s podcast exec producer gave her a call. Pam says it went very well, and yes, she plans to do more. Victoria talked to her on Tuesday of this week, two days ago.
Pam Palmater is a Mi’kmaw lawyer and member of the Eel River Bar First Nation in New Brunswick. She teaches Indigenous law, politics and governance at Ryerson University and heads their Centre for Indigenous Governance. She also has a blog on rabble.ca.
The next book for the Reconciliation Book Club review will be Karen Stote’s An Act of Genocide: Colonialism and the Sterilization of Aboriginal Women published by Fernwood Publishing.
Image and audio clip: Pamela Palmater. Used with permission.
Understanding the historic roots of the broken relationship between settlers and Canada’s Indigenous people is a necessary step which we need to take to start solving the problems. And we especially need to acknowledge how those historic patterns still manifest themselves today.
This edition of rabble radio features an interview with Dr. Bruce Clark. Bruce Clark has been arguing for the past two decades that Canada’s courts have blocked the way to reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous people. In his recent book, he elaborates on his thesis that the legal system in Canada has been utilizing instruments to suppress Indigenous sovereignty in law and that it therefore is culpable in genocide. The book is called Ongoing Genocide caused by Judicial Suppression of the “Existing” Aboriginal Rights.
Dr. Clark is a Canadian writer, activist and former lawyer. He first began working on Indigenous sovereignty issues back in 1973 when he was retained by the Temagami First Nation at Bear Island. The issue was an Ontario government plan to build an $80 million ski lodge on their land.
He is also known for his work defending Indigenous land title at Gustafson Lake in the interior of British Columbia in 1995. In 1999, he was disbarred after criminal charges and convictions related to events that happened during that time. In the years since, he’s used his legal knowledge to be an advocate for Indigenous rights and is the author of several books.
The interview on today’s show was done by Michael Welch of the Global Research News Hour.
Thanks once again to Global Research News Hour for partnering with rabble.ca by letting us re-podcast their interviews. The show is hosted and produced in Winnipeg by CKUW news director and contributor, Michael Welch, in association with the Centre for Research on Globalization.
Image: Pixabay – Monan – Canada Justice Law
David Kattenburg is a tireless advocate calling for the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. He’s a Winnipeg based university science instructor and web publisher of The Green Planet Monitor. And he also works for social justice on matters related to environment, sustainability and the wide variety of subjects under that big tent.
(A side note – he’s also seeking a judicial review of a July 2017 decision by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, permitting illegal Jewish settlement wines to be labeled ‘Product of Israel’. The Federal Court of Canada is expected to rule on his application in the Fall.)
He goes to the Middle East whenever he can and spends a lot of his time in Palestine, bringing along his recorder and camera to gather material for The Green Planet Monitor. On the site, you can find his writings, audio interviews and photos from his explorations which back several years.
What is compelling about his site is that it does a good job of explaining the complexities of this region. Like any good university prof, he explains the background in a way that people who don’t have a comprehensive knowledge of the dynamics can understand. And he also does stories about daily life in Palestine – demonstrating how the occupation affects people’s lives.
Today we have a sampling of stories from David Kattenburg’s explorations in June and early July this year.
1.) Protestors at a roadblock in the village of Kufr Qaddum which has been blocked by the Israeli military since since 2003. The people interviewed are residents of the village , talking about how the roadblock affects their economy and their lives.
2.) No Right to a Home – Jeff Halper is founder of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD). House demolitions are routinely carried out in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, in Gaza and even in Israel’s internationally recognized borders, but only to Palestinian homes.
3.) When people protest their living conditions, the result is often jail. Khalida Jarrar is a Palestinian politician who has been jailed for her political action. She talks to David Kattenburg about her times in prison and her efforts to make a difference in the lives of women and girls in the prison where she was locked up.
Image: Israeli soldiers advance on protesting Palestinians, Kufr Qaddum. Photo by David Kattenburg. Used with permission.
Happy summer, everybody, now that it’s here. It’s been a long time coming in some parts of the country. It’s an unusual summer, weatherwise, and it’s also a different pace from summers gone by because we’re in the leadup to the fall election.
We’ll be doing a lot of advance election coverage on rabble, including in our podcasts. But for today, we thought we’d do something a bit lighter related to summer reading and summer travel.
1) A couple of months ago, our podcast exec producer Victoria Fenner was in her local Chapters Indigo bookstore where she met Yahaya Baruwa. He is a young Toronto author who was promoting his first two books. She was impressed not just with the story, but also with his determination to get his books published. Being carried in a big bookstore is an accomplishment in itself. Baruwa has accomplished a lot in his young life and radiates this “get it done” kind of attitude which really drew her in. For example, he sold over 2,000 copies of his first book by going door to door in his neighbourhood in Scarborough.
Yahaya Baruwa’s first book is called Struggles of a Dreamer – The Battle between a Dream and Tradition. It’s fiction, but largely based on his experiences as a young man who was born in Nigeria and grew up in Canada. He emigrated with his family at the age of 12 and writes about the difficult balance to respect and honour one’s traditional culture and also adapt to life here in this country.
Two of his books are published already, with a third coming out next month.
2.) If you’re a writer or journalist, gathering stories while travelling is something we do. David Kattenburg is a freelance journalist and publisher of the website greenplanetmonitor.net. He is also a contributor to rabble radio.
One of the places Kattenburg goes most frequently is Palestine. He is a fierce advocate for the end of the illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel. Over the years he has developed many friendships and journalistic sources.
Victoria Fenner caught up with him via Skype from his hotel room in Beirut this week. He shared some of this year’s experiences, some of which were a bit hair-raising. He talks about the significant events from this year’s travels and shares some useful travel tips about travelling as a freelance journalist in places where foreign journalists aren’t always welcome.
You can read and listen to David Kattenburg’s dispatches from the Middle East by going to The Green Planet Monitor. There are audio interviews, blog posts and stunning photography from this trip and others which he has done over the years.
Image: Yahaya Baruwa. Photo: Victoria Fenner
Music Sting – Drum and Bass High Hat Conga loop – RutgerMuller – freesound.org
In May and June, over a hundred groups across the country came together for town hall meetings to discuss climate change and what a Green New Deal for Canada could look like. And the energy continues – there are still a few town halls happening in the month of July.
This week, a report was posted online summarizing what some of those findings were, and what communities were saying about how the Green New Deal could be applied in their cities, towns, villages and townships.
The Green New Deal town halls were organized by a coalition which included the Council of Canadians, Leadnow, GreenPeace Canada, The Leap and 350.org. According to the report released this week over 7,000 people took part in 150 town halls.
On today’s show:
1) rabble radio executive producer Victoria Fenner went to one of these town halls in Barrie, Ontario, just north of Toronto. What she discovered was a discussion that was wide ranging, going way beyond what is usually considered to be environmental issues. In a series of questions prepared by the national organizers, participants were invited to look at issues relating to environment and sustainability in the broadest terms possible. The solutions people came up with had to do with environment, economy, transportation, health and every facet of life which is or will be affected by climate change.
2) She also talked to Tim Ellis, one of the national organizers of the Green New Deal town hall project to find out what the next steps are. He works with Leadnow.
3) Also on today’s show – Johnny Got His Gun is a musical response to school shootings in the United States, performed and composed by Emilie Feldberg, also known as E.L.F. She contacted rabble radio with her song, which is on today’s show, along with an interview with E.L.F. about why she wrote the song.
Her songs are strongly inspired by her political views, the impact of her environment on her, and the regular life of a seventeen-year-old today. She has studied music for most of her life, receiving training in classical studies as well as performing indie music. Emilie has taught both piano and voice and plays multiple musical instruments. She completed the royal conservatory of music grades in voice and uses her knowledge of vocal technique and classical styles to inspire her songs. She first became inspired by activism through feminism at a young age and has attended protests throughout her city. Since then, her music reflects what she sees in the world around her.
Image: Victoria Fenner
Music: Johnny Got His Gun. Used with permission of E.L.F. (Emilie Feldberg)
Next Tuesday, June 25 marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the Winnipeg General Strike. Today’s program features a panel discussion about the impact of the strike a century later.
It was done by the Global Research News Hour, hosted and produced by Michael Welch in the same city where the Winnipeg General Strike happened. Global Research News Hour is produced and broadcast at CKUW, the campus/community radio station at University of Winnipeg.
The strike started on May 15, 1919 and lasted for six weeks. Over 30,000 workers walked off the job and shut down factories, shops and city services, and had a lasting impact on the labour movement and workers rights in general.
Today’s guests are talking about that legacy:
Julie Guard is Professor of Labour Studies and History at the University of Manitoba. She has authored numerous academic articles and chapters in books. Her research focuses on Canadian labour history, social movement history, history of dissent and repression, history of the Canadian left, women’s history, consumer and food history She is the author most recently of the 2019 book Radical Housewives: Price Wars and Food Politics in Mid 20th Century Canada.
Harold Dyck is a long time anti-poverty and welfare advocate based in Winnipeg. He has played prominent roles with a number of Winnipeg-based anti-poverty organizations including the Manitoba Committee for Economic Justice, the National Anti poverty Organization and the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg. He is also the long-time director of the Low Income Intermediary Project which conducts advocacy work for people on social assistance.
John Clarke is a long time organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, a grassroots antipoverty organization based mostly in Toronto that combines collective struggles on behalf of individuals fighting for tenant rights, welfare access, and those threatened with eviction and deportation, with larger political campaigns geared toward policy changes in support of the most marginalized in our society.
Image: Wikimedia – RNWMP operations in Winnipeg General Strike, 1919
This spring marks a grim anniversary. It’s the 25th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide which happened from April 7 to July 15 in 1994.
Today’s guest on rabble radio wants us to remember how genocides happen in the hopes that this knowledge will prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future. Heidi Berger believes that genocide education needs to be taught in Canadian classrooms.
To address this need, she started an organization called The Foundation for Genocide Education. The foundation is made up of representatives from the Jewish, Rwandan, Armenian and First Nations communities. They are working with the Quebec Education Ministry to create a first-of-its-kind comprehensive, universal guide to enable high school teachers to better incorporate genocide education into their curriculum. Supported by educational videos and teacher training workshops organized by the Quebec government, the project will be piloted in schools across the province beginning in September 2019, and in use in every Quebec high school by 2020.
With racism on the rise in Canada and worldwide, and with the knowledge that many high school students are graduating not knowing the meaning of genocide — including the Holocaust — The Foundation for Genocide Education is calling on governments across Canada to educate high school students on the history and consequences of intolerance. The goal is to educate the next generation of leaders on the dangers of intolerance and racism in order to prevent future atrocities.
Heidi Berger is founder of The Foundation for Genocide Education. She is also a film producer, Concordia University teacher, and daughter of a Holocaust survivor. She was talking to me about the course that the foundation is developing to teach genocide education in high schools beginning in Quebec in 2020.Help make rabble sustainable. Please consider supporting our work with a monthly donation.
With the federal election just six months away, new candidates are putting their names forward to run. And some familiar names we’ve seen during many campaigns have assessed their future and decided it’s time to move on to the next phase of their lives. Either way, it’s a hard decision.
Libby Davies knows firsthand what it’s like to make that choice. In 2015, she decided to retire from her position as member of Parliament for Vancouver East after six consecutive terms. Her career in politics and her life in activism goes back a long way. She’s been a social activist for over 40 years, beginning as a community organizer in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in 1972. She was elected to Vancouver City Council for 5 consecutive terms, 1982-1993. She became the member of Parliament for Vancouver East for six consecutive terms, 1997-2015, also serving as the NDP House Leader, (2003-2011) and Deputy Leader (2007-2015). Libby has been an outspoken advocate for human rights, housing, peace, and social justice throughout her political life.
She has written a new book called Outside In – A Political Memoir where she explores her life as a politician and as a fighter for equality and justice for some of the most vulnerable people in our country. She spoke to rabble podcast executive producer Victoria Fenner about her new book and thoughts about her life in politics.
Libby Davies is beginning her book tour next week on May 15 at 7 p.m. at the Centre for Social Innovation at 192 Spadina Avenue. She’ll be returning to Vancouver for a book reading and signing on May 22 at SFU’s Harbour Centre. She’ll also be coming to Winnipeg, Ottawa, Hamilton and Mississauga in the upcoming weeks. You can see the schedule here.
Image: Libby Davies
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We don’t usually have a lot of music on rabble podcasts, and we’re happy that rabble radio is full of music on this week’s show. It’s a difficult theme though, related to a painful, personal story of childhood sexual abuse. Which makes it all the more important to do a program about it because a lot of the best songs expose pain and bring an awareness about the things we need to change.
Alyssa Wright is a cellist, singer-songwriter and now an actor and playwright. She’s based in Barrie, Ontario.
Her one woman show Music for the Changing Voice is premiering tonight at Talk is Free Theatre in Barrie. In the show, she delves into the most painful of family histories — her sexual abuse by her father when she was a pre-teen. In the story, though, her father is the secondary character. The main character whom she struggles against is her grandfather, her father’s father.
It’s a story about family reputation and about hiding secrets. Though her grandfather has been gone now for over a decade, she is reminded of him every time she sees the name, The Don Wright Faculty of Music — University of Western Ontario. He was a well known figure whom a lot of people in the music community still remember.
In this interview, Alyssa talks to rabble podcast exec producer Victoria Fenner about her musical show and how especially difficult it is to escape from the memory of family members, especially when memorialized as “pillars of the community.”
The music from Music for the Changing Voice is available on CD. You can find out more about the CD and Alyssa’s project by going to The Katie Project. The CD and the website also contains information for survivors of sexual abuse. In the credits for the CD, Alyssa writes “If this story in any way touches upon your own, please know that you are not alone, and there are many resources available to help you navigate through and heal from the aftermath.”
Music credits: “Katie” and “Sword and Wand” by Alyssa Wright. Used with permission.
Musicians: Alyssa Wright, lead vocal and cello; Leslie Arden, piano and vocal harmonies; and Ray Dillard, marimba, percussion and vocal harmonies.
Image credit: Peter Stranks. Used with permission.
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April 18, 2001. That’s when it all started. rabble.cawas built on the efforts of progressive journalists, writers, artists and activists across the country and has a unique role of reporting on stories from civil society while providing a counterbalance to corporate-owned media.
Back in 2001, online journalism was still in its infancy. In case you can’t remember back that far or weren’t born yet, here’s a description of the internet at the turn of the century by Motherboard magazine – most Americans weren’t on the internet (that would be true of Canada as well). Connections were dialup. And slow. Really slow.
MySpace was all the rage. Whatever happened to Myspace anyway?
A lot of those early internet spaces went the way of MySpace. But rabble.ca is still here. That’s pretty amazing.
We’ve had thousands of contributors work with us, along with many staff and interns. Today we’re going to hear from the people who put rabble together for you now, in 2019.
Happy Age of Majority, rabble.ca!
Image: rabble kittens say Happy Birthday. Because everybody clicks on kittens.
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Unifor is Canada’s largest private sector union with over 315,000 members. It’s also a very young union. Just five years old, Unifor was formed through a merger of two unions — the Canadian Autoworkers Union and the Communication, Energy and Paperworkers Union.
Today’s guest on rabble radio helped make that merger happen. Fred Wilson played a key organizing and planning role in the New Union Project, which culminated in the creation of Unifor. He was the director of strategic planning for Unifor during its first three years. He’s written a book, released this week, which documents the first five years in the life of Unifor. It’s called A New Kind of Union: Unifor and the Birth of the Modern Canadian Union, published by James Lorimer and Company.
The official publicity for the book on the James Lorimer website says “Unifor has been a source of optimism and inspiration that unions can adapt to changing times and be a relevant voice for workers in twenty-first century workplaces, and in politics. But to do that, Unifor had to be a new kind of union that would act differently.”
And act differently, it has. It has also developed a reputation as an outlier, taking some controversial positions and actions which have raised the ire of others in the Canadian union movement, most notably, its disaffiliation with the Canadian Labour Congress in 2018. And in the book, Fred doesn’t shy away from discussing these controversies and the events which led up to the split, as well as other ways that Unifor is “a new kind of union.”
Victoria Fenner, rabble’s executive producer of podcasts talked to Fred Wilson by skype on Tuesday while he was at the Unifor Family Education Centre on the shores of Lake Huron.
To get a fuller picture of the events which preceded and precipitated the split from the Canadian Labour Congress, there are some articles on rabble you can read, including a blog post by John Cartwright, president of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council called An Open Letter to Our Movement, dated January 30, 2018. David Climenhaga also wrote Canadian Labour Movement Abuzz in Wake of Unifor Decision to Quit the Canadian Labour Congress. You can also check out an article in Briar Patch by Larry Savage, chair and professor in the department of labour studies at Brock University called Making Sense of the Unifor CLC Split, dated January 18, 2018.
There are also many other articles all expressing different opinions and perspectives on the CLC split which you can read online. We mention this because it was a signature event which rocked the union movement and to which there are many opinions and interpretations to explore further.
Image: from A New Kind of Union. Photo provided by James Lorimer and Company.
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A bill to ban the importation and exportation of shark fins received its second reading in the House last month. Bill S-238 was sponsored by Finn Donnelly, Member of Parliament for Port Moody-Conquitlam in BC. It was passed by the Senate last fall and is up against the clock to be passed before this session of Parliament is over and electioneering begins.
Today’s rabble radio interview is with two people who have been the driving force behind this bill, making it their personal mission to end shark finning. It’s a hopeful yet also a very sad story. Brian Stewart and Sandra Campbell are continuing the life mission of their son, Rob Stewart, conservationist, activist and film maker. He completed two films which you’ve probably heard about – Sharkwater (2006) and Revolution (2012) . These films which busted a lot of myths about sharks which have been promoted by films like Jaws and other pop culture scare stories. He was working on his third film, Sharkwater Revolution, in Florida when he drowned during a dive on January 31, 2017.
Brian and Sandra reflect upon their son’s legacy and their efforts to continue what Rob started.
You can read more about Rob Stewart, his work and his films here, as well as a listing of where you can see the three films. You can also hear an interview on rabble.ca with Rob about his second film Revolution, dated August 23, 2013 on the Alternatives Podcast.
Image: Brian Stewart and Sandra Campbell. Used with permission.
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The political situation in Venezuela is a subject of extremely polarized debate which will likely continue for many months, if not years.
The legitimacy of President Maduro is still in dispute, people are starving and leaving the country. It’s a country in crisis, that much can be agreed upon. But it can be hard to find the middle ground between the different points of view regarding the reasons for the crisis. Today’s interview guest walks that middle line well. Yes, there is a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. Few people would say that’s not true. But the reasons for it are not being told in the media, except in the progressive press.
Dimitri Lascaris is a lawyer, journalist and activist best known for his support of justice for Palestine. In July 2016, he retired from the full time practice of law in order to devote more time to activism and journalism. Among other things, he is now a correspondent and board member of The Real News Network.
He went on a fact-finding mission to Caracas for The Real News from February 1-8, 2019 to talk to to both the supporters and the critics of Nicolas Maduro.
This interview is by Dave Kattenburg of The Green Blues Show, a music and social justice podcast produced in Winnipeg by The Green Planet Monitor.
Disclosure – One of Dimitri Lascaris current cases is a lawsuit against the Liquor Control Board of Ontario over the sale of two wines produced in Israel’s illegal settlements. Those wines are sold in Canada bearing labels which, the plaintiffs say, falsely proclaim them to be “Product of Israel”. David Kattenburg is the man who has filed the lawsuit against the LCBO. He is also a close friend of Lascaris but they don’t work together on cases related to Venezuela.
Image: Dimitri Lascaris in Caracas. Used with permission of Dimitri Lascaris
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The Jewish National Fund is an international charity with branches around the world, including Canada. The organization describes its work on its website this way:
“For decades the Jewish National Fund of Canada has cared for the land of Israel. This mission took the role of planting trees, building water reservoirs, preserving natural habitats, and building parks and bicycle trails.
More recently, JNF Canada has taken on projects to build the social infrastructure of the land of Israel for the benefit of the People of Israel.”
Critics say that its activities are not all benevolent. Today’s guest is one of them. David Mivasair is a rabbi living in Hamilton, Ontario.
In an email to rabble radio, David said “I am writing to people I know in Canada to ask you to please sign this formal, legal petition to Canada’s Minister of National Revenue to revoke the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund Canada, if it is audited and determined to be in violation of Canada’s Income Tax Act and foreign policy, as I am thoroughly convinced it is.”
He listed a number of reasons, including (in his own words):
1) The JNF is dedicated to acquiring and providing land for Jews. It excludes Palestinians and other non-Jews. It outright owns 16% of the land in Israel and controls the management of about 90% of all land in Israel. It violates the provision in the Canada Tax Act that stipulates that a charitable organization must provide a “public good”, which means does not discriminate on the basis of ethnic identity.
2) The JNF uses charitable donations from Canada to support projects and programs in coordination with the Israel Defense Forces. Charitable organizations are not allowed to support foreign militaries.
3) The JNF funds projects in Israel which displace Palestinians from their homes, demolish villages, build on their sites and otherwise make physical changes in a militarily occupied territory. This violates international law and Canadian foreign policy.
He talks to rabble podcast executive producer Victoria Fenner about the petition which he has launched. At posting time, it has been supported by approximately 1800 Canadians, including NDP MP Niki Ashton and Pierre-Luc Dusseault.
You can find out more by going to the Stop the JNF Canada website.
Image: David Mivasair
There are many media workers in Canada who got their start at community based campus radio stations. That possibility may not exist in Ontario if the Ford government’s new plan for student fees is implemented.
Ontario-based campus radio stations are fighting for their lives. The Ford government’s surprise Student Choice Initiative will have a direct impact on campus based community radio stations, and some of them may close altogether.
Even though campus and community radio stations are independent non profit organizations, most are heavily dependent on student fees to pay the majority of the bills. The Student Choice initiative has the potential to severely cut into the revenue that stations need to survive.
Barry Rooke is the executive director of the National Campus and Community Radio Association. They’re deep into planning their annual conference in Toronto from June 4-6. In the midst of their planning, they’ve had to shift focus and mount a campaign to deal with this critical situation. There will undoubtedly be a lot of strategizing at the conference about this, but there’s no time to waste. The reforms are slated to come into effect this coming September so they’re planning now.
Barry Rooke talked to Victoria Fenner about how the fee structure works and what could happen if the Ford Government’s new idea is implemented.
Image: Volunteer in Campus/community radio station CKMS in Waterloo, 2003. Photo: Victoria Fenner
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On today’s episode of rabble radio, we’re discussing the Progressive International movement, a budding network of social movements, activists, and political organizers around the world who are linking up local struggles with an international vision to rebuild a progressive world order. Progressive International is working towards a vision of a world built around a shared progressive values of solidarity, prosperity, and equity.
The movement was launched in November 2018 at the Sanders Institute in Vermont.
On today’s program, rabble’s Assistant Editor Sophia Reuss interviews NDP MP Niki Ashton. She was at the initial launch of the Progressive International, and spoke on a panel with former Greek Finance Minister and leader of the Democracy in Europe Movement, DiEM25. Yanis Varoufakis, as well as U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, and other prominent progressive figures.
Image: Matt Jiggins/Flickr
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As the implications of last week’s takeover of the elected Venezuelan presidency by the unelected leader of the opposition become more clear, the debate intensifies.
The Canadian government, along with the majority of Western governments, supports the removal of the democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro from power and the replacement with unelected Opposition leader Juan Guaido. But not all Canadians are patting our government on the back for supporting what many believe is a US orchestrated coup.
Today’s show features three Canadian activists who don’t agree with our government’s perspective.
1.) An excerpt from last week’s show called Power Play: The U.S. And Canada back a Coup in Venezuela. The Global Research News Hour examines the internal and external forces attempting to undermine the democratically elected government of Venezuela, their motives and what the future holds for the Bolivarian Republic.
The excerpt which you’ll hear on today’s show is a critique of the Canadian government’s support of the leadership change, and also talks about why our country’s official position is no different from that of the United States. Global Research News Hour host and producer Michael Welch did this interview last week and posted the show, just two days after the leadership takeover. He talks to Radhika Desai, Professor of Political Studies and member of the Winnipeg Venezuela Peace Committee, and Nino Pagliccia Vancouver-based Venezuelan-Canadian, writer and activist.
Thanks to Global Research News Hour for permission to re-podcast. If you’d like to hear the entire hour long program, you can listen here.
2.) You may recall that rabble.ca was part of a delegation last May which went to Venezuela to monitor the Presidential elections — the same election that the US, Canada and other world leaders are declaring to be illegitimate and a justification for the overthrow of President Maduro. Humberto da Silva is a regular contributor to rabble, a filmmaker and member of the delegation. He shares some perspectives on recent events.
You can read rabble reports and watch Humberto’s videos from the May 2018 Venezuelan elections here.
Photo: Wikipedia – Venezuelan people queuing to vote
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The Doug Ford government is continuing to cut back and change post-secondary education in Ontario. One of the things announced last week was a plan to make ancillary fees optional. Those are fees that students pay for a wide variety things that aren’t directly related to their course work.
Right now, in many cases, students can already opt out by paying and asking for a refund. This new idea is an “opt-in” strategy, where students would be given a menu of choices where they check off what they want to pay and not. This makes it easier for students to have a say in what they want to fund. Critics of the plan say that students will be tempted by the short-term savings while eroding campus life and the educational experience for students in general. They say it also has the potential to significantly erode student activism.
And it wouldn’t apply to all non-academic fees. Things like library and athletic fees would still be mandatory. The Canadian Federation of Students says that the opt-out arrangement would only apply to those things that are considered “Student Experience Fees,” which are the fees applied to most extra-curricular organizations and activities on campus. Things like student council fees, bus passes, student media and even health and dental plans will be subject to the new rules. In some cases, like student council fees, we’re talking $100-200 per year. In some cases, it can be just a few dollars for things like campus media, Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) or donations to, for example, WUSC’s Student Refugee Program.
The CFS has an additional reason to fight back — the fees that students pay for CFS membership would also be subject to the opt-out clause.
On today’s rabble radio, Victoria Fenner talks to Hildah Otieno, the executive director of CFS Ontario, who says this idea will severely limit students’ ability to have their voices heard on campus. They talked yesterday by phone from the CFS office in Toronto, and she explained what kinds of services would be impacted and what the effects of this opt-out strategy would be.
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Brenda O’Farrell has been on the job as rabble.ca’s editor-in-chief for a few months now. She started working with us in October 2018. Now that she’s had a few months to settle in, and with it being a brand new year, Victoria Fenner thought it would be a time to ask her to share her ideas about media in Canada and rabble.ca in particular.
Brenda comes from a different place in the media ecosystem than rabble, having worked mostly in commercial media, but even in these early days she’s showing that she has good ideas about how to navigate the ever-changing media landscape that we now find ourselves in, and that she has some great ideas for rabble.ca as we chart our course in these challenging times. They talked via Skype.
Bio: Brenda O’Farrell is the editor-in-chief of rabble.ca. Formerly a senior editor at the Montreal Gazette, she has held a variety of positions, including National editor, Sunday editor and special projects editor. She created and launched the Homefront section, which appears in the Saturday edition, before leading the reporting team that launched two of Postmedia’s most successful hyper-local news websites.
She started her career as a reporter at a community weekly paper, and is now an active member of the board of directors of the Quebec Community Newspaper Association. She has also been an on-air commentator at CJAD Radio in Montreal, and a professor of journalism at Concordia University.
She lives just west of Montreal.
Image: Brenda O’Farrell
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Tomorrow is the deadline to submit comments to the federal government about what we’d all like to see in a new Broadcast and Telecommunications Act. The government’s goal for the review, as stated on its website, is “to update and modernize the legislative framework in a balanced way that takes into account the realities of Canadian consumers and businesses, and our artists, artisans and broadcasters without increasing the cost of services to Canadians.”
It’s a little known fact that there are three categories of broadcasters which form the pillars of the current Broadcast Act. We hear a lot about the CBC and private broadcasters, but not so much about the third pillar, community broadcasting. In many ways, not-for-profit community-based radio and television is still this country’s best kept secret.
Canada’s community radio and television organizations have been working hard to build up the sector’s profile, and to secure their position in the new Broadcast Act. The National Campus and Community Radio Association is one of those organizations. The two French community radio organizations — L’ARC du Québec (Community Radio in Quebec) and L’ARC du Canada (Francophone Community Radio in the rest of Canada) — as well as CACTUS (Canadian Association of Community Television Stations and Users) are also part of the community media landscape in Canada working for greater recognition of the community media sector.
Barry Rooke is the Executive Director of the NCRA. In this interview, he shares some surprising facts with rabble radio host Victoria Fenner about community and campus radio in Canada.
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rabble radio’s first program of 2019 looks southward at the people who are migrating north from Central America to the United States.
Crushing poverty and ultra violence in Central America are usually said to be the main factors causing migration from that region to the U.S. That perception is grounded in fact — gang violence and poverty are some of the big factors. But there is also a link between climate change and migration that is not addressed as often.
Robert Albro is a cultural anthropologist at the Center for Latin American Studies at American University in Washington, D.C. Since 1991, Dr. Albro has conducted research on popular and indigenous political responses to multicultural democratization and economic globalization in Bolivia. His current research focuses on how global cultural policy shapes the terms of globalization.
This interview comes to us from The Green Planet Monitor’s radio program The Green Blues Show. Dave Kattenburg, is the show’s producer and host. They talk about the links between food security and the migration of people from the dry corridor countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Image: Farm in Guatemala near Chilmaltenango. Photo by Victoria Fenner
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Simon Chambers has just come back from COP 24, the Annual United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland. The conference just ended on the weekend. The conference was scheduled to take place between December 2 and 14 but went into overtime to resolve important outstanding issues.
Simon is Head of Communications at the ACT Alliance, a coalition of 151 churches and faith-based organisations working together in over 125 countries. Unlike some of the far right churches we hear about, the membership of ACT Alliance consists of churches which do believe that climate change is real, and that faith based groups should be part of the dialogue.Their ACT for Climate Justice Now campaign aims to bridge the technical, moral and ethical perspectives on climate justice. AT COP24 it mobilized members to safeguard the integrity of creation.
On today’s rabble radio, he talks to rabble radio executive producer Victoria Fenner from his office in Toronto to share his perspective on what was accomplished.
Simon estimates that there were about 28,000 people at COP 24. He says that being at COP is a rare opportunity to be together with people who are passionate about climate work, though they’re not all on the same side or have the same solutions. The language and terminology can be very difficult for non specialists to understand, so that’s one of the reasons why he was there. One aspect of his job is to communicate to his stakeholders and the general public, translating language which is often dense, scientific and complicated.
And a big part of his job is about bringing the voices of the world’s vulnerable population into the discussion about climate change.
Image: ACT Alliance at COP24. Photo by Simon Chambers.
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John Foster’s new book Oil and World Politics was the result of unconventional inspiration. The retired economist specializing in the oil and petroleum industry was attending a series of lectures where, as he describes it in the preface of the book, a couple of his colleagues called him out for rolling his eyes in the back row.
In his own words, “the speakers extolled all the wonderful things that Western leaders were doing for the world. I was a bit skeptical whether the non Western world was as accepting as they insinuated.”
Having spent so much of his life working as an oil economist, John Foster understands the underlying role played by oil and gas in international affairs. It’s a huge role, and he believes that The Petroleum Game is the foundation upon which the geopolitics of the world sits. He identifies hidden issues behind many of the conflicts in the world today, looking at military interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria; tensions in the Persian Gulf and the South China Sea; and use of sanctions or political interference related to petroleum trade in Iran, Russia, and Venezuela. And closer to home, the Alberta Tar Sands.
Victoria Fenner spoke to John Foster over skype.
Further reading: John Foster also wrote a recent column for rabble on December 10, 2018 called Pipelines will not solve the big problems with Alberta Oil.
Image: Roy Luck – Flickr – Oil Tanker at Kinder Morgan Pipeline Terminal
Today’s program comes from the recent Hospital Employees Union annual convention called Powered by Solidarity. It was held from November 4 through 9, 2018 in Vancouver.
There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to health care, but today’s podcast isn’t going to be about that. It is about solidarity though. In this case, it’s about solidarity with and by Indigenous workers.
Rod Mickleburgh is the author of On the Line: A History of the British Columbia Labour Movement. One of the chapters in the book is about the role of Indigenous workers and locals in the history of the province — something that there hasn’t been a lot of information about in history books. He was a guest speaker at the HEU Convention.
B.C. Premier John Horgan also stopped by the HEU convention to talk about another subject — the upcoming B.C. referendum on proportional representation. Voting has been open since October 22 and ends next Friday, November 30. Federally, the issue is off the table for now but provinces have the power to determine their own electoral system. This referendum in BC is a big step toward that goal. He shares a few words about the referendum with the HEU delegates.
Thanks to Tania Ehret for recording these speeches for rabble podcasts.
Listen to rabble radio’s May 3, 2018 interview with Rod Mickleburgh.
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Last week, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported that the number of migrants and refugees from Venezuela has reached 3 million.
We’ve seen a lot about this on the news but there are some different interpretations about what is causing this mass migration that you don’t hear. Last May, rabble.ca was part of a delegation that went to Venezuela to observe the country’s elections. The people in the delegation saw sharp differences between what was happening on the ground and what was being reported in the western media.
And even when there was agreement on the facts, there was disagreement about the reasons. And there still is. Canada is one of the countries which is participating in the endless condemnations of the Maduro regime. Canada has economic sanctions in place against Venezuela, which critics of our foreign policy say create the problems that make life unliveable for so many and escalate the crisis.
Things haven’t gotten better in Venezuela since our election reports in May. In its most recent couple of programs, Global Research News Hour has devoted its airtime to explorations of the ongoing issues in Venezuela. A couple of weeks ago, host Michael Welch had a chance to talk to Steve Ellner, a professor of economic history and political science at Venezuela’s Universidad de Oriente in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela since 1977. He is the author of numerous books and journal articles on Venezuelan history and politics, specifically in the area of political parties and organized labour and frequently lectures on Venezuelan and Latin American political developments in the U.S. and elsewhere.
He was in Canada in late October as part of a North American speaking tour. Michael Welch spoke to him in Winnipeg.
Image: Wikimedia – 2015 Venezuela Colombia Migrant Crisis
Read/watch rabble Venezuelan election coverage from May 2018:
Venezuela is democratic because the majority of voters made it so
The Vultures of Venezuela
Rabble TV
Venezuela – a mother’s testimony
Counting the Vote in Venezuela
What should international labour solidarity with Venezuela look like?
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The sound of a train in the night… it’s a comforting sound that tells us somebody’s out there in the darkness.
But to the people of Lac-Mégantic in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, the sound of a train has very different associations. It’s a reminder of that night — July 6, 2013 just after 1 am, when a runaway train barrelled into town, killing 47 people and decimating the core of the small town of approximately 6,000 people.
Bruce Campbell has just written a book called The Lac-Mégantic Rail Disaster – Public Betrayal, Justice Denied, published by James Lorimer and Company. He’s the former Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and is the author of three major reports and a number of media commentaries on the Lac-Mégantic tragedy.
The book is the story of one runaway train and a small town catastrophe. It’s also a larger story about how free market ideology of unfettered markets, big oil and deregulation caused the tragedy. Bruce Campbell managed to blend the two aspects of the story – the political issues and the human repercussions, painting a vivid picture of the town and its people and the long term effects of policy failures on individual lives. He speaks to rabble podcast exec producer Victoria Fenner.
You can read an excerpt from the book here.
Image: Wikipedia – Police Helicopter View of Lac-Mégantic
If you’re in Toronto tomorrow, November 9, 2018, join Bruce Campbell at the Centre for Social Innovation, 720 Bathurst for his Toronto book launch. It’s from 5-7 pm.
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Even though we’re in Canada, many of us are watching the U.S. midterms next Tuesday with hope, and also fear and trepidation. Not just because the U.S. and Canada have important economic links, but also because what’s happening in the U.S. also affects our social and political life up here. In particular, we’ve seen that Trump’s brand of racism isn’t stopping at the border.
A return of Democratic Party strength next week will do a lot to help reign in the Republican party and the president. At least, that’s the hope.
Victoria Fenner, rabble’s podcast producer, talked to two Americans who are working for change in their country as Tuesday approaches.
1) David Mivasair – Like many Americans, David is a dual citizen been living in Canada for a long time. And even though he’s made his home in Canada for 23 years, he’s understandably worried about the land of his birth. So he’s doing something about it. He’s campaigning in a swing district in New York State in the 22nd Congressional District of New York as a volunteer for Democratic candidate Anthony Brindisi. He’s been doing Facebook posts since the middle of October which paint a picture of a beautiful rural landscape populated by very divided people. He talked to Victoria about why he decided his energy was needed in this place.
2) Music – Why Are the Guns Still Firing – performed by Joe Jencks, written by Si Kahn. Used with permission and thanks. From the CD The Forgotten – Recovered Treasures from the Pen of Si Kahn.
3) Joe Jencks – Joe is a singer, songwriter, social activist and an American from the Chicago area. In this conversation at a recent house concert in Barrie, Ontario, he talks about the state of his country and the contribution that music makes to build community and hope.
4) Music – Let Me Sing You a Song – written by Joe Jencks – in Joe’s words – “dedicated to the courage, perseverance and integrity of my mentor and friend Pete Seeger. It was inspired by his 1955 congressional testimony”. From the CD Poets, Philosophers, Workers and Wanderers. Used with permission and thanks.
Last minute campaign notes — David Mivasair says there is still need for volunteers to help get out the vote. Canadians welcome. If you’d like to join him, the phone number for candidate Anthony Brindisi’s campaign in the 22nd Congressional District of New York is 315-281-9642 or email info@brindisiforcongress.com. On the West Coast, you can contact the Democratic campaign in the 8th District of Washington, just south and east of Seattle, at (425) 395-4775 or info@drkimschrier.com.
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During the 1980s, many young people from Canada and around the world traveled to Nicaragua.
Young and idealistic, they wanted to help the people of that country rebuild after the revolution which saw the election of the Sandinistas. The Sandinistas were a people’s party which came to power after 40 years of military dictatorship under the repressive Somoza family.
Lois Ross is an Ottawa-based journalist and communicator who has had a longtime interest in Nicaragua. She was one of the young Canadians who went down to Nicaragua to support agrarian reform and the progressive Sandanista government. She lived in Nicaragua for two years in 1985 and 1986.
Lois is a columnist on issues of agriculture and food security for rabble. She’s done two installments of a three-column series for rabble where she draws from that experience in Nicaragua all those years ago, drawing parallels with what’s happening there today.
She talks to rabble podcast exec producer Victoria Fenner about her series of columns and why she wanted to write them more than 30 years later.
Read Lois’s columns:
Are the real Sandinistas in Nicaragua standing up?
Nicaragua’s agrarian reform and revolution 40 years on
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Over the past month, Phillip Dwight Morgan has been writing a special series for rabble.ca called Toronto Votes 2018. Phillip Dwight Morgan is a Toronto-based journalist and writer and was rabble.ca’s first Jack Layton Journalism for Change Fellow.
This fall we asked him to do a series of stories about the election. You can read his series here. To wrap it up, rabble.ca podcast executive producer Victoria Fenner talked to him at the new Centre for Social Innovative building at 192 Spadina in Toronto.
They talked about the surprises in the campaign, the effect of the intervention by Doug Ford to shrink the size of council, the rise of racist alt-right and the two Torontos — the glitzy city trying to say “we’re world class” and the Toronto of those who live on the margins just trying to survive.
Image: Phillip Dwight Morgan. Photo by Victoria Fenner
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It seems pretty obvious to most of us. The same countries that are ‘up in arms’ about refugees are also the ones which are working the hardest to discourage refugees from coming to their country. Even though they’re the ones creating the crisis (US of A, we’re looking at you).
Today’s rabble radio features an interview with Cesar Jaramillo, Executive Director of Project Ploughshares, based in Waterloo. It was done by David Kattenburg of The Green Blues Show, a production of The Green Planet Monitor, a social justice/environmental/science website and radio program based in Winnipeg.
Cesar Jaramillo’s work has focused on such program areas as nuclear disarmament, outer space security and conventional weapons control. As an international civil society representative, he has addressed, among others, the UN General Assembly First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), and the UN Conference on Disarmament, and the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). He’s an occasional columnist on matters of disarmament and international security, and graduated from the University of Waterloo with an MA in global governance and has bachelor’s degrees in honours political science and in journalism. Prior to joining Project Ploughshares, Cesar held a fellowship at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).
Image: Pixabay – Alexas_Fotos – Child Refugee photo.
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When rabble.ca podcast producer Victoria Fenner was driving out in the farmlands outside Barrie, Ontario where she lives, she noticed a billboard that wasn’t the usual ad to buy real estate, furniture or other consumer commodities. On the side of the road, next to a stand of forest, the billboard said ‘Free Political Prisoners in Honduras. Free Elmvale’s Edwin Espinal’.
She’d heard of Edwin Espinal because Ben Powless wrote an article for rabble just this past May 29 called The fight to get Karen Spring into Honduran Prison. Karen Spring is Edwin Espinal’s partner who grew up in the town of Elmvale, not far from Barrie. Her parents still live in that small rural town. Ben Powless went down to Honduras in the spring with a delegation to try to get into the prison to see Edwin. And especially, to help get Karen in to see him.
Janet Spring is one of the leaders of the campaign to secure his release. She’s Edwin’s mother-in-law and has been tirelessly working to advocate for the release of Edwin. It’s been four months since that delegation went down to Honduras and Edwin is still not free. The campaign to release Edwin is being waged internationally, nationally and even at the local level in their own rural community. In this podcast, Janet talks about that day last spring outside the Honduran jail, the support from their small town, and what’s happened with the campaign since their journey to Honduras in the spring.
You can find out more about the local campaign by going to Simcoe County Honduras Rights Monitor. You can also find out about issues surrounding political prisoners and the climate of repression by going to the website of the Honduras Solidarity Network. Karen Spring, Edwin’s partner, is the Honduras coordinator of that organization.
Image: Billboard to Free Edwin Espinal – Elmvale, Ontario. Photo: Janet Spring
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Earth is no longer a safe operating space, according to today’s guest on rabble radio. Look at the dramatic and devastating events of this year – hundreds of fires across the world, monster sized hurricanes, earth parching heat waves and drought. All but the most stubborn of climate change deniers can see this. Unfortunately, some of those climate change deniers are politicians who are making decisions which affect our very survival. It’s grim.
Will Steffen has a long history in international global change research, serving from 1998 to 2004 as Executive Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), based in Stockholm, Sweden, and before that as Executive Officer of IGBP’s Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems project. He was the Inaugural Director of the Australian National University’s Climate Change Institute, from 2008-2012. He is currently a Climate Councillor with the Climate Institute, and from 2011 to 2013 was a Climate Commissioner on the Australian Government’s Climate Commission; Chair of the Antarctic Science Advisory Committee, Co-Director of the Canberra Urban and Regional Futures (CURF) initiative and Member of the ACT Climate Change Council.
He is co-author of a paper called Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene. On today’s podcast he talks about that paper, written with Johan Rockström looks at the earth as a geophysical system. It presents the theory that the earth is no longer a sustainable space – we’re in a transient phase. The earth is shifting and we don’t have a map to see what trajectory it might take. But, Will Steffen says, it’s like a domino effect. Once temperatures reach a certain level, those dominoes will start to fall to the point where nothing can be done. We’re not at that tipping point yet, but the science indicates that it’s coming.
This interview is from the August 17, 2018 episode of The Green Blues Show, hosted and produced by David Kattenburg who is an occasional contributor to rabble radio. Listen to the Green Blues Show on CKUW Radio in Winnipeg or online by going to greenplanetmonitor.net. Thanks to for permission to reuse this interview.
Image: Wikipedia – Forest Fire in Yosemite
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If you look at maps of electoral riding across the country and which politicians represent them, it’s pretty evident that most of the progressive politicians are elected from large urban centres. Not exclusively, but mostly.
rabble podcast executive producer Victoria Fenner lives in one of those conservative places that has a track record of electing politicians who don’t seem to understand a lot of basic issues like poverty, human rights, and issues of inclusion, among others.
Barrie isn’t a lot different from many other smaller communities across Canada. Except that Barrie is a bit more special in that regards, having been the only place east of Manitoba to have ever elected a Reform party candidate to Ottawa. That was back in 1993 when another guy named Harper (Ed Harper – no relation to Stephen) was elected for one term.
Victoria moved to Barrie three years ago after living most of my life in big cities. She decided to do this interview because, she says. “It was pretty easy in Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto and Hamilton to seek out and be with people who pretty much shared my values. It’s frustrating in many ways to live here, but frustration hasn’t worked very well for me. I’m not planning to move, so I’ve been actively exploring what I can do to have an effect on my community?”
So she’s making an effort to connect with the progressive people who do live here, rather than lament that there are not as many of them as she would like.
Keenan Alywin one of those people. Keenan was born in Barrie, went away to school and came back. He’s one of the most visible workers for human rights and a just and fair society in Barrie. He’s young, has a lot of energy, lots of skills and abilities and good ideas. He also ran locally in the last provincial election for the Green Party. He didn’t win but is trying again, running for City Council in Barrie in the October municipal elections.
Victoria and Keenan got together down at the Barrie waterfront to share some thoughts about the small city where they live, and also what people in other places like theirs can do to be the change they want to see.
Image: Keenan Aylwin. Photo by Victoria Fenner
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We’ve heard a lot about the crisis in local news as small community papers have closed down and local tv newscasts removed and replaced with big city casts. Most radio stations haven’t had local news content for a long time, and there is some doubt that online news will fill the gap. As a result, small communities in particular are being abandoned and are becoming news deserts.
A new $50 million local news fund has been announced by the Federal Government but it’s taking a long time to roll out. It’s far less than the $350 million that newspaper publishers were pushing for, and the $50 million only amounts to $10 per year over five years.
The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) is an organization that has been lobbying the federal government to establish non-profit community media centres. CACTUS’ position is that community media should be given some of the money to develop capacity for communities to tell their own stories.
Cathy Edwards is the Executive Director of CACTUS. Victoria Fenner spoke to her a couple of weeks ago at her home in Gatineau.
Disclosure: Victoria Fenner is a member of CACTUS.
Image: Broadcast Tower in Cambridge Bay Nunavut. Victoria Fenner, 2003.
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Anti-sexual abuse and women’s empowerment campaigns like #MeToo and #TimesUp have upended the conversation surrounding sexual violence and women’s issues worldwide. But in parts of West Africa, strong cultural and religious taboos have prevented some women from speaking out in support of these movements.
In Ghana, research that dates back to 2009 shows sexual abuse in schools accounts for more than half of all cases in the country. It also shows that teachers are among the highest perpetrators of sexual violence, particularly among young girls. The country’s education ministry is currently investigating a number of sexual abuse scandals in schools where head teachers are being investigated for serial abuse, harassment and sexual extortion.
A group called the Coalition Against Sexual Abuse (CASA) is calling for immediate action on the part of Ghanaian authorities to end this crisis of sexual abuse. In March 2018, CASA launched a year-long campaign called Stop Sex Abuse in Schools. The focus of the campaign is on raising awareness and advocating for policy on sexual abuse and harassment in schools.
The campaign has three stages. The first is raising awareness of the issue on all media platforms with the #TimesUpGH trend. The second stage is bringing together stakeholders including the teachers’ union, civil society and NGOs to discuss the coalition’s target lens of teachers perpetrating sexual violence. Finally, the last stage is enforcing and building upon existing policy in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service to end rampant sexual abuse in the country.
Esther Armah is a member of the coalition. Armah is also the director of EAA Media Productions, a columnist with the Business and Financial Times, a media and communications lecturer with Webster University and the host of a global radio show and podcast called The Spin.
She spoke to Maxine Betteridge-Moes, a volunteer with Farm Radio International, a Canadian NGO that partners with radio broadcasters across sub-Saharan Africa to fight poverty and food insecurity through radio programs. This interview is a part of a podcast episode on sexual violence in Ghana, produced by Maxine Betteridge-Moes for the Young Journalists’ Global Podcast Challenge, organized by Farm Radio International for the WUSC and CECI International Forum. The full episode will be available soon, and we hope to have it available for rabble podcast listeners.
Image: Ray Styles Studios. Used with permission.
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Do I stay or do I go? After the election of Trump in 2016, there were a lot of memes and stories going around social media about why Americans should become Canadians. Some of that was real, and some of it was the Canadian tendency to pat ourselves on the back when we compare ourselves to the US. Regardless, many of us have friends who asked the same thing, so we know there were some Americans who live in Canada who breathed a sigh of relief that they were up here.
But, attachment and sentiment for one’s country is not a straightforward thing. Whether to stay or go is a question that some progressive Americans have asked themselves since November 8, 2016, and they continue to ask it.
“Are you going to stay or go back home?” is a question rabble podcast exec producer Victoria Fenner asked Sophia Reuss even before the election happened. Victoria met Sophia at the World Social Forum when it was held Montreal in August of that year, just a few months before the election. An American who grew up in Washington, DC, Sophia had just finished up as a rabble intern after graduating from McGill. She was volunteering to help produce ‘Ears on the Earth‘, a daily rabble podcast from the Forum. You can hear one of Sophia’s stories here.
At the time of the World Social Forum, not many people were seriously considering the possibility that Trump could win. And then, the unthinkable happened. Sophia could have stayed in Canada, but ultimately, she decided that she needed to be back home. She moved back to the US last year.
She currently lives in Brooklyn, and works at the Prisoner Reentry Institute, an organization at the City University of New York. She also is continuing her work with rabble as an assistant editor.
Today on rabble radio, Sophia shares her thoughts about why she decided to go back home.
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Long before any of us were podcasting, Frieda Werden was doing audio programs for an about women from a feminist perspective. She is cofounder of WINGS: Women’s International News Gathering Service, which started production back in 1986.
Coordinating an international network on a low budget was a huge job back then. Low budget organizations couldn’t afford satellite transmission time, which was the only way to get files from reporter to the production studios quickly. WINGS contributors came from different parts of the world, so tapes traveled by a lot of planes to get to WINGS studios to be packaged into a radio program.
Distributed primarily through community radio, the program has been produced weekly for 27 years. That’s a lot of words.
And it isn’t just the technology that’s changed. “A show only about women .. that’s just too radical”. That’s what Frieda was told many times in the early days. But that did not deter Frieda. She has been involved in the women’s movement even before her forays into broadcasting, and has seen a lot of ideas that were radical in 1986 become commonly accepted in the years that followed. She’s seen a lot of change in the women’s movement over more than five decades. She’s even credited as being one of the Feminists Who Changed America 1963-1975 in a book by that title written by Barbara J. Love.
Frieda is formerly from Texas, and worked in various places in the U.S. until 2002 when she moved up to Canada.
Victoria Fenner, rabble.ca’s executive producer of podcasts took a trip out to the west coast in May and was able to record a conversation with Frieda in her home on Denman Island, British Columbia.
Image: Frieda Werden on Denman Island BC, 2018. Photo by Victoria Fenner
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We’re hearing a lot in the news that there is still no resolution of the trade impasse between Canada and the United States. But as is often the case, we’re not often hearing the voices of labour on the issue.
Today’s rabble radio interview is with a representative from a trade union which is being directly affected by tariffs on steel and aluminum by the United States which were announced on May 31st. To recap, Canada is set to impose tariffs on American steel and aluminum, plus a wide variety of products. Symbolically, our own tariffs against American imports will come into effect on Canada Day.
In a show of solidarity which is unusual in Canadian politics, there is widespread agreement among all political parties, the general public and labour that a show of strength is the way to go.
Marc Belanger is the host and producer of RadioLabour, a podcast and radio show. He talks to Ken Neumann, National Director for Canada for the United Steelworkers union – the USW.
Thanks to RadioLabour for sending this interview to us. You can hear more RadioLabour programs at radiolabour.net
Image: Wikimedia – Steel Factory
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Fighting climate change is a numbers game, in units of degrees Celsius and millions and billions of tonnes.
As the atmospheric concentration of earth-warming CO2 rises above 400 parts per million — almost twice what it was 200 years ago – the nations of the world struggle to roll back their emissions by the gigatonne. Canada has vowed to cut emissions by 30 percent, relative to its emissions in 2005.
Most climate change scientists say that target falls far far short of what is needed. Still, Canada’s emissions rise relentlessly, notably in oil-rich Alberta, where bitumen-rich tar sands generate billions and billions of dollars for huge corporations, and for the province.
To placate Alberta, the Canadian government has declared that expanding fossil fuel production is perfectly consistent with Canada’s larger goal of reducing emissions from burning that fuel.
Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada, says the government approach won’t work. In a repeat of an interview from The Green Blues Show, originally broadcast on CKUW Radio in Winnipeg and online on The Green Planet Monitor, David Kattenburg talks to Keith Stewart about what’s wrong with the picture the government has painted.
Thanks to The Green Blues show for permission to podcast his interview. You can subscribe to the whole show through your favourite mobile podcast app. Just put Green Blues Show in the search box. Or, you can listen from the show website.
Image: Tar Sands exploratory mission/Flickr
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Today, May 17, a Canadian delegation of people from labour, community and media will be going to Venezuela to observe the May 20 national federal elections and to meet with local community and labour leaders.
The mainstream media coverage of events in Venezuela has been historically misleading. Many believe that’s because Venezuela has a socialist government that the big global power players object to, especially the United States.
If past history is any indication, the elections will be misrepresented to the rest of the world this time too if we only rely on coverage from the big mainstream media. rabble.ca is proud to have been invited to be part of the delegation to Venezuela so we can provide an alternative perspective to the coverage that a lot of the media will be distributing.
Humberto DaSilva is a member of CUPE and is also a frequent video contributor to rabble (known to rabble readers, listeners and viewers as “Not Rex”). He’s bringing his camera and will be doing video features for us, recording what people are doing and saying about the elections and life in Venezuela.
Victoria Fenner, rabble’s executive producer of podcasts, had a conversation with Humberto a couple of days ago. He told her that he wanted to go because it’s an important global issue about democracy and freedom, and also because he has a personal connection to Venezuela that he wants to explore.
The delegation will be gone until May 25, though Humberto will only be there until May 22. We’ll be posting a daily stream of articles on rabble from people in the delegation including video reports.
WATCH: Raul Burbano of Common Frontiers on Venezuela presidential elections on rabbletv
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Regular rabble readers and listeners know that the Canadian Boat to Gaza and the international Freedom Flotilla is something we think it’s important to cover each year. We’ve done some outstanding coverage over the past 8 years that the Flotilla has sailed. In 2011, the Canadian boat the Tahrir was seized by the Israeli military and we are proud that we were able to do interviews with participants who were part of the delegation as the story was unfolding.
There hasn’t been a Canadian boat every year, and there won’t be one in the fleet this year. But there will still be Canadians participating. The Freedom Flotilla boat, the Al Awda(The Return) left the Norwegian port of Bergen on Monday April 30, with hundreds of well-wishers on the dock to bid her farewell. This marks the beginning of her 75 day voyage to Gaza, to challenge and break the illegal Israeli blockade.
More ships will be joining it along the way. Fundraising to support the mission is important.
The members of the organization The supporters of Canadian Boat to Gaza, are committed to paying part of those costs, as well as part of the costs of acquiring of this hard-working former fishing boat. The Canadian Boat to Gaza share of the international Freedom Flotilla budget this year is $30,000.
rabble will be hosting a kick off online event tomorrow night to launch this year’s Canadian campaign. Join rabble on Tuesday, May 15 at 7 Eastern Daylight Savings Time for a special livestream, with special guests former NDP member of Parliament (and now Member of the Order of Canada) Libby Davies and retired U.S. Colonel Ann Wright.
Victoria Fenner talked to David Heap, one of the long time Canadian Boat to Gaza organizers about the event and what’s happening with this year’s Freedom Flotilla.
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Image: rabble.ca – The Tahrir – from 2011 Canadian Boat to Gaza
This week, politicians, reporters and pundits say it’s a make or break week for the North American Free Trade talks in Washington. They say if there isn’t a deal really soon, upcoming elections in the United States and Mexico could complicate things dramatically.
Despite all the boosterism for a successfully renegotiated NAFTA that we are usually hearing in the media, there are still people who think it would be a good thing if the NAFTA talks fail. Today’s guest on rabble radio is a well known opponent of NAFTA.
David Orchard is an author and farmer from Saskatchewan. He’s a former member of the Progressive Conservatives, the party which first brought us into free trade with the U.S. in 1988. He actually ran for the PCs twice, but left the party after it merged with the Canadian Alliance to form the Conservative Party of Canada. He jumped over to the Liberals and ran in the 2008 federal election.
He’s well known for his opposition to NAFTA, and the free trade deals that have come before it. Orchard is the author of the bestselling book The Fight for Canada: Four Centuries of Resistance to American Expansionism. He was also a co-founder of CCAFT (Citizens Concerned About Free Trade) in 1985, three years before the passage of the historic Canada US Free Trade Deal that started us on this free trade path that we’re walking now.
Today’s interview was done by Michael Welch of Winnipeg’s Global Research News Hour. It’s excerpted from the program called Free Trade Fantasies originally broadcast on Feb 2 of this year.
Thanks to Michael Welch for permission to post this as a rabble radio podcast. You can hear more of his programs here.
Image: Flickr – Jim Winstead
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Anyone who has lived in B.C. or follows political trends in Canada knows that our most westerly province is reputed to be one of the most politically polarized provinces in the nation. A lot of that has to do with the province’s unions, which are known for being formidable opponents at the bargaining table, and if it comes to that, on the picket lines.
But it’s not all black and white. There is a lot of nuance that only people who see the dynamics behind the scenes really understand. Rod Mickleburgh has been covering the labour movement in B.C. since the 1970s. He’s the author of a new book, On the Line: A History of the British Columbia Labour Movement.
On today’s rabble radio, he shares some thoughts with Victoria Fenner about some of the significant events in worker struggles that have helped create the province of B.C. as we know it today.
Image: Vancouver Province front page by Rod Mickleburgh
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Homemade movies are something we tend to take for granted in this era of selfie culture. Flashback to the 1950s and super 8 film. And then, in the 80s and 90s, all of the home movies shot on videotape. It was a very different technology and a different way of documenting and archiving than we see nowadays.
Those films have mostly been regarded as private, family moments. They weren’t shared. Today we’re talking to the organizers of a project that is addressing what they see as a gap in our national archives. The national archive project Homemade Visible wants to get that archival footage out of people’s closets and into our national archives. They are focusing especially on home movies by Indigenous people and visible minorities.
Homemade Visible is a project of the Regent Park Film Festival in Toronto, in partnership with Charles Street Video. rabble radio host Victoria Fenner talked to Ananya Ohri, Artistic Director of Homemade Visible. She is also the Executive Director of the Regent Park Film Festival.
The Homemade Visible Project is hosting a symposium this Saturday, April 28 at the Toronto Media Arts Centre at 32 Lisgar Street. Re:collections brings Indigenous artists and artists of colour to share how their work engages, re-frames and re-defines the archive. They’re exploring questions like — How do we take the idea of an archive, and its difficult, racist, exclusionary history, and turn it around?
For more info you can check out Homemade Visible Symposium Facebook page.
Image: Homemade Visible. Used with permission
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Today in anticipation of Earth Day and Earth Week, we’re celebrating and paying attention to the world we hear. Acoustic ecology is the study of human beings in their relationship to their environment through sound.
Multidisciplinary artists Brady Marks, Mark Timmings have created The Wetland Project to celebrate Earth Week 2018, a program of events exploring the soundscape of a Saturna Island, British Columbia marsh. The goal of the project is to connect people to the circadian rhythm of the wetland.
There are a few different components to this project — an audiovisual installation at the VIVO gallery in Vancouver, a musical performance comprised of sounds transcribed from field recordings of the marsh along with a work performed by chamber choir. And Slow Radio Day, where four radio stations and an internet stream will play the sounds of the wetlands all day on Earth Day, this Sunday, April 22.
The Wetland Project commemorates the 50-year anniversary of the founding of the World Soundscape Project and the idea of “wilderness radio” proposed by WSP associate Bruce Davis in 1975. In Davis’s words, it would be “a radio service which ‘listens in’ rather than broadcasts out.” Four decades later the Wetland broadcast realizes his vision.
Victoria Fenner, rabble.ca executive producer of podcasts, has been a soundscape artist and acoustic ecology practitioner for many years, primarily inspired in her early days at Vancouver Co-op Radio by Hildegard Westerkamp and the late Howard Broomfield, both World Soundscape Project researchers and artists. So she’s especially happy to be doing this program today for rabble radio.
She had a conversation with Brady Marks and Mark Timmings, starting their conversation by talking about who Murray Schafer is, and why the World Soundscape Project remains so important to listeners around the world.
View the full schedule, including the radio broadcast here.
Image: Nancy Angermeyer
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The voice and words of Judy Rebick are well known to rabble readers and listeners. Judy was one of the co-founders of rabble in 2001 and she continues to be a good friend and mentor to rabble these 17 years later.
In her new memoir Heroes in my Head, she recounts many of the political battles that she has waged over the years for women’s rights, a just and progressive society, and her involvement in the struggle to change Canada’s abortion laws.
And her new book shows another dimension in Judy’s life. It is truly a stunning example of the phrase “the personal is political.” She reveals as aspect to her life that few people have known until now.
She talks to Victoria Fenner, executive producer of rabble podcasts.
Bio: Judy Rebickis a well-known social justice and feminist activist, writer, journalist, educator, and speaker. She is the author of Transforming Power: From the Personal to the Political, Occupy This!, Ten Thousand Roses: The Making of a Feminist Revolution, Imagine Democracy.
She is the former president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, Canada’s largest women’s group, and was the first CAW Gindin Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Ryerson University. During the 1990s, she was the host of two national TV show on CBC Newsworld and is a frequent commentator on CBC Radio and Television. In the 1980s, she was a well-known spokesperson for the pro-choice movement during the fight to legalize abortion. She lives in Toronto.
Founding publisher of rabble.ca, Canada’s popular independent online news and discussion site You can read her rabble.ca blog here.
Image: Judy Rebick, photo by Kim Elliott.
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The 24th anniversary of Rwanda’s hundred-day genocide is Friday, April 6. It began when a plane carrying the president of Rwanda, Juvenal Habyarimana was shot down. From April to July, 1994, almost a million ethnic Tutsis and their Hutu friends were slaughtered by marauding gangs of Hutu extremists.
In alternative media, there is a long tradition of using radio for peacebuilding, so many community radio workers were horrified to hear that the airwaves in Rwanda were being used to stoke the furnace of ethnic hatred.
Today we’re repodcasting a story by David Kattenburg about how radio in Rwanda is working to promote healing after this sad legacy. It’s called “Ghosts of Hate Radio,” originally podcast on rabble in 2006, and repeated this week on The Green Planet Monitor.
And the tradition of radio for peace in Rwanda continues. One of the featured radio stations, Radio Izuba, continues to train whole new generations of journalists who are working to make sure this never happens again.
You’ll also hear the voices of Willy Rukundo, who was the station manager of state-run Radio Rwanda, and Alan Thompson, who organized and coordinated the Rwanda Initiative, a collaborative project of the National University of Rwanda and Carleton University, in Ottawa. The project ran from 2006 until 2011. It sent more than 75 Carleton journalism students to Rwanda as interns, as well as about 100 professional journalists to teach journalism there.
Thanks to The Green Planet Monitor for permission to repodcast.
Image: Wikipedia – African FM Radio
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The influx of money into our communities comes at a cost. All those shiny new buildings come with a high price tag as people with higher incomes move into our communities from elsewhere. They bring high real estate prices as the market grows. And new economic development also changes the kinds of services that are needed or desired to serve the growing and changing city.
It’s happening all over the country.
Hamilton, Ontario is a classic case study of how gentrification changes a community. Hamilton has had a reputation as a low rent city, but that’s all changed, especially in the last five years. It’s not as unaffordable as Toronto, but many people with low incomes are becoming displaced by higher rents because their homes are being sold by their landlords. Or they’re being evicted while landlords renovate so they can get higher prices. There’s no affordable place to go, with rents going up all over the city.
Gentrification is at the heart of a battle in Hamilton about public transit. Many people are supportive and others fear the development that will happen further on down the line when the line is built. For years, public transit in Hamilton has been substandard. The proposed solution, an LRT line going from east to west, is a good idea in many ways. But not everybody shares that opinion.
Today’s program asks the question — is this “A train to inclusion?”Lil Blume and Stephen Dale examine the coming of light rail transit in Hamilton, Ontario, with an eye on the question of how transit planning and the quest for social equality might — or might not — intersect.
Produced with support of the Ontario Arts Council Media Arts Division.
Image: Wikipedia – LRT Kenala Jaya Line
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Last week, March 16, marked a tragic milestone – the 50th anniversary of the My Lai Massacre, the mass murder of unarmed people in two small villages in Vietnam. It has been called one of the most shocking events of the entire war. My Lai was one of the two villages.
The exact number of deaths has never been definitively established, with estimates ranging from 170 to over 500. Many of the people killed were women and children who were also mutilated and raped by American soldiers. The massacre escalated global outrage and opposition to the war and back home in the United States. In the end, only one of the 26 soldiers criminally charged for their part in the massacre was convicted. That one lone soldier spent three and a half years under house arrest. He never went to jail.
This grim anniversary is cause for reflection not just on that incident, but the entirety of the war and its aftermath. This next interview is excerpted from The Global Research News Hour, a podcast and radio program by the Centre for Research on Globalization and CKUW Radio in Winnipeg. You’ll hear show host Michael Welch talking to Christian Appy, a leading American historian and expert on the Vietnam War. Appy is professor of history at University of Massachusetts and the author of American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity (2015).
This interview was excerpted from a longer program focusing on various aspects of the United States and the Vietnam War. You can listen to the whole show and past podcasts here.
Image: Wikimedia: My Lai Memorial Site
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Imagine coming home to your apartment building and seeing a sniffer-dog your lobby from a private canine detection company hired by your landlord. Or you go to a music festival and there is a group of security guards and sniffer dogs. That’s what happened to Michelle Guo’s friend from Australia. So Michelle decided to look into the legality of using sniffer dogs and what our rights are here in Canada. What she’s discovered is a lot of grey areas.
Michelle Guo is a Media Studies Student and rabble podcast contributor from Montreal. She speaks to rabble radio host Victoria Fenner.
Image: Wikipedia – sniffer dogs in Sweden
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February is one of the worst months to be homeless in Canada. Temperatures plunge and it seems like winter will never end. It’s a harsh reality for thousands of people in Canada.
That’s why community radio stations across Canada have chosen February as the time for their Homeless Marathon. Today, fourteen campus and community radio stations across the country will be devoting their airwaves to the topic of homelessness.
Luke Smith is with the National Campus and Community Radio Association. He talks to rabble podcast exec producer Victoria Fenner about how the idea came to be, what you’ll hear and how to listen.
If you live in one of the 14 communities across Canada taking part, you can listen onair. To find out, call your local station, or go to the NCRA website and click on the Homelessness Marathon link.
You can also listen online by going to www.localfm.ca – Local FM is the campus community radio station in St. John, New Brunswick which is coordinating the national effort this year.
Image: Luke Smith, National Campus and Community Radio Association
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When he’s not at work at the Urban Worker Project, Andrew Cash is a musician. On January 26th, he spoke to rabble podcast exec producer Victoria Fenner in Barrie, Ontario, between sound checks just before a tribute concert to the late Gordon Downey Jr. of the Tragically Hip. The concert was in support of the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund.
Andrew Cash is also a former member of parliament and one of the co-founders of the Urban Worker Project.
When he was a member of Parliament from 2011 to 2015, precarious work was one of Andrew’s major issues of concern. His National Urban Worker Strategy Bill was ground breaking legislation in Canada’s Parliament dealing with precarious work and led to the first protections under federal labour laws for unpaid internships.
The Urban Worker Project is an extension of that work. Because Bill 148 only came into effect on January 1st of this year, Ontario is the focus of a lot of the discussion about labour changes, but changes are needed in other provinces too. And changes are coming. Does it go far enough? Should it be a model for other provinces?
Image: provided by Urban Worker Project
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This past weekend, January 20 and 21, 2018, was the anniversary of the first Women’s March which was held last year to coincide with inauguration day in the United States.
Marches were held all over North America, including many here in Canada, large and small. Sandy Cove, a tiny village on the Fundy Shore in Nova Scotia had 32 marchers. And though that sounds small, it’s half the village population. Big places like Vancouver and Toronto didn’t get that high a percentage of the population out. Toronto police estimated 6,000 people at the Women’s March in that city. And police estimates are usually on the low side. Safe to say there were a few tens of thousands of people marching in Canada.
For those of you who weren’t able to make it to a Women’s March in your community, we’re bringing you a snapshot in sound from the March from London Ontario, collected by Meg Borthwick, a London resident, activist and also rabble’s babble moderator.
Image: Kevin Jones
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It’s been a year since the historic women’s marches happened across North America and in many other parts of the world. The marches were organized to coincide with the timing of the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States.
Things have turned out even worse than we thought for women in the United States over the past year. This weekend there will be women’s marches again. If you go to the webpage listing this year’s events, you’ll see a map of North America with little red dots showing where this year’s marches will be happening. And some of those dots are in Canada.
On this edition of rabble radio, we talk to Samantha Monckton, an organizer of the March on Vancouver. She’s also connected to groups across the country hosting women’s marches. I gave her a call to find out how things are shaping up for this weekend.
And, we hear from Frieda Werden, co-founder of WINGS – the Women’s International News Gathering Service. WINGS is one of North America’s first feminist radio shows. Frieda is a dual citizen now living on Denman Island in BC and plans to go to the March on Nanaimo. She has been involved in the women’s movement since the 1960’s, mostly in her former home state of Texas. She shares a long term view of what’s happening in the women’s movement and the erosion of women’s rights under the presidency of Donald Trump.
To find out what’s going on with marches in other communities across Canada, go to The March on Canada’s facebook page.
Image: Women’s March Toronto – Wikimedia Commons
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This week’s protests at Tim Hortons in various parts of Ontario have fuelled the debate about minimum wage — worker justice on one hand, employer profits on the other. The argument by some vocal business owners in the fast food sector is that they just can’t be profitable if they have to pay their workers a higher minimum wage.
Yet, there are places in Canada where employers pay higher than the minimum wage in the hospitality/food sector, and they’re still in business. For example, a recent post on the internet job site indeed.com advertises a food counter attendant job at McDonalds for $15-17 an hour in Yellowknife. A front desk agent for a hotel in the same city lists a wage rate of $16.78 an hour. The minimum wage in the Northwest Territories is currently $12.50.
George Lessard, has lived in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories for 30 years. He’s also known as Media Mentor, working as a media consultant, photographer, writer, and trainer. He’s also a longtime rabble supporter and contributor. rabble.ca podcast exec producer Victoria Fenner spent her coffee break talking to George about minimum wage in the North and how people survive in a place where jobs are scarce and the cost of living is much more than down south.
Image: George Lessard virtually taking a picture of Tim Hortons in Yellowknife. Photos by George Lessard
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The new year has started, but there’s still time to make new year’s resolutions. We know there are a lot of you out there who have followed rabble’s progress ever since we went on the net in 2001. And even more of you who have discovered rabble.ca over the years.
Today, we’re bringing you reflections from some of our rabble staff about what they want to see rabble do over the next year. It’s a big time of change — the world is changing, the internet is changing, and rabble is also changing along with all those forces which shape our lives. And helping shape that change.
Interviews with:
a) Meg Borthwick – rabble did social media even before Facebook and Twitter. Meg is the moderator of rabble.ca‘s ‘babble’ discussion forum
b) Michelle Gregus – rabble’s managing editor – Michelle has to balance her editorial with constant technological change. Hear how she does it.
c) Kim Elliott – rabble publisher – Kim has been rabble.ca‘s publisher for over ten years. She’s seen a lot of changes in the way internet journalism is done, and constantly needs to shift with the winds of change.
d) Victoria Fenner, executive producer of rabble podcasts and host of rabble radio. rabble.ca was one of the first online organizations in Canada to start podcasting. That was back in 2005, when practically nobody knew what a podcast was. Victoria talks about how the growth of podcasting is shaping what we are doing at rabble over 12 years later.
From all of us at rabble.ca, thanks for being there with us through the craziness of 2017. And for being there with us this year as we forge ahead shaping rabble.ca — the next generation.
Image: Pixabay – Creative Commons
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Last December, we were looking ahead to the year to come with some fear and trepidation. We were still in shock after Donald Trump’s win in the U.S. What were we in for?
Well, now we know. To say it’s been a challenging year is the understatement of the still-new century. And though it looks like Peace on Earth is a concept which seems more elusive than ever, there are lots of people out there working to reverse the damage that has been done over many years of globalization, corporate control, and the actions of demogogues who use “democracy” as a synonym for “capitalism”.
For your holiday listening, some wise words from people who believe that all is not lost. The struggle continues, and is far from over.
a) Chris Hedges – Writing as Resistance – In this excerpt, Chris talks about his early years as an activist journalist. He was in Peterborough at the invitation of Bill Kimball, the artistic director of an organization called Public Energy. So, when you hear Chris talk about Bill, that’s who he’s referring to. They went to school together in the States in their younger days. You can hear the whole talk here.
b) For decades, Angela Davis has been deeply involved in movements for social justice around the world. She emerged as a prominent activist in the 1960s, especially for her involvement in the American Civil Rights movement. Her work as an educator — both at the university level and in the larger public sphere – has always emphasized the importance of building communities of struggle for economic, racial, and gender justice.
She spoke at the Canadian Labour Congress Convention on Sunday May 7, 2017 as part of the CLC Human Rights Forum: Disruption is Power. Here is the entire talk on Needs No Introduction.
c) Gerry Caplan has worked for justice for a long time. He was a key figure in the New Democratic Party for many years as a party strategist and even took a run at a seat himself at one point. He’s an author, and a commentator on the state of the media. He’s also an authority on genocide, especially in Rwanda. He writes for publications like the Globe and Mail and is a frequent guest on the CBC. And … we are very proud that Gerry Caplan has a blog on rabble, and especially proud that he’s been a friend of rabble since the very beginning, way back at the turn of the century. You can read his rabble blog here. His entire interview on rabble radio with Victoria Fenner can be found here.
Thanks for the larger perspective, all of you. Thanks to all of our contributors to rabble podcasts, and we look forward to hearing your voices again in 2018.
Image: Peace on Earth – Wikimedia
People just want to be treated with respect. That’s one of the strongest messages that Meagan Gillmore says she’s taking away with her as her internship as rabble.ca’s labour reporter ends. Work isn’t just a way to make money, she says. It’s about finding one’s place in the world and in our communities.
In this conversation with rabble podcast executive producer Victoria Fenner, she talks about the logistics of covering a large country from her office in Ontario, the significant events of 2017, what it is that she likes about covering people and their work, and trying to forge a career in media as a young journalist as the media landscape shifts.
She’s a great spirit and has done some complex stories with us in her time this year at rabble. The internship is over, which is why she’s leaving us. But we wish it wasn’t so and hope she comes back to us with many story ideas. Best wishes, and thanks from all of us, Meagan!
About the rabble.ca labour beat internship:
rabble.ca is one of the only media that prioritizes our coverage of labour stories, and initiated this paid editorial internship, in partnership with Unifor. In 2015, we were delighted to broaden our partnership to CALM (Canadian Association of Labour Media) and extend the reach and impact of this much-needed labour beat in Canadian media.
The labour beat reporter internship was created in 2012 by rabble.ca and is a partnership with Unifor, Canada’s largest union in the private sector, with the goal of improving understanding of the labour movement across Canada and creating a bank of labour reporting expertise among emerging journalists. The success of the project has led rabble.ca, in partnership with Unifor and now CALM, to continue the position, now into its fifth iteration. “We’re excited and honoured to continue this partnership with Unifor, which continues to build up knowledge and understanding of the labour movement throughout Canada,” says Publisher, Kim Elliott.
The long-term goal of the labour beat position is to equip reporters with new skills and to enhance their knowledge of the labour movement and workers’ issues. The labour beat internship provides nine months of labour reporting at rabble.ca, but as the labour beat reporters continue careers in journalism, their time on the labour beat is sure to enhance labour coverage and understanding in the media as a whole.
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For an artist, precarious work isn’t a new trend. Artists have always worked from contract to contract, gig to gig, cobbling together a sustainable life (or trying to) from a wide variety of sources.
What is new in recent years is that it’s not just artists who are living a financially precarious life.
Our guest today on rabble radio is the co-organizer of a festival called Precarious in Peterborough Ontario. And it’s not just about precarious artists. Because precarious work isn’t just an art problem anymore.
The festival takes a broad look at precarious work in all sectors of the economy through the lens of art. It is organized in partnership with a wide variety of funders and supporters including The City of Peterborough, unions, a local Indigenous group and even a group concerned with food security.
Kate Story is a writer, performer and former Newfoundlander now living in Peterborough Ontario. She is co-organizer of the Precarious Festival.
Precarious: Peterborough ArtsWork Festival is being held until December 3rd. One of the highlights of the festival is a talk by Pulitizer prize winning American journalist and activist Chris Hedges. His presentation is called “Writing as Resistance”, and will take place on November 20, 2017.
His talk is being presented by Public Energy. They’ll be recording it and have graciously agreed to share Chris Hedge’s talk with rabble.ca — so keep a watch out for it next week.
Image: provided by Precarious.
David Kattenburg is a name you might have heard over the past few months on places like CBC and the Globe and Mail. He’s in the news because he’s challenged the Liquor Control Board of Ontario about two wines on their shelves, labeled as products of Israel.
When Dave saw the listing, he knew they were not products of Israel. The wines come from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. He knows. He’s been to both wineries. So in July, he filed a complaint with the federal Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The basis of his complaint was that the label “Product of Israel” is false and misleading. The LCBO, which is one of the largest wine, beer and liquor distributors in the world, instructed their outlets to remove the wine from their shelves.
But that didn’t last long. The CFIA reversed their decision a few weeks later. So the wine is still on LCBO shelves. Dave is not giving up, though. On October 24, 2017, he and his lawyer Dmitri Lascaris launched an application for a judicial review of the Canadian Food Inspection’s Agency’s actions.
David Kattenburg is a Winnipeg-based science educator, broadcaster and human rights activist. In this interview, he talks to Victoria Fenner about the court case, what motivated him to launch it, and especially, why he believes this issue is something worth fighting for.
(Disclosure: Victoria is a close personal friend and colleague of David Kattenburg’s but is not involved in this campaign).
You can read the chronology of the story at the website of his lawyer Dmitri Lascaris.
You can read and listen to David Kattenburg’s large collection of stories from the West Bank at his web based magazine The Green Planet Monitor, and contribute to the legal challenge at their GoFundMe page.
Image: David Kattenburg – taken at Psagot Winery, in the unlawful Jewish settlement of Psagot, Occupied West Bank. Used with permission.
Community college students in Ontario weren’t even halfway through their first semester when they got the news that they were going to be taking a break from their studies.
Approximately 12,000 college faculty from 24 colleges across Ontario have been on strike since October 16, 2017.
Braden Alexander is a former rabble podcast intern and volunteer. After taking a four year degree at University of Lethbridge in Music, he enrolled at Fanshawe College in London to take further training in recording arts.
We asked him to put together this podcast to ask the questions he, as a student, wants to know about the strike, and to reflect on how the work stoppage is affecting him and other students. We connected by skype, and he gathered interviews and streeters from the picket line outside Fanshawe.
Interviews with :
1) Darryl Bedford – President – OPSEU Local 110, Fanshawe College Faculty Union.
2) three anonymous comments from faculty members from the windy picket line outside Fanshawe College in London, Ontario.
Thanks to Braden Alexander for putting this podcast together.
Image: Braden Alexander
Christopher Torres, former National Organizing Director for United We Dream speaks to rabble radio. The status of 800,000 young people who were born in the US to undocumented migrants remains very much in limbo. We’ve heard a lot about DACA, which stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
To recap — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an American immigration policy brought in by former president Barack Obama that allowed some individuals who entered the country as minors and stayed, to receive a renewable two-year permit which would free them from threat of deportation and allow them to have a work permit. The policy was overturned by President Donald Trump in September this year, but the fight is not over.
United We Dream, was the famous American campaign that pushed President Obama to introduce the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program. Tomorrow in Toronto, Christopher Torres will speak about how the DREAMers helped win Americans hearts and minds in order to achieve the goal of normalizing the status of 800,000 young people. He will also speak about what’s happening to fight back Trump’s deportation order.
He is in Canada right now, helping the Institute for Change Leaders celebrate its first anniversary. He was in Ottawa on Saturday and in Toronto tomorrow (October 17, 2017) at an event being held at Ryerson University from 11:30 to 1:00.
Details about the event here.
Image: Wikimedia Commons/Rhododendrites
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What does it mean to belong? That’s a question that the Community Foundations of Canada has been asking over the past three years.
Community foundations are one of the fastest growing ways to help people donate money to their communities. Instead of each person having to figure out what the community needs are, and where they can direct their donations, they can go to their local community foundation to help them.
There are 191 community foundations in Canada, ranging from large ones in cities like Vancouver and Toronto, to very small ones in Haida Gwaii and Flin Flon.
Community Foundations of Canada is the national network of these individual organizations. The national umbrella organization also actively researches conditions in our communities on a national scale.
One of their ongoing major research projects is the annual Vital Signs report. The 2017 report was released last week. This year’s report card isn’t encouraging. What it showed is that our communities aren’t doing enough to help people feel like they belong. Rising housing costs, lack of affordable housing, economic inequality and lack of faith in our public institutions are some of the factors that affect people’s sense of belonging.
Victoria Fenner, rabble radio’s executive producer, spoke to Lee Rose, Director of Community Knowledge and National Vital Signs Lead; and Juniper Glass, Research Lead for National Vital Signs.
Gerry Caplan is well known to our rabble readers who have been active on the progressive left for many decades.
There are many dimensions to Gerry’s life work. He was a key figure in the New Democratic Party for many years as a party strategist and even took a run at a seat himself at one point. He’s an author, and a commentator on the state of the media. He’s also an authority on genocide, especially in Rwanda.
He writes for publications like the Globe and Mail and is a frequent guest on the CBC.
And … we are very proud that Gerry Caplan has a blog on rabble, and especially proud that he’s been a friend of rabble since the very beginning, way back at the turn of the century. You can read his rabble blog here.
A few years ago, Gerry relocated to Barrie, which is also where Victoria Fenner, our rabble podcast network executive producer, lives. She went out to visit him and had a wide ranging conversation about his work in Rwanda, the state of politics today, the downside of democracy and what he, a grandfather, has to say about encouraging our younger generations to hope in this mixed up world.
Photo: Victoria Fenner. rabble.ca
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The title of today’s show, Pushing Up the Sidewalk, was inspired by rabble blogger Lizanne Foster. Lizanne’s blog on rabble is called Education in the age of climate change. She’s a high school teacher in B.C. who shares some of her thoughts about working creatively in a regimented education system.
Three educators from three levels of education — secondary school, college and university — talk about changing the landscape of education. Pushing up sidewalks, creating cracks in concrete.
1.) Lizanne Foster: Lizanne’s blog focuses on education from a very specific angle — she talks about education and climate change. She wrote an article which was posted on August 8 where she asked the question “Are schools preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s problems?”
2.) Tim Green: Back in the days of old, the difference between university and college was distinct. If you wanted a more broad education, you went to university. If you wanted to fix cars or become a dental hygenist, you went to college. The lines between college and university have blurred since then. Tim Green teaches environmental studies, philosophy and critical thinking at Georgian College in Barrie Ontario. He talks to rabble radio about what colleges are doing to help students ask the big questions.
3.) Erin Soros: Erin is a writer and scholar currently appointed as an Andrew Mellon postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto’s Jackman Humanities Institute. She researches collective trauma and teaches courses on literature and psychoanalysis, and literature and human rights. She’s also done a lot of thinking about how universities do, and don’t, accommodate students with mental disabilities.
Image: https://pixabay.com/en/university-lecture-campus-education-105709/
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This summer, as much of the country celebrated Canada 150, there has been much needed discussion about the place of Indigenous people within that context. There has been growing recognition that the ‘founding of Canada’ narrative is not accurate and shows disrespect for the real founders of this country — Canada’s Indigenous people.
Complicating the equation even more, there are many people in this country whose heritage is both Indigenous and settler. Today we’re going to hear from three people who question where they belong within that continuum. And to finish off, we’ll hear from the founder/producer/host of the Media Indigena podcast, which explores these questions and much more.
1.) Braden Alexander – Braden was the rabble podcast network’s 2017 intern. Braden is living in London Ontario and is about to start school at Fanshawe College in a month’s time. He is of Metis heritage but doesn’t know much more than that because he’s adopted. He agreed to talk to us about how this ambiguity and his heritage has affected his life and his journalism.
2.) Heather Majaury and Myrriah Gomez-Majaury – Heather is the writer and performer of This is My Drum, a one woman play that explores questions of identity and belonging, resistance and surrender, partially in dialogue with her late Anishnaabe grandmother (Kokomis). It was performed in Kitchener/Waterloo in 2015. Victoria Fenner did a documentary with Heather and her daughter for The Green Planet Monitor in 2015. Today’s show features an excerpt of that piece. You can hear the entire documentary here.
3.) Rick Harp – Rick is the founder, producer and host of the Media Indigena podcast. In 2015, rabble.ca invited Rick to be a panelist at the rabble podcast network’s 10th anniversary celebration to talk about indigenous podcasting. He didn’t have his own podcast at the time, but we could tell he was thinking about it. Less than a year later, he launched Media Indigena. A host/producer with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network for many years, Rick has also served as Artistic Director for the Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival, was a host and producer for CBC Radio and also worked at CKCU, Carleton University’s campus based community station in Ottawa.
He is a member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation in northern Saskatchewan.
Image: Heather Majaury and Myrriah Gomez-Majaury. Photo by Victoria Fenner
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The world is changed when we all work together. But how do we do that? There are lot of different ways, with one thing in common. We need to organize. Social movements happen on different levels — local, regional, national and international. There are many differences between organizing campaigns which involve thousands than ones which reach the small local level. But there are a lot of commonalities too.
Today we take a look at the importance of social movements at the national, provincial and local level.
1.) Nora Loreto – rabble.ca blogger – On June 10th, Nora wrote a blog article with a headline “Social Organizing is Canada’s Only Hope”. For those of you who don’t know Nora, she’sa writer, musician and activist based in Québec City, and a long time rabble blogger. Some big picture thinking on why social movements are important.
2) Fighting cutbacks and austerity in Saskatchewan – an excerpt from Talking Radical Radio, host Scott Neigh spoke with JoAnn Jaffe and Peter Garden on his June 6 show. They’re fighting back against the massive wave of cuts to social programs and privatization initiated earlier by the Saskatchewan government. They belong to Stop the Cuts, a group working to mobilize against individual cuts and to help people come together into a broader movement to affect change. Scott talked to Joann and Peter what has been happening in Saskatchewan that is motivating people to stand up against the cuts.
3) Parkdale Renters Stike – Renters in high rises in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood have been saying “Enough is enough”. Despite fears that their landlord will evict them from their apartments, they have organized a rent strike, protesting against poor living conditions in the high rises, repairs that haven’t been done and a landlord who is trying to raise rents above the allowable provincially regulated maximum. A conversation with Cole Webber of Parkdale Community Legal Services, an organization which is helping the renters fight for change and navigate the tricky legal system.
(Note: We have a great video on rabble.ca posted on June 26th summarizing what the issues are. Check out Not Rex: Parkdale tenants strike for housing rights).
And while we’re talking about organizing —
Amplifying the work of individuals and organizations fighting for social justice is rabble’s founding mandate, and part of what makes us different from other media. 2017 promises to be a time of action and change: from the opportunities afforded with a potential NDP-led government and Green alliance in B.C., to Idle No More and Indigenous responses to the colonial legacy of Canada 150, and the challenges Trump policies pose to Canada — from net neutrality and online privacy to exposing the hypocrisy of the Trudeau government’s stance on refugees and on protecting the environment.
To keep on doing our work, we need support from people like you. Having donors who will give us five or ten dollars a month will help give us the stability to be able to predict our cash flow. We’ll be able to look ahead and plan new projects and stories knowing how much money is coming in to our bank account every month. Go rabble.ca/donate to contribute,
Thanks to Braden Alexander and Sophia Reuss, the other members of the production team. If you want to become a member of the team too, send me an email at victoria@rabble.ca. Victoria Fenner is executive producer of the rabble podcast network. rabble radio is a podcast of rabble.ca.
Image: Victoria Fenner
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From May 8 to 12, delegates from across the country gathered in Toronto, Ontario for the Canadian Labour Congress convention; Canada’s largest labour convention. This year’s theme was Together for a Fair Future.
rabble.ca reported from the convention floor where we set up a booth, and gathered video, photographs and stories. On this rabble radio, a selection of highlights of the weekend’s proceedings.
Here is what you’ll hear:
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Meagan Gillmore has been rabble’s labour beat reporter since March of this year. The Canadian Labour Congress was her first chance to experience the field and meet many people from the labour movement in one place. Sophia Reuss spoke with Gillmore about her job and the labour movement. The labour beat reporter position happens through a partnership between Unifor, the Canadian Association of Labour Media (CALM) and rabble.ca.
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Angela Davis has been deeply involved in movements for social justice around the world. She emerged as a prominent activist in the 1960s, especially for her involvement in the American Civil Rights movement. Her work as an educator — both at the university level and in the larger public sphere — has always emphasized the importance of building communities of struggle for economic, racial, and gender justice. Listen to an excerpt from her address on Sunday May 7 as part of the CLC Human Rights Forum: Disruption is Power.
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Avi Lewis spoke on Tuesday, May 10 with a panel discussing The Leap Manifesto. In this excerpt, he discussed some of the conceptions and misconceptions that have prevented the manifesto from receiving unanimous support in the labour movement.
Thanks to Sophia Reuss and Braden Alexander for helping put this show together, and to Emily Parr for making the Angela Davis recording available to us. rabble radio is hosted this month by Victoria Fenner, who is also the rabble podcast network’s executive producer.
Image: Frank Saptel, one of rabble’s loyal supporters who dropped by the rabble booth to say hello.
Photo by Maya Bhullar, rabble.ca
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Every province has its own style of electioneering, but B.C. is in a class of its own. Today’s program is a look at the issues as we head up to B.C. E-day. The election is on May 9.
We put this show together on Wednesday, May 3. We’ve got seven days now until e-day, and we know that things can turn on a dime. The interviews you will hear were recorded at the end of last week on April 28.
The people you’ll hear from today will give you a sense of what the issues are, and the changes that they think need to happen in B.C.
- Alyse Kotyk is a writer for rabble.ca, whose work has also appeared in the Globe and Mail and the Vancouver Observer. She has also written for Quietly Media, where she completed over 450 pieces about mental health and wellness. Previously, she was the editor of Servants Quarters, a publication with an international audience that highlights reflections by individuals working within urban poor communities. She has also written for onQ magazine, the Queen’s University Gazette and for several non-profits.
In today’s program she talks about her article: B.C.’s students serve notice to Kinder Morgan and Premier Clark for provincial election.
2.Libby Davies is well known to rabble readers and anyone who follows federal politics. She was a city councillor in Vancouver for many years beginning in the 1980s. She entered federal politics as the NDP member of Parliament for Vancouver East in 1997. She was re-elected in November 2000, June 2004, January 2006, October 2008, and most recently in May 2011. After serving six terms, and 18 years, as the member of Parliament for Vancouver East, Libby did not run in the 2015 general federal election. She is now retired from politics and living in Vancouver.
- The Current Situation — a sound-rich reflection on B.C. politics by rabble podcast network executive producer Victoria Fenner. She describes the piece as an introduction to the neoliberal politics that date back 30 years. “I moved from Ontario in 1982, a time when the B.C. Socred government was ramming through all kinds of austerity measures. It was a crazy time — Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan had just begun their reigns of error. There was a lot of sabre rattling and fears of nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia. During my time in B.C., I learned that B.C. politics and citizen involvement was very different than it was in sedate Ontario which had a Conservative government for 45 years that some would describe as being Red Tory. Not like the conservative governments of today. Though my first introduction to neoliberal politics was shocking, it provided a base from which to understand the neoliberal tide that swept across the country in the 30 years hence. And even more important, B.C. activists taught me how to mobilize through media.”
She thanks Vancouver Co-op Radio for her early lessons in activist media and creative radio production.
rabble radio is a production of rabble.ca.
Hosts: Victoria Fenner and Sophia Reuss.
Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/markklotz/15794492446
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On March 8, 2017, one of rabble.ca’s bloggers, Penney Kome wrote an article that resonated with the women who produce rabble radio. It was called “If you want to learn how to survive the gig economy, ask a woman“.
Precarious work is something we cover a lot on rabble.ca. That’s because precarious work isn’t going away. There is always a lot to say as our workplaces become less defined and less secure. And women, whose lives are even more precarious than men, are affected even more profoundly by this shift in workplace practices and culture.
We hear from three women:
a) Penney Kome – Author of rabble blog “On the other hand”, Penney is an award winning journalist who has written six non fiction books and hundreds of articles, many of them focusing on equality and women.
b) Rachael Abah – Rachael Abah is a producer, artist and keynote speaker an director of Kouraba, an organization which highlights cultural commonalities that exist amongst world indigenous peoples, celebrates shared experiences and encourages dialogue grounded in world music.
c) Stephanie Nakitsas – Co-founder of the Urban Worker Project, a Toronto based organization that is trying to unite precarious workers and come up with solutions.
Further listening and reading on rabble.ca about precarious work:
Organizing a Precarious World – rabble radio podcast January 29, 2016
How do you solve a problem like precarious work? Angella MacEwan – October 28, 2016
The Urban Worker Project – A new organization for new forms of work – Talking Radical Radio – May 18, 2016
Image: Victoria Fenner
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In consideration of recent events, cities across Canada have examined ways to signal that they are open to refugees and migrants. Some municipalities, like Montreal and London, Ontario have passed motions in their city councils proclaiming that their city is now a Sanctuary City.
Cities that have already voted on these motions have heard stories of continued police checks, lack of proper funding from the municipality, and the ineffectiveness of the motions themselves. This episode of Rabble Radio explores the sanctuary city movement and how symbolic motions could lead to an effective approach to migrants.
Nigel Bariffe is an educator in the Toronto District School Board and a long-time advocate for marginalized and racialized communities. He is currently the President of the Board of Directors for the Urban Alliance on Race Relations.
Jaggi Singh is a writer and community organizer based in Montreal . He has worked with Solidarity Across Borders, No One Is Illegal, and other migrant rights groups.
Image: Jonathan Malboeuf – Flickr.com
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What a week it’s been. Looking back to last Friday, Inauguration Day, a lot of us were sharing the same sense of gloom and foreboding, wondering what the next four years are going to be like and fearing the worst.
And then came Saturday … a day of resistance, defiance, hope and a resolve that the worst is not going to happen. Because it’s not Donald Trump’s Universe. The future belongs to people who don’t believe that misogyny and hatred is the way forward. And it was a day of solidarity with the citizens of the U.S. where millions around the world also said “Hey, we’re with you in the struggle.”
Today on rabble radio — some of the voices from the Women’s March. Starting in Washington, and then moving up to Vancouver and Toronto.
Hey, Donald Trump. Keep your hatred to yourself. We’re not following your nasty parade.
- Reflections from rabble contributor Sophia Reuss sharing reflections from the Women’s March on Washington, her hometown. Sophia is an American, now living in Toronto. She also had the chance to talk to Bhaskar Sunkara, founding editor and publisher of Jacobin, a print magazine which offers socialist perspectives on politics, economics, and culture. Jacobin was co-organizer of an event called the “anti-inauguration” on Friday, Jan. 20 at the Lincoln theatre in D.C.
You can also read her article “The revolution is messy and incomplete. But last weekend, it was born.”
- Next we go out to Vancouver and hear from Samaah Jaffer. Samaah Jaffer is an undergraduate student at Simon Fraser University, pursuing a joint major in International Studies and World Literature and a minor in Middle Eastern and Islamic History. Samaah is also rabble.ca’s B.C. Evening Editor. She spoke of the struggles of women of colour and the close relationships that exist between patriarchy and other forms of cultural oppression, specifically racism and colonialism.
You can also read and watch her speech here.
- And finally, we end up in Toronto. We put out a call to women who were going to the March to gather some thoughts from people in the crowd, and Jean Leggett responded enthusiastically. Thanks for that, Jean! She is co-founder and CEO of One More Story Games, a gaming company based in Barrie Ontario. Through their games, OMSG strives to close the diversity gap and encourage progressive values of diversity and equality. Jean shares her thoughts and also talks to people in the crowd.
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What a year it was. Coming off of the maddening, disappointing and very scary U.S. election, it’s too easy to look back and wish that we could have just fast forwarded from December 31, 2015 right to January 1, 2017.
But that’s not the whole story. In many ways it was also a really good year. Admittedly, we have to work a little harder to lift our spirits in this holiday season than in other years. But we know that rabble listeners and readers know that these things happen in cycles. Better days are ahead.
Lots of work for us to do in the new year to help restore this planet to health and happiness. But for now, take a break and have a listen to some of our faves.
1.) Ears on the Earth – an excerpt from one of five daily programs we did from the World Social Forum. The excerpt you just heard was our last program, which focused on the Leap Manifesto. Thanks to rabble radio team members David Kattenburg, Sophia Reuss, Campbell McClintock and Greg MacDougall who did a fabulous job running all over Montreal gathering stories to hit some pretty tight deadlines on some of the hottest days of the year. Just one example of the kind of projects we want to do more of in 2017.
We talked about media democracy, explained what the World Social Forum was about, talked about releasing the corporate stranglehold, new types of storytelling and why The LEAP Manifesto is important enough to deserve its own program.
2.) We had a radio drama this year. The Strange Wax Cylinders of Thaddeus Barnes was a six part steampunk adventure involving retro scientific gadgetry, inventor Nicola Tesla and a mystery to be solved. It was produced by Wayne MacPhail for HarrowsmithNow. And Harrowsmith invited us to run the series on the rabble podcast network.
3.) And final excerpt today is to help you start the new year with some quiet contemplation about what matters and what doesn’t. Perspective is a wonderful thing, so here is an excerpt from Drolkar McCallum on finding happiness, Buddhism and meditation. She talks to David Peck, host and producer of the podcast Face2Face.
You can see the full list of Victoria’s podcast picks here. There are many more great podcasts from the year that was. We wish we could list them all.
Thanks from all of us at rabble.ca to all the podcasters of the rabble podcast network for sharing their hard work and perspectives on social change.
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It used to be the case that media and democracy were synonymous. Democracies weren’t worthy of the name unless they had free and independent media that spoke truth to power. That was in the good old days. The changes in the political winds these days means that there are more pressures than ever on the kind of media outlets to do their job preserving and strengthening democracy.
Today’s program comes to us from Media Democracy Days, held in Vancouver every year. This year was no exception. And one could say that Media Democracy is more important than ever in the dark days of 2016.
The new millennium got off to a really rocky start. The year 2001 was just two years after the historic Battle for Seattle, which saw tens of thousands take to the streets to protest globalization. In 2001, we watched in shock and horror as protestors were assaulted and tear gassed by police at the Quebec Summit of the Americas.
In the media, we hadn’t yet started to see the collapse of traditional media, yet alternative media was starting to pop up on the internet sharing a whole new perspective. It was the year that rabble started too. An important year indeed. It was also the first year for Media Democracy Days, which, 15 years later, is still happening in Vancouver.
Today’s program features excerpts from Media Democracy Days for those of you who weren’t able to attend. There is always a focus on Indigenous media, but this year it seemed that there was even more than usual.
Features on today’s show:
1.) Tania Ehret – B.C. Outreach Coordinator explaining rabble’s role and the closing plenary “Decolonizing the Mind.”
2.) Ryan McMahon – Indigenous Writer, Storyteller, Comedian and podcast host. The keynote deals with indigenous identity, storytelling, and finding a connection to the land and its people. This selection details his interactions with youth and elders in Northern Ontario as well as rediscovering Indigenous stories and the people that tell those stories.
3.) Tami Starlight – Indigenous Anti Oppression Activist. This excerpt from Tami’s workshop addressed anti-oppression, decolonization within the media and shares their story about Indigenous identity and the role of identity in society. The workshop also analyzed terminology and ways to improve media and content creation.
Our sincere thanks to campus community radio station CJSF for sending us their audio recordings so we can use them on this show. This kind of media co-operation is so good for all of us, and is one of the reasons that alternative media in Canada is vibrant and strong. Thanks to Tania Ehret, our B.C. outreach coordinator, and Braden Alexander, the rabble podcast network intern, for their help putting together this show.
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What does it take to build stronger communities? A lot of it is about participation — when we work together for the common good, the places where we live become stronger. We know our neighbours, we help each other.
In healthy communities, people are engaged with each other. But what does that mean? Today’s program is about engagement, connecting and making a difference in the places we live. How do we strengthen those ties that bind?
A few ideas here on this month’s rabble radio ..
1) Lee Rose – Director of Community Knowledge for the Community Foundations of Canada – Vital Signs is an annual study to assess the health of our communities. This current study is a multi-year and multifaceted exploration on the topic of belonging. It’s an area of strategic focus for Community Foundations of Canada, a national organization in Ottawa whose membership is the individual community foundations across the country. Find out what they’ve learned about Canada in 2016.
2) Catherine Edwards – Executive Director of The Canadian Association of Cable Television Stations and Users (CACTUS) – For over 40 years, community cable channels and production studios have been provided by the commercial cable companies as part of the deal they made with the CRTC for the privilege of making lots of money from cable subscriptions. But that’s eroding. CACTUS has a new plan for community media that serves people, not profits. They need your input and help.
3) Christian Gagnier – CJAM Radio, University of Windsor – Excerpt from Rendez-vous de la Francophonie, annual celebration of Canada’s membership in the Francophonie and promotes the French language and its numerous cultural expressions. Community radio stations across the country have been producing programs exploring Canadian Francophone life over the past couple of years, with new ones on the way. Chris’s program focuses on Francophone heritage of Windsor/Essex County.
Since it’s harvest season, what better time to take a look at farming. And sadly, it’s not the family farm we’re going to be talking about.
There are still some family farms left, and still some independent farmers who are making a living for themselves adopting new forms of sustainable agriculture. But despite the growth of organics, artisan food products and people who are adopting farming practices that are kind to the land, the corporations continue to march across the countryside. We’ll hear from a few people today who can tell us what’s wrong with that.
1.) Pat Mooney is one of Canada’s “go to” people for his perspective on technology, biodiversity, intellectual property as it relates to our food supply, and corporate control of agriculture. His organization, The ETC group, works to address social inequalities affecting the poorest people in the world especially relating to food and agriculture. He spoke at the World Social Forum in August. Dave Kattenburg edited and produced this for his online magazine The Green Planet Monitor and shared it with rabble radio.
2.) Gabriel Allahdua, a migrant farmworker and one of the organizers of Justicia, a group which demands justice for migrant farm workers. There are a lot fewer jobs in agriculture than there used to be because of technology. But there is still the need for people. And as in all industries, big farming needs a workforce. Agricultural work means long hours and working conditions. It’s hard work, low paid and often dangerous. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the seasonal farm workers program, set up by the Pearson Government in 1966. It’s not a program we want to be especially proud of. This interview is an excerpt of a longer program by Scott Neigh of Talking Radical Radio.
3.) Lois Ross is one of our newer columnists at rabble.ca. She’s a communications specialist, writer, and editor, living in Ottawa. She writes for rabble about issues that are key to food production here in Canada as well as internationally. She has a background in many different areas and could have done her column on labour, or international development or a whole bunch of other topics. She talks about why agriculture is important for rural and urban people. You can read her columns here.
There were hundreds of panel discussions at the World Social Forum. The hard thing was to make a choice which one to go to. There weren’t a lot of descriptions in the handbook sometimes, so often we just had to pick one and see how it all turned out. You never knew what you were going to get.
And there were so many interviews and recordings that we weren’t able to fit in to Ears on the Earth, our daily podcast during the Forum.
In weeks to come, we’ll bring you more of the sounds, conversations and panels that we gathered. Today, two more.
1) Joseph Wawatie is an Algonquin Elder from Barriere Lake in western Quebec. In 2012, he was arrested for protesting logging on his traditional territory — land which remains unceded territory. He was part of a panel discussion at the World Social Forum called Indigenous Peoples’ Struggles and Resistance. He speaks of his traditional life in the bush, and the challenges his nation faces.
2) Norman Stockwell, publisher of The Progressive: rabble radio host and rabble podcast network exec producer Victoria Fenner talked to Norman about the role of alternative media in this fractitious, extraordinary presidential election campaign that’s happening right now. Bernie Sanders was a great choice for president. Hillary Clinton — well, opinion is mixed on that. Yet, if they don’t want Donald Trump for president, Hillary’s it. So what’s a progressive to do when there are no good alternatives?
3) Looking ahead — we have a new podcast on the rpn. Who is Thaddeus Barnes and why do you need to hunt for his Strange Copper Cylinders. With rabble podcast network and co-founder Wayne MacPhail, who is also now a dramatist, director and audio playwright. Find out more on Harrowsmith Now!
Just because you can’t touch, see or smell sound doesn’t mean that the sounds around us don’t affect us just as much as the quality of our water, air and physical environment.
Today’s program is all about listening. July 18 was World Listening Day, named because it is the birthday of Canadian composer, educator and sound environmentalist R. Murray Schafer. The founder of the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser University in the mid ’70s influenced several generations of listeners world wide who listen, document and contextualize the sounds we hear around us.
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An interview with Darren Copeland, artistic director of New Adventures in Sound Art. NAISA’s celebration of World Listening Day was held on July 16, 2016 at the Canadian Music Centre in Toronto. It was called Sounds Lost and Found.
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An excerpt from Station Breaks, a composition by sound artist, journalist and rabble podcast network executive producer Victoria Fenner, performed at Sounds Lost and Found.
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An interview about a new online exhibition called Audio Postcards, a project of the Canadian Association for Sound Ecology. With Andrea Dancer, president of the Canadian Association for Sound Ecology, and soundscape composer and acoustic ecologist Hildegard Westerkamp.
The media landscape isn’t at all the same today as it was 15 years ago when rabble.ca first started publishing on the Internet.
In 2001, we looked at web pages. They were mostly text and image which didn’t move. And there wasn’t much to hear either except your hands clicking on the keyboard. YouTube wasn’t invented until 2005 (the same year rabble established the podcast network). And the terms “apps” and “social media” wouldn’t come into common usage for at least five years after … Snapchat, Twitter … what’s that?
Now, in 2016, everyone who works in media is working in an extremely challenging, ever-shifting environment.
On the June 17 weekend, rabble staff gathered in Toronto for a weekend planning retreat to start to chart our NEXT 15 years.
The weekend began with a provocative discussion by our director of emerging media, Wayne MacPhail on “Soapboxes, Sellouts and Upstarts: The Canadian Media Landscape — and where rabble fits in,” with an introduction by rabble co-founder Judy Rebick.
This month’s rabble radio is an excerpted version of that discussion.
Here in Canada we don’t have as many Black Lives Matter chapters as there are in the United States but the ideas are just as relevant. Despite our beliefs in this country that we are not racist and not violent, Black Lives Matter is helping us see that those perspectives aren’t accurate.
Today, we’ll hear about the two Black Lives Matter chapters in Canada, in two different cities. Toronto and Vancouver has very different ways of exploring and challenging racism.
- Desmond Cole has emerged as one of the strongest voices for the rights of black people in Toronto in recent years. A noted journalist, his articles have appeared in various publications including The Walrus, Toronto Star, Vice, and NOW. He’s a radio host on Newstalk 1010 in Toronto, and until recently, was cohost of Canadaland Commons. He’s one of the go-to people when the media explores issues of racism in Toronto.
rabble podcast network reporter and associate producer Kvesche Be got the opportunity to talk to Desmond Cole at Ruckus, an Annual Conference in Toronto to empower youth to act on issues of racism and oppression, held on April 28 at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Desmond reflects on the progress of Black Lives Matter in Toronto over the past 18 months.
- Cicely-Belle Blain is a queer, black, femme poet, artist, full time child-care provider and community organizer who has been a settler on Coast Salish lands for four years. Originally from London, England, she has been working on bringing accessibility and inclusivity to spaces, mainly at UBC, where she studied European Studies and Russian. Cicely-Belle’s current projects include co-founding a chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement in Vancouver, writing a novel on Black queer love and archiving the history of racialized student activism across North America.
An excerpt from the MsRepresent podcast on the rabble podcast network. Thanks to Charlene Sayo, podcast host and interviewer in this feature.
You can hear the whole program here.
Read rabble’s two-part interview with BLM organizer Janaya Khan here and here.
August may seem like a ways away, but for the organizers of the World Social Forum in Montreal in August, time is ticking away.
Two years ago in August, the city of Ottawa was the site for a warmup to the World Social Forum. The Peoples’ Social Forum was a huge event. The thing about these kinds of Social Forums is that they are very ambitious. Anybody can propose a workshop, or a discussion group. The result of this is an incredible amount of energy in one place, and lots to talk about and think about.
In a lot of ways, Ottawa was a dress rehearsal for the World Social Forum, which will be held in Montreal from August 9-14, 2016.
A look back at the Peoples’ Social Forum and a look ahead to what’s being planned when the world comes to Montreal ..
1) Earlier this month, Talking Radical Radio did a whole program about the World Social Forum. Here is an excerpt from that program, where host Scott Neigh talks to Sarah Sultani And Katia Stuart-Gagnon.
2) rabble.ca was there at the People’s Social Forum in 2014, doing a podcast every day for rabble radio. Here’s are some of the voices, sounds and ideas from Ottawa.
Honduras is a country that doesn’t show up in the news very often, especially here in Canada. A quick google search brought up links for travel destinations, World Cup soccer and the free trade agreement which Canada signed with Honduras on October 1, 2014.
The Canada-Honduras Free Trade website lists the population of Honduras as 8.2 million. What it doesn’t say is that there was a U.S. backed coup in 2009 which resulted in the overthrow of the democratically elected president of Honduras. It’s a country where it’s dangerous to challenge power.
- Berta Cáceres was a leading organizer for Indigenous land rights and the environment in Honduras, a country where that’s a very dangerous thing to be. She was murdered on March 3, 2016. Beverley Bell was a long-time friend and colleague of Cáceres and is co-ordinator of Other Worlds, a women-driven education and movement-building collaborative organization. Other Worlds inspires hope and knowledge that another world is possible, and helps build it. She speaks with Redeye host Jane Williams.
Yet, in the midst of the danger, grassroots community organization continues to flourish.
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David Barth is the executive director of World Accord, a Waterloo-based aid agency that has done work in Honduran rural communities for 30 years. He shares his perspective on why Honduras is a violent place, and how the violence affects their work.
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Seed Liberation — In the previous interview, David Barth talked about World Accord’s work with farmer groups who are deeply connected to their mountain communities, maintaining their traditional ways of life while adapting to a changing world. Victoria Fenner went to Honduras in 2010 with World Accord. She did this documentary about Honduran farmer groups for The Green Planet Monitor.
What a couple of months it’s been in media land. Newspapers folding, television stations getting out of local news… all because of the Internet, they say. We don’t hear much about radio, though.
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Today we go to Podcamp Toronto and hear about something that hasn’t changed in radio. There still are way too few women on the air. rabble radio contributor Kveshe Be tells us about a study on diversity in radio done by Ryerson University Professor Lori Beckstead.
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Yes, you can do a podcast — Podcast DIY. Some great advice from rabble podcast network cofounder Wayne MacPhail from way back on October 17, 2005. Surprisingly, very little has changed. Except that we’re not using mini-disc recorders anymore and the tools are cheaper and easier than ever.
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There’s a little corner of rabble that we’re especially proud of. It’s called The Lynn Williams Activist Toolkit. And we’re happy happy happy to announce the return of Constructing Change, the podcast of the Lynn Williams Activist Toolkit. Here’s a replay of the episode that went up just a week ago.
The work world has changed a lot over 30 years. It used to be the case that most people got a job and stayed there. If not for life, then at least for a long, long time.
That’s not the case anymore. Employers don’t like to make commitments to employees anymore. The idea of a full-time job with job security and benefits is becoming more and more a thing of the past. And we’re all being encouraged to start our own businesses, without the recognition that self employment isn’t for everybody. It’s an increasingly precarious world.
Today we take a look at the world of precarious work, and specifically, a couple of campaigns that are demonstrating that if we stick together, we can shore up those shaky foundations that so many of our incomes are built on these days.
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The Street Labourers of Windsor (SLOW) down in Canada’s most southern city, the International Workers of the World are organizing people who make their living off the street. This includes street musicians, panhandlers, people who pick up recylables, and even security guards. Andrew Nellis of SLOW talks to Scott Neigh of Talking Radical Radio.
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We’ve heard a lot of stories about poor working conditions in the restaurant industry. We’ve also heard that it’s hard to do anything about it for a whole host of reasons. Fred is one person who tried to do something about it by organizing his coworkers to get the overtime pay that they were legally entitled to. But in our next interview, you won’t be hearing from Fred because even though he’s no longer working in restaurants, he didn’t want to broadcast his name, or even his voice. He was afraid of being blacklisted if he identified himself.
Fred’s friend Kvesche Be is now a contributor to the rabble podcast network. So even though Fred (not his real name either) didn’t want to talk, he gave Kvesche permission to tell his story.
- One of the big trends in post-secondary education these days is internships. But there it’s also a practice that is highly criticized because many, if not most of these internships, are unpaid. Zahra Islam is a fourth year nursing student at Ryerson University and is also the director of community services with the Ryerson Students Union. She’s involved in a campaign called Stop Paying to Work.
rabble radio contributor Kvesche Be spoke to Zahra about the campaign and why it’s needed.
Hard to believe it’s the end of the year. But it is. 2015 is almost finished. And what a year it was.
Today, we round out the year with a look back at the year that was, a look ahead to the next, and a couple of big changes.
1) Karl’s end of the year podcast: We got an early Christmas present this year on October 19, when we finally kicked the grinch out of Who-ville. Stephen Harper is gone. It was a gruelling election campaign to cover. One of the good things to come out of it was that Karl Nerenberg, our excellent Parliamentary Correspondent, decided to start doing a podcast.
To round out the year, I had a talk with Karl on the election that was, and the year to come.
2) Shane Dennis, a musician, activist and owner of the Unity Market, a cafe, recording studio and art gallery dedicated to social change in Barrie, Ontario: For the fifth year in a row, he’s sleeping outside this Christmas in a makeshift shelter to raise money and awareness about homelessness for the David Busby Centre, a homeless shelter in Barrie Ontario.
3) Saying goodbye to the irreplaceable Meagan Perry: You might have noticed that rabble radio’s usual co-host, Meagan Perry, hasn’t been on the last two shows. A few weeks ago, she announced that it was time to move on to other things. That’s great for her. Here at rabble.ca, we’re going to miss her a whole bunch. More than a whole bunch. It was only fitting for her to come on the show and say her goodbyes.
This program comes to you from the Community Media Convergence, a gathering of community television, radio, online and gaming people from across the country. We all know that different media forms are coming together. Radio websites have video on them. Newspapers have podcasts. If rabble.ca had been around 20 years ago, we would have likely been a paper based magazine. And a radio show. There would have been no rabble tv because there aren’t very many independent community tv stations out there. Now we’re a whole combination of different kinds of media.
The conference features two days of panels about everything from “Social Media: Is it Community Media and How Do We Leverage It?” to “Community Media 3.0: Games and Interactivity?” The third day is a policy development forum, where attendees will have the opportunity to help shape a policy proposal to support community media in the digital environment.
That’s just one of many examples of how media convergence works. On today’s program, lots of ideas about how it could all work in the future. The first two segments were recorded at the conference.
1.) Cathy Edwards – organizer of the Community Media Convergence. A lot of the people at the conference are here to talk about community television, and that’s because this conference was organized by the organization CACTUS, which stands for the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations.
2.) David Diamond – Artistic and Managing Director – Theatre for Living speaking at a panel called Maximizing Community Impact and Engagement.
3.) Stefan Christoff – excerpted from Talking Radical Radio – Music and Grassroots Politics in Montreal.
When you think about music and radical politics, what usually comes to mind are the lyrics – from Public Enemy to Ani Defranco, Rage Against the Machine to Paul Robeson, the call to action and for change was found in the words over the melody or beat. Yet for Montreal based activist and musician Stephan Christoff – songs of solidarity can be instrumental….Using the power of collaboration Christoff believes that music can bring people together and nurture the imaginative, creative and even spiritual sides of ourselves.
Christoff speaks with us about his music, his activism and how the two intertwine. This interview is an excerpt from Talking Radical Radio, the November 11th edition called Music and Grassroots politics in Montreal. He spoke to Scott Neigh.
It’s been a great autumn for podcast anniversaries!
1.) One year ago on October 6, Indian and Cowboy made its internet debut. Indian & Cowboy is a listener supported media network consisting of Indigenous media makers, artists, storytellers, musicians & producers rooted firmly at the intersection between digital media art, podcasting & Indigenous Storytelling. Roshini Nair did this feature for rabble radio with Ryan McMahon, the founder of Indian and Cowboy. (click on the link for a transcript of Roshini’s entire interview for rabble.ca)
And
2.) The rabble podcast network celebrated its 10th birthday on September 10, 2015 in Toronto. It was a dynamic night, full of lots of things for us to think about as we look back and consider the future of podcasting. On the panel — Meagan Perry, who was our podcast network executive producer before she was bumped up the ladder to rabble.ca’s editor in chief. Victoria Fenner, who took over from Meagan as executive producer of the rpn, moderated the evening. Also on the panel were Wayne MacPhail, one of our co-founders of the network, and Rick Harp of MEDIA INDIGENA , an interactive, multimedia magazine dedicated to Indigenous news, views and creative expression.
And Nora Young, co-founder of the podcast The Sniffer and also host and producer of CBC Radio’s program Spark. Nora begins our excerpt from the rabble 10th anniversary by talking about the big broadcasters and podcasting.
We’re in the home stretch of Election 42. Just a little under three weeks to go.
We’re not running out of things to talk about yet.
Far from it. On today’s show —
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We hear from Amara Possian of LeadNow about their campaign Vote Together. It helps us figure out who we should vote for to get rid of Stephen Harper. Especially in the swing ridings where a Conservative upset is a possibility.
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And you know how Stephen Harper is always going on about how he’s the best manager of the economy? The Conservative government’s reliance on austerity and trickle-down economics has led to the most poorly-performing Canadian economy since the Second World War, according to Jim Stanford. He’s co-author of the recent report, “Rhetoric and Reality: Evaluating Canada’s Economic Record Under the Harper Government.” Jim Stanford is an economist with Unifor. He spoke with Redeye host Jane Williams.
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And finally, remember that Harperman song that everybody was singing a couple of weeks ago? You heard the song .. now … The Movie!
When Ottawa civil servant and folk singer Tony Turner created his now wildly popular singalong Harperman, he didn’t anticipate getting suspended from his job. Since then, the song has spread. Harperman singalongs happened in over 40 communities across Canada on September 17. And people are still singing it. And now, there’s not just a song. There’s a documentary in the works — two versions — a short one which is planned for release two days before the election. And a longer, full 90-minute piece which will explore some of the larger themes. Cody Lanktree and his company HamiltonSeen is doing the documentary. He talked to me enroute to a shoot in Ottawa this week.
Photo: Sean Connors/flickr
It felt like summer was over when we got word of the election call, didn’t it? OK, so now that Stephen Harper has spoiled our summer fun, time to spoil some of his.
It works in the favour of Stephen Harper’s Conservatives if voters stay home. Today we’ll talk about why it’s necessary for YOU … to get out and vote.
We’ll also hear about strategies to get out the vote among people who traditionally don’t vote.
Item 1:
Be the Vote is a new organization that’s taking action. It was started by a group of young Canadians passionate about getting youth to vote. They believe that youth must be an active and relevant force if they want politicians to listen to them. Victoria Fenner talks to Grace Kennedy, a student of Social Work at McMaster University in Hamilton. She’s the founder and executive director of Be The Vote.
Item 2:
Getting Out the Student Vote – In July of 2015, the Canadian Federation of Students lost a court challenge and subsequent appeal in an attempt to have the Fair Elections Act ruled unconstitutional. Roman Jakubowski is president of the Lakehead Student Union in Thunder Bay.
He spoke to the National Campus Community Radio program and the rabble podcast Groundwire, produced this month by Kootenay Co-op Radio in Nelson, B.C. They talked about how the Lakehead University Students Union will be supporting students’ access to voting.
Item 3:
Voting in prison is a constitutional right. According to CBC News report last week, 54 per cent of federal inmates cast a ballot in the last election. The following is an excerpt of a an interview with Joan Ruzsa, first heard on The Prison Radio Show. The Prison Radio Show is broadcast from CKUT in Montreal. The show seeks to confront the invisibility of prisons and prisoner struggle, by focusing on the roots of incarceration, policing, and criminalization, and by challenging our ideas about what prisons are and the people inside our jails. Joan Ruzsa speaks on behalf of Rittenhouse, an agency dedicated to bringing healing, transformative justice instead of retributive justice in the criminal justice system. She explains the process for voting inside federal prisons.
Thanks to the NCRA’s program Groundwire for that clip.
Item 4:
Here at rabble.ca, we’ve been preparing for the dropping of the writ for many months. One of the highlights of our winter/spring season was an event which we sponsored with Canadian Dimension magazine. George Lakoff is an American cognitive linguist and author of Don’t Think of an Elephant. He spoke to a crowd in Toronto about how conservative values have come to dominate public discourse. One of the things he talked about was voters in the middle, the ones who are conservative (small c) in some ways, progressive in other ways. Everybody is courting the centrist vote. Those are the swing voters. They could go any which way. They represent growth for every political party. That’s why it’s so important for political parties to try to understand them.
George Lakoff provides these insights into the mind of the moderate conservative.
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We’re very proud of the fact that a lot of our podcasters at the rabble podcast network have their roots in community radio. A lot of our programs on the rabble podcast network are rebroadcast on community radio.
On rabble radio 167, we’re going to focus on community radio — both here in Canada and also in a couple other parts of the world. Because there’s so much that we share with our comrades on the airwaves… we’re doing media our own way, for our listeners and our communities. Not the advertisers.
Over the past year, the rabble podcast network has developed our relationship with the National Campus and Community Radio Association and now have their ambitious news program, Groundwire, as part of our podcast network. Barry Rooke is the NCRA’s new executive director about new directions in radio and new media. He talked to Victoria Fenner about what campus and community radio is doing to integrate new media into what has been traditionally, one-way communication over a transmitter.
Continuing with our community radio theme, Frieda Werden of the Women’s International News Gathering Service podcast and radio show prepared this feature this month on community radio in Ghana. And it begins with a community radio song!
Women and Community Radio in Oaxaca — Loreto Bravo is a feminist hacker and anthropologist. She currently coordinates Palabra Radio, a collective based in Oaxaca, Mexico that uses community FM radio and other communications technology as tools of struggle. They have a special focus on women’s and Indigenous peoples’ rights and liberation. In this excerpt, Loreto Bravo spoke about the 2006 uprising in Oaxaca, Mexico which lasted more than seven months. It resulted in the deaths of more than 17 people. She began by talking about what happened the day that women took over the airwaves.
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Happy Birthday to us!
Has it been 10 years of podcasting at rabble.ca already? Let the celebrations begin!
rabble.ca led the pack when it came to podcasting. In 2005, iTunes didn’t yet exist. There were no iPhones. It was truly the dark and silent ages.
But our visionary crew saw and heard great potential. Today as we begin our celebrations we talk about the original idea behind the podcast network.
Victoria Fenner, current rpn executive producer, talks to Meagan Perry, former exec of the rpn and now rabble.ca’s editor-in-chief, for some of the highlights.
Wayne MacPhail, The Podfather of the rabble podcast network, and director of emerging media for rabble.ca, talks about how it all got started.
Charlotte Scott, the first exec producer of the rpn takes us to Podfest in Ontario, California in 2005, where people were marvelling that there were 15,000 podcasts on the Internet. (Apple says there are now 250,000 podcasts in 100 different languages on iTunes)
A couple of Meagan’s faves.
Kevin Neish was detained in Israel for two days after the humanitarian ship Mavi Marmara, part of the Free Gaza Flotilla, was attacked and activists arrested. In this podcast he talks about his release and what activism means. From rabble radio 109.
The Queering of Alberta: Darrin Hagen is a ground-breaking drag artist and author of a book about the drag scene in Alberta called “The Edmonton Queen.” He is also a longtime producer for the Loud and Queer cabaret and writer of Queering the Way: an anthology from the Loud and Queer Cabaret. rabble.ca’s Kaitlin McNabb called Darrin Hagen to talk about the book and some of the myths about queer culture in the place formerly known as Texas of the North. From rabble radio 137.
You are invited! Come join the rabble podcast network as a volunteer. We’re always looking for new podcast series, as well as people to do single interviews and recordings for our rabble programs rabble radio, rabble book lounge and Needs No Introduction. Email Victoria Fenner, the rabble podcast network’s executive producer, at victoria[at]rabble.ca. Help us build the next 10 years of progressive Canadian history in sound!
RABBLE IS READER-SUPPORTED JOURNALISM
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Pigs flew, hell froze over and the voters of Alberta elected a majority NDP government.
We’re coming up to the one-month anniversary of the election that shook up the whole country and struck fear into the hearts of the Harper Conservatives.
Now that the initial euphoria is starting to subside, rabble radio invited two of rabble’s own Albertans to weigh in on the discussion. Roshini Nair is the rabble podcast network’s new intern. She’s a student in Vancouver but born and raised in Edmonton. And rabble.ca’s editor-in-chief Meagan Perry is also a proud Albertan, though she makes her home in Ontario now.
Also featuring interviews with Geo Takach, author of the book Will the Real Alberta Please Stand Up, and Tom Radford, film director, writer and producer of many documentaries about Alberta, including Tar Sands – The Selling of Alberta.
It’s getting green out there. Finally. It’s been such a long winter. So this is the Get Growing edition.
Today we have an assortment of stories related to how we get our food.
Losing our grip on the family farm. Most people still believe that the land should be owned by independent local farmers who directly farm the land. But this system has been under serious threat for many decades now. Twenty years ago, the concern was that land was being bought by individual farmers with ever-larger land holdings, huge machinery and hired people to work the land. Now, even the large-scale individual farmer is being squeezed out by corporations and investment groups who are running these farms as agricultural businesses from afar.
In 2010, the National Farmers Union authored a report called Losing Our Grip. The report looked at family farms and food sovereignty. The NFU has just revisited and updated the report.
Jan Stromp is the president of the National Farmers Union. Jane Williams of Redeye asked him why so called “land grabbing” is harmful for local communities and economies.
Community-supported fisheries. For people who want to know where their food is coming from, community-supported agriculture allows consumers to share the risks of food production with their local farmers in return for a share of the benefits, usually in the form of a box of produce that shows up on their doorstep all summer. It’s known as Community-Supported Agriculture. Here’s a twist on that theme .. what about Community-Supported Fisheries? Rob Johnson is Atlantic Coordinator with Seachoice, a national program that works to foster sustainable fisheries. He spoke to Moira Donovan about creating sustainable fisheries by supporting your local fisher people the same way you support your local farmers.
Seed liberation. Modern agrobusiness techniques come with a high cost. In economic terms, farmers have become reliant on expensive seed and fertilizer. Intensive agriculture has also significant contributed to the degradation of land quality. And the change in farming techniques has also changed the way communities work.
The Rural Reconstruction Project in the Western Highlands of Honduras are proving that progress which works in harmony with traditional ways is possible. Their partner, World Accord from Waterloo Ontario, has been working with PRR for 25 years. Beginning as a literacy project to teach farmers how to read and write at a Grade 6 level, the farmers are now producing their own varieties of seeds based on those which their ancestors have been growing for hundreds of years.
Victoria Fenner, the exec producer of the rabble podcast network and rabble radio co-host, visited Honduras in 2010 and did this documentary with farmers high up a mountainside who are bypassing the multinationals and are farming their own way.
There was a time when we thought we’d have to be ready for a spring federal election. That hasn’t happened, which gives us even more time to get information out about the various nefarious ways the Harper government has changed our country.
And it gives us time to come up with more reasons why the Harper government needs to go.
Today’s program is an early spring warm-up for the fall election. We’ve got lots of reasons to get rid of the Harper government. You might already know what they are, but there are always some new perspectives to share.
Especially after the March protests of Bill C-51, the so-called “secret police” bill. Good to see the resistance is strong.
We’ll play some highligts from the day of protest, March 15, 2015.
And an interview by Redeye in Vancouver about what is already being done to spy on us, even though Bill C-51 hasn’t even been proclaimed into law yet.
Our parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg talks about what he’s seen in his years as rabble.ca’s Parliamentary reporter.
And we listen to the sounds of protest .. hey hey ho ho, Stephen Harper has got to go .. hey hey, ho ho …
Halifax has been in the news over the past few months, and it’s not been good press. We’re talking about the infamous case of the so-called “Dalhousie Gentleman’s Club” where misogynistic and sexually violent comments were made by 13 male students in the Faculty of Dentistry on Facebook.
The story is no longer front-page news, but there were, and still are, a number of controversial issues that arose from the university’s handling of the case.
The university’s solution was to deal with the issue through restorative justice. Moira Donovan is an an intern with the rabble podcast network. She also wrote a compelling article for rabble.ca exploring the question, what is restorative justice? Today on rabble radio, we’re handing the microphone to Moira as she introduces us to some of the answers she’s found.
Featuring:
Fia Jampolsky, a Whitehorse-based lawyer whose work in Legal Aid and Yukon Human Rights Commission has drawn on the principles of restorative justice.
El Jones, Halifax’s Poet Laureate and a PhD student and faculty member at Dalhousie. She’s also a prison rights activist who works with incarcerated individuals in Nova Scotia. She discussed the systemic racism in the justice system and how restorative justice was used at Dalhousie to maintain the privilege of the 13 students involved, when in fact restorative justice, or as she calls it “transformative justice” is an important tool to acknowledge and address the marginalization of communities of colour. Being a dentist, she points out, is not a right, and a career is not more important than the lives and safety of women.
Sue Goyette, a Halifax-based poet. She’s also being trained as a facilitator to work with young offenders who’ve opted for the restorative justice process. Sue discussed the role of both of art and restorative justice in allowing people to have their stories heard, the role of listening and empathy in healing, and how art offers an opportunity to mend social wrongs by providing an avenue for people to experience vulnerability. Art, she says, teaches us to be better people, and provides a way to move forward in a direction that we haven’t envisaged before.
Read Moira Donovan’s article for rabble.ca, “Because Dalhousie: A Closer Look at Restorative Justice.”
Photo: Esther S./flickr
These days we’re hearing a lot of voices encouraging all of us to be entrepreneurs. And it’s not just from Chamber of Commerce types these days. Even the progressive community is saying that we all need to create our own jobs.
On one hand, being self-sufficient is a good thing. But maybe not entirely. Today we’re going to be looking at both sides of the entrepreneurial spirit and how it’s practised. Especially in progressive circles where we’re likely to hear words like “social enterprise.”
Things have really changed from the days when everybody had a job that they went to, with job security, benefits, and good pay. We’ll also hear how one union is trying to diversify and represent some of those entrepreneurs.
To celebrate this new entrepreneurship or not? On this episode of rabble radio, we look at that from several different angles.
Imre Szeman is a member of Toronto’s social enterprise community, The Centre for Social Innovation. He is also Canada Research Chair in Cultural Studies at University of Alberta.
Dr. Szeman has written an article with Dan Harvey in a recent edition of University Affairs questioning the recent zeal at university campuses for entrepreneurial education. Called “Are We All Entrepreneurs Now?“, the article raises some of the same issues you just heard about in the interview we just did.
Datejie Green — Canadian Media Guild. In the cultural industries we’ve always been entrepreneurs. Except for the people who are lucky enough to have a staff job at one of the big newspapers. Or TV stations. Or the CBC. Well, times are changing for everybody, as we see fewer and fewer people in the media and culture who used to be called “employees.” With fewer and fewer employees to represent, the Canadian Media Guild is one trade union which is looking at ways to represent self employed workers in greater numbers. So, what good is a trade union to entrepreneurs with no job security, no collective bargaining?
Winnipeg Social Enterprise Centre — And finally, despite all the questions we’ve raised in this program, we’d like to end by saying that there are a lot of great social enterprises and businesses happening across the country. What we’re seeing is that starting a business isn’t just something that people are doing for profits to benefit oneself and one’s own family. And despite the questions raised in other parts of this program, we’d still like to recognize the good work and the good people who are doing this for the best of motives. And we want to acknowledge the success stories. Produced by the podcast The Green Planet Monitor, David Kattenburg, Executive Producer.
Yes, it’s a been a tough, tough year. I’m feeling it. We’re all feeling it. But… all that bad news is not the totality of life. With this being the holiday season, this rabble radio show is the “Light the Fire, Pour the Eggnog and Think Philosophically For a While” edition.
We thought it would be a good time to play some of the hidden gems that have shown up on the rpn this year. So go get that eggnog, light the fire and just enjoy being here with us for the next half hour.
Season’s Greetings.
We’ve had some really great new podcasts this summer and fall on the RPN. One of them is MsRepresent: Behind the Face, a Fierce Woman by Charlene Sayo of Vancouver. Charlene spent some time in the Big Apple where she had the amazing opportunity to hang out with super fierce women in the arts and activism. One of the women she met up with was Safia Elhillo. Safia is Sudanese by way of Washington, D.C., currently living in New York City. Among her many literary credits, she is a founding member of Slam NYU, the 2012 and 2013 national collegiate championship team, and was a three-time member and former coach of the DC Youth Slam Poetry team.
We don’t get enough documentaries on the rabble podcast network. And sound documentaries are such a wonderful art form. That’s one of our goals for the new year. Our next piece is a treasure. The Swan Song is an eclectic podcast that covers a wide range of topics about the human condition. David Swanson, the show’s producer, recently did a documentary called The Latvian Art Diaries, based on an exploration of heritage through sound. Here is an excerpt of this excellent sound work.
And finally, to wrap up. We like sound that is collected in adventurous places. This next excerpt was first played on Lynn Thompson’s Living on Purpose, one of the longest running podcasts we have on the rabble podcast network. In this next piece, Lynn goes travelling deep underground with Jamie Thompson and his flute. Jamie is a Toronto musician who takes his flute to some unusual places: abandoned buildings, under bridges with traffic roaring above, ravines and haunted houses. In this excerpt, we go deep into the Diefenbunker, the cold war bomb shelter near Ottawa that was intended to be the residence of John Diefenbaker’s Conservative government if the bomb fell…
But the bomb didn’t fall. And we’re here to see another New Year. Happy 2015!
Photo: sbluerock/flickr
Employment is becoming more and more precarious. It’s getting harder and harder to find what we used to call a “permanent” job, with a good salary, with benefits and with no specified end date.
Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union held an event to address this issue earlier in October. There was a wide range of speakers, and today we’re devoting the show to some of the ideas that were presented. The Good Jobs Summit was cosponsored by Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Ryerson University’s Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice, and the Canadian Federation of Students.
2:26 Jessica McCormick, National Chair of the Canadian Federation of Students.
How to counter the trend towards part-time precarious employment is a subject which all the unions struggle with.
10:48 Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress.
You can hear more of the presentations by going to rabble’s soundcloud page at www.soundcloud.com/rabbleca.
Unifor, one of the sponsors of the Good Jobs Summit, is a new union. Sort of, anyway. Unifor was created through the merger of two unions — the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, and the Canadian Auto Workers Union.
One of our podcasts, Twelve Canadians, by Dave Kattenburg of the Green Planet Monitor, is a portrait of Ken Lewenza. Ken is from Windsor, from Local 444 at the Chrysler plant. He has held almost every union position there is … from Shop Steward in the plant all the way up to President of the Canadian Auto Workers.
21:31 Stephen Dale prepared this profile of Ken Lewenza for the Green Planet Monitor.
Lots of people are not welcome in Canada anymore.
People can no longer count on finding refuge in Canada. It’s like our country now has big signs on our borders saying Go Away. We don’t want you here. rabble radio 158 is about the lives that undocumented migrants face, those who are incarcerated because they are undocumented, and also about people trying to help them make sense of it all and live their lives.
No One is Illegal – On September 17, Victoria Fenner, rabble radio’s executive producer, went down to the Immigration and Refugee Headquarters on Victoria Avenue in Toronto. In front of the building was an event to recognize the one-year anniversary of a significant day. On September 17, 2013, 191 immigration detainees held in the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay Ontario, began a non-cooperation protest. Since then, people across the country have joined the call to end immigration detention.
Tings Chack is with the Toronto Chapter of No One Is Illegal, the organizers of the protest.
Imagine what it would be like to always be looking over your shoulder and wondering who knows you’re in the country without proper documentation. Your kids’ teachers? Your employer? Are they going to turn you in? Our next guest knows a lot of people who live with that fear. Suzanne Narain is a Jane Finch community resident, a neighbourhood in Toronto where a lot of undocumented workers live. She spoke to John Bonner of the rabble.ca podcast John Bonner Audio Blog, about what life is like to live in fear of arrest, detention or deportation.
If you’re born in Canada, you’re automatically a Canadian citizen, right? Well, maybe not. Deepan Budlakoti was born in Canada. He has been issued a passport by the federal government. Twice. The government of Ontario gave him an Ontario birth certificate. But … the federal government now says he’s not a Canadian citizen and he needs to go home. Except India, which the government says is his home, says no. He’s not an Indian citizen. He was born in Canada, so he’s Canadian.
Deepan is still in Canada but has been stripped of his Canadian citizenship. He is now stateless. He is under house arrest in his parent’s home and can only go out between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. He doesn’t have health insurance anymore. He’s living in limbo.
Earlier this month, he lost his appeal of the government’s decision to revoke his citizenship. The case hinges on the question: Were his parents employees of India High Commission when he was born? Deepan and his lawyers say no.
Dan Kellar of the rabble podcast AWOL spoke to Deepan Budlakoti a few days after he received the news of his lost appeal earlier this month.
When one of our podcasters celebrates, so do we. This year is a milestone year for one of our longest-running podcasts. It’s the 10th anniversary of the program “Living on Purpose.” It hasn’t been on the rabble podcast network for all that time. Lynn Thompson’s podcast began on the radio in Nanaimo in 2004 and migrated to the rabble podcast network in 2007. Happy anniversary, Living on Purpose!
The Peoples’ Social Forum 2014 wrapped up in Ottawa yesterday. It was a dynamic day summarizing a lot of the many conversations, sessions and workshops which had happened during the three days.
rabble radio’s fourth and final podcast contains some highlights from the Final Assembly.
It’s the last full day of the Peoples’ Social Forum. Tomorrow afternoon we’ll be heading home to our various places in Canada. But it’s not over yet.
Here are some highlights from Saturday, August 23: Ellen Gabriel — Human Rights Advocate for collective and individual rights of indigenous people; Word on the Street — Lois Ross, roving reporter, talks to delegates; Sounds from the Powwow on Sparks Street Mall, featuring music by Spirit Flower.
It’s day two of the Peoples’ Social Forum in Ottawa.
It was a different type of day than yesterday, which ended with a march on Parliament Hill. Today was an indoor day, with delegates going to dozens of workshops on topics of all kinds.
Here’s Victoria Fenner’s summary of her day, which was full of workshops, conversations and lots of recording.
Aaron Doncaster is an activist from Alberta. He compares what it is like to be an activist in Alberta and in Nova Scotia, his home province.
Paul Maillet – Ottawa chapter of an organization which is lobbying the federal government to create a Department of Peace. What would happen if we had a Minister of Peace at the cabinet table when deliberating whether or not to go to war?
Media and movements — an excerpt from a panel discussion sponsored by rabble about independent media in Canada today.
Rights of Mother Earth — ending the program with a quote by Margaret Atwood, read by Mike Desautels of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
This week, thousands of people are converging upon Ottawa to talk about solutions to some of the problems facing our world and our country, to connect with each other and build new networks. The Peoples’ Social Forum is about celebration, it’s about problem solving, it’s about connecting and about building the kind of Canada that we want to live in.
It’s what rabble.ca does too. That’s why we’re here all this week. As a media sponsor, as media-makers. We’re livestreaming, writing, taking part in forums and doing what we can to add our voices to the mix and to help others get their voices out to the wider world.
rabble radio will be doing a daily wrap-up of some of the highlights each day from Thursday, August 21 until Sunday, August 24.
Here are the highlights of Day 1, with host and exec producer of the rabble podcast network, Victoria Fenner: Welcome by Anna Collins, Indigenous Coordinator of the People’s Social Forum; Naomi Klein, activist and author; The gathering moves to Parliament Hill; Celebrating independent media and activism with rabble — Meg Borthwick of rabble.ca introduces author, activist and journalist Linda McQuaig.
This month on rabble radio, we have a couple of interviews which provide some of the background behind the headlines about the attack on Gaza.
Tyler Levitan – Campaigns Coordinator with Independent Jewish Voices, a national human rights organization whose mandate is to promote a just resolution to the dispute in Israel and Palestine through the application of international law and respect for the human rights of all parties. He speaks with Redeye host Esther Hsieh.
For more perspectives on the attack on Gaza, go to the blog of Independent Jewish Voices on rabble.ca.
Palestinian socialist and activist Reem Unis. She lives in Melbourne Australia and had a conversation with Asia Pacific Current’s Jiselle Hanna. In addition to sharing thoughts about what is happening in her homeland, Reem Unis also shares her perspective on the role of Egypt in the peace process, and what other countries around the world can do to further the cause of peace in Gaza.
Introducing — a new podcast on the rabble podcast network. rpn executive producer Victoria Fenner talks to Rachel Swatek, producer of Groundwire, a news magazine by volunteers with campus and community radio stations across the country.
Please support our coverage of democratic movements and become a monthly supporter of rabble.ca.
It’s summer time and it’s time to have some fun. But that doesn’t mean we have to put aside our work to change the world. We can dance, we can sing and we can change the world too.
A summer celebration of creativity featuring The Femme City Choir of Vancouver, the Howl Arts Collective of Montreal and rabble.ca.
Arianna Barer of the podcast The F Word talks to Femme City Choir members Lau Sequins and Kate Monstrr. It’s a choir that sings in sweet harmony to celebrate difference. In their own words, THIS choir is an all-genders, queer and trans* centred femme-fabulous singing extravaganza! Celebrating and elevating self-identified femme-ness through song.
Scott Neigh of Talking Radical Radio talks to Stefan Christoff of Montreal’s Howl Arts Collective. They are firm believers that culture and arts and creativity and creation are always integral to movements. To demonstrate that, not only do they point to pretty much every movement of the past that has had any lasting impact, but they also point out that — particularly given the scorn and dismissal that movements so often face from mainstream meaning-makers — that such work is really the only way that movements can know and be known by the world; can remember and help build histories of struggle; can allow us to truly feel, deep in our bones, what it means to dream of and to deserve something better.
The Year of Living Consciously – The Best of rabble.ca 2014 — It’s the 13th anniversary of rabble, we’ve just released a new book — The Best of rabble.ca 2014 Edition – The Art of Living Consciously. We’ve been having launch parties all over the country. And it’s also our donation drive right now — we do a lot with a pretty small budget. But even so, good, independent journalism costs good money. So please, go to rabble.ca/donate … and help keep rabble going.
On June 17, we had the Ottawa launch of The Best of rabble.ca. It was a great opportunity to connect with some of our Ottawa supporters. Together with fabulous music by our own reporter on Parliament Hill, Karl Nerenberg and friends, it was a great time.
rabble radio is produced by Victoria Fenner and co-hosted by Victoria and rabble Editor in Chief Meagan Perry.
Intersectionality. It’s a big word, and it has to be, because it is the idea that we can unite our social justice struggles, that it is impossible and unwise to separating them into single-issue campaigns. For activists, intersectionality is both a gift and a challenge. Sharon Smith is a feminist socialist activist and the writer of Subterranean Fire: A History of Working-Class radicalism in the United States. She spoke about intersectionality at the Socialism 2013 Conference in Chicago, Illinois. rabble.ca’s F-Word podcast was there to record it. Here’s part of her address.
Dalhousie University made the news this year for creating gender-neutral washrooms. That’s just one example of success in activismthat seeks to create safe spaces for trans people on campus. It’s part of an upswing in community activism around Halifax for gender justice, which uses a model that understands that work for social justice occurs on many intersecting levels such as race, class, sexuality, gender, ability, and more. Scott Neigh talked with Jude Ashburn, a queer and non-binary transperson who has worked for a number of inclusivity initiatives in Halifax. Ashburn has also been an organizer with Rad Pride Halifax, an alternative to the city’s more mainstream Pride celebration. Scott started the interview by asking Jude about Gender justice.
Well, no matter where you choose to focus your personal radical action, and who you are, you will probably end up paying taxes. And while politicians love to promise us lower tax rates, and comedians love to joke about the taxman, there are economists across Canada who want to tell you why taxes are great. They gathered together for a panel hosted by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and sponsored by rabble.ca. The panel was excellent — I know because I was there. It featured economists Armine Yalnizyan, Trish Hennessey, Yves-Lynne Couturier, and Toby Sanger. You can hear the entire presentation over at the Needs No Introduction podcast at rabble.ca/podcasts, but we thought we’d bring you a little bit of it here. The special guest speaker that evening was former privy council clerk and the author of “Tax is not a four letter word” Alex Himelfarb.
Here is part of his address.
In October of 2013 over 2.5 million workers staged a national strike in Indonesia. Recently the Asia Pacific Currents podcast produced a special program exploring the current state of labour in Indonesia. Here we feature Diana Beaumont in conversation with Kirstie Hoban, an Australian union organizer living in Indonesia.
Tara Hardy is a working-class queer femme poet who writes and teaches in Seattle, Washington. She was the recipient of the 2011 Washington Poet’s Association Burning Word Award, and in this episode of rabble radio, we get to hear her perform her piece “red states”.
A lot of people work hard to grow food, but without land, growing food gets pretty tough pretty quickly. Up until the 1970s thousands of hectares of farmland were being lost each year all over the world, and the Vancouver area was no exception. In the 1970s the government decided to do something about the loss of farmland. To protect prime farming land from development, it created the Agricultural Land Reserve or ALR. The pressures to build on urban farmland are huge and Tom Baumann, a professor at the University of the Fraser has been involved in ALR issues for many years. Lorraine Chisholm from the Redeye podcast caught up with him for an interview.
All farm work and gardening involves bugs. But in in Ottawa Ontario BUGs is an acronym. It stands for the Bytowne Urban Gardens project. rabble.ca’s own Megan Stacey interviewed two folks with BUGs, Myka Riopel and Pamela Scaiff about the excitement and challenges of urban gardening.
Rape culture is a term we hear more and more. But what is it? How pervasive is it? And who is affected? Where do we see rape culture? So many questions. Well to help you understand, we’ve got a radio documentary! It’s produced by rabble.ca’s own Meghan Stacey. It comes to us from the Rad Voices, the podcast that is produced for the Lynn Williams Activist Toolkit as a resource for activists.
Loretta Ross has decades of work in the women’s movement under her belt. She’s worked to end violence against women and promote reproductive justice in the United States and around the world. Ross was active in the black nationalist and civil rights movements. In the 1970s, she directed one of the first rape crisis centres in the United States, and she was one of the first African American women to hold that position. From 1996-2004, she was the Founder and Executive Director of the National Center for Human Rights Education in Atlanta, Georgia.Here are some of her thoughts from a presentation in Guelph, Ontario.
The band Blondie is famously named for what men used to shout out to Debbie Harry as she walked down the street. That was back in the 70s, but not much has changed. Angela Matthews is a researcher and activist and volunteer at the Women Against Violence Against Women Rape Crisis Centre. She recently conducted research on stranger harassment and its impact on the holistic health of women and the health of our communities. Ariana Barer) from the F-Word caught up with Angela Matthews to learn more about her research.
Joey “Shithead” Keithley is one of the founders of the legendary Vancouver punk band DOA. For him punk music was a natural progression from the music of the hippies and the sounds of protests from the sixties. Here he speaks with David Swanson about the evolution of punk, and the music of political activism.
Doug Karr has been creating original independent films since 1997. Karr’s credits include narrative shorts Tiny Dancer, The Straitjacket Lottery and the award-winning documentaries LSD25, The June Bug Symphony, Lifecycles: a story of AIDS in Malawi, and The Face of AIDS. Doug has new film opening, The Art Machine, and he spoke with David Peck about the film, filmmaking, and how seeing a remake of the film Lawrence of Arabia, at 9 years old, changed his life.
Film lover, watcher and reviewer Cathi Bond has a city that fascinates her. Now she has found a great documentary to help her explore it
Visit rabble.ca/podcasts for great shows!
Nova Scotia’s potential fracking game changer. We get the scoop on the Northern Gateway pipeline ruling, supporting trans and queer prisoners, and a movie review.
Pressure is building in many communities to stop hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” as a method to extract natural gas. We will hear about a proposed law in Nova Scotia that could be a fracking game changer. Hear the whole episode of “Habitat” here.
Then we get energized about the government’s recent ruling about the northern gateway pipeline. We hear from an environmental lawyer who lays down the law. Tune in to the “Redeye” episode we feature here.
And when there is law, it seems there are prisons. From rabble.ca’s own show, “rad voices”, we have an interview with a prison abolitionist activist working to support prisoners and change the system.
It is the tax system that needs to be changed to develop Africa, says one tax justice activist. What is tax justice and how can it be achieved? Tune in to find out. Hear the whole interview on Africa files here.
Finally rabble contributor Cathi Bond turns her cinematic eye to an offbeat film that might just reflect a new brand of chick flick. Catch all of Cathi’s reviews on “Watch Me.”
And if you can, please chip in to support the rabble podcast network and rabble.ca. It takes just a moment at www.rabble.ca/donate
Ariel Sharon died on Saturday, January 11, 2014.
When Ariel Sharon fell into a coma in 2006, rabble.ca’s Redeye podcast spoke about Sharon’s legacy with Palestinian-American journalist and co-founder of electronicintifada.net Ali Abunimah.
As 2013 was coming to an end the world saw the passing of South African revolutionary and president Nelson Mandela. During this, our last show of the year, we dedicate the show to reflections on the life and work of Mandela. We are airing excerpts from a special episode of Amandla – a weekly African current affairs program produced in English and French on CKUT 90.3 in Montreal. You can hear their full show right here.
This is our last show of the year, if you have enjoyed rabble radio this year, please chip in a few dollars to support this kind of programing. You can help out at rabble.ca/donate.
Halloween is a time where we can, with good friends around, face some of our fears. In this episode we will hear some scary stuff. Don't worry though, we haven't forgotten the treat.
We start with the terrifying world of water.
Maude Barlow is the national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, and activist and an author. Recently she launched the final installment of her trilogy on water, the book Blue Future. She spoke to a packed house in Ottawa earlier this month and this is some of what she had to say. Get the whole thing here.
On July 1, 1958 the St Lawrence Seaway flooded out 6,500 people and inundated 10 communities, some over 200 years old. Hear the stories of people that were there and reflections from Louis Helbig who interviewed them. You can hear the whole show at the rpn here.
Cancer is frightening. Yet when women get breast cancer there is, it seems, a cultural pressure to emphasize optimism and delegitimize anger. Emilia Nielsen is a sessional faculty member and ph.d candidate at UBC candidate whose research focuses on breast cancer narratives and feminism. Listen to Caity Goerke from the F-Word in conversation with Emilia Nielsen. Hear the whole interview here.
And now for our treat. El Jones is an activist and a poet. In fact she is the poet poet laureate of the Halifax Regional Municipality. Recently Jones spoke to Scott Neigh about poetry, activism and the politics of poetry. She also shared a beautiful spoken word poem. Lend us your ear. Hear the whole thing here.
This weekend ends our rabble fundraising drive in support of Karl Nerenberg. Karl has been busy reporting on the almost always frightening politics that come out of Parliament. With support from the community we can have him reporting for the rest of the year. Please donate at rabble.ca/donate if you can. The good news is you can win great prizes that, unlike that Halloween candy, your dentist won’t hate.
Historian Howard Zinn once said that dissent is the highest form of patriotism. In this episode we will hear from a number of dissenters. First, sign of the times. We’ll hear how a placard holding woman near parliament hill drew an unwelcome visit from the RCMP. And, a group of folks in Regina, Saskatchewan are resisting private control over their water. Then, an announcement of a different kind of labour union, whose leaders say that their dissenting voices will be heard. And Inter Pares founder Ian Smillie about whether development work is working.
In our democracy holding a protest sign is a pretty basic right of freedom of expression. Or is it? Redeye host Jane Williams gets the story from one woman who was stopped by the RCMP for doing just that – holding a sign. Hear the whole interview here.
Citizen advocacy group Regina Water Watch has forced a referendum to keep their wastewater facility public. Scott Neigh spoke with activist Jeremy Campbell about the campaign. Hear the whole interview here.
Over the labour day weekend a new union was formed in Canada. It is named “Unifor,” and it is made up of the members of Canadian Auto Workers union and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union. UNIFOR is now the largest private sector union in Canada. It represents more than 20 sectors. That’s over 300 000 workers. The leaders of the new union say UNIFOR will do things differently. Here is Inaugural Unifor President Jerry Dias making the opening statement at his first Unifor press conference. To hear the whole press conference listen here.
Does development work? Ian Smilley has some thoughts on the matter. Smiley has been an international development practitioner, consultant, teacher and writer for many years. He has lived and worked in Asia and Africa, was a founder of Inter Pares and Executive Director of CUSO. This month, a new podcast called face 2 face, hosted by David Peck joined the network. Here is David Peck talking with Ian Smilley. Hear the whole interview here.
Finally, please support our campaign to put Karl Nerenberg back on the on Parliament Hill beat.
Dateline: Vancouver. 2011. The city’s landscape and skyline is rapidly changing. Height restrictions have been removed from Vancouver’s historic Chinatown. This change is affecting, among other things, the Night Market., where Chinatown businesses and vendors take their work outdoors and sell their wares every weekend. Fast forward to 2013, and Vancouver’s Night Market is 18 years old. It is the only night market in North America, and the changes continue. Co-op Radio’s Tanya Hill is capturing the sounds and stories of the new era of the Night Market in a series of short documentaries. Here is the first tasty report.
Canada has issues – food security issues. In fact, almost 10 percent of Canadians face challenges when it comes to obtaining healthy food. If Vancouverites can’t come to the food, one Vancouver community is taking the food to them.
We’ll hear from one anti-poverty activist working with a Toronto neighbourhood. They’re organizing. Not just to improve their situation but to change the system itself.
Movie companies and film festivals spend millions of dollars promoting their films, from ads to product tie-ins. But what if you had a festival where that refused to disclose its film lineup? Spoiler alert: people will line up for the show.
We hear from Onur Bakiner on the situation in Turkey, Chris Hedges on a pending revolution, Henry Giroux on social movements and youth, plus a comic book and the live in care giver program, and troubles with an important psychology book.
The world watched this month as protestors in Turkey were met with extremely strong police crackdowns. There were plenty of images of police brutality, but not a lot of information about who was protesting and why. Onur Bakiner, is an Assistant Professor of International Studies at Simon Fraser University. He spoke with Irwin Oostindie about what he sees is going on in Turkey.
The United States is on its way to a revolution, according to Chris Hedges. The Pulitzer prize-winning reporter has written and reported around the globe. For his latest project, he traveled to some of America’s most economically depressed areas with co-author Joe Sacco, then wrote about what he found. The book is called Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt. The author, educator, journalist and activist to spoke in Ottawa in June at the Southminster United Church. The lecture was hosted by Octopus Books.
Dr. Henry Giroux is a world renowned writer and thinker. He has done work in public pedagogy, cultural studies, youth studies, higher education, media studies, and critical theory. He is currently the Global television Network Chair in Communications Studies in Hamilton, Ontario. he is the author of over 50 books including Youth in Revolt: Reclaiming a Democratic Future. Dr. Giroux spoke to Riaz Sayani-Mulji about the Quebec student movement, Occupy and the struggles of youth facing a world made by neoliberalism.
The live-in caregiver program in Canada is part of Canada’s temporary worker program and has come under fire. There have been many accusations of abuse: Low basic wages, non-stop work schedules, and a lack of freedom for employees. The stories that haven’t been told as much is how women are resisting the exploitative structure of the Live-in-Care program and creating community. Toronto based artists Althea Balmes and Jo SiMalaya Alcampo are making comic book in collaboration with workers to tell the stories of how they resisted. The project is called Kwentong Bayan[Kwen ton buy on]: Labour of Love. Marycarl Guiao spoke to the artists.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (or as it is sometimes know as “the DSM”) is published by the American Psychiatric Association. The publication of the new DSM-5 this spring has some mental health professionals worried. Brent Dean Robbins is Director of Psychology at Point Park University and co-chair of the International DSM-5 Response Committee. He spoke with Lorraine Chisholm about his concerns with DSM 5, beginning with how important this book is.
We began with an excerpt of an interview with Judy Rebick about Dr. Henry Morgentaler and the impact he had on her and on the pro-choice movement.
Franke James is an artist. Her art often focuses on environmental issues, including her concerns about the Tar Sands. Her work got to the attention of the Harper government who pulled her tour funding. We hear her story.
It has still got a way to go, but the mental health system in Canada has changed for the better since the 1970s. And it was political organizing by people who had experienced the system that made change happen. Activists lobbied and protested through the 80s. Then, in the 90s they decided they needed to party a little and started a festival called Psychiatric Survivor Pride Toronto. That festival, under a new name, is celebrating its 20th year in 2013 and Talking Radical Radio’s Scott Neigh caught up with some festival organizers to talk about its new name and what it means to them. Here are Elizabeth Carvahlo, Jeremiah Bach, Peter and Alisa.
Kate Braid has a lot of firsts under her toolbelt. Braid was one of the first women in British Columbia to get her journeyman’s carpentry ticket. She was the first woman to join the Vancouver local of the Carpenters’ Union. She was also the first woman to run her own construction company in the province. She has a new book out Journeywoman: Swinging a Hammer in a Man’s World and the F-Word caught up with Braid to hear about her experiences.
Finally, if you enjoy this show please become a supporting member – www.rabble.ca/membership
The hockey playoffs are here and that means it is serious hockey time for a lot of fans across Canada. This episode, we skate past the hockey headlines and instead hear about a women’s league in Toronto.
Putting a microscope on this question: do you have to be a scientist to do science? Citizen scientists don’t think so.
If you filed your taxes on time, you’ll have time to think about this: A new book argues there is a tax cut scam going on that is hurting us all.
Climate Justice advocates say that the fight against the climate crises has to involve other struggles. In this episode, one advocate advocates for direct action.
First we turn to a journey – the journey of Nishiyuu. Aboriginal youth recently trekked over 1,500 kilometers on foot through extreme conditions to promote solidarity and action around the issues facing indigenous peoples. We hear words from Isaac Kawapit also known as the “The White Wizard” and an interview by Lorraine Chisholm from RedEye Radio with Matthew Mukash.
So, are you a feminist? What does that even mean? Artist, activist, and educator Kim Crosby says there are many different feminisms. With International Women’s Day on March 8th Riaz Sayani –Mulji met with Kim Crosby to talk about feminism, organizing and more. Here’s part of their conversation.
For this story we turn to Halifax. In the 1960’s the municipal government, against the wishes of residents, razed the historic Black settlement of Africville. Now once again there is a struggle over space and community. This time the fight is over what could be a community centre. Talking Radical Radio’s Scott Neigh [Ni] spoke with Rev. Rhonda Britton of Cornwallis Street Baptist Church in Halifax, Nova Scotia about the struggle to preserve the closed St. Patrick’s-Alexandra school building as a community space.
We have just passed the two year anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. Chie Matsumoto is an anti-nuclear and labour activist in Japan who gave an updated on the situation to Asian Pacific Current’s Jiselle Hanna.
Finally Bob Wiseman is the man that wrote and peformed our theme song. He also has a new album out and we get to share with you a great song called “The Reform Party at Burning Man.”
More than 20 years ago the Tsilhqot’in Nation used blockades and court action to halt plans for clear-cut logging in the heart of their territories. B.C. Justice David Vickers ruled on that case in 2007. His ruling had widespread implications for future consultation, land title, and compensation in land claims cases across Canada. The federal government did not agree with the ruling, and appealed it. Over a decade later, the case is about to be heard at the Supreme Court of Canada. rabble.ca’s Redeye called up one of the lawyers for the Tsilhqot’in First Nation. Here is Redeye’s Lorraine Chisholm talking to David Rosenberg.
Royce White is a professional basketball player. An excellent player. He is also a person with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. The disorder has made it difficult for him to play professional basketball. He says that professional sports could not, or would not, accommodate his mental illness. In a controversial interview, White spoke out about a subtle war between the business of professional sports and the health of the players. Nathan Kalman-Lamb is an academic who writes about social inequality and sports. He says that White’s activist statement makes him the most important athlete since Muhammad Ali. rabble.ca’s Progressive Voices podcast interviewed Kalman-lamb. Here’s their conversation.
This one is for all of Canada, except Toronto. Maybe you heard a loud groan coming from that big city. You heard it when the Chair of Toronto’s Parks and Environment committee, Councillor Norm Kelley, claimed that he didn’t accept the scientific consensus on climate change. Soon after, at a climate justice rally, rabble’s John Bonnar caught up with another city councillor, who is also an environmentalist. Gord Perks was glad to talk about the challenges facing Toronto around the climate crisis. Here’s their conversation.
Finally, we finish, as we all must, with death. More specifically, how we deal with death. Pashta Marrymoon is one person who provides alternatives to modern palliative care practices. She calls herself a “death midwife.” Marymoon spoke with Lynn Thompson on changing the death journey and began by explaining what is meant by the term “death midwife.”
Judy Rebick is a long-time activist, writer, broadcaster and founding publisher of rabble.ca. Not only has she been part of social movements for years, she has written and taught extensively on the topic. She’s been an avid participant and analyst of the Idle No More movement in Canada. And she recently joined rabble.ca editor Derrick O’Keefe, who hosts a program called W2 Media Mornings on Coop Radio 100.5FM in Vancouver. Here’s part of their conversation.
Union of B.C. Indian Chief’s Grand Chief Stewart Phillip also appeared on the program, and Jahanzeb Hussain took on some of that interview.
Political Science professor David McNally has monsters on the mind. In his new book Monsters of the Market Zombies, Vampires, and Global Capitalism (published by Haymarked) McNally draws on popular culture, folklore and literature to better account for our understanding of capitalism and labour. Whatever you do, don’t turn out the lights when listen in to his conversation with Ali Mustafa.
Madeline Schwartz wrote a piece for Dissent Magazine entitled Opportunity Costs: The True Price of Internships. In the article, she said that a feminist perspective is needed to understand internships. Then Rabble.ca podcast Feminist Current called her up. Here is Madeline Schwartz in conversation with Feminist Current host Meghan Murphy.
Human trafficking is recognized as a modern day version of slavery. It has a tremendous impact on the poor. But human trafficking affects all of us, not just the people directly involved. Lila Shahani made that point as part of a lecture about human trafficking in a Phillipine, Canadian, and Global Context at the University of British Columbia this month. Shahani is the Assistant Secretary at the National Anti-Poverty Commission and the Human Development & Poverty Reduction Cabinet Cluster of the Philippine Government.
Remember to please support shows like this at: rabble.ca/donate.
Clayton Thomas-Muller and Keira-Dawn Kolson on climate change and climate justice, Joanne Dallaire discusses Attawapiskat, and Deb Singh on resisting violence against women.
Please support rabble.ca during our donation drive! You can support right here!
Idle No More. That’s the slogan under which Aboriginal groups across Canada are rallying for social justice and indigenous sovereignity. As thousands rally across Canada, Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence is entering the second week of a hunger strike. She it attempting to get a meeting with the Prime Minister to talk about substandard housing and other issues on Attawapiskat. Last year, Meagan spoke with Joanne Dallaire, an educator and healer from Attawapiskat about how we should all be responding to the crises in First Nations communities across Canada.
In late October this year 1000 youth from across the Canada participated in a climate justice conference in Ottawa called Powershift 2012. The goal of the conference? To train a generation of climate justice activists so they can work to usher in a clean energy revolution. Clayton Thomas-Muller is an indigenous and environmental justice activist. Who has been organizing grassroots efforts to create environmental change for a decade. He is currently working with the Indigenous Environmental Network. When he took the podium at Powershift 2012, he spoke about what climate justice means.
Another speaker at the Powershift 2012 Conference was Keira-Dawn Kolson. Her community has faced pipelines, water shortages, changing climate and a dwindling supply of their traditional food supply: caribou. At the opening of the Powershift conference, the multi-disciplinary artist, motivational speaker, singer-songwriter, leader, dreamer and educator spoke about how her community has been affected by resource development.
December 6th in Canada is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. It is also known as White Ribbon Day. The National Day of Remembrance and Action was established in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada to mark the anniversary of the 1989 murders of 14 young women at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal. The victims in the shooting were killed by one man who called them feminists before he shot them. This year on December 6, an event called Speaking Up was held in Toronto. Toronto City Councillor Mike Layton spoke about his work organizing against gender-based violence, in particular with the White Ribbon Campaign an organization which aims to prevent men’s violence against women.
Also presenting at the event was Deb Singh. Singh is a survivor and an activist. She’s a counsellor with the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre: Multicultural Women Against Rape. At speak up, she addressed the role of language and its relationship to violence in our culture.
Ali Abunimah is a journalist and the founder of the electronic intifada. That’s an independent online news publication and educational resource focusing on Palestine, its people, politics, culture and its place in the world. In the days after the recent ceasefire in Gaza, he joined rabble.ca’s Redeye podcast to share his viewpoint on the conflict and the ceasefire. Host Mordecai Briemberg began by asking him about why he thought Israel attacked.
An international boycott of businesses profiting from illegal Israeli settlements is needed. Dr. Richard Falk made that assertion in a report to the United Nations this October. His recommendation for a boycott led Canada, the United States, and Israel to call for his resignation. Dr. Falk is a professor emeritus of International Law at Princeton. He is also the special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territories for the UN. And Dr. Falk has not resigned. rabble.ca’s Redeye podcast has been covering the conflict in Gaza over the last month, and they invited him to join them on their podcast. Here he is, explaining why he made the call for a boycott.
You’ve had a few weeks to recover from the U. S. presidential election coverage. It’s safe now to pull your fingers out of your ears as the 24-hour-a-day horse-race coverage is thankfully over. Now is the time for a little more reasoned coverage. Kevin MacKay is a professor of social sciences at Mohawk College, and executive director of the Skydragon Co-operative is a non-profit worker-coop dedicated to the goals of progressive social and environmental change. Here he is, speaking with Riaz Sayani-Mulji from rabble.ca’s Progressive Voices Podcast about the difference between the parties.
Rape jokes, creepshots, and a slut memes about 12 year olds. They’re all there on Facebook. Talk about Facebook privacy concerns abounds in the media. But there’s not much in the news how the site deals with misogyny. Soraya Chemaly writes for Alternet, Fem 2.0, The Feminist Wire, and the Huffington Post, which is where she took on Facebook’s failure to shut down misogynist posts and pages. Here she is on rabble.ca’s Feminist Current podcast, after host Meghan Murphy asked about when she first noticed Facebook’s misogyny problem.
It comes up in many conversations about feminism. This comment: “I’m not a feminist, I’m a humanist.” But what if a person could be a feminist AND a humanist? It’s a radical thought. Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson is one person who believes that it is both possible, and necessary. She calls it radical humanism. Hutchison is the founder of the Black Skeptics Los Angeles and a senior fellow with the Institute for Humanist Studies. The F Word collective invited Dr. Hutchinson onto their podcast to talk about faith, feminism and radical humanism.
When rabble radio produced our 100th episode, we thought it would be a good idea to check in with a centenarian. Anne McPhee was 100 at that time, and she graciously agreed to talk with me about her life and the changes a century had brought to Nova Scotia. Anne McPhee died this month. She was 103. McPhee was well-known in Nova Scotia. She had a head for business and for years she ran a clothing store in Mulgrave. Here she is, talking about changes to the business and life in the Maritimes.
On September 29th, Omar Khadr was brought back to Canada from the U.S. military prison where he’d been held for a decade. A new book of writing called Omar Khadr, Oh Canada examines his story and the political and legal issues it reveals. Ten days before Khadr’s return, contributors to the book held a launch in Vancouver. They debated and discussed the importance of Khadr’s story, and what it means for Canada and Canadian citizens. Legal scholar Grace Woo was part of the discussion. Listen in from a RedEye podcast.
November marks the second anniversary of a now-notorious article in McLean’s magazine’ 2010 Campus issue. It was titled “Too Asian?”. That article sparked anger across Canada over how racialized people are perceived and treated in Canada’s educational institutions. “Too Asian?” Race, Privilege and Post-Secondary Education is one book that sprang out of the controversy. Jeet Heer contributed to, and co-edited the compilation. Here he is, speaking with Matt Adams on radio book lounge.
When actor and author Phillip Sheppard was a young man he was prepared to go to school in Physics. He gathered up his pencils and his calculators. Then he bought a bicycle and travelled to Japan to study Noh theatre instead. Here he is explaining how he made that choice to Lyn Thompson and a flock of boisterous seagulls on Living on Purpose.
During an interview about the tragic suicide of Amanda Todd, Meghan Murphy asked political writer and social commentator Melinda Tankard about the rising trend of sexualizating girls, and where she sees it. Hear the whole interview on the Feminist Current.
Does Halloween have to be sexy? Meagan’s got some costume suggestions.
Adi Sara Kreindler is a singer-songwriter and a fan of musical satire. The satyrical warbler has ridiculed the conservative government, pipelines, and cuts to old age security in her composition. Now, she’s blasting the F-35s. Here she is on the Redeye podcast, talking music and social change.
June is pride month and while Pride Celebrations have become a party in lots of places, the event got its start in June of 1969, when queens and dykes at New York’s stonewall tavern had finally had enough of police harassment and started to riot. Well, a new book celebrates another piece of queer activism, this time in Canada’s heartland. The Loud and Queer Cabaret is an annual event that has been featuring queer artists and writers in Edmonton Alberta for the last 20 years.
The Alberta government has a history of taking overt stands against human rights, and the cabaret played an essential role in changing attitudes when it comes to queer issues in the province. At the same time, Loud and Queer workshopped writing , music and drama from many of Canada’s artists.
Darrin Hagen is a ground-breaking drag artist and author of a book about the drag scene in Alberta called: The Edmonton Queen. He is also a long-time producer for the Loud and Queer cabaret. For the show’s 20th anniversary, he decided to take some of its most powerful moments and put them in a book. It’s called Queering the Way: an anthology from the Loud and Queer Cabaret. Rabble.ca’s Kaitlin McNabb called Darrin Hagen to talk about the book. Here’s their conversation.
Last year, when a Toronto police officer teaching a safety seminar at York University suggested that to remain safe, women “should avoid dressing like sluts,” his comments trivialized sexual assault and cast a harsh light on the way Toronto police treat sexual assault victims in one fell swoop. In response to his comment, women’s rights advocates across North America organized the slutwalk protest march. The name, the march, and the idea that reclaiming the word “slut” can have value for women’s rights have been cause for vigorous debates ever since.
This year was Toronto’s second slutwalk. One critique of the walk’s first year was that the bulk of the marchers and speakers were white women, and women of color, transpeople, and other groups were not included in planning and the march itself.
This year Kim Crosby was determined to create a more inclusive environment at the walk. Crosby is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist, a queer survivor of sexual assault, and an activist on behalf of racialized peoples. She has written extensively on issues of race and gender, and she’s the cohost of Black Feminism Live on Radio Regent in Toronto. Here’s what she had to say at slutwalk 2012:
If you are planning to go to the casseroles protest every Wednesday until further notice, you might want to invest in earplugs. But don’t put them in just yet. We’ve got something you want to hear. Three months into nightly student protests over tuition hikes, Quebec’s bill against free assembly, Bill 78, has inspired even more people to take to the streets.
Last week Montreal campus station CKUT’s Friday Morning After program invited in a very special guest. François-Olivier Chené was the guy who wrote the Facebook invite that started Canadians rummaging through their kitchen cupboards in search of pans and pots to bang. Program hosts Josh Hind, Sara Shaltony, Adam Bemma, and Rana Alrabi sat down with him at CKUT for a chat about the casseroles. Here’s their conversation.
Happy May Day. Across Canada and the world social justice and progressive activists are readying themselves to celebrate solidarity in art, music, words, ideas, and actions. Over the last year or so, the Occupy movement has been one of the largest and most visible actions for solidarity across the globe. In this episode of rabble radio, we thought we’d bring together art and activism by turning the show over to audio artist Sarah Boothroyd. Over the last year or more, Boothroyd has brought together sound, music, and action. It has all wound up in a 28-minute audio piece called rabble rousers.
Boothroyd’s audio work has been featured by broadcasters, festivals and galleries in over a dozen countries and we’re happy to host it at rabble.ca as well. Rabble rousers touches on ethics, justice, democracy, global citizenship, and art. It also explores the notion of protest as a spontaneous installation of improvised music in public space. It features field recordings from protests around the globe, including many from the occupy movement.
Rabble rousers was supported by the Ontario Arts Council. All music is licensed under creative commons licenses. Featured artists included Random Coil, Pleq, Papercutz, Carlos Lemosh, Marcus Fischer, Upsteria, Erstlaub, Aurastore, Aos Crowley(Matt Dean), Pocka (Brad Mitchell), Mattias Ksipert and the Prelinger Archives.
Photo credit: Stan Jourdan
The Conservative Party of Canada is denying that it knew about a scheme to misdirect voters to non-existent polling stations in the last election. Here’s one of the so-called robocalls, misdirecting voters to non-existent polling stations. Dave Hudson lives in Guelph, and he received that call the morning of election day. He quickly realized that something was amiss, and recorded the call. That was back in May, but I caught up with Dave this week. I called him up at work Here’s our conversation.
Well, we’re in the final run up to the NDP leadership convention. As it approaches, a top concern for many delegates is this: Which leader will be most electable in Quebec ? Will Quebecois will vote for someone who is not from Quebec. In his play Blue Dragon, Robert LePage addresses a similar issue, but with an international focus – should Quebecois look beyond their borders? Columnist Thomas Ponniah saw a recent production of the play, and it got him thinking. Here’s his column.
The activist toolkit is one of the newest parts of rabble.ca, and it’s not just a resource and a feature within our site. Now it’s a podcast called Constructing Change. In this episode, Constructing Change looks at the protests against security certificate legislation, which allows the the Canadian government to decide on extradition for Canadian residents without a public trial.
Recently, Stephen Harper and two key ministers, Peter Kent and Joe Oliver, have said the Environmental Assessment Act allows too much public input, creates uncertainty for investors, and threatens economic development. The act is being reviewed, and a report is expected within the month. Jamie Keenan is with Mining Watch Canada, and he spoke to the Redeye podcast about why the act is important and some of the ways it strives to balance environmental preservation and industrial development. Here’s that interview.
If you haven’t already, take a moment to donate to rabble.ca in our fundraising drive. If everyone who listens essentially bought us a coffee a month, we’d be in great shape. If you matched whatever you pay for your monthly subscription to your local paper, we’d be doing even better. If you can do it, head to rabble.ca/donate and make a donation. That’s rabble.ca/donate. See you there I hope.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this program. Dave Hudson, Thomas Ponniah, Steff Pinch, Todd Ferguson and the Redeye collective. Our theme is composed by Bob Wiseman.
We’ll start with our newest columnist. Thomas Ponniah is an affiliate of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. In his first audio column for rabble radio, he takes us on a journey from war into love.
If you’re a person who spends time online, you’ve almost certainly thought about the possibility of cyberattacks. But creating fear of cyber attacks may just serve another agenda. That’s what Conn Halliman believes. He’s a columnist with Foreign Policy in Focus. The rabble.ca podcast Redeye spoke to Halliman earlier this month. Here’s what he had say:
Many people in the non-profit world have been noticing a trend over the last 3 years. They say there are a number of ways that organizations are being punished for openly voicing criticisms of the Canadian government. Darren Shore is the communication co-ordinator for Voice-Voix, a coalition of Canadian organizations that want to stop the governent from attacking those who practice dissent in Canada. Shore sat down for an interview with rabble.ca’s Journalists for Human Rights podcast. Here’s what he had to say.
As I told you at the beginning of our show, it’s donation drive time again here at rabble.ca. Our volunteers have been hard at work finding new ways to tell you all about it. Here’s one of them.
Arts and education are a powerful combination. A new book, edited by Debra Barndt, shows how one inspires the other. Barndt is a popular educator and a professor at the University of Toronto. The book is called Viva! Community Arts and Popular Education in the Americas. Matthew Adams recently sat down with Barndt to talk about her book and the role community arts play in education.
2011 has been a very eventful year for activists, community organizers, and progressives. First we had the Arab Spring, Canada’s NDP leader Jack Layton died after a long battle with cancer, then the Occupy movement grew into a global phenomenon. Japan faced an earthquake, tsunami, and a disabled and damaged nuclear plant.
Abousfian Abdelrazik was finally taken off the United Nations list of terror suspects, the Canadian government came under fire again for the terrible conditions in First Nations communities, and the Canadian Boat To Gaza did its best to make its way to its destination. In this episode of rabble radio, we’ll look back over the year.
This year was also rabble.ca’s 10th year as the go-to independent media website in Canada. We held a number of events throughout the year, and launched a new series by notable thinkers in Canada called Reinventing Democracy: Reclaiming the Commons. Olivia Nuamah is the current director of the Atkinson Roundation, which provided start-up money for rabble.ca. She was part of a panel discussion we held in Toronto to celebrate our decade online. When she took the mic, she gave rabble a challenge for the years ahead. Here’s what she had to say.
One of the big news stories during this year’s federal election was the Orange Crush, which made the NDP the official opposition in Canada’s Parliament for the first time in history. The jubilation over that advance was soon overshadowed by the death of party leader Jack Layton. rabble.ca was at the state funeral, and spoke with some of the mourners who attended. Here is some of what they had to say, remembering Jack Layton.
The year began with uprisings in Egypt and across the Arab world. Nahla Abdo is an Arab-Canadian feminist. She was kind enough to share her thoughts on the uprising and women’s role in it. Here’s what she had to say.
Jase Tanner is a filmmaker and activist with Code Pink on his way to Gaza via Egypt when the demonstrations began. We caught up with him there.
While all that was happening in Tahrir square, here at home, conditions at remote First Nations were as normal. That is, not great. By this winter, leaders in Pikangikum and Attawapiskat had appealed publicly for help from the government. Joanne Dallaire is a respected elder and educator, and she has some ideas about how Canada could improve conditions on reserves They involve you and I. Here’s what she had to say in an interview this fall.
Japanese Canadians rallied to send help to the thousands upon thousands who were affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and accompanying nuclear emergency that engulfed the country in the spring of this year. As the crisis developed, rabble.ca’s redeye podcast checked in with Gordon Edwards, head of the Canadian coalition for nuclear responsibility. Here’s part of an interview with Edwards, after revelations that Japan had not issued warnings to schools affected by radiation from the plant led to protests from Japanese citizens.
The Occupy movement started in the summer in NYC, and by summer it had spread to streets and parks across North America and Europe. The Occupiers took on a wide range of causes, but in general, protests focused on issues of income disparity and housing for the 99 per cent of people struggling in today’s economy. Despite the fact that cities eventually tore down the occupy encampments, the movement is continuing. At McMaster University, Occupy has moved to the student centre. The progressive voices podcast featured the Occupy movement there in their last podcast. Here’s a sample.
We’ve featured a lot of music this year on the network. We started the show by playing a segment of a duet for Abousfian Abdelrazik. It was composed as part of a project to support his return to Canada and his removal from the UN list of terror suspects. Another musical development this year was that Raffi composed a number of songs to inspire and energize political activism in Canada. We’re going to finish this year-end rabble radio with the song he composed for the Occupy movement. Here is “No wall too tall.”
Before we start these notes, a reminder: rabble.ca is kicking off our fundraising drive this month and so I’d like to issue you a little challenge. We know that most of you listeners consume all kinds of media — mainstream and independent. What rabble.ca wants you to do this year is match your spending on mainstream media: newspapers, cable, whatever you get, and send that amount rabble.ca’s way. You can do that at this link: rabble.ca/donate. You can make a one-time donation or buy a membership. It’s your support that keeps rabble.ca running. That link again is rabble.ca/donate. Hope to see you there.
We’re going to start this program with some music. Abousfian Abdelrazik’s struggle has been a long one. While he was on a visit from his home in Montreal to Sudan he was jailed by the Sudanese government, on the recommendation of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. During his imprisonment he was interrogated and tortured, but he was never charged. In 2007, he was released from prison, and took refuge in the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum. He lived there for 14 months, while his attempts to return to Canada were blocked by officials. In 2009, grassroots pressure helped facilitate his return to Canada, and this week Abdelrazik was told that his name had been removed from the UN list of terror suspects, and that his life could return to normal.
In support of Abdelrazik’s struggle, Montreal artists have been raising funds and creating work to commemorate his experience as part of Montreal’s history. Stefan Cristoff has been writing a series of piano works based on Abdelrazik’s struggle, to start off this episode, we’re going to play you one of those pieces. Here is is a live performance of a duet for Abdelrazik, performed by cellist Rebecca Foon and Stefan Christoff.
That was Duet for Abdelrazik, performed by Rebecca Foon and Stefan Christoff. A CD of compositions is scheduled for release in 2012. For more information, you can go to: http://artthreat.net/2011/04/abdelrazik-foon-christoff/
I’d like you to cast your mind back a few months. Attawapiskat and the housing crisis affecting its residents is all over the news these days. While it is the most recent First Nation to capture the spotlight it is not the only First Nation where housing conditions, education and career prospects for residents are far below the standard Canada insists it wants to provide.
Despair and suicide are common in communities where living conditions that include poor housing, no plumbing and inconsistent water supplies. I thought it would be appropriate, in this episode, to play an interview I conducted earlier this year with Joanne Dallaire. In August, after two months which saw five young people commit suicide in his community, Gordon Peter, the former chief of Pikangikum First Nation, wrote an open letter asking for assistance. It hit the media, but was soon lost under other suicide reports as two NHL players took their own lives.
Joanne Dallaire agreed to talk to me after the Pikangikum story had fallen out of the news. She has worked with Ryerson University to help incorporate aboriginal teachings into curriculum there, conducts healing workshops for aboriginal and non-aboriginal organizations across Ontario, and sits as an adviser for several agencies. She devotes herself to teaching and healing. She is from Attawapiskat. Here’s our conversation.
This month the Occupy movement in Canada faced strong opposition from municipal governments in most cities. Vancouver, Ottawa, and Toronto suffered the most high-profile evictions.
Raffi is known by many for his work as a children’s entertainer. He is also a well-known social change advocate,writing songs in support of social movements worldwide. He took his inspiration for the song we’re about to feature from the Occupy movement. Here is Raffi with No Wall Too Tall. For more coverage of the Occupy movement as it continues, go to rabble.ca/occupy.
Cathi Bond is rabble.ca’s trusty movie columnist. While the rabble.ca podcast Reel Women — where she and Judy battled it out over movie picks — is done, that doesn’t mean that Cathi is off the movie beat. In this episode of rabble radio I thought I’d bring you her latest. The new podcast is called Watch Me. This episode, she’s talking about Sarah’s Key. Here’s Cathi. If you want to subscribe for Cathi’s DVD recommendations, you know where to go. rabble.ca/podcasts then click the link to Watch Me.
That brings us to the end of this episode of rabble radio, thanks for listening. Just a quick reminder before we take off.
Thanks to all the people who helped to put this episode together: Cathi Bond, Emily Hill, and Kim Wiltzen. Small crew this week! Our theme was composed for us by Bob Wiseman.
If you have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to email rabble radio. You can do that by emailing me. My address is as follows: Meagan@rabble.ca
That’s all from me. Talk to you next month. And I can’t leave without giving you the donate address again: rabble.ca /donate.
In this episode, intrepid rabble reporters talk to the people who chose to #occupy.
Michael Stewart heads to Vancouver, while Matthew Adams and Meagan Perry take on Toronto.
This month marked the 10-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York City. The event, and the wars that followed have affected lives around the world. In this episode of rabble radio, an interview about how the effects of 9/11 have been felt by Muslim women.
As part of Aboriginal awareness week, Clifton Nicholas speaks about the portrayal of aboriginal peoples in the media.
A rebroadcast of the eulogy for Jack Layton delivered by Stephen Lewis.
Layton’s death gave many the impetus to become more involved in their communities, and at rabble.ca we’ve activated a new online tool to make connecting to your community a little easier. It’s called the activist toolkit. And that’s where we’re starting the show today.
Today is the day of Jack Layton’s state funeral at Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto.
The ceremony follows days of heartfelt outpourings. In this podcast, memories of Jack Layton from those who knew him: young people who volunteered with him, and long-time activists and leaders.
Hear some of their stories in this podcast.
On August 22, 2011, Jack Layton tragically died of cancer. His friends, family, and compatriots remember his courage. In his final words released in a letter penned two days before his death, he reminded us all of the values he held dear. He wrote, “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”
Making the Links’ Don Kossick did this interview with Jack Layton many years ago when he first took over the leadership of the NDP. The interview demonstrates Jack’s clarity of purpose, vision, and hope in fighting for a better Canada.
Thanks to: Making the Links Radio can also be heard on on CFCR community radio at 90.5 FM in Saskatoon, on the Sasktel Max provincial cable network at channel 520, and streaming on the internet. Making the Links broadcasts on CFCR at 6 pm on Wednesdays and 7 pm on Fridays.
The complete audio from Jack Layton’s funeral.
Eulogies by Mike and Sarah Layton, Stephen Lewis and Karl Belanger.
There are very few humans who don’t enjoy music. For most people, it offers relaxation, inspiration, enjoyment and in times of trouble, solace. Leah Abramson is an activist and documentary maker who works with women in prison, fostering their musical expression. In the documentary we’re about to play for you, she takes us behind the prison walls to hear some of the music created by the women there.
The Human books project aims to increase understanding between people. It’s held at local libraries, where people volunteer to act as books. When you’re a book, library-goers can sign you out for 30 minutes. In that time, you tell them about your life, and they can ask any question they want. rabble.ca’s Noreen Mae Ritsema volunteered to head down to the Winnipeg library and talk to some of the people participating in the human books project. Here is one of her conversations. Today: Being a disability activist.
You know, it seems that no matter where you go, independent bookstores are struggling. The forces working against them also seem familiar — mega bookstores, online buying, yadda yadda… but in Montreal, a local bookshop has survived the more familiar challenges, and is instead, its looking at a shut-down because it is being overtaken by a sports bar owned by a local developer. rabble.ca’s Adam Bemma headed down to the shop to discuss the encroachment of new real estate, zoning laws, and urban planning on neighborhoods in general, and Terry Westcott’s bookshop in particular. Here’s their interview.
Murray Dobbin joined us on rabble radio a few times before the election got started. After the Conservative win and the orange crush happened, I called him up one more time for a talk about how Canada’s future is shaping up, and what progressive people need to do in this new Conservative majority Canada. Here’s our conversation.
Did I mention that this year marks rabble.ca’s 10th anniversary? It is! Last month rabble.ca held a celebration to mark the day, April 18, 2001 when rabble got its start. The event featured cake, music and a panel discussion moderated by Judy Rebick. Speakers were rabble.ca features editor Cathryn Atkinson, rabble co-founder and director of the Mozilla Foundation Mark Surman, rabble.ca writer and aboriginal activist Ben Powless. It also featured Olivia Nuamah, the Director of the Atkinson Foundation, which provided startup funds for rabble.ca. During the conversation, panelists mused allowed about the direction rabble.ca should take in the future. Nuamah laid out a challenge for rabble.ca. Here’s what she had to say.
The Human books project aims to increase understanding between people. It’s held at local libraries, where people volunteer to be books. When you’re a book, library goers can sign you out for 30 minutes. In that 30 minutes you can tell them about your life, and they can ask any question they want. rabble radio was quite intrigued by this project, so Noreen Mae Ritsema volunteered to head down to the Winnipeg library and talk to some human books. Here she is, speaking with Cherrilyn Ellie. Here’s their conversation.
You know the rabble.ca music podcast The Ruckus? It usually focuses on indie music… but the latest episode gets all opera on us. Here are some very cool cylinder recordings of opera. Test this out!
Jaggi Singh’s trial was held at the end of April. Singh was tried at Toronto’s Old City Hall for statements he had made to the media about taking down the G20 “security fence.” Singh pleaded guilty to urging people to take down the $5-million G20 summit fence last June. Carmelle Wolfson spoke to Singh just after his trial. Here’s part of what he had to say.
There’s an election, but we say: no depression. Murray Dobbin comes back to rabble radio to shed a bit of light in the electoral darkness. He’s a lot more hopeful than last episode! Seriously.
Recorded on the eve of the leader’s debate, Dobbin talks about the campaign road ahead.
In this podcast: terrifying yet boring — the Canadian election. A new rabble radio contest. Cracking the cover of human books. Fukushima Daichi and alt power. An ode to the ipad deux.
Canada is enduring its fourth election in seven years. While the NDP and the Liberal Parties grapple for the vote from the Left, the Conservative Party of Canada is reaching for a majority government. As polls stand now, though, they aren’t going to get it. For the NGOs and government watchdogs that have seen their funding go unrenewed under a government dominated by the Conservative Party, that could provide a bit of welcome relief. But voting day isn’t here yet. Murray Dobbin is a political commentator and on the board of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. We thought we’d check in with him about what he sees happening in the 2011 election campaign.
If I had $1,000, 000. The song is relatively well-known in Canada. But a million dollars sounds like pocket change when you compare it to the 30 BILLION dollars that Canada paid for a few fighter jets not too long ago. So rabble.ca is rewriting the lyrics to the tune, hopefully with some help from you. Tell us what you’d spend 30 billion dollars on and we’ll put your suggestions our version of this song. So what do you think? A national Childcare program? Funding for KAIROS? Solar power for the parliament buildings? Internet connectivity in the North? Candy for all? You tell us, and we’ll put it in song. You can email billion@rabble.ca with your suggestions, or you can phone them in at 1-360-566-2214. Obviously, we take mp3 files too.
Understanding breeds justice. That’s the philosophy behind the human books project. The project is open to libraries all over the world. Here’s how it works: Library visitors sign out a Human Book, and can ask their book any question they want. The books are volunteers who are willing to answer all kinds of questions about their lives. The Human Book Project recently came to Winnipeg. That’s where Noreen Mae Ritsema stopped by the branch, and sat down with the human books there. She asked them what they’re sharing and what kinds of questions they’re fielding. The first human book she signed out was all about organic farming. Here’s part of their discussion.
Election aside, all eyes have been on Japan for the last month. The tsunami that swept away hundreds of thousands of people has passed, but the nuclear reactors on the countries east coast are still pumping radiation into the atmosphere and the water. Bottled water shortages and rolling blackouts have become facts of life in cities across the country. rabble.ca’s redeye podcast had a few questions about Fukushima-Daiichi, so they called up Gordon Edwards, President of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. At the end of the interview, they talked about what the disaster will mean for the nuclear industry and other power generation options here at home. Here is that part of that conversation.
The ipad 2 had only been in Canada a few days when Wayne used it to record a multi-track segment of Online Tools for the 21st century. Wayne says I’m crazy not to own one of these. Here’s his column.
In this International Women’s Day episode, we hear from Nahla Abdo on the continuing uprisings, and Palestinian Activist Reem Yumis talks about women’s role in the current protests. Happy IWD, all!
Nahla Abdo is an Arab-Canadian feminist. She took the time to call in her comments about the protests sweeping the Middle East and North Africa.
Reem Yumis is a Palestinian Activist. She took spoke to the Asia Pacific Currents podcast about women’s role in the continuing uprisings.
In this episode of Online tools for the 21st century, Wayne finds two non-google ways to get your queries quelled. It’s a Q and A from Wayne, and brought to you by the letter Q. Take it away, MacPhail.
Jase Tanner was in Tahrir square when pro-Mubarak forces came to break up the demonstrations. Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin was in another part of the square. In this podcast, we hear their stories.
Tighe Barry was in Cairo as part of a Codepink delegation on its way to Gaza when the protests started. In this special edition of rabble radio, he describes the situation in Cairo after the arrival of the army, and President Mubarak’s firing of his cabinet without stepping down himself.
Tighe Barry was in Cairo as part of a Codepink delegation on its way to Gaza when the protests started. In this special edition of rabble radio, he describes his experience in the protests.
By now most people have seen pictures of the pro-democracy protests in Egypt. The government has closed internet and cell phone access in the country. However, peace activist and blogger David Swanson managed to get in touch with one American taking part in the process. Tighe Barry part of activist delegation organized by CODEpink. The group was on its way to Gaza, but had stopped in Cairo when the protests started. Here is Tighe Barry, speaking with David Swanson earlier today.
In this episode of rabble radio: transit police in Vancouver accused of violence, a new report recommends protection for women and girls in Haiti, and Canada’s government continues attempts to eject war resisters. Music this episode: Bad Cop.
The lawyer working on the case of transit riders facing violence from Vancouver Transit Police talks about the case. You’ll be shocked.
Wayne’s got some new webtools to help you get your photos online fast when it matters most.
A report from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said that the Haitian Government has failed to provide adequate protection for women and girls in those camps. While a ruling might not make a difference, Brian Concannon believes that the report is going to make a difference. He talks about why.
The Canadian government is developing more and more complex ways to stop Iraq war resisters from entering Canada. Allyssa Manning is a lawyer for Iraq War Resisters, and she spoke at a Day of Action for Iraq War Resisters. Here’s some of what she said.
Bad Cop are part of the final installment of a feature on ROIR records, brought to you by The Ruckus. The song is called Daylight.
June Swadron is a successful writing coach, author, and therapist. In this interview with Lyn Thompson from rabble.ca’s Living on Purpose podcast, she talks about learning to write about one of her most secret truths, living with bi-polar disorder.
The Reel Women have a spy movie for you that you might not have heard of. It is a good one for long winter nights.
Loud Fast Rules. It’s a rerelease of The Stimulators’ 1982 album. And if watching a movie on the couch doesn’t get your blood pumping, this song just might: Loud Fast Rules
OS Chrome is an operating system for cheap, fast netbooks. And it is coming out later this year, but there is a cheap fast alternative. Wayne MacPhail tells us what it is.
Getting more eco-conscious is a new year’s goal for many. rabble.ca’s Alternatives podcast has an interview to inspire you. Andrew Heintzman is a venture capitalist who’s book The New Entrepreneurs: Building a Green Economy For the Future, talks about why the environment and the economy don’t need to be at loggerheads.
Velcrow Ripper reports from the Cancun climate summit.
A woman living with mental illness and addiction talks about how supportive housing has kept her from dying.
Julian Assange’s words after being released on bail.
The open Internet provides a safe space for feminist ideas. Blogger Amanda Marcotte speaks to the interviewers at The F Word.
Report from the daily podcast from the UN Climate Summit, post-election checkin in Haiti and George Galloway answers tough questions.
Should we be able to criticize war on Remembrance Day, Aung San Suu Kyi — what does her freedom mean, and demanding better food for the poor.
In this podcast, a feature interview with activist and academic Phyllis Bennis. Phyllis Bennis has spent a lifetime working toward peace in the middle east.
She is a fellow of both the Transnational Institute and the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., where she is the director of the New Internationalism Project. She specializes in U.S. Foreign Policy Issues, particularly involving the Middle East and the United Nations.
But she is watching Canada’s role in Afghanistan as well.
rabble.ca blogger and podcaster John Bonnar wasted no time calling her up when she arrived to speak in Toronto just before Halloween. They had a long chat, and we thought we could feature it here. Bennis started by talking about Canada’s role in Afghanistan.
Remember those anti-tar sands posters and ads that hit the news way back in the summer? Those posters and ads were produced by environmentalist groups in the United States, including the Sierra Club. and while those kinds of images haven’t hit the news recently, activist work has not stopped since then. The Energy Justice Network is a group that works with local communities to track and record all the dirty energy and waste facilities in the United States. The group also advocates against the use of nuclear and fossil fuels. Mike Ewall is the director of the group, and he spoke to the rabble podcast network’s Redeye podcast. Here’s part of that interview.
Where is the female MC? In hiphop, women are seen and not very often heard. The rabble podcast network’s F-Word podcast decided to make some noise about that this month. Here’s part of their interview with Canadian-born, critically acclaimed MC, Eternia.
Music: Eternia with To The Future.
What happens when an entire community has the power to talk to each other in real time, commit acts of journalism and rally around six characters. Find out, in our new tech column.
He says. She says. Jesse Rosenfeld was writing for The Guardian newspaper when G20 security beat him up and arrested him. Amy Goodman on what it means to have a real independent media.
Jesse Rosenfeld was writing for The Guardian when G20 security beat him up and arrested him. rabble radio spoke to him a few hours after he was released from detention.
Amy Goodman is the host of the radio/tv/podcast Democracy Now! Friday night, at the Council of Canadians event Shout Out For Global Justice, she spoke about what it means to have an independent media, and why it is important.
Interview with Jesse Rosenfeld, transcribed:
Meagan Perry: You were reporting for the Guardian newspaper when you were detained, what was your assignment with them?
Jesse Rosenfeld: Well I’d been working for Comment Is Free on a three part series on the G8 and G20 focused on the flashpoints of empire and contesting democracy. And looking at comparing the self created legitimacy that the G8 and G20 have based on their own political and economic power. Compared with the alternative to their economic vision and the global economic plan of the 20 wealthiest nations with the alternatives that were coming from the streets and the kind of coalitions coming from the streets. I’d already gotten out a piece about indigenous sovereignty that went online on Friday about the demonstration and the context of contesting sovereignty. I was working on the piece about contesting the global economy when I was arrested, penned in at the demonstration in front of the Novotel Hotel on the Esplanade just south of Front Street.
MP: Before all of that happened what was your impression of that crowd?
JR: It was really interesting, it was possibly one of the most interesting political moments I’ve seen here in Toronto and I grew up in Toronto and left when I was 18. What was so interesting about that demonstration is that it wasn’t the long developed, theoretically thought out radicals that had organized the whole thing. It was actually people that had almost been instantly radicalized when the police threw them out of Queens Park – the one free speech zone. When police beat, arrested and pushed people all the way up to Bloor Street, they reorganized and almost 1,000 people decided: “Well if the state won’t give us any place to express ourselves than we’ll take it directly to the fence.” And they marched down to the fence. What was interesting was that you could tell the sort of organic nature of how people were thinking these things out in the street. The kind of discussions they were having about the G8/G20 and this highly unorganized march that was basically guided by the political determination to make sure these issues stay central.
MP: How were the police reacting at that point?
JR: Well, I mean the thing was the police had thrown everyone out of Queens Park and I guess they were completely surprised at what happened. We had gotten down to the fence in two different places where the police penned people in who were able to negotiate with the police and they let them out. Eventually they went on to the Novotel Hotel area where they were blocked in by riot police on both sides. When the riot police found out that they were not Novotel Hotel workers who were currently on strike, well many people were highly sympathetic to the Novotel workers strike, when they found out they weren’t actually workers from the hotel they immediately moved in and started making mass arrests. I was with the block of media and some of the alternative press said: “Okay how are we going to deal with the situation?” We were obviously covering what was going on, so we asked the police: “Are you going to be arresting the media too?” Their immediate response was yes, you are not supposed to be here, everyone will be arrested. Then they came back and said those who have the official summit media accreditation will be allowed. What is interesting is that I had applied for official summit media accreditation on June 11, I had given them my letter from the Guardian and it had been approved. Subsequently they said I wasn’t going to be given my lanyard until I cleared an RCMP background check, which just kept going on and on and on. It was because of that, because I only had a media pass from the alternative media centre that the police decided to arrest me. When I originally told them about my assignment with the Guardian, but I was also in the editorial collective in covering the story with the Alternative Media Centre they said: “Alright we will check your credentials and your accreditation so come over to the side.” Then and officer looked at my press pass and said that it wasn’t legitimate and you’re under arrest, after which I was immediately jumped and beaten to the ground. I was punched in the stomach, my arms were pulled back, and I was hit in the back when I went down. After I went down, cops piled on me — they were hitting me in the back of the ribs with their knees. They lifted up my leg and twisted my ankle as if they were trying to sprain it…my leg smacked against the curb on the way down, my face was pushed into the concrete. All of this interestingly happened after two police officers had identified that I was a ‘loudmouth’ that had been bothering them the day before. What had happened was, I was covering the front lines of different clash points at different demonstrations. Both at the queer demonstration against the G20 earlier in the week and at the demonstration on the Friday and I was on the front lines when some other reporters I worked with were hit in the face and had their microphones snatched. I was covering (the demonstrations) when they were directly targeting arrests at activists or anyone they could grab through what looked like racial profiling. They were first taking any kids of colour and people with indigenous backgrounds. I had been on the frontline documenting all of this, I had been out forcefully with a piece in the Guardian discussing RCMP and Toronto Police racism, so it was clear to me that this attack was political.
MP: When you were at Novotel and you were negotiating with the police, before they said that this isn’t legitimate and threw you to the ground. Did you have any sense that that was going to happen to you?
JR: I mean I could tell that they were a little put off and I suspected that they may try to arrest me. I wasn’t expecting to get beaten. To be honest I’m not surprised, this is what the Toronto Police do. This is what Canadian police forces do. They beat people when they think that they can get away with it. It is not a new story, it may be new that it is happening to someone who is an accredited international journalist and someone who is white, in their upper twenties and male, but it is a daily reality for indigenous people, people of colour, people living in ghettoized communities, queer communities. This is the daily reality for them when it comes to police violence without justification apart from the fact police want to subdue that element of society and what it might say.
MP: What did you experience in detention?
JR: It was kind of interesting. I’ve been working in the Middle East as a journalist for the last three years and I’ve never seen a jail like that in Canada. It did remind me a lot of, in many similar ways, of the way that Israelis’ detain Palestinians, or the way. Palestinian Authority jails work. What happened was, we were in handcuffs from 10:30 in the evening when I was arrested, until 5:00 in the morning. In an overcrowded cell with people, a porta-potty washroom, sparse access to water and never enough water when it was needed. Finally I was moved through into processing, I was moved into a 5 x 8 cell with five other people and I mean, you couldn’t even all lay down at the same time. There were no benches, no bathroom, it was just a cold concrete floor. The centre was just absolutely freezing and we weren’t given any blankets or anything. I was in there from about 11:30 until 5:30 a.m. I only got my phone call to my lawyer at about 3 p.m., although I had been demanding it the entire time.
MP: There were a number of Twitter reports of people not being able to call lawyers at all. Is that something you can verify?
JR: Yeah. I told them I was a journalist, they wouldn’t allow me to call my lawyer. I heard that my editor had tried to get through and made a call to the police, but obviously hadn’t been able to get through. I saw other independent media journalists that had been beaten badly, other people that I had worked with at the AMC throughout the week who had been arrested. I saw all sorts of different kinds of people that had all been taken down. I was witnessing these arrests, unprovoked, brutally violent arrests. People with blood gushing from their face all over their shirts even while being brought into jail, black eyes on both sides, scrapes all over their bodies, walking with limps. In my cell even, three people were denied access to medication for incredible periods of time. One guy had an asthma attack and I don’t think he got his ventilator for over 40 minutes. Another guy had anti-anxiety medication and it took him hours to get his pills. This other guy had both of his shoulders dislocated, he had a muscular issue, which had been exacerbated by his handcuffing, and the police took hours upon hours to give him his anti-inflammatory medication. He was just sitting there with dislocated shoulders.
MP: What are you hearing from people abroad? What kind of reaction are you hearing? I’m assuming you are talking with your editors in the U.K.?
JR: I haven’t had a direct line to my editors yet, I’ve just been out of jail for several hours now and I haven’t been able to get through. I intend to talk with them soon. But, from the community around me I have felt incredible support and there has been incredible organization outside. I really appreciate it. Especially the fact that people realize that it is not just me. This has been happening to people across the board, the only reason I’m getting attention is because I happen to be an accredited journalist. I am expressing the same opinion, or similar ideas to other media that is getting arrested and we are discussing the same ideas as the people in the streets are. These are all the ideas that the government and the police force are trying to sweep from the streets and not have this discussion in Canada.
MP: What are you hoping to see in Canada after this?
JR: It is very much what I am looking at in these pieces, the alternatives that come from the streets. I’m very much hoping that as global empires decide to restructure themselves from the G8/G20 in terms of negotiating an international enforced consensus both politically and economically and the alternatives from the streets really start to jettison not just an idea of specific grievances, but actually alternative systems that are coming out in both the organization and … of things starting to happen and I’ve been quite impressed by it.
MP: Well thanks for talking to us today.
JR: From what I hear we still have all the other people in jail that need to be defended. We need to get our people out.
MP: Absolutely. How long do you think that is going to take?
JR: Who knows? They’ve gone after the organizers all weekend. We have people being detained on warrants, we have all sorts of trumped up charges that we’re looking at. We’re looking at a government completely intent on breaking social movements in this country. It needs to be fought. It needs to be fought bitterly. It needs to be fought on all fronts.
Queer honourees give their awards back to Pride Toronto over the banning of the term Israeli-apartheid, pre-G20 African activists speak out on celebrity activism, and coming out in Uganda where Pride is no party.
Queer activists should be able to stand up for human rights. James Loney talks about why he is giving back his Fearless Award to Pride Toronto.
Pride is political and Pride Toronto should not dictate what politics are not allowed. Jane Farrow talks about why she is refusing the title of Honoured Dyke in the 2010 Toronto Pride March.
Last year we spoke to gay and lesbian activist Frank Mugisha, who was speaking against Uganda’s anti-homosexuality bill. In this podcast, we’ll hear how one Ugandan gay activist accepted his own sexuality.
Bob Geldof and Bono are celebrity editors who helped the Globe write about Africa. But African activists have some critiques of the work they do. In this interview, produced by No One Is Illegal, Makoma Lekalakala of Johannesburg’s Earthlife Africa speaks about what African activists think would help the G20.
June 23 update: Pride Toronto announced they will not ban the term Israeli-apartheid from use during Pride. More to follow in the next episode of rabble radio.
Kevin Neish was detained in Israel for two days after the Free Gaza Flotilla was attacked and activists arrested.
In this podcast he talks about his release and what activism means.
In his first interview since being released from Israeli detention, a Canadian activist from the Free Gaza Flotilla activist describes seeing solidarity in the face of death, and what happened when the Israeli military took control of the humanitarian aid ship and arrested those on board. Kevin Neish tells his story to the media for the first time in this episode of rabble radio. Part of the interview is excerpted here:
Meagan Perry: Hello Kevin Neish, we’re so glad you’re okay.
Kevin Neish: Hello there…I’m, well I didn’t realize I was dead but …I’m glad I’m not dead. I mean I was kind of surprised…needless to say, everybody thought I was dead.
MP: There are varying reports about what had happened…
KN: It seems ask anybody who wasn’t in jail or you could get ahold of saw me was at the front of the ship along the handrailing talking to a colleague in the moonlight… beautiful evening. And that was the spot that I guess several people were murdered earlier on in the fighting and they thought I was one of them and that I’d been pitched over the side by the Israelis or something. So yeah the Israelis knew I was alive but weren’t telling anybody and I asked for my rights to the embassy I bet you 20 times.
So the embassy actually found me because the prisoners were all in Be’er Sheva and they literally just went from cell to cell calling out my name asking anybody if anybody had seen me and nobody had seen me. I think they came to almost the last place I think… and they called me out and I stepped out and their jaws dropped. The rest is history.
MP: So nobody knew what had happened to you…what did happen to you?
KN: What happened from that spot on the front deck. I think that was about midnight. I think the attack happened around 4:00 a.m. in the morning, I didn’t check my watch. What happened was I took a little wander around after chatting with the friend there…I saw the Israeli ships in the distance. I’ve got colour blindness partially and I’ve got really good night vision because of that so I actually pointed out to the Turkish aid workers: “See those identical lights way off in the horizon” and they squint and say: “Probably the Israelis” and everbody got their life jackets on except me and they were quite concerned that I didn’t have my life jacket on yet because I didn’t take it seriously. You know,the Israelis they wouldn’t attack us, a ship full of civilians. It just wasn’t going to happen…I told them so and they thought I was nuts and they were right, I was nuts.
They had wooden stakes and wooden handles of things, and they had pipes and they had links of chain — small chain, you could lock up a bike with. Across along the front railing, the teak railing on the front of the ship, was lined with old rusty pipe fittings and nuts and bolts, the size of a walnut… things like that. This is madness, I said what are you going to do with nuts and bolts you’re throwing at the most sophisticated army in the world.
After that, I thought nothing was going to happen, I thought well I’m going to go down and put my feet up and have a few hours sleep and start off fresh when daylight comes. But I woke up because of all the noise, and what not, not the attack but people doing things. I heard grinders going which was bothering me and it turned out they were grinding the chains that they hang up around the lifeboat stations. They were grinding these chains off the middle posts as weapons within sight of the Israelis coming…and that’s all they had.
MP: As a peace activist, what were your feelings about everyone preparing to fight back?
KN: They had every right to do it. Well peace activist, I’m not a pacifist, I’ll defend myself if someone attacks me. What woke me up was flash grenades about 15 feet from the back of the ship. There were a huge explosions and flashes and then it was just a big cloud of tear gas and I could see people running through the tear gas with gas masks on because they had brought a large collection of gas masks, brand new ones. And again, I thought it was silly, at one point, I saw them putting these things on.
So that happened and I mistakenly thought I was safer on the big ship a) because I thought the big ship would get through to Gaza because it was such a big ship. I thought what could they do to such a big ship like that and I thought for sure the small ships would get picked off and they were picked off. They were shut down immediately, no resistance. Even the freighters were shut down, they had very small crews. At the end they made a combined effort on the main ship and that’s when all hell broke loose.
MP: What did you see then?
KN: I saw dead bodies. I saw captured Israeli soldiers, I saw men fighting machine guns with three foot length of chain. It was phenomenal. When the flash grenades went off at the back I took note of what was happening there but I didn’t approach it I backed off and just took note of what they were doing. They were hauling fire hoses out and what not. After the fact I found out that the firehoses actually worked. The Israelis backed off. They had zodiacs and speed boats with grapples trying to climb up the side of the ship. The firehoses and I guess the nuts and bolts actually drove the Israelis off. At the same time they had commandos coming down from helicopters over top. So I moved and took photographs went up and down the stairs following people and being of whatever assistance, witnessing and helping with things if I could.
I was actually when they hauled the captured Israeli soldiers in. I can’t imagine how these young fellas with all the weapons you could possibly want, how these commandos got captured by humanitarian aid workers.
As far as what I saw, when it started I took photographs of this landing and they had a tarp for one person, an IV pole and a nurse and a doctor and basic instruments for medical emergency care. And in the end that whole area was full of bodies. There was people pounding on people’s chests trying to bring people back. I saw for sure two people dead — there were two bullet holes, very neat; and I think one other guy died in front of me, he was sucking wind and his eyes were going, going, going. And there was blood, blood all down the stairs, blood everywhere. I got blood on my pants and boots. It was something else.
I haven’t seen any reports, I’ve seen nothing but I’ve heard the Israelis are saying that they attacked because they were shot at from the ship and that’s a bald faced lie. Unless I missed something pretty dramatic somewhere, I heard no weapons fired, nobody else heard weapons fired. What I heard was the flash grenades and the tear gas of the start of the Israelis attacking. And then the helicopters started shooting onto the deck and that’s when I started to hear gun fire from up above.
MP: What was it like in detention when you got there?
KN: Eventually, an announcement came over the air from the captain because the Israelis got to the bridge because they’d shot the people that were defending the bridge, and the captain surrendered the ship and he got onto the PA system immediately I guess because there was still fighting at the doorways and then the announcement came over the air in Arabic but I knew what it was because there was no other announcement, I knew what it meant…it was a very calm voice.
Then a female voice came on announcing in English that everybody stop fighting, stop resisting, the bridge is seized, the Israelis have command of the ship, there’s no sense risking your lives anymore, go to the lounges and drop your weapons — you know, weapons drop your pipes and chains and wooden staffs. I just retreated with all the other arab and turkish folks. I sat where I was before, near the back of the ship and there were Israelis peeking in the windows but they wouldn’t come in and the woman’s voice kept on coming over saying “Israeli soldiers please please stop shooting, we’re not resisting anymore, we’ve released your captured soldiers. They’re unharmed and they’re released. Please stop attacking us.”
Eventually the Israelis, the soldiers, [Haneen Zoubi] she’s an Arab Israeli Knesset member, she’s in big shit, she’s in jail right now, it’s simple they took away her immunity so they can do whatever they want to her now. She acted as a liason, brave woman, she walked right out with her hands up because anyone who was standing, was a target, basically. She had her hands up and she came forward and explained that there were numerous injured.
When that all happened they took us and hogtied us with plastic tie wraps behind our backs and marshalled us all up onto the open deck. There were 280 of us all tied up.
MP: Where did they take you? What did they do with you?
KN: They left us there for quite a while and you couldn’t move. Talk about stress positions…you hogtie someone behind their back and force them to sit on their knees or on their ass, however they’re first put down and not move, you didn’t move. Eventually you’d start to hurt and try to wriggle around and then you’d get yelled and screamed at.
There were two young, big strapping guys and I guess they had had enough of being humiliated, and being abused. They rose up and immediately you could see, the sun was coming up, the soldiers charging through the people on the grounds with their guns up. And these guys were toast so I got up… it made the Israelis stop because they knew who I was. They had my passport and they gave it back to me and they took 4,000 bucks of my friggin’ money but yeah, we won’t get into that….so yeah I stood up with these two guys hoping that the Israelis would pause and consider, not shoot and they didn’t… the guns went down but yelling carried on…then next they used batons to beat them down. Then these two guys, I guess they’d made their point, and they kind of gracefully eased down and when they eased down I dropped pretty quickly…
Queens University gave former Prime Minister Paul Martin an honorary doctorate of laws on Friday, and Monday he joined the program Alternative Frequency at Kingston’s community radio station CFRC to talk about all about it. But host Elamin Abdel Mahmoud couldn’t let the opportunity to ask the former Prime Minister about the Gaza Flotilla. Here’s part of their conversation.
Even before the attack on the Free Gaza Flotilla, demonstrations against Israel’s policies in the middle east had been scheduled. They were to coincide with Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Nentanyahu’s visit to Canada. Monday, demonstrators added their condemnation of the nighttime attack on the flotilla to those protests. Tariq Jeeroburkan attended a Montreal demonstration. Here he is, speaking with Yves Engler, the author of Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid.
Aaron Lakoff is with the group Tadamon. Here he is, speaking to Jeeroburkan at the demonstration.
Rabble radio spoke to Canadian Peace activist Kevin Neish as he was boarding his boat in the Free Gaza Flotilla. We haven’t been able to reach him since then. He’s been detained, but survived the attack and should be released some time in the next three days. That said, his interview still stands.
As you’ve probably heard the Israeli Navy has intercepted an multinational flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. At least ten activists were killed in the conflict, and many more wounded. All the other activists have been taken into custody by the Israeli Government. There are no Canadian ships in the flotilla, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any Canadians aboard. Kevin Neish is a peace activist who was on the ship to act as a human shield. We haven’t been able to reach Kevin since the ships were attacked, but we spoke to him on Friday as he was walking to the harbor to board his ship.
Kevin Neish is a Canadian peace activist. We reached him on Friday as he was walking to the port to board his ship, part of the Free Gaza Flotilla carrying aid and humanitarian supplies to Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli siege there.
Rabble radio will continue to try to get in touch with Neish, and update the program when we do.
Interview with Bob Wiseman, who has generously provided a theme song for rabble radio. Thanks Bob!
This week, Toronto is the host of the Marxism 2010 conference. Activists and thinkers from around the world will gather on the 28th of May to address some of the same issues that the G8/G20 is considering, but from a different angle. One of the speakers at the conference will be Kostas Katarahias, a member of the General Council of the Federation of Hospital Doctors Unions of Greece. I reached him by phone to talk about what he thinks should be done about his country’s current financial struggle. Check it out if you’re in Toronto on the weekend of the 28th. For more information about the Marxism 2010 conference, you can go to www.marxismconference.ca.
Well, I bet you are all wondering what the lyrics to the new rabble radio theme song are? You’re about to find out. And if I were you, I’d get a pen. It always pays to be prepared. You never know when we’ll have a contest about this… maybe in episode 140, or then again, it could be in our next show. If you want to throw your comment into the ring, or share your thoughts about the new sound, you can always always call our skype number to comment. Here it is: (360) 566-2214. We also accept email Meagan@rabble.ca.
When children are taken into the care of the state, they are often moved from home to home. The process is difficult for children, and for their parents, who may be petitioning to have their child returned to them. A recent complaint to the ombudsperson in B.C. addresses a complaint about a policy that makes it difficult for foster children to return to their parents. The rabble podcast network’s pivot legal podcast talked about the issue in their latest episode. Here is Lawyer Lobat Sandrashemi, discussing the complaint.
For the last five years, No One Is Illegal has held a demonstration for immigration reform on May Day. This year, one item up for discussion was on the difference between what immigrants are told to expect in Canada and the reality faced by the people who migrate to this country. The rabble podcast network’s John Bonnar joined in on the march and recorded an interview while he was there. Here is part of his conversation with Nanky Rai.
The chants of workers reverberated across the world this weekend, so what better time to check in with the Reverb Syndicate? The band guest-hosted the rabble podcast network’s music program The Ruckus this month bringing us their top picks. Here is one of those songs. This is The Havocs with It’s Gotta Have Soul.
Coming together to fight for rights. Shared concerns about multinational corporations have led workers, democratic unions and NGO campaigners across the Asia Pacific Region to publicly shame corporations like NIKE over their labour practices. Now a new project called the Asian Transnational Company Monitoring Network is moving beyond media campaigning. They’re mobilizing workers across borders to fight company exploitation. Doris Lea is a coordinator with the organization, and she spoke to the rabble podcast network’s Asia Pacific Currents podcast about the challenges of trying to work across borders.
The International Workers of the World formed in 1904 with the goal of creating one big union across borders and boundaries. The rabble podcast network’s Red Eye podcast checked in for some history of the IWW, otherwise known as the wobblies with Michel S. Beaulieu, who is an assistant professor at Lakehead University and the author of Socialism and the Politics of Labour at the Canadian Lakehead. Here’s part of that conversation.
South Korean labour activists face strong opposition from corporate and government interests in that country. Nonetheless, their battle continues. Pier Moro has been checking in with labor activists in South Korea. Here’s his report to the rabble podcast network’s Asia Pacific Currents.
In this podcast: an ethics expert on the importance of hate speech, eco-defenders stand up to corporate greenwashing, talking access to content with Canada’s Pirate Party, and truckers with something to say. Not to mention some hard rock from the ’80s, and a delicious taste of Montreal hip-hop!
It’s been a little while since Ann Coulter’s speech at the University of Ottawa was cancelled because of concerns for her safety due to angry crowds. Coulter herself was the one who pulled the plug on her appearance, but she’s filing a human rights complaint because of the experience which, she says, violated her freedom of speech.
The ordeal has gotten people talking about what types of speech should and shouldn’t be allowed a soapbox in public discourse. And beyond that – whether the banning of any kind of speech is something we should condone. Professor Arthur Schafer is Director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba. In his opinion, even hate speech plays an important role in public dialogue. Here’s what he had to say about the topic, in an interview with Canadian Dimension’s Jeff Hughes.
Recently, Greenpeace hired Tzeporah Berman as its new Climate Energy director. The move has caused outrage among activists – especially ones in British Columbia, who are familiar with Berman’s history of corporate collaboration. Dru Oja Jay is a member of The Dominion editorial collective in Montreal, and co-founded SaveGreenpeace.Org in light of the organization’s growing flirtation with big business. Here’s part of what he had to say in an interview with Redeye…
Even if she isn’t here to play co-host this week, Meagan Perry’s still making an appearance. For the latest episode of The Ruckus, Meagan had a chat with Brian Vollmer of Helix – one of Canada’s most well-known hard rock bands. They talked about everything from Helix’s three-decade history to women in music videos, with a few of the band’s tracks thrown in for good measure – including this one. From 1983, here’s Helix with “Heavy Metal Love.”
If listening to music is something you’re passionate about, you probably get it any way you can. Maybe you head to the nearest record store and pay for it at the counter, the good old fashioned way. Or perhaps you opt for buying individual songs on iTunes. Or maybe – just maybe – you don’t pay at all. With advances in technology, pirated material is becoming more common all the time, and so are the measures being taken to prevent copyright infringements. That’s where the Pirate Party comes into play. Following its success in Sweden, the Pirate Party of Canada was formed in late 2009. Its goal is to reform the copyright and patent system to reflect changes in how the public consumes content, and to protect both our privacy and access to culture. Street Cred’s Adam Bemma met for an interview with Daniel LaSalle, the Pirate Party’s spokesman. Here’s some of that conversation…
“Getting a message out” is the theme behind the latest episode of Decoder – a new podcast put together by journalism students at the University of Western Ontario. For most people, conveying a message isn’t something hard to do – we’ve got telephones, email, and even the classic face-to-face method, when you’re feeling bold. But what about if you’re behind the wheel of a big rig for hours at a time, alone on the road, with nothing to keep you company but ever-changing radio signals and your own thoughts? Well, it becomes more of a challenge. That’s why there’s a new community of truckers embracing the form of media you’re using this very moment. Here’s Curtis File’s “big rig report” on how truckers are hitting the road – and the ears – through podcasting.
We leave you with a song by Dramatik, a Montreal hip-hop artist who recently performed at the Artists for Haiti II concert there. The song, “40 Barz”, is the opening track off his album – “La Boite Noire.”
In this podcast: talking election violence in Manila, a little more Olympic activism, fish farming on vacant city land in Toronto. We also bring you the music of Caracol and Alejandra Ribera, and you could find out who has called 360-566-2214 to tell rabble radio just what they think of us!
The Winter Olympics have ridden out of Vancouver, headed for Sochi but the party has not shut down on Canada’s West Coast. The paralympians are just starting on their quest for gold. And for some activists in Vancouver that means that the Olympic effort continues. Kevin Hollet is the writer and editor of Megaphone magazine, a newspaper sold by homeless people in downtown Vancouver. The Pivot Legal Society Podcast caught up with him to talk about Megaphone, and its Olympics Issue.
As you might have heard, rabble radio set up a phone line for comments a few episodes ago, and you are obliging us by calling it. We read a letter from an Aid Worker in Haiti way back in episode 99, when post-earthquake looting and chaos were making headlines, but the letter we received and read out in this podcast painted a picture of cooperation and caring among the people of Haiti. And that got one rabble radio listener talking. If you have thoughts about anything you hear on rabble radio, share them with us. You can email me at Meagan@rabble.ca, or skype or phone. The number is 1-360-566-2214.
Alejandra Ribera is a singer songwriter from Toronto. She’s got an elastic vocal style that gets her compared to Tom Waits. Maybe you can hear it in this song. This is Viente Agoz.
The Phillipines is one of the most dangerous places in the world to work as a journalist, especially at election time. During the last Phillipine election Canadian election observers, photographers, and photojournalists set out to document urban life in Manila. Those photographs were part of an exhibition called Movements in Manila at Kaza Maza in Montreal. Laura Kleesh visited the Phillipines with the International Federation of Journalists after a large number of journalists and social activists were found murdered. Here is some of what she had to say at the opening of Movements in Manila.
For the last few months, the rabble podcast network and rabble.ca have been featuring podcasts, writing, and video from journalism students who are exploring Maker Culture. In episode 9, one of the students headed for vacant land owned by the city of Toronto only to find that it was not vacant at all. In fact, Food Cycles was there growing food. Here is a conversation with Food Cycles co-founder Sonny Lam.
We’ll leave you with one more song. This comes from Quebec, and the group Caracol. This is La Route.
In this podcast: Why protest the Olympics, Aboriginal activists speak out, talking diversity of tactics, and all about Vancouver’s Red Tent campaign for housing.
The Olympic torch was intended to sail through the city on a sea of goodwill. But the celebrations hit rough water in a rising tide of protest. Protestors and celebrants alike lined the route, but in the end, Olympic organizers changed the torch relay’s intended course up Vancouver’s Commercial Drive. Here are some of the voices from the protest as the torch approached the Drive.
Thousands of protesters also convened at the Vancouver Art Gallery just before the start of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, to kick off a march through Vancouver’s downtown. One group with a significant presence there was No Olympics on Stolen Native Land. Meagan talked with a spokesperson from the group. Here’s what she had to say about why it has been necessary to protest the Olympics.
Not everyone was in favor of protesting the Olympics. As the square at the Vancouver Art Gallery filled up with banners and the speeches began, spectators gathered as well. Here is what one of them had to say:
If you remember, last episode we told you that the first caller would win an ipod nano. Well, the calls streamed in from as far away as Tokyo, but the person who was quickest on the draw was someone a little closer to home… well, my home anyway. Here’s what our nano winner had to say. We’d love to hear your comments too. The number is 360-566-2214.
On February 13th, a planned demonstration protesting the corporate interests of the Olympics led to a broken window at the Hudson’s Bay Company which many activist link with Canada’s historical corporate oppression of First Nations people and other Canadians. The event got a great deal of publicity from mainstream media outlets. It also sparked a debate about the effectiveness of using a Diversity of Tactics, including direct action, within the broad spectrum of activists protesting the Olympics in Vancouver. To create a space where Diversity of Tactics could be discussed in greater detail, rabble.ca along with Working TV broadcast a discussion between Harsha Walia of No One Is Illegal, and Derrick O’Keefe, former rabble editor and member of stopwar.ca. For just over an hour and a half, panelists Walia and O’Keefe responded to questions from the live audience and online participants. The full discussion is available at rabble.ca/rabbletv. Walia spoke to the question of whether direct action is an effective method of protest, and how other types of protest do not engender the same kinds of questioning.
That discussion on Diversity of Tactics was held at the W2, which is an exciting new development in Vancouver. It’s a media arts centre that brings together independent media outlets like ours, media artists, and social innovators into a space where ideas can be exchanged and new plans can be hatched. The centre opened just days before the Olympics, and has become a media hub for the activism and independent reporting during the games. From the launch event for the W2, this is Irwin Oostindie speaking about his vision for the centre.
Following on similar actions in Europe the Pivot Society has created a space for homeless people to sleep during the Olympics by providing them with red tents, each one housing one or two people. Am Johal is Chair of the Impact of the Olympics on Communities Committee. Here he is, speaking to the rabble podcast network’s Pivot podcast.
If you have comments about the show, an idea for us, or a documentary that you whipped up at home, tell us about it. You can email me at Meagan@rabble.ca, or you can call us too at 360-566-2214.
In our 100th podcast, we’re talking a hundred! A centenarian shares advice, cancelling highway plans, and remembering the birth of the aged rabble radio. You could also win an ipod nano!
Highlights from the first 100 episodes.
Wayne remembers the first meeting of what has become the rabble podcast network.
Introducing our new comment line. First caller wins an ipod nano. 1-360-566-2214
Stephen Rees on why a new highway plan should be scrapped to make way for farmland. It’s all thanks to the global recession.
Wait For It by Annabelle Chvostek
Interview with Centenarian Anne McPhee
Andy Stochansky and House of Gold
The world has been watching Haiti ever since a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated the country on January 12. If you are wanting to donate money to the relief effort the Canada Haiti Action Network has listed NGOs they think are best able to deliver aid. You can find that link at rabble.ca
Sarah Kramer is a volunteer with Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods, an organization dedicated to grassroots change in HAITI through ecological sanitation projects, technology, and garbage transformation. Like many volunteers in the country, Kramer was thrown into a different kind of action when the earthquake hit and has been helping the relief effort since then. Kramer is trying to dispel the myth that Haitians have become desperate and violent in this time of crisis by sharing stories of hope. One of her letters came to the rabble podcast network, and we thought we would share it with you.
Emeline Michel – Many Rivers to Cross from the Hope for Haiti benefit concert. You can purchase the song and disk at itunes.
It seems like just last year that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that he was shutting down parliament until after the Olympics. Comedians have had a field day with his decision, and so, it turns out, have activists. The activist’s field day happened this weekend when scheduled actions across Canada brought out over 25 000 people who wanted to tell Stephen Harper that they are not happy with his decision to shut down parliament, and stall democratic debate in Canada. In over 30 cities citizens gathered with their placards and chants. The rabble podcast network collected audio from four cities in Canada. Here are the voices of Canada’s people, telling the Prime Minister just what they think of his prorogation.
It has been over a month since the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Although many were disappointed by the results that came out of COP 15, activists from around the world who were not allowed into the forums’ larger meetings gathered at Klimaforum where they discussed the changes that needed to happen with an eye to bringing new ideas home. Zahra Moloo is an independent journalist from Kenya. She was at Klimaforum gathering the voices of African delegates. Over the next few episodes, Rabble radio will be featuring those interviews. Today, we’re going to hear from the University of Nigeria’s Dr. Julia Agwu
Music: Emeline Michel Mon Reve. You can purchase this song at itunes.
Canadian Youth Delegation asks is Canada lying? Hiphop artist Eekwol talks Indigenous rights and Olympics. John Bonnar on protests for climate justice in Canada. Also, we have music.
Canadian Youth Delegation to Copenhagen asks whether Canada is lying and what that will mean for Canada.
Hiphop artist Eekwol talks youth and indigenous rights.
Eekwol with “Reluctant Warrior”
John Bonnar at the Climate Justice rally in Toronto
Eekwol with “The Future Wonders”
Amy Goodman launched her new book Breaking The Sound Barrier at an event co-hosted by community radio stations CJSF, Co-op Radio and CiTR in Vancouver, B.C. last night. Despite being detained by Canadian border services delaying her book launch by over an hour Amy Goodman delivered an impassioned lecture to a standing room only audience.
Amy Goodman launched her new book Breaking The Sound Barrier at an event co-hosted by community radio stations CJSF, Co-op Radio and CiTR in Vancouver, B.C. last night. Despite being detained by Canadian border services delaying her book launch by over an hour Amy Goodman delivered an impassioned lecture to a standing room only audience.
Food bank recipients volunteer, Tibetan Buddhism in B.C. Prisons, and Baka Beyond on a train platform in Nanaimo, B.C.
Sachin Seth went to the Fort York Food Bank to talk about how the recession was affecting the facility, but found food bank recipients volunteering their time to keep the place running. Here are three of their stories.
Anne McNeil is a Tibetan Buddhist nun who leads meditations in B.C. prisons. In this interview with Stark Raven: Prison Justice, she talks about what teaching meditation in prisons is like, and what the prisons get out of having meditation available for prisoners.
Baka Beyond have worked with and learned music from the Baka people of Cameroon. The band’s singer Su Hart was riding a train that stopped for 7 minutes in Nanaimo, where Living on Purpose’s Lynn Thompson caught up with her for a quick interview.
In this podcast: protecting the rights of Vancouverites, advocating for Uganda’s gays and lesbians, learning through art, and music from Ottawa.
Leaked documents show that the Province of B.C. is considering legislation that would allow the police to detain the homeless. David Eby, executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association speaks about what that will mean for the homeless during the Vancouver 2010 games.
A multi-media piece about child soldiers called Strange News made it’s Canadian Debut last week, and featured actor Arthur Kisenyi, who travelled from Uganda to perform.
Ugandan GLBT activists are asking for help from the international community. They want you to deliver letters against the implementation of a strict anti-homosexuality bill that is now on its way to becoming law.
The Ruckus has been featuring Ottawa artists in its last few podcasts. In the latest Ottawa edition, the Mighty Popo. Here he is, with Ma Africa.
In this podcast: How a Canada-Colombia FTA affects trade union activists in Colombia, Denise Chong about an activist's life in China, and preserving the history of resistance in Canada's Africville.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees has been working to prevent the implementation of a Free Trade deal between Canada and Colombia, because of the human rights abuses in that country against labour activists and indigenous peoples. Berenice Celeyta is a human rights activist in Colombia, and the director of NOMADESC, the Association for Social Research and Action in Southwestern Colombia. She is a winner of the Robert F. Kenedy human rights award, and has faced death threats and imprisonment for her work with labour activists and the displaced people of Colombia. Earlier this month, she took mic at CUPE’s national convention in Montreal to tell the conference delegates what support from CUPE means for activists in her country. She spoke to the crowd in Spanish, with simultaneous translation. Here is part of what she shared with the crowd.
This episode’s second C: China. During the Tienanmen Square protests in 1989, Lu De Cheng (Lou Deh-Chung) was one of three young men who showed their anger at China’s communist government by filling eggshells with paint and launching them at the portrait of Chairman Mao that presides over the square. That single action led the three of them to a life of imprisonment and harassment. After serving 11 years of a 16 year sentence, Lu De Cheng escaped to Canada. Writer Denise Chong has documented his story. Meagan had the opportunity to speak to Denise Chong about her book. It’s called Egg On Mao: The Story of an ordinary man who defaced and icon and Unmasked a Dictatorship. Here’s part of their conversation.
We’ll start by heading to Montreal, where Lillian Allen and Anne Healy were a surprise treat at the CUPE National Convention. Allen is known for bringing dub poetry to Canada, and Healy is part of the folk duo Healy and Juravich.
African people were bought and sold in Nova Scotia, but after the war of 1812, many of those who escaped slavery or had been freed settled at the northern tip of the Halifax peninsula. The settlement became known as Africville. Lack of services, racism, and poverty made it infamous for being one of Canada’s worst slums. But Africville was also a place of resistance until the 1960s, when black families were evicted to make way for industrial development by the city of Halifax. In this documentary, Adam Bemma speaks to some of the activists who are preserving the history of oppression and resistance that is embodied Africville.
A letter on healthcare that came in to rabble.ca/issues/healthcareUSA
Fragile Day, a song from A Northern Chorus.
Former prisoner Alex Friedman on having his play performed at the Kennedy Centre, from Stark Raven.
Letter from rabble.ca/issues/HealthcareUSA
Update on Dump Site 41, from Redeye
Letter from rabble.ca/issues/HealthcareUSA
Yves Engler on Canada's negative influence and why Canadians don't believe it is possible.
Sunday Wilde with Jivin' Man.
Activists talk about how the fight to protect the water table in Simcoe County, Ontario has meant harassment but also inspired their continued dedication.
The Reel Women talk spring water by reviewing Jean de Florette.
Sunday Wilde with I Guess I Didn't Hear You Right.
Margo Greenwood speaks about a new report on Aboriginal children's health.
Redeye finds out all the ways you can get a ticket on your bike.
Last Rabble Radio until August!
Jack Layton speaks after a protest in Solidarity with Iran at Toronto's Queen's Park.
An interview with the founder of the Global Detention Project, tracking migrant detentions around the world.
Music by Pamela Brennan. The song is Amsterdam.
Cathi Bond speaks to Joseph Heath about Filthy Lucre: Economics for those who hate Capitalism.
Music from Colin Linden.
Jessa Runciman reports on a forum on Canadian Mining Practices Abroad.
No Trespassing by Mendelson Joe
Derek Blackadder on net neutrality, the labour movement, and the Web.
Dr. John Agnew on the calls for an inquiry into research on indigenous communities in Latin America.
Reel Women on Mamma Mia!
Keith Gottschalk is not seeing the change promised by the Obama administration.
Murray Dobbin has some suggestions that could change the face of the country.
RPN's latest show F Word talks queer parenting.
Judy Rebick and Cathi Bond talk wrestling.
And music from Jenn Grant - Everybody Loves You.
Keith Gottschalk takes us on a Last Hurrah vacation, in his mind anyway.
Next an excerpt of an interview with Susan Holtz of the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy, where she shared some of her big-picture thinking about energy, food and transportation. Peter Stock opened with a question about the relationship between bio-fuels and food.
Next we bring some of the choices around transportation closer to home. In the Lower Mainland of British Colombia, the transit authority Translink is short of money. They need $150 million in the next two years and double that amount to meet expansion plans. They say a tax on individual cars would be one way to bring in some of the cash, and have proposed a $100 levy. Jane Williams of Vancouver Co-op Radio’s “RedEye” examined the proposal with Anthony Perl, director of the Urban Studies Program at Simon Fraser University. Here’s an excerpt of their conversation.
Whenever, where ever Victoria Fenner travels she takes her audio gear with her, she samples sounds the way most of us snap pictures. And, in her new podcast, The Roaming Ear, she brings those sounds home, plucks them off her hard drive and serves them up as as audio fieldnotes. Here's just an acoustic taste of her travels and discoveries
Finally, we leave you with a lovely, mellow tune from the Saskatchewen based group, Deep Dark Woods. It's just one Western Canadian group the Ruckus has been presenting on the eponymous podcast here on the rpn. But, before we go, just a remind you to consider becoming a rabble.ca member so we can keep bringing you shows like rabbleradio, the Ruckus, the Roaming Ear and so much more here on the good ol' rpn. Now, the music: This track is All the Money I Had is gone from the band's new album Winter Hours.
Filmmaker Tina Hahn's film Tale of a Yellow Bike was featured in Vancouver's Projecting Change film festival. She stopped by Redeye to talk about her film, and why bicycle culture doesn't thrive in North America.
Part of Linda McQuaig's address at rabble.ca's eighth birthday celebration in Toronto on April 16th.
Joel Plaskett speaks about working with his father on his latest album Three.
Deny, Deny, Deny from Joel Plaskett's latest album Three.
Cindy Corrie speaks about remembering her daughter during a Code Pink delegation trip to Gaza.
Part of George Galloway's speech, delivered at the border, and played in Canada via internet.
From Joel Plaskett's album La De Da, Absentminded Melody.
Liana Salvador speaks to the crowd assembled for International Women's Day in Toronto about one of the factors that make equality difficult for young women - Student Debt.
Keith looks at some of the women who are powerful in American Politics.
Shani Mootoo talks with Allendria Brunges about her latest book, Valmiri's Daughter.
Poet Lillian Allen performing at International Women's Day in Toronto.
Economist Armine Yalnizyan speaks to a conference for women negotiators for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
She says there is a way to save the economy, if governments will just act quickly.
Keith on the jobs crisis.
Reel women remind us that "You Can't Take It With You"
Roxanne Potvin, with the song "Je T'aime"
Special Feature: first presentation from Who R U, a podcast featuring identity on the edge of tech.
Kevin McGowan's top music picks from last year. www.rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/theruckus.
Allison Crowe, with the song Angels.
Prudent Nsengiyumva takes us to Rwanda's first school for the deaf to meet a student who is changing her life by studying there.
Norman Finklestein is an indendent academic. He writes on Israeli-Palestinian issues. His speech is called Resolving the Israel-Palestine Conflict: What we can learn from Ghandi. At one of his lectures he was asked to compare Barack Obama with Ghandi, which is when he told everyone that they should not believe the hype. His vociferous response was recorded from the crowd.
Keith Gottschalk might love Obama, but he's been distracted. He'll tell you all about it.
The Good Lovelies, with a song from their self-titled album. The song is Cheek to Cheek.
Jewish activists across Canada are taking action against the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Last week a group of Jewish women held a protest in the Israeli Consulate in Toronto. Rabble Founder Judy Rebick was there. She told her story to Rabble Radio's Meagan Perry.
Judy Rebick is not the only one Karine Silverwoman is a Toronto writer, performer, and activist. She has worked with Nightwood theater, and Toronto's Mayworks Festival. She performed her piece This Is Not a Poem in Toronto early this month.
Keith Gottschalk is keeping his eyes firmly on the economy as the Obama inauguration comes over the horizon. He's found his inspiration in the Maritimes.
We're revisiting some of our best documentaries of 2008. This is Dave Kattenburg, from the Green Planet Monitor, on Ecological Food in Bolivia.
Only one of the Reel Women is with us today, but Cathi's looking back over 2008 to tell us what her rental picks are. Let her help you through the early DVD questions of 2009.
Interview with Jaimie Biggar from Canadians for a Progressive Coalition about how to keep the coalition a reality.
Keith Golding with his song Golden Cup. You can hear more from him at http://www.themeeting.ca
Interview with Kenneth Whyte, the author of The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolf Hearst.
The Reel Women on Hellboy II
Kensington Prairie with Bluebirds
Wayne MacPhail attends a Hamilton vigil for Teenage Head's Frankie Venom. Frankie Venom died October 16. He was 52.
Part of the panel discussion from Rabble.ca's relaunch party. Speakers include Duncan Cameron, Maude Barlow, Jessica Yee, Murray Dobbin, and Anne Lagace Dowson.
Studs Terkel, speaking at Chicago University in 2005. Terkel died October 31, 2008. He was 96.
When the 2010 Olympic Spirit Train stopped in Edmonton, protestors were on the case, and they stole the show. Thanks to CJSR FM88 program RISE UP! for this piece.
LAL's tune Self Defense.
Susan Nathan is a British Jew who exercised her right of return only to find conditions for Arab-Israeli's akin to those under the apartheid regime. She talks about her book The Other Israel: My Journey Across the Arab Israeli Divide.
Keith is waiting for the end of the election tunnel to appear.
Reel Women discuss Ironman.
One more tune from LAL: Wasteland.
Which is your least favorite party, and what would they have to do to gain your vote. What Whitehorse has to say.
Keith completes the following assignment: compare and contrast the U.S and Canadian election debates.
Horreya - Maryem Tollar and Ernie Tollar.
Redeye podcast brings us an interview with Ian Angus, the editor of Climate and Capitalism on the political parties, and their platforms when it comes to the environment.
Maryem Tollar with Watad Ya Gamil/Bel Enfant.
Election streeters: How engaged are you in following the campaign?
Stephen Lewis has devoted himself in the last few decades to fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS infections. Lewis delivered an address in Whitehorse last week (September 15, 2008).
Canada's Aboriginal Communities, he said, have higher rates of the disease due to poverty and government neglect. At the end of the address a question came from the audience about what Aboriginal Communities can expect from the Canadian Government in the future. Here is what Lewis said in response.
Keith Gottschalk is struggling on in the face of a double header news story: the U.S. Election campaign, and the government's bailout of Wall Street.
Electioneering, DVD style. Judy Rebick and Cathi Bond get into it over their favorite election movies.
Feature interview with Salman Rushdie on his new novel The Enchantress of Florence.
Keith's continuing trials at the border, and what he thinks of Sarah Palin, John McCain's new running mate.
How do we pick out our favorite organic food... A new study by student Tegan Renner brings a bit of insight from a sample size of 100.
The band: Entire Cities. The song: Dancing With My Brother.
Reel Women take us back to movies about the 50s. How happy are we that that era is done?
It looks like it just might be more difficult to stop global warming than the public is being led to believe. Those are the findings of a research commentary published in the journal nature this week. The technological challenges are, the authors say, going to be far greater than we’ve been led to believe. Well, when the rabble podcast network’s program redeye got the news, they called up one of those authors. Here is part of their interview with Tom Wiggley, a senior scientist at the center for atmospheric research in Boulder Colorado and he co-authored the commentary.
Well, watching a video doesn’t have to emit a lot of C02, depending on the video, I suppose. And the Reel Women walked down to their local video emporiums this week to find anything the Easter bunny might have hidden for them, and this is what they came up with. Take it away Judi and Cathi.
The Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative Justice Society provides community based alternatives to the mainstream criminal justice system. The rabble podcast network’s Stark Raven spoke to Christine Parnell, the program director with the Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative Justice Society.
In this episode Keith Gottschalk thinks maybe, just maybe, Obama might make a difference.
Wayne MacPhail reviews Sprouts, a new way to create Flash content, we hear a bittersweet memory of Kenya from Victoria Fenner and the Reel Women, Judy Rebick and Cathi Bond go "woohoo" for Zodiac.
Our music comes from The Creaking Tree String Quartet (http://www.creakingtree.com/) Thanks guys!
Keith wishes the U.S. presidential candidates would be just a little less entertaining.
Farai Gonzo is a journalist who was forced to flee Zimbabwe after a warning that her life was in danger. She tells her story to Nicole Rogers.
The Radio-Canada Digital Diversity Award went to the documentary "Ghosts Migrate" in 2007. This episode we feature the tale of movement across continents a countries, told in two voices.
Judy Rebick and Cathi Bond are taking on American Gangster. Do they like it? One of them does.
Interview with IMPAC Dublin Literary Award-winning Author Rawi Hage.
Three Little Words by the Sunshine Variety Club - myspace.com/sunshine variety club.
Keith is commenting on politics and also swearing a blue streak in honor of George Carlin.
Brits Abroad by the Sunshine Variety Club.
Keith Gottchalk is making his home a safe house for ideas.
Bob Bossin of Stringband remembers his folk compatriot, U.Utah Phillips.
Dr. Henri Morgentaler accepting the award from Outstanding contribution to Humanity from the Canadian Labour Congress.
Reel Women on Into the Wild.
The Pivot Legal Society speaks about the recent B.C Supreme Court ruling which will keep the Insite Safe Injection Site open.
Work isn't working for Ontario Families is a new report put out by the Canadian Labour Congress, The Toronto and York Region Labour Council, and Campaign 2000, an organization that aims to stop child poverty.
Keith is waiting for his government stimulus cheque.
Summer's here, but summer isn't the same everywhere. In this audio postcard, a taste of what swimming in glacier fed lakes in the Yukon can offer you.
New compilation from DJ Andy WilliamsClifton Joseph - Chant for Monk from Variations in Time: A Jazz Perspective - order compilation from ptrmusic.com.
Reel women on the Devil and Daniel Johnston.
Caravan to end Canadian Involvement in Torture. For more information about getting involved, email.
Karma & Lotus, with Monk Swing, order full compilation by Andy Williams at ptrmusic.com.
Pivot Legal Society on the continuing story of the Insight Safe Injection site.
Music: Kim Beggs with the song Heartbreak Shoes. Kimbeggs.com
Reel women on Lars and The Real Girl.
Tikkun Toronto, Harvey's story excerpt
Interview with Sadie Jones. Her first novel, Outcast, is on the longlist for the Orange Prize for fiction.
Music: Walking down to the Station by Kim Beggs
Keith wishes the U.S. presidential candidates would be just a little less entertaining.
Farai Gonzo is a journalist who was forced to flee Zimbabwe after a warning that her life was in danger. She tells her story to Nicole Rogers.
The Radio-Canada Digital Diversity Award went to the documentary "Ghosts Migrate" in 2007. This episode we feature the tale of movement across continents a countries, told in two voices.
Judy Rebick and Cathi Bond are taking on American Gangster. Do they like it? One of them does.
It looks like it just might be more difficult to stop global warming than the public is being led to believe. Those are the findings of a research commentary published in the journal nature this week. The technological challenges are, the authors say, going to be far greater than we’ve been led to believe. Well, when the rabble podcast network’s program redeye got the news, they called up one of those authors. Here is part of their interview with Tom Wiggley, a senior scientist at the center for atmospheric research in Boulder Colorado and he co-authored the commentary.
Well, watching a video doesn’t have to emit a lot of C02, depending on the video, I suppose. And the Reel Women walked down to their local video emporiums this week to find anything the Easter bunny might have hidden for them, and this is what they came up with. Take it away Judi and Cathi.
The Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative Justice Society provides community based alternatives to the mainstream criminal justice system. The rabble podcast network’s Stark Raven spoke to Christine Parnell, the program director with the Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative Justice Society.
Keith Gottschalk writes in on the anniversary of the Iraq War.
The RPN's latest program, Speakeasy, examines the possibility of post-traumatic stress among journalists.
Judy Rebick is pissed at the religious right for their take on The Secret.
Preach Ankobia was a musical feature last episode. This episode he visits and talks with one of Rabble radio's staunch volunteers.
The RPN's newest member speaks to the Anne Wagner, the advocacy director of STAND (Students Taking Action Now:Darfur).
Preach Ankobia. Direct to you from Montreal.
Keith Gottschalk is watching the final debate in the Democratic Party's leadership race. Rivetting.
The Reel Women have some thing to say about the film Rendition.
In this episode Keith Gottschalk thinks maybe, just maybe, Obama might make a difference.
Wayne MacPhail reviews Sprouts, a new way to create Flash content, we hear a bittersweet memory of Kenya from Victoria Fenner and the Reel Women, Judy Rebick and Cathi Bond go "woohoo" for Zodiac.
Our music comes from The Creaking Tree String Quartet (http://www.creakingtree.com/) Thanks guys!
This episode we've invited each producer with a podcast on the rabble podcast network to tell us what they think is their best work. Here are some of their picks.
A contest to win k.d. lang's newest CD. Tell us what it is called and we will send the first two people who answer her CD.
Email us at rabbleradio@gmail.com Keith Gottschalk reflects on the lead up to Super Tuesday, even though super Tuesday is today (PST), still...
Keith is talking Christmas.
The Ravaging Of Africa: African Resistance. Produced by Kirsten Shwartz and Asad Ismi. You can hear the rest of this documentary series at rabble.ca/rpn/afr/
Please consider giving a rabble.ca membership for Christmas - $5 a month ($60 a year) will keep us running smoothly. We need 2000 people to sign up!
Interview with director Oliver Hodge about environmental architecture.
Keith Gottschalk talking about why Canada looks so good.
Macabean the Rebel with Tobacco Road. You can check him out at cdbaby.com.
Mae Sot is a town on the Thai Burmese border, rabble podcast network's newest show, Everybody Knows, collected some voices at Mae Sot.
Online tools, and Reel Women talk about The Weather Underground.
Macabean the Rebel - Livelyhood.
Social media browser anyone? Bring all your friends together and blog about it. Whoa.
Keith knows they know what he knows. Yikes.
John Pilger has covered conflicts in Vietnam, Cambodia, and around the world. He's produced over 50 documentaries, and he stopped in at Montreal's CKUT. Here is that interview.
Madviolet is the band. Skylight is the song. It all comes from the podsafe music network.
Straight and Narrow, a tune from Deep Dark Woods of Saskatoon.
Keith is wondering if left-wing talk show hosts are targets for attack.
Author Thomas Pawlick talks about the beginnings of his latest book, The End of Food.
Judy and Cathi are talking about a little movie about a little disagreement between good and evil.
Wayne's got a new tool - Mogulus.com.
Deep Dark Woods sing for us again - the song is Release Me.
Sounds of Nepal, Sri Lanka, and India gathered by Victoria Fenner.
Keith Gottschalk is looking for some help getting some sleep.
The BC Civil Liberties Association's Executive Director Murray Mullard, speaks about why more oversight is needed for both the public's and the police's sake.
Music from A Northern Chorus: The Shepherd and the Chauffeur
The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti's Brian Concannon speaks about the current political situation in Haiti.
Reel Women take on the Troubles by examining Ken Loach's film "The Wind That Shakes the Barley."
Another tune from A Northern Chorus: Fragile Day.
Lisa Rundle in conversation with Naomi Klein about her new book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.
To hear more and a segment from Klein's new film, tune in to the radio book lounge at www.rabble.ca/rpn/rbl
Victoria Fenner goes to Bangalore, India to follow the work of mosquito hunters. They're on the trail of the insects in order to combat the spread of diseases like malaria.
Reel Women Judy Rebick and Cathi Bond take on the sex in John Cameron Mitchel's Shortbus.
T. Nile sings us a little song called Something Better
Radio Tadamon speaks with the Washington editor of Harper's magazine about his recent article on the rise of democracy in the middle east.
One more song from T. Nile. This one is called Trees.
Rabble Radio this week was mixed and recorded in a Toyota Yaris on a gravel road. Please be forgiving.
Wayne introduces us to ning.
Denise Pelley's singing career recently took her to Sudan. Africafiles: The Pulse spoke to her about her experiences there teaching music. You can hear more by logging on to rabble.ca/rpn/afr. For more about Denise Pelley, go to denisepelly.com.
Music: Ride Theory with The Piper.
Keith Gottschalk is wondering if the media is painting an accurate picture of how beleaguered President Bush is becoming.
Cathi Bond and Judy Rebick are discussing Hellboy this episode.
Music: Ride Theory with Dead Radio Love.
Keith, the new bookstore owner highlights those who hold a candle against the dark.
We hear a doc from Green Planet monitor on Grupo Fenix which is bringing Solar energy to Nicaragua. The doc is by Janna Graham.
Our songs are from Woodpigeon's Songbook album.
This eclectic collective of Calgerians starts at no less than seven members on any given song and can top out at nearly fourteen collaborators. But quantity never trumps quality on Songbook, with its clever lyrics backed by a soaring orchestra. a sad country ballad for a tired superhero and ms. stacey watson, stepney green.
Finally, I review Castroller. Links
http://www.woodpigeon-songbook.com/
Woodpigeon’s Songbook http://www.rectanglerecords.com/
Rectangle Records http://radio3.cbc.ca/
CBC Radio3, New Music Canada Artist- Woodpigeon
Castroller http://castroller.com
Wayne lets us all in on the new plans for the iphone.
Reel Women go head to head over All That Jazz.
We have a winner! Well, 35 winners to be exact. They all got tickets to Michael Winterbottom's new film, a Mighty Heart. Why? They all subscribed to our newsletter by sending a note to rabbleradio@gmail.com. You can subscribe too to find out about more contests.
A Mighty Heart tells the story of the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal bureau chief Daniel Pearl. Since that event happened in Pakistan, the producers of Pakcast were very interested in the portrayal of the country, and its people. Pakcast film correspondent Ambreen Ali is here with her review.
Don't be afraid to donate and keep this ship afloat! Listen to this promo to hear what Noam Chomsky has to say about rabble.ca
Micheal Riordan's series Listen to the Land: A Season with the Quinte Organic Farmer's Co-op is running all summer at rabbledocs (www.rabble.ca/rpn/doc). He spoke with Meagan Perry about why he made that documentary.
Jojo and the Fugitives with Chips, Chicken, Banana Split
The Green Planet Monitor speaks with organic farmers in Bolivia. For more, head to www.rabble.ca/rpn/ecp
The Besnard Lakes sing about Devistation. For more: www.thebesnardlakes.com
Vandana Shiva joined two other luminary activists - Maude Barlow, and Starhawk for a symposium on Women and Water.
Wayne's introducing us to igoogle.
More from The Besnard Lakes. This is You Lies to Me.
Keith Gottschalk bemoans the loss of spring, and wonders when the U.S. government will do something about global warming.
Promo for our feature documentary, Listen to the Land: A Season With the Quinte Organic Farmer's Co-op.
Adria Vasil speaks with rabble radio's Charlotte Scott about her new book Ecoholic: Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products and Services in Canada.
Plunkett, a singer-songwriter duo who make their home in Italy. You can find them online at www.plunkett.it. The song is The River.
Reel Women Cathi Bond and Judy Rebick talk about a unclassifiable, unquantifiable movie called Save the Green Planet. You can hear the full piece at rabble.ca/ree. This review was recorded in March of 2006. It's the first one at the bottom of the reel women page.
The frogs from MacGregor Point Provincial Park, all recorded by Wayne MacPhail.
Part 1 of Listen to the Land: A Season with the Quinte Organic Farmer's Co-op.
Podcasts wraps with Plunket, Just Rise.
Keith Gottschalk has a word of warning for us all. Have you heard the buzz? No? It's because the bees are dying.
Are reel women talking to you? They might be. This time, they review Babble.
The Acorn, a sextet from Ottawa, bring us Spring Thaw.
Tired of paying through the nose for Adobe Photoshop? Head for picknick.com.
Radio Tadamon! has provided this interview excerpt with author Rawi Hage about his book Deniro's Game.
The Acorn's second song of the show. This is Brokered Heart.
Keith Gottschalk on Scooter Libby.
Writer and artist Paddy Johnson takes us into the art world for a visit to the Canada Gallery.
Do Make Say Think with A With Living.
Chad Oberg on space and virtual space in Secondlife.
Reel Women have been on the killing floor, via Fast Food Nation that is. No surprise, they've got a review.
Do Make Say Think with The Universe!
We hear you, friend. Keith wonders just how he's supposed to make pleasant small-talk while there is a war on.
Chad Van Gaalen can be found at flemisheye.com/chad. The first song we play this episode is called Burn to Ash.
On this episode's Reel Women, Judy is back from Kenya with a chip on her shoulder. She and Cathi engage in a little verbal sparring over "The Constant Gardener."
One final song from Chad Van Gaalen. This one is called Dead Ends.
Keith Gottschalk casts a keen eye on the military push toward Iran. Is it for real?
Alex Samur speaks to award-winning author and investigative journalist Carol Off about her latest book Bitter Chocolate.
Obijou hail from Branford, Ontario. You can find them at obijou.com, or listen to this song, St. Francis.
Neil McInlay is a speaker, coach, and Buddhist. He tells us how he's got competitive swimming and Buddhism working together at the pool. This piece came to us from Lynn Thompson, host and producer of Living on Purpose. That program is broadcast on Radio Malaspina, 101.7 on Vancouver Island.
Online tools. This one's awesome. Meebo amalgamates all your instant messaging options into a single window!
Reel Women talk about Wire, which Judy believes is the best TV show ever made.
One more song from Obijou. This one is called Steep.
Keith Gottschalk muses about the inevitable demise of the Bush presidency.
Cathi Bond and Judy Rebick fight it out in a cheery little way about this weeks DVDs, Little Miss Sunshine.
From the Golden Dogs' latest release Big Eye Little Eye, the song is Construction Worker.
Meagan heads to a Lego robotics tournament in Scarborough, Ontario.
Wayne's showing us all how to be more organized. Thanks, technology!
A song called Runouttaluck, from the Golden Dogs wraps up our show.
Jen Moore takes us to the Press Freedom Awards on this episodes installment of Homebrew.
Keith was watching the pre-election frenzy when he recorded his column, and he's got a prediction... is it now true?
Music comes to us this episode from Shotgun and Jaybird. First up, a song called Stolen Mini-Van.
DVDiva is trying something a little different this episode. She's bringing in her reel-woman podcasting partner, Judy Rebick. These two dames can sure chat up a storm about the movies.
This episode, they think about The Proposition Wayne Macphail is in with another online tool. This time, it's Scrybe.
More music to finish off the program, from Shotgun and Jaybird, this is RE - Tired.
The rabble.ca membership drive is on now. Don't forget to sign up. There are lots of nifty prizes, and your dollars will be going to help keep independent media alive in Canada. Click the "join us" link at rabble.ca.
Keith Gottschalk gets all fired up by US media coverage of the war in Iraq.
Wayne interviews Rebekah Shoop about her new NGO for Mayan Guatemalans, Alianza.
DVDiva lights one up for her review of Thank You for Smoking...
Charlotte presents a new track from Montreal turntablist Kid Koala's new album, Your Mom's Favourite DJ, released last month on Ninja Tune Records.
Wayne checks out Google Reader - the swiss army knife of RSS readers.
Charlotte takes a sound-seeing tour exploring the dark moments of of McGill University's history with activist and PhD Ed Hudson. Check out Eric Squier's website for more in-depth information about McGill's strange history.
A final track from Kid Koala from his debut album Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Visit Kid Koala's website.
Homebrew takes us to a Kentucky prison where messages from distant relatives reach inmates via the airwaves. It's one of several projects run by appalshop.com.
Keith is back from vacation in Canada, and reflecting on all that has occurred since he left.
Brad is one guy. One guy who makes songs to put on the internet. And he has one CD. It's called I Don't Know What I'm Doing. The song we're going to hear first is called "Making Me Nervous" and it comes to us courtesy of Podshow.com.
DVDiva is on the couch watching a 12 hour epic called Broken Saints. Is it worth the investment? Tune in to find out.
Online tools is back with a new online extravaganza that all you bloggers are going to love. It's called vox.
One more tune from Brad before we go. This is "Look and Feel Years Younger."
Keith Gottschalk is on the road and checking out Canada wherever he goes!
Toronto's Pomegranate are a band of queer women with a conscious klezmer mission. You can check them out at sonicpomegranate.com
While he was recently at the Media Giraffe Conference in Amherst, Massachusetts, cohost Wayne MacPhail sat down with Cho and Ilona Meagher, of E Plurbis Media. E Plurbis Media is a citizen journalism collective from across the U.S. doing rigorous investigative journalism. The group is part of a growing trend towards "by the people, for the people" media online. (http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/).
DVDiva is looking back at a group of screen sirens who made it to her doorway Should a person speak up when they witness cruelty to the dog next door? Auntie has a few solutions.
Keith Gottschalk reminds us of the power of peace love and understanding.
Cathi Bond, our DVDiva gets happily horrified.
Co-host Wayne MacPhail and his wife, Barbara Ledger, share a sound seeing tour of their recent hike thorugh Algonquin Park, close encounter included.
Jen Moore brings us a freshly perked Homebrew that looks at the digital divide through the prism of gender.
Harris Newman is a noted Montreal-based finger-style guitarist, who weaves very calming, acoustic instrumental tracks http://www.indieville.com/reviews/harrisnewman.htm
Online Tools for the 21st Century - RSS Feeds RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. RSS feeds are to web browsing what ordering by catalogue is to window shopping. You can use them to make sites send you fresh info instead of you going in search of it. You can learn more about RSS at http://frl.bluehighways.com/frlarchives/000123.html
Check out Bloglines, an online RSS reader at: http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs
Jennifer Moore visits with Patrick Elie.
A prominent Haitian human rights activist prompts Homebrew to take a second look at the life and work of Jean Dominique.
The complete conversation is available on radio4all.net.
Keith Gottschalk’s been watching the campaign for the Canadian election, and mulling over the non-confidence vote that got us here. Could it ever happen in the United States?
It’s wine, women and song in the book lounge book segment today, or at least wine. Konrad Ejbich [http://www.winewriterscircle.ca/members/kejbich.html] talks about his new wine guide “A Pocket Guide to Ontario Wines, Wineries, Vineyards & Vines.”
And we discover that not all guide books are created equal. Ejbich gives us a tip for a great wine to try and tells is like it is – yes, your baby is ugly – and spares us the dreck. Find great gifts in the book lounge bookstore at www.rabble.ca/bookstore
The song is called August, by a great pair of artists. Vancouver bassist Wendy Atkinson [http://www.tinforest.com/tinfr/wendyatkinson/index.html] and publisher/guitarist David Lester [http://www.killrockstars.com/bands/meccanormal/dave/].
Atkinson has produced and collaborated on several albums, most recently Trim (2003), and also plays in an all-female Vancouver-based pop band called Licorice Sea. David Lester has been active in the West Coast art and punk scene for decades; his recent projects include graphic novels, poster series, and a film collaboration with poverty activist Bud Osborn.
Auntie has returned from the spa, thank goodness. She's got some advice for those of us who want to see everyone paid well for their work.
DVDiva Cathi Bond loves to watch violent movies. But it's got her wondering: why oh why do we all want to see the stars take their licks to get our kicks?
Homebrew gets newsy with a report back from the World Society on the Information Society, Phase 2 in Tunis. Frieda Werden, Vice President for North America of the World Association of Community Broadcasters, takes us there. Scott Deneau provides musical back-up. For more info go to wsis.amarc.org.
With the Chronicles of Narnia sending kids everywhere scurrying for the walk-in closet to see what’s inside, we take a look at what might happen if that fur-coat-lined cupboard took our heroes somewhere more prosaic.
A little more music from the dynamic duo David Lester and Wendy Atkinson. The song is Lost Lagoon.
No indie media, and no democracy is the order of the day in Haiti, according to Nadine Dominique. She’s the daughter of late Haitian journalist Jean Dominique. In this episode of Homebrew, Nadine talks about her country, and what’s needed there. http://www.theagronomist.com/index2.html
Rabble columnist Keith Gottschalk has a few words to speak about Jean Chretien, and how he underscores the difference between US candidates and Canadian ones - he’s brash, he’s craggy, and he’s real. That might be why he managed to be a Canadian PM. That jive wouldn’t work in the US, where candidates need a pretty and bland TV image to take home the presidency.
Auntie loves you, and she wants you to stick to your principles. Tune in to find out how.
Montreal’s Marlowe are on the disk drive this episode - the first tune we’ll hear is Roman Empire.
Time was, to be you needed to avoid Toronto’s Dufferin Grove Park at night. No longer. These days it’s a destination for families who want to share communal meals, and has its own theater community to boot. The park has become a hub of activity for the community that surrounds it. Sharon Oosthoek has the story. http://www.dufferinpark.ca/home/dufferinpark.html
Stephen Lewis joins Rabble books editor Lisa Rundle to speak about his work as the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, and how he sees an increasing interest in the principles of civil society in this feature interview. http://www.stephenlewisfoundation.org/
We’ll hear one more number out of Marlowe. The song is called Labour Day. http://www.marlowespace.com/
If I learned anything from this weekend, it's to love the sound of my own voice - uh oh. No, I learned to love the sound of YOUR voices!
It's not the most perfect podcast, but it comes from the heart and mind of a Canuck in "paradise" who's had a few too many drinks with a whole bunch of crazy techno-geeks and podcasting-junkies. And I mean that in the BEST WAY!
A big shout-out to Julien Smith from Montreal (his show is In Over Your Head http://www.inoveryourhead.net/ - excellent), one of the 5 Canucks at the conference. We quit the Saturday night party to record ourselves reading In Flanders Fields for Mark Blevis of Electric Sky (http://www.electricsky.net), hard to say if we made the deadline with the time change and such. But it was pretty damn cool.
Stuff I loved and people who make me proud to be a podcaster: CC Chapman - Accidental Hash Doug Kaye - IT Conversations Noah Glass - ODEO Dave Slusher - Evil Genius Chronicles (look for clips of his inspiring talk on the next episode of rabble radio) ---and I'm leaving it there or else I'd have to type 'till dawn. Let's all go out for (more) beer when I get back and I'll infect you with the same enthusiasm.
Check out the portable media expo at http://www.portablemediaexpo.com/
Check out Brother Love at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/
Check out Chance at http://www.mynameischance.com/