The UN special rapporteur on slavery paid an official visit to Canada in late August to assess the government’s efforts to prevent and address contemporary forms of slavery. After spending two weeks in Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and two other Canadian cities, Tomoya Obokata identified a number of groups in Canada as vulnerable to slavery, including migrant workers brought in through the Temporary Foreign Workers Programme. We talk with Syed Hussan of Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.
Sep 24, 2023•15 min
This is a critical moment for forests in British Columbia. Three years have passed since the B.C. government promised to work with First Nations to implement a paradigm-shift in forest stewardship, as laid out in the Old Growth Strategic Review. Yet the B.C. government has made little progress on their promises. On September 28, communities across the province are coming together in a day of action to protect the last remaining old growth in BC. I talk with Jens Wieting, Senior Forest and Climat...
Sep 24, 2023•19 min
This season, retired teacher and former MLA David Chudnovsky joins our regular City Beat reporter Ian Mass. Today they talk about the 2024 Vancouver budget, Vancouver School Board’s sale of school properties and other major issues that Vancouver Council will face this fall and winter.
Sep 24, 2023•15 min
There has been a rapid increase in Canadian university tuition fees, creating a barrier for low-income students and widening the gap between privileged students and those who struggle to pay for their studies. Grace Barakat is a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto. She talked with us in January about how changes in the cost of tuition are having an impact on Canadian students and their futures.
Sep 17, 2023•16 min
In February this year, the estimated cost of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project jumped by more than 70%. When the Trans Mountain Corporation announced the increase back in February, we were told that the government would spend no additional public money on the project. A new report by independent economist Robyn Allan says this is not the case, and that the federal government is hiding the real situation from Canadians. We spoke with Eugene Kung, staff lawyer with West Coast Environme...
Sep 10, 2023•13 min
The BC government under Premier David Eby has signaled new directions on protecting BC lands. They have committed to protect 30 percent of the province’s land by 2030. This includes a mandate to work with Indigenous communities to create Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. We talk about the new commitment with Torrance Coste, National Campaign Director for the Wilderness Committee.
Sep 03, 2023•15 min
Of all of the processes that are reshaping cities today, gentrification is probably one of the most misunderstood. In her new book, Gentrification is Inevitable and Other Lies, Leslie Kern addresses seven of the myths about gentrification and exposes the ideologies that make it seem like a natural and desirable process. Leslie Kern is associate professor of geography and environment and women's and gender studies at Mount Allison University, in Sackville, New Brunswick. She joined us last Octobe...
Aug 27, 2023•14 min
In December last year, Canadian Blood Services signed a 15-year deal with a for-profit plasma corporation to privatize plasma collection in Canada. BloodWatch says the paid plasma scheme goes against recommendations from the Krever Commission and would negatively affect voluntary collection efforts. We speak with Dr. Michèle Brill-Edwards, a former senior Health Canada regulator and whistle-blower on drug and blood safety. Dr. Brill-Edwards is a long-time board member of the Canadian Health Coal...
Aug 20, 2023•19 min
The pandemic brought into focus the urgent need for a public health that serves everyone in the community, including those who have traditionally been marginalized. A book by Zena Sharman asks what health care could look like if queer folks had access to safe, appropriate and compassionate medical care. Zena Sharman is a writer, speaker, strategist and LGBTQ+ health advocate. Her book, The Care We Dream Of, was published in December 2021.
Aug 13, 2023•16 min
In November last year, the Superior Court of Quebec issued a landmark decision, finding that police roadside interceptions are often based on skin colour rather than on road safety objectives. Judge Michel Yergeau ruled that the law allowing for such arbitrary detention can no longer stand. The case was brought by Joseph-Christopher Luamba, a 22 year old black Montrealer, who told the court he prepares to pull over whenever he sees a police cruiser. We spoke last fall with Laura Berger, staff la...
Aug 06, 2023•14 min
Canada’s drug prices are the fourth highest in the developed world. New guidelines aimed at lowering prescription drug prices have been in process for more than 2 years, and have met with intense pressure by the industry lobby group, Innovative Medicines Canada. Dr. Joel Lexchin examines the lies and half-truths put out by IMC. Lexchin is Professor Emeritus of Health Policy and Management at York University.
Jul 30, 2023•16 min
Millions of Canadians do not have dental coverage, with 1 in 5 children and over half of seniors without access to regular dental care. A forthcoming book by Nova Scotia dentist Brandon Doucet highlights how Canada’s current dental care system is inconsistent with the primary purpose of the Canada Health Act. Doucet is founder of Coalition for Dentalcare. He joined us in January to talk about the urgent need for full universal dental care.
Jul 23, 2023•18 min
In 2001, Dr. Norma Dunning applied to the Nunavut Beneficiary program, seeking legal recognition of her status as an Inuk woman. In the application process, she was faced with a question she could not answer, "What was your disc number?” Her new book Kinuavit: What’s Your Name is the result of two decades of research into the Eskimo Identification System and its impact on Inuit lives. It’s also a personal account of her search for her grandmother. We speak with Dr. Norma Dunning.
Jul 16, 2023•17 min
On October 4 last year, a parliamentary committee released a new report on facial recognition technology and artificial intelligence. The committee stopped short of recommending a ban on the use of facial recognition technology by police, a move that the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group says is critical to prevent mass surveillance of Canadians. We spoke last fall with Tim McSorley, national coordinator for ICLMG.
Jul 09, 2023•14 min
On November 1st last year, a provincial committee released their report on the toxic drug supply and overdose crisis. The report contains 37 recommendations looking at everything from BC's proposed decriminalization to treatment beds. In response, nearly 60 organizations and individuals released an open letter saying the report obscures the issue of a poisoned drug supply, and recommends nothing outside of the status quo. We speak with Caitlin Shane of Pivot Legal.
Jul 02, 2023•16 min
A massive electricity plant in Northeast England that has transitioned from coal to wood pellets claims it is creating green energy. But a protest movement in the UK, and environmentalists in BC say this is greenwashing. Now an investigation team has revealed that DRAX intends to supplement its use of wood waste and sawdust with whole trees, logged in primary forests. Last October, we spoke with Ben Parfitt of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Jun 25, 2023•19 min
People with Indian Status cards face stigma and discrimination on a daily basis when they show their cards at stores or to officials, according to a landmark study commissioned by the Union of BC Indian Chiefs. The report is titled They Sigh or They Give You the Look: Discrimination and Status Card Usage. Last December, we spoke with Harmony Johnson, sɛƛakəs, from the Tla’amin Nation, who is the lead author of the report.
Jun 18, 2023•23 min
Tsqelmucwilc is the story of the children who survived the Kamloops Indian Residential School. It is based on the 1988 book Resistance and Renewal, a groundbreaking history of the school - and the first book on residential schools ever published in Canada. The new book has contributions by Garry Gottfriedson, Randy Fred and the KIRS Survivors. We spoke with author Celia Haig-Brown last fall.
Jun 11, 2023•23 min
Flawed ideas about heroin and people who use it have shaped drug law and policy in Canada for decades. An illustrated book by Susan Boyd traces the history of Canadian heroin regulation over two centuries. Susan Boyd is a scholar/activist and distinguished professor at the University of Victoria. She joined us in May 2022 to talk about her book Heroin: An Illustrated History.
Jun 04, 2023•15 min
A report by Independent Jewish Voices documents in detail the reprisals, harassment and intimidation faced by Canadians who engage in scholarship and activism in the area of Palestinian human rights. The report discusses how this chilling effect blunts and shapes the discourse around Palestinian rights and criticism of Israeli policy. We spoke last fall with report co-author, Sheryl Nestel.
May 28, 2023•20 min
Judging by the constant stream of news reports of standoffs and confrontations, it’s apparent that Canada’s reconciliation project has gone off the rails. Standoff is the title of a book of essays by lawyer and historian Bruce McIvor. In it, he examines why reconciliation is failing and what needs to be done to fix it. Bruce McIvor is a member of the Manitoba Metis Federation and a partner at First People’s Law. He represents First Nations across Canada from Wet’suwet’en opposing the Coastal Gas...
May 21, 2023•17 min
A new report published last month by the office of the Representative for Children and Youth seeks to understand why hundreds of children are disappearing from the child welfare system in BC. It was written in response to the hundreds of reports coming into the Office of children missing from care, many of whom go on to experience critical injury or die. We speak with Dr. Jennifer Charlesworth is Representative for Children and Youth.
May 16, 2023•19 min
A new research review examines how people with long Covid have struggled to get information about their condition. It says patients’ experiences seeking information about their symptoms can be described as frustrating, uncertain, and complex. We speak with the lead researcher of the study, Simran Purewal, who is at the Pacific Institute on Pathogens, Pandemics, and Society at Simon Fraser University and senior scientist Kaylee Byers, also from PIPPs.
May 15, 2023•18 min
The rise of the gig economy using platforms like Uber and Skip the Dishes has led to a steep rise in the prevalence of precarious work. Precarious work is not new but we don’t know just how widespread a problem it has become because Stats Canada does not collect data on it. The pilot BC Precarity survey conducted by Iglika Ivanova and Kendra Strauss aims to fill that gap. We speak with Iglika Ivanova to find out what the survey revealed.
May 04, 2023•16 min
360 Riot Walk is an immersive, self-guided 360 ° video walking tour of the 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver. Now, a book based on the walk adds new dimensions to our understanding of those events. The book will be launched June 30 at the Sun Yat Sen Gardens in Chinatown. We’re joined by Henry Tsang, artistic director of the tour and author of the book.
May 03, 2023•18 min
Academics from universities across Canada have issued an open letter calling for an end to the eviction of encampments in Vancouver. The letter is in response to the wholesale removal of tents along Hastings Street that took place in the first week of April. It’s addressed to the mayor and council, union and health officials plus members of the provincial government. We talk with Jeff Masuda, Professor in the School of Public Health and Social Policy at the University of Victoria.
May 02, 2023•14 min
Hassan Diab has been entangled in a 15-year legal battle against claims he is a terrorist. Last week, the Assize Court in Paris found Dr. Diab guilty of perpetrating a 1980 bomb attack outside a synagogue in Paris. In a new trial, the French court sentenced the Ottawa academic to life in prison, despite the fact that both the Canadian and French justice systems have already found a lack of credible evidence. We speak with Alex Neve, senior fellow in the Graduate School of Public and Internationa...
May 01, 2023•17 min
The last Vancouver City Council approved a plan to make Vancouver the most accessible city in the world. The new ABC majority had “best in the world” as one of their campaign promises too and wanted a quick update on the planning early on in their term. That update report was before Council this week. Redeye collective member, Ian Mass joins Lorraine Chisholm with his City Beat report to talk about the accessibility plan, along with safety for pedestrians, ongoing conflict at the School Board an...
Apr 30, 2023•17 min
Eight years ago multidisciplinary artist Mark Timmings and digital media artist Brady Marks joined forces to create the Wetland Project, a soundscape focusing on a marsh beside Mark Timmings’ home on Saturna Island. Since then, Brady and Mark have produced an award-winning book about the project, and, on Earth Day this year, the sounds of the ṮEḴTEḴSEN marsh will be heard as far away as Paris. Brady Marks and Mark Timmings join us today to talk about the project and its ongoing development.
Apr 16, 2023•30 min
C-IRG is a specially trained section of the RCMP, established in 2017, who are responsible for intervening in conflicts between local communities and industry in British Columbia. By 2022, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP had received over 500 complaints in areas where C-IRG is active. Now the CRCC has announced a systemic review of the force, but a new group says C-IRG is not reformable and should be abolished. We speak with front-line activist Molly Murphy and law pro...
Apr 16, 2023•25 min
