A new book examines the experiences of the women who faced the worst effects of the pandemic and the inequities it exposed. Conscripted to Care reveals how structural inequality placed women on the frontlines of the pandemic response, yet did not provide them with enough resources or a voice in decision-making. We speak with author Dr Julia Smith, assistant professor in Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. <from Oct 2024>
Jul 08, 2025•24 min
Solidarity Is the Political Version of Love: Lessons from Jewish Anti-Zionist Organizing was published last year by Haymarket Books. The two authors, Rebecca Vilkomerson and Rabbi Alissa Wise, were both staff leaders of Jewish Voice for Peace from 2010 to 2020. In the book, they ask what the politics of solidarity look like in practice, and how left-wing organizations can grow—in numbers and power—while remaining accountable to the broader movements of which they are a part. Rebecca and Alissa w...
Jul 04, 2025•1 hr 1 min
A new handbook has been launched to assist BC school trustees who are being targeted with transphobic and homophobic abuse. It outlines some of the ways that school boards are currently under attack and ways to prevent and address this violence. The handbook was written collaboratively by a committee of the group, Lawyers Against Transphobia. We speak with one of the authors, James Chamberlain. <from Sept 2024>
Jun 30, 2025•16 min
Both the BC NDP and the Conservative Party of BC have pledged to expand involuntary care under the Mental Health Act for people who use drugs. More than 17 organizations have condemned forced detention plans, including the BC Civil Liberties Association and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users. Meenakshi Mannoe is connected to anti-prison and anti-policing movements and has previously engaged in advocacy related to the expansion of involuntary care. We speak with her about this issue. <fr...
Jun 25, 2025•13 min
Rights advocates in Canada are welcoming a new review and complaints body for the Canadian Border Services and the RCMP. A network of nine civil society organizations say the new commission is long overdue, but still falls short of what is needed. We talk with Tim McSorley, National Coordinator of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group. <from Nov 2024>
Jun 20, 2025•17 min
A report released last week reveals that millions of dollars in Canadian charitable donations have been funneled to organizations implicated in supporting illegal Israeli settlements, violent settler groups, and military activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. Under the Guise of Charity was produced by Just Peace Advocates, Independent Jewish Voices Canada and Miles Howe. We speak with author Miles Howe. <from Nov 2024>
Jun 15, 2025•22 min
Today, almost one in 4 of all species are at risk of extinction, from caribou and spotted owls to sea stars and slime mould. In her new book, Sarah Cox visits the habitats where species are threatened, and the people who are trying to save them. She documents heroic efforts to prevent animal species from disappearing while, at the same time, challenging us to question the approaches we’re taking. Sarah Cox is an award-winning reporter and B.C. bureau chief for The Narwhal. <from Sept 2024>...
Jun 10, 2025•20 min
In 2016, Newfoundland filmmaker Justin Simms became the father of a son. Later that year, Donald Trump won his first term as president, fuelled by the rise of white supremacy and a particularly toxic form of masculinity. Simms was daunted by the prospect of being a father to a little white boy, born into middle-class privilege, and started to ask himself what he could do as a father to help him become a caring adult. He spent the next eight years making the documentary Sons, which premiered onli...
Jun 05, 2025•18 min
For years, the Mitchikanibikok Inik First Nation community has fought to keep mining off of their territory. In an important ruling, the Superior Court of Québec has recognized that the Québec government failed for decades in its constitutional duty to consult the Mitchikanibikok Inik First Nation when mining claims were granted on its territory. Lawyers from Ecojustice and the Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement argued that the Quebec mining act violated the constitution, and they won....
May 31, 2025•14 min
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the federal government introduced a special program to allow Ukrainians to temporarily work, study and stay in Canada until it was safe for them to return home. Nearly 300 thousand people have since arrived through that program. In late 2023, Canada announced a similar program to help Canadians get family members out of Gaza. 10 months later, it is unclear whether the program has facilitated the exit of any Palestinians from Gaza. We speak with immigrat...
May 26, 2025•22 min
Non-disclosure agreements were originally a mechanism for protecting trade secrets. But they are now increasingly used as a matter of default in settlement agreements for all kinds of civil disputes, including those related to sexual misconduct, harassment and discrimination. We speak with Julie Macfarlane of Can't Buy My Silence, a campaign to end the misuse of NDAs. <from Dec 2024>
May 21, 2025•19 min
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, we saw a global reckoning on anti-Black racism. In response to this uprising and demand for action, universities across North America scrambled to make public commitments to racial justice. But some Black scholars in Canada say these pledges now face a challenging landscape. We talk with Dr. Cornel Grey, assistant professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies at Western University. He joins me now.
May 17, 2025•17 min
Think globally, act locally is an old adage, but one that might be relevant as Canada works to strengthen our national economy. With US economic aggression shaking the economy, everyone is searching for ways to bolster businesses and industries here. Dr. Heather Hachigian says Canada’s policy makers need a renewed approach to economic development – one that focuses on the local. Hachigian is an assistant professor in the Masters of Global Management Program at Royal Roads University.
May 14, 2025•16 min
PACE Society is a peer-driven organization located in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver that provides support, advocacy, and education for current and former sex workers. In late February, they announced they were temporarily suspending services and programming and laying off most staff. PACE’s announcement followed a string of closures and service reductions at other organizations serving sex workers and other marginalized women. Jennie Pearson joins us to talk about why these closures happene...
May 11, 2025•15 min
Canada Council director Michelle Chawla says Canadian decision-makers need to acknowledge that the arts have a vital role to play in these uncertain times. In response to the threats of annexation by the U.S. and the tariffs aimed at weakening the Canadian economy, there has been a major rise in nationalistic cultural expression. Musicologist Rosheeka Parahoo says that when it comes to radio play, funding and recognition, the promise of diverse Canadian music has seldom matched the reality. And ...
May 08, 2025•16 min
Patriotism has surged across Canada in response to Donald Trump’s attacks on our economic stability and sovereignty. In the midst of all this rallying behind the flag, Alpha Abebe says it’s a good time to consider who and what is being obscured in the current surge of Canadian patriotism. She is with the Faculty of Humanities and the Lead for Africa and Black Diaspora Studies at McMaster University.
May 06, 2025•17 min
The Nechako River was one of the main tributaries of the Fraser until the Kenney Dam was built in the 1950s. The dam diverted most of the river’s flow to power Rio Tinto Alcan’s aluminum smelter in Kitimat, severely impacting the lives of the local Stellat’en and Saik’uz Nations. Nechako is a new film that documents years of resistance by the two Nations, including a groundbreaking legal proceeding against the Canadian government and Rio Tinto Alcan that continues to this day. We speak with writ...
May 01, 2025•18 min
The English Language leader’s debate on April 17 ended with the abrupt cancellation of standard post-debate scrum. At the centre of the incident was the accreditation of right-wing Rebel News and tensions between them and journalists at the event. We talk with the Tyee's Jen St. Denis about what happened that evening in Montreal.
Apr 28, 2025•14 min
Every December, students across Canada enjoy a two-week break to celebrate Christmas. In spring, Good Friday and Easter Monday bring further celebrations and a long weekend. But for Canadian students who want to mark celebrations in their own traditions, it often means being marked “absent” from school. A research professor who worked with high school students in Alberta says Canada should recognize celebrations like Eid, Diwali and Lunar New Year as public holidays. We speak with Dr. Rahat Zaid...
Apr 18, 2025•22 min
Allegations of political interference involving Alberta Health Services have been swirling around the provincial government for weeks. The former CEO of Alberta Health Services. Athana Mentzelopoulos, is suing the province for wrongful dismissal, saying she was fired in January for looking into the overpays on contracts with private surgical providers. As the province continues to be hit by allegations of corruption and political interference, a new report from the Parkland Institute reveals how...
Apr 16, 2025•19 min
The ongoing genocide in Gaza has been widely covered in the Canadian media. Yet the coverage has been shown to be unfair, misleading, and biased in favour of Israel. A 2023 analysis by The Breach of thousands of sentences in Canada’s top newspapers found that the largest Canadian newspapers have given disproportionate attention to the deaths of Israelis, portrayed Israelis in more humanized ways and more often identified who was responsible for killing them. In response to this clear bias agains...
Apr 14, 2025•15 min
Big news at Vancouver City Hall this week with the election of Lucy Maloney from OneCity and Sean Orr from COPE as the new city councillors. They are jumping into a busy council agenda including public hearings about the massive proposed development on the Jericho lands in Point Grey and four more Broadway plan rezoning. Redeye collective member Ian Mass joins us to give us his thoughts on next week’s goings on at Vancouver City Council.
Apr 13, 2025•17 min
People living in highly unequal societies experience a broad range of health and social problems which affect everyone, no matter how much money they have. That’s why we should be paying attention to the latest Statistics Canada data on rising economic inequality in Canada. The latest numbers on household finances show a near-record gap in the share of disposable income held by the top 40% of Canadian households compared to the bottom 40%. The wealth gap is even larger than the income gap. Yet e...
Apr 11, 2025•17 min
A healthy and robust news environment is central to any country’s democratic health. However the last sixteen years have not been kind to local news outlets in Canada. Many residents of communities, both big and small, now find themselves living in “news deserts” or “areas of news poverty.” A new report aims to better understand the decline in local news outlets across Canada and to examine what role public-service media could take to tackle local news deprivation. We speak with David Macdonald,...
Apr 10, 2025•17 min
Mining critical minerals has been called the new gold rush. Nickel, copper and other critical minerals are highly sought after in the drive to manufacture new technologies. And some mining companies want to extract these minerals from the deep sea. The Metals Company, a Vancouver-based mining firm, has spent years promoting the idea that mining in the deep ocean has a relatively low environmental impact. Now they want to sidestep an international regulatory body called the International Seabed A...
Apr 09, 2025•17 min
Filmmakers Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper live in Gibsons, B.C. Like most of us here in B.C., they have experienced wildfire smoke in their community every summer for the last few years. This started them reflecting on what they could add to the conversation as documentary filmmakers who’ve covered crises throughout their work. Their new film Incandescence weaves together on-the-ground footage with first-person accounts from first responders and people who have lost their homes to wildfire. Incande...
Apr 07, 2025•18 min
In recent years, the narrative of immigrants being a drain on the system has been repeated constantly in some Western countries. But we should question how that narrative stacks up against the evidence. A new data set from 22 countries sheds some light on the answer. We speak with Edward Koning, associate professor in political science at the University of Guelph.
Apr 03, 2025•15 min
On March 22, Independent Jewish Voices Vancouver hosted two Israeli war resisters as part of a nationwide Refuseniks tour. , Einat Gerlitz and Tal Mitnick have been sharing their stories across Canada, shedding light on their public decision to refuse military service in protest of the occupation and the genocide in Gaza. They were joined by physician and author Dr. Gabor Maté. In this episode, we bring you excerpts from last Saturday night’s event at the Peretz Centre in Vancouver.
Apr 01, 2025•43 min
Advance voting has already begun in the by-election to replace One City councillor Christine Boyle, now an NDP MLA and retiring Green Party councillor Adrienne Carr. The full by-election is scheduled for April 5. Redeye collective member Ian Mass joins us today with his City Beat report. On the agenda, a couple of all-candidate meetings, emerging election issues, the Aquatic Centre rebuild, and lots more.
Mar 30, 2025•21 min
B.C. is in the midst of an ongoing public health emergency, declared in 2016 in response to significant levels of overdoses and drug poisonings. In response, BC implemented a decriminalization framework in 2023, removing criminal sanctions for possession of small amounts of certain unregulated drugs. Less than 18 months later, B.C. amended the framework, effectively re-criminalizing public drug consumption and possession in public spaces across B.C. A commentary published in the Canadian Journal...
Mar 28, 2025•14 min
