rabble radio

This week on rabble radio, we featured a segment from our most recent Off the Hill political panel. This month, our panel discussed the idea of a guaranteed livable basic income. What is it, how would it work, and how much would it cost us? Our panel was made up of MP Leah Gazan, who in December of last year introduced Bill C-223 which, if passed, would establish the first national framework for an unconditional guaranteed livable basic income for everyone over 17 in Canada. Senator Kim Pate also joined us this week, she is responsible for Bill S-233 for Unconditional Basic Income. Rounding out our panel were Sheila Regehr, the co-chair of Basic Income Canada Network, and Karl Nerenberg, rabble's senior parliamentary reporter. If you missed out on this event and would have liked to attend, don't worry! Our next Off the Hill event will take place in June. Please stay tuned for updates on that event and be sure to sign up for rabble's newsletter at rabble.ca/alerts to make sure you get the invitation. 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. Photo by: PiggyBank on Unsplash

This week on rabble radio, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll speaks to Sarah Jama. Jama is the co-founder of the Disability Justice Network of Ontario. Through the Disability Justice Network, Jama has been challenging the Ontario government and its health services to move from policing people with disabilities to allowing them to have personal and political agency and to thrive within their communities. Nicoll and Jama talk about the importance of accessible health services and creating a society where people are seen beyond their ability to produce. Jama says: "If we can begin to build a world that isn't just focused on economics and my ability to produce, we can build a world that fits everybody and we can stop the warehousing of disabled people and the ways in which people who can't work are discarded." If you'd like to learn more about Jama's work with the Disability Justice Network of Ontario, be sure to check out Nicoll's piece on rabble.ca this week. Upcoming news: Don't miss it! Our next Off the Hill political panel is happening Tuesday, May 17 at 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PST. This month, our panel talks about the idea of a guaranteed livable basic income. What is it, how would it work, and how much would it cost us? Here to join us for that conversation is MP Leah Gazan, who in December of last year introduced Bill C-223 which, if passed, would establish the first national framework for an unconditional guaranteed livable basic income for everyone over 17 in Canada. Also joining us is Sheila Regehr, co-chair of Basic Income Canada Network. Karl Nerenberg, rabble's senior parliamentary reporter, will also be joining us. You won't want to miss it! Register for that free event here: bit.ly/OffTheHillMay17 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. Photo by: Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

This week on the show, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll interviews Natalie Mehra, the executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. The Ontario Health Coalition is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest activist coalition and network whose primary goal is to protect and improve Ontario's public health care system. The coalition works to protect the health system from threats like cuts, delisting and privatization. This is partly done by raising public awareness about Ontario's current healthcare systems programs and services. This includes long-term care homes. During the height of COVID-19, the average death rate in these private, for-profit care homes was 5.7%. Compare that to non-profit long term care homes - which saw 2.8%. Lower again at 1.4% for municipal facilities. Currently, 60% of Ontario's long-term care homes are private, for-profit. And despite these private care homes being notoriously understaffed, failing inspections, and responsible for the deaths of thousands of Canadians during COVID-19, the Ford government has just issued 30-year licenses and expansions for 18,000 additional LTC beds for private long-term care homes. All the while, public funding for health care in Ontario is the lowest in the country. Ahead of the Ontario election, Mehra is hoping the privatization of the province's long-term care homes becomes a key issue. "What's happening in Ontario should be a blight on all our consciences," Mehra tells Nicoll. "We have to win this one. This is our chance to do it. Let's make [the government] accountable for what's happened so far, and let's win real change this time." If you'd like to learn more about how to support the Ontario Health Coalition's campaign to end privatization in long-term care homes, please visit their website at ontariohealthcoalition.ca. You can also check out Nicoll's piece on rabble.ca this week. Upcoming news: Don't miss it! Our next Off the Hill political panel is happening Tuesday, May 17 at 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PST. This month's panel will be co-hosted by Libby Davies and Robin Browne and will feature MP Leah Gazan. Additional guests to be announced. Register for that free event here: https://bit.ly/OffTheHillMay17 Also: last month, we celebrated our 21st anniversary! If you're a fan of the show and would like to celebrate with us - we'd love you to consider making a donation. We're only $7k away from our target goal of raising $21,00 in 21 days! Please visit this link to learn how. 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. Photo by: Gert Stockmans on Unsplash

This week on rabble radio, Brent Patterson interviews Sleydo' Molly Wickham, a Gidimt'en Checkpoint spokesperson and Wing Chief of the Cas Yikh (Grizzly Bear) House. In November of 2021, Sleydo' was arrested at gunpoint during a militarized RCMP raid of her territory and held for five days in a jail cell. Brent Patterson spoke with Sleydo' earlier this week about the construction of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on Wet'suwet'en territory. If you'd like to read more of our coverage on the RCMP's involvement in the Coastal Gas Pipeline construction on Wet'suwet'en lands, please visit rabble.ca. Patterson has kept a close eye on the situation as it unfolds. 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. Photo by: Stephanie F / Unsplash

This week on rabble radio, Graham Flint of the Reform Gravel Mining Coalition joins Doreen Nicoll to talk about the importance of gravel reform in Ontario. The province has authorized annual extraction limits of over 13 times the actual amount of gravel used in Ontario annually. This calculation does not account for the 15 per cent of aggregate sites that have been granted unlimited extraction tonnage limits. 160 million tonnes of aggregates are produced each year. That amount of aggregate could fill enough trucks to circle around the entire world six times. Enough is enough, so says the Reform Gravel Mining Coalition. The "Demand A Moratorium Now" petition looks at the new approvals for gravel mining in Ontario. Gravel mining is destroying natural habitats and damaging communities across Ontario. The Reform Gravel Mining Coalition believes the people affected should have a say in the matter. Also: rabble has turned 21! This Monday, April 18, we celebrated our 21st anniversary! If you're a fan of the show and would like to celebrate with us - we'd love you to consider making a donation. We're hoping to raise $21,00 in 21 days! Please visit this link to learn how. 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. Photo by: Alexander Cifuentes on Unsplash

This week on rabble radio, we're bringing you a segment of our latest Off the Hill political panel which took place on Thursday April 14th. This month, the theme was "Will Budget 2022 build Canada forward?" It featured special guests Avi Lewis, Jim Stanford and MP Leah Gazan. They deconstructed the recently released federal budget. Those guests joined regular hosts, Libby Davies and Robin Browne. If you missed the last Off the Hill and would have liked to attend, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to never miss an invite! Also: rabble is turning 21! This Monday, April 18, we're celebrating our 21st anniversary! If you're a fan of the show and would like to celebrate with us - we'd love you to consider making a donation. We hope to raise $21,00 in 21 days! Please visit this link to learn how. 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. Photo by: Josh Appel via Unsplash

This week on rabble radio, we're bringing you an interview with Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah. Owusu-Akyeeah has been the executive director of the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity since July 2020. The organization is a national LGBTQ organization dedicated to eliminating all forms of bullying, discrimination, and homophobia in schools. She speaks to rabble's national reporter, Stephen Wentzell, about how the 'Don't Say Gay' bill, set to go into effect in Florida, could impact education on gender diversity and sexual orientation of young Canadians. 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. Photo by: Teddy Österblom on Unsplash // https://unsplash.com/photos/owiVf9bFKHM

This week on rabble radio, we're bringing you an interview with Harley Augustino of Base Building for Power. Base Building for Power is a collective of activists and organizers. The collective offers programs for individuals who wish to become better organizers themselves – notably, through the 'Summer Justice' program. This paid, two-month program provides hands-on training for young BIPOC activists in Vancouver to develop concrete organizing skills. This is Augustino's second year as a trainer for the program. He talks about what he's hoping this summer's students will take away from the program, and what lessons his students have taught him. Augustino spoke to Libby Davies, author of Outside In and former long-time MP for Vancouver East. 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. Photo by: Tanushree Rao on Unsplash / https://unsplash.com/photos/kYjDNNRmR7c

This week on rabble radio, journalist Wayne MacPhail interviews Deirdre Pike, of the Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters. Hamilton has found itself in the middle of a housing and homelessness crisis. The Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters, or HATS, is a new project inspired by Kitchener's 'A Better Tent City,' to serve as a temporary solution to the housing crisis in Hamilton by providing small homes for people in need. In 2020, the City of Hamilton released a report which set a framework on ending chronic homelessness by 2025. But this goal can't be achieved without concrete plans and real community action. That's where HATS comes in. Pike is a senior social planner at the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton. Pike speaks with Wayne MacPhail about the challenges the project has faced so far. They discuss what the community has to say about the project, and what services will be available to people who will occupy these cabin community living spaces. "The way things are moving, we're not sure if 2025 is going to be a goal that's met in terms of 'the end of homelessness,'" Pike says. "If it is, then that should mean small communities like this [The Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters] are temporary and would fold up. But in the meantime, we're making sure that people don't live like this next winter … This is really an opportunity to have people live with some dignity and, probably for the first time in many years, an experience that this is their own place." 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. Photo by: Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

This week on rabble radio, we're bringing you an interview with long-time British Columbia politician Joy MacPhail. MacPhail is best known for her roles in BC politics - but there is much more to her story. Many will remember her as Deputy Premier of British Columbia. MacPhail is a longtime member of the BC NDP, and member of the BC Legislative Assembly, representing Vancouver-Hastings. Over her ground-breaking, and at times controversial career - that began in the BC labour movement before being elected to politics - she served as Minister of Finance, Minister of Education, Minister of Heath, Minister of Social Services and Seniors, and more. Currently, MacPhail chairs the ICBC board (the Insurance Corporation of BC), and is an owner of OUTtv, the world's longest airing LGBTQ+ television network. She was appointed to the Order of Canada this past January where she was rec​​ognized for her "pioneering contributions to politics and for her tireless advocacy of underserved and marginalized communities". MacPhail speaks to fellow politician and friend, Libby Davies. Davies is also a life long political activist and politician, but at the municipal and federal levels. She was a long time Vancouver city councilor and former Deputy Leader and House Leader of the federal NDP, representing the riding of Vancouver East from 1997 to 2015. Davies is also a member of the Order of Canada. MacPhail reflects on a lifetime of experiences as a woman in Canadian politics. She recounts the gender-biased scrutiny she faced from the media, and shares what it was like trying to balance being a mother while breaking ground for women in politics. She also discusses how she maintains motivation for positive change to this day. 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.