Brief Remarks

On this episode of @ Risk, Jodi Butts is joined by Dr Katharine Smart, pediatrician and President of the Canadian Medical Association to discuss whether we are doing enough to protect healthcare workers and to stand-up our healthcare system during this tenacious pandemic.

Colonialism isn’t yet in Canada’s rear-view mirror, especially for the First Nations of this land. Government intervention in First Nations’ governance and administration is a modern reality, and has wide-reaching effects in Indigenous communities. On this episode of Everyday Reconciliation, host Elin Miller speaks with Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Arlen Dumas, about his experience growing up on-reserve, understanding what it means for communities to be in “co-management”, and his optimism for the future of Indigenous sovereignty.Everyday Reconciliation is presented by Rio Tinto.

In part two of Canada 2020’s post-COP26 series, Parag Khanna (Founder & Managing Partner of FutureMap, and international bestselling author of the new book MOVE: The Forces Uprooting Us), Warda Shazadi Meighen (Partner at Landings LLP and co-chair of the climate migration working group at the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers) speak with Kate Hammer (Director of Government Relations at Vancity) about the global climate migration crisis, Canada’s responsibility as a member of the international community, the demographic changes we should expect in the face of the climate emergency, and why the time to act is now.

Canada is home to structural racism. As much as some might wish to exempt our provinces, cities, political parties, laws, policies, and institutions from systematic exploitation and discrimination, such practices are routine. They are embedded in the fabric of our social, political, and economic lives. To better understand how these systems work, we look to the very processes by which we are governed and ask: How does structural racism shape our politics? On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Balarama Holness, Quebec politician, recent Montreal mayoral candidate, and former CFL safety. 

On this episode of @Risk, host Jodi Butts is joined by David Huebert, self-styled “dirty nature writer”, educator, and critic from Kjipuktuk (Halifax), to discuss his new book of short stories, Chemical Valley.

In the wake of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, what does the fight for climate justice look like? In the first of our four-part post-COP26 series, former Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, and climate scientist and author Katharine Hayhoe talk about the outcomes of COP26, the future of climate advocacy, and Hayhoe’s new book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World.

Indigenous women and men have signed up to serve and defend Canada in impressive numbers throughout history, an act that has often come at a very high price. On this episode of Everyday Reconciliation, host Elin Miller speaks to Sergeant (Sgt) (Ret'd) Derek Montour about what it means to serve your country and protect your community, and the difficulty of those two things being at odds with one another.Everyday Reconciliation is presented by Rio Tinto.

Climate change is real, it is caused by human beings, and it is an existential threat to humankind. Politicians and industry leaders now claim to be taking it seriously. Their performances often fall short of their promises. Theoretical physicist and author Steven Koonin, however, extends climate critique to scientists and the media, arguing that while climate change is real, the consensus conclusions we have reached are overstated, the science is often miscommunicated or misinterpreted, and our policies are headed in the wrong direction. At Open to Debate, we disagree with Dr. Koonin’s thesis, but we ask nonetheless: What is to be done about climate policy?On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Steven Koonin, University Professor at New York University and Director of the Center for Urban Science and Progress, former Undersecretary for Science at the U.S. Department of Energy under President Obama, and author of Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matter

The greatest risk to us is us. On this episode of @ Risk, Jodi Butts is joined by Stanley McChrystal, four star U.S. Army General (retired), lecturer at Yale University and corporate board director, to discuss his new book, Risk: A User’s Guide, and why we are our greatest risk. 

After the most recent federal election, there are 12 Indigenous MPs in the House of Commons. That’s just over 3.5% of sitting members, and suggests that representation is still a major hurdle on the road to reconciliation. On this episode of Everyday Reconciliation, host Elin Miller speaks to The Honourable Michael McLeod, the MP for the Northwest Territories about his life in politics, Indigenous representation in Canadian government, and what it takes to get a seat at the table.Note for listeners: this conversation was recorded before the results of the most recent Canadian federal election were finalised. The conversation indicates that there are 10 sitting Indigenous MPs, where as in actuality there are now 12.

For decades, we’ve heard about the rise of China. A major historical and contemporary power, the country shapes domestic and global politics -- as Canada knows quite well. And yet, coverage of China, its affairs, and its international relations is often hyperbolic, skewed, and incomplete. A new book from a veteran reporter on China-Canada relations adds depth, rigour, and new perspectives to that coverage. So, how should we think about China’s place in the world?On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Joanna Chiu, senior reporter with the Toronto Star and author of China Unbound: A New World Disorder. 

On this episode of the @Risk podcast, host Jodi Butts is joined by George Smitherman, CEO and President of the Cannabis Council of Canada, former Deputy Premier of Ontario, and first openly gay member of the Ontario Legislature, to discuss cannabis, stigma and his personal experiences on the front lines of social change.

Back in 2017, lots of Canadians were busy celebrating the150th anniversary of confederation. But to many, Canada 150 was rife with problems: Why was Ottawa spending half a billion dollars on a birthday party? Weren’t there better uses for the money, and the spotlight? And doesn’t celebrating confederation mean celebrating the systemic marginalization of the Indigenous peoples of this land? Instead of joining in the festivities, scholars Crystal Fraser and Sara Komarnisky took action. On this episode of Everyday Reconciliation, host Elin Miller speaks to them about their project: the 150 Acts of Reconciliation.

Managing the pandemic has required a delicate balance of expert guidance and government decision making. While experts provide knowledge essential for deciding what we should do and how we should do it, politicians are ultimately accountable to the public for the policies, laws, and programs they adopt. So, what is the role of experts during a pandemic?On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with David Fisman, professor of epidemiology at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health. 

How to build a more equitable, inclusive and accessible world? On this episode of @Risk, Jodi Butts is joined by Sara Rotenberg, who self-identifies as a disabled advocate and is a DPhil student in the Nuffield Department of Primacy Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford, where she studies as a Rhodes Scholar, to discuss her research, insights and lived experience.To read the full transcript of this episode visit: https://canada2020.ca/risk-no-substitute-for-lived-experience/

Almost six years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) presented its 94 Calls to Action, only 13 have been completed. In this first episode of Everyday Reconciliation, host Elin Miller speaks to TRC commissioner Marie Wilson and former Premier of the Northwest Territories Stephen Kakfwi about what individual Canadians can do to help implement the Calls. Content warning: This conversation mentions sexual abuse and may be upsetting for some listeners.

Surveying the state of market competition in Canada, you might be forgiven for thinking the country is a handful of companies in a trench coat. One of the central critiques of capitalism is that it tends towards monopoly -- or at least oligopoly. Canada is a telling case study that supports the hypothesis. Market monopoly and oligopoly makes for a raw deal for consumers, leading us to ask: What is to be done about Canada’s competition problem?On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Vass Bednar, Executive Director of the Master of Public Policy Program at McMaster University, Public Policy Forum Fellow, and the writer of Regs to Riches.

It’s only paranoia if the world really isn’t going to hell in a handbasket. On this episode of @ Risk, Jodi Butts is joined by Andrew Potter, associate professor at the Max Bell School of Public Policy and former journalist and editor in chief of the Ottawa Citizen, to discuss his new book, On Decline.

Canada’s 44th general election is underway. On September 20th, electors will return the members of Parliament who will decide who governs the country. When casting a ballot, however, voters typically think of political parties and their leaders. So, we ask: What are the policy priorities of Canada’s political parties? On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with candidates from three of the country’s major political parties: Angella MacEwen of the New Democratic Party, Annamie Paul, leader of the Green Party, and Nathaniel Erskine-Smith of the Liberal Party. The Conservative Party was invited to participate but declined. The interviews for this episode were recorded at different times and on different dates, beginning with the NDP, followed by the Green Party, and, finally, the Liberal Party. Changes during the writ period after recording will not be reflected in the interviews.

It’s back to school time for children across Canada but don’t let all the social media posts of kids with smiles and backpacks fool you into thinking that the kids are alright. For our season opener of the @Risk podcast, host Jodi Butts speaks with Sara Austin, world class champion for children and the Founder and CEO of Children First Canada, about why Canada is year over year a worse place for kids to grow up and what we can do to change that.