In 2020, there were widespread calls to defund the police following the police murder of George Floyd. In Canada, a poll from that year found over 50% of Canadians wanted to see police budgets reduced. Despite this, no major Canadian city police department has had its funding reduced and in fact, budgets have gone up. We speak with Ted Rutland is associate professor in geography, planning and environment at Concordia University in Montreal.
Jul 21, 2024•24 min
On December 29, 2023, the BC Supreme Court granted a temporary injunction to the Harm Reduction Nurses Association, putting BC’s Bill 34 on hold for 3 months. The Bill imposes sweeping restrictions on the province’s decriminalization pilot launched a year ago. We spoke with Caitlin Shane of Pivot Legal, one of the lawyers representing the Harm Reduction Nurses Association.
Jul 14, 2024•15 min
The National Farmers Union’s held their annual conference in Ottawa in November, 2023. The day before the conference began, NFU members gathered on Parliament Hill to demand a ban on investor ownership of farmland. To find out more, I spoke with Rav Singh, youth advisor with the National Farmers Union – Ontario and Hannah Kaya, the NFU’s farm worker organizer.
Jul 07, 2024•16 min
Last fall, the BC Health Coalition was in Vancouver talking about the urgent need for reform and innovation in public health care. Meanwhile the Canadian Medical Association was sponsoring a cross-country conversation about the role of private – read for-profit – health care. We talk with Dr. Saad Ahmed of Canadian Doctors for Medicare about the truth behind the myths of privatization and what it would mean for health care in Canada.
Jun 30, 2024•15 min
From sexual harassment to online bullying and threats of violence, women politicians face far more challenges in public life than their male counterparts. A new research project takes a close look at what women, gender minorities and racialized politicians face when they get elected to councils in BC and Alberta. We talk with Nadine Nakagawa, city councillor in New Westminster and one of the lead researchers in the project.
Jun 23, 2024•17 min
A recent ruling by the Ontario Superior Court marks an important acknowledgment in the ongoing battle against systemic Islamophobia. In September 2023, Justice Markus Koehnen recognized that the Muslim Association of Canada faced differential and biased treatment faced during a Canada Revenue Agency audit. However, the judge stopped short of intervening in the federal examination. We speak with Nabil Sultan, Communications and Community Engagement Director at the Muslim Association of Canada.
Jun 16, 2024•15 min
Whether you’ve been in the fight against climate change for decades, or are a newcomer, the struggle can feel overwhelming in so many ways. Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua have produced a new book to support and energize us – it’s called Not Too Late. Rebecca Solnit was in Vancouver for the Writers Fest in October 2023. We spoke with her about hope, possibility and the book.
Jun 09, 2024•26 min
The 1 Million March 4 Children in September 2023 was part of a widespread and growing “parental rights” movement targeting inclusive public education. Calgary academics Corinne Mason and Leah Hamilton point out that this isn’t simply a group of united parents concerned about their children’s education. Mason and Hamilton offer a brief history of the origins of the parental rights movement and some of its key organizers. Corinne Mason is Associate Professor Women's and Gender Studies, Leah Hamilt...
Jun 02, 2024•29 min
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Canada introduced a program to allow Ukrainians to temporarily come to Canada. Two years later, the government has introduced a new temporary residency program for people in Gaza. However, Palestinians in Canada are discovering there are major barriers to getting their family members out of the war zone. We speak with Matthew Behrens of the Rural Refugee Rights Network.
May 26, 2024•15 min
For generations, the suffering of residential school Survivors has radiated outward, impacting Indigenous families and communities. In her new documentary Waapake (Tomorrow), filmmaker Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin examines the corrosive impact of residential schools on Survivors, and their children, siblings and parents.
May 19, 2024•15 min
In 2021, Vancouver City Council formally apologized for historical discrimination toward passengers travelling on board the Komagata Maru steamship from British India in 1914. Last month, the City unveiled special commemorative signs near the harbour honoring those impacted by the Komagata Maru tragedy. The street signs were designed by Jagandeep Nagra, a queer Punjabi visual artist and community advocate.
May 12, 2024•17 min
In March, Ben Parfitt wrote an article critiquing the BC government’s direction and lack of progress on protecting old growth forests. This was centered on a confidential map of logging deferrals that was leaked from the provincial ministry of forests. Since then, new information has come out blaming the delays in protecting old growth on consultations with BC First Nations. We speak with Ben Parfitt, resource policy analyst for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives BC office.
May 12, 2024•16 min
In 2004, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel called on international scholars to break ties with Israeli academic institutions. In response, Israeli academics claimed to be simply bystanders to the apartheid policies of the Israeli state. A new book reveals just how deeply Israeli universities are entangled with the Israeli state’s systems of oppression. Maya Wind is the author of Towers of Ivory and Steel. She is a scholar of military expertise and a Killam ...
May 05, 2024•21 min
Jackie Shane was one of soul's first Black trans performers. She was born in 1940 in Nashville but her incredible voice took her across North America. She found a home in Toronto in the '60s, performing sold-out shows almost every night. In 1971, Shane disappeared from the spotlight. When she eventually reemerged in the 2010s, there were still many questions surrounding her life and career. Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee’s latest documentary, Any Other Way, tells the story of Shane's li...
May 05, 2024•22 min
On April 5, the Simcoe School Board joined four of the largest Ontario school boards in suing the companies behind Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. The lawsuit claims time spent on these apps has led to “an attention, learning, and mental health crisis”. Sachin Maharaj joins us to speak about the case and the impacts of social media apps on students. Maharaj is Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, Policy and Program Evaluation in the Faculty of Education at the University of O...
Apr 28, 2024•21 min
UN negotiations took place in Ottawa last week, aimed at achieving an international plastics treaty. Leading up to these historic meetings, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has just released a groundbreaking study revealing the enormous climate impact of plastic production. We’re joined by Dr. Neil Tangri, Senior Fellow at University of California’s Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, to talk about the study and what’s needed in the treaty.
Apr 28, 2024•14 min
It’s been four years since the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released 231 calls for justice. Call to Justice number 4.8 says there must be safe and affordable transportation services for Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people living in remote or rural communities. We speak with two co-authors of a report on improving the intercommunity mobility of First Nations people in Canada. Apooyak’ii / Dr. Tiffany Prete is a member of the Kainai (Blood Tribe) ...
Apr 28, 2024•17 min
The BC social studies curriculum includes historical atrocities such the colonization of North America, the Holocaust, and the Rwandan genocide, but there is no mention of the Nakba. The Nakba was the violent dispossession and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from historic Palestine that led to the creation of the state of Israel. Now, parents and teachers in BC have launched a campaign to include the Nakba in the BC curriculum. We speak with Tamara Herman, a Vancouver parent and member of Indep...
Apr 21, 2024•18 min
This week on City Beat, Ian Mass talks about how Vancouver City Council is planning to take advantage of provincial and federal housing initiatives. Plus the Vancouver Police Board, the oversight body for the Vancouver Police, has had its budget slashed and seen key members resign. And a new city bylaw takes what has been described as an “iron fist approach” to people living in tents in Crab Park. All this and more in our bi-weekly City Beat report.
Apr 21, 2024•17 min
On Mother’s Day, May 12, a caravan of anti-war activists will leave Vancouver for Ottawa, with the message Demilitarize, decarbonize, decolonize. They will be met by a sister caravan leaving from Halifax and arriving in Ottawa May 28. We speak with Ellen Woodsworth, co-chair of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, who, together with Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, are organizing the caravan.
Apr 21, 2024•16 min
Last week, a large memorial was installed near the entrance to Stanley Park in Vancouver. The flags planted in a large grassy area are a visual representation of the number of lives lost due to Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, and a reminder of Canada’s role in funding the slaughter. This Vancouver installation follows a number of displays across the country and internationally, including in Portland and London. Lorraine Chisholm speaks about the memorial with organizer and community advocate T...
Apr 08, 2024•18 min
If a recent commercial is to be believed, then FortisBC is in the business of selling outdoor gear. Nothing in the 30-second ad of a parent and child walking through a forest suggests that connecting your home to gas could lead to catastrophic global warming. Two concerned B.C. residents and the organization Stand.Earth are taking FortisBC to court for using ads like this to greenwash its products. Lawyers from Ecojustice and Slater Vecchio LLP are bringing the case against FortisBC under the Bu...
Apr 08, 2024•13 min
Next week, Vancouver City Council considers tenant protection for residents of single room occupancy hotels, a 30 kph speed limit on all Vancouver streets, e bikes and scooters on the seawall and lots more. Ian Mass joins us with his City Beat report.
Apr 08, 2024•15 min
On March 6, Green Party MLA Adam Olsen retabled a bear den protection bill in the BC legislature for the third time. Olsen has been pushing for legal changes since October 2022 but has yet to have his private members bill heard. For decades, environmentalists and First Nations have been advocating for an amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act to include bear dens. We speak with Mark Worthing, Campaigns and Programs Director at the Awinakola Foundation.
Mar 31, 2024•15 min
Drug activist Dana Larsen appealed the loss of the business licence for his Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary in Vancouver. In response, Green Party city councillors Adrienne Carr and Pete Fry voted to re-issue the licence. Now they are going a step further by introducing a motion to create a regulatory framework for psilocybin and other psychoactive mushrooms. We speak with Pete Fry.
Mar 31, 2024•16 min
NDP MP Charlie Angus has introduced a private member’s bill calling for a ban on what his party calls 'misleading, deceptive' fossil fuel ads. The NDP says the bill would take the same approach Ottawa took to tobacco ads in 1990s. While there is predictable opposition to the bill from the oil and gas industry, others see the bill as a very modest step towards what is needed.For an assessment of the bill, we speak with Peter Dietsch, a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University o...
Mar 31, 2024•15 min
Drug companies often give payments to doctors and other health-care workers for consulting fees, speaking at events or funding research, as well as meals and travel expenses. But, in Canada, it’s difficult to know how much was paid to whom. Our guest, Dr. Joel Lexchin, says this information needs to be readily available to Canadians.
Mar 24, 2024•17 min
A report released last month by the BC Fed and CCPA-BC says British Columbia’s local transit systems could be united into a province-wide public transit network within a decade, offering safe and affordable service throughout the province. We talk with Sussanne Skidmore, president of the BC Federation of Labour, about their vision.
Mar 24, 2024•14 min
Unless governments act to build and save housing that low income people can afford, the number of houseless people in Vancouver is on track to increase by 50% by 2030. This is the stark prediction in the Carnegie Housing Project’s 2024 report, released last month. We speak with Devin O’Leary, one of the co-authors of the report.
Mar 24, 2024•14 min
A ground-breaking new book examines and exposes the use of defamation law to silence victims of sexual violence. Author Mandi Gray draws on media reports, courtroom observations, and interviews with silence breakers, activists, and lawyers from across Canada to examine the impact of so-called liar lawsuits on those who report or are thinking of reporting sexual violence.
Mar 10, 2024•17 min
