rabble radio

There was a time when we thought we'd have to be ready for a spring federal election. That hasn't happened, which gives us even more time to get information out about the various nefarious ways the Harper government has changed our country. And it gives us time to come up with more reasons why the Harper government needs to go. Today's program is an early spring warm-up for the fall election. We've got lots of reasons to get rid of the Harper government. You might already know what they are, but there are always some new perspectives to share. Especially after the March protests of Bill C-51, the so-called "secret police" bill. Good to see the resistance is strong. We'll play some highligts from the day of protest, March 15, 2015. And an interview by Redeye in Vancouver about what is already being done to spy on us, even though Bill C-51 hasn't even been proclaimed into law yet. Our parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg talks about what he's seen in his years as rabble.ca's Parliamentary reporter. And we listen to the sounds of protest .. hey hey ho ho, Stephen Harper has got to go .. hey hey, ho ho …

Halifax has been in the news over the past few months, and it's not been good press. We're talking about the infamous case of the so-called "Dalhousie Gentleman's Club" where misogynistic and sexually violent comments were made by 13 male students in the Faculty of Dentistry on Facebook. The story is no longer front-page news, but there were, and still are, a number of controversial issues that arose from the university's handling of the case. The university's solution was to deal with the issue through restorative justice. Moira Donovan is an an intern with the rabble podcast network. She also wrote a compelling article for rabble.ca exploring the question, what is restorative justice? Today on rabble radio, we're handing the microphone to Moira as she introduces us to some of the answers she's found. Featuring: Fia Jampolsky, a Whitehorse-based lawyer whose work in Legal Aid and Yukon Human Rights Commission has drawn on the principles of restorative justice. El Jones, Halifax's Poet Laureate and a PhD student and faculty member at Dalhousie. She's also a prison rights activist who works with incarcerated individuals in Nova Scotia. She discussed the systemic racism in the justice system and how restorative justice was used at Dalhousie to maintain the privilege of the 13 students involved, when in fact restorative justice, or as she calls it "transformative justice" is an important tool to acknowledge and address the marginalization of communities of colour. Being a dentist, she points out, is not a right, and a career is not more important than the lives and safety of women. Sue Goyette, a Halifax-based poet. She's also being trained as a facilitator to work with young offenders who've opted for the restorative justice process. Sue discussed the role of both of art and restorative justice in allowing people to have their stories heard, the role of listening and empathy in healing, and how art offers an opportunity to mend social wrongs by providing an avenue for people to experience vulnerability. Art, she says, teaches us to be better people, and provides a way to move forward in a direction that we haven't envisaged before. Read Moira Donovan's article for rabble.ca, "Because Dalhousie: A Closer Look at Restorative Justice." Photo: Esther S./flickr

These days we're hearing a lot of voices encouraging all of us to be entrepreneurs. And it's not just from Chamber of Commerce types these days. Even the progressive community is saying that we all need to create our own jobs. On one hand, being self-sufficient is a good thing. But maybe not entirely. Today we're going to be looking at both sides of the entrepreneurial spirit and how it's practised. Especially in progressive circles where we're likely to hear words like "social enterprise." Things have really changed from the days when everybody had a job that they went to, with job security, benefits, and good pay. We'll also hear how one union is trying to diversify and represent some of those entrepreneurs. To celebrate this new entrepreneurship or not? On this episode of rabble radio, we look at that from several different angles. Imre Szeman is a member of Toronto's social enterprise community, The Centre for Social Innovation. He is also Canada Research Chair in Cultural Studies at University of Alberta. Dr. Szeman has written an article with Dan Harvey in a recent edition of University Affairs questioning the recent zeal at university campuses for entrepreneurial education. Called "Are We All Entrepreneurs Now?", the article raises some of the same issues you just heard about in the interview we just did. Datejie Green — Canadian Media Guild. In the cultural industries we've always been entrepreneurs. Except for the people who are lucky enough to have a staff job at one of the big newspapers. Or TV stations. Or the CBC. Well, times are changing for everybody, as we see fewer and fewer people in the media and culture who used to be called "employees." With fewer and fewer employees to represent, the Canadian Media Guild is one trade union which is looking at ways to represent self employed workers in greater numbers. So, what good is a trade union to entrepreneurs with no job security, no collective bargaining? Winnipeg Social Enterprise Centre — And finally, despite all the questions we've raised in this program, we'd like to end by saying that there are a lot of great social enterprises and businesses happening across the country. What we're seeing is that starting a business isn't just something that people are doing for profits to benefit oneself and one's own family. And despite the questions raised in other parts of this program, we'd still like to recognize the good work and the good people who are doing this for the best of motives. And we want to acknowledge the success stories. Produced by the podcast The Green Planet Monitor, David Kattenburg, Executive Producer.

Yes, it's a been a tough, tough year. I'm feeling it. We're all feeling it. But… all that bad news is not the totality of life. With this being the holiday season, this rabble radio show is the "Light the Fire, Pour the Eggnog and Think Philosophically For a While" edition. We thought it would be a good time to play some of the hidden gems that have shown up on the rpn this year. So go get that eggnog, light the fire and just enjoy being here with us for the next half hour. Season's Greetings. We've had some really great new podcasts this summer and fall on the RPN. One of them is MsRepresent: Behind the Face, a Fierce Woman by Charlene Sayo of Vancouver. Charlene spent some time in the Big Apple where she had the amazing opportunity to hang out with super fierce women in the arts and activism. One of the women she met up with was Safia Elhillo. Safia is Sudanese by way of Washington, D.C., currently living in New York City. Among her many literary credits, she is a founding member of Slam NYU, the 2012 and 2013 national collegiate championship team, and was a three-time member and former coach of the DC Youth Slam Poetry team. We don't get enough documentaries on the rabble podcast network. And sound documentaries are such a wonderful art form. That's one of our goals for the new year. Our next piece is a treasure. The Swan Song is an eclectic podcast that covers a wide range of topics about the human condition. David Swanson, the show's producer, recently did a documentary called The Latvian Art Diaries, based on an exploration of heritage through sound. Here is an excerpt of this excellent sound work. And finally, to wrap up. We like sound that is collected in adventurous places. This next excerpt was first played on Lynn Thompson's Living on Purpose, one of the longest running podcasts we have on the rabble podcast network. In this next piece, Lynn goes travelling deep underground with Jamie Thompson and his flute. Jamie is a Toronto musician who takes his flute to some unusual places: abandoned buildings, under bridges with traffic roaring above, ravines and haunted houses. In this excerpt, we go deep into the Diefenbunker, the cold war bomb shelter near Ottawa that was intended to be the residence of John Diefenbaker's Conservative government if the bomb fell… But the bomb didn't fall. And we're here to see another New Year. Happy 2015! Photo: sbluerock/flickr

Employment is becoming more and more precarious. It's getting harder and harder to find what we used to call a "permanent" job, with a good salary, with benefits and with no specified end date. Unifor, Canada's largest private sector union held an event to address this issue earlier in October. There was a wide range of speakers, and today we're devoting the show to some of the ideas that were presented. The Good Jobs Summit was cosponsored by Unifor, Canada's largest private sector union, The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Ryerson University's Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice, and the Canadian Federation of Students. 2:26 Jessica McCormick, National Chair of the Canadian Federation of Students. How to counter the trend towards part-time precarious employment is a subject which all the unions struggle with. 10:48 Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. You can hear more of the presentations by going to rabble's soundcloud page at www.soundcloud.com/rabbleca. Unifor, one of the sponsors of the Good Jobs Summit, is a new union. Sort of, anyway. Unifor was created through the merger of two unions — the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, and the Canadian Auto Workers Union. One of our podcasts, Twelve Canadians, by Dave Kattenburg of the Green Planet Monitor, is a portrait of Ken Lewenza. Ken is from Windsor, from Local 444 at the Chrysler plant. He has held almost every union position there is … from Shop Steward in the plant all the way up to President of the Canadian Auto Workers. 21:31 Stephen Dale prepared this profile of Ken Lewenza for the Green Planet Monitor.

Lots of people are not welcome in Canada anymore. People can no longer count on finding refuge in Canada. It's like our country now has big signs on our borders saying Go Away. We don't want you here. rabble radio 158 is about the lives that undocumented migrants face, those who are incarcerated because they are undocumented, and also about people trying to help them make sense of it all and live their lives. No One is Illegal – On September 17, Victoria Fenner, rabble radio's executive producer, went down to the Immigration and Refugee Headquarters on Victoria Avenue in Toronto. In front of the building was an event to recognize the one-year anniversary of a significant day. On September 17, 2013, 191 immigration detainees held in the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay Ontario, began a non-cooperation protest. Since then, people across the country have joined the call to end immigration detention. Tings Chack is with the Toronto Chapter of No One Is Illegal, the organizers of the protest. Imagine what it would be like to always be looking over your shoulder and wondering who knows you're in the country without proper documentation. Your kids' teachers? Your employer? Are they going to turn you in? Our next guest knows a lot of people who live with that fear. Suzanne Narain is a Jane Finch community resident, a neighbourhood in Toronto where a lot of undocumented workers live. She spoke to John Bonner of the rabble.ca podcast John Bonner Audio Blog, about what life is like to live in fear of arrest, detention or deportation. If you're born in Canada, you're automatically a Canadian citizen, right? Well, maybe not. Deepan Budlakoti was born in Canada. He has been issued a passport by the federal government. Twice. The government of Ontario gave him an Ontario birth certificate. But … the federal government now says he's not a Canadian citizen and he needs to go home. Except India, which the government says is his home, says no. He's not an Indian citizen. He was born in Canada, so he's Canadian. Deepan is still in Canada but has been stripped of his Canadian citizenship. He is now stateless. He is under house arrest in his parent's home and can only go out between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. He doesn't have health insurance anymore. He's living in limbo. Earlier this month, he lost his appeal of the government's decision to revoke his citizenship. The case hinges on the question: Were his parents employees of India High Commission when he was born? Deepan and his lawyers say no. Dan Kellar of the rabble podcast AWOL spoke to Deepan Budlakoti a few days after he received the news of his lost appeal earlier this month. When one of our podcasters celebrates, so do we. This year is a milestone year for one of our longest-running podcasts. It's the 10th anniversary of the program "Living on Purpose." It hasn't been on the rabble podcast network for all that time. Lynn Thompson's podcast began on the radio in Nanaimo in 2004 and migrated to the rabble podcast network in 2007. Happy anniversary, Living on Purpose!

The Peoples' Social Forum 2014 wrapped up in Ottawa yesterday. It was a dynamic day summarizing a lot of the many conversations, sessions and workshops which had happened during the three days. rabble radio's fourth and final podcast contains some highlights from the Final Assembly.

It's the last full day of the Peoples' Social Forum. Tomorrow afternoon we'll be heading home to our various places in Canada. But it's not over yet. Here are some highlights from Saturday, August 23: Ellen Gabriel — Human Rights Advocate for collective and individual rights of indigenous people; Word on the Street — Lois Ross, roving reporter, talks to delegates; Sounds from the Powwow on Sparks Street Mall, featuring music by Spirit Flower.

It's day two of the Peoples' Social Forum in Ottawa. It was a different type of day than yesterday, which ended with a march on Parliament Hill. Today was an indoor day, with delegates going to dozens of workshops on topics of all kinds. Here's Victoria Fenner's summary of her day, which was full of workshops, conversations and lots of recording. Aaron Doncaster is an activist from Alberta. He compares what it is like to be an activist in Alberta and in Nova Scotia, his home province. Paul Maillet – Ottawa chapter of an organization which is lobbying the federal government to create a Department of Peace. What would happen if we had a Minister of Peace at the cabinet table when deliberating whether or not to go to war? Media and movements — an excerpt from a panel discussion sponsored by rabble about independent media in Canada today. Rights of Mother Earth — ending the program with a quote by Margaret Atwood, read by Mike Desautels of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

This week, thousands of people are converging upon Ottawa to talk about solutions to some of the problems facing our world and our country, to connect with each other and build new networks. The Peoples' Social Forum is about celebration, it's about problem solving, it's about connecting and about building the kind of Canada that we want to live in. It's what rabble.ca does too. That's why we're here all this week. As a media sponsor, as media-makers. We're livestreaming, writing, taking part in forums and doing what we can to add our voices to the mix and to help others get their voices out to the wider world. rabble radio will be doing a daily wrap-up of some of the highlights each day from Thursday, August 21 until Sunday, August 24. Here are the highlights of Day 1, with host and exec producer of the rabble podcast network, Victoria Fenner: Welcome by Anna Collins, Indigenous Coordinator of the People's Social Forum; Naomi Klein, activist and author; The gathering moves to Parliament Hill; Celebrating independent media and activism with rabble — Meg Borthwick of rabble.ca introduces author, activist and journalist Linda McQuaig.