rabble radio

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.

This month on rabble radio, we have a couple of interviews which provide some of the background behind the headlines about the attack on Gaza. Tyler Levitan – Campaigns Coordinator with Independent Jewish Voices, a national human rights organization whose mandate is to promote a just resolution to the dispute in Israel and Palestine through the application of international law and respect for the human rights of all parties. He speaks with Redeye host Esther Hsieh. For more perspectives on the attack on Gaza, go to the blog of Independent Jewish Voices on rabble.ca. Palestinian socialist and activist Reem Unis. She lives in Melbourne Australia and had a conversation with Asia Pacific Current's Jiselle Hanna. In addition to sharing thoughts about what is happening in her homeland, Reem Unis also shares her perspective on the role of Egypt in the peace process, and what other countries around the world can do to further the cause of peace in Gaza. Introducing — a new podcast on the rabble podcast network. rpn executive producer Victoria Fenner talks to Rachel Swatek, producer of Groundwire, a news magazine by volunteers with campus and community radio stations across the country.

Please support our coverage of democratic movements and become a monthly supporter of rabble.ca. It's summer time and it's time to have some fun. But that doesn't mean we have to put aside our work to change the world. We can dance, we can sing and we can change the world too. A summer celebration of creativity featuring The Femme City Choir of Vancouver, the Howl Arts Collective of Montreal and rabble.ca. Arianna Barer of the podcast The F Word talks to Femme City Choir members Lau Sequins and Kate Monstrr. It's a choir that sings in sweet harmony to celebrate difference. In their own words, THIS choir is an all-genders, queer and trans* centred femme-fabulous singing extravaganza! Celebrating and elevating self-identified femme-ness through song. Scott Neigh of Talking Radical Radio talks to Stefan Christoff of Montreal's Howl Arts Collective. They are firm believers that culture and arts and creativity and creation are always integral to movements. To demonstrate that, not only do they point to pretty much every movement of the past that has had any lasting impact, but they also point out that — particularly given the scorn and dismissal that movements so often face from mainstream meaning-makers — that such work is really the only way that movements can know and be known by the world; can remember and help build histories of struggle; can allow us to truly feel, deep in our bones, what it means to dream of and to deserve something better. The Year of Living Consciously – The Best of rabble.ca 2014 — It's the 13th anniversary of rabble, we've just released a new book — The Best of rabble.ca 2014 Edition – The Art of Living Consciously. We've been having launch parties all over the country. And it's also our donation drive right now — we do a lot with a pretty small budget. But even so, good, independent journalism costs good money. So please, go to rabble.ca/donate … and help keep rabble going. On June 17, we had the Ottawa launch of The Best of rabble.ca. It was a great opportunity to connect with some of our Ottawa supporters. Together with fabulous music by our own reporter on Parliament Hill, Karl Nerenberg and friends, it was a great time. rabble radio is produced by Victoria Fenner and co-hosted by Victoria and rabble Editor in Chief Meagan Perry.

Intersectionality. It's a big word, and it has to be, because it is the idea that we can unite our social justice struggles, that it is impossible and unwise to separating them into single-issue campaigns. For activists, intersectionality is both a gift and a challenge. Sharon Smith is a feminist socialist activist and the writer of Subterranean Fire: A History of Working-Class radicalism in the United States. She spoke about intersectionality at the Socialism 2013 Conference in Chicago, Illinois. rabble.ca's F-Word podcast was there to record it. Here's part of her address. Dalhousie University made the news this year for creating gender-neutral washrooms. That's just one example of success in activismthat seeks to create safe spaces for trans people on campus. It's part of an upswing in community activism around Halifax for gender justice, which uses a model that understands that work for social justice occurs on many intersecting levels such as race, class, sexuality, gender, ability, and more. Scott Neigh talked with Jude Ashburn, a queer and non-binary transperson who has worked for a number of inclusivity initiatives in Halifax. Ashburn has also been an organizer with Rad Pride Halifax, an alternative to the city's more mainstream Pride celebration. Scott started the interview by asking Jude about Gender justice. Well, no matter where you choose to focus your personal radical action, and who you are, you will probably end up paying taxes. And while politicians love to promise us lower tax rates, and comedians love to joke about the taxman, there are economists across Canada who want to tell you why taxes are great. They gathered together for a panel hosted by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and sponsored by rabble.ca. The panel was excellent — I know because I was there. It featured economists Armine Yalnizyan, Trish Hennessey, Yves-Lynne Couturier, and Toby Sanger. You can hear the entire presentation over at the Needs No Introduction podcast at rabble.ca/podcasts, but we thought we'd bring you a little bit of it here. The special guest speaker that evening was former privy council clerk and the author of "Tax is not a four letter word" Alex Himelfarb. Here is part of his address.

In October of 2013 over 2.5 million workers staged a national strike in Indonesia. Recently the Asia Pacific Currents podcast produced a special program exploring the current state of labour in Indonesia. Here we feature Diana Beaumont in conversation with Kirstie Hoban, an Australian union organizer living in Indonesia. Tara Hardy is a working-class queer femme poet who writes and teaches in Seattle, Washington. She was the recipient of the 2011 Washington Poet's Association Burning Word Award, and in this episode of rabble radio, we get to hear her perform her piece "red states". A lot of people work hard to grow food, but without land, growing food gets pretty tough pretty quickly. Up until the 1970s thousands of hectares of farmland were being lost each year all over the world, and the Vancouver area was no exception. In the 1970s the government decided to do something about the loss of farmland. To protect prime farming land from development, it created the Agricultural Land Reserve or ALR. The pressures to build on urban farmland are huge and Tom Baumann, a professor at the University of the Fraser has been involved in ALR issues for many years. Lorraine Chisholm from the Redeye podcast caught up with him for an interview. All farm work and gardening involves bugs. But in in Ottawa Ontario BUGs is an acronym. It stands for the Bytowne Urban Gardens project. rabble.ca's own Megan Stacey interviewed two folks with BUGs, Myka Riopel and Pamela Scaiff about the excitement and challenges of urban gardening.