Redeye

While children are less directly affected by Covid-19, the pandemic may have long-term adverse effects on the health and well-being of children and adolescents. Dr. Michael Kobor is Canada Research Chair in Social Epigenetics and Professor in the UBC Department of Medical Genetics. He talks to us about how social factors can get “under the skin” to influence child health and development.

WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre has introduced a new text and chat app to help support survivors of sexual assault during the Covid-19 pandemic. WAVAW Connect allows survivors to contact support workers confidentially from any device. Dalya Israel and Ashley Teja of WAVAW explain how the new app works.

In a recent blog post, Heather Lawson argues that the assumption that police presence saves those who experience sexual violence contradicts the experiences of many survivors, particularly Indigenous women and girls. Heather Lawson is the McInturff Fellow at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. She spoke with us on August 10.

Undocumented workers and asylum seekers in Canada say the federal government’s new regularization program is deeply unfair to the hundreds of thousands of non-status workers who have being doing essential work during the Covid-19 pandemic. We speak with Mohamed Barry, an organizer with Solidarity Across Borders in Montreal.

BC Hydro has classified the health of the project as ‘red’ meaning that it’s in deep trouble. The dam is facing unknown cost overruns, schedule delays and serious geotechnical problems. Sarah Cox is author of a prize-winning book about opposition to the Site C dam called Breaching the Peace and she continues to follow the project closely for The Narwhal. We spoke with Sarah Cox on August 11.

Businesses and governments are increasingly making the use of non-medical masks mandatory in indoor public spaces. But, according to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, new laws mandating masks are exactly the type of government action that tends to overshoot the mark, to the unreasonable and unjustified detriment of our freedoms. We speak with Cara Zwibel of the CCLA.

Shortly after President Donald Trump sent federal agents to Portland, a federal judge in Portland issued a restraining order against the agents barring them from attacking journalists and legal observers. Black Lives Matter Chicago and other organizations have filed lawsuits to prevent a similar occupation of their cities. We speak with Marjorie Cohn, former president of the National Lawyers Guild in the United States.

On July 22, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that a pact that turns refugees back at the Canada-US border is unconstitutional. The Safe Third Country Agreement was brought in 16 years ago and designated the United States as a safe country for refugees. The court challenge was brought by the Canadian Council for Refugees, Amnesty International and the Canadian Council of Churches, as well as several refugees turned back at the border. We speak with Janet Dench of the Canadian Council of Refugees.

Six years ago, Vancouver declared itself a City of Reconciliation. But one of city council’s advisory committees says it hasn’t seen meaningful action on anti-racism or reconciliation. Michelle Cyca is a spokesperson for the Urban Indigenous Peoples' Advisory Committee. We speak with her about why the committee isn’t satisfied with what council has done to advance its stated goals.

Last month Canada was rejected for the second consecutive time in its bid for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council, losing to Norway and Ireland. Now many organizations and activists are pushing for a formal and democratic review of Canadian foreign policy. James Mainguy speaks with Tamara Lorincz, who is a member of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute.(Audio re-uploaded Aug 5: now plays full episode)

In June, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that a decades-old section of the Criminal Code was unconstitutional. The law was brought in following the acquittal of a man who sexually assaulted an elderly woman while intoxicated. The federal government enacted Section 33.1 amid reports that extreme drunkenness was being used to defend against a sexual assault charge. We speak with Isabel Grant, professor at the Allard School of Law UBC.

Born in 1931, Tla’amin elder Elsie Paul was raised by her grandparents on their ancestral territory just north of Powell River on the Sunshine Coast of BC. As her adult life unfolded against a backdrop of colonialism, she drew strength from the teachings she had learned. She now passes on those teachings to all who visit a new interactive book published by Ravenspace. We talk with one of the co-creators of the book, Elsie Paul’s grandson, Davis McKenzie.Read the book here: http://publications.ravenspacepublishing.org/as-i-remember-it/index

Since the Depression years, the Bank of Canada has played a critical role in recovery from financial crises. The Bank’s current bond-buying program has allowed the federal government to shore up incomes and keep our economy functioning during the pandemic. But we are facing a new age of austerity if governments take their cues from conservative voices already calling for cuts to program spending. We speak with Scott Aquanno, professor of political science at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa.

In March, every Canadian province and territory declared some kind of state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Public spaces across the country were closed and gatherings were restricted. In some provinces, public health recommendations became legally-enforceable with significant fines attached. A new report looks at some of the results of that enforcement effort. We speak with Abby Deshman, co-author of the report and Criminal Justice Program Director with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Salt marshes in the Fraser River delta are a vital ecosystem for birds and other wildlife. But they are being squeezed between the dykes that protect farmland on one side, and sea level rise on the other. An innovative pilot project aims to protect the salt marsh so that it can, in turn, protect the low-lying land along the coast. We talk about the project with Sḵwx̱wú7mesh journalist Stephanie Wood.

Close to 4 million Canadians can’t afford to eat well or get enough food to keep hunger at bay. Food insecurity is about more than just access to food - it’s also about poverty, and BIPOC people are disproportionately impacted. We talk with Leslie Campbell, who oversees FoodShare Toronto's school and community based programs.

On July 21, over 200 people are signed up to speak to a motion brought by councillor Jean Swanson calling for the police board to itemize the work officers do related to mental health, homelessness, drug use and sex work. The motion is the first step in an attempt to move funding from the VPD and into community-led harm reduction and safety initiatives. We speak with Taz Khandwani about what the motion says and what it hopes to achieve.

When sociologist Ingrid Waldron started teaching in the School of Nursing at Dalhousie, she says she got a lot of pushback from White student nurses who didn’t understand what race had to do with health. In this wide-ranging conversation, Waldron examines the connections between the social determinants of health, environmental racism and police violence.

Canada has committed millions to research and development of some of the world’s most promising candidate vaccines and therapeutics to treat Covid-19. However there is no guarantee that this expenditure of public money will result in a vaccine or treatment that is affordable. Jason Nickerson is the Humanitarian Affairs Advisor for Doctors Without Borders in Ottawa. He argues that public investment should not result in high profits for private corporations.

Fortis BC is proposing a major $3 billion expansion to its LNG storage facility on the Fraser River. Local residents are concerned 300-metre LNG tankers negotiating the river will pose a serious threat to public safety in Delta. We speak with Eoin Finn of the Friends of Tilbury Coalition about why they think this expansion poses a threat to public safety in Delta. If you would like to comment on the proposal, you have until July 16. Go to https://lngtankersafety.org/ to find out how to submit your comments.