Redeye

Ending Jan 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives.In 2017,  El Salvador became the first country in the world to pass a comprehensive law banning metal mining nationwide. The vote was the result of a 12-year struggle by small farmers and their allies to protect the waters of the Lempa River from the impact of gold mining. Robin Broad and John Cavanagh tell this incredible story in their new book The Water Defenders: How Ordinary People Saved A Country From Corporate Greed. We speak with John Cavanagh.

From now until January 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives.Travers spent five years talking with trans kids and their parents. Their 2018 book, The Trans Generation, offers a rare look into what it is like to grow up as a transgender child. Travers is a Professor of Sociology at Simon Fraser University.

From now until January 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives.We Interrupt This Program tells the story of how Indigenous people are using media tactics to rewrite Canada’s national narratives from an Indigenous perspective.  Authors Miranda Brady and John Kelly talked with Lorraine Chisholm in 2018.

From now until January 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives.Carmen Rodriguez is an internationally acclaimed Chilean-Canadian author, educator and journalist. Her novel, Atacama, is set against the backdrop of Chile in the first half of the twentieth century and Europe during the Spanish Civil War. It is both a sweeping historical novel and gripping tale of personal drama. Carmen Rodriguez joined us in November 2021 to talk about the book.

From now until January 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives.Judging by the constant stream of news reports of standoffs and confrontations, it’s apparent that Canada’s reconciliation project has gone off the rails.  In Standoff, lawyer and historian Bruce McIvor examines why reconciliation is failing and what needs to be done to fix it. McIvor is a member of the Manitoba Metis Federation and a partner at First People’s Law. We spoke in December 2021.

From now until January 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives.Diet for a Small Planet was the first major cookbook to address the environmental impact of meat production. Author Frances Moore Lappé advocated for a vegetarian lifestyle out of concerns over animal-based industries and products. She also argued that world hunger is not caused by a lack of food but by ineffective food policy. In January 2022, Frances Moore Lappé joined Lorraine Chisholm to discuss the new 50th anniversary edition of the book.

From now until January 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives.In one of our most popular podcasts recorded in August 2021, Earle Peach talks with us about writing songs and shares some of his music. Peach is the director of three Vancouver-based choral groups including the High and Lows Choir and Solidarity Notes Labour Choir. He also plays a bunch of instruments and performs with musical groups but he says he identifies most strongly as a songwriter. Questions to the Moon is published by Lazara Press.

From now until January 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives.In his first book, The Skin We’re In, journalist and activist Desmond Cole challenged the complacency of people who believe Canada is a post-racial nation. He chronicled one year in the struggle against racism in this country. In March 2020, Desmond Cole joined Lorraine Chisholm in the Coop Radio studios for a lively and engaging conversation about the realities that Black people face every day in Canada.

Bottled water is the world’s most-consumed packaged beverage, but movements to protect water quality and to ensure the right to water are fighting back hard against its commercial exploitation. Now, the water bottling giant BlueTriton has announced it will close Canada’s largest water bottling plant and its entire operations in Ontario after sustained opposition by Water Watch and its allies. We speak with professor Daniel Jaffee, of Portland State University. Jaffee is the author of Unbottled: The Fight against Plastic Water and for Water Justice.https://theconversation.com/bluetritons-exit-from-ontario-shows-the-effectiveness-of-bottled-water-opposition-movements-243863

Environmental racism is a systemic issue in Canada. There's a long history of marginalized communities suffering at the hands of industry, all authorized by the Crown. In June this year, the Environmental Justice Act received Royal Assent and became law in Canada. But there are doubts that the meaningful consultation committed to in the Act will result in anything substantial. A new report explores why environmental racism exists, how it’s woven into the fabric of the country, and some critical points on how to meaningfully address it. We speak with the report’s author, Levin Chamberlain.

The collapse of the Mount Polley tailings dam in 2014 was one of the worst mining disasters in Canada. The dam failure sent hundreds of tonnes of toxic materials, including arsenic, lead, copper and nickel, into Quesnel Lake. More than a decade later, Imperial Metals Corp has been charged in BC Supreme Court with 15 violations of the federal Fisheries Act. We speak with Jamie Kneen, Canada program co-lead for Mining Watch Canada.

Every year in Metro Vancouver, car crashes kill 100 people and injure many more. Vision Zero Vancouver wants to see the number of deaths and life-altering injuries reduced to zero. They say the problem is not bad drivers, careless pedestrians or reckless cyclists - it’s a system problem, and the designers of our transportation system bear the biggest responsibility for safety. One of their current campaigns is to ban right turns on red. We speak with Nathan Hawkins.

Non-disclosure agreements were originally a mechanism for protecting trade secrets. But they are now increasingly used as a matter of default in settlement agreements for all kinds of civil disputes, including those related to sexual misconduct, harassment and discrimination. We speak with Julie Macfarlane of Can't Buy My Silence, a campaign to end the misuse of NDAs.

Hogan’s Alley was home to Vancouver’s largest Black and African diaspora community for many years. From 1931 to 1971, the City pressured residents to leave Hogan’s Alley. The final blow was the construction of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts in 1972. The Hogan’s Alley Society is committed to daylighting the presence of Black history in Vancouver. We speak with Djaka Blais, executive director of the Hogan’s Alley Society.

Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have been on strike since November 15.  CUPW represents more than 60,000 Canada Post delivery workers in rural and urban areas across the country. At the heart of the strike is an effort to secure safe working conditions for all postal workers, and a wider struggle against precarious work, as companies drive workers to the gig economy. We speak with Adam D.K. King of the Labour Studies Program at the University of Manitoba.

Next week, Vancouver City Council will debate the more than $3 billion City budget, which includes yet another increase in police spending, and determine the tax increase to pay for it. They’ll also discuss the controversial Broadway plan as well as Mayor Ken Sim’s enthusiasm for cryptocurrency. Redeye collective member Ian Mass joins us with his City Beat report.

Environmental and health organizations are calling on Canada’s Minister of Health to intervene after a regulatory flip-flop has left an insecticide on the market. A ban proposed in 2018 concerned imidacloprid and two related pesticides used on corn, soybeans, potatoes and other crops. This pesticide has been banned in the European Union since 2018. Neonicotinoids are linked to harms to human health. They are also significant contributors to global declines in pollinator and bird populations. We speak with Dr Meg Sears, Chair of Prevent Cancer Now.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the federal government introduced a special program to allow Ukrainians to temporarily work, study and stay in Canada until it was safe for them to return home. Nearly 300 thousand people have since arrived through that program. In late 2023, Canada announced a similar program to help Canadians get family members out of Gaza. 10 months later, it is unclear whether the program has facilitated the exit of any Palestinians from Gaza. We speak with immigration and refugee lawyer Randall Cohn.

In videos in both French and English, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke directly to viewers to explain his government’s new plan to reduce immigration by roughly 20 per cent. Lisa Brunner has analyzed Trudeau’s explanation for immigration cuts. She talks with us about how it aligns with the government’s own policies and the realities on the ground for would-be immigrants. Lisa Brunner is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Migration Studies, University of British Columbia.

Between the 1870s and the late 1990s, over 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were forced to attend church-run, government-funded residential schools. As of three years ago, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation had documented more than 4,100 deaths of children at these institutions. In 2022, Kimberley Murray was appointed Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools.  She released her final report, Sites of Truth, Sites of Conscience, last month.  We discuss the report with Professor Frank Deer of the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba.