Podcasts about Ontario Coalition Against Poverty

This week, we share a clip from the first episode of the latest season of the Courage My Friends podcast series. In this episode, independent journalist and public historian Taylor C. Noakes, author, political economist and senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Ricardo Tranjan and social justice activist and former organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, John Clarke reflect on the current state of progressive politics in Canada.  Listen to the full episode here, on Needs No Introduction – home of the Courage My Friends podcast series.  About our guests John Clarke is a writer and activist who became involved in anti-poverty organizing in the 1980s, when he helped to form a union of unemployed workers in London, Ontario. In 1990, he became an organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and stayed in this role until 2019 when he became Packer Visitor in Social Justice at York University. Taylor C. Noakes is an independent journalist and public historian from Montreal. Ricardo Tranjan is a political economist, senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, frequent media commentator in English and French, and author of two books, including the national bestseller The Tenant Class. 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. 

In our season eight premiere, we welcome independent journalist and public historian Taylor C. Noakes, author, political economist and senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Ricardo Tranjan and welcome back writer, social justice activist and former organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, John Clarke. The group reflects on the current state of progressive politics in Canada, the Liberal legacy and the possibility of a Conservative win. They discuss the need for a new progressive alternative and wonder aloud what this could look like. Reflecting on Canadian political parties, Noakes says: “They are far too established. They have become organizations unto themselves that seek self-preservation above all else … It has essentially prevented them by and large from experiencing the kind of renewal that's necessary to keep political parties vibrant and connected to people in their day-to-day concerns.” Speaking to the rise of political right-wing populism, Clarke says: “People's lives are being thrown into turmoil … But a serious left political alternative is not put before people. And there's no question that the Right is presenting alternatives, hateful, hateful alternatives and pseudo solutions … There's a great deal of anger that can take very positive directions, but there's also within a minority of the population a mood of reactionary rage.” According to Tranjan: “[W]hat would bring really [a] breathe of fresh air here is if we have a political formation, that is a vehicle for social movements for community organizations for the share of the workforce that does not benefit from being part of a union from those groups that are not now represented in the day-to-day claptrap of policy debate." About today's guests:  John Clarke is a writer and activist who became involved in anti-poverty organizing in the 1980s, when he helped to form a union of unemployed workers in London, Ontario. In 1990, he became an organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and stayed in this role until 2019 when he became Packer Visitor in Social Justice at York University. Taylor C. Noakes is an independent journalist and public historian from Montreal.  Ricardo Tranjan is a political economist, senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, frequent media commentator in English and French, and author of two books, including the national bestseller The Tenant Class.                                                               Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute or here.  Image: Taylor C. Noakes, John Clarke, Ricardo Tranjan  / Used with permission. Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.    Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)  Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.  Host: Resh Budhu. 

In episode #435 of Talking Radical Radio, Scott Neigh interviews A.J. Withers. For 20 years, Withers was active with one of Ontario's best known grassroots groups, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. Recently, Withers released a new book telling stories of and drawing lessons from four of OCAP's key campaigns over the years related to homelessness. They talk about OCAP and about *Fight to Win: Inside Poor People's Organizing* (Fernwood Publishing, 2021). For a more detailed description of this episode, go here: https://talkingradical.ca/2022/01/04/radio-a-new-look-at-one-of-ontarios-most-notorious-grassroots-groups/

My conversation with John Clarke, anti-poverty activist, is on his opposition to a Basic Income system. John raises a very compelling case as to why a Basic Income system is not ideal at addressing the issues poor people are facing.Thank you John for your willingness to discuss this issue with me! John Clarke - https://twitter.com/JohnOCAP?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5EauthorJohn Clarke's Writings on Basic Income: https://johnclarkeblog.com/node/51https://www.thecanadafiles.com/articles/bihttps://socialistproject.ca/2018/04/basic-income-progressive-cloak-and-neoliberal-dagger/https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/defending-the-left-case-against-basic-income-----------Welcome to the Strong and Free Podcast YouTube Channel!LISTEN --- https://www.thestrongandfreepodcast.com/episodes/FOLLOW --- https://twitter.com/StrongnFreePodREAD --- https://thestrongandfreepodcast.medium.com/RATE THIS PODCAST --- https://www.thestrongandfreepodcast.com/reviews/new/CONTACT ME --- https://www.thestrongandfreepodcast.com/contact/PODCAST SETUPMicrophone - https://amzn.to/3dezxubAmplifier - https://amzn.to/3rv0mQ6Light - https://amzn.to/3tY6u4X---------Tired of watching the nightly news turn into a slugfest? Me too.I'm sure you have had those moments that changed or altered your perspective on a topic. It might have been a comment, an article, a book, or a Podcast (shameless plug)! In today's media coverage, it can be challenging to understand different ideas and interpretations when the nightly news allows for only a few minutes at most of actual discussion. I created the Strong and Free Podcast to explore news topics by gathering multiple perspectives together and allowing people and organizations to discuss their opinions with detail. This allows for a nuanced conversation. It also means putting aside my own bias to explore these to the fullest. It means making all guests feel welcomed to share their opinions safely, without fear that the host will paint them into a corner, or make them sound incoherent. I want this place to be truly safe. I believe everyone, even those I disagree with, deserve to be treated with respect and to be on the Podcast to share their perspective. It also means having a concrete discussion on issues and determining the best way forward.You might be asking why. And the answer is simple: I believe conversations are how we can shape our future. As long as we restore thoughtful approaches to the biggest issues of our time our conversations will have deep, valuable meaning. And, we enrich our own opinion.In order to build our stance we must consider the best evidence against it. My name is Christopher Balkaran. I hope you enjoy this content.

In episode two of the Courage My Friends podcast, we are joined by anti-poverty activist and former organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, John Clarke and Paul Meinema, national president of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), representing essential workers including "food workers from field to fork." Clarke and Meinema discuss the ways in which this pandemic has forced us to confront what Clarke sees as a "crisis in capitalism" -- its path forged well before the arrival of COVID. John Clarke says "As the pandemic is unleashed in the neoliberal world, the virus literally followed the trail that was laid down for it by the whole neoliberal reordering of the workforce, and the neoliberal reordering of societies…. In a thousand ways, the neoliberal society and the neoliberal city created a route for the pandemic to go down." Decades of mounting inequality has been a defining outcome of neoliberalism. The impacts of this inequality have been disproportionately endured by our most vulnerable -- poor and largely racialized communities and front-line workers who have always been essential, but until COVID largely invisible. As Meinema describes them: "Workers that we've looked past... when you go into a grocery store, or retail store, or often a person who's cleaning your hotel room … They're almost invisible people. But they're the people that we are relying on now, to get us through this." And here we are in what Clarke sees as, "a situation of really unprecedented economic dislocation, unprecedented suffering. And clearly, governments were not prepared for this crisis. And governments have not responded to this crisis in a way that meets people's needs." Are we continuing to meet an unpredictable pandemic with predictable policy responses -- the kind of thinking that paved the way for this crisis in the first place? How can we designate workers as essential and yet treat them as though they are expendable? According to Clarke, "It's sometimes been regarded as hyperbole to say that the corporate profits are worth more than human life. But I think this pandemic and the experience of the pandemic has actually demonstrated that very, very, very starkly. ..here has been a readiness to abandon people, a readiness to, if you'd like, sacrifice people." What is the way forward? Can we move from banging pots to making policies that support our most vulnerable? Can we find an answer in a universal basic income? What is the role of unions? What about our communities? As we move toward a post-pandemic (but still perhaps pre-pandemic) world, is it possible to release ourselves from exploitative economies? Meinema reminds us that, "we cannot let any of these things that have occurred to us slip through our fingers and not remember them." What lessons do we take with us into the future? Can the post-pandemic world also be a post-poverty world? Host and co-producer Resh Budhu begins the conversation with a focus on the most critical issues facing vulnerable communities and front-line workers in this moment of crisis. About today's guests: John Clarke became involved in anti-poverty organizing in the 1980s, when he helped to form a union of unemployed workers in London, Ontario. In 1990, he moved to Toronto to become an organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and stayed in this role until 2019. He is presently Packer Visitor in Social Justice at York University. Paul Meinema is the national president of United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW), the country's leading and most progressive private sector union with more than 250,000 members. He is also an executive vice-president of the UFCW International Union and a member of the UFCW International Executive Committee. Paul's service with UFCW spans four decades, beginning in the 1980s when he first volunteered to serve his co-workers as a shop steward while working on the floor at the Fletcher's meat processing plant in Red Deer, Alberta. Paul also serves as Canadian sector representative on the board of directors of the International Foundation of Benefits, and as a trustee of various UFCW Canada benefit and pension plans. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute Images: John Clarke and Paul Meinema. Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Chandra Budhu (General Intro./Outro.), Miriam Roopanram, Sharon Russell Julian Wee Tom (Street Voices); Bob Luker (Tommy Douglas quote) Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Resh Budhu, Victoria Fenner (for rabble.ca), Ashley Booth, Chandra Budhu, John Caffery, Michael Long Produced by Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Victoria Fenner, rabble.ca Host: Resh Budhu A co-production of the Tommy Douglas Institute, George Brown College, Toronto, and rabble.ca with the support of the Douglas Coldwell Foundation.

What is class struggle? Why does it matter? What's happened to class struggle in Canada? What are the implications for socialists? A discussion of these and other questions with Kate Jacobson (Alberta Advantage podcast, in Calgary) and John Clarke (former organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, in Toronto). Email: victorschildren at gmail.com Subscribe: https://pod.link/1556511995 Alberta Advantage Podcast https://albertaadvantagepod.com John Clarke https://johnclarkeblog.com/

This week, Travis talks to legendary anti-poverty organizer John Clarke about the false hope of Universal Basic Income. Then Travis and Mo talk about the hopelessness of electoral politics without a corresponding and principled grassroots movement. And small business owners are pissbaby whiners and we're tired of pretending they're not. You can check out John's writing at johnclarkeblog.com You can check out the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty here. You can listen to John talk about his life as an organizer at Talking Radical here. Support us on Patreon at patreon.com/thisisfalse, follow us on social media @ThisIsFalsePod and email us at ThisIsFalsePodcast@protonmail.com

NARRATED BY MAX KERMAN. We take a break from regular programming for an essay read from Max. He narrates an article written by his friend Peter Rosenthal. To Arkells fans, Peter is the inspiration behind the song A Little Rain (A Song For Pete). This article is about his work as a lawyer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty.

An interview with John Clarke, a founder and long-time organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty in Toronto. OCAP has played a key role in the anti-poverty movement in Ontario over the past three decades, deploying a creative variety of militant and confrontational tactics in the interests of meeting the immediate needs of poor and working class people. Last year John retired as a paid organizer of OCAP, although he remains an active member. We spoke about the history and philosophy of the organization and what he believes is in store in the future for social movements in Ontario. We referenced the book Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail. Music by Bakunin's Bum with words from Shawn Brant and Sue Collis.

an interview recorded live on Off the Hour with an activist from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty who was in prison at the time for a direct action that took place at the former finance minister of Ontario and also federal fiance minister's riding office, Jim Flaherty. recorded at @ckutradio studios.

An interview with author, farmer and organizer Aric McBay about his new book Full Spectrum Resistance. We talk about building effective movements, his departure from Deep Green Resistance, dynamics between radicals and liberals, what is a victory, movement case studies, and the importance of moving from abstract ideas to tangible struggle. Music by Janelle Monae and Bakunin's Bum (with words from Shawn Brant back when he was organizing with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty).

Next Tuesday, June 25 marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the Winnipeg General Strike. Today's program features a panel discussion about the impact of the strike a century later. It was done by the Global Research News Hour, hosted and produced by Michael Welch in the same city where the Winnipeg General Strike happened. Global Research News Hour is produced and broadcast at CKUW, the campus/community radio station at University of Winnipeg. The strike started on May 15, 1919 and lasted for six weeks. Over 30,000 workers walked off the job and shut down factories, shops and city services, and had a lasting impact on the labour movement and workers rights in general. Today's guests are talking about that legacy: Julie Guard is Professor of Labour Studies and History at the University of Manitoba. She has authored numerous academic articles and chapters in books. Her research focuses on Canadian labour history, social movement history, history of dissent and repression, history of the Canadian left, women's history, consumer and food history She is the author most recently of the 2019 book Radical Housewives: Price Wars and Food Politics in Mid 20th Century Canada. Harold Dyck is a long time anti-poverty and welfare advocate based in Winnipeg. He has played prominent roles with a number of Winnipeg-based anti-poverty organizations including the Manitoba Committee for Economic Justice, the National Anti poverty Organization and the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg. He is also the long-time director of the Low Income Intermediary Project which conducts advocacy work for people on social assistance. John Clarke is a long time organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, a grassroots antipoverty organization based mostly in Toronto that combines collective struggles on behalf of individuals fighting for tenant rights, welfare access, and those threatened with eviction and deportation, with larger political campaigns geared toward policy changes in support of the most marginalized in our society. Image: Wikimedia – RNWMP operations in Winnipeg General Strike, 1919

This week's Global Research News Hour commemorates the centenary of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, by exploring the overall impact of that event on successive generations of labour and social activists. Our first guest, Leo Panitch speaks to the context and historic significance of the 1919 Strike. In the second half hour, a round table speaks to the legacy of the strike and its meaning for today's solidarity actions and struggles. Professor Panitch is Canada Research Chair in Comparative Political Economy at York University, Emeritus Professor of Political Science at York University, and co-editor with Sam Gindin of The Socialist Register. Julie Guard is Professor of Labour Studies and History at the University of Manitoba. John Clarke is a long time organizer with the Toronto-based Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. Harold Dyck a long time anti-poverty and welfare advocate based in Winnipeg.

John Clarke, recently retired co-founder of Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, traveled to Alberta to help strategize against the UCP agenda. Listen to a talk he gave on March 27, 2019.

A.J. Withers, organizer with OCAP, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty talks about their demand for immediate action on the deadly housing crisis in Toronto

Every Friday evening on Rebel Roundup, we get together with other Rebel contributors to review the week's headlines, from the serious to the absurd. Settle in and enjoy! Hey, guess which party has the biggest war chest for next year’s federal election? Well, it’s the Media Party, of course, thanks to more than half a billion dollars in Liberal welfare. Rebel Commander Ezra Levant serves up all the gruesome details. When it comes to crossing the Canada/U.S. border, there’s apparently an unofficial new rule in 2018: Makers are inconvenienced, while Takers – i.e., irregulars – receive 24/7 concierge service! Sheila Gunn Reid drops in to explain all. The latest Fantastic Beasts movie is a progressive panacea. So why are the progressives panning this flick? Well, it’s not progressive enough! Ben Davies weighs in on this latest unintentional comedy. And finally, letters. Tonight, I’ll share some of the letters we received regarding my report on the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty that was protesting... um, something... last weekend.

In our last episode, John Clarke on the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty outlined his critique of Basic Income at a panel discussion organized by Simon Fraser University on February 27. Trish Garner was one of the panellists invited to respond to John Clarke. She is with BC Poverty Reduction and she gave the audience some context to understand the depth of poverty that exists in BC today. During her talk, she also played a video called Don’t Get Sick, produced by Omar Chu.

In our last episode, John Clarke on the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty outlined his critique of Basic Income at a panel discussion organized by Simon Fraser University on February 27. Trish Garner was one of the panellists invited to respond to John Clarke. She is with BC Poverty Reduction and she gave the audience some context to understand the depth of poverty that exists in BC today. During her talk, she also played a video called Don’t Get Sick, produced by Omar Chu.

John Clarke is with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. He is deeply critical of the push to implement Basic Income in the context of the current neoliberal era. He says it will not only cut benefits and depress the wages of the lowest paid workers but also threaten public housing, healthcare and education. We recorded John Clarke on February 27 here in Vancouver.

John Clarke of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty on what's wrong with a universal basic income (UBI), a proposal that's become increasingly popular among part of the Left and the Right. Then, Isabel Hilton of ChinaDialogue.net on Xi Jinping's becoming China's president for life.

We're launching a fundraising campaign to cover the costs of the show! If you have $5 to spend, please give it to one the groups we've included in the show notes. But if you have another $5 to spend, consider sending it to us at Patreon.com/treyfpodcast. Show Notes: http://wp.me/p6SqlI-7U ORGANIZATIONS TO DONATE TO: -ADDAMEER - http://www.addameer.org/about/Support-Addameer -SOLIDARITY ACROSS BORDERS - http://www.solidarityacrossborders.org/en/donate -KANEHSATÁ:KE FLOOD DAMAGE RELIEF - https://www.gofundme.com/kanehsatake-flood-damage-relief -BARRIERE LAKE SOLIDARITY - http://www.barrierelakesolidarity.org/p/t.html -ADALAH - https://donate.adalah.org -THE KARIHWANORON MOHAWK IMMERSION SCHOOL - https://www.generosity.com/education-fundraising/the-karihwanoron-mohawk-immersion-school -BLACK LIVES MATTER TORONTO FREEDOM SCHOOL - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/blm-to-freedom-school-educational-resources-education#/ -UNIST’OT’EN CAMP - http://unistoten.camp/support-us/donate -THE IMMIGRANT WORKERS CENTRE - http://iwc-cti.org/get-involved/donate-to-the-iwc -GRASSY NARROWS WOMEN’S DRUM GROUP - http://gnwdg.causevox.com -PRISONER CORRESPONDENCE PROJECT - https://prisonercorrespondenceproject.com/donate -NATIONAL MAMAS BAILOUT DAY - https://brooklynbailfund.org/national-bail-out-day-donate -ONTARIO COALITION AGAINST POVERTY - https://ocaptoronto.wordpress.com/help-fund-the-fightback -AUDRE LORDE PROJECT - https://database.alp.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=5 -CHIPPEWAS SOLIDARITY - https://chippewassolidarity.org/en/donate

In episode #21 of Talking Radical Radio (July 17, 2013), organizer Liisa Schofield talks about her work with the ad hoc Downtown East Women group, which is based in a poor neighbourhood in urban Toronto. Schofield is also an organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. For a more detailed description of the episode, go here: http://talkingradical.ca/2013/07/17/radio-women-organizing-against-poverty-in-toronto/

This jam-packed show features audio from the Dec. 1 Rob Ford Counter-Inaugural demonstration held outside of Toronto City Hall, courtesy of John Bonnar. Hear speakers from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, No One Is Illegal - Toronto, Jane Finch Action Against Poverty, and the Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly. Also on this show, we debut our new theme song and play a preview from an exciting collaboration between SPIN and MC E-Legal. Featuring: "Soy Ilegal" by SPIN and MC E-Legal http://www.reverbnation.com/spinelpoeta "Rob Ford Song" Ben Bergen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU9RHasobfQ

This jam-packed show features audio from the Dec. 1 Rob Ford Counter-Inaugural demonstration held outside of Toronto City Hall, courtesy of John Bonnar. Hear speakers from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, No One Is Illegal - Toronto, Jane Finch Action Against Poverty, and the Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly. Also on this show, we debut our new theme song and play a preview from an exciting collaboration between SPIN and MC E-Legal. Featuring: "Soy Ilegal" by SPIN and MC E-Legal http://www.reverbnation.com/spinelpoeta "Rob Ford Song" Ben Bergen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU9RHasobfQ

This jam-packed show features audio from the Dec. 1 Rob Ford Counter-Inaugural demonstration held outside of Toronto City Hall, courtesy of John Bonnar. Hear speakers from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, No One Is Illegal - Toronto, Jane Finch Action Against Poverty, and the Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly. Also on this show, we debut our new theme song and play a preview from an exciting collaboration between SPIN and MC E-Legal. Featuring: "Soy Ilegal" by SPIN and MC E-Legal http://www.reverbnation.com/spinelpoeta "Rob Ford Song" Ben Bergen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU9RHasobfQ

Former Chief Arthur Manuel exposes what lies behind Tom Flanagan’s proposal to convert reserve lands to private property. Professor Darlene Juschka tells why she and 15 other University of Regina faculty members oppose the Project Hero program on their campus. John Clarke, organizer of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, explains how Ontario’s 2010 budget penalizes the poor. Mitch Podolak’s Music is the Weapon features songs of resistance that focus on Latin America and Iraq.