Over the last two years, Alberta and Saskatchewan have used a special legal power—the notwithstanding clause—to protect laws that affect transgender youth. These laws limit access to gender-affirming health care and require schools to get parental consent before using a student’s chosen name or pronouns. Critics say these laws break basic rights protected by the Charter and could put transgender and gender-diverse young people at greater risk of harm.

This week on rabble radio, Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Bridget Potasky sits down with Aaden Pearson, trans rights legal fellow with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. The two discuss the use of the notwithstanding clause across Canada and its impact on 2SLGBTQIA+ rights.

To learn more about this issue and about the recent increase in the use of the notwithstanding clause in Canada, read Potasky’s latest piece on rabble today.

This week, the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting was held in Davos, Switzerland, under the theme of ‘A Spirit of Dialogue.’

On Tuesday, January 20, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a 17-minute special address in which he condemned the “old order” of the world and said the longstanding American-led rules-based international order is over. He called on “middle powers” such as Canada to work together and resist domination by larger, wealthier, and more heavily armed nations.

The reaction from Canadians has been overwhelmingly positive. Across the political spectrum, many have praised Carney’s speech for its measured, inspiring tone and for firmly positioning Canada in opposition to the actions of U.S. President Donald Trump—without ever mentioning him by name. This response is hardly surprising. As last year’s election showed, few things currently unite Canadians as effectively as drawing a clear line against Trump and his actions.

But should progressive Canadians be so quick to celebrate Carney’s speech? What was left unsaid beneath the polished rhetoric? Which elements rang hollow or hypocritical, and which genuinely deserve recognition?

Today on the show, rabble publisher Sarah Sahagian and rabble editor Nick Seebruch discuss the speech and what it might mean for Carney’s plans in the year ahead.

Labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Kelly Botengan to discuss the recent changes by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which has paused the intake of new applications for the Home Care Worker Immigration pilots. 

Advocacy groups argue the pause leaves many migrant workers, predominantly women from racialized communities, in a precarious situation. If their work permits expire while waiting for a permanent residency decision, and they are unable to apply for an extension under the paused program, they risk becoming undocumented or losing their legal status in Canada.

The NDP will pick their new leader at the end of March. rabble’s Off the Hill political panel took a look at the race and broke down the major issues, endorsements, and events of the campaign so far.

This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was ‘Analyzing the NDP leadership race.’ Our panel featured Libby Davies, Judy Rebick, James Adair and Karl Nerenberg.

About our guests

Libby Davies is a former NDP deputy leader and former co-host of Off the Hill. Davies has expressed her support for Avi Lewis in this race.

Judy Rebick is a renowned activist and author and is the founder of rabble.ca. Rebick has also expressed her support for Lewis.

James Adair is the co-president of the University of Ottawa NDP Association and has expressed his support in this leadership race for Rob Ashton.

Karl Nerenberg is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker, working in both English and French languages. He is rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter.

It has been a very eventful year in Canada, to put it simply. As rabble editor Nick Seebruch and publisher Sarah Sahagian noted on last week’s show, Canadian politics went through one of its most dramatic periods in recent memory—including a federal election that reshaped the national conversation. And politics were only part of the picture. Environmental challenges, major labour actions, and Canada’s shifting role on the international stage all kept the news cycle moving.

Throughout it all, rabble’s reporters and freelance writers worked to make sense of these developments on our site and here on the podcast. 

Today, we’re sharing the last episode of rabble radio for 2025. And, in the fashion of our last episodes of the past few years, we’re highlighting some of our best interviews of this year on rabble radio. 

This week on rabble radio, rabble publisher Sarah Sahagian and rabble editor Nick Seebruch discuss the major news in Canadian politics of 2025; including the resignation of Justin Trudeau, to now-Prime Minister Mark Carney—and his first months as leader, his budget and pipeline plans; the NDP leadership race; and more. 

In its newly tabled budget, the federal government announced that over the course of four years there would be a $2.7 billion reduction in international assistance. 

As Bridget Potasky writes in her November 13th piece on rabble.ca, this announcement has drawn the ire of NGOs who warn it could cause long-term, irreversible harm leaving vulnerable communities without essential medical care, food, and protection at a time when global needs have dramatically risen.

This week on rabble radio, we tune in to her conversation with the director of policy and advocacy with Cooperation Canada, Paul Farran. Cooperation Canada is an umbrella group representing more than 100 Canadian non-profits engaged in humanitarian aid efforts and international development. 

Family and child protection lawyer Bobbi Olsen joins rabble publisher Sarah Sahagian to talk about the legal systems in Canada which handle issues of domestic and family violence. The two explore what is working and what needs to be improved. 

Bobbi Olsen is a dual-call (Ontario and Alberta) high conflict family and child protection lawyer who has practiced in Toronto for many years, and now practices with MD Law Group in Calgary, Alberta. In addition to her LL.B., she holds a Masters of Law in Family Law from Osgoode Hall Law School and a certificate from the Master Class of Negotiation, Harvard Law School, Executive Education. An army reservist during undergrad, she jokes that she has spent her adult life learning to protect people’s freedom, a value she holds dear. She is known for spontaneous solo travel, running, and spending too much time alone with her dog, Ted Mosby.

This interview centers around domestic violence. Please listen with care and sensitivity. Family and child protection lawyer Bobbi Olsen joins rabble publisher Sarah Sahagian to talk about the legal systems in Canada which handle issues of domestic and family violence. The two explore what is working and what needs to be improved.

This week on rabble radio, we’re looking at how unions and employers bargain in Canada and whether it’s time for a new approach.

Right now, most unions negotiate with one employer at a time, which can make it tough to raise standards across an industry. Some experts are calling for sectoral bargaining which may help create fairer pay and conditions for everyone.

Today on the show, we’re joined by Dr. Adam King, assistant professor in Labour Studies at the University of Manitoba, to talk about what a move toward sectoral bargaining could mean for workers and the future of Canada’s labour movement.

This week, Prime Minister Mark Carney shared Budget 2025: a budget that Carney says is “to build Canada strong.” The budget emphasized the importance of investing over spending—but what does that really mean?

Here to break it down is economist Jim Stanford.

It’s Islamic History Month in Canada; and this week on the show, we’re joined by Sadaf Ahsan and Sarah Sahagian to discuss Muslim representation in Canadian pop culture.

In this conversation, the two explore common trends and stereotypes surrounding Muslim characters in the media, discuss the figures who are offering more nuanced and multifaceted representations, and share some of their favourite books, musicians, television shows and films that showcase Muslim talent.

The New Democratic Party of Canada will select its next leader at the Winnipeg Convention in March next year. As of now, there are five officially approved candidates seeking the leadership of Canada’s NDP. They are: Rob Ashton, Tanille Johnston, Avi Lewis, Heather McPherson and Tony McQuail.

This week on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch and publisher Sarah Sahagian sit down to discuss the federal NDP leadership race. The two weigh in on the “insiders” and “outsiders” of the race, the concept of political “purity tests” and the importance of English-French bilingualism for a federal leader.

This week on rabble radio, we share a clip from a recent episode of the Courage My Friends series featuring co-executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, Karen Cocq, advocacy and media relations coordinator at The Refugee Centre in Montreal, Alina Murad and President of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, Aisling Bondy.

The three join Courage My Friends series host Resh Budhu to discuss Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new border security acts, Bill C-2 and its questionable make-over with the recently tabled Bill C-12 and how they effectively rewrite Canada’s approach to refugee rights and protections. If passed, what will these acts mean for those seeking asylum—and for Canada as a whole?

Labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Gauri Sreenivasan of the Canadian Council for Refugees to discuss the current state of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the issues surrounding the closed work permit system.

Sreenivasan last joined us on rabble radio in July to talk about the Lush Cosmetics x Canadian Council for Refugees ‘Neighbours’ campaign.

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: Parliament’s back in session.’

Our panel featured Ontario Federation of Labour president Laura Walton; former Ontario NDP MPP and former federal NDP candidate Joel Harden; researcher and activist Chuka Ejeckam; and rabble’s own parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg.

About our guests

Laura Walton is the president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, the largest provincial labour federation in Canada, which represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario.

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.

Joel Harden is a lifelong community organizer who represented Ottawa Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2018 to 2025 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party. During his time at Queen’s Park, Harden served as the party’s Critic for Transit and Active Transportation, where he championed accessible, affordable, and sustainable public transit solutions across the province.

Karl Nerenberg is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker, working in both English and French languages. He is rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter.

This week on rabble radio, we continue our ongoing discussion on the state of public education in Ontario. Over the past few weeks, we’ve heard from various education union leaders about the growing pressures facing students and workers alike—pressures made worse by Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s education agenda.

One major concern raised again and again: Bill 33. Tabled in May and still making its way through the legislature, the so-called Supporting Children and Students Act would give the Minister of Education sweeping new powers to supervise school boards and mandate police presence in schools.

Today, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with David Mastin, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) to talk about why smaller class sizes are critical to student success and why having police in classrooms is not the answer.

This week, we continue our conversation about the evolving landscape of education in Canada—this time, in post-secondary education.

Labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with David Robinson, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, to discuss the importance of academic freedom and why a strong, well-funded public post-secondary system is essential—not just for Canada’s economy, but for the well-being of its society as a whole.

With a new political season underway, Amy Robichaud (CEO at Mothers Matter Canada) and rabble publisher Sarah Sahagian look at how Carney’s government might impact mothers and families this fall. From shifts in funding for women and gender equality to the vital role of both formal and informal supports, they break down what to watch for and advocate for in the months ahead.

In 2022, the long-tailed macaque was classed as an endangered species by IUCN.

This week on rabble radio, editor Nick Seebruch speaks with Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel about the plight of the long-tailed macaque—how this intelligent species landed on the endangered list, and why the continued use of primates in animal testing is not only outdated, but ethically indefensible. They also discuss what you can do to help end the importation of endangered monkeys from Cambodia.

This week on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Martha Hradowy, newly elected president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF). As the head of one of the largest education unions in Canada, Hradowy steps into leadership at a pivotal moment for Ontario’s public education system.

The two discuss Hradowy’s vision and goals for the federation, and the urgent challenges facing students and education workers under Premier Doug Ford’s government. From overcrowded classrooms to disappearing supports and the growing pressure on frontline staff, what has Ford’s education agenda really meant for Ontario?

This week, rabble.ca editor Nick Seebruch sits down with publisher Sarah Sahagian to talk about what’s coming up this fall at rabble. They discuss exciting new fellowship opportunities, upcoming events and the site’s editorial priorities for the season—including a focus on the upcoming NDP leadership race.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has a track record of taking from the public to give to private interests. No where is this more evident than his government’s approach to environmental conservation.

Time and again, Doug Ford has removed public land to give to private developers, all in the name of supposedly strengthening the provincial economy and building houses. In recent years, parks and other greenspaces have been sold off for the creation of spas, highways, and some housing all while destroying valuable habitats and ecosystems.

Today on rabble radio, I speak with Tim Gray, the Executive Director of Environmental Defence about the recent announcement that 60 per cent of the provincially owned Wasaga Beach will be handed over to private developers.

This week on the show, we’re re-sharing an interview from 2023 featuring Scott Martin and Sean Smukler.

Sean Smukler is an associate professor in applied biology and soil science at University of British Columbia (UBC) and director of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm. Martin and Smukler discuss the current challenges farmers are facing in Canada due to climate change – and wonder aloud where Canada is headed.

To learn more about the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC, visit their website here.

This week on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch speaks with Dr. Yipeng Ge, one of over 4,000 people from around the world who joined the Global March to Gaza. The Global March to Gaza attempted to reach the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Palestine, aiming to draw global attention to the blockade of Gaza and call for an end to the siege.

You can read Dr. Yipeng Ge’s full reflections on the march in his op-ed for rabble—available now on our website.

In the face of rising anti-immigrant rhetoric, a new partnership between Lush Cosmetics and the Canadian Council for Refugees is taking a stand. Together, they’ve launched Neighbours—a campaign built on the belief that Canada should be a place of welcome, belonging and justice for all.

At the center of this campaign is the limited-edition Resilient Bath Bomb. Seventy-five percent of the purchase price (minus the taxes) from the Resilient Bath Bomb go directly to organizations working on the front lines to support refugee and immigrant communities.

Today on rabble radio, Gauri Sreenivasan (Canadian Council for Refugees) and Carleen Pickard (Lush Cosmetics, North America) sit down with rabble editor Nick Seebruch to talk about how the partnership came together, the shared values behind it, and how everyday acts of care can connect to broader movements for justice and belonging.

This week on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch speaks with Dr. Yipeng Ge, one of over 4,000 people from around the world who joined the Global March to Gaza. The Global March to Gaza attempted to reach the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Palestine, aiming to draw global attention to the blockade of Gaza and call for an end to the siege.

You can read Dr. Yipeng Ge’s full reflections on the march in his op-ed for rabble—available now on our website.

Labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Leo DeVries from Science for the People to discuss Prime Minister Mark Carney’s plan to boost defence spending to five per cent of Canada’s GDP over the next decade.

What will this mean for workers? For the economy?

And more broadly, what does it signal about Canada’s priorities—especially when it comes to fighting the climate crisis and honouring Indigenous rights? Can massive military investment coexist with those commitments, or are they fundamentally at odds?

Tara Mandarano is a writer and editor based in Ontario who lives with chronic pain.

Today on rabble radio, she shares her story about living with fibromyalgia and endometriosis as a single mother.

This week on rabble radio, we’re sharing a clip from our June Off the Hill political panel.

In this panel, our distinguished guests — Eriel Deranger, executive director of Indigenous Climate Action; Clayton Thomas-Müller, author and activist; Sabrina Grover, political strategist and communications expert; former NDP MPP Joel Harden; and rabble’s own parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg — explore the implications of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s commitment to making Canada “an energy superpower.” The discussion delves into how this vision intersects with Indigenous sovereignty, pipeline development and Canada’s climate commitments.

Content Warning: This interview includes personal accounts of homophobia and experiences of violence. Please listen with care and sensitivity.

It’s Pride Month, and while advocating for queer and trans rights is a year-round commitment, this June feels especially urgent. Countries once considered relatively safe—like the UK and the US—are rolling back protections and adopting increasingly hostile policies.

And in many parts of the world, same-sex relationships are criminalized, people who defy gender norms face punishment, and simply living authentically can put someone’s life at risk.

An organization that works to protect queer and trans lives globally is Rainbow Railroad.

In 2023 alone, Rainbow Railroad received more than 15,000 pleas for help from LGBTQI+ individuals facing life-threatening danger. While not everyone can be relocated, the organization works with global partners to get those at risk to safety.

This week on the show, we’re joined by: Devon Matthews, the head of programs at Rainbow Railroad to discuss the important work the organization is doing to support 2SLGBTQIA folks across the globe; and also Rahma Esslouani, a newcomer to Canada originally from Morocco.

Rainbow Railroad is a global not-for-profit organization that helps at-risk LGBTQI+ people get to safety worldwide. Based in the United States and Canada, they are an organization that helps LGBTQI+ people facing persecution based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics. In a time when there are more displaced people than ever, LGBTQI+ people are uniquely vulnerable due to systemic, state-enabled homophobia and transphobia. These factors either displace them in their own country or prevent them from escaping harm.

If you’ve been tuning in to rabble radio for a while, you’ll know that every summer, we return to a familiar —and vital— discussion: climate change is a labour issue. In the past, we’ve spoken about how extreme weather events affect working Canadians, how climate change affects agricultural workers and the economy, and we’ve chatted with advocates in Ottawa calling for a National Firefighting Agency.

There’s no debate: climate change and labour are inextricably linked.

Today on rabble radio, we’re spotlighting an organization in British Columbia calling for the implementation of a maximum working temperature.

The Worker Solidarity Network is urging the provincial government to introduce legislation that would protect workers from the dangers of extreme heat on the job.

Currently, BC has no regulations in place to set temperature limits in workplaces—but with the increasing threat of deadly heat waves, advocates say the time for action is now.

It’s Asian Heritage Month in Canada – and this week on the show, we’ll be joined by Sadaf Ahsan and Sarah Sahagian to discuss Asian representation in Canadian pop culture.

From books and television to music, the Canadian cultural landscape has made significant strides in embracing diversity—offering richer, more nuanced portrayals of Asian characters and (mostly) moving away from stereotypes and tokenism. Yet, as our conversation reveals, we still have a long way to go.

In this conversation, Sarah and Sadaf share some of their recent favorite films, TV shows, books, and music. They also discuss why diversity should be viewed as a valuable opportunity—not a risk—by investors, and emphasize the vital role of behind-the-scenes representation in shaping authentic stories.

It’s been a big month in Canadian politics. With the election of Prime Minister Mark Carney and the rollout of his new cabinet, there’s a lot to unpack. While the Liberals and Conservatives surged at the polls, smaller progressive parties like the NDP and the Greens saw their support take a hit — raising big questions about what comes next for progressive politics in Canada.

That was the topic of this month’s Off the Hill panel. We looked at what lies ahead — both on and off Parliament Hill — for the NDP and the Green Party. How can progressives keep pushing key policies forward? And how do we organize and stay active in a political landscape that’s shifting toward the centre?

This month we were joined by Mike Morrice, former Green Party MP for Kitchener Centre; Joel Harden, former Ontario NDP MPP and federal candidate in Ottawa Centre; poet, educator, and activist El Jones; and Karl Nerenberg, rabble.ca’s senior parliamentary reporter.

This week, we share a clip from the latest episode of the Courage My Friends podcast series.

In this episode, host Resh Budhu sat down with visiting professor and dean of the faculty of agriculture and veterinary medicine at Gaza’s Al-Azhar University, Dr. Ahmed Abu Shaban. The two discuss the weaponization of already fragile food systems in Gaza, the acceleration of the climate crisis through conflict and Palestinian resilience under occupation.

As of April 2025, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of at least seven million people globally. The true toll is likely even higher, as many countries have stopped reporting reliable data. Without clear data, it can feel like the pandemic is behind us—but that perception is far from reality. For disabled people and those living with long COVID, the crisis is ongoing. COVID remains a serious, disabling, and deadly threat.

This week on rabble radio, rabble.ca’s Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Ashleigh-Rae Thomas spoke with Fatima Adam about what COVID realism is and how it’s connected to disability justice.

On April 26, a violent attack took place at the Lapu-Lapu Day festival in Vancouver — an event meant to honour Filipino heritage and community. At least 11 people were killed, and many others injured. In the days since, members of the Filipino community in Canada and their allies have been coming together to grieve, reflect, and support one another through this difficult time.

This week on rabble radio, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga spoke with Zuha Zubair from Migrante Ottawa to reflect on the recent Lapu Lapu Day tragedy in Vancouver, and to shed light on the often-overlooked struggles faced by Filipino migrants in Canada.

On Friday, March 14, 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney was officially sworn in at Rideau Hall, and with that, he revealed his selections for the new cabinet. In a significant move, Carney has reduced the cabinet size from 37 members under former prime minister Justin Trudeau to just 24—a notable trim. This reshuffling means that several former ministers have lost their roles, some portfolios have been consolidated, and certain positions have been entirely eliminated.

One such casualty of this restructuring is the cabinet position for the Ministry for Women, Gender Equality and Youth.

This marks a departure from Trudeau’s cabinet, which was intentionally designed to reflect a commitment to progressive values, including a strong feminist agenda. Trudeau’s cabinet also had gender parity between men and women; Carney’s cabinet does not. With this change, Carney appears to be charting a different course for the government’s priorities moving forward.

On Friday, March 14, 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney was officially sworn in at Rideau Hall, and with that, he revealed his selections for the new cabinet. In a significant move, Carney has reduced the cabinet size from 37 members under former prime minister Justin Trudeau to just 24—a notable trim. This reshuffling means that several former ministers have lost their roles, some portfolios have been consolidated, and certain positions have been entirely eliminated.

One such casualty of this restructuring is the cabinet position for the Ministry for Women, Gender Equality and Youth.

This marks a departure from Trudeau’s cabinet, which was intentionally designed to reflect a commitment to progressive values, including a strong feminist agenda. Trudeau’s cabinet also had gender parity between men and women; Carney’s cabinet does not. With this change, Carney appears to be charting a different course for the government’s priorities moving forward.

Today on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Jacqueline Neapole, the executive director of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. The two discuss what this removal means for gender equality in Canada and what’s at risk for women and gender diverse people heading into a federal election

This week on rabble radio, we’re sharing a clip from the latest episode of the Courage My Friends podcast series in which Henry Giroux and Resh Budhu discuss the rise of authoritarianism in the US and around the world as an updated fascism, its attack on democracy and the urgent need for solidarity.

This week on rabble radio, CEO and founder of Moms at Work, Allison Venditti sits down with rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga to talk about the challenges facing mothers in the workforce in 2025 and what her organization is doing about it.

In this episode, host Resh Budhu sat down with author and storyteller Carolyn Roberts, dean of the Centre for Preparatory and Liberal Studies at George Brown College, Susan Toews, and director of Student Well-Being and Support at George Brown College, Alex Irwin to discuss this year’s upcoming Mental Health Conference. This year’s conference theme is Thriving Together in the Classroom: Creating the Conditions for Student Well-Being.

This week on rabble radio, we’re sharing a clip from our February Off the Hill political panel.

In this panel, our guests – including community organizer and political commentator Jennifer Arp; writer and policy researcher Chuka Ejeckam; political, advocacy and communications professional Sabrina Grover; and rabble’s own parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg – discussed the ongoing high-stakes Liberal leadership race.

Review the entire panel here.

Ahead of a provincial election in Ontario, rabble’s Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Eleanor Wand sits down with Sarah Jama to talk about her re-election campaign as an Independent MPP for Hamilton Centre and how Jama believes that voters between parties have more in common than they think.

Ahead of a provincial election in Ontario, rabble’s Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Eleanor Wand sits down with Sarah Jama to talk about her re-election campaign as an Independent MPP for Hamilton Centre and how Jama believes that voters between parties have more in common than they think.

What does it mean for a workplace to be truly accommodating for all? How can we advocate for more people-first workplaces? Where are governments and companies failing us and how can we better protect each other?

Labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Brad Evoy, the executive director with Disability Justice Network of Ontario to discuss all this and more.

Today we head back to Indianapolis with the podcast Urban Roots.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Ms. Jean Spears was a young mother and burgeoning preservationist. She saved antiques from houses about to be demolished; she bought a home in a white slum and renovated it; later on, she did the same with a historic home in the black neighbourhood near Indiana Avenue. In the eighties, she and some neighbours started digging into this black neighbourhoods history, uncovering the names of Black doctors, civic leaders, and other professionals who had lived there, many of whom had worked for Madam C.J. Walker. She helped rename the neighbourhood to Ransom Place, in honour of Freeman Ransom, Madam Walker's prodigious lawyer. And in 1991, they succeeded in getting the Ransom Place Historic District included in the National Register of Historic Places.

Thanks in no small part to the connection to Madam C.J. Walker, Jean Spears was able to save this pocket of Black history, in an area that " as we explained last episode " the city of Indianapolis had almost erased from memory. But black Indy history is about more than Madam Walker, and other stories and places in the city need protection, too. In this episode, well introduce you to three Black women who are carrying on what Ms. Jean Spears started " safeguarding these little-known stories of the past and guiding Indianapolis toward a brighter future.

In 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned in the United States, it sent shockwaves through Canada as we questioned how this decision might impact us. For many, it sparked a new sense of concern that similar actions could be taken here, prompting a closer examination of the work needed to strengthen and expand reproductive rights and access in Canada.

This week, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. While he promises to usher in a “golden age,” in the five days he’s been in power, he’s already made extremely harmful decisions concerning health care, gender identity, citizenship, the environment and much more.

And so we’re forced to consider, again, what these actions could mean for Canada. Leading up to a federal election of our own, one where a Conservative federal leader seems the likely outcome, we’re asking: what is the state of reproductive rights in Canada – and what’s at stake in the upcoming election?

This week on the show, Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Eleanor Wand sits down with Joyce Arthur, the founder of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada to discuss all this and more.

This week on rabble radio, we’re sharing a clip from our first Off the Hill political panel of 2025.

In this panel, our guests – including NDP MP Niki Ashton, senior researcher at the CCPA National Office Stuart Trew, economist Jim Stanford, activist and writer Judy Haiven and rabble’s parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg – talked about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation announcement, his accomplishments and failings during his time as leader, parliament’s current prorogation and what’s next for Canada.

This week on rabble radio, journalist and filmmaker Nelofer Pazira-Fisk sits down with Libby Davies to discuss her experience completing her late husband’s book on Middle Eastern politics and shares her reflections on how Western mainstream media could be doing a better job reporting on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

For more information about Night of Power: The Betrayal of the Middle East, visit this website.

It’s hard to believe, but it’s already time to say goodbye to 2024 and ring in a new year. Before we do, however, we’d like to take the next half an hour to review some of our favourite interviews of this year.

It’s become a tradition at rabble radio, after all! Let’s dive right in.

Last week, our Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Eleanor Wand shared a piece on rabble.ca which examined the Ontario government’s decision to move forward with plans to close 10 of its 19 supervised consumption and treatment sites, despite a report from the auditor general criticizing the decision for lack of planning and consultation.

In the piece, she explained that experts and advocates argue that the decision to close these sites – which have been shown to reduce harm and save lives – will worsen the opioid crisis and increase public health and safety risks.

Today, Wand sits down with Dr. Alexander Caudarella, the CEO from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) and family physician, to talk about the benefits and misconceptions of supervised consumption sites and how whole communities must work together to discover what feels safe for all.

Earlier this year, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced dramatic changes to that province’s approach to the healthcare, education, and inclusion of transgender youth.

Since then, queer activists and groups supporting the rights of 2SLGBTQIA folks have come together to challenge and speak out against policies like the ones proposed in Alberta and have done their best to support queer and trans youth across the county.

This week on rabble radio, Jack Layton Journalism for Change fellow Eleanor Wand sits down with Bennett Jensen, the director of legal at Egale Canada to discuss what’s at stake under the proposed legislation targeting trans youth in Alberta.

“When there are restrictions on access or information around queer and trans people, that communicates that there is something wrong with being queer or trans.”

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 just is Canada’s justice system?’

Our panel featured poet and activist El Jones; and rabble’s own parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg.

By now, we’ve all heard about the poor working conditions Amazon workers face globally. So, why then, are there only two unionized Amazon factories in North America?

Labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga talks to Félix Trudeau, the president of the first union to be certified at an Amazon warehouse in Canada, about his efforts unionizing his colleagues and what other Canadian workers can learn from their experiences.

By now, we’ve all heard about the poor working conditions Amazon workers face globally. So, why then, are there only two unionized Amazon factories in North America?

Labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga talks to Félix Trudeau, the president of the first union to be certified at an Amazon warehouse in Canada, about his efforts unionizing his colleagues and what other Canadian workers can learn from their experiences.

Last year, the big headline to come out of the COP28 conference held in Dubai, was the news that an agreement had been made amongst participating countries to transition away from fossil fuels.

With Canada being the fourth-largest oil producer in the world and the fifth-largest producer of natural gas, where does this leave us? And what are we expecting to see come out of the upcoming COP29 conference in November?

Today, Andréanne Brazeau from the David Suzuki Foundation sits down with rabble editor Nick Seebruch to talk about COP29, the work the foundation does to research and report on climate progress (and regress), and how Canadians can participate in climate action.

Thomas et al v. Canada is a class action lawsuit which was filed in the Federal Court of Canada in 2020 on behalf of Black Canadians employed in the Public Service of Canada.

The action seeks to address and dismantle the systemic racism and discrimination within the Public Service of Canada. Specifically, for Black individuals who applied for employment with the Public Service and were denied entry based on their race, and those who were employed but were denied promotions based on their race (including those who have been employed within the past five decades).

rabble.ca and labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casusa have been following this story as it develops, and this week Calugay-Casuga sat down with Bernadeth Betchi, a representative plaintiff who shared why seeking justice through the court is meaningful to her.

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: Catching up on Canadian and U.S. politics.’

Our panel featured NDP MP Niki Ashton; rabble columnist and policy analyst Chuka Ejeckam; poet and activist El Jones; and rabble’s own parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg.

Monday, October 7, 2024 marked the one year anniversary of the deadly Hamas-led attacks in Israel-Palestine, which was followed by Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. Over the past year, activist organizations, groups and citizens worldwide have done their part to call for an end to this genocide. One such organization is Independent Jewish Voices (IJV).

Today, Louise Smith from IJV sits down with rabble editor Nick Seebruch to talk about the work IJV does to promote peace in the Middle East, how solidarity with Palestine does not equal antisemitism, and how all forms of oppression are connected.

“There are a lot of really strong voices in the Jewish community that are invested in confusing people about anti-semitism and anti-zionism. And the Israel Lobby and funders of the Israeli state, they really want people to be so afraid of being accused of anti-semitism that they stop protesting any of the humanitarian violations committed by the state of Israel.

And we really need to make a distinction between people who are critical of Jews for being Jewish or Jewish conspiracy theories that are focused on Jewish people or perceived Jewish traits and separate that from legitimate criticism of state decisions. It is very normal for people to criticize state actions, state policies; and that shouldn’t be any different for the state of Israel.” – Louise Smith

To tip or not to tip?

Tipping culture has become a large conversation in Canada over the past few years, as both customers and service workers across the country struggle to meet the demands of the cost-of-living crisis. Receiving tips to supplement a small paycheque becomes all the more necessary. Meanwhile, giving generous tips feels all the more harder.

So how would you react to knowing that a portion of the tips you’re giving are not even being collected by the people who are serving you – but rather, upper management.

This is called tip theft, and in one Atlantic province it’s perfectly legal.

Nova Scotia is one of the only provinces in Canada without anti-tip theft legislation, and organizers at the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre are trying to change that.

This week on the show, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with community organizer Syd Blum to talk about their work organizing workers in Nova Scotia and trying to bring the issue of anti-tip theft to the attention of the provincial government.

This week, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Off the Hill co-hosts to review how rabble’s monthly panel series came to be and where we hope to go in the future.

About our guests:

Robin Browne is Off the Hill’s co-host. Robin is a communications professional and founder of the 613-819 Black Hub, living in Ottawa. His blog is The “True” North.

Libby Davies is Off the Hill’s co-host and author of Outside In: a Political Memoir. She served as the MP for Vancouver East from 1997-2015, and is former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader.

This week, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Alistair Hepburn, executive director of ACTRA Toronto. The two discuss the do-not-work notice placed on Mr. Beast’s Beast Games in Toronto and other actions ACTRA is taking to protect Canadian performers.

About our guests

Alistair Hepburn is the executive director of ACTRA Toronto, the largest branch of ACTRA (the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists), the union representing performers in the film, radio, television, and new media industries.

This week on rabble radio, we share a clip from the first episode of the new season of the Courage My Friends podcast: Climate and the city: Are we ready?

In this episode, host Resh Budhu sits down with former mayor of Toronto, David Miller to discuss the crucial role of cities in “fixing” the climate crisis and what we can learn in building sustainable and equitable urban communities. Miller and Budhu also explore the question of just how prepared Canadian cities are to meet the challenges of this crisis.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) launched a campaign this month highlighting how the fossil fuel industry in British Columbia is increasing healthcare system costs and reducing access to care. The campaign shared billboards and transit ads, held a press conference in front of Vancouver General Hospital and shared an open letter from over 300 doctors and nurses calling for immediate action to protect communities and the healthcare system.

Today on rabble radio, Dr. Melissa Lem, the president of CAPE, joins rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga to discuss in more detail about this campaign, and how CAPE works with other healthcare organizations and unions to create a healthier planet and population.

Lem last joined us on rabble radio in 2022 as part of our Boiling Point series. She and Stephen Wentzell explored the many ways in which climate change is a health issue and why it’s so important for governments, at all levels, to put policies in place to protect people during extreme weather events.

This week on rabble radio, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Mahendra Pandey. Mahendra shares his experience as a former migrant worker in Saudi Arabia, as well as his work organizing migrant workers today.

Last week, Arthur shared a piece with rabble.ca on belief-based denial of care. Read that piece here. Today, she joins rabble editor Nick Seebruch to talk changing the term “conscientious objection” and reviews the state of abortion rights in Canada.

To listen to more episodes like this one, check out:

• The right to abortion access with Martha Paynter
• Why access to abortion remains an election issue
• and Providing abortion care in prison and the need for universal contraception coverage

Being an activist brings an emotional burden.

The issues we deal with are intense, difficult and sometimes without any immediate solution. And often, we try to deal with these issues through logically planning a strategy and communicating issues using words. It’s an intellectual process, but with a lot of underlying emotional baggage.

Elisa Lee has some thoughts about how to get under the intellect to connect with ourselves and people in our communities on a deeper level. She, and many other people involved in grief work, think that it’s important to deal with the full range of emotions ranging from anger and fear to hope and joy.

Today on rabble radio, we’re re-releasing an episode from May 2020, in which former rabble radio host Victoria Fenner sat down with Elisa Lee to talk about climate grief and how activists can better take care of themselves. This interview was originally a part of rabble’s series on Climate Hope in the Time of the Pandemic. To listen to the original episode, please click here.

In January last year, rabble’s parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg shared a piece calling on the Prime Minister and federal NDPs to revive the idea of electoral reform for Canada. Then, on the podcast, he joined Réal Lavergne, former president of Fair Vote Canada, to dissect Canada’s current voting system and discuss how a fairer way to vote might be accomplished in the future. To listen to that interview, click here.

Today, we’re revisiting the topic of proportional representation and electoral reform in Canada.

Next year is an election year in Canada. With a decline in popularity for current Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and with far-right extremism on the rise (and apparently influencing certain Conservative leaders across the country), many Canadians are already wondering how they might cast their vote.

On July 8, workers at the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa (CASO) walked off the job after contract negotiations broke down with their employer over issues of funding and a strained workforce for essential child care services.

On Tuesday OPSEU/SEFPO, the union representing CASO, took to X (formally Twitter) to announce a tentative agreement had been reached with their employer.

“Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa workers, members of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 454, reached a tentative agreement last night after braving 24 days on strike. Further details to follow once the ratification vote concludes this afternoon – solidarity!”

On Wednesday, it was announced the deal had been ratified. However, as Michele Thorn, president of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 454 and adoption worker at CASO, says: the fight is far from over.

Michele Thorn has worked at the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa since 1995 and was a child protection worker for 20 years. She is currently working as an adoption worker. She has been the president of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 454 since 2017 and has now been on the bargaining team six times since 2009.

On April 17, 2024 a pro-Palestine protest encampment was built at Columbia University where students called on their school to disclose and divest their investments in companies linked to Israel and its war on Gaza. This inspired a movement in universities across North America –and the globe– for students to create their own on-campus encampments.

After months of peaceful protest, the encampments at UofT, McGill, UOttawa have now been dismantled, but the pressure for divestment continues.

Today on rabble radio, freelance reporter Stephen Wentzell sits down with journalist and activist Desmond Cole to outline the misconceptions some had about the student encampments and what responsible reporting for Palestine looks like.

This week on rabble radio, Nick Seebruch sits down with Deblekha Guin, the executive director of Access to Media Education Society. The two discuss the work the organization does to educate and empower youth through storytelling, artistic collaboration and peer facilitation.

In 1996, Deblekha Guin (she/her) founded Access to Media Education Society (AMES), a non-profit that supports directly impacted youth in making and sharing personally and socially transformative digital stories. Since AMES’s emergence Guin has co-visioned and coordinated 50+ distinct participatory media and digital arts production programs that have engaged over 2000 youth from equity-deserving communities in the creation of 500+ videos, animations and digital works.

Guin was recognized for her extensive BIPOC-centred, intergenerational and intersectional creative community-building work through an Intercultural Trust Award at the BC Multiculturalism and Anti-racism Awards in 2020.

This week on rabble radio, Libby Davies sits down with Avi Lewis to talk about a lifetime of activism and his plans to run in the next federal election.

Avi Lewis is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, educator, and activist. Lewis is also the co-founder of The Leap, a grassroots climate organization launched to upend our collective response to the crises of climate, inequality and racism. Lewis engages in transformative change locally and globally. He was a candidate for the NDP in the last federal election and is currently an associate professor in geography at the University of British Columbia.

“Unions are not just a place for rank and file issues – they are also political.”

This week, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Ala’ Qadi to discuss how student unions and labour issues intersect with the crisis in Palestine.

Ala’ Qadi is the second vice chair of the Coalition of Racialized Workers at Ontario Public Service Employee Union (OPSEU). He is also a steward of Algonquin College faculty union and one of the coordinators of Labour 4 Palestine, Ottawa Chapter.

To learn about and donate to Labour for Palestine’s defense fund, please click here.

Ala’ is the former second vice president of Algonquin College Faculty Union, OPSEU Local 415. He has been active in union movements and social justice advocacy in Ottawa and Ontario for the last seven years and has been involved in organizing with unions and student movements throughout his life – in Palestine, Canada and the United States.

On Tuesday, June 25, more than 300 people rallied outside SickKids Hospital in Toronto to call on the employer to end their decades-long pension holiday. Today, Leonora Foster, patient service aid and president of the CUPE local at the hospital joins rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga to talk about the need for a new pension plan for SickKids employees.

Leonora Foster is a patient service aid at SickKids Hospital and a union steward for CUPE 2816. She has been working at SickKids for 36 years. After decades of backbreaking labour, Foster says she wants to secure a decent pension plan for herself and her co-workers to escape the clutches of poverty in her sunset years.

It’s Pride Month! 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: Pride in Canada – The fight continues.’

Our panel featured NDP MP Blake Desjarlais; rabble columnist Charlotte Dalwood; podcaster Shawn Dearn; professor Fritz Pino; and activist Martine Roy.

This week on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch joins Josh Bizjak, executive director of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation. The two talk about the history of the organization and current research projects and initiatives.

Josh Bizjak was the founding director of development at the Broadbent Institute until joining the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation in January 2021, as the executive director. In his past role, he was instrumental in the Broadbent Institute’s financial success and growth over the past decade. In 2018, Bizjak was senior advisor to the national director of Canada’s New Democratic Party under the leadership of Jagmeet Singh, and served in this position until 2021.

To learn more about how the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation partners with rabble, be sure to check out the Jack Layton Journalism for Change Fellowship page on rabble.ca. And, to discover the current research projects and initiatives of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation, be sure to visit douglascoldwelllayton.ca/.

It’s June, listeners! And in Canada and the US, June marks the start of Pride Season. Pride is when 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and allies gather in solidarity to celebrate queer identity and visibility, to commemorate the history of resistance to discrimination and violence, and to come together to fight current issues facing queer people.

This week on rabble radio, we’re re-releasing an episode from 2019 where Victoria Fenner sits down with Lyla Miklos, a queer activist from Hamilton, Ontario to talk about the city’s record of hate crimes and what other small communities in Canada can learn from Hamilton.

Continue the conversation on Pride in Canada by joining us for Off the Hill this month! Guests include rabble columnist Charlotte Dalwood and assistant professor in the Faculty of Social Work, Fritz Pino. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies. Register today to save your spot for our panel on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 at 4:30pm PT / 7:30pm ET.

Under the Rachel Notley NDP government in Alberta in 2015, and in response to public outcry over excessive compensation and benefits for public sector senior executives, the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act (PSCTA) was introduced. With the Act came “sunshine lists” which outlined the compensation of all public sector workers whose earnings exceeded a certain threshold.

In a blogpost by the Parkland Institute, Jason Foster explains the act and lists were originally created in hopes that disclosing names, salaries, and benefits would “curb tendencies toward financial excess by senior executives.”

He continues: “Whether it has worked as intended is an open question. What is clear is that it is something of a blunt tool.” And this blunt tool may not be the best solution.

This week on rabble radio, rabble labour reporter Kiah Lucero joins Foster to discuss the design flaws and shortcomings of the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act and sunshine lists in Alberta.

This week on rabble radio, we’re sharing a clip from our most recent Courage My Friends podcast series episode, hosted on Needs No Introduction.

In this episode, host Resh Budhu sits down with professor and researcher Dr. Chandni Desai and professor, author and policy analyst Dr. Muhannad Ayyash. The three discuss the destruction of Gaza’s educational systems and the role of scholasticide within genocide.

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 myths and realities of Canada’s labour shortage’

Our panel featured MP Matthew Green, economist Jim Stanford, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour Laura Walton and researcher and policy analyst at the CCPA, Véronique Sioufi.

It’s Asian Heritage Month in Canada – and this month, we’re very excited to bring you a two-part discussion on the history of Asian labour in Canada.

This week’s episode is a continuation from last week’s conversation in which rabble labour reporter Kiah Lucero, and Patricia Chong and Karine Ng from the Ontario and BC branches of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance discussed the history of the Alliance; key moments of Asian labour in Canada; and how racism, systemic discrimination, and “othering” still shows up in Canada today. So if you didn’t catch last week’s episode, do so now!

Today, we continue that discussion and dig into the concept of a “model minority,” what it means to be an immigrant on stolen land, and how all racial justice fights are intertwined.

It’s Asian Heritage Month in Canada – and this month, we’re very excited to bring you a two-part discussion on the history of Asian labour in Canada.

Over the next two weeks, we’re sharing a conversation between rabble’s own labour reporter Kiah Lucero, and Patricia Chong and Karine Ng from the Ontario and BC branches of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance. The three discuss the history of the Alliance; key moments of Asian labour in Canada; and how racism, systemic discrimination, and “othering” still shows up in Canada today.

rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Alex Stratas from Climate Justice uOttawa to talk about the work they do fighting for climate justice on and off campus.

Climate Justice uOttawa is a student run, grassroot organization aimed towards achieving climate justice within the uOttawa community and beyond. Their mission includes encouraging universities to fully divest from organizations which fund fossil fuel projects.

Alex Stratas (she/her) is a third-year political science and communications student at the University of Ottawa with experience in advocating and organizing grassroots campaigns on the climate crisis through her work as co-president of Climate Justice Climatique uOttawa (CJCUO). She is passionate about community advocacy, world literature, and international politics—mostly regarding the SWANA region and the intersection of identities. She is often found reading, listening to music, or complaining about the public transit system in Ottawa.

This week, 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 Leaders’ 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.

He 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. Mike had served on Institute for Change Leader’s board of directors prior to his appointment as executive director in 2023.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In our fourth episode Dalia Al-Awqati, head of humanitarian affairs for Save the Children Canada and Lauren Ravon, executive director of Oxfam Canada discuss the humanitarian crisis taking place in the Gaza Strip.

How do we understand the devastating toll of death, displacement and destruction upon the largely civilian Palestinian population, almost half of them children? What of the impossible choices facing aid workers and colleagues on the ground as they are caught within the turmoil of Gaza? Why are humanitarian pauses not enough? And why is a ceasefire the only answer?

Describing the crisis facing the children of Gaza, Al-Awqati says:

“In the first three weeks of the conflict, more children were killed than the annual total of children killed in conflict zones across the world since 2019. That alone gives you a scale of how horrific this has been, and particularly for children. We see and we hear from our staff, and we see through the news, through social media as well, the impact that this is having, in terms of mental health, but also in terms of people’s ability to access their basic needs. We know that children are not able to access clean drinking water. This is a population, 80 per cent of which already depended on humanitarian aid prior to this latest escalation. There’s 1,350 children that are missing in Gaza. Many of them feared to be under the rubble.”

According to Ravon, the only answer is a ceasefire:

“Oxfam and Save the Children and many other organizations around the world are calling for a ceasefire rather than a humanitarian pause or humanitarian corridors because the reality is that in these circumstances, in the way this attack is being carried out, there is no way to keep civilians safe. No corridor, no pause will guarantee safety, because people are deprived of resources. So even if you had a pause where you’re safe from immediate bombing, that doesn’t answer all the other immediate needs that people are facing … Depriving civilians of the means for survival is a violation of human rights; and a ceasefire is the only way to ensure that the physical violence stops and that humanitarian aid can enter in.”

This week on rabble radio, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Jade Ho, a labour studies instructor at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. The two discuss 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.

Yi Chien Jade Ho 何宜謙 is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education at SFU. Jade also teaches various courses in the Faculty of Education, Labour Studies, and Global Asia. Outside of academia, she has been an housing justice and labour organizer in Vancouver. Her doctoral work centers on developing a radical pedagogy of place through the lens of decolonization in cross-cultural contexts and the connection between place, land and identity in marginalized communities in Taiwan and in Vancouver.

Robin Browne joins rabble radio this week to talk about his activist work with the 613-819 Black Hub and his work to address anti-Black racism in Canada.

Browne is an activist and communications professional based in Ottawa, ON. He is also founder of the 613-819 Black Hub, and rabble.ca’s Off the Hill co-host, alongside Libby Davies. His blog is The “True” North.

It’s Islamic History Month in Canada.

This week on rabble radio, we’re re-releasing an episode of the show in which former host Victoria Fenner sat down with Graeme Truelove, author of: Un-Canadian: Islamophobia in the True North. The two discuss Truelove’s inspiration behind the book, Islamic history as a part of Canada’s history and more.

Featuring Edward Moll reading excerpts of the book.

You can read more from Graeme Truelove on rabble here.

If you’re interested in continuing the discussion on Islamophobia in Canada, we encourage you to check out last year’s Off the Hill panel, Confronting Islamophobia in Canada featuring Senator Salma Ataullahjan, Monia Mazigh, Nuzhat Jafri and Karl Nerenberg here.

Ahead of World Mental Health Day on October 10, we wanted to know: what does true mental health support look like in a workplace?

While we might often think of support in terms of resources and services, might true workplace wellness go deeper than that?

This week on rabble radio, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sat down with Elizabeth Houlding to talk about wellness in our workplaces.

Houlding is an Ottawa-based pediatric physiotherapist and organizer with Justice for Workers and the Decent Work and Health Network.

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: Summer of fire – what’s Ottawa got to do with it?’

In this panel, our guests discuss the social and environmental impact the wildfires had on Canada this summer, how Canadians can get involved in climate justice and how we can hold the federal government accountable for climate solutions.

Our panel included MP Leah Gazan, Clayton Thomas-Müller, Chuka Ejeckam, Diana Yoon and Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne and Nick Seebruch.

Today, Friday September 15, a worldwide climate strike is happening. In Canada, people are joining the fight against climate change on Parliament Hill, calling for the government to end the funding of new fossil fuel projects. The strike on Parliament Hill is organized in part by Fridays for Future Ottawa.

On rabble radio this week, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga speaks to Shana Quesnel. Ahead of this day of action, the two discuss why strikes like this are crucial and the importance of youth becoming involved in climate action.

Shana Quesnel is a fifth-year student at the University of Ottawa in history and political science. She is passionate about climate activism, a scene she has been part of since 2021. She is currently a volunteer for Fridays for Future Ottawa and also the co-president of Climate Justice uOttawa.

This week on the show, national politics reporter Scott Martin sits down with Sean Smukler. Sean Smukler is an associate professor in applied biology and soil science at University of British Columbia (UBC) and director of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm.

Martin and Smukler discuss the current challenges farmers are facing in Canada due to climate change – and wonder aloud where Canada is headed.

“We are facing a climate emergency, and we’re pretending like it’s something for the next generation to deal with. No one grasps the fact that if we don’t deal with it now, the next generation can’t deal with it.” – Sean Smukler

To learn more about the state of Canadian agriculture in the face of climate change, read Scott Martin’s full piece here.

This week on the show, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calguay-Casuga sits down with Laura Sullivan, a spokesperson from On2Ottawa.

“We are ordinary Canadians stepping into nonviolent civil disobedience to get urgent government action on the climate crisis, starting with the formation of a permanent, professional national firefighting agency sized to meet the enormity of the crisis.

The climate crisis is real and it is now. We face the consequences daily. Canadians are dealing with fire, flood and drought because our governments have been failing us for decades. Until we zero our emissions it will keep getting worse.” – https://on2ottawa.ca/

On2Ottawa is calling on the government to implement a National Firefighting Agency that trains and employs 50 000 firefighters, and legally binding citizen’s assemblies to address the climate crisis. The campaign is in the midst of its first action phase, disrupting traffic to call for action on these demands.

Sullivan has been with On2Ottawa since its creation early this year. She’s been arrested twice, for painting Woolly the Mammoth, a statue in the Royal BC Museum, and painting the iconic “Toronto” sign in Nathan Phillips Square to draw attention to the On2Ottawa campaign.

Georgia Kelly sits down with Elsa Perry and Rebekah Hansen of Shelter Movers. Shelter Movers is a Canadian organization which helps survivors of gender-based violence transition to a better, safer life.

Shelter Movers collaborates with local businesses and community services who refer clients that have decided to leave an abuser, and have a safer place to go. Shelter Movers makes all the arrangements to move and store survivors’ belongings securely, on the clients’ terms. The organization seeks to empower survivors as they transition to a life free of violence.

For volunteer opportunities with Shelter Movers, please visit: www.sheltermovers.com/volunteer/

This week on the show, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell sits down with Leta McCollough Seletzky, author of The Kneeling Man: My Father’s Life as a Black Spy Who Witnessed the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

This week on rabble radio, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll sits down with David Fancy, a disability advocate and co-founder of the Well Earth Collaborative.

Fancy talks about his own experience with an “invisible” disability and how it affects his life and work, and his work with Well Earth Collaborative – an organization founded by Dr. Riina Bray.

This week on the show, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Doug Allan, a researcher for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), to discuss the crisis in and surrounding Ontario’s healthcare system.

This week on the show, national politics reporter Scott Martin speaks with Donald Kingsbury to talk about Canada’s historic and present relationship with the Organization of American States and foreign policy in South and Central America.

This month, Stuart Savage was appointed Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS). Notably, Savage previously served as Canadian ambassador to Haiti between October 2019 and November 2021.

In an article by Martin this week, he wrote: “The appointment of Savage to serve as ambassador to the OAS shows the relation between Canada’s spotty history in Haiti, the imperialist function of the institution, and Canada’s role in its implementation.”

Here to break down that spotty history is Donald Kingsbury.

This week on rabble radio, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Patrick DeRochie, the senior manager at Shift: Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health. The two discuss how Shift is fighting to protect pensions and the climate.

This week on rabble radio, we share a segment from our most recent episode of the Courage My Friends podcast series, hosted on Needs No Introduction.

In this episode of Courage My Friends, podcast series, host Resh Budhu sits down with Ana Guerra Marin and Dara Wawaite-Chabot of Iron & Earth. The three discuss what a just transition can look like for those working and living in Canada’s oil patch and for Indigenous communities.

This week on rabble radio, Stephen Wentzell sits down with Red Buffalo Nova, an Ojibwe Two-Spirit, transgender artist, filmmaker, and storyteller to talk about how their multi-layered Indigenous identity informs their creative and professional work.

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: Truth before reconciliation.’

This month, our Off the Hill panel was informed by National Indigenous People’s Day. From coast to coast to coast, Canadians want to see reconciliation – but are they willing to hear the truth first?

Our June panel dissected this question and more. Special guests this month included: Joan Phillip, Melanie Mark and Rachel Snow. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.

This week on rabble radio, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell sits down with Khaleel Seivwright, a carpenter who has made headlines over the past four years as he created tiny shelters for the houseless population in Toronto.

Wentzell and Seivwright discuss the need to provide meaningful quality of care for the houseless and also speak about the audience response to Someone Lives Here, the recent documentary following Seivwright’s work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This week on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Alberta political analyst Dave Cournoyer to review the recent provincial election in Alberta, and the newly re-elected Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith.

Smith and Alberta New Democrat Leader Rachel Notley were neck and neck for most of this election; but even after scandal after scandal, and despite losing some seats, Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party was able to amass enough support to overtake Notley and the New Democrats.

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: Labour in high gear for action and change.’ Recent months have seen significant activity in Canada’s labour movement — including a public service strike, actions against austerity across the country, and the CLC convention in Montreal. This month our panel dove into recent developments and wondered what’s next for the labour movement in Canada.

Our panel included MP Alexandre Boulerice, OSBCU – CSCSO president Laura Walton, policy expert and rabble columnist Chuka Ejeckam and rabble parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.

This week on rabble radio, Georgia Kelly and Norm di Pasquale discuss why the current renovation plans for Ontario Place may not be in the best interest of Ontarians – or the surrounding wildlife and environment.

Norm di Pasquale is the co-chair of grassroots advocacy group Ontario Place for All. Norm has been fighting for waterfront public space for a decade, leading the NoJetsTO fight against jets at the island airport. di Pasquale has been an elected school board trustee in Ontario and has also run in federal and municipal elections.

This week on the show, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell sits down with Olivia Chow, currently running for mayor of Toronto. The two discuss her platform, her history and why she believes it’s all about love and ‘creating a caring city.’

“People in Toronto are feeling stuck. They’re stuck waiting for the bus, stuck in traffic or stuck on lists for housing, childcare and recreation programs. After a decade of conservative mayors, the city has become more expensive and less liveable for people,” said Chow. “We can give in to fear and pessimism, or we can choose to channel our frustration into hope. We can open up city hall and work together to build a more caring, affordable and safer city.”

This week on rabble radio, Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Gabriel Allahdua, an outreach worker working with migrant workers across Ontario. The two discuss the harsh realities of Canada’s farm labour system and how Canadians can take action to create fairer working conditions for all.

This week on rabble radio, we’re sharing a clip from our most recent Courage My Friends podcast series, hosted on Needs No Introduction.

The planet is telling us it’s high time we change our ways and transition to a clean economy, but what does that look like? Specifically, what does that look like for workers?

This week, senior program manager for Blue Green Canada, Jamie Kirkpatrick joins host of the Courage My Friends podcast series Resh Budhu to talk about the alliance between labour and climate movements in the push for a clean energy economy and the Just Transition we need to get us there.

To listen to the full episode of Good jobs, clean economy: Pushing for a Just Transition, please tune into Needs No Introduction. Needs No Introduction is available on rabble.ca, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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: Corporate interference and the climate crisis.’

Corporate interference – or corporate capture – refers to the means by which large corporations can (and do) influence politicians and political decision-making. We have to wonder: how does corporate Interference affect the climate crisis in Canada?

Our April panel included MP Leah Gazan, Diana Yoon and Gordon Laxar. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.

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?

This week on rabble radio, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell speaks to Dr. Brandon Doucet about his new book, About Canada: Dental Care.

What does it mean for a workplace to be truly inclusive for all workers?

This week on rabble radio, labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Jade Pichetter from Pride at Work to discuss creating safe and inclusive workplaces for trans, non-binary and agender people.

Through dialogue, education and thought leadership, Pride at Work Canada empowers employers to build workplaces that celebrate all employees regardless of gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation. – Pride at Work Canada

About our guest and Pride at Work

Jade Pichette is an inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility professional based in Tkarón:to/Toronto. Currently, Pichette serves as the director of programs at Pride at Work Canada. Pride at Work Canada works with over 250 large employers across Canada to encourage safe spaces for gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation inclusion. Previously, Jade served as the Volunteer and Community Outreach Coordinator at the ArQuives, the Education Programs Coordinator at Kind Space, and an independent inclusion consultant. Pichette was also one of the authors of Transitioning Employers, a survey of policies and practices for trans inclusive workplaces.

This week on rabble radio, Georgia Kelly sits down with Franz Hartmann from The Alliance for a Livable Ontario. The two discuss the Alliance’s goals for holding the Ontario government accountable and creating vibrant communities across the province.

Want to learn more about The Alliance for a Livable Ontario? Visit their website here.

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: Mind the gap – the federal budget and income equality.’

The federal budget for 2023 is soon to be announced. Who decides the budget? Who influences it? And where does all that money go? Last year’s budget was aimed at growing the economy in Canada and making life more affordable and equitable. But did it? Our guests dissected these questions and more in our Off the Hill panel this month.

Our March panel included MP Niki Ashton, Chuka Ejeckam, David Macdonald and Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.

This week on rabble radio, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell is joined by Dr. Martha Paynter. Paynter last joined rabble radio in June of 2022 to talk about the misconceptions people have about access to abortion in Canada and the other threats facing reproductive justice in the country. Today, Wentzell and Paynter discuss a new guidebook for providing abortion care in prison, a new jail facility being built in N.B., and the need for universal contraception coverage in N.S.

Dr. Martha Paynter is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of New Brunswick. She is the affiliate scientist for the Nova Scotia Women’s Choice Clinic. In addition to this, she is the founder and past chair of Wellness Within: An Organization for Health and Justice. She is also the author of Abortion to Abolition: Reproductive Health and Justice in Canada.

This week on rabble radio, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll speaks to Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch. The two talk about two important campaigns by Democracy Watch.

Democracy Watch is a national non-profit, non-partisan organization. Democracy Watch is Canada’s leading citizen group advocating democratic reform, government accountability and corporate responsibility.

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: Tackling systemic inequalities.’

This month is Black History Month. In our political panel this month, we examined the critical issues facing us in Canada this month including the privatization of health care in federal-provincial agreements, the ongoing space right wing sentiment has in mainstream culture and some of the initiatives happening across the country to address systemic racism and inequality.

If you missed this month’s event and don’t want to miss the next one, be sure to sign up for email reminders for events such as this at rabble.ca/alerts.

Our February panel included MP Matthew Green, Richard Sharpe, Stephen Brown and Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne.

This month is Black History Month. In our political panel this month, we examined the critical issues facing us in Canada this month including the privatization of health care in federal-provincial agreements, the ongoing space right wing sentiment has in mainstream culture and some of the initiatives happening across the country to address systemic racism and inequality.

If you missed this month’s event and don’t want to miss the next one, be sure to sign up for email reminders for events such as this at rabble.ca/alerts.

Our February panel included MP Matthew Green, Richard Sharpe, Stephen Brown and Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne.

This week on rabble radio, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll speaks to Katie Purdy, a drag performer in Oakville, Ontario. Purdy is on a mission to host more drag events in the Greater Toronto Area.

Katie Purdy (or, as they’re known in drag, Capt Danny Bailey) is a new face in the Canadian drag scene. Largely influenced by the style of Elton John, The Beatles, and Ninja Sex Party, Purdy’s drag act is fluid – one performance may be drag king, next may be queen. Out of drag, Purdy identifies as a pansexual gender queer or “cis-ish” and does not care about labels.

Later this month, Purdy is hosting Take Me to the Drag Show! Learn more about this event below.

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: Will 2023 be a year of competing crises? On climate and the economy.’

Off the Hill takes a deep dive into the politics of cooling the economy – and the planet – as Parliament returns. The Canadian parliament returns on January 30. The spotlight is on the economy and the impact on Canadians. Our panel will unpack the critical issues related to the economic outlook and the climate emergency.

Our January panel included MP Leah Gazan, Jim Stanford, Clayton Thomas-Müller and Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Robin Browne and Nick Seebruch.

This week on rabble radio, we’re joined by rabble parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg and Réal Lavergne, former president of Fair Vote Canada and current president of the NCR chapter. The two join editor Nick Seebruch to debate what electoral reform might look like in Canada.

At the top of the month, Nerenberg shared a piece calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh to revive the idea of electoral reform for Canada. Read that piece here. In the article, he explained that Canada’s current ‘winner-takes-all’ system often puts an unpopular leader in power. He wondered: might a ranked system be a more equitable way of deciding the leader of the country? Might we aim for that way of voting by the next election?

Lavergne thinks it’s not that simple.

Together, the three dissect Canada’s current voting system and discuss how a fairer way to vote might be accomplished in the future.

In our first episode of 2023, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with economist David Macdonald to discuss the huge wage disparity between CEO pay and average workers’ salaries in Canada.

On Tuesday last week, the CCPA released a report outlining the new all-time high for CEO pay in 2021. According to the report, the top 100 best-paid chief executive officers (CEOs) in Canada made 243 times what the typical worker earns.

But why is this enormous wage gap happening, and how? Why does it seem to be that a pandemic and inflation is hitting average Canadians so hard and seemingly having the opposite effect on CEOs? And can anything be done to even out the playing field?

Seebruch and Macdonald break down all of this and more.

This week on the show, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Sara Pishdadian and Adriana Di Stefano, both active members of Health Providers Against Poverty.

Healthcare Providers Against Poverty is a group of healthcare workers who strive to make healthcare provision equitable for all.

Pishdadian and Di Stefano explain how addressing the social determinants of health, meaning the economic and social conditions at play which affect one’s health status, need to be addressed in order to reduce health inequity. Destigmatizing homelessness, poverty, and drug addiction is also key in providing care to every Canadian.

The two also dive into the many resources, events, campaigns, and support groups that are available through Healthcare Providers Against Poverty.

“In a country where we are so proud of equitable healthcare, efforts such as this are of utmost importance to ensure that our healthcare system truly does remain accessible for all.” – https://healthprovidersagainstpoverty.ca/

Also on the show this week, we feature a song by Ish Theilheimer, in honour of his friend, Mel Watkins. Listen to “Mel, the Parry Sound Babysitter” today.

This week on rabble radio, Libby Davies interviews Paul Taylor, the executive director of FoodShare Toronto and a lifelong anti-poverty activist. They talk about how the pandemic has encouraged his non-profit to re-evaluate self-care days. They also discuss how activists should allow for room for fatigue and frustration during difficult times.

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: Looking back to leap ahead.’ From the Freedom Convoy, to major action in Canada’s labour movement, to the ongoing war in Ukraine, to political leadership races on the provincial and federal levels, our panel reflected on the major news events of 2022 and wondered aloud: What does this mean we can expect for 2023?

Our December panel included MP Leah Gazan, Chuka Ejeckam, El Jones and Karl Nerenberg. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.

This week on rabble radio, Libby Davies interviews Harley Augustino, organizer and trainer, to talk about his experience volunteering for two separate congressional districts in the most recent U.S. midterm elections.

Oregon 5 and Washington 3 had two very different projected outcomes when Augustino volunteered to organize with them. Oregon 5 was considered a ‘class toss up,’ with about a 50/50 chance of going with a Republican or Democratic candidate. Washington 3, however –a Republican district– was projected to have only a 2% chance of becoming a Democratic district.

In this interview, Augustino walks Davies through the results of these campaigns and explains why good, old fashioned door-to-door organizing shouldn’t be underestimated.

National politics reporter Stephen Wentzell speaks to Dr. Jane McArthur, the Toxics Program director the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE). The two discuss environmental racism and environmental justice.

This week on the show, rabble editor Nick Seebruch is joined by the director of the Centre for Future Work, economist Jim Stanford. Together, they walk us through the state of Canada’s economy – the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Earlier this month, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem made headlines when he remarked that inflation was due to what he called an “overheated” labour market. Stanford says that’s unfair; Canadian workers being able to easily find employment and the slightly higher wages they’ve been receiving are not to blame for inflation – and therefore shouldn’t be punished.

Seebruch and Stanford also discuss how progressive organizations, activists, and groups must ban together as we move forward into what’s sure to be a tough year economically and politically.

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: Big Biz Marijuana – who wins, who loses?’ Our panel explored Canada’s cannabis industry.

The struggle to end the so-called “war on drugs” in Canada has been epic and arduous over many decades.

When marijuana was legalized in 2018, it drastically reduced the number of cannabis related drug convictions, while also creating a multibillion-dollar industry. But what does the cannabis industry look like today? Who wins, who loses? Who calls the shots, and what’s next?

Our November panel dove into these questions and much more. This month, we were joined by MP Don Davies, Chuka Ejeckam, and Jodie Giesz-Ramsay. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada. And across the country, communities gather to pay tribute to veterans and military members.

But not all veterans are feeling cared for. Some are asking if the government cares about them or their wellbeing at all, or if Veterans’ Affairs Canada is operating under the old “deny, delay, and die” adage.

This impression is brought about in large part due to the $560-million plan to sub-contract veteran rehabilitative and vocational services away from the Veterans’ Affairs case workers and into the hands of the for-profit company: Partners in Canadian Veterans Rehabilitation Services. The contract is set to come into effect this month.

Veterans Affairs Canada says the contract will help overworked case managers while ensuring veterans have timely access to the care they need. However, the Union of Veterans’ Affairs Employees (UVAE) believes this contract is going to have the opposite effect. UVAE argues this will add more paperwork to the workload of case managers, disrupt the relationships case managers have built with veterans, and add an extra level of bureaucracy veterans will be left to deal with.

Moreover, UVAE says the only group this contract will benefit will be the profit-making corporation.

A statement from UVAE and the Public Service Alliance of Canada reads:

“Veterans and their families deserve better. They have already paid for these services with their sacrifice. Let’s not make them fight and pay again.”

This week on the show, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga speaks with Virginia Vaillancourt, the national president of UVAE. Vaillancourt argues Veterans Affairs Canada must stop using private sector companies to do public sector work.

This week on rabble radio, we’re sharing an interview between CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn and rabble editor Nick Seebruch. The two spoke on Nov. 2 to explain what’s at stake in the labour dispute in Ontario.

At the time of this episode’s posting, CUPE has announced that it will strike on Friday, Nov. 4 and OPSEU – the Ontario Public Services Employees Union – says its 8000 education workers will join them. The Ontario Federation of Labour has also taken to social media to share their support for CUPE.

But how did we get here?

To recap, CUPE Ontario has been negotiating with the Ford government, trying to secure better pay for its educational support workers.

As Marc Belanger explained on a special RadioLabour episode this week, when inflation is taken into account, the lowest paid educational worker in Ontario has seen their wages effectively cut by 11 per cent since 2012.

CUPE has been seeking a wage increase of $3.25 per hour in each year of a three year collective agreement.

On Sunday, October 30th, 97% of CUPE Ontario’s 55,000 education workers voted to give the Ford government the legally necessary five day notice of a potential provincial-wide strike should their wage demands not be met.

Despite a long week at the bargaining table, the Ford government was not to be persuaded.

On Thursday evening, the Ford government passed Bill 28 which imposes a new work contract on educational support workers with a pay increase of 2.5 per cent, well below the rate of inflation.

Ford invoked the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause which allows the provincial government to override part of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and bypass the union’s right to bargain and strike. The use of the notwithstanding clause means that Bill 28 cannot be challenged in court.

In doing so, Judy Rebick says the Ford government has effectively called a “class war against unions.”

What happens now?

Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions has pledged that their members will strike on Friday, Nov. 4 and that the strike will continue “for as long as it takes.”

The Ontario Federation of Labour took to social media saying: “Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce have declared war on 1 million union members, 7 million workers, 14 million Ontarians. Get ready to fight.”

Homelessness is a major social and health care disaster that has been plaguing Canada for decades. And the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this issue.

Are provincial and municipal governments doing enough to combat homelessness in our communities? Or are the solutions that they’re coming up with making the problem worse?

In Displacement City: Fighting for Health and Homes in a Pandemic, outreach worker Greg Cook and rabble columnist and long-time street nurse Cathy Crowe collect stories which shed a light on infrastructure of displacement through prose, poetry, and photography.

Contributors to the book include those who have lived experience of homelessness in Toronto. Each chapter reports on different areas of the realities of this crisis and how community members reacted. Whether that be by providing disaster-relief supplies and tiny shelters for encampments, by advocating for shelter-hotels where people could physically distance, by taking the city to court, or by rising up against encampment evictions.

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: Confronting Islamophobia in Canada.’

This month is National Islamic History Month. This month’s panel dove into what political actions are needed to confront the rise of Islamophobia in Canada. Our panel also explored what role the media has in all of this.

Our September panel included Senator Salma Ataullahjan, Monia Mazigh, Nuzhat Jafri, and Karl Nerenberg. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.

This week on the show, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Sara Pishdadian and Adriana Di Stefano, both active members of Health Providers Against Poverty.

Healthcare Providers Against Poverty is a group of healthcare workers who strive to make healthcare provision equitable for all.

Pishdadian and Di Stefano explain how addressing the social determinants of health, meaning the economic and social conditions at play which affect one’s health status, need to be addressed in order to reduce health inequity. Destigmatizing homelessness, poverty, and drug addiction is also key in providing care to every Canadian.

The two also dive into the many resources, events, campaigns, and support groups that are available through Healthcare Providers Against Poverty.

Last month, Buckingham Palace broke the news that Queen Elizabeth II had passed away at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. The queen was 96, and Canada’s longest serving monarch.

Now, Canada has a new head of state: Queen Elizabeth’s eldest son, King Charles III.

This week on rabble radio, editor Nick Seebruch interviews royal historian, teacher, and author Carolyn Harris.

While the Pope made a public apology for the Catholic Church’s role in residential schools, Indigenous peoples never got an apology from Queen Elizabeth II before her passing. Might the new King Charles III make that apology? And how might a new sovereign leader might affect public opinion of the monarchy in Canada? Harris ponders these questions and more with Seebruch this week.

Dr. Carolyn Harris is an instructor in history at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. She received her PhD in European history from Queen’s University at Kingston in 2012. She is the author of three books, Magna Carta and Its Gifts to Canada (Dundurn: 2015), Queenship and Revolution in Early Modern Europe: Henrietta Maria and Marie Antoinette (Palgrave: 2015) and Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting (Dundurn: 2017). She is the co-editor of English Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty, a four volume history of English royal consorts published in 2022 by Palgrave Macmillan, and the proofreading editor of The Royal Studies Journal.

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: What does reconciliACTION look like?

We discussed how Indigenous Peoples are exercising sovereignty every day, the tangible ways settlers can support Indigenous Peoples in their communities, and what action must be taken at the federal and provincial levels for meaningful change.

Our September panel included MP Leah Gazan, Georgina Lazore, and Breanne Lavallée-Heckert. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.

In 1959, the then-premier of Saskatchewan, Thomas Douglas envisioned a universal, pre-paid and publicly administered healthcare system. The first of its kind in North America. This plan for Saskatchewan prompted the federal government to initiate a national strategy to shift to a universal system.

He’s “the father of Medicare” in Canada. And the one to thank for our universal healthcare system as we know it today.

But is this system in trouble?

This is not a conversation which is new to rabble radio.

In May, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll sat down with Natalie Mehra, the executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition to talk about the privatization of long-term care homes in Ontario. Nicoll spoke to Sarah Jama, the co-founder of the Disability Justice Network of Ontario, later that month to talk about the importance of accessible health services in regard to those who are differently abled.

This week, we continue the conversation by sharing an interview from the first episode of the newest season of Courage My Friends.

In this interview, host Resh Budhu speaks to JP Hornick, the president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, and palliative care physician and health justice activist, Dr. Naheed Dosani. The three discuss the current crisis facing public healthcare in Ontario.

This week, Jillian Piper speaks to Kimberly Carroll; an animal rights advocate and coach for changemakers.

For 13 years, Carroll has empowered and counseled thousands of activists, social entrepreneurs, and mission-driven leaders who want to make a bigger difference in the world.

By taking clients through a journey of deep inner work, finding empowering habits, and developing a strategy to unlock one’s activism superpowers, Carroll has made a name for herself as one who “helps the helpers.”

In addition to her coach for changemakers work, Carroll is also the creator and director of their Animal Justice Academy, a program at Animal Justice, the leading animal rights organization in Canada. Carroll is also a director with the Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank which provides cruelty-free, environmentally-conscious, and healthy foods to those living under the poverty line. You may also recognise Carroll from her 15 years as a television host and producer with networks like WE TV, CBC Television, W Network, and CTV.

Today, Carrol joins Piper to talk about what inspires her about this work and how activists can better take care of themselves through this demanding – and often underappreciated – work.

This week on the show, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calguay-Casuga joins The Coalition For Women In Journalism founder Kiran Nazish to talk about protecting female journalists in Canada. The Coalition For Women in Journalism is a New-York based, international support organization for female and LGBTQIA journalists from around the globe.

Today, Nazish joins Calguay-Casuga to talk about the increasingly vitriolic landscape female journalists in Canada are facing today – particularly, journalists of colour.

In September 2021, Canada was one of the top five countries in the world guilty of cyber violence against women, according to The Coalition for Women in Journalism.

What can be done to better protect our female and LGBTQIA journalists in Canada? And what do these staggering statistics say about our media landscape as a whole?

This week on the show, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll speaks to Leila Sarangi, national director of Campaign 2000.

Campaign 2000 is a network of national, regional and local partner organizations who have come together to increase public awareness of the levels and consequences of child and family poverty in Canada. Each year, the organization releases a national report card, measuring the progress – or lack of progress – of reaching the goal of eliminating poverty.

Last month on the site, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell detailed the government’s announcement that it would begin the recovery of Canada Emergency Response Benefits (or, CERB) from recipients that the CRA considers ineligible.

In response to this announcement, Campaign 2000 released a statement saying that these clawbacks will have the gravest effect on mothers – in particular, those with multiple children living on an earned income of $33,000 a year.

Today, Sarangi joins Nicoll to talk about this statement and also about how poverty is a systemic issue – brought on by colonialism’s ongoing legacy in Canada. Solutions to poverty must look at things through a lens of dismantling racist systems in place.

This week on the show, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga speaks to poet and activist El Jones.

Based on Halifax Nova Scotia, Jones is a powerhouse in social movements focused on anti-racism, human rights, and decarceration.

In September 2020, she was appointed chair of a 15-person subcommittee which was tasked with defining “Defund the Police” in Halifax. Jones and the subcommittee compiled a 218-page report which featured 36 recommendations to reallocate resources away from the police to more appropriate service providers.

Jones has also appeared on past Off the Hill political panels, including Off the Hill: Whose budget is it anyway? and Off the Hill: Games of the Throne. You can listen to segments from both of those panels on previous rabble radio episodes, or find the full versions of the panels on rabbleTV.

Today, Jones joins Calugay-Casuga to talk about how we ‘value’ work and how to move past capitalist ideas of labour. The two also talk about how to create inclusive spaces in activist movements.

This week on rabble radio, we dive into the world of natural – or green, as it’s sometimes called – burials.

For many of us, talking about death isn’t easy – let alone talking about what happens to your body once you’ve passed away.

But what if there was a way to think of your burial as a way to help the environment?

Since the 1990’s, the natural burial movement has steadily gained interest as more and more people are exposed to the idea.

With a natural burial, the body is not exposed to any chemical embalming. And instead of a traditional casket, the body is wrapped in a shroud or buried in a biodegradable casket. Rather than rows of tombstones on a manicured lawn, picture a meadow or woodland, restored and protected in its natural ecosystem. In place of tombstones, imagine graves marked with a small stone, a native plant, or a communal dedication.

Some Canadians admire the spiritual connection to the earth that a natural burial grants. Many also find peace of mind knowing that their burial will have a very small ecological footprint.

Yet despite the enthusiasm for the burial alternative, there are shockingly few places in Canada to be buried naturally.

Susan Greer, the executive director of Natural Burial Association, speaks to Doreen Nicoll about the organization’s mission to make natural burial more accessible in Canada.

This week on the show, Doreen Nicoll speaks to author and professor Dennis Raphael about the idea of “social murder” and how it applies to Doug Ford’s government.

The expression “social murder” was first introduced by Friedrich Engels, a German political economist in the 1840’s. In his book, The Condition of the Working Class in England, Engels describes the misery and class division he witnessed in day-to-day English life. His conclusion? Proletarian revolution was necessary.

Then in 2007, the term was re-introduced by Canadian economists Robert Chernomas and Ian Hudson. Their book called “Social Murder and Other Shortcomings of Conservative Economics” outlined how the influence and size of corporate power is shaping the world in a negative way – corporations are able to wreak social and environmental havoc with few serious consequences.

Fast forward again to today and the term has gained popularity when referring to the recently re-elected Premier of Ontario Doug Ford and his government. And specifically – the cuts the Ford government has made to Ontario’s healthcare system.

Dennis Raphael explains why this term is being used, and what exactly it means in today’s interview.

It would be an understatement to say that COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed life in Canada. After two years since the pandemic came into our lives, we’re still grappling with a “new normal” and grieving the experiences, time, and loved ones we lost during the worst waves of the pandemic.

No one knows this grief better than our healthcare workers.

Nurses and healthcare workers stepped up during the pandemic to face COVID first hand; working extended shifts with decreased or no time off; adapting to changes in the methods of delivering care; facing burnout, stress, anxiety, and sometimes contracting COVID themselves. All the while they were also encountering a small population of the public convinced that COVID-19 was something not to take seriously.

Today, we give our healthcare heroes a voice.

The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions and rabble.ca present: Nurses’ Voices: Stories of courage and determination in the face of COVID-19. We interviewed over 25 healthcare professionals from across the country and asked them to share what they’d like our audience to know about their experiences working through this deadly virus.

This week on rabble radio, we featured a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was Off the Hill: Hot summer in the West.

The Alberta political scene is in upheaval with the departure of the current (disgraced) premier and the federal conservative leadership race is becoming increasingly vitriolic. Amid this time of turbulence, what can we expect to see unfold in Alberta and in Ottawa? And what will the impact be on the political scene overall?

Our latest panel was made up by special guests Rachel Snow, David Climenhaga, Chuka Ejeckam, Karl Nerenberg and co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies.

This week on rabble radio, we share a segment of this year’s debut episode of the Courage My Friends podcast series, hosted on Needs No Introduction.

In the first episode of this year’s Courage My Friends podcast series, we welcome Henry Giroux.

Does education have a moral and political purpose? What do we mean by critical pedagogy – and why is it so vital in these times? Giroux joins host of the Courage My Friends podcast Resh Budhu to talk about education, critical pedagogy and the future of learning in a post-pandemic world.

If you’d like to hear more from the Courage My Friends podcast, please subscribe to Needs No Introduction – a podcast by rabble which presents a series of speeches and lectures from the finest minds of our time. Available on rabble.ca, Apple Podcasts, and now available on Spotify.

The Courage My Friends podcast is presented by rabble.ca and the Tommy Douglas Institute, with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation.

This week on rabble radio, we featured a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our panel discussed the idea of a guaranteed livable basic income. What is it, how would it work, and how much would it cost us?

Our panel was made up of MP Leah Gazan, who in December of last year introduced Bill C-223 which, if passed, would establish the first national framework for an unconditional guaranteed livable basic income for everyone over 17 in Canada. Senator Kim Pate also joined us this week, she is responsible for Bill S-233 for Unconditional Basic Income. Rounding out our panel were Sheila Regehr, the co-chair of Basic Income Canada Network, and Karl Nerenberg, rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter.

If you missed out on this event and would have liked to attend, don’t worry! Our next Off the Hill event will take place in June. Please stay tuned for updates on that event and be sure to sign up for rabble’s newsletter at rabble.ca/alerts to make sure you get the invitation.

This week on rabble radio, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll speaks to Sarah Jama. Jama is the co-founder of the Disability Justice Network of Ontario.

Through the Disability Justice Network, Jama has been challenging the Ontario government and its health services to move from policing people with disabilities to allowing them to have personal and political agency and to thrive within their communities.

Nicoll and Jama talk about the importance of accessible health services and creating a society where people are seen beyond their ability to produce.

Jama says: “If we can begin to build a world that isn’t just focused on economics and my ability to produce, we can build a world that fits everybody and we can stop the warehousing of disabled people and the ways in which people who can’t work are discarded.”

If you’d like to learn more about Jama’s work with the Disability Justice Network of Ontario, be sure to check out Nicoll’s piece on rabble.ca this week.

This week on the show, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll interviews Natalie Mehra, the executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition.

The Ontario Health Coalition is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest activist coalition and network. Its primary goal is to protect and improve Ontario’s public health care system. The coalition works to protect the health system from threats like cuts, delisting and privatization.

The group raises public awareness about Ontario’s current healthcare systems programs and services. This includes long-term care homes.

During the height of COVID-19, the average death rate in these private, for-profit care homes was 5.7%. Compare that to non-profit long term care homes – which saw 2.8%. Lower again at 1.4% for municipal facilities.

Currently, 60% of Ontario’s long-term care homes are private, for-profit. These private care homes are notoriously understaffed, failing inspections, and responsible for the deaths of thousands of Canadians during COVID-19. Yet the Ford government has just issued 30-year licenses and expansions for 18,000 additional LTC beds for these private care homes.

All the while, public funding for health care in Ontario is the lowest in the country.

Ahead of the Ontario election, Mehra is hoping the privatization of the province’s long-term care homes becomes a key issue.

“What’s happening in Ontario should be a blight on all our consciences,” Mehra tells Nicoll. “We have to win this one. This is our chance to do it. Let’s make [the government] accountable for what’s happened so far, and let’s win real change this time.”

If you’d like to learn more about how to support the Ontario Health Coalition’s campaign to end privatization in long-term care homes, please visit their website at ontariohealthcoalition.ca. You can also check out Nicoll’s piece this week.

This week on rabble radio, Brent Patterson interviews Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, a Gidimt’en Checkpoint spokesperson and Wing Chief of the Cas Yikh (Grizzly Bear) House.

In November of 2021, Sleydo’ was arrested at gunpoint during a militarized RCMP raid of her territory and held for five days in a jail cell.

Brent Patterson spoke with Sleydo’ earlier this week about the construction of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory.

If you’d like to read more of our coverage on the RCMP’s involvement in the Coastal Gas Pipeline construction on Wet’suwet’en lands, please visit rabble.ca. Patterson has kept a close eye on the situation as it unfolds.

This week on rabble radio, Graham Flint of the Reform Gravel Mining Coalition joins Doreen Nicoll to talk about the importance of gravel reform in Ontario.

The province has authorized annual extraction limits of over 13 times the actual amount of gravel used in Ontario annually. This calculation does not account for the 15 per cent of aggregate sites that have been granted unlimited extraction tonnage limits.

160 million tonnes of aggregates are produced each year. That amount of aggregate could fill enough trucks to circle around the entire world six times.

Enough is enough, so says the Reform Gravel Mining Coalition.

The “Demand A Moratorium Now” petition looks at the new approvals for gravel mining in Ontario. Gravel mining is destroying natural habitats and damaging communities across Ontario. The Reform Gravel Mining Coalition believes the people affected should have a say in the matter.

This week on rabble radio, we’re bringing you a segment of our latest Off the Hill political panel which took place on Thursday April 14th.

This month, the theme was “Will Budget 2022 build Canada forward?” It featured special guests Avi Lewis, Jim Stanford and MP Leah Gazan. They deconstructed the recently released federal budget. Those guests joined regular hosts, Libby Davies and Robin Browne.

This week on rabble radio, we’re bringing you an interview with Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah.

Owusu-Akyeeah has been the executive director of the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity since July 2020. The organization is a national LGBTQ organization dedicated to eliminating all forms of bullying, discrimination, and homophobia in schools.

She speaks to rabble’s national reporter, Stephen Wentzell, about how the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, set to go into effect in Florida, could impact education on gender diversity and sexual orientation of young Canadians.

“Right-wing groups often use youth as part of the witch hunt—young people and children are just an easy way to garner public opinion on anything,” Owusu said. “Anything that’s constructed as a threat to young people, it matters, because you don’t want to be seen as the person who thinks that threatening young underage people is a good thing.”

This week on rabble radio, we’re bringing you an interview with Harley Augustino of Base Building for Power.

Base Building for Power is a collective of activists and organizers. The collective offers programs for individuals who wish to become better activists and organizers themselves – notably, through the ‘Summer Justice’ program. This paid, two-month program provides hands-on training for young BIPOC activists in Vancouver to develop concrete organizing skills. Students will work with a team of organizers on a live campaign for racial and economic justice.

This is Augustino’s second year as a trainer for the program. He talks about what he’s hoping this summer’s students will take away from the program, and what lessons his students have taught him.

Augustino spoke to Libby Davies, author of Outside In and former long-time MP for Vancouver East.

This week on rabble radio, journalist Wayne MacPhail interviews Deirdre Pike, of the Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters.

Hamilton has found itself in the middle of a housing and homelessness crisis. The Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters, or HATS, is a new project inspired by Kitchener’s ‘A Better Tent City,’ to serve as a temporary solution to the housing crisis in Hamilton by providing small homes for people in need.

In 2020, the City of Hamilton released a report which set a framework on ending chronic homelessness by 2025. But this goal can’t be achieved without concrete plans and real community action. That’s where HATS comes in.

Pike is a senior social planner at the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton. Pike speaks with Wayne MacPhail about the challenges the project has faced so far. They discuss what the community has to say about the project, and what services will be available to people who will occupy these cabin community living spaces.

“The way things are moving, we’re not sure if 2025 is going to be a goal that’s met in terms of ‘the end of homelessness,’” Pike says. “If it is, then that should mean small communities like this [The Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters] are temporary and would fold up. But in the meantime, we’re making sure that people don’t live like this next winter … This is really an opportunity to have people live with some dignity and, probably for the first time in many years, an experience that this is their own place.”

This week on rabble radio, we’re bringing you an interview with long-time British Columbia politician Joy MacPhail.

MacPhail is best known for her roles in BC politics – but there is much more to her story. Many will remember her as Deputy Premier of British Columbia. MacPhail is a longtime member of the BC NDP, and member of the BC Legislative Assembly, representing Vancouver-Hastings.

Over her ground-breaking, and at times controversial career – that began in the BC labour movement before being elected to politics – she served as Minister of Finance, Minister of Education, Minister of Heath, Minister of Social Services and Seniors, and more. Currently, MacPhail chairs the ICBC board (the Insurance Corporation of BC), and is an owner of OUTtv, the world’s longest airing LGBTQ+ television network. She was appointed to the Order of Canada this past January where she was rec​​ognized for her “pioneering contributions to politics and for her tireless advocacy of underserved and marginalized communities”.

MacPhail speaks to fellow politician and friend, Libby Davies. Davies is also a life long political activist and politician, but at the municipal and federal levels. She was a long time Vancouver city councilor and former Deputy Leader and House Leader of the federal NDP, representing the riding of Vancouver East from 1997 to 2015. Davies is also a member of the Order of Canada.

MacPhail reflects on a lifetime of experiences as a woman in Canadian politics. She recounts the gender-biased scrutiny she faced from the media, and shares what it was like trying to balance being a mother while breaking ground for women in politics. She also discusses how she maintains motivation for positive change to this day.

This week on rabble radio, we’re bringing you a segment of our latest Off the Hill political panel which took place on Thursday March 10th.

This month, the theme was “In the extreme.” It features special guests Seth Klein, Chuka Ejeckam and MP Leah Gazan. They deconstructed the recently released IPCC report, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the visible rise in right-wing populism. They joined regular hosts, Libby Davies and Robin Browne.

Libby Davies interviews Sophie Harkat, wife of Mohamed Harkat, to discuss the ways life for the couple has been “turned upside down” for nearly two decades.

In December of 2002, Mohamed was taken into custody, suspected of being an al Qaeda sleeper agent. Although he denied any involvement with terrorism, he was arrested on a national security certificate and deemed to be a threat to national security. He has been imprisoned, and then under strict house arrest – all while never been shown evidence against him. Despite this, Sophie remains optimistic as the couple fight for the right to “live a normal life.”

“I still believe justice will prevail eventually. It may take time – it may take [all the] energy I have to get through this … but I feel there’s a purpose behind this. I feel we’re setting precedence. It’s not just our battle; it’s a battle for a lot of people.”

If you’d like to learn more, rabble.ca has featured extensive coverage about Mohamed Harkat’s case since 2011, including a piece by Sophie herself in 2015.

If you’d like to donate or find ways to support Mohamed and Sophie, visit their website: https://www.justiceforharkat.com.

This week on rabble radio, Doreen Nicoll interviews environmental lawyer Phil Pothen. Phil and Doreen have been following the ongoing situation in Halton Region regarding the ‘Stop Sprawl Halton’ movement.

5200 acres of farmland are at stake. Regional council wants to develop this land as part of a ‘preferred growth plan’. But Halton Region residents believe there is a better solution. Listen to Phil and Doreen discuss how this proposed growth plan came to be and what residents would like the future of Halton region to look like.

This week on rabble radio, Libby Davies interviews Paul Taylor, the executive director of FoodShare Toronto and a lifelong anti-poverty activist. They talk about how the pandemic has encouraged his non-profit to re-evaluate self-care days. They also discuss how activists should allow for room for fatigue and frustration during difficult times.

Our panelists deconstructed the upcoming federal budget, and zeroed in on recent events in Ottawa – such as the ousting of Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, the so-called “Freedom Convoy” and the visible rise in right-wing populism.

This week, rabble recognizes the first week of Black History Month.

We present to you a conversation between Professor Amina Mire and documentary filmmaker Jennifer Holness to discuss Holness’ new documentary: Subjects of Desire.

Subjects of Desire investigates the cultural shift in North American beauty standards towards adopting Black female aesthetics and features. The documentary exposes the deliberate and often dangerous portrayals of Black women in the media. Subjects of Desire attempts to deconstruct what we understand about race and explores the power behind beauty. The film premiered on TVO on February 1.

Mire is an associate professor at Carleton University. Her research interests include interdisciplinary analysis and critical research in gender and the cinema, anti-racist/anti-colonial research, political thought, and women and health.

Holness is a director, writer and producer living in Toronto. Her recent work includes the award-winning documentary Stateless and the Shoot the Messenger tv series. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Women in Film and Television’s Creative Excellence Award. She is a key part of numerous committees including the chair of the Black Screen Office and co chair of The Canadian Independent Screen Fund for BPOC Creators.

This week, Mire sat down with Holness to discuss Subjects of Desire, and touched on their own experiences of confronting the beauty standards and harmful stereotypes of Black women.

Libby Davies sits down with political scientist Dr. Jeanette Ashe in part two of this special two-part series. Dr. Ashe and Davies discuss what responsibility political parties have in upholding gender equality in Parliament. She also wonders what success might look like when we implement equity mandates.

Rabble contributor and former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader, Libby Davies, interviews political scientist Dr. Jeanette Ashe. In part one of this special two-part series, Davies and Dr. Ashe delved into the question of what a gender-sensitive parliament would look like. They take on topics of the gender-based heckling that takes place among elected representatives in our government, and how COVID-19 has affected women in politics.

Dr. Ashe is the Chair of the Political Science Department at Douglas College. She’s also a Visiting Faculty at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, King’s College, London. Her research interests include political recruitment, political parties, representation, and gender and politics. She is the author of Political Candidate Selection: Who Wins, Who Loses and Under-representation in the UK. Other recent publications include Gender Sensitivity Under Trudeau: Facebook Feminism or Real Change?, and Canada’s Political Parties: Gatekeepers to Parliament . Dr. Ashe advises legislatures, parties, and organizations on assessing gender and diversity sensitivity. She also advises legislators on drafting legislation on gender equity and democratic reform.