Brief Remarks

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.

Let’s start with a little celebration: This is the 50th episode of Open to Debate! Thanks to each and every one of you for listening. We look forward to many episodes to come. For this milestone moment, we are excited to welcome a special guest to help us navigate the question: What is the state of Canada’s courts? Plus, as a bonus, we get into the topic of...thriller novels and the virtues of Stephen King. On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, jurist, former and longest-serving Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, and author of three books, including the upcoming thriller Denial.

Dan Gardner is the New York Times best-selling author of books about psychology and decision-making. On the final episode of Season 1 of @ Risk, host Jodi Butts speaks with Dan Gardner to discuss whether preparing for the full array of low-probability high-consequence events is as important as preparing for another pandemic?

The free market is notorious for its contradictions and inequities. Competition tends towards monopoly. Owners accrue capital at the top but extract it from labour at the bottom. Large enterprises enter, disrupt, and even decimate communities, often leaving workers holding the bag, worse off than they were before. It doesn’t have to be this way. There are alternative economic systems to capitalism; there are also alternative market arrangements within capitalism--or something like it. One such model sees workers as the owners and beneficiaries of enterprise. So, we ask: What’s the case for employee-owned businesses? On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Jon Shell, managing director and partner of Social Capital Partners.

On this episode of @Risk, journalist, fashion entrepreneur, Canada Walk of Fame and Order of Canada inductee, Jeanne Beker speaks with host, Jodi Butts, about the future of fashion, staying relevant and aging in style.

Despite a steady stream of news about the politics of the day, each of us might be forgiven for being unsure what a member of Parliament actually does. Even members themselves, from time to time, seem unsure. Are they lawmakers? Government foot soldiers? Opposition sentries? Committee investigators? Community service-persons? Issue advocates? An admixture of each? The fact is that the role of an MP often depends on the member, the party, and context of the day. But as elusive as a simple rundown of the gig may be, it’s still worth asking: Can members of Parliament break the mold? On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, member of Parliament for Beaches-East York and member of the Liberal Party of Canada.  

On this episode of @Risk, host Jodi Butts is joined by best-selling author and Amazon First Novel Award winner, Michelle Good, and Dr. Lisa Richardson, strategic health advisor on Indigenous health at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, to discuss the role of education, collaboration and story-telling in achieving truth and reconciliation.

In 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States recognized same-sex marriage in the country as a fundamental right protected by the Constitution. The ruling was the culmination of decades of legal battles and advocacy labour by the gay rights community and their allies. The story of same-sex marriage in the United States is long and complicated. But one author has distilled this history into an accessible and engrossing tale of policy, legal, and personal battles. Yet while the book ends in a ruling for justice and equality, the story of 2SLGBTQ+ rights in the United States continues. And so do the battles. So, we ask: What is the future of same-sex marriage in the United States? On this live episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Sasha Issenberg, American journalist and author of four books, including his latest, The Engagement: America’s Quarter-Century Struggle Over Same-Sex Marriage.

One year after the public release of reports of the Canadian Armed Forces detailing disturbing conditions in long-term care facilities in Ontario and Quebec battling COVID-19 outbreaks, Globe and Mail columnist and best-selling author, André Picard, and Shirlee Sharkey, the formidable CEO of SE Health join host, Jodi Butts, to discuss how to fix our failing elder care and social support systems once and for all.

June is Pride Month. For decades, the 2SLGTBQ+ community and their allies have been advocating and organizing for rights recognition. This month is both a celebration of that community and a remembrance of the struggle for justice and equality. A struggle that is ongoing. Even as we celebrate Pride, the Canadian government is fighting to uphold a discriminatory policy that requires men who have recently had sex with men to wait three months before they can donate blood. The state’s intransigence reminds us that political sloganeering is one thing, but true and complete equality in practice is another. So, we must ask: What is the state of 2SLGTBQ+ rights in Canada? On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Chris Karas, a human rights advocate who is challenging the blood donation deferral policy that applies to men who have sex with men, and Gregory Ko, a human rights lawyer at Kastner Lam LLP who represents Karas.