Redeye

According to a recent study, outbreaks of infectious diseases are more likely in areas that have been stripped of their forest cover or land that is used for monoculture plantations. The study, published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, suggests epidemics are likely to increase as biodiversity declines. We speak with Claire Lajaunie, researcher with the National Institute of Health and Medical Research in France.

Vancouver City Council is at risk of slipping into divisive politics which will hinder a solution for South False Creek residents who fear eviction from their homes. Plus the push to host the 2030 Olympics, plans for the post Covid economic recovery and policy overload for City staff. We talk with our City Beat reporter, Ian Mass.

Music streaming services like Spotify are great for people who love to listen to music but have robbed musicians of much of their income. Musicians say the paltry payout rates are unfair and make it hard to make a living through their work. The Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) launched a campaign called Justice at Spotify last fall, and they organized worldwide protests outside Spotify’s offices this month. We speak with musician and UMAW organizer Zack Nestel-Patt.

If you were asked to name the countries that have produced vaccines against Covid-19, you probably wouldn’t think of Cuba. Yet Cuba is currently the only Latin American country developing Covid-19 vaccine candidates. The Soberana 1 and 2 vaccines have shown strong immune response against the virus during clinical studies. Conner Gorry is Senior Editor of MEDICC Review and has been reporting on the Cuban health system from Havana for nearly 20 years. She spoke with me from Minneapolis.

In March, Vancouver City Council unanimously passed a motion to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, UNDRIP, in Vancouver. To find out what this means for the three host nations, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-waututh, urban Indigenous people and the City of Vancouver, we speak with Alexander Dirksen, co-vice chair of the City’s Urban Indigenous Peoples’ Advisory Committee.

Statistics show that the lower your income, the less likely you are to have employer-paid sick days. Given that the jobs where women workers predominate don’t pay well, it’s clear that the introduction of paid sick leave would increase gender equality across the board. This March, the BC Employment Standards Coalition is calling on the provincial government to include the right to paid sick days in the Employment Standards Act. We talk with Kaitlyn Matulewicz, executive director of the Worker Solidarity Network.

Nearly 6,000 workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama are sending in their ballots in a certification drive that will make history if it succeeds. Ballots must reach the National Labor Relations Board regional office in Alabama by March 29 to be counted. Jonathan Rosenblum is the author of Beyond $15: Immigrant Workers, Faith Activists, and the Revival of the Labor Movement. He also works as a community organizer for Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant. We spoke with Jonathan Rosenblum on March 16.

Activists across Canada say that it’s long past time that the federal government addressed environmental racism in this country. Nova Scotia MP Lenore Zann has brought forward a private member’s bill to develop a strategy to combat this form of structural racism. Bill C-230 is going to second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday March 23. Dr. Ingrid Waldron is associate professor in the School of Nursing at Dalhousie University and co-producer of the 2019 film There's Something in the Water based on her book of the same name. We talk with her from Halifax.

Phase 3 of the vaccine rollout in British Columbia is expected to start in April and includes everyone over 60. But neither the province nor the feds have prioritized disabled individuals and their essential caregivers in its vaccine distribution plan. In contrast to other countries which clearly indicate that people with certain types of disabilities are high priority, Canada has yet to give this guidance. Yona Lunsky is a senior scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto and teaches in the Department of Psychiatry at University of Toronto.

Vancouver has been developing a neighbourhood to house 20,000 people in South Vancouver for the last 30 years. Unfortunately, despite promising the best in amenities, the City faces rising costs with little money to pay for what was promised. Ian Mass brings us his City Beat report on this and other city issues.

Most of us can’t go to Tofino yet this year, with public health restrictions on non-essential travel. But if you’ve been longing to connect with the spirit of wild West Coast experiences, you can connect through film this weekend, March 12-14. The first-ever Tofino Adventure Film Festival is hosted by the folks at Clayoquot Action. We spoke today with festival curator, Keegan McColl.

While President Biden has made positive moves on the domestic front, activists are sounding the alarm about the direction of his foreign policy with the naming of Senator Robert Menendez to chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Menendez has repeatedly attacked the United Nations and the International Court of Justice and supported unconditional military aid to right-wing governments. We speak about Biden’s foreign policy with Stephen Zunes, professor of politics and coordinator of Middle Eastern studies at the University of San Francisco.

The federal government’s new Bill 22 repeals some of the offences that currently carry mandatory minimums, but it leaves quite a number still in place. Meghan McDermott says that any imposition of sentencing requirements on judges leads to problems with systemic racism within the justice system. Meghan McDermott is with the BC Civil Liberties Association.

Migrant rights advocates estimate that 1.6M people in Canada don't have permanent resident status and at least 500,000 people are undocumented. Both groups could have problems getting the vaccine. Last week, the Migrant Rights Network sent a letter signed by more than 250 organizations calling on the prime ministers and provincial and territorial leaders to make sure that vaccines are available for everyone in Canada, regardless of immigration status. We speak with Dr. Danyaal Raza of Canadian Doctors for Medicare.

Six months after mass worldwide protests in support of racial justice, support continues to grow for a divestment from policing and prisons. Choosing Real Safety was collaboratively developed and authored by the Abolition Coalition and its allies. Over 250 organizations and over 3,000 individuals have signed on to support the declaration. We speak with Kit Rothschild, Violence Prevention Coordinator at PACE society.

A letter signed by Naomi Klein, David Suzuki and Noam Chomsky, as well as a hundred other academics, activists and artists was delivered to Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau’s office on Feb 25. It called on the federal government to stop propping up a repressive and corrupt dictatorship in Haiti, pointing out that for the past two years, Haitians have demonstrated their overwhelming opposition to Jovenel Moïse with massive protests and general strikes calling for his departure from office. We speak with Yves Engler of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says we should re-imagine Canada Post and use its existing network to connect Canadians as part of a green and just recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic. We talk with Kate Holowatiuk about the vision they have developed - Delivering Community Power.

A new study has found that air pollution from fossil fuels was responsible for more than 8.7 million deaths globally in 2018. This death toll exceeds the combined total of people who die globally each year from smoking tobacco plus those who die of malaria. The study was published in the journal Environmental Research earlier this month. We talk with Eloise Marais, Associate Professor in Physical Geography at University College, London and one of the authors of the study.

Vancouver City Council approved rezoning applications for two new housing projects spearheaded by local Indigenous societies, despite neighbourhood opposition. Council also looked at how they could support reconciliation, bring in paid sick leave and protect West End residents from homophobic street preachers. All this, and more, in today’s City Beat with Ian Mass.

Ben Parfitt says the BC government doesn’t have a good handle on how much water the major industries in the province use. He argues that we need to get that information before we can implement effective policies to encourage conservation and sound management of our water. Ben Parfitt is a resource policy analyst with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.