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Well folks, another year has come and gone! As we reflect on the year that's passed, we here at rabble radio are remembering some of our favourite interview moments on the show this year. We had so many wonderful guests — ranging from activists, to professors, to filmmakers, economists, healthcare workers, poets and writers — the list goes on. In today's episode, we'll be sharing a few of our personal favourite interview clips of this year. (Which was no easy task for a 28 minute show, I'll tell you that!) Here are some of our top rabble radio episodes of the year… In February of this year, Paul Taylor, executive director of FoodShare Toronto and a lifelong anti-poverty activist joined rabble radio to speak with Libby Davies about the impact the pandemic had on FoodShare. And how activists should allow for room for fatigue and frustration during difficult times. No one felt the COVID-19 pandemic harder than our health care workers in Canada. In early 2022, rabble partnered with the Canadian Federation of Nurses' Unions. Together, we developed the Nurses' Voices: Stories of courage and determination in the face of COVID-19 book. It highlights over 20 interviews from health care professionals across Canada. The book illustrates how the pandemic upended nurses' lives – and how, despite it all, their commitment to their patients remained unwavering. On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. This piece of legislation made abortion access a federal right in the United States. The decision sent a shockwave through the States which was felt in Canada. That week, Stephen Wentzell interviewed writer and registered nurse Martha Paynter for rabble radio. They spoke about the misconceptions people have about access to abortion in Canada and the other threats facing reproductive justice in the country. As part of rabble's Boiling Point series, Stephen Wentzell spoke to Dr. Melissa Lem, to talk about how recent extreme weather events are affecting the physical and mental health of Canadians. Also a part of our Boiling Point series, Jillian Piper spoke to Breanne Lavallee-Heckert, the research manager at Indigenous Climate Action. Breanne explained the work she does at the organization, and the importance of Indigenous stewardship in regard to the climate crisis. The labour movement in Canada grabbed the attention of the nation in late autumn this year, when CUPE Ontario went to war with Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative government over fair wages and for education support workers. In November, CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn joined rabble radio to speak with Nick Seebruch about what was at stake in this labour dispute. Another huge story of 2022, was, of course, rising inflation. In November, economist Jim Stanford sat down with editor Nick Seebruch to discuss the state of Canada's economy. The two also talked about how progressive organizations, activists, and groups must band together as we move forward into what's sure to be a tough year economically and politically. Did we miss a favourite interview of yours from 2022? Let us know in the comments below! 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 safe and happy new year! If you're in the giving mood and would like to support our show today, please visit rabble.ca/donate. 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. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.

This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was 'Off the Hill: Looking back to leap ahead.' From the Freedom Convoy, to major action in Canada's labour movement, to the ongoing war in Ukraine, to political leadership races on the provincial and federal levels, our panel reflected on the major news events of 2022 and wondered aloud: What does this mean we can expect for the year ahead? Our December panel included MP Leah Gazan, Chuka Ejeckam, El Jones and Karl Nerenberg. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies. Also – don't miss next week's episode, when we'll be reviewing highlights from our top rabble radio episodes of the year! Will your favourite episode make it on our list? Tune in next week to find out. Do you know a rabble rouser to watch? We are now accepting submissions for our 'rabble rousers to watch' of 2023. Tell us about the activists in your community who have made a difference, and whose work you think rabble should be covering. Nominations are open until midnight, December 31, 2022. Everyone who participates in our survey will be entered into a draw to win a rabble tote bag. 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. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.

This week on rabble radio, Libby Davies interviews Harley Augustino, organizer and trainer, to talk about his experience volunteering for two separate congressional districts in the most recent U.S. midterm elections. Oregon 5 and Washington 3 had two very different projected outcomes when Augustino volunteered to organize with them. Oregon 5 was considered a 'class toss up,' with about a 50/50 chance of going with a Republican or Democratic candidate. Washington 3, however –a Republican district– was projected to have only a 2% chance of becoming a Democratic district. In this interview, Augustino walks Davies through the results of these campaigns and explains why good, old fashioned door-to-door organizing shouldn't be underestimated. Harley Augustino appeared on rabble radio earlier this year to talk about 'Base Building for Power' a collective he works with which trains future activists and organizers. Photo by: Maximillian Conacher on Unsplash Do you know a rabble rouser to watch? We are now accepting submissions for our 'rabble rousers to watch' of 2023. Tell us about the activists in your community who have made a difference, and whose work you think rabble should be covering. Nominations are open until midnight, December 31, 2022. Everyone who participates in our survey will be entered into a draw to win a rabble tote bag. Don't miss our final Off the Hill event of 2022! This December, our panel is taking a look back to look forward, as we close off 2022 and think ahead to 2023. From the Freedom Convoy, to major action in Canada's labour movement, to the ongoing war in Ukraine, to political leadership races on the provincial and federal levels; our esteemed panel will reflect on a year that had no shortage of newsworthy events, and then ask: what does this mean we can expect for the year ahead? Our panel includes MP Leah Gazan, El Jones, Chuka Ejeckam and Karl Nerenberg. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies. Join us this December 14, 2022. Register for this free event here! 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. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.

This week on rabble radio, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell speaks to Dr. Jane McArthur. McArthur is the Toxics Program director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE). McArthur, other members of CAPE and advocates for environmental protection and public health are calling on Parliament to expedite passage of Bill C-226, Canada's first environmental racism law. Bill C-226 was first introduced by former MP Lenore Zann as Bill C-230 in the last session of Parliament. It was approved by the House of Commons in June last year, but died on the order paper when Parliament dissolved for elections. In February of this year, now co-leader of the federal Green Party Elizabeth May re-introduced the same legislation as Bill C-226. The time is now to develop and implement a national strategy on environmental racism and environmental justice, McArthur says. "Canada talks about itself as a country of kindness, but we need to see that reflected in our policies and we should not be tolerating vulnerablization of any community." - Dr. Jane McArthur Photo: Markus Spiske on Unsplash Don't miss our final Off the Hill event of 2022! This December, our panel is taking a look back to look forward, as we close off 2022 and think ahead to 2023. From the Freedom Convoy, to major action in Canada's labour movement, to the ongoing war in Ukraine, to political leadership races on the provincial and federal levels; our esteemed panel will reflect on a year that had no shortage of newsworthy events, and then ask: what does this mean we can expect for the year ahead? Our panel includes MP Leah Gazan, El Jones, Karl Nerenberg. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies. Join us this December 14, 2022. Register for this free event here! 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. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.

This week on the show, rabble editor Nick Seebruch is joined by the director of the Centre for Future Work, economist Jim Stanford. Together, they walk us through the state of Canada's economy – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Earlier this month, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem made headlines when he remarked that inflation was due to what he called an "overheated" labour market. Stanford says that's unfair; Canadian workers being able to easily find employment and the slightly higher wages they've been receiving are not to blame for inflation – and therefore shouldn't be punished. Seebruch and Stanford also discuss how progressive organizations, activists, and groups must ban together as we move forward into what's sure to be a tough year economically and politically. Photo: Charles Deluvio on Unsplash 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. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada. And across the country, communities gather to pay tribute to veterans and military members. But not all veterans are feeling cared for. Some are asking if the government cares about them or their wellbeing at all, or if Veterans' Affairs Canada is operating under the old "deny, delay, and die" adage. This impression is brought about in large part due to the $560-million plan to sub-contract veteran rehabilitative and vocational services away from the Veterans' Affairs case workers and into the hands of the for-profit company: Partners in Canadian Veterans Rehabilitation Services. This company is composed of WGC International and Lifemark Health Group. The contract is set to come into effect this month. Veterans Affairs Canada says the contract will help overworked case managers while ensuring veterans have timely access to the care they need. However, the Union of Veterans' Affairs Employees (UVAE) believes this contract is going to have the opposite effect. UVAE argues this will add more paperwork to the workload of case managers, disrupt the relationships case managers have built with veterans, and add an extra level of bureaucracy veterans will be left to deal with. UVAE says the only group this contract will benefit will be the profit-making corporation. A statement from UVAE and the Public Service Alliance of Canada reads: "Veterans and their families deserve better. They have already paid for these services with their sacrifice. Let's not make them fight and pay again." This week on the show, rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga speaks with Virginia Vaillancourt, the national president of UVAE. Vaillancourt argues Veterans Affairs Canada must stop using private sector companies to do public sector work. Join our Off the Hill discussion this week! When marijuana was legalized in 2018, it drastically reduced the number of cannabis-related drug convictions, while also creating a multibillion-dollar industry. But what does the cannabis industry look like today? Who wins? Who loses? Who calls the shots, and what's next? Our dynamic panel will give us an inside look into what's really going on with Canada's drug reform policy on marijuana and much more. Our panel includes "princess of pot" Jodie Giesz-Ramsay, rabble columnist and drug policy researcher Chuka Ejeckam and MP Don Davies. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies. Join us this November 17, 2022. Register for this free event here. Photo: Ellie Pourreza on Unsplash. 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. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.

This week on rabble radio, we're sharing an interview between CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn and rabble editor Nick Seebruch. The two spoke on Nov. 2 to explain what's at stake in the labour dispute in Ontario. At the time of this episode's posting, CUPE has announced that it will strike on Friday, Nov. 4 and OPSEU – the Ontario Public Services Employees Union – says its 8000 education workers will join them. The Ontario Federation of Labour has also taken to social media to share their support for CUPE. But how did we get here? To recap, CUPE Ontario has been negotiating with the Ford government, trying to secure better pay for its educational support workers. As Marc Belanger explained on a special RadioLabour episode this week, when inflation is taken into account, the lowest paid educational worker in Ontario has seen their wages effectively cut by 11 per cent since 2012. CUPE has been seeking a wage increase of $3.25 per hour in each year of a three year collective agreement. On Sunday, October 30th, 97% of CUPE Ontario's 55,000 education workers voted to give the Ford government the legally necessary five day notice of a potential provincial-wide strike should their wage demands not be met. Despite a long week at the bargaining table, the Ford government was not to be persuaded. On Thursday evening, the Ford government passed Bill 28 which imposes a new work contract on educational support workers with a pay increase of 2.5 per cent, well below the rate of inflation. Ford invoked the Constitution's notwithstanding clause which allows the provincial government to override part of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and bypass the union's right to bargain and strike. The use of the notwithstanding clause means that Bill 28 cannot be challenged in court. In doing so, Judy Rebick says the Ford government has effectively called a "class war against unions." CUPE president Laura Walton has pledged that their members will strike on Friday, November 4 and that the strike will continue "for as long as it takes." The Ontario Federation of Labour took to social media saying: "Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce have declared war on 1 million union members, 7 milllion workers, 14 million Ontarians. Get ready to fight." This is a developing story. Join in the conversation on our discussion board, babble. Photo: Courtesy of CUPE 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. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.

Homelessness is a major social and healthcare disaster that has been plaguing Canada for decades, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this issue. Are provincial and municipal governments doing enough to combat homelessness in our communities? Or are the solutions that they're coming up with making the problem worse? In Displacement City: Fighting for Health and Homes in a Pandemic, outreach worker Greg Cook and rabble columnist and retired street nurse Cathy Crowe collect stories which shed a light on infrastructure of displacement through prose, poetry, and photography. Contributors to the book include those who have lived experience of homelessness in Toronto. Each chapter reports on different areas of the realities of this crisis and how community members responded. Whether that be by providing disaster-relief supplies and tiny shelters for encampments, by advocating for shelter-hotels where people could physically distance, by taking the city to court, or by rising up against encampment evictions. The book also provides particular insight into policies affecting Indigenous peoples and how the legacy of colonialism and displacement reached a critical point during the pandemic. You can order your own copy of Displacement City: Fighting for Health and Homes in a Pandemic here. You can catch up on Cathy Crowe's column, where she regularly reports on issues surrounding homelessness, housing, advocacy and activism here. 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. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.

This week on rabble radio, we feature a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our theme was 'Off the Hill: Confronting Islamophobia in Canada.' This month is National Islamic History Month. This month's panel dove into what political actions are needed to confront the rise of Islamophobia in Canada. Our panel also explored what role the media has in all of this. Our September panel included Senator Salma Ataullahjan, Monia Mazigh, Nuzhat Jafri, and Karl Nerenberg. Co-hosted by Robin Browne and Libby Davies. 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. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.

Nick Seebruch speaks to two members of Health Providers Against Poverty (HPAP) to talk about destigmatizing people fighting addiction, homelessness, and poverty. This week on the show, rabble editor Nick Seebruch sits down with Sara Pishdadian and Adriana Di Stefano, both active members of Health Providers Against Poverty. Healthcare Providers Against Poverty is a group of healthcare workers who strive to make healthcare provision equitable for all. Pishdadian and Di Stefano explain how addressing the social determinants of health, meaning the economic and social conditions at play which affect one's health status, need to be addressed in order to reduce health inequity. Destigmatizing homelessness, poverty, and drug addiction is also key in providing care to every Canadian. The two also dive into the many resources, events, campaigns, and support groups that are available through Healthcare Providers Against Poverty. "In a country where we are so proud of equitable healthcare, efforts such as this are of utmost importance to ensure that our healthcare system truly does remain accessible for all." – https://healthprovidersagainstpoverty.ca/ Also on the show this week, we feature a song by Ish Theilheimer, in honour of his friend, Mel Watkins. Listen to "Mel, the Parry Sound Babysitter" today. 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. Or, if you have feedback for the show, get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca.