rabble radio

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.

This week on the show, Nick Seebruch sits down with Inori Roy, co-founder of Canadian Journalists for Justice in Palestine, to discuss why many journalists in Canada remain hesitant to cover Palestine. They explore how the organization is helping newsrooms report on Gaza with greater fairness and accuracy, and the broader efforts underway to promote ethical journalism across the country. To learn more about the work Canadian Journalists for Justice in Palestine does, visit cjjp.org. About our guest Inori Roy is a co-founder at Canadian Journalists for Justice in Palestine. She works as a Toronto-based feature writer and associate editor at The Local magazine. 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.

Labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga sits down with Gauri Sreenivasan of the Canadian Council for Refugees to discuss the current state of Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the issues surrounding the closed work permit system. Sreenivasan last joined us on rabble radio in July to talk about the Lush Cosmetics x Canadian Council for Refugees 'Neighbours' campaign. Tune into that episode here. About our guest Gauri Sreenivasan (she/elle) is co-executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, a leading voice for the rights, protection, sponsorship, settlement, and well-being of refugees and migrants, in Canada and globally. She has over 30 years of experience in policy and advocacy, working in leadership roles across civil society, Parliament Hill, and with academia and researchers to build alliances for change on Turtle Island and around the world. 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 feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was 'Off the Hill: Parliament's back in session.' Our panel featured Ontario Federation of Labour president Laura Walton; former Ontario NDP MPP and former federal NDP candidate Joel Harden; researcher and activist Chuka Ejeckam; and rabble's own parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg. About our guests Laura Walton is the president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, the largest provincial labour federation in Canada, which represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. Chuka Ejeckam is a writer and policy researcher. His work focuses on inequity and inequality, drug policy, structural racism, and labour. He is also a columnist for rabble. Joel Harden is a lifelong community organizer who represented Ottawa Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2018 to 2025 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party. During his time at Queen's Park, Harden served as the party's Critic for Transit and Active Transportation, where he championed accessible, affordable, and sustainable public transit solutions across the province. Karl Nerenberg is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker, working in both English and French languages. He is rabble's senior parliamentary reporter. If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, 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.

Hello! I'm Breanne Doyle, the host of rabble radio, rabble.ca's weekly podcast. rabble radio is your go-to source for the latest news in Canadian politics, environment, activism and feminism. Through interviews with social activists, political analysts, labour leaders and environmental defenders, we dive in deeper to the stories that matter to you. Tune into rabble radio every Friday morning on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and select campus and college radio stations across Canada. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a new episode!