Uncommons with Nate Erskine-Smith

Senator Ratna Omidvar has dedicated her life to strengthening migration, diversity, and inclusion, through roles as president of the Maytree Foundation, the head of Ryerson's Global Diversity Exchange, and her continued work with the World Refugee Council. On this episode, Ratna and Nate discuss what was missing in the throne speech, reasons to better support charities and essential migrant workers, why the Safe Third Country Agreement needs to go, her bill to support the forcibly displaced, and how Canada's future success depends on immigration. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Professor Joe Stiglitz is a Nobel Prize winning economist, former chief economist at the World Bank, and former chairman of the US president's Council of Economic Advisers.He's also a profilic author. He's recently co-written a report that makes the case for a green recovery, he's a leading voice for both measuring success differently and addressing inequality, and his most recent book, People, Power, and Profits, makes the case for a progressive agenda to save capitalism from itself.In this episode, Professor Stigltiz joins Nate to discuss deficit spending, a green recovery, income and wealth inequality, and how we mismeasure our lives. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Shoshana Zuboff is a Harvard professor, philosopher, and author of the book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.Nate and Shoshana discuss the mass collection of personal information and data in our digital world, its consequences for individual autonomy and democracy, and what we can and should do about it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Leah Gazan is the NDP MP for Winnipeg Centre, and she is the sponsor of Motion 46 calling for a guaranteed livable basic income. Leah joins Nate to discuss her motion and to call for action to end poverty as a matter of human rights and dignity. Read the full text of Motion 46 here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Jim Balsillie is a philanthropist, businessman (former co-CEO of Blackberry's RIM), and he has led efforts in calling for a new innovation agenda in Canada. On this episode, Jim joins Nate to discuss a report from the Council of Canadian Innovators, how Canada lags our peer countries on innovation, why Canada needs national IP and data strategies, and what an innovation agenda means in a modern and global economy.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

From our food supply, to frontline healthcare, migrant workers are often essential workers. Yet they are both undervalued and subject to systemic exploitation through our temporary immigration work programs. That migrant workers are predominantly racialized raises additional concerns about the exploitative nature of these work programs, as our federal government has committed to address systemic racism.In this episode, Nate is joined by Professor Fay Faraday to discuss migrant worker rights in Canada. Professor Faraday is an expert on labour rights, she has been active in community organizing with migrant and marginalized workers for over 25 years, and she has published three landmark reports on migrant worker rights here in Canada.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Dr. Jane Goodall is a world famous primatologist and anthropologist best known for her work with chimpanzees, 60 years ago in Tanzania. Her life's work is focused on conservation and animal welfare issues. In 1977, she founded the Jane Goodall Institute which does important work in nearly 100 countries around the world, including engaging young people through its Roots & Shoots program.In this episode, Nate and Jane discuss the lessons learned through this pandemic, why we can't continue to treat animals and our environment as we have, and how we can challenge the status quo to build a better world for our future. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Irwin Cotler is a giant in the field of human rights, most recently as founder and chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. He's also a former McGill professor, parliamentarian, Minister of Justice, and he has dedicated a great deal of his life to defending political prisoners, including as Canadian counsel for Nelson Mandela. In this episode, Nate and Irwin discuss the Wallenberg Centre's current work and human rights concerns around the world, including China's genocide against the Uyghurs, Saudi Arabia's mistreatment of Raif Badawi, Venezuela's systematic use of torture, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Parents and educators are rightly concerned about a safe September in our schools and for our kids. More, a failure to open schools safely has the potential to increase community transmission and affect us all. On this episode, Nate is joined by expert epidemiologists and professors Ashleigh Tuite and Amy Greer to discuss provincial plans, the frustrating lack of planning from the province and the need for stronger action, and the risks parents and educators need to consider upon their return.Professor Tuite is an infectious disease epidemiologist and mathematical modeler at the University of Toronto's school of public health.Professor Greer is a Canada Research Chair in Population Disease Modeling with appointments at both the University of Guelph and the University of Toronto, and she previously held scientific positions in the Centre for Communicable Diseases and Infection Control at the Public Health Agency of Canada. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

In July, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police published a report calling on governments to treat drug use as a health issue, including action to decriminalize all drugs and create options for a safer drug supply. In this episode, Waterloo Police Chief Bryan Larkin joins Nate to talk about why police in Canada want to decriminalize all drugs. As the CACP report notes: "We must adopt new and innovative approaches if we are going to disrupt the current trend of drug overdoses impacting communities across Canada. Merely arresting individuals for simple possession of illicit drugs has proven to be ineffective. Research from other countries who have boldly chosen to take a health rather than an enforcement-based approach to problematic drug use have demonstrated positive results."You can read the report here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca