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/ 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’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.