Redeye

Municipal and provincial levels of government say that their hands are tied when it comes to bringing about decriminalization of drugs in their jurisdictions. But that’s not true, according to a new report by Pivot Legal. Author Caitlin Shane says there are simple actions that non-federal levels of government can take to reduce the harms of criminal sanctions for drug users.

Black Canadians are more than three times as likely as the general population to know someone who died of Covid-19. This is just one of the findings of a new online survey of several thousand Canadians about their experiences with Covid-19 since the pandemic started. The study was carried out by the Edmonton-based African Canadian Civic Engagement Council and Innovative Research Group. Dunia Nur is president of the ACCEC.

Research over the past 15 years shows that climate change has drastically amplified the conditions that help wildfires ignite and spread. Simon Donner is a climate scientist and professor of geography at the University of British Columbia. He discusses the factors that led to the catastrophic wildfires in the western United States.

The recently released report, A New Future for Old Forests, contains 14 recommendations on how BC can better manage its endangered old-growth forests. Jens Wieting applauds the report but is concerned about the BC government’s response to it. Jens Wieting is senior forest and climate campaigner with the Sierra Club.

John Ware is an iconic figure in the history of southern Alberta. He was a Black pioneer and rancher who settled in the province before the turn of the century. Born in the American South, he was already an accomplished cowboy by the time he arrived in Alberta. John Ware is the subject of a new NFB documentary now showing at the Calgary and Vancouver International Film Festival.

Lower Mainland city councils got back to work this week with no shortage of challenging topics on the agenda. Vancouver City Council discussed a whole raft of motions to tackle homelessness, including tiny houses, RV parking and more. Redeye Collective member Ian Mass joins us with his City Beat report.

The prevalence of misinformation about Covid 19 is much higher on social media than in traditional news sources. A group of Canadian researchers has found that people who consume a lot of social media end up believing conspiracy theories and misinformation, and as a result do not engage in safe behaviours that prevent the spread of COVID-19. We speak with Lisa Teichmann, a member of the research team.

Last year, the BC government expanded its wolf cull program in an attempt to protect endangered mountain caribou in the province. The adoption of this strategy was based on a study by Robert Serrouya and others at the University of Alberta. But when biologist Lee Harding went back into the data Serrouya used, he found that killing wolves had no detectable effect on the caribou populations it was trying to protect. We talk with Lee Harding.

Local craft and artisanal businesses are often celebrated as an antidote to the corporatization of everyday life. Yet workers in these local enterprises say they can be toxic places to work, offering low pay and little protection from arbitrary management practices. Benjamin Anderson is a labour studies lecturer and PHD candidate at SFU. He explains what he’s heard from workers at local breweries, cafes and pubs.

The Tulsequah Chief mine is in a remote corner of northwest BC. This mixed-metals mine has been leaching contaminated water into the largest tributary of the salmon-producing Taku River for more than 60 years, and the last owner of the mine is now bankrupt. We talk with journalist Matt Simmons about the delays in getting work started on the cleanup.

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)