rabble radio

It has been a very eventful year in Canada, to put it simply. As rabble editor Nick Seebruch and publisher Sarah Sahagian noted on last week's show, Canadian politics went through one of its most dramatic periods in recent memory—including a federal election that reshaped the national conversation. And politics were only part of the picture. Environmental challenges, major labour actions, and Canada's shifting role on the international stage all kept the news cycle moving. Throughout it all, rabble's reporters and freelance writers worked to make sense of these developments on our site and here on the podcast. Today, we're sharing the last episode of rabble radio for 2025. And, in the fashion of our last episodes of the past few years, we're highlighting some of our best interviews of this year on rabble radio. Thank you for listening to rabble radio Our show would not be possible without listeners like you. So thank you! From all of us here at rabble, we want to wish you and your communities a very merry holiday season and a safe and happy new year! If we've caught you in the giving mood and would like to support our show today, please visit rabble.ca/donate. rabble radio will return January 9, 2026. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.

This week on rabble radio, rabble publisher Sarah Sahagian and rabble editor Nick Seebruch discuss the major news in Canadian politics of 2025; including the resignation of Justin Trudeau, to now-Prime Minister Mark Carney—and his first months as leader, his budget and pipeline plans; the NDP leadership race; and more. This marks our final interview of the year! Next week on the show, we'll feature a collection of our favourite interviews of 2025 in the yearly fashion of the "best of rabble radio" episode. Tune in next week to see if your favourite interview made the cut! If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.

In its newly tabled budget, the federal government announced that over the course of four years there would be a $2.7 billion reduction in international assistance. As Bridget Potasky writes in her November 13th piece on rabble.ca, this announcement has drawn the ire of NGOs who warn it could cause long-term, irreversible harm leaving vulnerable communities without essential medical care, food, and protection at a time when global needs have dramatically risen. This week on rabble radio, we tune in to her conversation with the director of policy and advocacy with Cooperation Canada, Paul Farran. Cooperation Canada is an umbrella group representing more than 100 Canadian non-profits engaged in humanitarian aid efforts and international development. About our guest Paul Farran is the director of policy and advocacy with Cooperation Canada. He works closely with the CSO sector in Canada on parliamentary and government engagement. He has a background working internationally with the United Nations and NGOs in different regions of the world on partnership and government relations issues. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.

The New Democratic Party of Canada is currently looking for its new leader after the resignation of Jagmeet Singh and a colossal decline in support in the most recent federal election. It seems the NDP's reduced support stems from competition with the Liberals, strategic voting, demographic shifts, and difficulties uniting diverse voter groups across Canada. The new leader of the NDP must unite the party's diverse voter groups, rebuild national support and clearly differentiate the NDP's vision from its rivals. But how can this be done? rabble publisher Sarah Sahagian and assistant professor at the School of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University Daniel Westlake discuss this question and more this week on rabble radio. About our guest Daniel Westlake is a term assistant professor at the School of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University. He teaches courses on Canadian politics, quantitative methods, and multiculturalism and immigration policy. Westlake completed his PhD in political science at the University of British Columbia and has previously held positions at the University of Victoria, Queen's University, and the University of Saskatchewan. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.

Content warning: This interview centers around domestic violence. Please listen with care and sensitivity. Family and child protection lawyer Bobbi Olsen joins rabble publisher Sarah Sahagian to talk about the legal systems in Canada which handle issues of domestic and family violence. The two explore what is working and what needs to be improved. About our guest Bobbi Olsen is a dual-call (Ontario and Alberta) high conflict family and child protection lawyer who has practiced in Toronto for many years, and now practices with MD Law Group in Calgary, Alberta. In addition to her LL.B., she holds a Masters of Law in Family Law from Osgoode Hall Law School and a certificate from the Master Class of Negotiation, Harvard Law School, Executive Education. An army reservist during undergrad, she jokes that she has spent her adult life learning to protect people's freedom, a value she holds dear. She is known for spontaneous solo travel, running, and spending too much time alone with her dog, Ted Mosby. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.

This week on rabble radio, we're looking at how unions and employers bargain in Canada and whether it's time for a new approach. Right now, most unions negotiate with one employer at a time, which can make it tough to raise standards across an industry. Some experts are calling for sectoral bargaining which may help create fairer pay and conditions for everyone. Today on the show, we're joined by Dr. Adam King, assistant professor in Labour Studies at the University of Manitoba, to talk about what a move toward sectoral bargaining could mean for workers and the future of Canada's labour movement. About our guest Adam D.K. King is an assistant professor in the Labour Studies Program at the University of Manitoba. He is the coauthor of Work and Labour in Canada: Critical Issues, 4th Edition and writes a weekly newsletter about work and the labour movement called "Class Struggle" at The Maple. On November 19, join Dr. Adam King and Dr. Sara Slinn (Osgoode Hall Law School) in a webinar focused on sectoral bargaining here. Hosted by the Labour Studies Department at Brock University. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.

This week, Prime Minister Mark Carney shared Budget 2025: a budget that Carney says is "to build Canada strong." The budget emphasized the importance of investing over spending—but what does that really mean? Here to break it down is economist Jim Stanford. About our guest Jim Stanford is economist and director of the Centre for Future Work, a progressive labour economics institute based in Vancouver. He has a PhD in economics from the New School for Social Research in New York, and also holds economics degrees from Cambridge University and the University of Calgary. He is the author of Economics for Everyone, which has been translated into six languages. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.

It's Islamic History Month in Canada; and this week on the show, we're joined by Sadaf Ahsan and Sarah Sahagian to discuss Muslim representation in Canadian pop culture. In this conversation, the two explore common trends and stereotypes surrounding Muslim characters in the media, discuss the figures who are offering more nuanced and multifaceted representations, and share some of their favourite books, musicians, television shows and films that showcase Muslim talent. About our guest Sadaf Ahsan is the senior editor at 3 Magazine, co-host of Frequency Podcasts' The Reheat, columnist at The Globe & Mail, contributing editor at RepresentASIAN Project, and a Humber College journalism professor. Her work has appeared in The Walrus, CBC, The Cut and more. She previously worked at The Juggernaut, Canadian Press, The Discourse, NOW Magazine, and the National Post. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.

The New Democratic Party of Canada will select its next leader at the Winnipeg Convention in March next year. As of now, there are five officially approved candidates seeking the leadership of Canada's NDP. They are: Rob Ashton, Tanille Johnston, Avi Lewis, Heather McPherson and Tony McQuail. This week on rabble radio, rabble editor Nick Seebruch and publisher Sarah Sahagian sit down to discuss the federal NDP leadership race. The two weigh in on the "insiders" and "outsiders" of the race, the concept of political "purity tests" and the importance of English-French bilingualism for a federal leader. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.

This week on rabble radio, we share a clip from a recent episode of the Courage My Friends series featuring co-executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, Karen Cocq, advocacy and media relations coordinator at The Refugee Centre in Montreal, Alina Murad and President of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, Aisling Bondy. The three join Courage My Friends series host Resh Budhu to discuss Prime Minister Mark Carney's new border security acts, Bill C-2 and its questionable make-over with the recently tabled Bill C-12 and how they effectively rewrite Canada's approach to refugee rights and protections. If passed, what will these acts mean for those seeking asylum—and for Canada as a whole? About our guests and the Courage My Friends series Aisling Bondy is the current president of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL), a national organization comprised of several hundred lawyers who practice in refugee law. She is the founder of Bondy Immigration Law and is a member of the Refugee Lawyers' Association, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association, the Ontario Bar Association and the Canadian Bar Association. Karen Cocq is co-executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC), a membership-based organization of migrants. MWAC is the secretariat of the cross-country Migrant Rights Network, the largest coalition of migrant led organizations in Canada. She has been active in migrant justice and workers' rights organizing for 20 years. Alina Murad is the advocacy and media relations coordinator at The Refugee Centre in Montreal. She leads policy research and advocacy initiatives addressing systemic barriers faced by refugees and asylum seekers in Canada. Follow them on Instagram @therefugeecentre and @pointofentrypodcast. Listen to the full episode here. And, if you'd like to hear more from the Courage My Friends podcast series, please subscribe to Needs No Introduction. Available on rabble.ca, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. The Courage My Friends podcast is a co-production between rabble.ca and the Tommy Douglas Institute at George Brown College. Produced by Resh Budhu of the Tommy Douglas Institute, Breanne Doyle of rabble.ca and the TDI planning committee: Chandra Budhu and Ashley Booth. For more information about the Tommy Douglas Institute and this series, visit georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.