Podcasts about David Suzuki Foundation

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - With only five days of campaigning left until the election, Liberal candidate Jennifer Lash says the energy on the ground in North Island–Powell River is palpable.  “We've been door knocking, doing ‘meet and greets' and town halls and phone banking. I am  hearing just an amazing amount of support. So I'm loving it,” she said.  “This poll to me reflects  what people are telling us. So I am optimistic that the undecided will come over and join us and that we can send a Liberal to Ottawa.”  She was referring to the poll that Mainstreet Research released on Monday, April 21, which is one of the reasons I wanted to speak with her. You can access it on the Mainstreet website, but need to pay. I also wanted to ask about last night's all candidates meeting in Campbell River, which was cancelled at the last minute. Cortes Currents: So tell me about this poll. Jennifer Lash: “ We did not commission this poll, that's why it's behind a paywall. If we commissioned it, we would own it and we could share it. What it shows is that while the Conservatives are still in the lead, the Liberals are second and within the Conservative's margin of error, while the NDP are in third, quite considerably.” Cortes Currents: Jennifer sent that data, which shows the Conservatives at 35%, the Liberals at 27% and the NDP at 18%. As this is the property of Mainstreet Research, I cannot post the chart but the Liberal campaign staff have drawn up a chart of their own.  Jennifer Lash:  “The margin of error is plus or minus 4.1%, with a 95% confidence level.”  Given that they are only 8% apart, this poll indicates that it is possible, though unlikely, that Liberals are actually tied with the Conservatives In another poll, released on Sunday and commissioned by the David Suzuki Foundation, it was the NDP who came in second and the Liberals trailing considerably behind.   Jennifer Lash:  “What this tells me is that there's going to be a lot of different polls and projections that say different things. I know there's a lot of angst out there amongst people who particularly are worried about the Conservatives winning and really looking for some direction on how they should cast their vote so that they can unite as much as possible to keep the Conservatives out. But right now there's no data that says exactly what you should do, and I don't think there ever will.”   “Some people are going to choose to believe some polls and not others, and that's totally fine. People can do that, but I think what it comes right down to is there is no definitive poll that's going to tell people exactly what to do.  People need to vote for either the Prime Minister, the party, or the MP that they want.”  “What we're hearing is overwhelmingly, people want to have Mark Carney as the Prime Minister,  which means you have to vote Liberal.  I know  that people say that Carney's just going to win no matter what, but that's not necessarily true.” “If we really want Mark Carney as Prime Minister, people need to vote for the Liberal party. If people want a member of Parliament who is part of Mark Carney's government and can help deliver programs, then people need to vote for the Liberal party and that means voting for me.” Cortes Currents: I also wanted to ask about the all candidates meeting that was cancelled last night. 

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - With just six days remaining until election day, a new poll reveals the Conservatives hold a strong lead in the North Island—Powell River riding. Among the 402 eligible voters surveyed between April 17 and April 19, 45% said they intend to vote for Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn. NDP candidate Tanille Johnston trails in second with 23%, followed by Liberal contender Jennifer Lash at 13%. Both Jessica Wegg of the Green Party and Paul Macknight of the People's Party received 2% support, while independent candidate Glen Staples sits at 1%. Meanwhile, 15% of voters remain undecided.There is some good news for retiring MP Rachjel Blaney whose performance was approved by 51% of the respondents. 40% disapproved. Pierre Poilievre of the Conservative Party is the top-rated federal leader among voters in this constituency, with 53% support. He is followed by Liberal leader Mark Carney at 42%, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh at 41%, Green Party co-leaders Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault at 27%, and People's Party leader Maxime Bernier at 19%. Poilievre draws strong backing from men (53%), as well as from voters aged 35 to 54 (48%) and those 55 and older (49%). In contrast, Carney leads among younger voters aged 18 to 34, with 45% support, and the two men have an almost equal following among female votres. (Carney 35%, Poilievre 34%). The poll was sponsored by the David Suzuki Foundation and conducted by Vancouver-based Research Co, led by Mario Canseco, a veteran public opinion researcher since 2003. Canseco is a regular political commentator and columnist for Glacier Media, with work published in the Vancouver Sun, Globe and Mail, and National Observer. In related news, Research co also carried out a National survey which found that 43% of decided voters would vote Liberal as opposed to 38% for the Conservatives. This fits a pattern that all but one Canadian pollster has been reporting this week. The exception being Mainstreet Research, which reported a Conservative victory in 2 out of 3 surveys. If the election were to take place today CBC Polltracker, which draws upon the data from all polls, states the odds of a Liberal victory 96%. 338Canada states the odds are 90%. Both companies state the most likely scenario is the LIberals will form a majority government. On Vancouver Island, 338Canada's projection is that the four northern ridings will turn Conservative, but the only ‘CPC Safe seat' (which means victory is almost certain) is North Island Powell River. The three south Vancouver Island ridings are all ‘toss-ups', but Elizabeth May now has a slim lead in Saanich-Gulf Islands, the Liberals are ahead by a nose in Victoria and the Conservatives in Esquimalt, Saanich - Sooke.

Markham interviews Janetta McKenzie, Pembina's Oil and Gas Program Manager; Tom Green, Senior Climate Policy Adviser, David Suzuki Foundation; and Maeve O'Connor, Analyst, Oil, Gas and Mining, Carbon Tracker, about the new report Turning Tides: The economic risks of B.C.'s LNG expansion in a changing energy market.

Last year, the big headline to come out of the COP28 conference held in Dubai, was the news that an agreement had been made amongst participating countries to transition away from fossil fuels.  With Canada being the fourth-largest oil producer in the world and the fifth-largest producer of natural gas, where does this leave us? And what are we expecting to see come out of the upcoming COP29 conference in November?  Today, Andréanne Brazeau from the David Suzuki Foundation sits down with rabble editor Nick Seebruch to talk about COP29, the work the foundation does to research and report on climate progress (and regress), and how Canadians can participate in climate action.  About our guest and the David Suzuki Foundation  The David Suzuki Foundation is a national, bilingual non-profit organization headquartered in Vancouver, with offices in Toronto and Montreal. Through evidence-based research, education and policy analysis, the Foundation works to conserve and protect the natural environment and help create a sustainable Canada.  Andréanne Brazeau is a senior policy analyst based in Québec. Her expertise is in climate governance in Quebec, Canada and internationally; public policy related to the environment, climate, energy and consumption; sustainable transportation; international climate negotiations and the just transition. Brazeau has held various positions in policy analysis, government relations, communications, research and advocacy before joining the David Suzuki Foundation. She has worked for Équiterre, the UNESCO Chair in the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Extremism at the Université de Sherbrooke, ENvironnement JEUnesse, the Réseau québécois des groupes écologistes and the Young Diplomats of Canada. To read material from the David Suzuki Foundation, visit their website here or catch up on the latest from the foundation on rabble here.  If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca. 

Representatives from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation and various environmental groups hold a news conference in Ottawa to raise concerns about health and environmental harms caused by the plastic industry in Canada. Aamjiwnaang First Nation called on the Ontario government to shut down a chemical plant in Sarnia after high levels of the cancer-causing chemical benzene were detected in the Ontario First Nation and several of its community members fell ill and were hospitalized. Speaking with reporters are Janelle Nahmabin (elected councillor, Aamjiwnaang First Nation), Dr. Sehjal Bhargava (Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment ), Melissa Gorrie (law reform manager, Ecojustice), Sabaa Khan (climate director and director general of Quebec and Atlantic Canada, David Suzuki Foundation), and Karen Wirsig (senior program manager for plastics, Environmental Defence).The news conference comes as Canada hosts the fourth session of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4). Delegates from around the world are meeting in the nation's capital from April 23 to 29 to develop an international legally binding agreement on plastic pollution by the end of 2024.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/policy-and-rights--3339563/support.

Tune in to this episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast to hear from Anthony Marente, the senior campaigner for Oceanic Canada, discussing the upcoming INC4 meeting in Ottawa as part of the UN Global Plastic Treaty. Discover the history of the treaty, previous meetings, and the expectations for this crucial gathering. Learn about the global efforts to combat plastic pollution and what we can do to protect our oceans. Ocean Canada: https://oceana.ca/en/our-campaigns/plastics/ Follow a career in conservation: https://www.conservation-careers.com/online-training/ Use the code SUFB to get 33% off courses and the careers program.   Sign up for our Newsletter: http://www.speakupforblue.com/newsletter   Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3NmYvsI Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube   Plastic pollution is a global issue with significant impacts on human health and the environment. The episode transcript sheds light on the widespread presence of plastic pollution in various ecosystems worldwide, from beaches to rivers to forests. The harmful effects of plastic pollution extend beyond the physical environment to human health. The episode discusses how plastic pollution has resulted in the presence of microplastics in the air, water, and even in human bloodstreams. These microplastics contain chemicals linked to health issues such as cancers, respiratory illnesses, hormone disruption, and fertility impacts. The presence of these harmful substances poses a significant risk to human populations, especially those living near petrochemical plants and waste disposal sites. Moreover, the episode underscores the connection between plastic pollution and human health by highlighting the transmission of microplastics from pregnant mothers to unborn children. This transmission through the placenta can have long-term implications for future generations' health, emphasizing the need to address plastic pollution as a public health concern. The episode also addresses the disproportionate impact of plastic pollution on marginalized communities, such as Indigenous populations and residents of low-income areas. These communities often face elevated health risks due to plastic waste mismanagement, leading to higher cancer rates, respiratory issues, and other disparities. This highlights the importance of environmental justice and equitable solutions to address the health impacts of plastic pollution. In conclusion, the episode stresses the urgent need for global action to combat plastic pollution, safeguarding both the environment and human health. By addressing the root causes of plastic pollution, implementing upstream measures, and promoting sustainable waste management practices, countries can work towards mitigating the health risks associated with plastic pollution and creating a healthier, more sustainable future for all. The upcoming INC4 meeting in Ottawa is crucial for advancing the Global Plastic Treaty, part of the United Nations' efforts to tackle plastic pollution globally. The treaty aims to create a legally binding instrument involving all nations to end plastic pollution, particularly in the marine environment. Previous INC meetings have laid the groundwork for this treaty, with discussions focusing on ambitious measures like bans, prohibitions, and phase-outs of plastics. However, the INC3 meeting in Kenya faced challenges in negotiations due to low ambition countries heavily reliant on oil and gas industries, such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. These countries hindered progress by introducing obstacles in the negotiation process. The INC4 meeting in Ottawa presents an opportunity to overcome these challenges and move towards a final, legally binding international treaty to address plastic pollution. The meeting will bring together representatives from various countries, environmental NGOs, health organizations, and industry stakeholders to negotiate the terms of the treaty. It is crucial for high ambition countries to maintain their stance and advocate for impactful measures to address plastic pollution. As a senior campaigner for Oceania Canada, Anthony Marente's role at the INC4 meeting will be to publicize the government's stance on plastic pollution and advocate for high ambition measures. He will collaborate with civil society groups, meet with government officials, and provide resources to support informed decision-making. The meeting in Ottawa serves as a platform for global collaboration and action to address the urgent issue of plastic pollution and protect both the environment and human health. Collaboration between governments, NGOs, and civil society is crucial for effective action against plastic pollution. In the podcast episode, Anthony Marente, the senior campaigner for Oceanic Canada, emphasizes the importance of various stakeholders coming together to address the global plastic pollution crisis. Government Involvement: Governments play a significant role in setting regulations and policies to combat plastic pollution. They have the power to implement bans, prohibitions, and phase-outs of single-use plastics. Collaboration with NGOs and civil society is crucial to push for more ambitious measures, especially when conflicting interests arise due to ties to the oil and gas industry. NGO Participation: NGOs like Environmental Defense Canada, David Suzuki Foundation, and Ecojustice Canada have expanded their focus to address the human health impacts of plastic pollution. These organizations bring valuable resources, research, and expertise to inform decision-making processes. Civil Society Engagement: Civil society, including indigenous communities, healthcare workers, waste management experts, and concerned citizens, play a vital role in combating plastic pollution. Their diverse perspectives and grassroots knowledge ensure that policies are inclusive and equitable. Global Collaboration: The international nature of the plastic pollution problem requires global collaboration. International meetings like the INC4 in Ottawa provide a platform for countries to share knowledge and work towards reducing plastic pollution. Resource Sharing: Collaboration allows for the sharing of resources, information, and best practices. NGOs can provide governments with data on the health impacts of plastic pollution, successful case studies of waste management initiatives, and innovative solutions for reducing plastic usage. Civil society can offer insights into community needs and environmental justice issues. In conclusion, collaboration between governments, NGOs, and civil society is essential for developing comprehensive strategies to tackle plastic pollution effectively. By working together, sharing resources, and leveraging their strengths, these stakeholders can drive meaningful change and create a more sustainable future for the planet.  

The David Suzuki Foundation called Steven Guilbeault a "well-respected leader from the environmental movement" when he became Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change. He drops by our studio to talk about the carbon tax, climate change and more.

In this engaging episode, we sit down with Stephen Thomas, the Clean Energy Manager at the David Suzuki Foundation, to delve into his passion for sustainability and renewable energy. Stephen gives us an insider's perspective on the foundation's mission, sharing its core values and commitment to transitioning Canada to 100% zero-emissions electricity by 2035. We explore the pivotal role solar energy plays in achieving this ambitious goal and how every individual can contribute to a cleaner, greener future. Tune in to gain valuable insights and be inspired to join the movement toward a more sustainable world!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today in our week-long series on raising young families in this province, we explore the impact of climate change on parenting decisions. Our guests include Shannon Christensen, Founder and National Director of Mamas for Mamas; Severn Cullis-Suzuki, executive director, David Suzuki Foundation; Meghan Wise, Coordinator at UBC's Climate HUB, and Kai Chan, professor, UBC's Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability. And your excellent calls made it a thoughtful,

We talk about the lone voice supporting Palestine being ejected from her party, and looking at the immensity of climate change. Stefan interviews Stephen Thomas, Energy Manager at the David Suzuki Foundation about a new federal energy bill.

GUEST: Gideon Forman, Climate Change and Transportation Policy Analyst with The David Suzuki Foundation

One of the biggest hurdles we face today is reducing our dependence on fossil fuels for energy, which are rampant in just about everything we do and consume on a daily basis.  Fortunately, it is possible and we have a roadmap for doing just that, which is the subject of today's episode where we talk about decarbonizing the energy grid - that's taking all of our electricity we're currently using and finding ways to get the same amount from clean, renewable sources instead of from fossil fuels. What does that involve, what does it look like, and how do we get there as a society? In this episode I sit down with Stephen Thomas, who is the Clean Energy Manager at the David Suzuki Foundation, to break it all down in terms of what it's going to take for a country like Canada, which currently has plans to fully decarbonize the grid by the year 2035, to actually meet those goals.   While we're talking specifically about Canada in most of these examples here, many of these topics, methods, hurdles and solutions are very much applicable to communities and nations all over the world, especially those here on Turtle Island like the United States as we share lots of similarities in land use, long distances between cities across the continent, and how to ethically manage this change across existing nations in a decolonial way. Lots to cover in this one from the types of energy we need to be focusing on, to the benefits of this energy, how much cheaper and more reliable it would be, to market opportunities and incentive programs in place to help support everyone throughout this transition so that no one gets left behind.   Petition for Clean Energy in Canada David Suzuki Foundation - Clean Energy Shifting Power, Zero-Emissions Electricity Across Canada by 2035, DSF, 2022 Decarbonizing Electricity, and Decolonizing Power, DSF & Neegan-Burnside, 2022 Keeping the Lights On, DSF & Das-Martiskainan, 2022 Each episode of Nerdy About Nature makes a donation to a non-profit of the guests choosing using funds from Patreon supporters, and in this episode Stephen decided to send his donation to Mi'kmaw Grassroots Grandmothers! Learn more and support them at https://stopaltongas.wordpress.com/donate/ Nerdy About Nature is an independent passion project that relies on support from folks like you.  If you're enjoying this podcast and videos, help me keep making them by joining the Patreon family for 1$ a month or more! Got Questions?  Want Stickers?  Want community?  Wanna engage?  Do it all as a Patreon member, it's easy! You can also make a one-time donation, get NAN merch, resources and more information at www.NerdyAboutNature.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nerdy-about-nature/support

Lauren Foote's life has always included involvement with persons with disabilities. She was born into a family including a tetraplegic father, and other close family members with disabilities, and, as she discovered in college she also possessed a mental health disability. She will tell us all about this as she describes her life and tells her stories. She decided to take on a goal of seeking justice and inclusion for persons with disabilities in Canada as she went through college and she has stayed true to her desire to serve. You will learn how she has become involved in projects and jobs around urban planning and policy. She will discuss some of the committee work she does today and she will tell us stories of success she has had in helping to change how people in Canada view and interact with the population of individuals with all kinds of disabilities. About the Guest: As a lifelong disability rights advocate, Lauren Foote always knew that she wanted to work toward creating more equitable and inclusive spaces for people with disabilities. Growing up with a mental health disability, a tetraplegic father, and other close family members with disabilities allowed Lauren to experience accessibility barriers first-hand. Through her personal, academic, and professional experience in the realm of disability justice, she realized that these accessibility barriers were a result of decades of ignorance and oversight in community planning and infrastructure development. Lauren has since made it her life goal to mitigate access barriers by incorporating the rights of people with disabilities into urban planning and policy. Lauren proudly serves on the Advisory Committee for Accessible Transit (ACAT) at the Toronto Transit Commission and the ACAT Service Planning and Design Review subcommittees. In these roles, she offers expertise as a consultant to internal and external stakeholders about regional diversity, accessibility, and inclusion. Lauren has also collaborated with organizations including Ontario's Ministry of Transportation, Metrolinx, the Disability Foundation, the University of Toronto, Simon Fraser University, BCMOS, DIGA, and the David Suzuki Foundation to strategize methods to remove systemic barriers to access for people with disabilities. Through various roles in the accessibility planning realm, she has led forums, guest lectured, and constructed numerous reports on creating equitable and inclusive spaces. A majority of her work analyzes flood events and accessibility barriers, ableism within current legislation and policy, and transportation access and equity. In addition to her roles in accessibility planning, Lauren is working toward achieving her MSc in Planning at the University of Toronto, which she will complete this March 2023! Her thesis, Countering Ableism in Flood Resilient Infrastructure, allows people to reimagine public places as accessible and inclusive spaces for the entire community to enjoy. Lauren is dedicated to creating inclusive and equitable communities and she is so grateful that she has already had the opportunity to make meaningful change by increasing access for people with disabilities through her work. She plans to continue in the field of accessibility planning so that she can contribute toward bettering the community. Links for Lauren: Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-foote-5187ab1b9/ About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes Michael Hingson 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson 01:20 Well, greetings and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. Today we are going to speak with Lauren Foote. Lauren is a lifelong disability rights advocate. And I think that's going to be interesting and relevant to talk about. She's been very involved in urban planning and a bunch of stuff. technical term. They're up in Canada. Lauren, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Thanks for being here. Lauren Foote 01:47 Thank you so much for having me, Michael. I'm so excited to be a part of your podcast. Michael Hingson 01:51 Well, we're glad to have you. Why don't we start by you telling me a little bit just about you growing up how things started and just a little about you as a as a younger Lauren? Lauren Foote 02:03 Sure. So I'm from to Austin. It's a small suburb outside of Vancouver, Canada. My father's touch diplegic I have a mental health disability. And I have other close family members with disabilities as well. So Disability Justice has always been a large part of my life. And I've always been active in the disability advocacy community, even from a young age like you were saying so. Michael Hingson 02:26 So when you say tetraplegia what does that mean? Exactly? Lauren Foote 02:30 Yeah. So it's a it's paralyzed from the neck down. So people might be familiar with paraplegic quadriplegic, or quadriplegic, quadriplegic and tetraplegia can be used semi interchangeably. But But my dad has a injury and his spine quite high up. And that affects the movement from his neck down. So because of that he has the touch of paychecks definition. Michael Hingson 02:54 Got it got. Yeah, well, and you, you said you have a mental health disability. Tell me about that, if you would, Lauren Foote 03:00 yeah. So I have pretty severe anxiety and OCD. A couple other things going on. But I'm really grateful that I have a good, a good support system, and I receive good medication for that. And I'm really open about it, because I think quite a few people actually have hidden disabilities. And the more you talk about it, the more people feel comfortable opening up about that, and it's just really important to me to create spaces where people feel welcome and included and accepted and, and having a mental health disability is quite a silent battle sometimes. So I tried to be open about it and welcoming it and make sure that people don't have to face barriers or discrimination because of that. Michael Hingson 03:45 Well, I can appreciate that. But doesn't chocolate help everything? Lauren Foote 03:50 Yeah, chocolate of course. Yeah. Michael Hingson 03:54 My wife was a was more of a milk chocolate fan. I more flexible. Of course, we both also liked white chocolate, which is you can't complain about that either. But chocolate is always good. Lauren Foote 04:05 Especially that peppermint bark chocolate you get there we go. Now Michael Hingson 04:09 we're talking. And they tend to only do that at Christmas time. So we have a Costco near here. And I at Christmas went in and bought several boxes of the Kirkland peppermint bark and one Ghiradelli. And so far, since we bought them near the beginning of December, I've gone through one box, they will last most of the year. It's sort of like, Girl Scout cookies, Thin Mints, you know, they have to be parsed out just to play safe. Lauren Foote 04:37 although admittedly, I buy a lot of them so they can be parsed out. Got a stack up, stock up in advance, you know? Michael Hingson 04:44 Yeah, I usually I usually buy at least a case of Thin Mints at a time. Lauren Foote 04:48 Absolutely. That's the way to do it. Michael Hingson 04:50 It is so when you went to school did you know at that time you had a disability of some sort or how to All that work out, Lauren Foote 05:01 um, I sort of had an inkling since I was young, but during my undergraduate years is when I officially got diagnosed with my disabilities. And I think it was really just, I was working a bunch of jobs, full time studying and everything was kind of like, I could almost coast by without without trying to bring too much attention to my disability beforehand. But then eventually, I realized I can't do this, I need to talk to someone. And finally being able to get the proper help I needed, really made such an impact in my life and being able to get on the right medication. And it actually helped inspire me to start some protocols for my undergraduate school where I came into different classes and taught about accessibility resources. And I helped people go to get the proper counseling they needed and, and teach them about all the options that were there for them that they might not know about, which I didn't know about at the beginning. And it's really fulfilling actually to see people get the help they need, and then just shine from that. Michael Hingson 06:02 How did your parents react to all that? Lauren Foote 06:05 Oh, they're I mean, my family. My family is a very disability positive community. So I mean, my dad was his physical health disability. And then I have other family members with disabilities as well. So they're very supportive. And I'm very honestly lucky to have them. And my dad introduced me to the disability community from a young age. So So I felt very welcomed. And I think that's one of the beautiful things about disability communities is they're always so focused on inclusion and equity. And it's such a great place to be people are just so so awesome. Michael Hingson 06:37 Why did you decide though, that you wanted to take on the role of being an advocate and really pushing for change, rather than just saying, Alright, so I'm a person with a disability, I'm gonna go off and do my own thing. But I don't need to be an advocate. Lauren Foote 06:50 I think I was a healthy dose of frustration with the way Planning and Community communities are organized today. Especially going around town with family members and myself. During we would always face barriers to access and transportation, especially public transportation systems, we would go, I live in the Pacific Northwest, which experiences a lot of climate change related hazards like floods, and a lot of California does, too. And I believe you're in California now. So this is something you would probably resonate with fires, and all of that. And people with disabilities that their needs aren't really accounted for in planning, evacuations and planning areas to be more resilient. So people with disabilities often get left behind, especially in flooding events. A good organization, called Rooted in Rights did a documentary on Hurricane Katrina and the people's disabilities who are left behind and that, and I just realized that these barriers don't have to be there. They're put there through there through systemic and institutional barriers that were in place by planning, core planning and poor policy practices that have evolved over time to exclude people. But if we just go back and start mitigating some of those barriers, everyone will have the ability to be included and, and cared for and welcome in society. Michael Hingson 08:13 So where did you go to college? Lauren Foote 08:16 Well, I did my undergraduate at Simon Fraser University, it's, it's out west and BC. On a mountain, actually, there's bears which I like to tell people as a fun fact. And right now, I'm just completing my master's degree in urban planning at the University of Toronto. And here, I do a lot of work on disability rights and incorporating their needs into planning. Michael Hingson 08:40 What was your undergraduate major, Lauren Foote 08:41 it was in. So bio geophysical sciences, that is the technical name, but under the field of physical geography, and that was the reason I was still interested in those climate hazards I was bringing up earlier, and I was understanding the processes behind why they happen. And then I and then through my work with the disability Foundation, where I was working on more of a community based level and accessibility planning to incorporate the needs of people with disabilities into planning in the community, I realized there's not really like sure, we talked about climate change. And I'm reading all these climate change policies and reading all these environmental policies. I'm reading about how to plan resilient communities, and the needs of people with disabilities aren't being thought of at all, which is a huge issue. Because if they're not even thought of that, how are we going to create resilient communities that include people with disabilities? So that's kind of where I was trying to I was bridging that interest between environment, environmental sustainability, but also community resiliency for people with disabilities. And through my work, I kind of picked up transportation as well, but particularly public transportation as a sustainable way of moving across cities and connecting people to spaces and places and incorporating the needs of people with disabilities into that as well. Michael Hingson 09:56 Well, delving into that a little bit. Why do you think it is Since that people tend to just not pay attention or leave people with disabilities behind. Lauren Foote 10:08 Yeah, so, um, I guess not pay attention. I feel that might not be the I wouldn't say I necessarily think that but I think there's just, if you don't have a disability or you don't know somebody who has a disability, you don't experience it on a day to day basis, or you have any reason to even think about it, it's not that they don't care. It's just, it's not something they personally experienced. So they might not notice the nuances of needs that people with disabilities have. And then it gets overlooked. And a lot of plant planning in North America was very colonial, segregated, ableist. And a lot of the policies we have in place are from that period of time where people with disabilities were, and still are an afterthought, although it's getting better. And I think a lot of it comes down to education. And I was talking to, I won't name names, but I was talking to a CEO of a housing development company here in Toronto. And we were talking about building affordable housing in the community, and he was buying up land parcels to do this. And he genuinely thought, all you needed to create accessible housing was adding a ramp on the bot on the floor. And that was it, there was nothing that needed to be done inside. There's no other barriers that needs to be considered. And he genuinely thought that and I was honestly shocked, like, this is the CEO of an affordable housing company. It's quite a large company, actually, in Toronto. And I just couldn't believe the lack of knowledge there. But on the bright side, he was very willing to learn, and he was very receptive to my feedback. And he incorporated some of my insights into his analysis, which was awesome. So I think it really shows that it's not that people don't care, it's just that they might not be aware of the barriers that are there. So it's important to learn what they are, so you can mitigate them. Michael Hingson 12:03 The other part about it is that when you're building a house from the ground up, pretty much to deal with physical issues. As a as a starting point, doesn't really cost a lot unless you're going to a two story or three story house where you have to have the extra cost of an elevator, but to build in wider doors, to build in lower counters, to not have steps and make the whole grounds accessible, really doesn't cost because you built it into the design. And we've built several homes. And the reality is the only time we ever really had an extra cost. Well, we had to one, the first home that we designed was a manufactured home, and we worked with the home manufacturer, and it cost us $500 Because they had to go get a different HUD design approved. And so 500 bucks in the scheme of things. The other one was in New Jersey where we had a home that had to be a two story home. So we did have to put an elevator in but other than the elevator, there were no additional costs when you do it upfront. And it is such a huge thing if you have to go back and do it after the fact. Lauren Foote 13:18 Exactly. And there's so many cost analysis that show that it costs like exactly like you're saying the same price, sometimes cheaper, sometimes a tiny bit more, but plus or minus a few dollars here and there Overall, it's a very similar cost. And also, it opens up the market to a whole new population two, I mean, 25 24% of people in Ontario identifies as a person with a disability. So having accessibility and housing only increases the the places where people can can live. So Michael Hingson 13:48 sure. And the problem is, of course, with all the homes that are already built, you run into all the difficulties of having to go back and do it later. But that's why it's important with new homes affordable and otherwise, that accessibility be built into the process because in reality, it's not just going to help people who happen to have some sort of physical disability and we can look at other things as well. But it's also an aging population who are going to have to take advantage of those things. Lauren Foote 14:22 Exactly, exactly. And it helps make more equitable and inclusive communities to and any at least in Ontario, the government subsidizes companies that retrofit buildings to make them accessible. I'm not sure about the legislation in California, but they're in place. Yeah, no, they don't. Okay, that's. That's unfortunate. Hopefully one day then you do have ADA. So that's good. Well, Michael Hingson 14:49 yeah, but there are other things about the ADEA for example, unless you're doing a major remodel, you don't have to go back and, and put in anything to necessarily make something accessible. and you're not going to get funding to do that, at least the way the structure is set up right now. So those do tend to be issues that we have to contend with. And again, that's why it's important upfront that when you're building new housing, that you really put in all the stuff to make the the home the unit accessible and usable by everyone. Absolutely, I completely agree. How do we change the conversation, because there's another part of the conversation, let's take it away from Housing, and Urban Planning, and take it to the job market where you go into a company. And let's take blindness because in a sense, it should be simpler to deal with. So we'll just use that for the moment. Somebody applies for a job. And they need to have a screen reader to be able to hear what's going on the computer, or they need to have Braille signs on restrooms that aren't necessarily there already. And the people who are running the company, or you got a coffee machine, that's touchscreen, and how do you make that usable? But the people who run the company go, Well, I can't afford to pay money to make any of those things accommodating to you. We just don't have the money to do that. And how do we change that conversation when in reality, it ought to be part of the cost of doing business to be inclusive for all. Lauren Foote 16:35 Absolutely. I mean, again, I'm not sure about California, but that is outright discrimination here in Iowa. It is yeah. Okay. So same idea. And one of the interesting things, at least through my experience, because I've I've dealt with this, especially given your screen reader example. This past summer, I was working with the Ministry of Transportation, and all the onboarding documents for new hires were not screen reader compatible for some reason. So I would go in and make them all screen reader compatible. And they had no concern with this. But one of the things that helped the that the Minister of Transportation, at least, was having a separate branch specifically focused for accessibility. And I think that's a really good idea. And I think, and I'm on the advisory committee for accessible transit at the Transportation Commission, for Toronto, and a bunch of different initiatives in in the city of these were those accessibility committees. And having people who have disabilities or have experienced working with disabilities come in and provide their expertise, I think is so key, and can really help solve some of these problems. So if somebody went to a company was in a company and said, I need Braille signage, and the company was saying, No, that's when I would take it a step further, ideally, they would have some sort of accessibility committee that could reach out to which I know many places in Canada have. I'm not sure how it works in the United States, but many jurisdictions and municipalities in Canada have accessibility committees or boards, who deal with these types of concerns and can help them get further legal aid and advice for this discrimination. But also just bringing it up ahead of time and saying, Hey, actually, I'm not sure if you knew, but this would this here, if I if you could put Braille here I'd been helped me understand this. I've had a lot of conversations like that with people in planning. And just by explaining to them, a lot of times, they say nine times out of 10, they make the change right away. Because they're just not aware like this, there's a lack of awareness of these barriers that people face really Michael Hingson 18:47 well. There are a lot of lacks of awareness. But let's take another example websites, you go to a company that's got a website, and people need to interact with it, the company goes off and gets an estimate, oh, it's going to cost 10 $20,000 to get a programmer or programmers hired to come and make that website accessible and inclusive. How do you deal with that? Lauren Foote 19:13 Well, in that case, I would, first you explained the benefits, right, like what I mentioned earlier, there's a quarter of Ontarians have some sort of disability might not be blindness, it might not be the need for a screen reader, but they there are some sort of disability. numbers fluctuate depending on the region globally, it's about 15% of people have disabilities. So if by making your website compatible for screen readers, you're really opening up a whole new audience to seeing whatever your product is, or whatever your company is selling or what they do. And that's only beneficial because you're widening the scope of people who can interact with and and be a part of your company. But aside from them saying no, again, that is a human rights issue. We have Have A an act in Ontario called the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act that actually requires these types of websites to be accessible for people with disabilities by 2025, it was put in place in 2005, that the act. So a lot of companies now are hiring people to update these websites. And our provincial government does have some subsidies to do this as well. So So pointing at the attention to the subsidies that are available would be useful. Also, Michael Hingson 20:29 a lot of places don't tend to have the subsidies. And I'm sure that even the subsidies are limited. And depending on the website, it can be a pretty complex website. And so companies, hiccup, spending 20,000, or $30,000, or whatever the case happens to be to go in and make the website accessible for what they view as a small number of people. It doesn't change the fact of what you said, but it still is an issue for them. Because they're going I can't afford to pay that money. Yeah, and and the question is, how do we get around that kind of situation? Because it is something that we are all confronted by law, I mean, look at it this way, we know that about 98% of all websites aren't accessible and usable. And yes, a lot of that has to do with education, a lot of it has to do with the fact that people need to be made more aware of the value of doing it, they need to be made aware of the fact that in reality, there are studies that show that if you make your website inclusive, and people come and use your website, they're going to come back time and time again, because it's going to be hard to go elsewhere. But most businesses are not large, and can't afford to hire a programmer. So how do they do that? And some of them build up pretty strong resistance to going off and making that change, because I just can't afford to do that. Lauren Foote 21:58 Yeah, and I think that's where subsidies are come into play here. And that's something that I'm really grateful that we have in Ontario, so they can help the small businesses that have those financial barriers. Again, I do find it hard to have. I feel like it's a human rights issue. So it's Oh, it is a human rights issue. So to me, it's it's just something that needs to be done and saying it costs money isn't a really valid excuse to discriminate against people. And, Michael Hingson 22:27 of course, that is of course, your view. However, if you personally has to spend money. Yeah, I agree with you. But But that is, that is the issue. Yeah. Lauren Foote 22:38 And I think that's why having it in legislation and policy is key. And that's something I'm working towards doing. Because then you can say, well, it's required. And this is discrimination at the end of the day. And if they're going to be uncooperative, at least you can have the legislation to back you in that. Michael Hingson 22:54 Yeah, it's it's a long process to enact some of those is difficult. I can't resist bringing up the fact that I work for a company called accessibe. And I don't know whether you've looked at the house. Yes. And so part of the answer can be, hey, if it only costs you $500, to make your website inclusive, because you have under 1000 pages, and a lot of the accessibility issues can be addressed by something like accessibility, why not do that? But the answer ultimately, really, is it's education. And it's getting people to understand what you said that is, you're going to lose about 25% of your business, if you don't deal with making access happen, because people will go off and look for other websites that are more inclusive. And the fact is that if you do the job, and you make the website available, and you demonstrate and using it with the other parts of the company, like I said, Braille signage, which is which is not overly complicated, but other kinds of things like accessible coffee machines, since we tend to have coffee machines in our companies now for employees, and finding ways to make all those things work. If you make that step happen, where you create that kind of inclusion, you will find that you have more loyal employees who are going to stick with you and not jump ship nearly as fast as other people. Lauren Foote 24:23 Absolutely. And I think that's something that's really important to drive home to people who are more money minded about the about it, who maybe care less about the human rights aspect and more about the dollars because at the end of the day, like you said, you are increasing access to your website and you will have those loyal customers now who who can ask navigate your website properly and to who trust the website. Michael Hingson 24:46 What kind of resistance is do you see? And so far as dealing with accessibility, whether it's in companies or homes or or whatever What kind of really strong resistance Do you tend to see on a regular basis? Lauren Foote 25:04 I say on a regular basis, I wouldn't know I don't know, if there's one particular thing I have a lot of, I come up to face the heritage at Planning Act a lot, because this act, I kid you not will there will value the character of the building. So like whatever makes gives it its heritage value over the right to access a building for people with disabilities. And that's I think the heritage act is something that I find conflicts with disability rights the most. And the heritage act is just it's kind of as it sounds, it's about preserving buildings because of their inherent heritage value, maybe it's a 40 year old building or a 50 year old building, they don't have to be that old. But these buildings were kind of made in a time where accessibility really was an afterthought. And they're not generally that accessible to people with disabilities. And there's been cases in Toronto and elsewhere, where people have bought homes, their own home, it was not a heritage building, and then a disgruntled neighbor found out they were going to renovate it, or an or a few disgruntled neighbors found out they're going to renovate it. And then they moved to give the building heritage status and thus prevented them from performing the alterations. However, recently, there's been a lot of outcry. And a lot of coverage in the media and the news because of this. So if there's, a lot of these decisions have been reversed, and people are able to then do the accessibility modifications they need whoever it's just such a clear sign that there's so much work that needs to be done still and, and how frustrating for people who just wanted to renovate their home to have to go through all of this, just to be able to say no, I need to access this, this home. But public spaces as well, too. There's there's some legislative buildings in Ontario, where we had to fight to put in a ramp because they're worried it would, you know, infringe on the character of the building. Although more recently, I have noticed a trend, definitely that people are siding with the accessibility side of things over the heritage side of things. And I am seeing a general trend towards less of these cases happening. So that's something I'm pleased about. But also, even when we're talking about just general. So like in my role on the Advisory Committee for accessible transit, the Toronto Transit Commission, we do a lot of on site audits in person audits of things. And before we do these audits, we'll go we'll go through the designs, with the whoever's implementing a transit line, we'll talk about all the possibilities and how to make it accessible. And it's a very long process. And finally, when it starts being implemented, we go on site and do these audits. And sometimes, it's just not how it's, for example, there recently, I was looking at an LRT station, which is a light rail station for public transit. And two people who were on the audit with me were blind, and the tactile edging, which for listeners who might not be familiar with this, it's bumps on the ground that indicate whether you're going to go onto a busy road, or there's gonna be a great change, or there might be hazardous materials coming up. They were flush with the ground. So they were not detectable by the two peoples walking canes, and they just walked right onto the road. And that's just an example of some of the nuances that you capture on in person audits that you don't really, so you would think in theory that it's accessible, there's the tactile edging there. I mean, among a bunch of other things they did not just talk to alleging, but it actually wasn't. So really being in there on person helps, helps clarify things too. And that's somewhere where I face some issues sometimes too. I mean, you can't make a place 100% accessible. That's not the point. It's about creating a place that's as accessible and as inclusive as possible. So So yeah, definitely lots of little nuances and little struggles along the way but but that's you know, the part of what it is to fight for disability rights and disability justice and I'm happy to do it. Michael Hingson 29:12 Well, the the other side of truncated domes or tactile edges is people in wheelchairs hate them because that bounces them around like cobblestones. My wife hated them. And I understand that also, from my perspective, as a blind person using a cane and or using a guide dog. The surfaces aren't all that wide and it's if you're walking at any kind of speed, you could go right over it and totally miss them. Exactly. Yeah. And so the reality is I still think it comes back down to people doing a better job of using a cane to to know where they are, but I appreciate especially Sacramento California is a great place for this where a lot of curbs are not curbs at the corner. intersections of the corners, they go flush right down to the street. And yeah, they are very difficult to tell, you can if you're really paying attention because the sidewalk is composed of different material than the street, if you happen to use a cane where you can notice that, and but at the same time, it is an issue that that needs to be addressed. And I don't know what the ultimate solution to that happens to be, or really should be. But I'm not sure that the the the tactile or truncated domes, really are the ultimate solution. Because if they're only like 18 inches, and you take a step, that's more than 18 inches, you could go right over him. And the problem is, so I think it's something else that has to be looked at. But you bring up an interesting point with the heritage homes thing. When we moved to New Jersey, in 1996, they were just preparing to modify the train station where we lived in Westfield, New Jersey, the way you got on the train, the way you got on the train before that was there are steps built into the side of the train car and you went up these like 18 inch steps, and you went up three of them and you're in the car. Well, everyone started to recognize with the Americans with Disabilities Act, you've got to have a sidewalk that's raised so that people can go right across, which which is fine, except people in the town started to protest and yell saying, we don't want that because that means we've got to go back or around and go up a ramp or up steps. And if we're running to catch a train, we might miss it. Because we'll miss being able to go up those steps, we got to take this slightly longer route. And we don't want that. Why don't they just hire people to be there to lift at every train station to lift people in wheelchairs on trains, which was ridiculous. That's crazy. And it took it was a major fight. So the problem is, there's a lack of awareness, but there's also a lack of sensitivity and a lack of understanding that you can say these things. And you can say how inconvenient it is? Why don't you just plan on getting into the train to 15 seconds earlier or 2030 seconds earlier? And it means that more people can ride the train? And the reality is they finally Well, New Jersey Transit pushed it through and got it all addressed. And I never heard of anybody having a problem getting on the train. So of course, you know, yeah, that's the other the other side of it. My favorite example, though, of all this is looking at a place like in Virginia Colonial Williamsburg and Williamsburg is the original capital of Virginia, it goes back to the 1700s Revolutionary War. And they did not want to change buildings in Williamsburg, like the governor's house or the state house to put ramps in because it would have destroyed the integrity of the building from a standpoint of what it looked like and so on. Right. And I appreciate that. So we were there once my wife and I, and we said we wanted to go up into the state house, but it was up several steps. How do we get in? Well, it was a manual chair. I could have tipped her back. But we were talking about it and this guy comes up who was a guard, okay. And he said, Oh, let me show you. He said stay right here. There was a little flagstone patio right in front of the steps going up into the building. He said, so just stay here. He walks away. We're standing on the flagstone path or patio. Suddenly the patio raises up and slides across. Lauren Foote 33:51 He didn't even tell you. Okay, that'd be startling. Well, Michael Hingson 33:55 the point was that they had created a way to get people in the building that in no way interfered with the integrity of the historic value of the building. It was really cool. Lauren Foote 34:08 Yeah, I think that's a really cool example of ways that you can there's there's no excuse not to have accessibility in, in heritage buildings, there's always a way to make it happen. And we couldn't get Michael Hingson 34:19 to upper floors. There was no easy way to do that. And, and we had a discussion with him and some other people about that. And they said we are constantly trying to figure out a way without destroying the building to figure out how to get to upper levels, and they'll figure it out one of these days, but they hadn't by the last time we were there. Lauren Foote 34:37 I'm sure they will. Yeah. And another thing is they allowed modern day plumbing in all of these buildings, which involves removing some of the elements of buildings and maybe quote unquote, compromising the character the the heritage of the building to put in plumbing, so don't really see if they're using that to justify plumbing then how then how come they won't be able to put an accessibility modifications to To me, it's also a necessity. Michael Hingson 35:01 I'm not sure that they did any of that at the buildings in Colonial Williamsburg. Lauren Foote 35:05 Yeah, that sounds like a different case. Michael Hingson 35:06 That's yeah, that's an unusual case. But I think for what you're talking about, absolutely, in general. That's perfectly true. Exactly. Yeah. But Williamsburg was a little bit of an exception, and understandably so. But even so, they worked to make it possible to get into the buildings and do things and the restaurants were accessible and, and other things they had created ways to get in. So it was a lot of fun to go there and see the creativity. Yeah, it is, it is a problem. Because the attitude isn't just a lack of education, there is true resistance to change, there's a resistance to inclusion, and it is something that we do need to deal with. Lauren Foote 35:48 Exactly. And, and like, I mean, you've said, and I've said, Education definitely helps people who have that resistance to change, because a lot of times it comes from a lack of a lack of understanding and compassion for what other people are going through and experience. And then when they can be told or described to or given examples of, of how this adjustment will help people, and how people are prevented from seeing things currently, or going places currently, and how a small modification will make a big difference in people's lives. Generally, people come around, it's a longer process than I, I would like but it's definitely possible. And it has and it happens. Michael Hingson 36:31 Well, amen mentioned in Jersey Transit, tell me a little bit about accessibility when it comes to public transportation and so on. And some of the challenges or things that you've seen, and how are we moving toward getting that to be addressed in a lot of different ways? Lauren Foote 36:47 Well, I guess, if I take a step back, and I'm sure a lot of people are familiar with this, it's similar across North America, systemic and institutional ableism, which is the discrimination towards people with disabilities with exists within almost all public transportation systems in North America today, I presume many other regions of the world as well, but I'm not well versed in other areas. And what I mean by that is public transportation has historically been designed and constructed in a way that has created unnecessary barriers for people with disabilities, like we mentioned. And it's therefore excluded people from with disabilities from the right to access space in the community, and public transportation is key, it gets people from space to space, it helps people get to work, it helps people get to appointments to see friends. And I should note that this access is is not just pertaining to the disability community, this access issue also pertains to racialized communities, lowing income communities and other vulnerable communities as well, just to point out, and it can be traced back to these poor planning practices I was talking about where there's segregation and exclusion of the quote, unquote, other. And a good I guess, a good example of this, that North Americans might be familiar with his redlining. And it's these practices where they were quite racist practices where they separated white communities and black communities and, and there's a lot of ableism involved in in practices like this as well, although it's more nuanced and less talked about. Anyways. So what I do today works towards removing these systemic institutional barriers that have kind of worked their way into all facets of public transportation in North America, but I focused on a Canadian context. And recently, I was working with the Ministry of Transportation where I worked to create accessible rail for people. I've also worked in operations planning and service design with Metrolinx, to look at ridership with the pandemic, and people with disabilities, and communicate that with external stakeholders. And my work right now, which I'm so proud of on that advisory committee, which I've mentioned, for accessible transit, really allows us to help, we're actually we also retrofit old stations to make them accessible, and plan new stations to make them accessible for people with disabilities. And I feel like it's this role where I can really make a difference in the community. It's really fulfilling to be able to be like this station didn't used to be accessible, but now it is, and now more people can have access to places they need to go, you know what I mean? Michael Hingson 39:24 So what kinds of things do you do to get a station to be accessible? Lauren Foote 39:29 Oh, it's, well, first of all, I guess if it's a if it's an old station, and we're retrofitting it, so if we're like re constructing it to make it accessible, we we do some site visits of the old station, we talk with designers of the station, we talk with project managers, we see what could be done what I'm not an engineer, so what can be constructed. What, there's so many discussions that happen. A lot of the stations that are older are way too narrow and don't have elevator access. and don't have any indication where the drop off is, I know you're not a fan of tactile edge, or maybe not a fans too strong, but it's something we use a lot here and I there's miss my dad's in a wheelchair too. Michael Hingson 40:10 And he has an AR use. And they are used here too. Lauren Foote 40:13 Yeah. And he has to pop a wheelie over those tactile leggings. So so I definitely know what you mean. But it's definitely something that helps, especially in subway stations, in my opinion, because we just have those like abrupt drop off. So having much wider indications that a drop off is coming is useful. Although by all means not the only or the best way to do so. But it is affordable on a tight budget and semi semi decent. But anyway, so Michael Hingson 40:43 if a person is using their cane well, and they have a long cane, in the accepted practice, although not among some professionals in the field is you shouldn't have a cane that comes up under your chin. So you have about a three step warning. And even without the tactile bumps, you would be able to have enough of a warning of a drop off to be able to deal with it. But I'm not you know, I'm we're not going to debate that it's Yeah, around. But But what other, tell me other kinds of things that you would do to make a station accessible, safe where a person who's blind? Lauren Foote 41:20 Yeah, so one of the things we do, for example, for talking about people who are blind, or not necessarily buying but other disabilities as well, like mobility related disabilities, there's a big issue with coupler gaps, which are that space between two carts on a subway. So if you know how each car kind of connects, and there's like a big gap there, people kept falling into them or confusing them for entranceways, which makes sense, because the way they're shaped, kind of give off the impression that you could walk into there. But it's actually in between, it's onto the tracks. So we designed these little flap things that come up and prevent people from doing that. So it's small little additions. That's just something I worked on recently, which is why I brought it up. And it's something that that was useful to the blind community just because we're looking at cases of people walking into the tracks or even people tripping and falling or you getting pushed in your own rushing for the door. And then another thing I was looking at was we had some billiards out because like you mentioned about the tactile edging, you said people should notice it. But people weren't noticing it enough. So we had to pry Oh, yes, Michael Hingson 42:32 yeah, that's that's definitely an issue. Lauren Foote 42:36 And there was this concern about if there was an emergency, and only some doors could open, at least what the trains were working with, or the subway station cars were working with, there's only one of the doors is truly fully accessible out at about five to one per cart, which is again, another issue, but that's the way it is for now. And there was concern that Oh, what if it doesn't if it stops in an emergency and this accessible door is half covered by these billiards? So then we made them bendable and flexible. And, and we got out there a few of my my friends who use wheelchairs or trying to wheel over them, and it was too big. So they had to read redesigned them to make them thinner. And and then we're concerned about potentially guide dogs not knowing whether to go over it. There wasn't there was just someone who was with me who had a guide dog who raise that concern. And then eventually, it's a lot of trial and error. And you come and you find the solution. So we ended up doing the flexible ones, not the not the non flexible ones. And they are a little thinner, and they have warning signs. And I guess we'll see if that helps people more than the tactile. But yeah, and again, it's it's we're gonna have to review that. And then try something new. If it doesn't work, a lot of it is is trial and error. And a lot of it's nuanced, because everyone has unique disabilities, and everyone has unique needs because of their unique disabilities. So that's why more voices is important, bringing more opinions to the table. Michael Hingson 43:59 Well, so here's another question. Yeah. To do it this way. Where's the responsibility of the consumer in all this, for example, I submit bappy having been using guide dog since I was 14, and been mobile my whole life and using a cane for most of my life. Where is my responsibility in being able to deal with some of those things like you mentioned, the subway car, space between the cars, the connectors, and so on. If I'm using a cane properly, I would detect that we're not dealing with an entrance to a car because I would feel the drop off rather than the than the cane, finding that there's a car there to step into. And likewise, again dealing with the drop offs, if there weren't tactile edgings my cane will find it far enough in advance to Allow me to stop or alter my course. So where, where is my responsibility as a consumer and all of that? Lauren Foote 45:10 I think the same can be said for people who do not have disabilities is, if everyone used everything, the best case, in a best case, weigh, then we'd have a lot less safety measures in place because it wouldn't be necessary. And that doesn't just apply to people with disabilities. But unfortunately, that's not the case. And things happen. And like I said, people get pushed when people are busy in almost all subway stations, not just the ones in here in Toronto, and people get pushed into these spaces when there's this rush. And there's certain certain sins instances that can't be avoided. So it's about maximizing the safety possible. And in this case, oh, sorry, yes. Michael Hingson 45:48 Which is not to say consumers don't have a responsibility. But by the same tokens, what at what token, what it is saying is that consumers should use all of their tools, but at the same time, you can't rely on that. Lauren Foote 46:05 Exactly. And like what, like I said, in the emergency situation, evacuation is an issue too. And that's not necessarily the consumer, but that's definitely not the consumers responsibility, they just need to get out. Because there was an emergency that unexpected something happened. And, and, and yes, everyone should be trying to be as safe as possible in transit systems, whether you have a disability or not. But in reality, things happen. People are distracted, it's busy. People are confused. They might be new to the area, and not familiar might be the first time on transit. So there's a lot of specific circumstances that come into play. So which brings Michael Hingson 46:42 up another question, again, dealing with blindness. What you haven't discussed is information access. So for example, I go into a station. Yes. How do I know what train is coming? Yes. You know, those kinds of things. What? And I'm not saying you don't in any way, but I'm I'm curious, what do you do to retrofit stations to deal with those kinds of things? Lauren Foote 47:08 We actually do quite a bit in that way. And one of the main issues of the new station I audited last month was the air conditioning was too loud for anybody to hear. Instructions. And it was really funny actually, because I don't know if people who aren't from Canada might not know but I'm not sure that conversion to Fahrenheit, but it gets to 40 degrees Celsius, which is extremely Oh, summer. And people think of it is very, it gets cold here too. Don't get me right. It's cold right now. I wish I was in California right now. But I'm, I'm here unfortunately, in cold winter, but it gets really hot. Michael Hingson 47:44 This morning. It got down to minus five Celsius here. Lauren Foote 47:48 Oh, that's pretty chilly. For California. Michael Hingson 47:51 I live up on what's called the high desert. So we have about 20 850 feet up so we we had a little bit chill, and it hasn't gotten all that warm yet today. But anyway, it's better Lauren Foote 48:03 than here. I'd take that over the weather. Oh, Michael Hingson 48:05 I know. I hear you. Lauren Foote 48:07 But yeah, definitely still cold. I'm surprised I yeah, I guess when I think of California, I think of like, LA and the warm beaches. So naive, I suppose. Michael Hingson 48:17 Just keep in mind when you're at one of those warm beaches during the winter, you can drive two hours and be up in snow country and go ski. Lauren Foote 48:24 Wow. Yeah, I'd love to visit in the winter sometime. It'd be so nice. But yes, back to Audible indicators. The air conditioning, which goes which has to be on in the summer was was way too loud. And people couldn't use. People couldn't hear this. Tell the voice telling you where you were, what station you're at or how far you had to go. And, and that was a huge issue, of course. So we're working on fixing that. And this was a new station. And it was just embarrassing, because not for the for the designers because they worked so hard to make sure that they had all these proper sounds in place and signals in place and audible signals in place. And then the air conditioning of all things was too loud and people couldn't hear it. But they are working to fix that. And we do have that in place. We do have Braille signs, we put places, they used to be more in the older stations, which is something we're working on in retrofitting old stations. We also have a program, at least here and I know it's very similar in other areas as well, where people who are new to transit for free can sign up for a program where someone accompanies them for the first few times to make sure that they're familiar with their route and know where to go. And that's free of cost. And I think it's really beneficial to people, especially people who have invisible disabilities, especially even like anxiety or they might have autism or something. Those are those are some major clients who use who use that service, that free service and I think that's helpful too. And having attendance there to help this is really important too. But of course there's so much work that needs to be done and like I said I just pointed About a big issue that we found last month. So it's definitely never ending. Michael Hingson 50:04 What's what's happening in terms of using some of the newer technologies working toward having the ability to use indoor navigation apps and things like that? Is anything being done in Canada with that, in so far as all that goes in that regard? Lauren Foote 50:23 Yes, but it is kind of in its infancy here, there's a lot of talk. And there's some meetings about how we can do that, and what what would be involved and how we can make sure it's accessible for people. I recently did an audit. And my thesis is in, in incorporating accessibility into flood resilient infrastructure in Toronto, and I was doing an audit of a green quarter, which is a trail basically a pathway with shrubbery and trees and grass and parks, and all of that think of green space in an urban area, kind of, but a long linear path. Anyways, I digress. And this is where I sparked the conversation about about having this technology and how it be so useful for people because the GPS, GPS doesn't really extend onto these trails. And it'd be very, very useful for people, I was walking with someone who was blind, and they said, that would really help them. And then QR codes are being added to a lot of things here. That's something that's being done, and it continues to be done, but but needs to still be done more. So there's some Michael Hingson 51:28 things, there's a lot of work being done, though, on indoor navigation that Yeah, it's interesting, might really be helpful, I'd love to talk with you about that offline, and maybe help you make some contacts that would help with that. But there are actually solutions that can help in moving around indoor spaces, and it can be outdoor spaces as well, that are not nearly as complex to make happen. As you might think. There's a lot of development going into all of that. And the other service for blind people that immediately comes to mind as a service you may or may not be familiar with called IRA. Are you familiar with Ira? Yes, I'm familiar with Ira, a IRA. And the reality is that it is a service that one has to pay for. But if the government would make stations, for example, or pull City's Ira access locations, then there's an immediate access by any person who needs more visual information to be able to get access to that stuff. Lauren Foote 52:35 Yeah, that's a great idea. And I would love to continue this conversation with you offline, too, because I know you're very well versed in this in this area, and your your insights would be so meaningful. Michael Hingson 52:45 Well, we could we could certainly talk about that. And would love to tell me more about your thesis and the things that are going on with it. Lauren Foote 52:52 Yeah, so it's all I can think about right now, actually, because I'm excited to be graduate. I'll be finishing in March. So it's coming up. I'm not done my thesis, I'm almost there. But yeah, so I'll be presenting it in March. And basically, I'm looking at Green corridors, which I said, are these interlinked green spaces, often with pathways, typically, in urban areas. And they are really important because they reduce urban flooding, increased biodiversity act as carbon sinks, so they take carbon out of the atmosphere, they reduce flooding, and they increase social and physical health and well being so they help humans as well. And it's just super interesting to me, because it combines my passion for environmental sustainability, and disability justice, and also active transportation, because moving through these corridors is a form of active transportation. And what I'm doing is and like I like I'm sure you can tell I'm a big fan of in person audits because they just capture things that can't be captured online or in a discussion even though those are valuable too. But I'm doing in person audits of these green corridors in Toronto with people with disabilities. I'm lucky I got some funding for it. So I'm able to hire people with disabilities to do these audits with me. And so far, I've received such valuable insight and feedback every me know that oh, and I think I've done nine or 10 audits so far. And I make for a few more. And the interesting thing is, like you said, with housing, like the very small, okay, maybe not small, but the cost would be very similar to doing to increase accessibility in these spaces. And a lot of things we find in terms of barriers is, is like I mentioned, a lack of QR codes on signage or lack of Braille on signage, a lack of lighting, which may be a little more expensive, but but not crazy in terms of in terms of these projects. And then certain things like there's 100 garden beds free to the public, but none of them are raised so people with wheelchairs can't go under intend to them if they want to. I Um, and there are a lot of things, some of the grid, some of the crosswalks don't have any audible indicator when the light changes. So it's they're relatively small things to change, which is actually really nice because when when I'm because I'm working with municipalities and not municipalities have project planners and people who are organizing these green corridors and designing these green corridors to discuss what can be changed and how they can make it more accessible. And it's a lot better to pitch more affordable things to companies, because they're a lot more on board with them when it's it's a low cost barrier, especially when, when they're on tight budgets. A lot of these are city projects that don't don't have huge budgets. So having these small, these small, very adjustments can make such a big difference in people's lives and create such an equitable and inclusive space. And the thing is it with environmental planning, it's, at least from a sustainability point of view, not less. So in general, it's relatively new in the planning realm, and it's gaining a lot of traction. And the issue we're seeing here is very similar to what I was talking about with transportation is, is all these it's what we're trying to fix and transportation is all these segregation and exclusionary approaches are kind of being reintroduced in environmental planning. These green spaces are being put in affluent communities, they're being put in predominantly white communities, they're being implemented without considering the needs of vulnerable people, like people with disabilities are not to say that people with disabilities are far more but systemically they face barriers that they shouldn't have to. And then that sense, it creates vulnerabilities that they shouldn't have to face, and cultural, cultural barriers as well. And, and so what's really cool is that this research, it aims to stop this cyclic exclusionary planning approach that aims to reimagine these spaces to create a more equitable place where people can enjoy it and aims to stop this cycle of exclusion of different groups. So it's really it's really cool. It's really fulfilling. And I think because it's kind of a new area of, of planning it, there's a lot of potential for it to be done in a adjust way. So it's nice to be able to have, and I've had a lot of positive feedback with the project managers I've been talking to. And they're all very keen to listen and to create things in a more equitable manner. So so I'm really fortunate in the sense that I've received possible positive feedback, and that I've had such great help from from other people with disabilities in the community too. Michael Hingson 57:37 Well, the things like Audible traffic signals are, of course, pretty expensive. And that would be yes, it needs to be used somewhat judiciously. And not every street needs to have an audible traffic signal. And you pointed it out, all the audible signal does is tells you that the lights change doesn't tell you that it's safe to go exactly and and I've seen way too many audible traffic signals in places where all you're doing is walking across the street, there's no complex intersection is just for curbs. And people still want to have audible traffic signals. And the fact of the matter is, it isn't going to make you more safe. If you're listening for traffic. And again, there are those people who can't. So there, there are other issues there. But the reality is when you've got a complex intersection like or a roundabout, roundabouts are a little different. But when you've got several streets coming into an intersection, that gets to be more fun. Lauren Foote 58:37 Yeah, imagine so. And the person I was talking with was was a blind person who did this audit with me. And for them, they found it really important. So So for people who might be more skilled at listening to traffic, like you or other people, it might not be as much of a as much of a need, but for some people, they find it necessary. And also, like I said, it doesn't necessarily tell you the direction, which is another interesting problem. It would be useful if it actually repeated or like stated where to go. But but it doesn't. But regardless, yeah, that would be something that would be less of a I guess they're in terms of recommendations. There's like, sooner nearer term recommendations, and then like, would be nice in the future recommendations. And that would be nice in the future recommendations. And then smaller things like raised garden beds, all you have to do is build a bed that someone can wheel under 100 beds. Yeah, it's simple. So so it's yeah, there's quite a nuance there. And honestly, and I guess I did bring up a more expensive one, but there are quite a few. Michael Hingson 59:38 Just a valid one to talk about as well. So last question, because we're going to have to run but tell me, what are you going to do once you get your master's degree? You graduate. So what are you going to do after you go off and graduate? Are you just going to go on and become a professional student and go get a PhD? Lauren Foote 59:58 We'll see about that. So, right now I'm just in finished master's degree mode. Yes, good for you. And I'm very excited about it. And I'm so grateful that I've been able to have this opportunity because it's really allowed me to help make the community more equitable. And it helped make places more inclusive for everyone, not just people with disabilities. And I find if always find it fulfilling to create equitable and inclusive communities. And I'm extremely passionate about disability justice. And I know that I'll be very happy in a role that allows me to create inclusive and barrier free communities. I'm only I'm only 25 years old. So I'm very happy that I've had this opportunity to achieve all this progress in the disability community so far

Stefan and Lauren spend the hour with Katie Perfitt, Clean Electricity Campaigner, and Stephen Thomas, Clean Energy Manager with the David Suzuki Foundation. Petition Link: davidsuzuki.org/project/clean-electricity/ Renewable Power for All June 5th Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/718712316694427/

A few months ago in the news, you may have heard or seen articles about open net fish farms being removed from BC waters, and thought, “Wow!  That's great!”...and then not done or heard much since then.  As you may or may not be aware, fish farms are one of the biggest threats to our at risk and endangered populations of wild Pacific Salmon that travel all over the ocean from down south in Oregon up through BC and into Alaska, and the fight to get these farms fully removed from BC waters is still ongoing, despite what you may have heard (or not heard) in the news.   I sat down with Kilian Stehfast who is a marine conservation specialist at David Suzuki Foundation to chat all about these fish farms, their history, how they came to be, the threats they pose to wild salmon and why that matters, and what the future of aquaculture looks like here in BC.  It's a great episode and you're gonna learn a lot not only about this industry, but what you can do to get involved to help ensure the survival of those awesome anadromous fish that tie us and these ecosystems we all reside in together.   David Suzuki Foundation - Fish Farms More on Indigenous Clam Gardens Background on Fish Farming & Aquaculture Each episode of Nerdy About Nature makes a donation to a non-profit of the guests choosing using funds from Patreon supporters, and in this episode Kilian decided to send his donation to Clayoquot Action! Learn more about the advocacy they do at www.ClayoquotAction.org Nerdy About Nature is an independent passion project that relies on support from folks like you.  If you're enjoying this podcast and videos, help me keep making them by joining the Patreon family for 1$ a month or more! Got Questions?  Want Stickers?  Want community?  Wanna engage?  Do it all as a Patreon member, it's easy! You can also make a one-time donation, get NAN merch, resources and more information at www.NerdyAboutNature.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nerdy-about-nature/support

John Ruffolo is the Founder and Managing Partner of Maverix Private Equity, a private equity firm focused on technology-enabled growth and disruption investment strategies. As an active board member in the profit and not-for-profit sectors, John works with many leading innovative organizations including AI Partnerships Corp., engineering.com, Ether Capital, OneEleven, the David Suzuki Foundation, the CIBC Foundation, and the Royal Ontario Museum.  Throughout his career, John continues to be recognized for his unparalleled contributions to the growth of the technology sector and expansive vision of Canada's economy. For instance, in 2014, John was recognized as Canada's #1 of the 100 Most Powerful Business People by Canadian Business Magazine (#3 in 2015) and was selected as one of Toronto's 50 Most Influential People by Toronto Life (#16 in 2015, #40 in 2016, #26 in 2017). In 2018, John was honored with the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, making him a fifth Class Knight.  John sits down with Scott to offer his perspectives on fostering self-discipline.

This entire month we talking about Getting Outdoors. We are also collaborating with The Outdoor School Shop! Are you looking for Outdoor Gear? Check out the Outdoor School Shop for all you need to keep you and your kiddos dry and outside. Get your waterproof on and jump in the mud with 20% off the entire full-price RAIN category at The Outdoor School Shop. Use code: PODCAST at check out. HERE'S WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS EPISODE: In this episode, we are talking with Julia Donnelly O'Neill, founder, and owner of The Toronto Nature School. The focus of this important conversation centers around finding nature in Urban Cities. Tips for using Public Spaces as your Outdoor ClassroomHow to Create a Forest School in the CityLooking at how to use a Beach in Nature SchoolHow Julia went from Classroom Teacher to Founder of the Toronto Nature SchoolThe Importance of Routines and Systems in an Urban Nature SchoolMEET JULIA DONNELLY O'NEILL: Nature School founder Julia Donnelly O'Neill is an Ontario Certified Elementary Teacher with a certification from Evergreen for Outdoor Learning and Play who understands the importance of outdoor learning for children. Julia has been part of a collaborative project led by the David Suzuki Foundation to develop outdoor curriculum units.TORONTO NATURE SCHOOL: An immersive education model that encourages children to get to know the world around them. The Toronto Nature School offers a unique program that is based on the Forest School movement. They offer a variety of programs including Nature School, Kindergarten, recreational, and weekend programs. The benefits of learning in nature have been researched and the results show that students who learn outdoors benefit in many areas inside and outside of academics.CONNECT WITH JULIA DONNELLY O'NEILL: EMAIL: hello@torontonatureschool.caWEBSITE: https://www.torontonatureschool.ca/CONNECT WITH VICTORIA: FREE Seedling Newsletter WEBSITE: www.outdoor-classrooms.comEMAIL: Victoria@outdoor-classrooms.comInstagram: instagram.com/outdoor_classrooms/Facebook: Facebook.com/OutdoorClassrooms1OUTDOOR CLASSROOM RESOURCES:The Outdoor Classrooms CIRCLE MembershipThe Outdoor Teaching Bootcamp Seeds of Inspiration for Outdoor Learning Card Deck

For episode 77 of the Afternoon "T" Podcast Chris sits down to chat with Canadian VC legend John Ruffolo. John is the founder and Managing Partner at Maverix Private Equity, as well as the former CEO of OMERS Ventures, one of the largest and most active venture capital firms in Canada. Under his leadership, OMERS Ventures invested in several successful Canadian startups, including Shopify, Xanadu, Jobber, Hootsuite,  Desire 2 Learn, Hopper,  League, and Wattpad.  John also co-founded the Council of Canadian Innovators with Jim Balsillie, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping high-growth Canadian technology firms scale globally. As an active board member, John works with many leading innovative organizations including AI Partnerships Corp., engineering.com, Ether Capital, and OneEleven. John is equally recognized for his involvement in the non-profit sector, including serving as a member on the boards of the David Suzuki Foundation, the CIBC Foundation, and the Royal Ontario Museum to name a few.

How to become a world-leading underwater aerial photographer with William Drumm  Hi! I'm Bill.  Thanks for taking a moment to explore my website. I'm a storyteller who creates still and moving imagery that people connect with. I specialize in aerial, underwater, and corporate media projects. In addition to my photography,  I produce short videos for non-profit agencies and businesses, and make multimedia for travel and tourism clients. I also am a freelance camera man and aerial cinematographer, who has filmed for several online and television documentaries and programs. I live in Denver, but spend time working in Seattle, California, Hawaii and all over. Let's make something together!  Email: bill@williamdrumm.com         Online Video Production: Complete creation of a promotional video, corporate film, or other video project. Includes production, editing, and delivery of online ready HD or 4K film.    Aerial Filming or Photography:  Real estate, agricultural, weddings, or events.  Clients: Carhartt, GoPro, Discovery Channel, Nat Geo Channel, PBS, Natural History New Zealand, Pelagic Pressure Systems, Hollis, Oceanic, Sheraton Hotels, ExploreOcean, OceanGate, Seattle Magazine, The Seattle Aquarium, Aquarium of the Pacific, Downtown Aquarium Denver, Matador Network, Canada Travel and Tourism Association, Travel Manitoba, Tourism New Brunswick, Frontiers North Adventures, National Wildlife Association, David Suzuki Foundation, ByLines Magazine, etc. 

Stephen Thomas of the David Suzuki Foundation likes the idea of Canada creating a Clean Energy Regulation. He hopes it will inspire the addition of 18x more renewable energy, sharing electricity between provinces and Canada achieving its goal of net-zero electricity by 2035. GreenEnergyFutures.ca CKUA.com Podcast

Reactions to the decision to remove the Stanley Park Bike Lane Peter Ladner, Board member of the David Suzuki Foundation, Board Chair of BC Cycling Coalition, and former Vancouver City Councillor provides his reaction to the decision to remove the Stanley Park Bike Lane. The Italian Cultural Centre opposing a proposed supportive housing project Mario Miceli, Executive Director of the Italian Cultural Centre discusses the Italian Cultural Centre's opposition to a proposed supportive housing project Vancouver City Hall's report looking at the permitting of housing developments Peter Meiszner, Vancouver City Councillor discusses cutting through the red tape at Vancouver City Hall. Why remove the Stanley Park Bike Lane? Scott Jensen, ABC Vancouver Park Board Commissioner discusses the decision to remove the Stanley Park Bike Lane. Is it time to cancel Netflix? The password sharing crackdown begins Andy Baryer, Tech and Digital Lifestyle Expert at HandyAndyMedia.com discusses the backflash Netflix is facing as users voice displeasure over password sharing crackdown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter Ladner, Board member of the David Suzuki Foundation, Board Chair of BC Cycling Coalition, and former Vancouver City Councillor provides his reaction to the decision to remove the Stanley Park Bike Lane. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pandemic saw a drop in airline greenhouse gas emissions. But as travellers return to the skies, advocates are calling for greater focus on decarbonizing air travel. Guest host Mark Kelley discusses the various ways to do that with Michel Chornet from Enerkem, a company that looks at developing sustainable aviation fuel; Suzanne Kearns, director of the Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics at the University of Waterloo; and Gideon Forman, the climate change and transportation policy analyst at the David Suzuki Foundation.

Jane Brown is joined by Peter Muggeridge, Senior Editor of Zoomer Magazine, David Cravit, Chief Membership Officer of CARP and Bill VanGorder, Chief Operating and Chief Policy Officer of CARP. In the latest pertaining to CUPE vs the province, Premier Doug Ford announced that his government would be willing to drop the strike legislation and go back to the bargaining table if the union decides to stop striking. CUPE has agreed to this. But what comes next? ---- FORD GOVERNMENT'S PLAN TO BUILD HOMES ON GREENBELT Jane Brown is now joined by Mike Schreiner, leader of the Green Party of Ontario, Gideon Forman, climate change and transportation policy analyst at the David Suzuki Foundation and Tim Gray, Executive Director of Environmental Defence. The Ford government has an ambitious plan to build 50,000 new homes on the Greenbelt. According to Housing Minister Steve Clark, the province wants to open up roughly 7,400 acres of the protected land to do this. Premier Doug Ford said that we have a housing crisis to deal with due to a growing immigrant population. Our panel weighs in on the latest and on whether Ford broke his promise about protecting the Greenbelt. Listen live, weekdays from noon to 1, on Zoomer Radio!

We talk about taking matters into our own hands. Stefan interviews Stephen Thomas of the David Suzuki Foundation about making electricity cheaper through renewables.

For your business to not just make money but light your inner fire, you need to make sure the way you operate aligns with your values. For marketing, this looks like creating content and campaigns in ways the "experts" may not recommend—or even have thought of. It means tuning in to your intuition and running bold experiments that you LOVE. On this episode you will discover: How to use unpleasant emotions to come up with new, inspiring ideas How to talk about something in your business—whether it's a rebrand, website update, photo shoot, etc.—in a way that doesn't bore your audience How to turn your business challenges into training partners to propel your growth in the life the Universe is dreaming for you To join the Superabound Collective and get the Treasure Chest—plus have us contribute $1 to the David Suzuki Foundation during the month of November—visit besuperabound.com/collective

Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal MP; Melissa Lantsman, Conservative MP; Heather McPherson, NDP MP; Annie Bergeron-Oliver, CTV News; Bill Browder, Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign; Evgenia Kara-Murza, wife of Russian political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza; David Suzuki, scientist & environmentalist, David Suzuki Foundation; Joyce Napier, CTV News; Robert Benzie, the Toronto Star; and Charles Bordeleau, former Chief of Police of the Ottawa Police Service.

In this episode, we learn about Canadian academic, scientist broadcaster and environmental activist David Suzuki, and his impressive wife Tara Cullis. Both Suzuki and Cullis are co-founders of the David Suzuki Foundation and committed their lives to environmental protection and criticizing governments for not doing enough when it comes to global warming. 

A prominent advocate for indigenous rights in Canada sees promise in clean energy. --- The Canadian province of Alberta is home to the Oil Sands, a vast subarctic region that is rich in crude oil, and which has been a focus of controversy for decades over the environmental and climate impacts of the fossil fuel mining that takes place there. Melina Laboucan-Massimo, a prominent indigenous rights advocate and member of the Lubicon Cree Nation, discusses her community's ongoing struggle to overcome the impact of environmental, health and cultural damage from surrounding Oil Sands development, and the potential for clean energy to empower First Nation communities. Melina Laboucan-Massimo has for more than a decade been an activist on behalf of indigenous communities that have been impacted by the development of fossil fuels. Her television program, Power to the People, explores the role that clean energy is playing in building energy independence among First Nation communities. Melina is the co-founder of Indigenous Climate Action, a Climate Fellow at the David Suzuki Foundation, and the founder of Sacred Earth Solar.  Related Content Renewable Energy and Indigenous Communities https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/events/renewable-energy-and-indigenous-communities/ Barriers to Energy Efficiency Adoption in Low-Income Communities https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/barriers-to-energy-efficiency-adoption-in-low-income-communities/   Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.eduSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the first segment of this special two-part episode, climate justice activist and originator of Land Back, Bryanna Brown discusses the critical need for Indigenous rights and ways of knowing and youth leadership to combat a climate crisis rooted in systems of colonial oppression and capitalist greed.   Making the connection between climate and colonialism, Bryanna Brown says:  “One quote that Indigenous Climate Action uses that I really like is: ‘Colonialism caused climate change; Indigenous Rights are the solution.' We are left out from so many spaces and so many decision making processes and tables throughout history. Because our culture is to protect the land. I think Indigenous Peoples are very important to be investing in, in terms of being able to come up with solutions, not false solutions, actual solutions to the climate crisis. But because of the colonial violence that we continue to experience and because it is a culture of honoring profit over people; it's really, really hard to get a say when your values are rooted in protecting the land and protecting something of non-market value. And it's not just the responsibility of Black, Indigenous, People of the Global Majority to do that; allies are really, really, really important. There's so many things that we need to deconstruct or decolonize, or just eliminate entirely from our practices and systems and policies to be able to get to a place of having ways to come together to find solutions.” Reflecting on the power of Land Back, Brown says:  "I was really, really impressed by how it had gained so many different definitions, but very similar definitions across organizations … And I think it's extremely important that it is about the collective energy of Indigenous Peoples and our allies, Black and Indigenous Peoples and People of Color who are protecting the land throughout the world. I was really surprised that it was a global movement. And something that I really noticed was the solidarity that began to grow amongst so many people because of it. And for me, it was really about consent and Free Prior and Informed Consent over our land and our body.”  About today's guest:  Brown is Inuk and Mi'kmaq from Nunatsiavut, Labrador. She is the originator of the Land Back movement and advocates for the sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples, as well as Black and People of Colour communities and land ownership and reclamation as a means of environmental protection and self-determination. Bryanna is a traditional storyteller, knowledge-keeper and public speaker. She is on the National Steering Committee and Climate Policy Advisory Council of Indigenous Climate Action and is currently working with the Keepers of the Circle and the Climate Emergency Unit with the David Suzuki Foundation to establish a Just Transition campaign in Newfoundland and Labrador. She consults on anti-human trafficking and advocates for the rights of women, Indigenous Peoples Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and environmental injustice in relation to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and persons with disabilities. The Courage My Friends podcast series is a co-production between The Tommy Douglas Institute (at George Brown College), rabble.ca, with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute Image: Bryanna Brown / Used with permission.  Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (Podcast Announcer), Nayocka Allen, Nicolas Echeverri Parra, Doreen Kajumba (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Breanne Doyle (for rabble.ca), Chandra Budhu and Ashley Booth.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu

Healthy Green Homes is a part of the EcoParent Podcast Network: https://www.ecoparent.ca/podcasts This episode is generously sponsored by Eucalan: https://www.eucalan.comIntro:Learning about and acting on toxins, environmental degradation, and other hard topics requires the capacity to do so without letting it drag you down. It can be easy to sink into fear and despair, feeling like it's too big to handle. We are needed. And we can make a difference. So we need the capacity to tackle hard things. I was lucky enough to start to build this capacity with support from Lindsay Coulter when I worked with her in the David Suzuki Foundation's Queen of GreenTM Coaching Program. I invited her to chat with me to help you build capacity too. Lindsay Coulter is a dedicated mother of two, naturalist, community catalyst, soul activist, mentor, writer and horse lover in Victoria, B.C. She seeks to inspire others to claim sane leadership and find better ways to be in this world together. She believes in creating good human society wherever we are, whenever we can with the people and resources available to us now. Her expertise is as a green living expert for more than a decade, as former David Suzuki's Queen of GreenTM, a leader, mentor, facilitator, community catalyst, compassion cultivator, soul activist and courageous conversation starter. List of Topics Covered:What it means to take sane actionSimple ways to build community and why this is essentialHow we can reconnect to nature in an increasingly disconnected worldEco-grief and building the capacity to copeHow to show up on social media Having conversations with people who aren't on boardHope and fear in chaotic timesLinks:You can find Lindsay here:On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaneAction On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saneaction The forest and nature school, EPIC: https://epiclearningcentre.org/ Other links mentioned:Margaret Wheatley "Beyond hope and fear": https://www.margaretwheatley.com/articles/BeyondHopeandFear.pdf Nature & Children: https://childnature.ca/taking-care-of-the-heart-through-nature-play-and-connection-in-chaotic-times/About the EcoParent Podcast Network:The EcoParent Podcast Network helps busy families live a healthier, greener lifestyle. Our host experts are imperfect, real, busy parents just like you who share ways to lower our collective carbon footprint and practical strategies that make a difference to your family's health, the planet and to our children's future. We offer raw, honest conversations and actionable advice across our six podcasts: pregnancy & birth, pediatric wellness, kids' nutrition, green beauty, healthy home, and raising greener teens. Join us and get inspired to live a more sustainable, healthy life! www.ecoparent.ca/podcastsPartnerships:Audio magic on this episode was performed by Carlay Ream-Neal. This episode was edited by Emily Groleau.

In this episode, we talk to Zoe Craig-Sparrow a human rights advocate from Musqueam Indian Band, who talks about her journey from youth to adulthood working in and advocating for Indigenous rights and human rights. Zoe is currently the Director of Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice at Justice for Girls where I had the opportunity to work with her on a submission to the UN defending Mi'kmaw rights. http://www.justiceforgirls.org - - - She is also a fellow at the David Suzuki Foundation. https://davidsuzuki.org/experts/fellows/ - - You can follow Zoe on Twitter at zoe_sparrow YouTube video version to be posted soon: TBD - - - FOLLOW ME ON TIKTOK at pp2cool FOLLOW ME ON IG at pam_palmater FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER at Pam_Palmater - - If you would like more information about these issues, you can check out my website at: https://www.pampalmater.com - - If you would like to support my work and help keep it independent, here is the link to my Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/join/2144345 - - - Here is the link for Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/pampalmater - - - WARRIOR LIFE PODCAST MERCH: https://www.teespring.com/stores/warrior-life-2 - - - Please note: Nothing in this podcast advocates for violence on Indigenous territories. - - Please also note: The information contained in this podcast/video should not be misconstrued as legal, financial or medical advice, nor should it be relied on as such. This podcast/video represents fair political comment. - -

Yannick Beaudoin is Director-General for Ontario and Northern Canada with the David Suzuki Foundation and Director for Innovation and forOntario with the Wellbeing Economies Alliance for Canada and the Sovereign Indigenous Nations.  He brings a ‘new economics for transition' lens to the organisation to enable the transformation of Canada towards social and ecological sustainability.  He has a background in marine geology, was former Chief Scientist with GRID-Arendal, a United Nations Environment Programme collaborating centre - and has a Masters from Schumacher college in Economics for Transition. We talk with him this week in his role in the Wellbeing Economies Alliance for Canada - and as part of the greater Alliance, which incorporates nations as far apart as Scotland and New Zealand, and organisations across the globe.  David brings his sense of scope and place and humanity to the huge questions of today: What's our economy for? And if it's not fit for purpose, how can we shift the system to something which would bring people and planet into balance and harmony. David Suzuki Foundation: https://davidsuzuki.orgWellbeing Economies Alliancehttps://weall.org/Weall Canadahttps://weallcanada.org/Theory Uhttps://www.toolshero.com/leadership/theory-u-scharmer/Three Horizons Modelhttps://resources.h3uni.org/tutorial/three-horizons/Thrutopiahttps://thrutopia.life

How do we find freedom from the relentless demands of capitalism? How do we cultivate rest as a radical act of resistance and revolution? How do we learn from, centre, and support Indigenous sovereignty? How do we learn from Black organizing and resistance, and see Indigenous and Black liberation as coexisting side-by-side? How do we avoid the co-opting of grassroots movements, and stay clear headed about who we are in solidarity with?Poet, scholar, and community organizer Erica Violet Lee joins Reseed host Alice Irene Whittaker for a powerful conversation about freedom, resistance, and belonging. Erica is a two-spirit nehiyaw writer from inner-city Saskatoon and Thunderchild Cree Nation. She is a Steering Committee member of Indigenous Climate Action, and she has worked with Idle No More, the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, and the David Suzuki Foundation among others in the pursuit of Indigenous feminist freedoms. She has spoken around the world for people in universities and community organizations alike. She has been published in outlets like The Guardian and the CBC. Erica's work relates to Indigenous freedom, governance, law, sovereignty, feminism, love, and joy.At its heart, this conversation is about the pursuit of freedom. It is about relationships to land, and to each other. It is about safeguarding the integrity and authenticity of grassroots movements, instead of branding and absorbing them into the dominant order by celebrating only their most palatable and non-threatening aspects. This is a conversation about the power of words and poetry to change the world, and feeling the rage and love of this moment at which we are alive - and remembering that our rage is a form of love. Read the transcript and show notes at reseed.ca. 

In this episode of Shift - Getting out of your comfort zone! - I sit down with John Lefebvre - musician | composer | author| entrepreneur | philanthropist - to discuss his very dynamic and intense journey through career and life; his story of the many ups and downs of life and how he ultimately overcame them and now serving the society for a better future ahead. About John: he's been a choir boy and a lawyer, a construction labourer and house designer, a recidivist husband and a single time father. But it was another state in life that brought him notoriety – and wealth – a prisoner. At 17 in 1969, I was arrested for selling hash and LSD to cops dressed up like hippies. And forty years later, he was arrested again for co-founding and operating a business that, the year he was arrested, was tracking to transfer over $14billion dollars, mostly American, between online gamblers and internet bookies and casinos. For the first notorious experience, he was immersed in a world-changing culture, on the cusp between respecting all authority, all elders on the one hand, and only respecting who we thought deserved it on the other, between taking things for granted and finding out for oneself. John co-founded the DeSmog group of blogs, “Cleaning up the PR pollution that clouds climate science.” He remains a committee member of the David Suzuki Foundation and a founding director of the David Suzuki Institute. He was the founding funder of the Dalai Lama centre for Peace And Education in Vancouver. And decided to devote the remainder of his time here on Earth to encouraging environmental awareness, consciousness generally, and to the appreciation of the boundless miracle that has befallen all of us humans but, that toward which, so few of us barely even glance while immersed in our “world” of acquisition for the main purpose of self-indulgent leisure. Website: https://www.johnlefebvre.com/ About your host: Elena Agaragimova is the co-founder of Bessern (https://www.bessern.co/)

'What's starting to interest me is stories of resilience for a post carbon world. What are we going to need for our emotional well-being? It's going to be a different world not long from now. If we do this, and we must do this, this transition has to happen and there's going to be a sense of loss and sacrifice and challenge, not just with what's happening externally from a climate point of view, but in how we're going to have to make changes to our lives and reorient our energies in terms of our advocacy. I feel like there's an opportunity for artists - I'm more connected to the film and television sector and the documentary community - throughout the system, to be able to provide realistic and yet reassuring narratives about what the upside of all this might be.'Tracey Friesen, Vancouver, November 2021I first met Tracey on September 21, 2021 at a Processing the federal election during a climate emergency Zoom event organized by the Climate Emergency Unit. Since then, we have kept in touch through our participation in SCALE (the Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency network). Our 30-minute conversation covered a lot of ground, however, we only touched the surface of Tracey's vast experience and network of collaborators in the cultural industries, so I hope that another conversation is in order down the road!Tracey has over 30 years' experience in Canada's cultural sector. She spent more than a decade at the National Film Board in Vancouver, where she earned producer or executive credits on dozens of documentary film, animation and digital projects. She's also held contracts with organizations like Inspirit Foundation, Mindset Foundation, DOC, Roundhouse Radio, and the David Suzuki Foundation. Tracey is author and founder of Story Money Impact, the charitable society that brought us Good Pitch Vancouver and Story to Action, plus other initiatives to advance education around media impact. In 2013 she was named ‘Woman of the Year' by Women in Film & TV Vancouver. She is currently Managing Vice-President, BC Branch, at the Canadian Media Producers Association, where she passionately represents and supports BC-based independent film and television producers.  I was touched by this quote from Tracey near the end of the conversation:I'm mindful that with the climate emergency, it's so existential that it's captured my attention perhaps most strongly because I really hope that in the kind of complicated dynamic of the wonderful, wild world that we're in right now, that it's one thing that will impact all of us. Not the same way, certainly, there are those of us living in different parts of the world that will be affected in different ways, but it's such a global community, it has to come together in all the ways that they can. So, we do need the scientists and we do need all of the work being done across all of the important social issues that are happening right now. And we really do need the storytellers to validate that their story driven, narrative driven, emotionally driven pieces of work will help to touch people now to change their behaviour or will help to soothe or reassure or be with them in the world post transition.Tracey mentioned the following links during our conversation:Being CaribouCanadian Media Producers Association (CMPA)Climate Emergency UnitGood Pitch VancouverReel GreenShamelessStory Money Impact *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays for those frightened by the ecological crisis'. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on April 2, 2024

'To me, radical listening is about stepping out of our comfort zone when we listen. Radical listening about thinking beyond what we think we know when we listen. Radical listening is about recognizing our biases, both conscious and unconscious. It's about listening actively and sincerely. Ultimately, it's about getting to the truth and facing reality.'Claude Schryer, FKL's Unheard Landscapes Symposium, October 29, 2021 e75 radical listening as climate action is my presentation and Q&A period at the FKL's Unheard Landscapes Symposiumon October 29, 2021 about ‘music as acoustic ecology' and ‘radicality' in the context of listening and the climate emergency, with excerpts from e54 mahtani, é55 trépanier and e22 westerkamp ScriptNote: audio on podcast is slightly different due to improvised elements during the presentation. The question-and-answer period below was transcribed using TEMI and slightly edited for concision.Good morning, Bonjour Welcome to radical listening as climate action.It's 7.35am here in Vancouver on Friday, October 29th, 2021. The sun is just rising here on the west coast of Turtle Island. I know you've already had a long day of presentations and deliberations where you all are in Blois, France so I'll try and be brief in my presentation and get to questions as soon as possible. Je vais parler en anglais mais il me fera plaisir de répondre à vos questions en français aussi. But before I start my presentation, I want to let you know that I'm recording this talk as episode 75 of my conscient podcast, which is a podcast, sometimes in English, des fois en français, that explores art and the ecological crisis. The third season of this podcast is on the theme of radical listening, so I thought it would make sense to include this presentation as an episode. Please let me know if you do not want to be recorded when we get to the question period, ok? I understand that the Symposium is also doing a podcast of this presentation, which is great so there will be 2 versions, I'll be publishing this recording later today. Let me begin by saying that I'm speaking to you from the unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. I would like to acknowledge these nations as the traditional keepers of these lands and reiterate my commitment to indigenous people as an ally. Some of you might know that I'm a composer by training and worked in acoustic ecology for most of the 1990s, with the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology and other similar organizations - before joining the Canada Council for the Arts for 21 years. I retired from the Council in 2020 in order to focus my work on art and the climate emergency through my podcast and a new organization in Canada called SCALE, the Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency: which is an example of a collective action that the Symposium has suggested we undertake. I can talk about that more later if you wish. I was very pleased to see that the Unheard Landscapes Symposium is exploring climate emergency issues, such as changing soundscape of our endangered planet today and, importantly, future soundscapes and thefuture of listeningitself as the climate emergency deepens. And the crisis will unfortunately get much worse as emissions are currently actually rising worldwide in spite of efforts at COP26, which starts in a few days just north of you in Scotland. So big thanks and Graci to Stefano Zorzanello and the FKL Symposium on Soundscapes team for this timely event and for having me here today. I also want to thank you in the audience for taking the time to be here today – I wish I was there with you - and for sharing your thoughts today, and online afterwards if you wish. I'd want to start my presentation with a short story. Now I'm not a storyteller but I like the format as a way to bring information to life. I once upon a time, a composer gave a workshop called Reality, Extinction, Grief and Art at a festivalsomewhere in Europe. The audience was most professors, composers and music students from around the world. The theme of the festival was soundscapes during a pandemic. The composer talked about the issues that kept him up at night, including the deepening climate crisis, the real possibility of civilization collapse, the lack of understanding about ecological grieving and the role of arts and culture in all of this. Now the question-and-answer period was quite intense: one participant asked how to deal with the rise of fascism and war as the climate crisis worsened and resources become scarcer. This person had seen conflict before in her home country.  Another asked how can we address the debilitating sense of sadness that comes from environmental loss? Someone else kindly suggested that we should stop using printed programs for our concerts, which was recognized as a good idea but not nearly enough of a change. Finally, one participant proposed that from now that all music should be considered as acoustic ecology…the workshop leader said ‘now there's a radical idea': all music as acoustic ecology.Now, this is, of course, a true story, though I did dramatize bits here and there for effect. It took place on April 23 of this year at the BEASTFeAST2021: Recalibration festival under the direction of Dr. Annie Mahtani at the University of Birmingham. I gave this workshop because I wanted to raise these issues in my peer community of electroacoustic and soundscape composers and am happy for this opportunity to continue the conversation today and at any time in the future. So, let's dig a bit deeper into this idea of music as acoustic ecology. I realise that it is a provocative proposal. What did this person mean? I'll remind you that acoustic ecology is defined as the ‘relationship, mediated through sound, between all living beings and their environment.' The concept was developed right here in Vancouver at the World Soundscape Project by a composer, R. Murray Schafer and his colleagues at Simon Fraser University. One of their goals was to point out that the world was out of balance and that we needed to listen much more carefully to our environment and to respond to issues through deep listening and heightened environmental awareness. Music, on the other hand, is defined as the ‘art of arranging sounds in time through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre'. No mention of the environment here though it might be implied with the idea of timbre. So, in other words, acoustic ecology is about our relationship to our environment, through sound, whereas music is about organizing sound to make art. What's the connection between these two? How can we consider music as acoustic ecology and why should we?Here's a theory.What I think that person was saying is that music, in the context of the ecological crisis, needs to take place in relation with all living beings and their environments. In other words, music should not be separated from its context. It never should have. For example, if the world is on fire, music and all other art forms for that matter, need to emerge from, and engage with that reality in ways that we have not yet imagined (a form of unheard landscape).I won't get into stories about fiddling while Rome burns… but that's another story.  I'm curious to know what you think about this when we get to the questions period in a few minutes. Let me share my screen now. This is the conscient podcast website. I'd like to play you three excerpts from conversations I had in the second season of the conscient podcast, which was about reality and ecological grief. The first is with Dr. Annie Mahtani from episode 52 :If we can find ways to encourage people to listen, that can help them to build a connection, even if it's to a small plot of land near them. By helping them to have a new relationship with that, which will then expand and help hopefully savour a deeper and more meaningful relationship with our natural world, and small steps like that, even if it's only a couple of people at a time, that could spread. I think that nobody, no one person, is going to be able to change the world, but that doesn't mean we should give up.Annie's point here is that everything is local and that listening, with our ears and hearts, is how we need to move forward, even if the future looks bleak. Annie reminds us that we should never give up on leaving a livable world for our children and their children. One of the questions raised by the organizers of this Symposium is about collective actions. What kind of collective actions can the soundscape community undertake about something as massive and amorphous - some might say invisible or unheard - as the climate crisis? For example, we could focus on mitigation – which is about raising awareness about imminent threats, many soundscape compositions try to do this – or maybe we put more energy into adaptation – about learning to live our damaged planet and how to listen even more carefully - or maybe we could priorise regeneration – which is about rebuilding and providing a vision for a sustainable future? These are admittedly complex and uncomfortable issues, in part because people do not feel empowered to address them, so most of us live in denial and with deep, repressed sadness, right? Let me tell you another short story. This one is also true.During the fall of 2019, I was at a meeting about how the arts and cultural sector, and in particular the indigenous traditional knowledge community, could play a much larger role in the fight against climate change. We were sitting around a table – remember that this was pre-pandemic times - with each person sharing knowledge and stories. I spoke about how we need to walk our talk in order to be credible with environmental issues. Then, a representative from an indigenous cultural organization said that it would ‘likely take as long to resolve the ecological crisis as it did to create it'. I repeated what he said in my head: ‘take as long to resolve the ecological crisis as it did to create. How is this possible, I asked myself, so I said: ‘but, but we do not have that kind of time'. We all looked at each other in silence. (moment of silence) This is what I mean by ‘radical listening'. To me, radical listening is about stepping out of our comfort zone when we listen. Radical listening about thinking beyond what we think we know when we listen. Radical listening is about recognizing our biases, both conscious and unconscious. It's about listening actively and sincerely. Ultimately, it's about getting to the truth and facing reality.(moment of silence) (Share screen) I'll give you another example from season 2 of the conscient podcast. This is Indigenous artist France Trepanier who is a visual artist, curator and researcher of Kanien'kéha:ka and French ancestry. This is from episode 55 and it's in French.Je pense que ce cycle du colonialisme, et de ce que ça a apporté, on est en train d'arriver à la fin de ce cycle là aussi, et avec le recul, on va s'apercevoir que cela a été un tout petit instant dans un espace beaucoup plus vaste, et qu'on est en train de retourner à des connaissances très profondes. Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire de vivre ici sur cette planète? Ce que ça implique comme possibilité, mais comme responsabilité aussi de maintenir les relations harmonieuses? Moi, je dis que la solution à la crise climatique c'est cardiaque. Ça va passer par le cœur. On parle d'amour avec la planète. C'est ça, le travail.What Trépanier is saying here is that she thinks that the 500 plus year cycle of colonialism on Turtle Island is coming to an end and that it's everyone's responsibility to maintain harmonious relationships in their respective communities. She is also saying that we need to fall back in love with our planet in order to save humanity. She said that this is the work that is ahead of us: c'est ca, le travail and I agree.So, let's think about this. How do we maintain harmonious relationships with all living beings as a soundscape community?I'd like to conclude my presentation with a proposal. It's from soundscape composer Hildegard Westerkamp, who lives here in Vancouver and is a living legend in the soundscape community. This is from conscient podcast episode 22, which was recorded in April of 2020 here in Vancouver. We need toallow for time to pass without any action, without any solutions and to just experience it. I think that a slowdown is an absolute… If there is any chance to survive, that kind of slowing down through listening and meditation and through not doing so much. I think there's some hope in that.This, to me, is also an example of ‘radical listening as climate action'. I now invite comments or questions. I'll remind you that I'm recording this presentation as episode 75 of the conscient podcast. Merci Stefano et chers collègues. Questions, comments? En anglais ou en français. Question and AnswersStefano Zorzanello  It's quite interesting to think about listening as an action. When we think about listening, we tend to think about a passive kind of action, which is receiving and not really changing anything. It's getting something from the world out there, but we know also from an ecological point of view that listening is an act of selection of messages that is active and not passive. It's a way of taking away something away from too crowded world, which is full of things: full of noise, full of information, full of life. The act of taking something away and making room for other things or maybe nothing at all is in itself a kind of ecological action. I think we should be more careful about this. What do you think? Claude SchryerI'll respond briefly because I'm interested in other thoughts or at least initial reactions, but Stefano, I agree that a lot of what we need to do is to stop the destruction and to take away things that are inhibiting natural processes. And the most obvious is ecological systems. For example, with trees, if we stopped cutting them and polluting their environment, they will flourish and they will bring back life: air and sounds. And so that's something that we don't think of as progress, right? We think of progress as building and new and better and bigger. And we have to find a positive way to get into a subtractive space so that we think of less as more and think of quiet, as an example, in the sound world, but there are so many ways that we could do things less and better for all life forms. That's why I played the example from France Trépanier (é55), who's a senior indigenous artist here in Canada who has a lot to say about indigenous non-indigenous relations and how difficult they have been from the very beginning in Canada because of what the Europeans essentially brought as an ideology. So, there's a conflict of ideology that needs to be resolved here and yet we have so little time to resolve it. That's why I told the story about that indigenous knowledge keeper who said that it's going to take a long time... So, we're facing unthinkable situations and we, as soundscape artists, one of the things we can do, is talk about our profession, because we're professional listeners, we're professional recorders, we're professional analysts of sound and that's why I liked so much the questions that you ask you and your colleagues ask in Unheard Landscapes. You're looking at unknown issues, things that we don't know about yet. I think those are the right questions to ask. Personally, I try to reduce my carbon footprint. I do what I can, but I'm producing podcasts and using energy. I'm aware that everything we do has a footprint at, but to be aware of it is already to start to change. So, listening to me, radical listening, is about listening with the intent of changing, not just the intent of saying, well, that was nice, but it's not going to affect me at all, or that was sort of fun. It's not entertainment. When you receive information, you take it seriously and it challenges your worldview. Then you not only think about it, but you receive it in your body and then you start changing your behavior. And even that's why I put the Annie Mahtani example. Even the smallest things like going into a garden and talking with somebody and planting a seed, those seeds will grow. And if we all do that, and I don't mean to lecture anybody here, I know people are aware about the seriousness of the environmental issues we face, but I do think that we need, as a community, to be much more in climate emergency mode. There's a group here in Canada called the Climate Emergency Unit. I think everybody on the planet in particular, those who have consumed more than their fair share, need to be in climate emergency mode and behave that way. And so, music as acoustic ecology, is an interesting idea, but really what we need is to be in climate emergency mode. Any other thoughts from people in the room? I'd be happy to hear.Olivier GaudinI'm one of the organizers. I work here at this school, and I teach a history of landscapes. So basically, I was wondering about the way you use the adjective radical. Could you make possible connections between radical and indigenous people and whether that makes sense to you, because in France, there is still a discussion about radicality. It's also the way you connected it with emergency that is interesting. I wonder how you manage this possible connection between radicality and indigenous. And I interested in that and why. Claude SchryerWell, there's lots of connections. The word radical can be used in different ways, but it basically means cutting through certain conventions and going to the most basic essential element. In Canada we have about 15,000 years of knowledge in indigenous communities. Colonization was about 500 of those. That's why France Trépanier was saying that the colonization period is starting to end. We use the term reconciliation in Canada, not unlike what happened in South Africa. We had our own a truth and reconciliation process a few years ago, which had some positive outcomes, but we're struggling with the deep, deep issues of how we can share this land because we, the non-indigenous people, have exploited it so much and have lost the trust of indigenous people through treaties that weren't respected. So, there's lots of that kind of talk now talk and action and our government's making, I think, an effort at addressing these issues, but it's not enough. And now the population is rising and starting to demand that of not just governments, but all institutions. So, there's a positive dynamic, or at least a forward motion in Canada around thinking about things in a totally different way in our relations with each other, with the land and the people with a a lot more listening going on with indigenous people, not necessarily dialogue, sometimes it's dialogue, but it's mostly listening. There's are so many interesting initiatives right now, in Canada, I'm thinking of the indigenous climate action network and so many others that are doing great work. So it's really a question of listening.Olivier GaudinThank you for this answer I am interested if to some people to know this attitude that you share with us today is perceived as a counterproductive, meaning that in France, you, if you present yourself radically, you will be told that you lose the majority of the population, you know, too much excitement. Do you manage to frame it differently in Canada? I would be interested to know that. And maybe you can enlighten us a little bit about the differences between Western Canada and Québec. Claude SchryerI can't really speak on behalf radicals in Canada. There are some very politically radical people. I'm not really one of them. I consider myself a progressive, but what I'm talking about is radical listening, which is a process and, and hopefully it leads to radical actions. I use the radical in the sense that the status quo is unlivable. We are living far, far beyond our means. And so, you can't sot of piece meal or go incrementally. If people are uncomfortable with the word radical, you can think of other words, but I'm not talking about only radical political action. I'm talking about radical lifestyle change and of radical rethinking through listening. That's my own personal point of view. Canada is an oil and gas producing country, so we have tremendous challenges with the climate emergency, because a lot of our economy is based on gas and oil. So, we're struggling with that too. We have a new minister of environment and climate change right now. So, there's, there's that that debate is going on. Your other question about Western and Eastern Canada, or in Quebec in particular. There are definitely regional different regional approaches in Canada right now. I'm in Vancouver where there's the David Suzuki Foundation and the World Soundscape Project legacy, and lots of going on on the environmental front, but in Quebec you also have very strong environmental sensitivity. You have it across Canada, but in Quebec, you have street movements, like when the Fridays for Future movement happened in 2019, there were, you 400,000 or 500,000 people in the streets. There is a sense of mobilization and action that we're seeing in Canada and Quebec is very good and strong at that. You're also seeing it also in the arts community. There are all kinds of organizations now that are rethinking how they work, in part because of the COVID crisis, but also because of the climate emergency. I can't get into it too much because I don't think there'll be time, but I mentioned this group, SCALE as an example of a national initiative to bring us all together in Canada to talk about the role of arts and culture in the climate emergency and we're working with Julie's Bicycle and Creative Carbon Scotland and others who are doing similar kinds of work. And I know that there's initiatives in Europe and in France as well. I think that's what we need to do is get out of our little silos of my art form and my interests and think broadly together and create coalitions so that we can identify the things that we want to do together and do them, as your symposium has suggested, as collective actions, because individual actions, while important for the person, are not as effective as collective actions. It's easy to find my email claude@conscient.ca . I think it's an ongoing conversation. Thank you. I know you've had a long day, so I'm going to go have a shower and it's been a lot of fun. I think I appreciate your being there and let's keep in touch.Unheard Landscapes group in Blois, France delivering 'radical listening as climate action' and me on October 29, 2021, Vancouver *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays for those frightened by the ecological crisis'. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on April 2, 2024

The Butterflyway Project is the David Suzuki Foundation’s award-winning project led by volunteers, Butterfly Rangers, and helped by residents in local communities, bringing nature home to neighborhoods throughout Canada, one butterfly-friendly planting at a time. Today’s guest, Winnie Hwo, is taking a very particular approach to the problem of insect decline to mobilize people and take action. She is Senior Public Engagement Specialist and one of the David Suzuki Foundation staff responsible for the Butterflyway initiative and is the project lead for British Columbia.

John Ruffolo is the Founder of OMERS Ventures. OMERS Ventures is the venture capitalarm of OMERS, the pension plan for Ontario's municipal employees. Over the course ofJohn's leadership, OMERS Ventures had invested over $500 million of capital in over 40disruptive technology companies across North America, including growth investmentsin Shopify, Hootsuite, Desire 2 Learn, and League. John also formed Platform Investments, OMERS' innovation arm, where he led investments in Purpose Financial, PointNorth Capital, District Ventures, OneEleven and ArcTern Ventures. John is also the Co-Founder of the Council of Canadian Innovators. A non-profit organizationdedicated to helping high-growth Canadian technology firms scale up globally. John sits on the board of a number of leading innovation based organizations includingHootsuite, Ontario Centres of Excellence, and Ether Capital. In addition, John sits on theboard of a number of not for profit organizations including the David Suzuki Foundation,the Royal Ontario Museum, the League of Innovators, Caldwell's Top 40 Under 40 andSustainable Development Technology Canada.Prior to joining OMERS, Mr. Ruffolo was a Partner at Deloitte, and a member of Deloitte's Board of Directors. Mr. Ruffolo was formerly a partner with Arthur Andersen and has also spent time as an instructor for both the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and York University's Schulich School of Business, from which he holds a Bachelor of Business Administration.

Learning about and acting on toxins, environmental degradation, and other hard topics requires the capacity to do so without letting it drag you down. It can be easy to sink into fear and despair, feeling like it's too big to handle. We are needed. And we can make a difference. So we need the capacity to tackle hard things.I was lucky enough to start to build this capacity with support from Lindsay Coulter when I worked with her in the David Suzuki Foundation's Queen of GreenTM Coaching Program. I invited her to chat with me to help you build capacity too.Lindsay Coulter is a dedicated mother of two, naturalist, community catalyst, soul activist, mentor, writer and horse lover in Victoria, B.C. She seeks to inspire others to claim sane leadership and find better ways to be in this world together. She believes in creating good human society wherever we are, whenever we can with the people and resources available to us now.Her expertise is as a green living expert for more than a decade, as former David Suzuki's Queen of GreenTM, a leader, mentor, facilitator, community catalyst, compassion cultivator, soul activist and courageous conversation starter.Find her @SaneAction on Instagram and Facebook. She's also the Director of Communications, Culture and Community of EPIC Learning Centre, a forest and nature school in Victoria, B.C.In this conversion, we cover a lot of ground, including:What it means to take sane actionSimple ways to build community and why this is essentialHow we can reconnect to nature in an increasingly disconnected worldEco-grief and building the capacity to copeHow to show up on social mediaHaving conversations with people who aren't on boardHope and fear in chaotic timesThis conversation is thought-provoking, envelope-pushing, and humbling. I encourage you to listen with an open mind - and more than once. There is so much goodness in here, I will come back to it at different times because I know it will bring up different ah-ha moments each time.You can find Lindsay here:On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaneActionOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saneactionThe forest and nature school, EPIC: https://epiclearningcentre.org/Links Mentioned:Margaret Wheatley "Beyond hope and fear": https://www.margaretwheatley.com/articles/BeyondHopeandFear.pdfEpisode 12: Having Tough Conversations https://greenathome.ca/podcast/tough-conversations-with-fiona-proctor/Nature & Children: https://childnature.ca/taking-care-of-the-heart-through-nature-play-and-connection-in-chaotic-times/*****Green Product Forum: https://facebook.com/groups/greenproductforumInstagram: https://instagram.com/emma_greenathomeWebsite: https://greenathome.ca

Our bodies are more than 70 per cent water. The coronavirus also exists in water, carried in tiny droplets before it makes its way into our lungs. Without water, there would be no pandemic, but there would also be no us. Water makes life possible. Fresh water should be considered a priceless “rare Earth substance.” Instead, we pollute and waste it at astonishing rates. The world's oceans, too, are at risk.  In Season 1 of The David Suzuki Podcast, “COVID-19 and the Basic Elements of Life,” David and guests explore how the pandemic can help us refocus on what's most important, and what a green and just recovery from COVID-19 could look like. They return to the fundamentals to help us seize this unique opportunity to rediscover our place on this beautiful living planet.  The season's third episode explores the theme “Water” and features conversations with Jeannette Armstrong of the Penticton Indian Band, youth activists Autumn Peltier and Allie Rougeot and the David Suzuki Foundation's Jay Ritchlin.  You can help make sure we seize this unprecedented opportunity to build back a better world by urging Ottawa to advance a green and just recovery from COVID-19. Visit davidsuzuki.org/green-and-just-recovery/  Produced by the David Suzuki Foundation, in partnership with Jason Arkley Productions.

For thousands of years, Indigenous cultures have understood that we and Earth are one. What happens to the planet happens to us, and there are natural limits to what we can take from it. COVID-19 has confronted us with those limits. Sixty per cent of all diseases that afflict humankind have leapt from other animals. The pandemic reminds us that it is a delusion to think we are separate from the natural world.  In Season 1 of The David Suzuki Podcast, “COVID-19 and the Basic Elements of Life,” David and guests explore how the pandemic can help us refocus on what's most important, and what a green and just recovery from COVID-19 could look like. They return to the fundamentals to help us seize this unique opportunity to rediscover our place on this beautiful living planet.  The season's fourth episode explores the theme “Earth” and features conversations with renowned activist, author and farmer Winona LaDuke, financial journalist Attracta Mooney and the David Suzuki Foundation's Melissa Mollen Dupuis.  You can help make sure we seize this unprecedented opportunity to build back a better world by urging Ottawa to advance a green and just recovery from COVID-19. Visit davidsuzuki.org/green-and-just-recovery/ Produced by the David Suzuki Foundation, in partnership with Jason Arkley Productions.

From anti-racism protests to wildfires, summer 2020 was marked by fire in the streets and the sky. Taming fire was an enormous step for our species, providing warmth, light, protection against animals, cooking and companionship. In fact, we even have fire in us, in every cell in our body. Perhaps that's why we often refer to highly motivated people who call for change as having “fire in the belly.”  In Season 1 of The David Suzuki Podcast, “COVID-19 and the Basic Elements of Life,” David and guests explore how the pandemic can help us refocus on what's most important, and what a green and just recovery from COVID-19 could look like. They return to the fundamentals to help us seize this unique opportunity to rediscover our place on this beautiful living planet.  The season's first episode explores the theme “Fire” and features conversations with legendary actor, activist and author Jane Fonda, the David Suzuki Foundation's Sherry Yano and the University of Winnipeg's Ian Mauro.  You can help make sure we seize this unprecedented opportunity to build back a better world by urging Ottawa to advance a green and just recovery from COVID-19. Visit davidsuzuki.org/green-and-just-recovery/ Produced by the David Suzuki Foundation, in partnership with Jason Arkley Productions.

Safe, clean air is something many of us have long taken for granted. With new immediacy, we're suddenly aware that everything — right down to the air we breathe — is shared by all life on Earth. Scientifically, there is no line between us and air. It is in us and flowing through our bodies. We are air.  In Season 1 of The David Suzuki Podcast, “COVID-19 and the Basic Elements of Life,” David and guests explore how the pandemic can help us refocus on what's most important, and what a green and just recovery from COVID-19 could look like. They return to the fundamentals to help us seize this unique opportunity to rediscover our place on this beautiful living planet.  The season's second episode explores the theme “Air” and features conversations with Wellesley Institute CEO Kwame McKenzie, former Toronto chief city planner Jennifer Keesmaat and the David Suzuki Foundation's Gideon Forman.  You can help make sure we seize this unprecedented opportunity to build back a better world by urging Ottawa to advance a green and just recovery from COVID-19. Visit davidsuzuki.org/green-and-just-recovery/ Produced by the David Suzuki Foundation, in partnership with Jason Arkley Productions.

We have the potential to heal not just from the COVID-19 virus but also from the many interconnected problems that plague us. Though the months since the pandemic began have been a time of disconnect for many, they have shown that we can come together to solve a common problem and mobilize massive resources at a moment's notice. We can make vast public investments in our shared well-being, and even change the way we live. But it takes the will to do it. We are the heart of the crisis, and the solution is in us.  In Season 1 of The David Suzuki Podcast, “COVID-19 and the Basic Elements of Life,” David and guests explore how the pandemic can help us refocus on what's most important, and what a green and just recovery from COVID-19 could look like. They return to the fundamentals to help us seize this unique opportunity to rediscover our place on this beautiful living planet.  The season's fifth and final episode explores the theme “Spirit” and features conversations with iconic activist and musician Neil Young and David Suzuki Foundation co-founder Tara Cullis.  You can help make sure we seize this unprecedented opportunity to build back a better world by urging Ottawa to advance a green and just recovery from COVID-19. Visit davidsuzuki.org/green-and-just-recovery/ Produced by the David Suzuki Foundation, in partnership with Jason Arkley Productions.

COVID-19 has uprooted our lives, causing devastation for millions. It's also forced us to slow down, pause and consider how we might learn to live healthily and sustainably on this planet. Let's use this time to rediscover some fundamental truths about our place on Earth: fire, air, water, earth — the basic elements of life — and spirit. Without them, there is no life. When our relationships with them are unbalanced, we put our very existence at risk. In this podcast, David Suzuki explores how the pandemic can help us refocus on what's most important, and what a green and just recovery from COVID-19 could look like. Friends including Jane Fonda and Neil Young, as well as leading experts, join David as he returns to the fundamentals to help us seize this unique opportunity to rediscover our place on this beautiful living planet. Produced by the David Suzuki Foundation, in partnership with Jason Arkley Productions.

What role do ENGOs, or Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations, play in the Canadian ecopolitical sphere? In this episode, we ask this question of Catherine Abreu, Executive Director of Climate Action Network Canada, and Colleen Thorpe, Executive Director of Équiterre. Together they walk us through the roles that their respective organizations play in fighting for climate policy and shifting the cultural norms of Canadian citizens toward a greener and more just society.

Environmental law touches all parts of our lives. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Angela Lee, Assistant Professor of Law at Ryerson University, and Dr. Heather McLeod-Kilmurray, Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa, about Canada's environmental laws and the ways in which they successfully (or not so successfully) help protect the environment.

About James Hoggan With a career in public relations that spans over 30 years, James Hoggan has become highly sought-after by the media for his expert commentary, insight and advice. As a public speaker, his engaging lectures combine decades of PR knowledge, street smarts, spirituality and compassion. Jim has navigated executives and high profile clients through the glare of TV cameras, social media and front page investigations resulting in awards including the industry's prestigious Silver Anvil for the best crisis management campaign in North America as well as awards for ethics in public relations. In addition to crisis management, Jim develops long term communications strategies for Canadian and international clients and has become a globally renowned advocate for honesty, ethics and integrity in public discourse. Jim is the author of three books, Do the Right Thing: PR Tips for Skeptical Public (2009), Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming (2009) and his latest work, I'm Right and You're an Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean It Up (2nd Edition May 2019). Jim has a strong interest in public relations as a force for honest public conversation and founded the influential website DeSmogBlog, chosen as one of Time Magazine's Best Blogs in 2011. The extraordinary range of organizations that Jim has helped speaks volumes: from Shell Canada and Shell Global to the David Suzuki Foundation; from Ballard Power Systems and Canadian Pacific Railway to the Dalai Lama Center. Jim led the Province of British Columbia's Green Energy Task Force on Community Relations and First Nations Partnerships and works with clients such as the BC Law Society, BC Hydro, QLT Therapeutics, the Government of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver International Airport among many others. About James Hoggan With a career in public relations that spans over 30 years, James Hoggan has become highly sought-after by the media for his expert commentary, insight and advice. As a public speaker, his engaging lectures combine decades of PR knowledge, street smarts, spirituality and compassion. Jim has navigated executives and high profile clients through the glare of TV cameras, social media and front page investigations resulting in awards including the industry's prestigious Silver Anvil for the best crisis management campaign in North America as well as awards for ethics in public relations. In addition to crisis management, Jim develops long term communications strategies for Canadian and international clients and has become a globally renowned advocate for honesty, ethics and integrity in public discourse. Jim is the author of three books, Do the Right Thing: PR Tips for Skeptical Public (2009), Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming (2009) and his latest work, I'm Right and You're an Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean It Up (2nd Edition May 2019). Jim has a strong interest in public relations as a force for honest public conversation and founded the influential website DeSmogBlog, chosen as one of Time Magazine's Best Blogs in 2011. The extraordinary range of organizations that Jim has helped speaks volumes: from Shell Canada and Shell Global to the David Suzuki Foundation; from Ballard Power Systems and Canadian Pacific Railway to the Dalai Lama Center. Jim led the Province of British Columbia's Green Energy Task Force on Community Relations and First Nations Partnerships and works with clients such as the BC Law Society, BC Hydro, QLT Therapeutics, the Government of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver International Airport among many others. How to Connect with James? Website: https://www.imrightandyoureanidiot.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imrightandyoureanidiot/ I'm Right and You're an Idiot Book: https://amzn.to/2KOi5i7 ----more---- Get Connected with Dr. Vic Facebook: www.facebook.com/DrVicManzo Instagram: www.Instagram.com/DrVicManzo LinkedIn: www.LinkedIn.com/in/DrManzo YouTube: Bit.Ly/38QULv91   Purchase a Copy of Dr. Vic's Book at a Discount http://bit.ly/37GY4UK   Hire Dr. Vic as Your Mentor/Coach http://bit.ly/2F7zUpU   Email DrVic@EmpowerYourReality.com

Since joining IBM, Jean-François Barsoum has provided strategy advice to a diverse set of clients: financial institutions, higher education, professional associations, pharmaceutical companies and telecoms. He has also been invited to speak at conferences on the subjects of innovation, smarter transportation and climate change on four continents. For the past decade, Jean-François has participated in numerous conferences on water and environmental management, led IBM's ties with some related research organisations and NGOs. He helped develop some core smarter cities concepts and has deepened IBM's involvement with several North American cities as a result. He is among the few Canadians trained by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Al Gore, and regularly presents the material seen in the movie An Inconvenient Truth -- and subsequent scientific updates -- to audiences across Canada. He is on the board of the Climate Reality Project and of the Canadian Water Network, and is a member of the David Suzuki Foundation's steering committee. He is also a member of the Intelligent Transportation Experts' Committee, a forum initiated by the Quebec Association of Transportation (AQTr).