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Hello and welcome to rabble radio. It's the week of Friday, December 10. I'm your host and the editor of rabble.ca, Chelsea Nash. This week on the podcast, rabble contributor Brent Patterson interviews Wet'suwet'en land defenders Eve Saint and Jocelyn, or Jocey, Alec. Eve and Jocey are sisters who have been arrested and criminalized for defending their sovereign territory in northern British Columbia from a fracked gas pipeline being built on those lands without consent. Eve was arrested by the RCMP on February 7, 2020, at the Gidimt'en checkpoint blockade at the 44-kilometre mark on the Morice River Forest Service Road. There were 60-100 police officers present, including the Emergency Response Team (ERT), dressed in army green and carrying automatic weapons. Before she was arrested, Eve said to them: "This is Wet'suwet'en territory. We are unarmed. We are peaceful. This is unceded territory. This is the territory of Woos. I am his daughter. You are invaders. You are not allowed here. You are not welcome." Eve was charged with obstruction of justice and held in custody for four days. More recently, Jocey was arrested by the RCMP on November 19, 2021, while inside a cabin at Coyote camp near the 63-kilometre mark on the road. That cabin was built on the Marten Forest Service Road near Morice River to stop Coastal GasLink from drilling under the river to lay the pipe for its pipeline. Jocey was inside the cabin when the RCMP used an axe and then a chainsaw to tear down its front door as an ERT officer pointed an automatic weapon at those inside. Journalist Michael Toledano filmed this dramatic footage of the assault. Jocey was charged with civil contempt for breaching the terms of an injunction granted to Coastal GasLink not released from custody until November 23. Eve has said: "The post-traumatic stress is real. As Indigenous peoples, we don't like to see these images of our relatives and loved ones being invaded with these colonial forces." Take a listen to these two powerful women as they discuss their experiences with Brent. That was rabble contributor Brent Patterson interviewing Wet'suwet'en land defenders Eve Saint and Jocelyn Alec. Now, it's time for the segment we call: IN CASE YOU MISSED IT. This week at rabble, a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives shows just how much higher the risk of contracting COVID-19 is for Indigenous, racialized workers, senior national politics correspondent Karl Nerenberg reports. The new report does an analysis of jobs that require close physical contact with others and where risk of infection is highest. This includes jobs in health and long-term care, retail and warehousing and food processing. Here, the researchers' findings are striking. They identify not only a race and ethnicity gap, but also a gender gap. Indigenous women had the highest share of employment — over 30 percent — in the occupations that ranked as most dangerous and risky due to the physical proximity to others these roles demand. Next were non-Indigenous women at 28 per cent, followed by Indigenous men at 14.6 per cent. Non-Indigenous men had only a 12.5 per cent share of these dangerous and risky jobs. Racialized workers held well more than half — 57 per cent — of the jobs that included, to some degree, what the CCPA describes as "close proximity" to others. It is interesting to note that white women worked these jobs at almost as high a rate. On the other hand, a third of racialized men and only 28 per cent of white men worked in such high-risk situations. Overall, the CCPA notes that: "the fault lines of the pandemic have been drawn between low-wage and high-wage workers, between women and men, between those who could safely work from home and those who risked infection at work, between Indigenous Peoples and settlers, and between racialized and white Canadians (sic)." The study also noted that From July 2020 to June 2021, 28 per cent of Indigenous and 31 per cent of racialized households lived with economic insecurity. They lacked adequate funds to pay for basic needs such as food, housing and medicines. For white households, the proportion was much smaller: 16 per cent. It's these exact systemic disparities that authors Karen-Marie Elah Perry and Shila Avissa say are being brushed aside in our governments' ongoing pandemic response. Why are we being asked, they wonder, to return back to "normal" or to build "back," when "normal" is what got us here in the first place? Why are we being told that the pandemic is over because businesses have reopened meanwhile new variants are spreading rapidly across the globe, and the majority of the Global South is left without access to vaccinations? "Whether driven by a focus on the economy above the wellbeing of workers, white supremacy's refusal to acknowledge the pandemic's ongoing impacts on racialized communities, or toxic masculinity's tendency to conceal vulnerability and "push through" the emotional pain of the pandemic, gaslighting is culturally systemic," the authors write. Also this week: Writer and land defender Kelly Tatham writes about her decision to divest her personal funds from the Royal Bank of Canada due to its involvement in funding fossil fuel projects like the Coastal Gaslink project currently being pushed without consent through Wet'suwet'en land. There's absolutely no reason to continue letting the big banks use our savings to bulldoze through Indigenous rights and fund the destruction of the planet. Even if there isn't enough money in your account to make a measurable difference in fossil fuel project investments, closing your account sends a message and creates a ripple effect, both inspiring others to do the same and empowering you to take on more tangible actions in your day-to-day life, Tatham writes, as she encourages others to take similar action. Stephen Wentzell reports that Canada has been failing children living in impoverished conditions across the country for decades. At the current rate, childhood poverty won't be eradicated until the 2070s, according to a recently published report from Campaign 2000. The report concluded Canada has over 1.3 million children living in poverty, making up nearly one in five children. Between 2018 and 2019, just 24,170 children were lifted out of poverty, representing less than one per cent of Canada's impoverished youth. That's it for this week! If you like the show please consider subscribing. Rate, review, share it with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble and your time and effort is invaluable to us. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca, and if you'd really like to support us directly, you can make a donation at rabble.ca/donate. You make indie media happen. Got feedback for the show? Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. Thanks to our producer Breanne Doyle, to Brent Patterson for contributing this week's interview, and to Eve Saint and Jocey Alec for coming on the show. I'm your host Chelsea Nash. Thanks for listening to rabble radio -- I'll talk to you next week for our final episode of 2021. Photo: Gidimt'en Checkpoint Twitter

Hello, and welcome to rabble radio! It's the week of Friday, December 3, 2021. The top stories of this week include the Liberal government's ban on conversion therapy finally passing the House with unanimous consent, both Justin Trudeau and Doug Ford received failing grades on their environmental policy, and, Syrian refugees need Canada to act. Has it forgotten them? Rabble breaks down the news of the day from a progressive lens. It's a good place to catch up and catch on to what's happening in Canadian politics, activism, environment, and so much more. Listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We catch you up on the news of the week and take you further into the stories that matter to you. This week on the show, we're bringing you a segment of our monthly live politics panel: Off the Hill. This month, the theme is Games of the Throne. Libby Davies and Robin Browne host guests MP Leah Gazan, poet and scholar El Jones, Indigenous activist and writer Clayton Thomas-Müller and rabble's own national senior politics reporter Karl Nerenberg. Parliament is back, and our guests unpack the speech from the throne and what it means for activists. If you can believe it, this is the final show of 2021, and our panel looks back at the year that was — and takes a look forward to the new year. Take a listen: (OFF THE HILL) That was a clip from our live politics panel which took place last night, on Thursday, Dec. 2. Thanks to all who tuned in and to our wonderful guests for their insight. Stay tuned for details about January's Off the Hill panel early in the new year. Now, it's time for: IN CASE YOU MISSED IT. This week at rabble, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell covered two huge milestones for the 2SLGBTQ movement in Canada. First, a trans person became a leader of a major federal political party for the very first time when the Green Party of Canada appointed Amita Kuttner as its leader. Kuttner, 30, is the youngest, first trans person, and first person of east Asian descent to lead a national political party. Kuttner, who uses they/them pronouns, calls the appointment an "honour and a serious responsibility." They succeed Annamie Paul, the first Black and Jewish leader of a major federal party, who departed as leader amid controversy and major internal strife. Wednesday was another day of hope for the 2SLGBTQ community, when the House of Commons unanimously passed Bill C-4, an Act that, if passed, will criminalize so-called "conversion therapy" in Canada. A conversion therapy ban had been set to pass through the Senate late last summer, but fell off the order paper when Parliament was dissolved for the election. The new legislation goes further than its predecessor, however, as it bans the harmful practice for children as well as adults. The unanimous vote in the House of Commons was noteworthy, as previously, there were 62 votes against the legislation from Conservative Party members. For Mike Smith, a survivor of conversion "therapy," the ban means others won't have to suffer like they did, Wentzell reports. Smith was subjected to efforts to change their sexual orientation and gender identity at the age of 18, and suffered horrific trauma as a result. Read more at rabble.ca. Also this week: Karl Nerenberg reports on the failing grades received by both the Trudeau and Ford governments. Two days after the Trudeau government presented a throne speech that was disappointingly weak on plans to combat climate change, the federal environment commissioner blasted Canada's emissions reduction record. On that same day, Ontario auditor general (AG) Bonnie Lysyk reported that the Doug Ford government would not achieve even a fifth of the emission reductions it has promised to achieve by 2030 if it stays the course. Krystal Kraus writes about the need for the activist community to confront death and to develop new strategies for mutual and communal support for those in the movement who might be struggling with mental illness. She reflects on activists in the Toronto activist community who have died in recent years, and writes about the lessons each of them taught her. Columnist Rachel Snow wants Canadian settlers to ask themselves what they really know about the First Nations who reside in Canada. "The truth is that Canada does not see or understand First Nation people," Snow writes. "In fact, Canada has lumped together First Nations, Inuit and Métis into a potent mixture; Canada labels us "our" Indigenous peoples, as if this broad group could ever be possessed by the colonial state." That's it for this week! If you like the show please consider subscribing. Rate, review, share it with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Got feedback for the show? Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. Thanks to our producer Breanne Doyle, to Off the Hill hosts Libby Davies and Robin Browne, guests El Jones, Clayton Thomas-Muller, Karl Nerenberg and MP Leah Gazan. Thanks to Karl Nerenberg for the music and his reporting, Stephen Wentzell for his reporting, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca.

Hello and welcome to rabble radio. It's the week of Friday, November 25. I'm your host and the editor of rabble, Chelsea Nash. The top stories of this week include the Trudeau government's return to Parliament. On Tuesday, we heard the Governor General deliver the speech from the throne. While Parliament will only resume for a very short time before it breaks again for the holidays, what did we learn about what's to come? And, rabble's coverage of the Wet'suwet'en crisis is ongoing. Contributor Brent Patterson traveled to the region to cover events as they unfolded. You'll hear the latest on that in just a few minutes. Rabble breaks down the news of the day from a progressive lens. It's a good place to catch up and catch on to what's happening in Canadian politics, activism, environment, and so much more. Listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We catch you up on the news of the week and take you further into the stories that matter to you. This week on the show, we welcome back Libby Davies as she interviews political scientist Dr. Jeanette Ashe about the state of women in politics in Canada. Dr. Ashe is the Chair of the Political Science Department at Douglas College and Visiting Faculty at the Global Institute for Women's Leadership, King's College, London. Her research interests include political recruitment, political parties, representation, and gender and politics. She is the author of Political Candidate Selection: Who Wins, Who Loses and Under-representation in the UK (Routledge, 2020). Other recent publications include Gender Sensitivity Under Trudeau: Facebook Feminism or Real Change? (University of Toronto, 2020), and Canada's Political Parties: Gatekeepers to Parliament (Palgrave, 2020). She advises legislatures, parties, and organizations on assessing gender and diversity sensitivity and advises legislators on drafting legislation on gender equity and democratic reform. Libby Davies, as you may know, is the author of Outside In: a Political Memoir. She served as the MP for Vancouver East from 1997-2015, and is former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader, and is recipient of the Order of Canada. The two discuss the barriers that continue to exist for women in Canadian politics, despite the fact that the electorate is actually more likely to support women candidates. After an election like the one we just had, which saw the Liberals lose four female cabinet members, it's a good time to once again examine how our political parties here in Canada have a tendency to not support women and other diverse candidates. Here's their conversation, take a listen. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT This week at rabble, contributor Brent Patterson goes to the Wet'suwet'en territory and reports on the RCMP's raid of the protestors' blockade there as they defend the land against the Coastal GasLink pipeline project. Just days after the conclusion of the United Nations COP26 climate summit in Glasgow and calls from international groups to stop the criminalization of Indigenous land defenders, militarized police violence against defenders in Canada has seemingly become normalized, Patterson writes. Over 30 people and three journalists were arrested on November 18 and 19. It was the third RCMP assault on Wet'suwet'en territory in support of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline being constructed on their territory without free, prior and informed consent, with the first two taking place in January and February of this year. Patterson raised some questions about the infrastructure that enabled the raids. RCMP officers were seen arriving at Smithers airport and being carried away in two white school buses. In the days after the raid, the same make of white school buses were seen emerging from the Coastal GasLink man-camp on the Morice River Forest Service Road -- the same road that had been blockaded. This begged the question: were the RCMP using the Coastal GasLink camp to stage their raid? What other state infrastructure did they use to carry out the raid? Patterson reviews what they've used before. Further, Patterson reports there are first-hand witness accounts of the RCMP in Coastal GasLink cars on the territory and RCMP officers arriving in Coastal GasLink-marked buses in the nearby town of New Hazelton to break-up a rail blockade in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en. According to Patterson, all of this is compounded by the Canadian government's financial involvement in the GasLink project -- notably its $275 million investment in June 2019 supporting the LNG Canada export terminal along with Export Development Canada's $250 million to $500 million loan to Coastal GasLink in May 2020 for the construction of the pipeline. The appearance of collusion between the police and an energy company, along with the disregard of international human rights norms raise profound concerns that must be addressed, Patterson concludes. Also on the site this week: John Miller reports on a new survey from the Canadian Association of Journalists about who is telling you the news. Thursday, the CAJ released its inaugural measurement of the diversity of people who assign, cover and present the news. CAJ measured 3,873 news people at 209 media outlets, making it the largest-ever survey of the demographics of television and radio broadcasters, online news operations, and daily and community newspapers. Unsurprisingly, the typical Canadian newsroom is not representative of the Canadian population, with more than half of the newsrooms surveyed only employing white journalists. Joyce Nelson reports on a terrible paradox facing the so-called green energy transition: to develop windmills, solar panels, and the like, many metals and minerals will need to be mined. MiningWatch Canada is estimating that "[Three] billion tons of mined metals and minerals will be needed to power the energy transition" – a "massive" increase especially for six critical minerals: lithium, graphite, copper, cobalt, nickel and rare earth minerals. With mining being an exploitative and dirty industry -- of which Canadian companies are at the fore -- perhaps the green energy transition is more red than green after all. Plus -- Karl Nerenberg breaks down the speech from the throne, though as he reports, there's not much to break down. It was a speech full of platitudes and lacking in clear commitments, he writes. Catch Nerenberg and our other distinguished panelists next week for our Off the Hill live politics panel, where the theme is "Games of the Throne" and the return of Parliament. MP Leah Gazan will be there, as will Indigenous activist and writer Clayton Thomas-Müller and poet and scholar El Jones. Find all the details of that and so much more at rabble.ca. There are a few other must-reads on the site this week I'd recommend you don't miss -- so head there now! EXTRO That's it for this week! If you like the show please consider subscribing. Rate, review, share it with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Got feedback for the show? Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything you write in. I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. Thanks for tuning in and we'll talk next week! Thanks to our producer Breanne Doyle, Libby Davies and guest Dr. Jeanette Ashe. Thanks to Karl Nerenberg for the music and his reporting, Brent Patterson for his reporting, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca.

Hello and welcome to rabble radio. It's the week of Friday, November 19 and I'm your host and the editor of rabble, Chelsea Nash. Thanks so much for listening! Rabble breaks down the news of the day from a progressive lens. It's a good place to catch up and catch on to what's happening in Canadian politics, activism, environment, and so much more. Listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We catch you up on the news of the week and take you further into the stories that matter to you. This week on the show, friend of the rabble family Libby Davies interviews climate activist and land defender Rita Wong. Libby Davies is author of Outside In: a Political Memoir. She served as the MP for Vancouver East from 1997-2015, and is former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader, and is recipient of the Order of Canada. Rita Wong is a poet-scholar who has written several books of poetry. She understands natural ecosystems as critical infrastructure that must be protected and cared for in order to survive the climate crisis. In other words, old growth forests are what remains of the Earth's lungs. They discuss Fairy Creek -- the site of ongoing protests against old-growth logging on the southern portion of Vancouver Island. The protests have been going on for over a year now, with many activists -- Rita included -- travelling to and from the region when they can at the invitation of Pacheedaht First Nation elder Bill Jones and hereditary leader Victor Peter, upon whose lands the logging is taking place. Rita has written about her experiences and the plight of the land defenders at Fairy Creek before for rabble.ca, writing: "The time I've spent at Fairy Creek is some of the most inspiring I've ever experienced, with creative, generous, kind and talented people, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, all spontaneously co-operating to uphold what Jones has asked us to: the responsibility to protect sacred forests for future generations." Libby and Rita also take some time to discuss the recent passing of Indigenous writer Lee Maracle, who was a mentor of Rita's. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Let's stay in B.C. for just a moment. This week at rabble, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell writes about that province's proposal to "remove criminal penalties for people who possess small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use." The proposed exemption is a big win for decriminalization activists, who have long-argued that decriminalization will help reduce the fear and shame associated with substance use that can be a barrier for people requiring care. At the same time, some activists working to combat the opioid crisis say it's not enough. Wentzell spoke to Donald MacPherson, executive director for the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, who said he applauds the B.C. provincial government for its proposed shift, though he worries that leaving lower jurisdictions to implement varying decriminalization laws will create inconsistent and "piecemeal" policies around the country. "This is a federal law. The federal government hasn't taken this leadership," MacPherson said. "They should be taking the leadership to decriminalize simple possession for drugs across Canada." Also on the site this week: It's Trans Awareness Week, with Trans Remembrance Day taking place tomorrow, November 20. To mark the week, Charlotte Dalwood, a freelance writer based in Alberta, tells the story of how one woman went from being a trans ally to being an anti-trans activist, and back to an ally again (if not a passive one). Rather than arguing that trans exclusion is anti-feminist, writes Dalwood, trans women and our allies ought to instead mobilize the stories of ex-gender criticals (as the trans exclusionary movement likes to call themselves). "Whatever such people have done in the past, they are in a unique position now to pull others out of the gender-critical movement. That makes them invaluable allies." Earlier this week, columnist Chuka Ejeckam issued a warning to be wary of those who claim to speak for the Black community writ large. He tackles the controversial and, as he points out, unfounded opinion piece in the Toronto Star by Royson James, in which James attempts to take down former Star columnist and writer and activist Desmond Cole. Speaking of the Star, former Star reporter John Miller writes about the major problem facing Canadian media: a loss of public trust. He has some ideas on how we might repair that trust. All that and more, as always, on rabble.ca. EXTRO That's it for this week! We'll see you around the site, I'm sure. If you like the show please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, share it with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Got feedback for the show? Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything you write in. I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. Thanks for tuning in and we'll talk next week! Thanks to our producer Breanne Doyle, Libby Davies and Rita Wong. Thanks to Karl Nerenberg for the music, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca. Photo by: A.Davey (via WikiCommons)

This week on the show, Hamilton local Wayne MacPhail interviews rabble contributor and fellow Hamilton-area local Doreen Nicoll about what she sees as the threat of urban sprawl in Hamilton, Ontario. On November 9, Hamilton City Council held a meeting to discuss whether or not to expand its urban boundary onto the surrounding farmland and the final vote will take place November 19. That farmland is squished between the current urban boundary and the Greenbelt, but is not protected. There are a number of factors at play, including the lack of affordable housing in the city, the erasure of prime farmland, and, as with anything else, the climate crisis. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Yesterday, November 11 was Remembrance Day, of course. Here at rabble.ca, we featured some coverage that is worth reading beyond just one day. Our own national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell wrote about the military's discriminatory history against queer folks, urging us to think about our veterans as having had intersectional identities and complex relationships with their fellow service members, the governments they served and the enemies they fought. Ottawa writer Morgan Duchesney delves into how it's most often the working class that ends up going to war, and the upper classes that end up in politics. Our veterans, especially our wounded veterans, deserve better. "Poppies remind me that wars are fought by working people who are often discarded when their courage is no longer required," writes Duchesney. Finally, Darrell Rankin wrote about the importance of remembering the Mac-Paps. That's the nickname for the Mackenzie-Papineau battalion, which, in 1937 through 1939, fought fascism in Spain for the International Brigades -- an effort closely associated with the Communist Party. Those volunteers went to join the fight in Spain illegally, against the wishes of then-prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. When they returned, they were ostracized. Many faced discrimination and lost their jobs. All were denied official recognition as veterans, meaning there were no health benefits or military pensions available to them. Also on the site this week: Karl Nerenberg looks at the results from the municipal elections throughout Quebec, which concluded on November 7, and sees hope for progressives across the country. A record number of young people and women were elected, and five of the ten largest Quebec cities are now led by women, he notes. Nerenberg sees the re-instalment of Valérie Plante as mayor of Montreal as a victory not just for her, but for her party, Projet Montreal, and the progressive, grassroots movement it spawned from. Politics in our time can be excruciatingly transactional, especially at the local level. Municipal leaders often focus intently on satisfying the narrow interests of powerful groups, particularly developers. The municipal administrations of Ottawa and Toronto are textbooks examples of that approach, writes Nerenberg. They should be taking notes. Columnist Rachel Snow spilled some ink on the site this week as she examined the settler-colonial concept of "progress" and its detrimental relationship with First Nations. Are First Nations moving forward? If Canadians want the truth, Snow writes, they will have to understand that the way forward for First Nations people must come from the actual voices of all the First Nation people. We are still waiting to talk. Finally, Brent Patterson writes about the need for the federal government to consider the emissions of the fighter jets it is working to acquire before it signs any contracts. This, especially in the wake of calls at COP26 for military emissions to be included when countries are discussing CO2 targets. As it stands, all the fuel they burn running jets, tanks and the like just… doesn't exist, as far as many nations' CO2 emissions measurements go. I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. Thanks for tuning in and we'll talk next week! Thanks to our producer Breanne Doyle, Wayne MacPhail and guest Doreen Nicoll. Thanks to Karl Nerenberg for the music, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca. Photo: Rick Cordeiro (Creative Commons)

Hello and welcome to rabble radio: rabble.ca's weekly audio magazine. I'm your host and the editor of rabble.ca, Chelsea Nash. Rabble has its finger on the beat of the issues that matter to you and every Friday, we break it down for you - no matter where or how you're listening. It's a good way to catch up on the news of the week and, as with all rabble news, look at current events through a progressive lens. This week on the show, national politics reporter Stephen Wentzell speaks with American legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky to talk about his new book: Presumed Guilty: How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil Rights, in which Chemerinsky makes the case that the United States Supreme Court has been far more likely to uphold government abuses of power -- including those done by police against racial minorities -- than to stop them. Chemerinsky is the dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT This week at rabble, senior politics reporter Karl Nerenberg had his suspicions confirmed when Justin Trudeau's government made the sly attempt to bury the news that it had filed an appeal to Federal Court Justice Paul Favel's September 29 ruling which upheld a Human Rights Tribunal order that the government pay $40,000 to all victims of the underfunded First Nations child and family welfare system. The government's lawyers waited until the very last minute last Friday to announce the appeal -- doing so after 5pm so as to attract as little public and media scrutiny as possible. "The only surprise in the late Friday announcement was that the government will suspend its appeal process for a couple of months in order to work on a negotiated settlement with the complainants, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society headed by Cindy Blackstock and the Assembly of First Nations," writes Nerenberg. The newly-minted ministers responsible for this file, Justice Minister David Lametti and newly-named Indigenous Services and Crown-Indigenous Relations Ministers Patty Hajdu and Marc Miller, played their cards close to their chest. Government officials reached out to Blackstock but it wasn't until the day before the appeal that they approached her with the intention to have discussions. Blackstock and her partners at the Assembly of First Nations -- who have been fighting this fight for 14 years now -- have accepted the government's olive branch and are ready and eager to undertake good faith talks. Speaking of the new cabinet, street nurse and housing advocate Cathy Crowe weighed in on Trudeau's decision to appoint a new minister of housing. Sure, there have been ministers responsible for the housing file before, but until now, there had never been a minister with housing in their title. Ahmed Hussen now takes on that role with the official title of "minister of housing and diversity and inclusion." Crowe, having been let down by government promises on housing for decades, remains sceptical. "Our country needs a minister of housing," she writes. "We now have one in name, but with a catchall title that suggests some boxes were ticked off in Minister Hussen's appointment." In the media interviews the minister has done since his appointment, Hussen has predictably followed the Liberal's election platform pretty closely. It's what's missing there that concerns Crowe. Nowhere in the Liberal platform, nor in Hussen's interviews, has she heard the term "social housing." "We will truly have a minister of housing if the minister's mandate letter includes funding for social housing and rent-geared-to-income housing, creating a co-op housing stream, providing rehabilitation funds for old housing stock, ensuring that seniors' pensions are increased so they can afford to stay in their homes, and creating long-term care standards so our seniors can be housed safely in their later years, and the same for home care," Crowe writes. Also on the site this week: Our coverage of COP26 continues. Brent Patterson writes about how the prime minister's promise to cap Canada's oil and gas emissions will do nothing to stop the criminalization of Indigenous land defenders. Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan point out that because of vaccine apartheid and the U.K.'s obstructive visa requirements, COP26 is the whitest and most privileged of the United Nations' climate summits since 1992. Plus, two Indigenous films -- one a documentary -- are reviewed by Humberto DaSilva and Doreen Nicoll. Da Silva reviews Portrait From A Fire -- a small, award-winning film that follows a First Nations youth on a supernatural journey to unravel his family's secret tragedy. Portraits From a Fire is being screened in select Canadian theatres starting November 1 and will be released through video on demand on November 9. Nicoll reviews the documentary film: Kimmapiiyitssini: The Meaning of Empathy. Kimmapiiyitssini [GEE-maa-bee-bit-sin], the Blackfoot word for, "Giving kindness to each other," is key in reducing deaths from drug poisoning in the Kainai community in Southern Alberta. Filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers tells the story of the opioid crisis and how through harm reduction, compassion and de-colonizing recovery, the community has begun to heal. That film opens today, Nov. 5 in Vancouver with screenings scheduled across the country throughout November. Also in arts and culture this week, sex worker columnist Natasha Darling looks at the many ways sex workers contribute to pop culture. From the movie Zola to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's music, sex workers are most accurately represented when they themselves are in control of how they are depicted, Darling argues. Finally, last Friday, V.S. Wells takes a look at how Canada media is importing British transphobia. It started with Toronto Star columnist Rosie DiManno, writes Wells. Her Oct. 16 piece claimed gender-neutral language in healthcare erased women. It's not a particularly new or interesting take, and one that's been thoroughly critiqued over the years, but the Star gave the piece a full page (A3) in the news section — despite it being opinion. The online article also received a traffic boost due to being (controversially) tweeted by author Margaret Atwood on Oct. 19. A few days later, Atwood shared another article — this time from the CBC, decrying "toxic, in-your-face activism." The opinion piece was written by a trans woman, Jessica Triff, but was filled with transphobic talking points. Triff implied that trans people who do not transition medically are "risks to women's safety," and that the label "trans woman" should only be used to refer to someone who has "gone through therapy, hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgeries." Finally, there was also a CTV "investigation" into trans children and youth who are seeking gender affirming medical treatment. That story relied heavily on the stories of two cis women in the U.K. who identified as trans men, before re-transitioning back to live as women — in order to argue that trans affirming youth healthcare in Canada is too easy to access. This sudden resurgence in feminist-cloaked anti-trans media rhetoric is probably due to that strategy's success in my home country, the U.K. Wells breaks down the differences between American and British transphobia, and why we've been seeing a heightened degree of transphobia in Canadian media in recent weeks. Find all that and much more at rabble.ca, where as always, we're bringing you the latest in political, social and arts and culture reporting, opinion and analysis. EXTRO If you like the show please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, share it with your friends -- it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. Got feedback for the show? Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything you write in. I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. Thanks for tuning in and we'll talk next week! Thanks to our new podcast producer Breanne Doyle, Stephen Wentzell for his reporting, Karl Nerenberg for the music, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca.

Some might say the unveiling of a new cabinet is like Christmas for political nerds...I guess here at rabble we are no exception. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Trudeau introduced his new cabinet to the country, shaking up his inner circle and giving us a peek into who he trusts most. There's a lot we can learn about a government from the PM's cabinet picks. What regions are represented? Whose got the chops for the top portfolios, like finance or global affairs? While there aren't any "official" demotions… who is being given a less prestigious portfolio and who is being cast out of cabinet completely? There's a lot to unpack. This is rabble radio, and this is what's up for discussion. I'm your host and the editor of rabble.ca, Chelsea Nash. This week, I'm joined by rabble's senior politics reporter Karl Nerenberg as he breaks down the meaning behind the prime minister's cabinet decisions. After that, I'll take you through this week's top stories at rabble.ca, including lots of talk about next week's United Nations Conference of Parties 26 - that is, the UN's global climate change conference happening in Glasgow, Scotland. Karl and I talk about the new ministers in three key portfolios: Global Affairs, Environment and Indigenous Services. Karl has been covering Parliament Hill for rabble.ca for ten years. He's been a journalist and filmmaker for over 25 years including the eight years he spent as the producer of the CBC Radio show The House. Here's what he had to say about what we can expect from this government's newly unveiled cabinet. You can read Karl's stories about the cabinet announcement and all things Canadian politics at rabble.ca. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT The upcoming UN climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland is a crucial one, as columnist Lois Ross points out this week on the site. Many say COP 26 is our last chance to try to reach an international agreement that will limit the global temperature change to 1.5 to two degrees. Seeing as global agriculture contributes 20 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, Ross argues that figuring out how to slash emissions in this industry should be a keystone discussion at the conference. COP 26 isn't just about a gathering of world leaders, however. Joyce Nelson reports on three major issues that activists will be pushing on the sidelines next week, both before, during and after the conference which runs October 31 through November 12. Activists want the 197 participant countries to include at least three more sectors in the requirements for nations' emissions reporting and cutting. The first sector is the plastics industry, which the fossil fuel sector has fully embraced as its financial life-line. When we think of plastics, we may think of the thousands of plastic particles polluting our oceans and drinking water, or we might think of wildlife getting caught in plastic trash. The plastics industry has more to answer for than that, writes Nelson, as a new report from the Beyond Plastics program at Bennington College in the U.S. reveals that plastics production is on track to release more emissions than coal. The second sector is the world's militaries, which are currently exempt from having to report on emissions at all, thanks to the United States' insistence that the Pentagon be exempted from all international climate agreements during the 1997-98 negotiations for the Kyoto Accord on climate. Apparently, it's a matter of national security. During those same negotiations, the U.S. obtained an exemption for all countries' militaries from having to report or cut their carbon emissions. Lastly, activists would like to see large hydro-dam projects held accountable for the emissions they produce, despite often being touted as a climate "solution." Also on the site this week: Stephen Wentzell spoke to new Nunavut MP Lori Idlout about the water crisis in Iqaluit. Idlout only won her seat in the federal election two weeks before she received the news about her city's water contamination. In early October, Iqaluit residents began writing Facebook posts complaining of a foul odour in their tap water stemming from a municipal water service. That foul odour was fuel. This presented a big challenge to the territory's rookie MP, especially as the water crisis started just before a territorial election. As Toni Morrison wrote, "all water has a perfect memory." The revelation that an MP is being forced to live without safe drinking water should be a wakeup call for all Canadians, Wentzell writes. And, Monia Mazigh has a task list for Justin Trudeau if he is actually going to prove he is as serious about fighting Islamophobia as he made out during last month's Islamophobia summit. You'll remember that summit was organized in the wake of the fatal attack on a Muslim family in London, Ontario. Finally, David Climenhaga has the latest in what he's now calling the implosion of the government of Alberta. He breaks down the sexual harassment allegations being levied against members of Jason Kenney's cabinet -- the latest scandal in a government that cannot seem to catch a break. There ain't no rest for the wicked. Catch up on this and all the latest headlines as always at rabble.ca. That's a wrap for this week's episode of rabble radio. Stay tuned for more of our social and political coverage next week -- I'm sure we'll be bringing you more coverage of COP 26 as it unfolds. If you like the show please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, share it with your friends -- everything helps. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. If after listening, you feel like you have something to tell me, I'd love to hear from you. Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything. As always, check the site for the latest in-depth analysis, insightful opinions and breaking news. I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. Thanks for listening! Thanks and welcome to our new podcast producer Breanne Doyle, Wayne MacPhail for his advisement, Karl Nerenberg for the music, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca. Image: Saffron Blaze, via http://www.mackenzie.co

These days Facebook is dominating the news. Under fire from regulators and lawmakers over its business practices, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is planning to rebrand itself -- and will be giving itself a new name that's going to have something to do with the metaverse. Critics argue that the re-naming is a just distraction from the controversies Facebook has found itself in. Not the least of which are centered in Canada. In a press conference Monday, Charlie Angus, MP for Timmins-James Bay, called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government to implement a multi-faceted plan to regulate social media giants like Facebook. The social media company also owns global social media platforms Instagram and WhatsApp. The Canadian who arguably is most well versed in the policy and regulation questions concerning Facebook is Dr. Michael Geist. Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law. He's also the author of the 2015 book Law, Privacy, and Surveillance in Canada in the Post-Snowden Era. National politics reporter Stephen Wentzell spoke to Michael Geist this week for rabble.ca as part of his report on Facebook regulation in Canada. Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law. He's also the author of the 2015 book Law, Privacy, and Surveillance in Canada in the Post-Snowden Era. In Case You Missed It the stories we think matter most on good ol' rabble.ca this week, include: Joyce Nelson writes that both Amazon and Google are planning to expand data centres in Montreal and Toronto. But, she says, if the tech giants don't renounce militarism and cancel Israel's Project Nimbus, they may find significant pushback in both of those cities. Project Nimbus is a cloud-based technology that could provide AI-assisted surveillance tools to the Israeli military and government. Still on tech, Penney Kome writes about truck "platooning" - one truck driver leading a conga line of autonomous vehicles along Canada's highways. If that sounds like a train on asphalt, that's pretty much the idea. But, perhaps rail is more efficient, and maybe only the biggest trucking companies will be able to afford the new cyberconga tech. Now to Indigenous & political actions. Brent Patterson told us that as carbon emissions increase, Indigenous land defenders opposed to fossil fuel megaprojects have continued to be criminalized despite the commitments made at the COP21 summit in Paris in December 2015. He calls on Trudeau to end the criminalization of frontline land defenders and water protectors opposed to the extractive megaprojects that are accelerating the climate crisis. And finally, David Suzuki writes that we should, literally, leave well enough alone and let tree debris to stay on your lawn. Saves you trouble and, he says, helps out pollinators like butterflies whose chrysalises hide out in the duff and tree debris. Who knew? Theme Music: composed and performed by Karl Nerenberg.

Every election cycle, the conversation of electoral reform is revived to some extent. 2021 was no different. Consider this: ​​In Toronto, the Liberals only won 48.9 per cent of the votes, but they won more than 90 per cent of the seats in Canada's largest city, electing 48 of the 53 MPs there. The NDP won 14.5 per cent of the vote in Toronto, but ended up with no seats. The nearly 400,000 voters who voted for them now have no representation in Parliament. This is rabble radio, and this is what's up for discussion. I'm your host and the editor of rabble.ca, Chelsea Nash. Let's dive in. On Thursday evening, rabble hosted its monthly live politics panel Off the Hill. This time, the theme was Back to a Hung Parliament: How do we make it work for people? This was the first time our illustrious panelists were able to get together since the recent election, and, seeing as how we're still waiting for Parliament to be recalled sometime this fall, the topic of discussion was about lessons learned from this election campaign, and, if the election results were really more or less the same, how can we make this minority government different? Robin Browne and Libby Davies are Off the Hill's co-hosts. Robin is a communications professional and the co-lead of the 613-819 Black Hub, living in Ottawa. Libby Davies is the author of Outside In: a Political Memoir. She served as the MP for Vancouver East from 1997-2015, and is former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader. Guests include: Leah Gazan, who was recently re-elected to her post as Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre. She is currently the NDP Critic for Children, Families, and Social Development, as well as the Deputy Critic for Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship. Leah is a member of Wood Mountain Lakota Nation, located in Saskatchewan, Treaty 4 territory. Chuka Ejeckam is a political researcher and writer, and works in the labour movement in British Columbia. He focuses on political and economic inequity and inequality, both within Canada and as produced by Canadian policy. Read Chuka's regular column on rabble.ca. Rachel Snow is Iyahe Nakoda and the daughter of late Reverend Dr. Chief John Snow. She holds a juris doctor from the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan and is an outspoken educator, speaker, writer and co-contact person for the Indigneous Activist Networks. Last but not least: Karl Nerenberg is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker, working in both English and French languages. He joined rabble as parliamentary correspondent in 2011. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Let me remind you what we talked about at the beginning of this episode; how the Liberals won 90 per cent of the seats in Toronto with less than half of the popular vote. This means that more than half of Toronto voters won't have their interests represented on Parliament Hill or in various caucus meetings. Nerenberg points out how the first-past-the-post system serves to deepen Canada's regional differences, painting entire sections -- or entire cities -- with broad swaths of Conservative blue or Liberal red, with some of the NDP's orange and the Bloc's light blue peeking through. Take Saskatchewan, for instance. In that prairie province, the NDP managed to garner more than one-fifth of the votes, 21.1 per cent. That is more than three points higher than the NDP's national popular vote share. But the New Democrats didn't win a single Saskatchewan seat. The Conservatives won all 14. The voter demographic in Saskatchewan and other prairie provinces is not nearly as monochrome as our electoral results suggest. This pits entire regions against one another rather than taking into account the nuance of demographic voting habits across the country. Read the rest of Karl's analysis at rabble.ca. Also this week, Stephen Wentzell writes about five ways the incoming Parliament could make history. First on the list? Commit to more ambitious emissions targets. With increased heat waves, drought, wildfires and more extreme weather events, Canada is warming at twice the global rate. Five-year targets on our way to a net-zero 2050 aren't cutting it -- and as overnight temperatures hit records in addition to days above 20 degrees Celsius -- Canadians don't have time for deliberating anymore; we need leadership on climate action, writes Wentzell. He also writes that this new session could implement universal pharmacare with dental care, enhance resources and supports for nurses who have been left burnt out by the pandemic, extend COVID-19 financial supports which are set to expire on October 23. And, finally, this new Parliament could end the discriminatory ban on the donation of LGBTQ+ individuals' blood. Also on the site this week: Cathy Crowe writes that every month in Toronto, there is a monthly homeless memorial that's been hosted for over twenty years. While there used to be between one and five names of unhoused people, the numbers are now routinely in the double digits. The October memorial saw 15 names of people added. It's a tragedy, writes Crowe, but one that is avoidable. Toronto's Shelter and Housing Justice Network (SHJN) recently released its evidence based winter and spring plan to provide emergency and shelter support and infrastructure so the city's homeless population can have a shot at surviving the fast-approaching winter. Brent Patterson breaks down everything we know about the RCMP's militarized "resource extraction protection unit" which has been arresting and perpetuating violence upon land defenders across the country. And, Philip Lee writes about how the lack of language diversity on the internet actually makes it a whole lot less accessible than we might think it is. All that and more at rabble.ca. EXTRO That's a wrap for this week's episode of rabble radio. Stay tuned for more of our social and political coverage next week. If you like the show please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, share it with your friends and, maybe more importantly, your enemies. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. If after listening, you feel like you have something to tell me, I'd love to hear from you. Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything. As always, check the site for the latest in-depth analysis, insightful opinions and breaking news. I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. Thanks for listening! Thanks to Victoria Fenner for production, Wayne MacPhail for advisement, Karl Nerenberg for the music, and all the journalists and writers who contributed to this week's content on rabble.ca.

This week on the show, we're talking about the absence of agriculture from Canada's political discourse. Of course, during an election campaign that was only five weeks long, it's hard to fit everything in, but rabble columnist Lois Ross makes the case for turning our politicians' relatively scattered attention span to agriculture. It's not an issue that necessarily garners the most headlines, but it is an issue that intersects with some of the most pressing crises of our time: climate change, worker's rights, globalization, and ever-increasing market concentration. \Food systems are crucial to our survival but are becoming increasingly precarious due to climate disasters, supply-chain disruptions, and the environmental impacts of land concentration. Farmers, of course, are crucial to food systems. In her latest column for rabble, Lois makes the case for a basic guaranteed income for farmers, touches on the need for co-operatives in farming, and warns us that simply due to a matter of median age, in the next ten years, more than half of Canada's farmers will be retiring. This is no simple matter. Lois has spent the past 30 years working in Communications for a variety of non-profit organizations in Canada, including the North-South Institute. Born into a farm family in southern Saskatchewan and trained as a journalist and photographer, she is the author of both fiction and non-fiction books. She is passionate about agriculture, rural and international development, and health. You can read her monthly column at rabble.ca, of course. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT It's impossible to consume everything on the Internet, even more so when the social media we reluctantly rely on disappears for a day. Not to worry, here's a recap of this week at rabble: in case you missed it. First thing's first: you may have noticed that rabble is looking a little different these days. We are happy to say we've completed a soft launch of our new website. Things are coming together, but of course, moving over 20+ years of content is a challenge, so please do bear with us as we work out any kinks. We're excited to show you what we've been up to these past months though, and everything should be back up to speed soon! Beyond that: This week at rabble, Stephen Wentzell sits down for an interview with the only Green MP who isn't Elizabeth May: but is Mike Morrice. Morrice is the Green's newly-elected member of Parliament in the Ontario riding of Kitchener-Centre, which he won after a tight race with the NDP candidate in that constituency, Beisan Zubi. As it turns out, Morrice is going to spend his first term focused on serving his neighbours in Kitchener Centre rather than turn his attention to leading a party that is in no uncertain terms badly wounded in the wake of the departure of its leader, and the first Black and Jewish leader of a federal party ever, Annamie Paul. Of course, there are other ways to make change outside of government. Columnist Minister Faust takes us through the benefits of what he calls pro-social competition -- where activists, unions, social entrepreneurs, or governments can open competitions to fuel social innovation, solutions, and generally improve society's conditions. This is a model that has seen success on the African continent, Faust writes. Collective minds are always going to field more solutions than any individual entity. And, competitions don't have to be capitalist. "Unlike corporate contests that let contest-convenors seize all rights to submissions, a pro-social contest allows all contestants to own their results to build value wherever they can via their own co-ops, community groups, and teams. Or, the convenor can hire winners to do the work they've proven they can do. Every contestant who's created practical solutions is now far closer to making the world better." Also on the site this week: Sarah Macharia writes about how the international community has an obligation to stand in solidarity with girls and women in Afghanistan, especially those working in journalism and media whose entire families are now at risk of violence from the Taliban. Yves Engler assesses the hypocrisy of Canadian politicians who condemn the People's Party of Canada while continuing to endorse Canada's support for far-right movements abroad. Michael Hackl writes this month's Pro Bono column, in which he describes what legal options you might have if you're experiencing online harassment. Plus much more! EXTRO If you like the show please consider subscribing wherever you listen to your podcasts. Rate, review, share it with your friends and, maybe more importantly, your enemies. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. If after listening, you feel like you have something to tell me, I'd love to hear from you. Get in touch anytime at editor@rabble.ca. I can't always promise I'll respond, but I do read everything. As always, check the site for the latest in-depth analysis, insightful opinions and breaking news. 2I'm your host, Chelsea Nash. Thanks for listening!