Needs No Introduction

A series of speeches and lectures from the finest minds of our time. Fresh ideas from speakers of note.

Labour education: film, fair and organizing 03/27/2023

Labour education: film, fair and organizing In the first episode of our fourth series, we welcome CLiFF (Canadian Labour International Film Festival board members, Lorene Oikawa and Derek Blackadder and George Brown College faculty and organizer with the Labour Fair, Kathryn Payne. We discuss the importance of bringing labour education to post-secondary and wider communities through the 31st annual Labour Fair at Toronto’s George Brown College (organized by the School of Labour and the Tommy Douglas Institute) and its collaboration with the . This episode sets the stage for the re-airing of major Labour Fair events on this podcast as well as on rabbleTV over the coming weeks. Reflecting on the Labour Fair at George Brown College, Payne says: “The Labour Fair initially was meant to make sure that working class students .. had some knowledge of the unions in their sectors so .. they could find folks who could help them out and who could represent them. And also teach them the basics of organizing. Right? I mean, the main thing that we are always teaching is that we are stronger as a collective.…Our theme this year is P3s, so Pandemic, Privatization, and Precarity. But in our conversations, both with teachers and amongst each other, we've also sort of added a fourth P, which is the Planet.” Speaking to the importance of CLiFF in these times, Blackadder says: “Its ongoing relevance is that it shows working people a mirror. .. it lets them look at a film that represents them in some way, shape or form.That will allow them to ..make that connection that in that bigger world, workers have a great deal more in common, than they do those things that divide us.” Oikawa points to issues that demand attention: “There's still that issue about workers' rights, workers' safety, having fair wages, safe workplaces for workers - ongoing, still needs scrutiny. Environmental issues… That's the brilliance of CLiFF. A number of issues will continue to be reflected in the films that we show at our labor Film Festival, but have been shown as well….There's never a point where, ‘oh, we're done. We don't need to know our history.’ We have to continue to know our history.” About today’s guests: Lorene Oikawa is on the board of the Canadian Labour International Film Festival and helps organize screenings in British Columbia. She started volunteering for CLiFF in its inaugural year, 15 years ago. She is past president on the board of the National Association of Japanese Canadians and a human rights activist. Lorene is a fourth generation Japanese Canadian and a descendant of survivors of the forced uprooting, dispossession, incarceration, and exile from 1942 to 1949. She is a co-editor of the book, Honouring Our People: Breaking the Silence. She was the first Asian Canadian executive vice president for the BC Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU). Derek Blackadder spent over 30 years working for several trade unions in a variety of roles. He currently volunteers with LabourStart, writes the Webwork column for Our Times Magazine, is Co-Chair of the Northumberland (ON) Coalition for Social Justice and is a contributor to RadioLabour. He combines his commitment to the labour movement and his love of film by serving on the board of the Canadian Labour International Film Festival (CLiFF). Kathryn Payne is a full-time educator in the School of Labour at George Brown College in Toronto. Her areas of interest include labour and working class culture, women's work, diversity and sexuality studies, colonialism, and neoliberalism. Her work for the School of Labour is multifaceted: she designs curricula, liaises with union educators, teaches General Education courses at George Brown, and helps organize the annual George Brown Labour Fair. She has also been active in the sex worker rights movement, queer activism and was one of the founding members of George Brown's Positive Space Campaign. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at or . Image: / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased. Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy); Injila Rajab Khan and Danesh Hanbury (Street Voices) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca. Host: Resh Budhu. /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/26324895

Telling Black Histories: Writing, Recuperation and Resistance | Part II 03/01/2023

Telling Black Histories: Writing, Recuperation and Resistance | Part II In this two part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Telling Black histories: writing, recuperation and resistance, we are very pleased to welcome the 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto and the 7th Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate, George Elliott Clarke. As we continue our conversation, Clarke reflects on past and current struggles against White western power, the meaning of decolonization and shaping effective resistance in Canada and beyond. Clarke discusses ongoing legacies of colonialism and racist imperialism in global politics,: “As Malcolm X said, ‘"you're a bunch of hypocrites’"...At the same time as you're expressing all these nostrums and parables of your supposed virtues, you are armed to the teeth. You are armed to the teeth! You are building jails to house masses of people seeking relief from the oppression that you have engineered in their home countries… And then these oppressed peoples flee for the refuge of your democracy and your attitude is to let them drown in the Mediterranean. .. let them drown in the Atlantic.”. For Clarke, achieving real change in Canada is very much in our hands: “We want to end police killings of unarmed Black men and Indigenous men and women and youth? Oh, we can do that, but we're gonna have to vote in place governments that will put in place very strict regiments on police forces..Whatever it is that you, the people together, collectively want in a democracy, you can have it. ..You can have an end to war. You can have more distribution of income and wealth. In a democracy you can actually vote yourselves this…So what's stopping us? Well, actually nothing is stopping us, except our own blind obedience to the way things have always been.” Speaking to the failures of “cancel culture”, Clarke says: “The woke/cancelers have power to destroy individuals, which they can do, and they've done it. ..On the other hand, as they have also proven, they cannot destroy oppressive institutions. How nice it would be if they could, but they don't have that ability. They can destroy individuals, but not institutions. I think that's a problem.Because to go after individuals, any mob can do that. But to go after institutions, a mob isn't what you need. You need a revolutionary movement”. About today’s guest The 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15) and the 7th Parliamentary/Canadian Poet Laureate (2016-17), George Elliott Clarke was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1960. A professor of English at the University of Toronto, Clarke has also taught at Duke, McGill, UBC, and Harvard. His recognitions include the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Centre Fellowship (US), the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellows Prize, the Governor-General’s Award for Poetry, the National Magazine Gold Award for Poetry, the PremiulPoesis (Romania), the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (US), and International Fellow Poet of the Year, Encyclopedic Poetry School [2019] (China). His acclaimed titles include Whylah Falls (1990, translated into Chinese), Beatrice Chancy (1999, translated into Italian), Execution Poems (2001), Blues and Bliss (selected poems, 2009), I & I (2008), Illicit Sonnets (U.K., 2013), Traverse (2015), Canticles II (MMXX) (2020), and J’Accuse…! (Poem versus Silence) (2021). Transcript of this episode can be accessed at . Image: George Elliott Clarke (Portrait by Katerina Fretwell) / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (podcast announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (street voices) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/26097966

Telling Black Histories: Writing Recuperation and Resistance | Part I 02/27/2023

Telling Black Histories: Writing Recuperation and Resistance | Part I In this 2-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Telling Black histories: writing, recuperation and resistance, we are very pleased to welcome the 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto and the 7th Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate, George Elliott Clarke. In Part I of our conversation, Clarke takes us on a journey through Black and Africadian history in Canada, his life and work and discusses the importance of recuperating Black and colonized histories through writing and resistance. Reflecting on the history of Black communities in Nova Scotia, Clarke says: Africadia is built, is constructed in complete defiance, of white supremacist, racist governmental decisions including environmental racism - placing dumps beside Black communities, placing polluting factories on the doorsteps of Black communities and so on. Those people, my ancestors, decided that they were going to construct communities. Church-based, church-anchored communities all around mainland Nova Scotia, in complete defiance of the racist oppressor and the oppressor's attempt to create a Nova Scotia as a White person's paradise. As a White person's dream. About today’s guest The 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15) and the 7th Parliamentary/Canadian Poet Laureate (2016-17), George Elliott Clarke was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1960. A professor of English at the University of Toronto, Clarke has also taught at Duke, McGill, UBC and Harvard. His recognitions include the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Centre Fellowship (US), the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellows Prize, the Governor-General’s Award for Poetry, the National Magazine Gold Award for Poetry, the PremiulPoesis (Romania), the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (US), and International Fellow Poet of the Year, Encyclopedic Poetry School [2019] (China). His acclaimed titles include Whylah Falls (1990, translated into Chinese), Beatrice Chancy (1999, translated into Italian), Execution Poems (2001), Blues and Bliss (selected poems, 2009), I & I (2008), Illicit Sonnets (U.K., 2013), Traverse (2015), Canticles II (MMXX) (2020), and J’Accuse…! (Poem versus Silence) (2021). Transcript of this episode can be accessed at Image: George Elliott Clarke (Portrait by Katerina Fretwell) / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (podcast announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (street voices) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/26060319

Capitalism and the mental health crisis 02/13/2023

Capitalism and the mental health crisis In this episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Capitalism and the mental health crisis, social worker, researcher and writer, Madeleine Ritts, researcher on mental health of Black communities, Michelle Sraha-Yeboah, and researcher and educator in labor issues, Jon Weier, discuss the current mental health crisis as an inevitable outcome of capitalism and whether good mental health is a benefit or a boon to our economic system. According to Ritts: “...Poverty, exploitation, alienation, these are inherent features of capitalism. So the degradation of physical and mental health is inevitable as long as we continue to live under the domination of the market. And I think in our system of racialized capitalism those forces will continue to disproportionately impact racialized people.” Speaking to impacts on Black communities, Yeboah says: “The field of psychology was born at the height of imperial expansion and colonial conquest. It was created to reinforce and serve the interests of the state. And so we see a lot of colonial rhetoric being processed through some of the methodologies and ideologies used in the field to reinforce a narrative about Black communities as being less than, as being subhuman, as misrepresenting their racial suffering. And these things have an impact today.” Reflecting on workers, Weier says: “I think gig work, contract work has been.. breaking down the bonds that can exist at a workplace..It's very hard to build solidarity. It's very hard to build a response or resistance to neoliberalism as these traditional sites of community and solidarity are being undermined in favor of an increasingly atomized workforce.” About today’s guests Madeleine Ritts is a researcher and social worker based in Toronto. Her writing has appeared in Jacobin, Health Debate, Now Magazine, Aeon, and the Toronto Star. She has worked as a mental health clinician for over seven years, and has experience organizing around issues of homelessness and poverty in Ontario. Maddie worked on a community, outreach-based mental health and addictions team in downtown Toronto and recently transitioned to a position in long-term care where she provides psycho-social and palliative care support to residents and their loved ones. Michelle Sraha-Yeboah is a doctoral candidate at York University in the Department of Social Science. Her research examines medical histories of racial and colonial violence, mental health care service use disparities and holistic wellbeing. Her work is particularly concerned with the intersections of socio-historical and political factors impacting Black Canadians’ mental health care service use patterns and treatment preferences. She attends to Black feminist theorizations of care to achieve anti-racist and decolonial mental healthcare service delivery for Africans in the Diaspora. Jonathan Weier is a professor in The School of Labor and The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at George Brown College. An established historian and educator, policy professional and commentator on social and labor movements, his research focuses on voluntary organizations, trade unions, political parties and other efforts by workers, social activists, and reformers to achieve progressive political, social and economic goals. Jon has been active in the labor movement and in Left politics for over 20 years and is currently a board member and the academic advisor for the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at Image: Michelle Sraha-Yeboah, Madeleine Ritts, Jon Weier / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (podcast announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (street voices) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/25917126

COP15 and 30x30 Pt. II: Indigenous led conservation and saving the Greenbelt 01/30/2023

COP15 and 30x30 Pt. II: Indigenous led conservation and saving the Greenbelt In the second part of this two-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast COP15 and 30x30: Indigenous-Led Conservation and Saving the Greenbelt, manager at Springwater Provincial Park and former Chief of the Beausoleil First Nation, Jeff Monague, discusses principles of Indigenous-led conservation, the dangers facing First Nations communities from Greenbelt development and the need to shift our thinking in order to reconnect with the natural world. Reflecting on the meaning of reconciliation, Monague says: “We can't think about conservation if we don't live or try to live that conservation…We're not doing that enough. In Canada, the government needs to do more. If it is reconciliation that they're talking about, then they need to do more...Reconciliation won't happen if all of your partners are not included. Let's say we're going to spend $30 million on a project and then we'll give 1% of that to First Nations. That's not reconciliation.” About today’s guest Jeff Monague is a member of the Beausoleil First Nation on Christian Island and currently resides near Coldwater, Ont. Presently, he is the manager at Springwater Provincial Park. He has been an instructor of the Ojibwe Language and has taught at every level, from junior kindergarten to post secondary at Georgian College. His book Ahaw Anishinaabem for beginners of the Ojibwe Language is available on Amazon. He is a former Chief and Councillor of his community on Christian Island and has been the Treaty research director for the Anishinaabek Nation. He is also a Canadian military veteran. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at or here. Image: Jeff Monague / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (podcast announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (street voices) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/25772220

COP15, and 30x30 Pt.I: Turning the Tide on Biodiversity Loss and Mass Extinction 01/16/2023

COP15, and 30x30 Pt.I: Turning the Tide on Biodiversity Loss and Mass Extinction In this two-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Tim Gray, executive director of Environmental Defence and Sandra Schwartz, national executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) discuss the crisis of biodiversity loss and mass extinction, Canada’s commitments under the Kunming-Montreal agreement coming out of the global COP15 gathering on biodiversity, and challenges and strategies toward meeting this very ambitious and even more necessary target. According to Schwartz: the UN has reported recently,.. that around a million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction. And that is really within a few decades. That's more than ever before in human history. And that's largely a result of human interaction with nature. So whether that is from exploration, from mining for example, forestry, …clearly we need to act now to save the natural world, because it is sustaining us as humans. Speaking to the recent Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Schwartz says: [I]t was a huge win, both for people, but also for the planet. .. Target Three of the framework is requiring the protection of at least 30% of land and ocean is protected globally by 2030…a requirement that Indigenous rights are respected and that Indigenous territories are recognized…And, all together the goals and targets of the agreement really do present a comprehensive plan to protect and restore biodiversity. But it's ambitious. And really, from our perspective going into the conference, what we were most holding out hope for was that the Framework Agreement would be ambitious. Reflecting on proposed development on the Ontario Greenbelt, Gray says: 70% of the lands to be removed, is in something called Dufferin's Rouge Agricultural Preserve. It was both part of the Greenbelt, but also had its own separate protective legislation, which was removed by Bill-39 at the same time that Bill-32 was going through…This was formally publicly-owned land, sold to the farm community with legal easements to keep it as farmland forever, which have now been removed and open for development. So threats both to forest and wetland systems that are associated with the National Park, contrary to Indigenous rights and Indigenous opposition, threatens the viability of farming in that area. ..And so the viability of the farm community is threatened, major river systems, federally listed species at risk, fisheries habitat, migratory birds. The list is very, very long. In terms of the implementation of global agreements, Gray says: [O]ne of the real challenges that we face is that, even as we sign international agreements that commit to stopping loss, increasing protection, advancing restoration to address biodiversity loss is that we see, like in particular in Ontario right now, a massive race in the opposite direction with dismantling of protection regimes for woodlands, wetlands, massive encouragement of sprawl development at the expense of building denser cities with transit, etc. So it is a real challenge to see the most populist, most wealthy province with a huge amount of the the biodiversity that this country holds, literally racing in the direction of further destruction About today’s guests Tim Gray is the executive director of . Gray has over 25 years experience developing and implementing environmental policy change efforts. These have included major shifts in land conservation, forest practices and climate change. Starting out his career as a biologist and policy analyst, Gray has spent a lot of time learning skills that move complex environmental issues toward resolution. He has worked with other change makers on the front lines of conflict and has also taken his skills inside to work on government advisory committees and in complex negotiations with industry. Gray completed an H.BSc. at Wilfrid Laurier University and a M.Sc. at the University of Toronto. Sandra Schwartz is the national executive director of the . With master’s degrees in management, and environmental studies and over 20 years of experience, she is a strong advocate for sound environmental policy and has championed progressive ideas for clean energy and tackling climate change. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at . Image: Sandra Schwartz and Tim Gray / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/25604283

Who’s hungry… and why? Food banks, food insecurity and ending hunger for good 12/19/2022

Who’s hungry… and why? Food banks, food insecurity and ending hunger for good In this episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Neil Hetherington, CEO of The Daily Bread Food Bank and Maria Rio, director of development and communication for The Stop Community Food Centre discuss the current state of food insecurity in Canada’s largest city, how we got here and what we need to end decades of hunger. Of the growing reliance on Toronto’s food bank system, Hetherington says: “What is startling is the fact that there are over 9,000 new registrants to the Foodbank system in the Toronto area, served by Daily Bread and North York Harvest each month.. almost 10,000 people are putting up their hand and saying, "I am in a position where my income does not meet the expenses that I have and I need to rely on food charity this week or this month. …Prior to the pandemic, 15% of the people that came to the food banks were employed fully. That number has doubled to 30%. And just around 50% of food bank users have a post-secondary education. And so people have done what we told them to do growing up. Go get an education, grab a job and you'll be fine. You'll get that house with a white picket fence. And that's not the reality.” Rio describes the current and increasing challenges facing organizations like the Stop Community Food Centre: “The Stop is also being hit by inflation. So not only are we paying more for food because there's decreased food drives and all those things. There's more people coming to our services ..it's been an exceptionally challenging time. We've had to make really difficult decisions around how do we keep serving our community, but not go into an extremely unsustainable position as an organization? We have to remain open next year. as more and more people run out of other options, such as friends or using credit cards or predatory payday loan services, they're turning to us and we're kind of left scrambling to meet the need with less volunteer help, with less energy than we had two years ago and strain on our resources because our donors are also feeling the pinch.” Speaking to the importance of food banks, Hethrington says: “What we have set out to do over the last number of decades is remind people that food banks are not the answer to food insecurity; we've never claimed that we are. But we do make food available this week for people. .. where we do claim that we are fighting to end hunger is around our advocacy efforts and taking a leadership position?” Reflection on Canada’s failed commitments to end hunger, Rio says: “Canada first signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights at the UN, where they ratified the right to food, right to adequate food, clothing, and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. And to know that we've been talking about this issue for so long, we've had so many consultations at all levels of government…we've known for a really long time that social assistance rates are abysmally low. That it's a lot of newcomers who are experiencing these barriers. Racialized people, people with disabilities and an intersection of all those identities. We've known that for more than the 40 years that The Stop has been around, or food banks have been around.” About today’s guests Neil Hetherington joined The Daily Bread Food Bank as CEO in January 2018. Beginning his career in project management at Tridel Construction, in September 2000, he made a career change by joining Habitat for Humanity Toronto, at the time as the youngest CEO of a Habitat affiliate in the world. Neil’s non-profit experience includes 16 years as CEO of Habitat for Humanity in Toronto, and then New York City, and two years as CEO of Dixon Hall, a multi-service agency serving thousands of people in Toronto. Neil holds credentials from the University of Western Ontario – Huron College, Seneca College, Harvard Business School, and the University of Virginia – Darden Business School and obtained his MBA from the University of Western Ontario’s Ivey Business School in 2013. He is an active pilot and sailor. He enjoys furniture making and in his spare time plays tennis terribly, snowboards poorly and bikes slowly. Maria Rio has over a decade of fundraising and non-profit experience. As a woman, a racialized person, an immigrant, and a member of the LGBTQ2+ community and from her early experience as a refugee, Maria’s experience shaped a passion for human rights that fuels her drive to give back and make a difference in the lives of people of various marginalized and often intersectional and underrepresented groups. Her op eds have been featured in publications such as the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ magazine. She was a finalist for the national 2022 Charity Village Best Individual Fundraiser Award, and has a deep passion for non-profit work. Maria also sits on the Board of Living Wage Canada and is often asked to speak on issues related to poverty, innovative stewardship, building relationships, and Community Centric Fundraising. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at or . Image: Neil Hetherington and Maria Rio / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/25358883

From contract negotiation to political protest: reflecting on Ontario’s education workers’ fight for jobs, rights and dignity 12/12/2022

From contract negotiation to political protest: reflecting on Ontario’s education workers’ fight for jobs, rights and dignity In this episode of the Courage My Friends podcast we welcome Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario Schools Boards Council of Unions. Just days after CUPE education workers voted to ratify a new four-year contract that includes a hard fought for $1 flat-rate hourly wage increase and two days repayment for a fraught political protest, we reflect on the momentous and contentious labor action taken on by Ontario's education workers. Reflecting on how essential these education workers are to our schools, Walton says: "From the minute that a child or a member of the public steps into a school; you are stepping into a space that is impacted by the work performed by CUPE members … the cleanliness of the school, the safety of the school. Being buzzed in the door in our elementary schools. The supports that students need in order to be successful and to thrive are all performed by education workers." Walton describes Bill 28 and its use of the notwithstanding clause: “Bill 28 was actually a two-headed beast ... Not only did it impose a contract which would've provided poverty wages, attacked our sick-leave- …. It also put in place the notwithstanding clause. But also taking the notwithstanding clause one step further: we wouldn't be able to take them to court, but they also put in pieces where we wouldn't be able to take them to the human rights tribunal. We wouldn't be able to arbitrate it. Really removing any sort of legal avenue that a worker may have and really interfering with the charter rights of workers." Of the unprecedented coming together of public and private sector, Walton says: "I have been a worker for my entire adult life. Started working at 13. And I've been a union activist for 20 years and you know, I remember reading about union activism. I remember reading about labor history ... And I always kind of pictured ‘what did that feel like?’ ... How did you know you were in that moment, when you were in that moment. ..Those became very real. And one of the comments that I made that day is, 'Workers are like a family. We may not always agree, but when you attack one of us, you attack all of us.' And I really hope that it becomes a catalyst for solidarity moving forward.” About today’s guest Laura Walton is an educational assistant from Belleville, Ontario. First elected to the role in 2019, she is the president of CUPE’s 55,000-worker strong Ontario School Boards Council of Unions (OSBCU). Transcript of this episode can be accessed at or . Image: Laura Walton / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/25282329

Home is where the earth is: The climate crisis meets the housing crisis 11/28/2022

Home is where the earth is: The climate crisis meets the housing crisis In this episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Emmay Mah, executive director of the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) discusses the many intersections between the climate crisis and the housing crisis and the potential fallout from Ontario’s proposed housing Bill 23: More Homes Built Faster. According to Mah: “We need to acknowledge that we are experiencing a deep, acute housing crisis. And this is also an environmental crisis.” Reflecting on the Ford Government’s proposed Bill-23: The Better Homes Built Faster Act, Mah says: “The title of the Bill .. is incredibly misleading. It is both bad for addressing the housing crisis and bad from a climate perspective, and there are no two ways around that. ..Basically what this bill proposes to do is it's going to gut about 10 existing provincial laws, which will ultimately strip local governments of their ability to build and protect affordable housing and achieve their climate goals and basically protect the environment and plan communities within municipalities.” In refuting the tension between development and conservation, Mah says: “It is in all our interest to build green affordable housing. It is also in our interests to preserve natural land and resources and food growing areas. So these things should not be pitted against one another. And I think that it is a falsehood that is purposely being constructed to serve these development interests. And so we really need to push back against this. This is incredibly shortsighted.” For Mah, communities are themselves modeling the change we need to see: “Community members often have the deepest perspective on what solutions will work locally, and understandably so. They bring a lot of knowledge and wisdom and lived experience to working on solutions. So I want to strongly encourage folks that have the impetus to really, really move forward with solutions they know are going to work with their communities. And organizations like TEA should be supporting them and so should local government.” About today’s guest Emmay Mah joined the Toronto Environmental Alliance as executive director in 2019. For the last 20 years, Emmay has worked in the non-profit sector locally and internationally, developing and managing programs focused on child rights, health, and the environment. She is passionate about building local movements to achieve healthy, equitable and climate-friendly cities. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at or here. Image: Emmay Mah / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/25151490

Mouth open, story jump out: The power and purpose of storytelling in these times – Part two 11/07/2022

Mouth open, story jump out: The power and purpose of storytelling in these times – Part two In part two of this special two-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast ‘Mouth Open, Story Jump Out: The Power and Purpose of Storytelling in These Times,’ we continue our conversation with storyteller, actor, playwright and filmmaker, Rhoma Spencer; storyteller and teacher, Lynn Torrie; and storyteller, teacher and founder of Queers in Your Ears, Rico Rodriguez. Speaking to the origins of Carnival and the meaning of stories for the formerly colonized and enslaved, Spencer reflects: “Stories [are] indeed a part of resistance. These are stories that my mother talked about. Some she would've experienced and some that would've been passed on to her..These are stories that was told to me. Carnival as manifested through the post-emancipated African was a form of resistance. When we were emancipated in 1834, we took to the streets to celebrate our emancipation, and we did so by mimicking our colonizer.” According to Torrie, stories are a vehicle to deal with even the most sensitive of subjects: “What I find is sensitive topics like addiction, people have strong opinions about them. And sometimes when you approach them directly, people shut down, it's hard to listen; either because they've been personally touched by the issue or because they have strong opinions about how the issue should be dealt with … Sometimes if you approach something in the context of a story, it's easier to listen to than if you speak to the issue directly. A story gives people room to listen to the feelings and perspectives of the characters involved rather than getting stuck on one side or the other of an issue.” Reflecting on the need to be included in stories and storytelling communities, Rodriguez says: “When we grew up as queers, we're sitting around the table and the stories that are being told are stories that are gonna shape our lives sometimes, even if they're fairy tales, personal stories. Stories that are told at Thanksgiving or big family events or family reunions. Stories are being told around the table, they're not queer affirming … And I think that’s what led me to tell more of my personal stories, especially with Queers in Your Ears, is that I wanted to create that dinner table for queers where they came and listened and they got affirmed.” About the storytellers Rico Rodriguez is a storyteller and a teacher who specializes in Latinx tales and writing and telling personal and fictional stories that are infused with equity and social change themes. He founded “Queers in Your Ears” a 2SLGBTQI storytelling event. Rico has facilitated workshops on the art of storytelling in educational settings and community and health promotion agencies. He has told in schools, theatres, libraries, festivals, pubs and conferences as well as on CBC Radio in Canada and on National Public Radio in the U.S. His story credits include: Do The Best You Can In the Place Where You Are And Be Kind, Your Value Does Not Decrease Based On Someone's Inability To See Your Worth, When A Flower Doesn't Bloom, You Do Not Fix The Flower, You Fix The Environment In Which The Flower Can Grow. Rhoma Spencer is an actor, playwright, docu/filmmaker, director and comedian. When not doing all of the above she can be seen at her Sweethand Delights turning a random pot of gastronomic pleasures. Critically acclaimed by the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and NOW Magazine, her works include: Biomyth Mono Digiplay and Login Password Logout ( Aluna Theatre, Caminos Festiva, 2021). Her film, My Execution will be Televised recently won the Impact Award at the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival and her film, A Pile of Dirt will premiere at the Regent Park Film Festival in December. Rhoma can be seen in the award-winning Canadian film, Scarborough. Lynn Torrie is a Toronto storyteller with a passion for traditional folk tales and Canadian history. Her original adaptations have been performed at the Toronto Storytelling Festival, The Word on the Street, StoryFusion Cabaret, the Ottawa Signature Series and Guelph’s Tea ’n Tales. She is a member of the York storytelling Guild and a regular host at both Storytelling Toronto’s Storytent and 1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling. She designed and taught over 100 workshops to teachers and educational assistants with the Toronto District School Board and is currently the project co-ordinator for Storytellers of Canada’s workshop series and teaches “The Art of Storytelling” at Toronto Metropolitan University, Continuing Education. Since COVID 19, Lynn has travelled the virtual world, hosting, teaching and telling on Zoom. Teagan de Laronde is Métis and a citizen of Red Sky Métis Independent Nation. A graduate of the University of Toronto Teagan was president of the Indigenous Studies Student Union, co-founder/VP for 'BIPOC in Politics', and serves on various committees focused on Truth and Reconciliation including the Victoria College (Re)Conciliation; The Truth is not Fully yet Told". She is currently a project manager with UofT’s Department of Religion on the "Relations on the Land" project. In August 2022, she worked with the City of Toronto and Indigenous partners to Decolonize Museums. Teagan works as a First Story Storyteller, a community-based project that researches, preserves, and shares Indigenous history and perspectives within what is now known as ‘Toronto.’ An avid jigger (dancer) and beader, Teagan’s work can be viewed at @birchbeadwork on Instagram. Richardo Keens-Douglas M.B.E is an award winning actor, playwright, author, storyteller and proud Grenadian-Canadian. From drama, dance, and comedy, to musical theatre, storytelling, and directing, Richardo also hosted national radio storytelling show Cloud 9 and Sunday Arts Entertainment on CBC television in Canada and was the host of the television hit Who Wants to be A Millionaire Caribbean. He has appeared on a variety of stages in North America and the Caribbean, including Stratford, Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, TWP, and Theatre Fountainhead in Canada. His play The Nutmeg Princess won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Musical of 1999. In 2003, Richardo was inducted into the Caribbean Hall of Fame for Excellence in Theatre. Dan Yashinsky is a storyteller, writer, and community animator. His books include Suddenly They Heard Footsteps - Storytelling for the Twenty-first Century, and Swimming with Chaucer - A Storyteller's Logbook. In 1999 he received the Jane Jacobs Prize for his work with storytelling in the community. His pandemic project was to record 16 folktales with his donkey Eysele. You can see them on Youtube by searching for The Storyteller's Ass. Info: . Transcript of this episode can be accessed at . Image: Rico Rodriguez, Rhoma Spencer, Lynn Torrie, Teagan de Laronde, Richardo Keens-Douglas, Dan Yashinsky (photo by Jacob Zavitz), / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Special Thanks to: Debra Baptiste (Executive Director, Storytelling Toronto), Audrey Rochette (Director, Indigenous Initiatives, George Brown College) Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/24907587

Mouth open, story jump out: The power and purpose of storytelling in these times 10/31/2022

Mouth open, story jump out: The power and purpose of storytelling in these times In the fourth, two-part, episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, series III, we are joined by six Canadian storytellers In this special, and very storied, two-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast Mouth Open, Story Jump Out: The Power and Purpose of Storytelling in These Times, we are very pleased to welcome six Canadian storytellers. In part one, we begin our conversation with First Story storyteller, Teagan de Laronde; actor, author, and storyteller. Richardo Keens-Douglas; and community animator, author and co-founder of Storytelling Toronto, Dan Yashinsky. Within her story within a story, storyteller, de Laronde says: “In Toronto, like many places, there are many stories of the land; in the land, based on the land. I think one of the biggest misconceptions about Toronto is that there are no Indigenous stories. We tend to see urban places as non-Indigenous spaces.Toronto though is a city, is an urban space because of Indigenous design. It was a meeting place, a council ground, a shared space, and it still is.” Before launching into the story of La Diablesse, storyteller Keens-Douglas describes storytelling as: “connecting through the soul. Storytelling for me is a passing on. It's a sharing of yourself. It's a sharing of where you came from. It's a sharing of a history. It's a sharing of knowledge. And when I connect with my audience, when I tell my stories, I want them to go through the process with me.” Prefacing the story of the tortoise and the leopard, Yashinsky says,“Stories have a way of crossing borders. They don't really respect political frontiers. They slip through all the barricades and they end up being subversive because of that. They're deep and they're personal. and they live by word of mouth. And every attempt to control them has failed. So I've always thought about that, storytellers are the enemies of all champions of control.” About the storytellers Teagan de Laronde is Métis and a citizen of Red Sky Métis Independent Nation. A graduate of the University of Toronto Teagan was president of the Indigenous Studies Student Union, co-founder/VP for 'BIPOC in Politics', and serves on various committees focused on Truth and Reconciliation including the Victoria College (Re)Conciliation; The Truth is not Fully yet Told". She is currently a project manager with UofT’s Department of Religion on the "Relations on the Land" project. In August 2022, she worked with the City of Toronto and Indigenous partners to Decolonize Museums. Teagan works as a First Story Storyteller, a community-based project that researches, preserves, and shares Indigenous history and perspectives within what is now known as ‘Toronto.’ An avid jigger (dancer) and beader, Teagan’s work can be viewed at @birchbeadwork on Instagram. Richardo Keens-Douglas M.B.E is an award winning actor, playwright, author, storyteller and proud Grenadian-Canadian. From drama, dance, and comedy, to musical theatre, storytelling, and directing, Richardo also hosted national radio storytelling show Cloud 9 and Sunday Arts Entertainment on CBC television in Canada and was the host of the television hit Who Wants to be A Millionaire Caribbean. He has appeared on a variety of stages in North America and the Caribbean, including Stratford, Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, TWP, and Theatre Fountainhead in Canada. His play The Nutmeg Princess won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Musical of 1999. In 2003, Richardo was inducted into the Caribbean Hall of Fame for Excellence in Theatre. Dan Yashinsky is a storyteller, writer, and community animator. His books include Suddenly They Heard Footsteps - Storytelling for the Twenty-first Century, and Swimming with Chaucer - A Storyteller's Logbook. In 1999 he received the Jane Jacobs Prize for his work with storytelling in the community. His pandemic project was to record 16 folktales with his donkey Eysele. You can see them on Youtube by searching for The Storyteller's Ass. Info: . Rico Rodriguez is a storyteller and a teacher who specializes in Latinx tales and writing and telling personal and fictional stories that are infused with equity and social change themes. He founded “Queers in Your Ears” a 2SLGBTQI storytelling event. Rico has facilitated workshops on the art of storytelling in educational settings and community and health promotion agencies. He has told in schools, theatres, libraries, festivals, pubs and conferences as well as on CBC radio in Canada and on National Public Radio in the U.S. His story credits include: "Do The Best You Can In the Place Where You Are And Be Kind", "Your Value Does Not Decrease Based On Someone's Inability To See Your Worth", "When A Flower Doesn't Bloom, You Do Not Fix The Flower, You Fix The Environment In Which The Flower Can Grow" Rhoma Spencer is an actor, playwright, docu/filmmaker, director and comedian. When not doing all of the above she can be seen at her Sweethand Delights turning a random pot of gastronomic pleasures. Critically acclaimed by the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and NOW Magazine, her works include: Biomyth Mono Digiplay and Login Password Logout ( Aluna Theatre, Caminos Festiva, 2021). Her film, My Execution will be Televised recently won the Impact Award at the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival and her film, A Pile of Dirt will premiere at the Regent Park Film Festival in December. Rhoma can be seen in the award-winning Canadian film, Scarborough. Lynn Torrie is a Toronto storyteller with a passion for traditional folk tales and Canadian history. Her original adaptations have been performed at the Toronto Storytelling Festival, The Word on the Street, StoryFusion Cabaret, the Ottawa Signature Series and Guelph’s Tea ’n Tales. She is a member of the York storytelling Guild and a regular host at both Storytelling Toronto’s Storytent and 1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling. She designed and taught over 100 workshops to teachers and educational assistants with the Toronto District School Board and is currently the project co-ordinator for Storytellers of Canada’s workshop series and teaches “The Art of Storytelling” at Toronto Metropolitan University, Continuing Education. Since COVID 19, Lynn has travelled the virtual world, hosting, teaching and telling on Zoom. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at . Image: Teagan de Laronde, Richardo Keens-Douglas, Dan Yashinsky (photo by Jacob Zavitz), Rico Rodriguez, Rhoma Spencer, Lynn Torrie / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/24836649

Home is where the community is: Homelessness, housing insecurity and housing as a human right 10/11/2022

Home is where the community is: Homelessness, housing insecurity and housing as a human right In the third episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Series III, Dania Majid, director of the Tenant Duty Council Program at the Advocacy Center for Tenants Ontario (ACTO); John Ecker, director of Research and Evaluation at the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness; and Haydar Shouly, senior manager of Shelters and Shelter Programs with Dixon Hall discuss the current crisis of housing insecurity and homelessness facing our most vulnerable communities. Ecker describes some of the ingredients of the housing crisis: “In Toronto we're seeing an emergency shelter system that's stretched to the limit, which is turning people away because there aren't enough beds available. ..We're seeing a significant increase in the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness or homelessness lasting six months or longer in Toronto…About half of people accessing emergency shelters can be defined as chronically homeless. We're also seeing a burnt out workforce that is leaving the homeless system for other opportunities. We're seeing a social housing wait-list that continues to grow due to the lack of housing stock that is being created. Rising rental costs, which is even pushing people out of not just the housing market, but the rental market as well. There's a lack of rental control measures put in place by the provincial government, allowing landlords to increase rent without that typical government oversight on units that were built after 2018.” Reflecting on how the pandemic impacted Toronto shelters, Shouly recalls: “So I remember early 2020, probably February, March 2020 when we started to feel the heat of this pandemic. We had 91 people at Heyworth House, a hundred people at 351 Lake Shore. And we were talking about 2 to 3 feet apart. And that was just not feasible anymore. It was a disaster to keep people in that kind of environment. So collectively as a sector, and the city obviously led that, we moved clients from the traditional shelters and respites to hotels. The city secured a number of hotels to create that kind of social distancing that we were talking about in early 2020. It was really difficult. It was complicated to try to make that move. To transport people to a hotel. And trying to use the city's transport vehicles or taxis... It was a really challenging kind of reality. But with that action, I think we managed to keep the numbers of positive cases low and we managed to create social distancing in those programs. But I think moving people from where they were in congregate settings into more isolated rooms in hotel programs, we actually created new sets of challenges..” Speaking to the financialization of the housing market, Majid says, “Companies like Blackstone, and they're definitely not the only one, they do see housing as an investment vehicle, and that's their primary lens on housing. So what we've seen these types of companies doing is what I call "home hoardership"; they are just accumulating homes just for the sake of accumulating these homes. It deprives people like first time home-owners and renters from accessing these homes. And it's driving the cost of the housing up. What we're seeing in Canada has been happening in the United States for a lot longer and it's a little bit more terrifying when you start putting the pieces together and it's technically already here. About today’s guests: Dania Majid is a staff lawyer and director of the Tenant Duty Counsel Program at the , a legal aid clinic in Ontario. Prior to joining ACTO, Dania was a legal analyst with the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, and a lawyer with the Human Rights Legal Support Centre and Neighbourhood Legal Services. She is also the founder and executive member of the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association and the Toronto Palestine Film Festival and sits on the steering committee of the Hearing Palestine program at the University of Toronto. Dania is also the lead author of ACLA’s 2022 report “Anti-Palestinian Racism: Naming, Framing and Manifestations.” John Ecker, PhD is the Director of Research and Evaluation at the . In this role, he has been fortunate to collaborate with a number of community partners on their research and evaluation activities. He attained his Ph.D. in Community Psychology from the University of Ottawa where he received advanced training in qualitative and quantitative analyses, as well as program evaluation theory and practice. His research interests are varied and include homelessness, housing, Housing First, community integration, and LGBTQ2S studies. In his spare time, John is an avid tennis player/fan and has a love of pop culture. Haydar Shouly, is Senior Manager of Shelters and Shelter Programs with in Toronto. Haydar spent more than 18 years in the Community Development, Housing & Homelessness sector with stints in Youth Homelessness Supports, Housing Advocacy, Food Security and Newcomer Settlement sectors. Most recently, he has been working and advocating to enhance the well-being of marginalized and vulnerable populations in our community. In the past 14 years, Haydar’s work at Dixon Hall has been focussed on building strategic responses to homelessness in the City of Toronto, primarily in partnership with the Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA) Division. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at Image: Dania Majid, John Ecker, Haydar Shouly / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/24609078

Migrant workers and 'the pandemic paradox': The unseen hands that truly keep us afloat 09/26/2022

Migrant workers and 'the pandemic paradox': The unseen hands that truly keep us afloat In the second episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Series III, Jhoey Dulaca (caregiver and organizer with the Migrant Workers’ Alliance for Change), Ethel Tungohan (Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism) and Chris Ramsaroop (activist and organizer with Justicia for Migrant Workers) discuss temporary foreign workers in Canada, the multiple and barriers they face and the struggle for recognition, rights and belonging. Speaking to the situation facing foreign migrant workers, Dulaca says, “In the beginning it was a dream. It's not what happens in reality. The promise of Canada is when you get in, you are allowed to apply for permanent residence. That's the selling point, why I came here… They allow you to come here, but they won't allow you to have permanent status. And with permanent status, you are exercising your rights.” Dulaca continued: “A lot of these people are tied to their employers. When I was working as a caregiver, I was tied to my employer and I couldn't do anything. If I was being abused, I couldn't just go and look for [other] work. Just like the farm workers, they're tied to their employers and the system is made for them to shut up. First and foremost migrants come here to support their family. ..That's what makes it hard for workers to stand up for their rights.” As Tungohan says, the situation facing these workers is structured into the system itself: “The thing about Canada that I find very perplexing is that it's always been constructed as a liberal immigrant receiving state. And to a certain extent that's true, but only for certain groups of people. So the easiest way to think about Canadian immigration policies is that there's citizen-track immigration and non-citizen- track immigration. And I would argue that temporary labor migrants tend to fall [in] the latter group.” On speaking to the need for organized resistance, Ramsaroop says: “It's about the role of power and asymmetrical power imbalances..There are no industry specific regulations. And coupled with this constant threat of deportation and permanent loss of work, this is why workers are .. working at heights without protections, being sprayed with pesticides and chemicals, working at a peace-rate system which has numerous and multiple forms of injuries on their bodies.So it is critically important to see this as structural violence .. This is an entire system that's been built to meet the needs of the employers, not thinking about the needs of workers. And this is why trying to build power across the industry and across all forms of temporary work is necessary and essential to change the power imbalance that exists.” About today’s guests: Ethel Tungohan is the , and associate professor of and at York University. She has also been appointed as a . Previously, she was the Grant Notley Postdoctoral fellow at the . Her research looks at migrant labor, specifically assessing migrant activism. Her forthcoming book, “From the Politics of Everyday Resistance to the Politics from Below,” won the . Her work has been published in academic journals such as the International Feminist Journal of Politics, Politics, Groups, and Identities, and Canadian Ethnic Studies. She is also one of the editors of which was published by the University of Toronto Press in 2012. Dr. Tungohan specializes in socially engaged research and is actively involved in grassroots migrant organizations such as Gabriela-Ontario and . Joelyn Dulaca is a careworker organizer with Migrant Workers Alliance for a Change which is a coalition of migrant careworkers, healthcare workers, farmworkers and international students. A former careworker herself, who had to work away from her children to chase the Canadian dream; she had experienced the struggles of working as a live-in caregiver and is now dedicated to organize caregivers to fight for better immigration, labour laws and permanent status for all. Chris Ramsaroop is an organizer with , a grassroots activist collective that has been organizing with migrant workers for nearly 20 years and whose work is based on building long term trust and relationships with migrant workers and includes: engaging in direct actions, working with workers to resist at work, launching precedent setting legal cases, and organizing numerous collective actions. Chris is an instructor in the Caribbean Studies Program at the University of Toronto and a clinic instructor at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law. Ramsaroop is working to complete his PhD at OISE/University of Toronto. Chris is also currently assistant professor at New College, University of Toronto, Community Engaged Learning. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at . Image: Ethel Tungohan, Jhoey Dulaca, Chris Ramsaroop / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/24474030

Privatization of public health: Protecting universal healthcare for the common good 09/14/2022

Privatization of public health: Protecting universal healthcare for the common good In the launch of our third season, JP Hornick, President of OPSEU/SEFPO and Dr. Naheed Dosani, Palliative Care Physician and Health Justice Activist, discuss the current crisis facing public healthcare in Ontario and the alarming turn toward the privatization of our healthcare systems by those prioritizing profit over patients. In speaking to the ways in which the healthcare crisis is both the result and rationale for erosion and greater privatization, JP Hornick says: “...you've got a kind of perfect storm that COVID maximized a crisis that was already existing. Decreased funding, unanticipated service costs, then you throw in on top of that supply-chain issues, particularly around PPE, but also, tools and resources. And then you've got an ongoing problem with recruitment and retention of staff. These are the new realities that hospitals have to tackle at the same time, trying to care for patients. And they're not allowed to carry deficits. So in the absence of additional funding, it means that the choices that hospitals regularly resort to are service cuts in order to try and balance budgets.But all this comes back to a very simple thing. It is a failure to adequately fund healthcare, both before and during the pandemic. And then the deterioration of the public system that results is used as an excuse in itself for increased privatization.” According to Dosani: “...often conversations like this can get tucked away in the category of health policy. This is about much more. This is about our way of life. This is about our way of being. This is really an attack on the common good that is so core and foundational to what it means to be Canadian…Public healthcare is a national treasure that makes us unique on the world stage. That really allows us to say to each other, I care about you. And I care about you so much that I will pay into a collective pool with you to care for you. Even if I don't get sick, I care for you. And that doesn't just emanate in the healthcare world and the healthcare sphere that affects the way we treat each other. We care for each other. We communicate with each other…And that is worth saving. That is worth protecting.” About today’s guest: Prior to being elected president of OPSEU/SEFPO (Ontario Public Service Employees Union), JP Hornick was chief steward for more than a decade within the College Faculty Division, representing instructors at Ontario’s 24 public colleges. She chaired the College Faculty bargaining teams in 2017 and 2021-22. JP grew up in a family of public service workers – educators, correctional workers and many more. She is a labour educator and previously served as the coordinator of the School of Labour at George Brown College. She has served as chair, treasurer and director on several community boards and has been on the front lines of activism to advance issues of equity, women’s rights, LGBTTIQQ2S rights, anti-racism and decolonization. JP was elected OPSEU/SEFPO President in April 2022 on a platform that includes strengthening union democracy, building bargaining power, ensuring financial responsibility, fostering an inclusive union culture, and deepening connections to the labour movement and community. As a palliative care physician and health justice activist, Dr. Naheed Dosani is dedicated to advancing equitable access to healthcare for people experiencing structural vulnerabilities like poverty and homelessness. He founded the Palliative Education and Care for the Homeless (PEACH) Program at the Inner City Health Associates, serves as the Health Equity Lead at Kensington Health in downtown Toronto and provides palliative care at St. Michael’s Hospital at Unity Health Toronto. He is also an assistant professor with the department of family and community medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Dosani is the recipient of numerous awards including the Meritorious Service Cross for Humanitarianism from Canada’s Governor General (2018), a humanitarian award from the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians (2019) and the Early Career Leader award from the Canadian Medical Association (2020). In 2022 he received an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Laws) from Ontario Tech University. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at Image: JP Hornick and Naheed Dosani / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased. Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau. Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca. Host: Resh Budhu. /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/24362199

Climate anxiety and climate justice organizing: Fearing the future, finding hope and fighting for our planet – Part 2 07/18/2022

Climate anxiety and climate justice organizing: Fearing the future, finding hope and fighting for our planet – Part 2 In the final episode of our summer series, climate justice organizer and activist Aliya Hirji and National Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students, Mari Dolcetti-Koros, discuss the global climate crisis, its impacts on our younger populations and the ways in which youth are organizing and taking leadership in securing a truly just and sustainable world for us all. In speaking to the need for youth leadership, Hirji says: “I think I hear a lot from world leaders, the phrase like “young people are leaders of the future”, but the truth is that we are the leaders of right now. There's so much on every scale - local, national, international - so much of this climate action and this ambition and real progressive ideas that are coming from young people. I think young people have an insane amount of optimism and passion and drive that you may not see from other generations. … I think that our optimism and our outlook on life is really unique. And because we have so much of our lives ahead of us, well, hopefully ahead of us, that's going to be affected by the climate crisis, I think that we take it very seriously and that we are incredibly motivated to do something about this. And given that young people are going to be incredibly affected by the climate crisis, .. people of color, marginalized communities - I think that leadership needs to be held by the most affected people…” Connecting a just transition to student debt, Dolcetti-Koros says, “I think it's really important to acknowledge that the reality of the exorbitant cost of tuition in Canada right now, and the student debt crisis, which is in the billions of dollars just in federal debt, is very much tied to a form of classism. And when we’re imagining and building a world beyond capitalism, we really need to take stock and evaluate and I would say democratize the access to knowledge and evaluate different forms of knowledges that have been subjugated; particularly Indigenous knowledges. I think a lot of folks are doing this work. A lot of scholars are doing this work. And there are lots of avenues or bridges to explore when thinking about how we evaluate our education system and how we can imagine a different, better, stronger one that is a pillar of a just and livable future.” About today’s guest: Aliya Hirji is a 17-year-old Indian-Canadian woman and climate justice activist in pursuit of a socially inclusive response to the climate crisis. She often works in the climate divestment movement, challenging individuals, governments, banks, and more to divest from fossil fuels. She is very passionate about ensuring the climate justice movement is anti-racist, anti-patriarchal and anti-colonial. In 2021, Aliya was recognized by Corporate Knights as one of Canada's Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leaders. She is about to start a dual arts degree with Sciences PO and UBC, where she wants to study Politics and Environmental Sustainability. Aliya is also working with . Marie Dolcetti-Koros is the National Chairperson of the , back with the Federation after completing a first term as National Treasurer. Marie studied Contemporary Philosophy and Political Science in Halifax, starting in the student movement with the King's Students Union. One of her first experiences of student organizing was taking over the lobby of the main administrative building on campus with Divest Dal. Marie finds energy and strength in knowing that young people are an integral part of shaping a just and livable future. She firmly believes that education is a public good and that free and accessible education for all is possible. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at Images: Aliya Hirji (photographer, Joshua Best) and Marie Dolcetti-Koros / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (Podcast Announcer), Nayocka Allen, Nicolas Echeverri Parra, Doreen Kajumba (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Breanne Doyle (for rabble.ca), Chandra Budhu and Ashley Booth. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/23777822

Climate anxiety and climate justice organizing: Fearing the future, finding hope and fighting for our planet – Part 1 07/11/2022

Climate anxiety and climate justice organizing: Fearing the future, finding hope and fighting for our planet – Part 1 For the first segment of this special two-part episode, climate justice activist and originator of Land Back, Bryanna Brown discusses the critical need for Indigenous rights and ways of knowing and youth leadership to combat a climate crisis rooted in systems of colonial oppression and capitalist greed. Making the connection between climate and colonialism, Bryanna Brown says: “One quote that Indigenous Climate Action uses that I really like is: ‘Colonialism caused climate change; Indigenous Rights are the solution.’ We are left out from so many spaces and so many decision making processes and tables throughout history. Because our culture is to protect the land. I think Indigenous Peoples are very important to be investing in, in terms of being able to come up with solutions, not false solutions, actual solutions to the climate crisis. But because of the colonial violence that we continue to experience and because it is a culture of honoring profit over people; it’s really, really hard to get a say when your values are rooted in protecting the land and protecting something of non-market value. And it’s not just the responsibility of Black, Indigenous, People of the Global Majority to do that; allies are really, really, really important. There’s so many things that we need to deconstruct or decolonize, or just eliminate entirely from our practices and systems and policies to be able to get to a place of having ways to come together to find solutions.” Reflecting on the power of Land Back, Brown says: "I was really, really impressed by how it had gained so many different definitions, but very similar definitions across organizations … And I think it’s extremely important that it is about the collective energy of Indigenous Peoples and our allies, Black and Indigenous Peoples and People of Color who are protecting the land throughout the world. I was really surprised that it was a global movement. And something that I really noticed was the solidarity that began to grow amongst so many people because of it. And for me, it was really about consent and Free Prior and Informed Consent over our land and our body.” About today’s guest: Brown is Inuk and Mi’kmaq from Nunatsiavut, Labrador. She is the originator of the Land Back movement and advocates for the sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples, as well as Black and People of Colour communities and land ownership and reclamation as a means of environmental protection and self-determination. Bryanna is a traditional storyteller, knowledge-keeper and public speaker. She is on the National Steering Committee and Climate Policy Advisory Council of Indigenous Climate Action and is currently working with the Keepers of the Circle and the Climate Emergency Unit with the David Suzuki Foundation to establish a Just Transition campaign in Newfoundland and Labrador. She consults on anti-human trafficking and advocates for the rights of women, Indigenous Peoples Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and environmental injustice in relation to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and persons with disabilities. The Courage My Friends podcast series is a co-production between The Tommy Douglas Institute (at George Brown College), rabble.ca, with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute Image: Bryanna Brown / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (Podcast Announcer), Nayocka Allen, Nicolas Echeverri Parra, Doreen Kajumba (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Breanne Doyle (for rabble.ca), Chandra Budhu and Ashley Booth. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/23651357

COVID, inequality and the billionaire space-race 07/04/2022

COVID, inequality and the billionaire space-race In the sixth episode, Linda McQuaig and Ian Thomson discuss the rising fortunes of the billionaire class amid shrinking incomes and opportunities for the vast majority before and during the pandemic. In speaking about the impacts of billionaires on our democratic systems, McQuaig says, “this accumulation of wealth in the hands of billionaires... It’s not just that it’s tremendously unfair, which of course it is, it’s that it gives them so much political power that they get to effectively control the world… The wealthy corporate elite now has so much power that it can effectively block any kind of collective action. And that’s exactly what they’re doing. The reason that there isn’t progress on climate change isn’t that the public is resistant. The public would actually like there to be action on climate change. It’s the immensely powerful interests in the fossil fuel industries that are single-handedly blocking that.... it’s not just unfair they have all that money; it’s detrimental to the survival of the human race… So when I talk about a wealth tax, I’m not just talking about it so we can get money from them. I’m talking about a wealth tax that will curb their political power, economic and political power. So they can’t control things and prevent us from taking the collective action we need to take.” According to Thomson, and the most recent Oxfam International report Inequality Kills “Whether it’s from the climate disasters that are taking lives. Whether it’s the vaccine inequality that means that COVID-19 is taking more lives - these are deaths that could be easily prevented if we had a more equitable vaccine distribution. And people are also being pushed to the brink of extreme hunger and actually are dying of starvation. These are the sorts of real-life impacts of this extreme wealth inequality, largely in the lowest income countries, but also lower income people in all countries are suffering from. And when you take the numbers, you just see that actually people are dying every four minutes due to inequality. The numbers are so staggering that it is hard to wrap your head around what kind of suffering this is bringing about.” About today’s guests: Award-winning journalist and activist Linda McQuaig is also the author of best-selling books, including: Shooting the Hippo: Death by Deficit and Other Canadian Myths; It’s the Crude, Dude: War, Big Oil and the Fight for the Planet; The Trouble with Billionaires (co-authored with Neil Brooks) and most recently The Sport and Prey of Capitalists: How the Rich Are Stealing Canada’s Public Wealth. A long-time and powerful voice of dissent against economic injustice and extremes of wealth, Linda has been described as “an indispensable public intellectual” and “an irritant to Canada’s 1%” one of whom, Conrad Black, even suggested that she be “horse-Whipped”. Ian Thomson leads Oxfam Canada’s work on government relations, corporate engagement and feminist policy influencing in Canada and internationally. Prior to joining Oxfam, he coordinated the human rights and natural resources program of a national ecumenical coalition and chaired the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability. He is a board member of MiningWatch Canada and the Maquila Solidarity Network, and holds engineering degrees from Queen’s University and the University of Toronto. The Courage My Friends podcast series is a co-production between The Tommy Douglas Institute (at George Brown College), rabble.ca, with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at . Image: Linda McQuaig and Ian Thomson / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (Podcast Announcer), Nayocka Allen, Nicolas Echeverri Parra, Doreen Kajumba (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Breanne Doyle (for rabble.ca), Chandra Budhu and Ashley Booth. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/23626412

Covid, capitalism, climate: The standard of double-standards between the global north and the global south 06/27/2022

Covid, capitalism, climate: The standard of double-standards between the global north and the global south In the fifth episode, historian, researcher, celebrated writer and executive director of Tri-Continental Institute for Social Research, Vijay Prashad discusses the standard of double standards that have long plagued the relationship between the power-holding centres of the Global North and the world’s majority of the Global South. Vijay Prashad describes the Tri-Continental Institute for Social Research as: “associated with this project of internationalism. And our agenda as a research institute is essentially to amplify the voices of movements. To bridge the gap between movements and intellectual activity and to create a kind of intellectualism that develops its confidence, its clarity from the lessons learnt by people in struggle. .. We see ourselves rooted in a very long tradition that goes back to early scholarship in the 19th century ... Dadabhai Naoroji who in the 19th century contested British colonial claims about a mission civilization in Britain ... We see ourselves in the tradition of the Pan-African scholars; people of course like WEB DuBois, later Walter Rodney, CLR James, and so on. People who tried to make the argument very strongly about not only how the histories of parts of the world were set aside, not only that; but even the kind of values that begin to dominate in the stories we tell ourselves. Values that essentially shaped the world through the eyes of the West.” In speaking of the Global North’s attitude toward the Global South amid converging crises, Prashad says, “To my mind, the callous attitude towards the pandemic is equivalent to the callous attitude towards arms-sales is equivalent to the callous attitude to climate change is equivalent to the callous attitude towards austerity. It’s all one and the same. And it comes from this sense of superiority and this sense of being somehow immune from the challenges of the world.” About today’s guest: Executive Director of Tri-Continental Institute for Social Research, Vijay Prashad is an historian, journalist, researcher, activist,, and a prolific writer. He has over 30 books to his name, including: The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World; The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South; Red Star Over the Third World; and Washington Bullets: A History of CIA, Coups, and Assassinations. He is the chief correspondent for Globetrotter, a columnist for Frontline News and chief editor of Leftword Books. Check out Tri-Continental publications discussed in this interview: The Courage My Friends podcast series is a co-production between The Tommy Douglas Institute (at George Brown College), rabble.ca, with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at . Image: Vijay Prashad / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased. Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (Podcast Announcer), Nayocka Allen, Nicolas Echeverri Parra, Doreen Kajumba (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote). Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Breanne Doyle (for rabble.ca), Chandra Budhu and Ashley Booth. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca. Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/23555333

Mental health in the workplace: Are we working well? 06/20/2022

Mental health in the workplace: Are we working well? In the fourth episode, we discuss the upcoming report from the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation on Mental Health and Wellness in the Workplace with project leads Jon Weier and Tom Parkin. In speaking to the necessity of this report, Jon Weier says “..this is really a systemic issue. Mental health impacts or mental distress is something that affects many, many workers. We specifically are looking at how this is related to the workplace and to the idea of work. But of course, as you and others have pointed out on this podcast and in other places, mental health distress over a number of issues is really becoming almost a defining factor of our age. And I think as a result, this kind of research and this kind of examination and understanding of the impacts of our society more broadly on mental health is a really, really important direction to be going right now in this research.” “It's not just that people struggle with mental health effects because of the workplace though, the research is clearly there. But people who are not working, people who are struggling with paying the bills, people who are raised in households where they don't have enough food. People who live in households where there's just a lack of income. The research over and over again showed that these were neighborhoods that had higher levels of depression, anxiety, mental health distress, than in more affluent neighborhoods. So if we're going to say, yes unions should be involved in this; the kind of unionism probably the three of us believe in, isn't just about the union’s own members, but about a broader social agenda,” says Tom Parkin. About today’s guests: Jonathan Weier is a professor in The School of Labor and The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at George Brown College. An established historian and educator, policy professional and commentator on social and labor movements, his research focuses on voluntary organizations, trade unions, political parties and other efforts by workers, social activists, and reformers to achieve progressive political, social and economic goals. Jon has been active in the labor movement and in Left politics for over 20 years and is currently a board member and the academic advisor for the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation. Tom Parkin is Principle with Impact Strategies and former Managing Director of Ontario’s Worker's Health and Safety Center. A frequent political columnist and media commentator, Tom has contributed to print, radio and television news media across Canada. The report on Mental Health and Wellness in the Workplace will be released by the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation The Courage My Friends podcast is a co-production between The Tommy Douglas Institute (at George Brown College), rabble.ca, with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation Transcript of this episode can be accessed at . Image: Jon Weier and Tom Parkin / Used with permission. Excerpt from “Home” by Warsan Shire Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (General Intro./Outro.), Nayocka Allen, Nicolas Echeverri Parra, Doreen Kajumba (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Breanne Doyle (for rabble.ca), Chandra Budhu and Ashley Booth Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/23484275

Conflict, climate and refugees: Borderless crises in a bordered world and the politics of asylum 06/13/2022

Conflict, climate and refugees: Borderless crises in a bordered world and the politics of asylum In the third episode, we speak with Loly Rico of the FCJ Refugee Centre and Rachel Bryce, from the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers about the multiple issues facing those fleeing poverty, destabilization, the borderless crises of conflict and climate change and the responsibility of Canada to provide asylum. “Refugee is defined as someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted on five grounds. Those grounds are: race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. But as you so rightly point out, climate is not one of those,” says Rachel Bryce. “I think that Canada being a signatory country is violating the Refugee Convention. Because the convention says that anyone who shows up at your borders, you must provide access for protection. And with the Safe Third Country Agreement, they don't provide that. They just limited the access for protection to too many people,” says Loly Rico. About today’s guest: Loly Rico is executive director of the FCJ Refugee Center in Toronto, which she co-founded with her husband, human rights activist Francisco Rico-Martinez, who sadly passed away last year. From her own experience as both a refugee to Canada from El Salvador through her work, including as past president of OCASI, Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants and the Canadian Council for Refugees, she is a steadfast and powerful voice on anti-trafficking and refugee rights and status. Rachel Bryce is the co-chair of the Climate Migration Working Group for the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers or CARL. She has worked at landings, LLP, a leading immigration refugee and human rights law firm in Toronto since January, 2021. And before that in the international migration law unit of the UN migration agency in Geneva, Switzerland, as well as the International Development law organization in the Hague, the Netherlands. She holds a Juris Doctorate, Masters of Global Affairs joint degree from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law and the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. CARL Climate Migration Report Transcript of this episode can be accessed at . Image: Loly Rico and Rachel Bryce / Used with permission. Excerpt from “Home” by Warsan Shire Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (General Intro./Outro.), Nayocka Allen, Nicolas Echeverri Parra, Doreen Kajumba (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Breanne Doyle (for rabble.ca), Chandra Budhu and Ashley Booth. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/23390726

Ecological grief: Mourning the past, fearing the future and finding hope 06/06/2022

Ecological grief: Mourning the past, fearing the future and finding hope In the second episode, we speak with Ashlee Cunsolo, a leading voice on climate change and ecological grief, about the growing issue of ecological grief, how it is being experienced and the power that can come from mourning. “For so many people all over the world and particularly Indigenous Peoples all over the world, this connection to the environment, this grieving over the loss of more than humans - whether they're plants or animals or ecosystems - that kinship with other beings and then grieving other beings is certainly not new,” Cunsolo says. Cunsolo continues: “If we are facing ‘code red for humanity’ - if we are facing 1 million species at a risk of extinction and decline; that is an era of loss and damage. And that is an era of grief. And we're going to be called to grief-work. And we're going to have to do this together. And do it hopefully in a way that doesn't cause more harm, but actually might bring us together for big ethical and political changes. And for really uniting people to create a different future.” About today’s guest: Ashlee Cunsolo is the founding Dean of the School of Arctic and Sub-Arctic Studies of the Labrador Institute of Memorial University, a former Canada Research Chair, and a member of the Royal Society of Canada College of New Artists, Scholars, and Scientists. She is a leading voice internationally on climate change, mental health and ecological grief, a regular contributor to media and policy and editor of Mourning Nature: Hope at the Heart of Ecological Grief and Loss. She is a mother, daughter, sister, aunt, and partner, living and learning as a guest on the homelands of the Innu and Inuit in Labrador, Canada. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at or here. Image: Ashlee Cunsolo / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (General Intro./Outro.), Nayocka Allen, Nicolas Echeverri Parra, Doreen Kajumba (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Breanne Doyle (for rabble.ca), Chandra Budhu and Ashley Booth. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/23322842

Education, critical pedagogy and the future of learning in a post-pandemic world 05/30/2022

Education, critical pedagogy and the future of learning in a post-pandemic world The Tommy Douglas Institute and rabble.ca, with the support of the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation, proudly present the Courage My Friends podcast. In the first episode of this year’s Courage My Friends podcast series, we welcome author, public intellectual and celebrated scholar of the Critical Pedagogy Movement, 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? Our guest, Henry Giroux, joins host Resh Budhu to talk about education, critical pedagogy and the future of learning in a post-pandemic world. “We need to understand that education is so vital and so crucial in respect to whether or not a democracy can succeed or not, that we've got to do everything we can to protect the institutions that constitute themselves as schools and public schooling,” Giroux says. “We [also] need to take the question of the imagination seriously. How do we not just talk about what kids need to work; why can't we talk about what they need to learn in order to be inspired? What does it mean to instill in them a sense of civic consciousness in which a notion of joy is creating those conditions in which they can work with others, and feel for others, and have compassion for others?” About today’s guest: Henry A. Giroux currently holds the McMaster University Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest in the English and Cultural Studies Department and is the Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy. His most recent books include: The Terror of the Unforeseen (Los Angeles Review of books, 2019), On Critical Pedagogy, 2nd edition (Bloomsbury, 2020); Race, Politics, and Pandemic Pedagogy: Education in a Time of Crisis (Bloomsbury 2021); Pedagogy of Resistance: Against Manufactured Ignorance (Bloomsbury 2022) and his forthcoming Insurrections: Education in the Age of Counter-revolutionary politics. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at . Image: Henry Giroux / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (General Intro./Outro.), Nayocka Allen, Nicolas Echeverri Parra, Doreen Kajumba (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Breanne Doyle (for rabble.ca), Chandra Budhu and Ashley Booth. Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu /episode/index/show/needsnointroduction/id/23252861

Canada's place in the world -- Green party leadership debate 09/16/2020

The growing threat of privatization 09/04/2020

Canada's interference in Venezuela 08/28/2020

'She-cessions and she-coveries' -- women and the pandemic 08/21/2020

Unions fighting anti-Black racism 08/14/2020

Unpacking anti-Asian racism through an intersectional lens 08/07/2020

Migrant farmworkers: organizing and resisting before, during and beyond COVID-19 07/24/2020

Resistance and resurgence -- confronting anti-Black racism in Canada 07/16/2020

Needs No Introduction

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