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Redeye

918 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 6 ratings

A progressive take on current events. Produced by an independent media collective at Vancouver Cooperative Radio.

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Big Pharma should be made to disclose how much money it gives doctors

March 24, 2024 13:10 - 17 minutes - 15.9 MB

Drug companies often give payments to doctors and other health-care workers for consulting fees, speaking at events or funding research, as well as meals and travel expenses. But, in Canada, it’s difficult to know how much was paid to whom. Our guest, Dr. Joel Lexchin, says this information needs to be readily available to Canadians.

Labour and policy analysts unite on plan for province-wide public transit

March 24, 2024 13:05 - 13 minutes - 12.7 MB

A report released last month by the BC Fed and CCPA-BC says British Columbia’s local transit systems could be united into a province-wide public transit network within a decade, offering safe and affordable service throughout the province. We talk with Sussanne Skidmore, president of the BC Federation of Labour, about their vision.

Number of houseless people to rise dramatically without immediate action

March 24, 2024 13:00 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MB

Unless governments act to build and save housing that low income people can afford, the number of houseless people in Vancouver is on track to increase by 50% by 2030. This is the stark prediction in the Carnegie Housing Project’s 2024 report, released last month.  We speak with Devin O’Leary, one of the co-authors of the report. 

Suing for Silence: Sexual Violence and Defamation

March 10, 2024 13:10 - 17 minutes - 15.6 MB

A ground-breaking new book examines and exposes the use of defamation law to silence victims of sexual violence. Author Mandi Gray draws on media reports, courtroom observations, and interviews with silence breakers, activists, and lawyers from across Canada to examine the impact of so-called liar lawsuits on those who report or are thinking of reporting sexual violence. 

City Beat: Major social housing project planned for East Vancouver

March 10, 2024 13:05 - 11 minutes - 10.9 MB

Next week, Vancouver City Council is going to consider a massive social housing development in East Vancouver. Also, on the agenda, expanding free public Wi-Fi in the Downtown Eastside and an update on City plans to dissolve the Park Board. Redeye collective member Ian Mass joins us with his City Beat report.

New report shows impact of air pollution on Aamjiwnaang First Nation

March 10, 2024 13:00 - 15 minutes - 14.6 MB

Legislation brought in last year will require the government to examine the links between racialization, socio-economic status and environmental risk. That link is very clear in communities like the Aamjiwnaang First Nation just outside of Sarnia, Ontario, in an area known as Chemical Valley.  Last year, the Ontario government released the findings of the Sarnia Area Environmental Health Project. Elaine MacDonald joins me to talk about project and the experiences of the Aamjiwnaang First Nati...

Pharmacare deal a big win for people power over corporate profit

March 03, 2024 14:10 - 16 minutes - 14.6 MB

This week Pharmacare legislation was introduced on Parliament Hill. The historic program was announced after months of negotiations with the NDP, who pressed the government to launch Pharmacare as a condition of their supply-and-confidence agreement. On Wednesday, Lorraine Chisholm spoke with Nikolas Barry Shaw, a key campaigner on this issue, in advance of the legislation being tabled the following day. Nikolas Barry-Shaw is the Trade and Privatization Campaigner for the Council of Canadia...

Family stuck in Rafah as father shut out of temporary residency program

March 03, 2024 14:05 - 14 minutes - 13.7 MB

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Canada introduced a program to allow Ukrainians to temporarily come to Canada. Two years later, the government has introduced a new temporary residency program for people in Gaza. However, Palestinians in Canada are discovering there are major barriers to getting their family members out of the war zone. We speak with Matthew Behrens of the Rural Refugee Rights Network.

Grassroots transit group takes on crisis in Metro Vancouver bus network

March 03, 2024 14:00 - 14 minutes - 13.6 MB

If you live in Metro Vancouver, and get around on transit, you know that the bus network has been seeing unprecedented levels of overcrowding. Even though buses move the majority of riders, there’s no committed funding to expand the system. Dennis Agar thinks that needs to change and he has plenty of ideas about how to do that. Agar is the executive director of Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders. We speak with him in this episode.

BC budget stands up to austerity pressures but falls short on big challenges

February 25, 2024 23:00 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MB

On Feb 22, the BC government brought in their 2024 budget, the last one before the October provincial election. While Kevin Falcon characterized the projected deficit as “reckless” and John Rustad says it was set to “bankrupt the people of the future”, Alex Hemingway says this budget rightfully prioritizes public investment over austerity, but it could go a lot further. Alex Hemingway is a Senior Economist and Public Finance Policy Analyst at the CCPA’s BC Office.

Analogue Revolution: How feminist media changed the world

February 25, 2024 22:57 - 21 minutes - 19.2 MB

We speak with Marusya Bociurkiw, director and writer behind a new documentary tracing the explosion of grassroots feminist media projects from Halifax to Vancouver. She explores how women took up cutting-edge media technology to document everything from violence towards women to how to insert a diaphragm. Analogue Revolution kicks of the GEM festival in Vancouver on March 5.

City Beat: Council hands lowest-paid contract staff a $4 an hour pay cut

February 25, 2024 22:54 - 14 minutes - 13.6 MB

Next week, Vancouver City Council will debate paying a certified living wage to everyone who works for the City, both staff and employees of a contracted service. Redeye collective member Ian Mass also discusses the city’s climate emergency action plan and a revitalized vision for West End services in his regular City Beat report.

Colonial powers intact despite Indigenous child welfare court victory

February 18, 2024 14:10 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MB

This month, the Supreme Court dismissed a challenge by Quebec to the Canadian government’s Indigenous child welfare law, reversing a Quebec Court of Appeal decision to declare the 2019 federal law partly unconstitutional. The decision was widely celebrated by First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders. Yet, according to lawyer Bruce McIvor, the decision has a troubling assumption at its core. Bruce McIvor is a member of the Manitoba Métis Federation and a founding partner at First People’s Law.

Israel's targeted attacks on education, knowledge and culture in Gaza

February 18, 2024 14:05 - 17 minutes - 15.8 MB

Since the Israeli bombardment of Gaza began, nearly 400 schools have been damaged or destroyed. Last month, Israel destroyed Gaza’s last standing university. According to Chandni Desai, Israel has a long record of targeted attacks on Palestinian academics and institutions that produce knowledge and culture. Chandni Desai is Assistant Professor in the Critical Studies of Equity and Solidarity at the University of Toronto.

Hourly wage needed to live in Metro Vancouver tops $25 amid soaring costs

February 18, 2024 14:00 - 15 minutes - 14 MB

A new report measures how much a family needed to earn to afford the necessities of life in Metro Vancouver in 2023. It found that the gap between the minimum wage and a living wage continues to widen, as housing and food costs spiral upwards. We speak with senior economist Iglika Ivanova, one of the co-authors of the Working for a Living Wage report.

Danielle Smith launches all-out attack on trans and gender-diverse kids

February 12, 2024 01:22 - 20 minutes - 18.3 MB

On February 1, Premier Danielle Smith announced that she plans to implement a slate of policies that target transgender and gender-diverse children and youth in Alberta. The proposed measures go far beyond what has already been brought in in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. We speak with Corinne Mason, professor in the Women's and Gender Studies Program at Mount Royal University in Calgary.

Taking social media giants to court over platforms harmful by design

February 12, 2024 01:17 - 12 minutes - 11.4 MB

It seems that the more that comes out about the effects of social media on children and youth, the more concerned we should be. Now a law firm that represents victims of social media has filed cases against platforms including Meta, Snap, TikTok, and Discord, on the basis that they are harmful by design. Lorraine Chisholm speaks with Matthew Bergman, founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center.

Federal court decision an important win in fight to protect migratory birds

February 12, 2024 01:16 - 12 minutes - 11.5 MB

In January, the Federal Court agreed with Wilderness Committee and others that the federal government had failed in its duty to protect bird habitat under the Species at Risk Act. The court said Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault needs to reconsider protection measures under the legislation. We speak with Charlotte Dawe of Wilderness Committee.

City Beat: Vancouver falls far short on goal to hire 100 mental health nurses

February 05, 2024 03:08 - 14 minutes - 13 MB

Vancouver City Council meets next week to talk about those 100 mental health nurses promised in the last election campaign. It’s also going to look at a people-focused Gastown and revisit the living wage debate. Ian Mass joins us with these stories and more in his regular City Beat report.

Canadian climate scientists continue to face political interference

February 05, 2024 03:03 - 18 minutes - 16.9 MB

In the early 2010s, the Harper government’s muzzling of scientists was an issue of urgent concern. Researchers at Dalhousie University have surveyed the current situation and found that, despite some improvement, environmental scientists are still reporting significant interference in their work. We speak with researchers Manjulika Robertson and Samantha Chu.

International students blamed for Canada's housing and health care woes

February 05, 2024 02:58 - 15 minutes - 14.3 MB

A couple of weeks ago, the federal government announced a new cap on the numbers of international students coming to Canada. They’re aiming for a 35% reduction over last year. The government and current media coverage of the cap appears to blame international students for Canada’s housing and health care woes. We speak with Leah Hamilton of Mount Royal University.

Canada accused of hypocrisy in failing to support South Africa at ICJ

January 28, 2024 14:10 - 18 minutes - 16.6 MB

On Friday, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel has to take all measures within its power to prevent acts of genocide. In response, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly only noted that the ICJ “ delivered its response” and didn’t express support for the ruling or calling on Israel to comply with its legally binding provisions to prevent genocide against Palestinians. Canada’s complicated relationship with the crime of genocide is the subject of a recent article by law prof He...

Vancouver City Council: Issues to watch in 2024

January 28, 2024 14:05 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MB

The 2022 Vancouver municipal election brought in new mayor Ken Sim and a majority of ABC councillors to push through Sim’s significant list of campaign promises. OneCity councillor Christine Boyle joins us to talk about what to expect from the ABC council in 2024.

Hotel workers left behind as hospitality industry rebounds

January 28, 2024 14:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MB

BC’s hospitality industry got over a billion dollars in government subsidies during the pandemic. At the same time, the mostly female and racialized workforce either lost their employment or had their hours cut. A new report says fallout from the pandemic is still impacting workers’ health and livelihoods. We speak with the report’s author, Alice Mūrage.

Canada falls short in primary care compared to other OECD countries: Study

January 21, 2024 22:51 - 15 minutes - 14.4 MB

More and more Canadians are unable to access public primary healthcare, according to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal at the beginning of December. In fact, about 20% of Canadians have no family doctor at all, and many more have irregular access to clinicians. The CMAJ study compares the Canadian primary care system with New Zealand and eight countries in Europe including France, Germany, Italy and the UK. Dr Tara Kiran is the senior author of the study and a fami...

City Beat: Budget task force suggests radical redefinition of core services

January 21, 2024 22:47 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MB

Vancouver mayor Ken Sim’s specially appointed budget task force missed its deadline for the 2024 city budget but - better late than never - the report comes before council this coming week. The task force is calling for a radical rethink of what the city is prepared to fund as part of its core services. In City Beat, Ian Mass tells us all about the task force report, plus another major project in the offing – the redevelopment of the Jericho Lands.

Mining industry sets its sights on BC's critical minerals in new gold rush

January 21, 2024 22:34 - 12 minutes - 11.5 MB

British Columbia is preparing a strategy to supply critical used in electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines. The Mining Association of BC is promoting the expansion of over a dozen mines to produce the minerals, and is pushing the province for regulatory and other changes to facilitate mine expansion. Nikki Skuce is co-chair of the BC Mining Law Reform Network and author of report called Critical Minerals: A Critical Look. We speak with Nikki Skuce in this episode.

Police department budgets rise sharply across Canada despite calls to defund

January 14, 2024 20:46 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MB

In 2020, there were widespread calls to defund the police following the police murder of George Floyd. In Canada, a poll from that year found over 50% of Canadians wanted to see police budgets reduced. Despite this, no major Canadian city police department has had its funding reduced and in fact, budgets have gone up. We speak with Ted Rutland is associate professor in geography, planning and environment at Concordia University in Montreal.

BC's new labour standards for gig workers don't go far enough

January 14, 2024 20:41 - 15 minutes - 13.9 MB

There are more than 40,000 ride-hail and food-delivery workers in BC. The province brought in new proposed labour standards in November but Véronique Sioufi says they don’t go far enough, leading to entrenched racism in the sector. Véronique Sioufi is the CCPA-BC’s researcher for racial and socio-economic equity.

Calls for inclusion of caste-based discrimination in BC human rights code

January 14, 2024 20:36 - 11 minutes - 10.3 MB

Municipalities and the labour movement are among those calling for British Columbia to include caste-based discrimination in its human rights legislation. Burnaby city councillor Sav Dhaliwal took up this challenge last year. He joins us to talk about caste system discrimination and what Burnaby has done about this issue.

Supreme Court suspends BC's drug decriminalization rollbacks

January 07, 2024 14:05 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MB

On December 29, the BC Supreme Court granted a temporary injunction to the Harm Reduction Nurses Association, putting BC’s Bill 34 on hold for 3 months. The Bill imposes sweeping restrictions on the province’s decriminalization pilot launched a year ago. We speak with Caitlin Shane of Pivot Legal, one of the lawyers representing the Harm Reduction Nurses Association.

What the COP 28 agreement means for BC and Canada

January 07, 2024 14:00 - 17 minutes - 16.4 MB

On December 12, COP 28 closed with an agreement that the UN heralded as the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era. At the meeting in Dubai, world leaders agreed to quote “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems”. I spoke with Jens Wieting shortly after the climate conference wrapped to get his assessment of what this means for BC and for Canada.

City Beat: Mayor Ken Sim moves to scrap Vancouver's Parks Board

December 17, 2023 21:28 - 18 minutes - 16.7 MB

In City Beat this week, Ian Mass tells us about the stunning move to abolish Vancouver’s Parks Board, Vancouver’s 2024 budget which includes a climate emergency budget for the first time, plans for new artist studios and much more.

British Columbians invited to share hopes and dreams for public education

December 17, 2023 21:20 - 11 minutes - 10.6 MB

Education and public schools are often a hot button issue. Parents, teachers and governments sometimes have criticisms about our schools. But most people agree that public education should be supported and preserved as an important part of a democratic society. BC's Institute for Public Education is asking British Columbians to share their hopes and dreams for public education. We speak with teacher and IPE board member Barbara Silva.

Brand-new independent media platform features 20 Canadian publishers

December 17, 2023 20:47 - 15 minutes - 14.5 MB

It’s gotten a lot harder to find solid, progressive journalism in the face of social media bans on Canadian news. But there is some good news! A brand-new independent media platform launched last month. Unrigged.ca is a non-profit journalistic collaboration featuring 20 publishers of online articles and op-eds, print magazines, community newspapers, and podcasts covering news and current events from across Canada. We speak with Andre Goulet, one of the people behind the project.

CTV distorts the truth about Israel's violence in Gaza, say journalists

December 03, 2023 14:10 - 14 minutes - 13.6 MB

The independent Canadian media outlet The Breach published a story last week about the suppression of critical coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza. They report that CTV directed journalists not to use the word Palestine and has cultivated a ‘culture of fear’ at the network. We speak with Emma Paling, who investigated the story for the Breach.

National Farmers Union calls for ban on investor ownership of farmland

December 03, 2023 14:05 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MB

The National Farmers Union’s held their annual conference in Ottawa last month. The day before the conference began, NFU members gathered on Parliament Hill to demand a ban on investor ownership of farmland. To find out more, I speak with Rav Singh, youth advisor with the National Farmers Union – Ontario and Hannah Kaya, the NFU’s farm worker organizer.

So many housing initiatives, so little progress on affordable housing

December 03, 2023 14:00 - 15 minutes - 14 MB

Recently, there has been a raft of affordable housing initiatives coming from all levels of government. Alex Hemingway is a senior economist from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives of BC. He joins me today to talk about how effective these policies are likely to be and what else needs to be done.

Blockades highlight Canada’s $20 million arms trade with Israel

November 26, 2023 14:10 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MB

More than 30 Palestinian trade unions have issued a united call to stop arming Israel. This call comes in light of Israel’s intensified assault on Palestinians over the past weeks, and particularly the unfolding genocide in Gaza. Activists in Canada have responded by blockading weapons facilities in Ontario and Quebec and informing Canadians about the flow of weapons from Canada to Israel. We talk with Rachel Small, an organizer with World Beyond War.

Sacrifice is the wrong framing to encourage action on climate

November 26, 2023 14:05 - 17 minutes - 15.7 MB

As the climate emergency deepens, we hear repeatedly that the solution involves sacrifice. Fossil fuels, travel, meat - all things we need to give up to preserve the planet for human habitation. However, trio of academics say that effective climate action requires us to stop viewing our efforts as a sacrifice. We speak with Daniel Steel, associate professor in the School of Population and Public Health at University of British Columbia.

City Beat: Record increase in funding for police in Vancouver’s 2024 budget

November 26, 2023 14:00 - 13 minutes - 12 MB

On City Beat with Ian Mass this week, a draft of Vancouver’s 2024 budget with a recommended property tax increase of 7.6%, a motion supporting the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, plans for Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and more.

Palestinian refugees urgently need to be included in UN protection regime

November 19, 2023 21:20 - 12 minutes - 11.6 MB

The Gaza Strip is now a graveyard for thousands of children. UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, says that more children have now been killed in Gaza than all other conflicts since 2019. Despite the fact that the vast majority of Gaza’s population are refugees, they are not included in the United Nations international refugee protection regime. Today we speak with Dr. Maissaa Almustafa, Lecturer at the Department of Political Science at the University of Waterloo. Her research focuses...

Vancouver City Council votes to dismantle temporary modular housing

November 19, 2023 21:10 - 15 minutes - 14.3 MB

Temporary Modular Housing currently provides over 750 units of shelter-rate housing across Vancouver. OneCity councillor Christine Boyle brought forward a motion in July to renew or extend the leases for all these sites. Mayor Sim and his ABC party majority unanimously voted against that motion - and the dismantling or demolition of these units is now underway. We speak with Nathan Crompton, a member of the editorial collective for the Mainlander and an organizer with Our Homes Can’t Wait.

Debunking the myths about for-profit health care

November 19, 2023 21:04 - 14 minutes - 13.5 MB

This week, the BC Health Coalition is in Vancouver talking about the urgent need for reform and innovation in public health care. Meanwhile the Canadian Medical Association is sponsoring a cross-country conversation about the role of private – read for-profit – health care. We talk with Dr. Saad Ahmed of Canadian Doctors for Medicare about the truth behind the myths of privatization and what it would mean for health care in Canada.

City Beat: Opening up Vancouver's wealthiest neighbourhood to affordable housing

November 11, 2023 22:31 - 17 minutes - 15.7 MB

Affordable housing is on the agenda this week at Vancouver City Council. Council will hear about four different initiatives designed to make housing cheaper and also more equitable, including a bold proposal to increase density in the city’s richest neighbourhood. Ian Mass joins us with his City Beat report.

BC must extend full labour code protections to workers in the gig economy

November 11, 2023 22:24 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MB

Over a quarter of a million Canadian workers now participate to varying degrees in app-based gig work. Most of these are ride hail and food delivery workers. The BC government is planning on updating regulations that affect these workers. The Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives-BC made a submission to the government, aimed at extending protections and benefits that other workers receive. We speak with Véronique Sioufi, CCPA Researcher for Racial & Socio-economic Equity.

Police arrest organizer of large pro-Palestinian rally in Calgary

November 11, 2023 22:18 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MB

As the bombardment of Gaza continues, thousands of Canadians are calling for a ceasefire. These protests are being met with a concerted international effort to suppress rallies and speeches that express solidarity with Palestinians. On November 5, the co-organizer of a large rally in Calgary was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace. We speak about the case with Muhannad Ayyash, sociology professor at Mount Royal University and policy analyst at Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Net...

Municipal councils not safe workplace for women and gender minorities

November 05, 2023 18:29 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MB

From sexual harassment to online bullying and threats of violence, women politicians face far more challenges in public life than their male counterparts. A new research project took a close look at what women, gender minorities and racialized politicians face when they get elected to councils in BC and Alberta. We talk with Nadine Nakagawa, city councillor in New Westminster and one of the lead researchers in the project.

Appeal to protect tenants in SROs goes to court Nov 7

November 05, 2023 18:27 - 13 minutes - 12.2 MB

In Vancouver, single room occupancy hotels are often a last resort before homelessness, but rising rents mean that many low-income residents lose their housing each year. City of Vancouver vacancy control bylaws designed to protect SROs were quashed by the BC Supreme Court in 2022. On Nov 7, that ruling is being challenged in the BC Court of Appeal. We speak about the case with Wendy Pedersen, director of the Downtown Eastside SRO Collaborative.

Tracking Vancouver City Council's record on equity promises

November 05, 2023 18:22 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MB

In the lead-up to last year’s municipal election, Women Transforming Cities launched the Hot Pink Paper Campaign with eight policy asks based on months of community input from women and gender-diverse residents. A year later, we talk with Clara Prager about how council is doing on fulfilling their campaign commitments to create a more equitable city for all.

Guests

David Suzuki
1 Episode