Podcast appearances and mentions of Tommy Douglas

Gregory Marchildon is in Fredericton to talk about his new book.It's called Tommy Douglas and the Quest for Medicare in Canada. 

Happy Tommy Douglas Day! Tommy Douglas was born on this day in 1904. To learn more about Tommy Douglas, we spoke with C. Stuart Houston, an historian and author of "Tommy's Team : the People Behind the Douglas Years". Dr. Houston is a professor emeritus of the university of Saskatchewan, and an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Nicole O'Byrne speaks with Greg Marchildon about his book, Tommy Douglas and the Quest for Medicare in Canada. Tommy Douglas and the Quest for Medicare in Canada examines how Tommy Douglas led the creation of universal health care in Saskatchewan during the 1930s Depression. It explores his efforts to implement hospital insurance and build support for a national Medicare system, despite strong opposition. The book highlights how Douglas's leadership, vision, and coalition-building were key to establishing Medicare in Canada. Gregory P. Marchildon is a professor emeritus at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto and the founding director of the North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. Image Credit: UTP If you like our work, please consider supporting it: bit.ly/support_WTY. Your support contributes to the Champlain Society's mission of opening new windows to directly explore and experience Canada's past.

Today we're joined by none other than the Honourable Charlie Angus, longtime Canadian Member of Parliament for the enormous federal riding of Timmins-James Bay in Northern Ontario. Charlie - who some call the Canadian Bernie Sanders - is a diehard New Democrat. For those who don't know, the New Democratic Party is essentially the Canadian labour party; built thanks to organized labour and unionized working class workers and plenty of democratic socialists. It's the party that's led today by Jagmeet Singh, but was previously led by the late Ed Broadbent, the late Jack Layton, and none other than the father of Canadian Medicare: the late Tommy Douglas. Charlie Angus' riding is unique in that it is very Indigenous, very vast and resource rich, very working class, and was once dominated by little coal mining towns like the one Charlie comes from, Cobalt. After twenty years of aggressive impassioned face offs with The Man in Ottawa, this rugged reformed anarchist turned democratic socialist is laying the groundwork for his exit… stage left. Our thanks to Charlie Angus for sharing his fascinating story with us.

Fresh off of stepping down as the Alberta NDP leader, former Premier Rachel Notley chose to speak to the legendary Charles Adler. Rachel and Charles dish on the rule of law in politics and how "both sides" things don't work in a functional government. Rachel tells a story about what the rule of law meant in the legislature 20 years ago and how it doesn't seem to matter anymore. Lying in politics? If everyone lies, how does Rachel see that as a strategy for serving the public? Pro Tip: She doesn't and talks about the growing strategy of lying in chambers to obfuscate intention. Rachel is from political royalty in Alberta; her father, a disciple of Tommy Douglas, died in a plane crash in 1984. She relives that defining day and the legacy her father and Tommy Douglas left for so many socially minded Westerners who were able to lead social governments to major victories in the conservative West and what that means for Canada today. Have we seen the last of Rachel Notley, the politician?? Not so fast... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The now infamous interview of Pierre Poilievre eating an apple while responding to a journalist's allegation that he was Canada's Donald Trump is still being debated. When did populism get labelled as the far right? Some of Canada's best leaders have been populist - Tommy Douglas, and Pierre Trudeau to cite a couple. Stephanie Smyth is a respected journalist - she joins Stephen LeDrew for Three Minutes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canadian healthcare is often mistaken for a truly universal system. Even medical doctors will tell you that while it saves lives, our Medicare still only covers the basics — and universal, single-payer, public Canadian Pharmacare is desperately needed. Today on the pod, Canada's former federal minister of health, the Honourable Dr. Jane Philpott⁠, joins us to expand on her recent op-ed for The Globe and Mail: 'Canada is failing to meet the moment on the cost of medication' . Dr. Philpott also reflects on her time practicing medicine in the Global South, her time in Prime Minister Trudeau's original cabinet in Ottawa, and why she feels we need a "Tommy Douglas 2.0" to drive down the exorbitant costs of prescription medication. ________ "Unless there is a concerted effort to apply pressure on the Federal and Provincial governments, the erosion of Medicare will continue unabated and might even be accelerated. Our best hope lies in the Canadian Health Coalition…for the preservation and extension of Medicare."―Tommy Douglas, father of Canadian Medicare "Canadians have considered the idea of universal drug coverage, as a complement to universal health care, for over five decades. For such a long-standing debate there is a surprising level of consensus. After hearing from many thousands of Canadians, we found a strongly held, shared belief that everyone in Canada should have access to prescription drugs based on their need and not their ability to pay, and delivered in a manner that is fair and sustainable. That's why our council has recommended that Canada implement universal, single-payer, public pharmacare."—2019 Final Report of the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, chaired by Dr. Eric Hoskins ________City and Nuuchimii is independently produced and co-hosted by Maïtée Saganash and Jenn Jefferys. Reach us at citynuuchimii@gmail.com or @citynuuchimii. Click here to subscribe now.

For better or for worse, Tommy Douglas is the figure most closely associated with Medicare in Canada. But long before the CCF was first elected in 1944, Saskatchewan people were organizing and strategizing to ensure their communities had access to doctors, nurses, hospitals, and infectious disease treatment. This episode looks at the evolution of public healthcare in the province between 1872 and 1944.Follow Sara on Twitter at @sbirlios.Support us on Patreon at patreon.com/unmakingsaskatchewanSources: Boychuk, Gerard Explaining Public Health Insurance in the United States and CanadaCountess of Aberdeen What is the use of the Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada?Daschuk, James Clearing the PlainsHouston, C. Stuart Steps on the road to medicare: why Saskatchewan led the wayHouston, C. Stuart Leading the way: A Matter of Life and Breath. The 75 Year History of the Saskatchewan Anti-Tuberculosis League and the Saskatchewan Lung AssociationMiddleton, F.C. Evolution of Tuberculosis Control in SaskatchewanOstry, Alec National History of Medicine: The Foundations of National Public Health InsuranceRands, Stan Privilege and Policy: A History of Community Clinics in SaskatchewanShandel, Tom Bitter Medicine, Part One: The Birth of MedicareTaylor, Malcom G. Health insurance and Canadian public policy: the seven decisions that created the Canadian health insurance system and their outcomes

In this two part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Telling Black histories: writing, recuperation and resistance, we are very pleased to welcome the 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto and the 7th Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate, George Elliott Clarke. As we continue our conversation, Clarke reflects on past and current struggles against White western power, the meaning of decolonization and shaping effective resistance in Canada and beyond. Clarke discusses ongoing  legacies of colonialism and racist  imperialism in global politics,: “As Malcolm X said, ‘"you're a bunch of hypocrites'"...At the same time as you're expressing all these nostrums and parables of your supposed virtues, you are armed to the teeth. You are armed to the teeth! You are building jails to house masses of people seeking relief from the oppression that you have engineered in their home countries… And then these oppressed peoples flee for the refuge of your democracy and your attitude is to let them drown in the Mediterranean. .. let them drown in the Atlantic.”. For Clarke, achieving real change in Canada is very much in our hands: “We want to end police killings of unarmed Black men and Indigenous men and women and youth? Oh, we can do that, but we're gonna have to vote in place governments that will put in place very strict regiments on police forces..Whatever it is that you, the people together, collectively want in a democracy, you can have it. ..You can have an end to war. You can have more distribution of income and wealth. In a democracy you can actually vote yourselves this…So what's stopping us? Well, actually nothing is stopping us, except our own blind obedience to the way things have always been.”  Speaking to the failures of “cancel culture”, Clarke says: “The woke/cancelers have power to destroy individuals, which they can do, and they've done it. ..On the other hand, as they have also proven, they cannot destroy oppressive institutions. How nice it would be if they could, but they don't have that ability. They can destroy individuals, but not institutions. I think that's a problem.Because to go after individuals, any mob can do that. But to go after institutions, a mob isn't what you need. You need a revolutionary movement”.  About today's guest The 4th  Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15) and the 7th Parliamentary/Canadian Poet Laureate (2016-17), George Elliott Clarke was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1960. A professor of English at the University of Toronto, Clarke has also taught at Duke, McGill, UBC, and Harvard. His recognitions include the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Centre Fellowship (US), the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellows Prize, the Governor-General's Award for Poetry, the National Magazine Gold Award for Poetry, the PremiulPoesis (Romania), the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (US), and International Fellow Poet of the Year, Encyclopedic Poetry School [2019] (China).  His acclaimed titles include Whylah Falls (1990, translated into Chinese), Beatrice Chancy (1999, translated into Italian), Execution Poems (2001), Blues and Bliss (selected poems, 2009), I & I (2008), Illicit Sonnets (U.K., 2013), Traverse (2015), Canticles II (MMXX) (2020), and J'Accuse…! (Poem versus Silence) (2021). Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: George Elliott Clarke (Portrait by Katerina Fretwell) / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (podcast announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (street voices)  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 this 2-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Telling Black histories: writing, recuperation and resistance, we are very pleased to welcome the 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto and the 7th Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate, George Elliott Clarke.  In Part I of our conversation, Clarke takes us on a journey through Black and Africadian history in Canada, his life and work and discusses the importance of recuperating Black and colonized  histories through writing and resistance. Reflecting on the history of Black communities in Nova Scotia, Clarke says: Africadia is built, is constructed in complete defiance, of white supremacist, racist governmental decisions including environmental racism - placing dumps beside Black communities, placing polluting factories on the doorsteps of Black communities and so on. Those people, my ancestors, decided that they were going to construct communities. Church-based, church-anchored communities all around mainland Nova Scotia, in complete defiance of the racist oppressor and the oppressor's attempt to create a Nova Scotia as a White person's paradise. As a White person's dream.  About today's guest The 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15) and the 7th Parliamentary/Canadian Poet Laureate (2016-17), George Elliott Clarke was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1960. A professor of English at the University of Toronto, Clarke has also taught at Duke, McGill, UBC and Harvard. His recognitions include the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Centre Fellowship (US), the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellows Prize, the Governor-General's Award for Poetry, the National Magazine Gold Award for Poetry, the PremiulPoesis (Romania), the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (US), and International Fellow Poet of the Year, Encyclopedic Poetry School [2019] (China).  His acclaimed titles include Whylah Falls (1990, translated into Chinese), Beatrice Chancy (1999, translated into Italian), Execution Poems (2001), Blues and Bliss (selected poems, 2009), I & I (2008), Illicit Sonnets (U.K., 2013), Traverse (2015), Canticles II (MMXX) (2020), and J'Accuse…! (Poem versus Silence) (2021). Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: George Elliott Clarke (Portrait by Katerina Fretwell) / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (podcast announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (street voices)  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 this episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Capitalism and the mental health crisis, social worker, researcher and writer, Madeleine Ritts, researcher on mental health of Black communities, Michelle Sraha-Yeboah, and researcher and educator in labor issues, Jon Weier, discuss the current mental health crisis as an inevitable outcome of capitalism and whether good mental health is a benefit or a boon to our economic system. According to Ritts: “...Poverty, exploitation, alienation, these are inherent features of capitalism. So the degradation of physical and mental health is inevitable as long as we continue to live under the domination of the market. And I think in our system of racialized capitalism those forces will continue to disproportionately impact racialized people.” Speaking to impacts on Black communities, Yeboah says: “The field of psychology was born at the height of imperial expansion and colonial conquest. It was created to reinforce and serve the interests of the state. And so we see a lot of colonial rhetoric being processed through some of the methodologies and ideologies used in the field to reinforce a narrative about Black communities as being less than, as being subhuman, as misrepresenting their racial suffering. And these things have an impact today.” Reflecting on workers, Weier says: “I think gig work, contract work has been.. breaking down the bonds that can exist at a workplace..It's very hard to build solidarity. It's very hard to build a response or resistance to neoliberalism as these traditional sites of community and solidarity are being undermined in favor of an increasingly atomized workforce.”  About today's guests Madeleine Ritts is a researcher and social worker based in Toronto. Her writing has appeared in Jacobin, Health Debate, Now Magazine, Aeon, and the Toronto Star. She has worked as a mental health clinician for over seven years, and has experience organizing around issues of homelessness and poverty in Ontario. Maddie worked on a community, outreach-based mental health and addictions team in downtown Toronto and recently transitioned to a position in long-term care where she provides psycho-social and palliative care support to residents and their loved ones. Michelle Sraha-Yeboah is a doctoral candidate at York University in the Department of Social Science. Her research examines medical histories of racial and colonial violence, mental health care service use disparities and holistic wellbeing. Her work is particularly concerned with the intersections of socio-historical and political factors impacting Black Canadians' mental health care service use patterns and treatment preferences. She attends to Black feminist theorizations of care to achieve anti-racist and decolonial mental healthcare service delivery for Africans in the Diaspora.  Jonathan Weier is a professor in The School of Labor and The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at George Brown College. An established historian and educator, policy professional and commentator on social and labor movements, his research focuses on voluntary organizations, trade unions, political parties and other efforts by workers, social activists, and reformers to achieve progressive political, social and economic goals. Jon has been active in the labor movement and in Left politics for over 20 years and is currently a board member and the academic advisor for the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute. Image: Michelle Sraha-Yeboah, Madeleine Ritts, Jon Weier / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (podcast announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (street voices)  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 the second part of this two-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast COP15 and 30x30: Indigenous-Led Conservation and Saving the Greenbelt, manager at Springwater Provincial Park and former Chief of the Beausoleil First Nation, Jeff Monague, discusses principles of Indigenous-led conservation, the dangers facing First Nations communities from Greenbelt development and the need to shift our thinking in order to reconnect with the natural world. Reflecting on the meaning of reconciliation, Monague says:  “We can't think about conservation if we don't live or try to live that conservation…We're not doing that enough. In Canada, the government needs to do more. If it is reconciliation that they're talking about, then they need to do more...Reconciliation won't happen if all of your partners are not included. Let's say we're going to spend $30 million on a project and then we'll give 1% of that to First Nations. That's not reconciliation.”  About today's guest Jeff Monague is a member of the Beausoleil First Nation on Christian Island and currently resides near Coldwater, Ont. Presently, he is the manager at Springwater Provincial Park. He has been an instructor of the Ojibwe Language and has taught at every level, from junior kindergarten to post secondary at Georgian College. His book Ahaw Anishinaabem for beginners of the Ojibwe Language is available on Amazon. He is a former Chief and Councillor of his community on Christian Island and has been the Treaty research director for the Anishinaabek Nation. He is also a Canadian military veteran. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute or here.  Image: Jeff Monague / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (podcast announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (street voices)  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 this two-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Tim Gray, executive director of Environmental Defence and Sandra Schwartz, national executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) discuss the crisis of biodiversity loss and mass extinction, Canada's commitments under the Kunming-Montreal agreement coming out of the global COP15 gathering on biodiversity, and challenges and strategies toward meeting this very ambitious and even more necessary target. According to Schwartz: the UN has reported recently,.. that around a million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction. And that is really within a few decades. That's more than ever before in human history. And that's largely a result of human interaction with nature. So whether that is from exploration, from mining for example, forestry, …clearly we need to act now to save the natural world, because it is sustaining us as humans. Speaking to the recent Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Schwartz says: [I]t was a huge win, both for people, but also for the planet. .. Target Three of the framework is requiring the protection of at least 30% of land and ocean is protected globally by 2030…a requirement that Indigenous rights are respected and that Indigenous territories are recognized…And, all together the goals and targets of the agreement really do present a comprehensive plan to protect and restore biodiversity. But it's ambitious. And really, from our perspective going into the conference, what we were most holding out hope for was that the Framework Agreement would be ambitious.  Reflecting on proposed development on the Ontario Greenbelt, Gray says: 70% of the lands to be removed, is in something called Dufferin's Rouge Agricultural Preserve. It was both part of the Greenbelt, but also had its own separate protective legislation, which was removed by Bill-39 at the same time that Bill-32 was going through…This was formally publicly-owned land, sold to the farm community with legal easements to keep it as farmland forever, which have now been removed and open for development. So threats both to forest and wetland systems that are associated with the National Park, contrary to Indigenous rights and Indigenous opposition, threatens the viability of farming in that area. ..And so the viability of the farm community is threatened, major river systems, federally listed species at risk, fisheries habitat, migratory birds. The list is very, very long.  In terms of the implementation of global agreements, Gray says: [O]ne of the real challenges that we face is that, even as we sign international agreements that commit to stopping loss, increasing protection, advancing restoration to address biodiversity loss is that we see, like in particular in Ontario right now, a massive race in the opposite direction with dismantling of protection regimes for woodlands, wetlands, massive encouragement of sprawl development at the expense of building denser cities with transit, etc. So it is a real challenge to see the most populist, most wealthy province with a huge amount of the the biodiversity that this country holds, literally racing in the direction of further destruction  About today's guests Tim Gray is the executive director of Environmental Defence. Gray has over 25 years experience developing and implementing environmental policy change efforts. These have included major shifts in land conservation, forest practices and climate change. Starting out his career as a biologist and policy analyst, Gray has spent a lot of time learning skills that move complex environmental issues toward resolution. He has worked with other change makers on the front lines of conflict and has also taken his skills inside to work on government advisory committees and in complex negotiations with industry. Gray completed an H.BSc. at Wilfrid Laurier University and a M.Sc. at the University of Toronto. Sandra Schwartz is the national executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. With master's degrees in management, and environmental studies and over 20 years of experience, she is a strong advocate for sound environmental policy and has championed progressive ideas for clean energy and tackling climate change. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Sandra Schwartz and Tim Gray  / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices)  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

Paris Marx is joined by Rose Eveleth to discuss the end of her long-running podcast, why thinking about the future is important, and how tech billionaires try to shape our idea of the future to serve their ends.Rose Eveleth is the creator and host of the Flash Forward podcast and the author of Flash Forward: An Illustrated Guide to Possible (And Not So Possible) Tomorrows. You can follow them on Twitter at @roseveleth.Tech Won't Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter.The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:Please participate in our listener survey this month to give us a better idea of what you think of the show: https://forms.gle/xayiT7DQJn56p62x7Elon Musk says Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a big inspiration, but he seems to have missed its message.Karen Hao and Gideon Lichfield explained how Facebook's PR team nitpicked one of their storiesBooks mentioned: Ruha Benjamin's Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want and Jimmy Soni's The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley.The New York Times recently wrote about a group of Luddite teens.Tommy Douglas won CBC's Greatest Canadian contest for winning public healthcare. You can see the episode here.Support the show

In this episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Neil Hetherington, CEO of The Daily Bread Food Bank and Maria Rio, director of development and communication for The Stop Community Food Centre discuss the current state of food insecurity in Canada's largest city, how we got here and what we need to end decades of hunger. Of the growing reliance on Toronto's food bank system, Hetherington says: “What is startling is the fact that there are over 9,000 new registrants to the Foodbank system in the Toronto area, served by Daily Bread and North York Harvest each month.. almost 10,000 people are putting up their hand and saying, "I am in a position where my income does not meet the expenses that I have and I need to rely on food charity this week or this month. …Prior to the pandemic, 15% of the people that came to the food banks were employed fully. That number has doubled to 30%. And just around 50% of food bank users have a post-secondary education. And so people have done what we told them to do growing up. Go get an education, grab a job and you'll be fine. You'll get that house with a white picket fence. And that's not the reality.”  Rio describes the current and increasing challenges facing organizations like the Stop Community Food Centre: “The Stop is also being hit by inflation. So not only are we paying more for food because there's decreased food drives and all those things. There's more people coming to our services ..it's been an exceptionally challenging time. We've had to make really difficult decisions around how do we keep serving our community, but not go into an extremely unsustainable position as an organization? We have to remain open next year. as more and more people run out of other options, such as friends or using credit cards or predatory payday loan services, they're turning to us and we're kind of left scrambling to meet the need with less volunteer help, with less energy than we had two years ago and strain on our resources because our donors are also feeling the pinch.”  Speaking to the importance of food banks, Hethrington says: “What we have set out to do over the last number of decades is remind people that food banks are not the answer to food insecurity; we've never claimed that we are. But we do make food available this week for people. .. where we do claim that we are fighting to end hunger is around our advocacy efforts and taking a leadership position?”  Reflection on Canada's failed commitments to end hunger, Rio says: “Canada first signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights at the UN, where they ratified the right to food, right to adequate food, clothing, and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. And to know that we've been talking about this issue for so long, we've had so many consultations at all levels of government…we've known for a really long time that social assistance rates are abysmally low. That it's a lot of newcomers who are experiencing these barriers. Racialized people, people with disabilities and an intersection of all those identities. We've known that for more than the 40 years that The Stop has been around, or food banks have been around.”   About today's guests Neil Hetherington joined The Daily Bread Food Bank as CEO in January 2018. Beginning his career in project management at Tridel Construction, in September 2000, he made a career change by joining Habitat for Humanity Toronto, at the time as the youngest CEO of a Habitat affiliate in the world. Neil's non-profit experience includes 16 years as CEO of Habitat for Humanity in Toronto, and then New York City, and two years as CEO of Dixon Hall, a multi-service agency serving thousands of people in Toronto. Neil holds credentials from the University of Western Ontario – Huron College, Seneca College, Harvard Business School, and the University of Virginia – Darden Business School and obtained his MBA from the University of Western Ontario's Ivey Business School in 2013. He is an active pilot and sailor. He enjoys furniture making and in his spare time plays tennis terribly, snowboards poorly and bikes slowly. Maria Rio has over a decade of fundraising and non-profit experience. As a woman, a racialized person, an immigrant, and a member of the LGBTQ2+ community and from her early experience as a refugee, Maria's experience shaped a passion for human rights  that fuels her drive to give back and make a difference in the lives of people of various marginalized and often intersectional and underrepresented groups. Her op eds have been featured in publications such as the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' magazine. She was a finalist for the national 2022 Charity Village Best Individual Fundraiser Award, and has a deep passion for non-profit work. Maria also sits on the Board of Living Wage Canada and is often asked to speak on issues related to poverty, innovative stewardship, building relationships, and Community Centric Fundraising.   Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute or here.  Image: Neil Hetherington and Maria Rio  / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices)  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 this episode of the Courage My Friends podcast we welcome Laura Walton, president of CUPE's Ontario Schools Boards Council of Unions. Just days after CUPE education workers voted to ratify a new four-year contract that includes a hard fought for $1 flat-rate hourly wage increase and two days repayment for a fraught political protest,  we reflect on the momentous and contentious labor action taken on by Ontario's education workers. Reflecting on how essential these education workers are to our schools, Walton says: "From the minute that a child or a member of the public steps into a school; you are stepping into a space that is impacted by the work performed by CUPE members … the cleanliness of the school, the safety of the school. Being buzzed in the door in our elementary schools. The supports that students need in order to be successful and to thrive are all performed by education workers." Walton describes Bill 28 and its use of the notwithstanding clause: “Bill 28 was actually a two-headed beast ... Not only did it impose a contract which would've provided poverty wages, attacked our sick-leave- …. It also put in place the notwithstanding clause. But also taking the notwithstanding clause one step further: we wouldn't be able to take them to court, but they also put in pieces where we wouldn't be able to take them to the human rights tribunal. We wouldn't be able to arbitrate it. Really removing any sort of legal avenue that a worker may have and really interfering with the charter rights of workers." Of the unprecedented coming together of public and private sector, Walton says: "I have been a worker for my entire adult life. Started working at 13. And I've been a union activist for 20 years and you know, I remember reading about union activism. I remember reading about labor history ... And I always kind of pictured ‘what did that feel like?' ... How did you know you were in that moment, when you were in that moment. ..Those became very real. And one of the comments that I made that day is, 'Workers are like a family. We may not always agree, but when you attack one of us, you attack all of us.' And I really hope that it becomes a catalyst for solidarity moving forward.”  About today's guest Laura Walton is an educational assistant from Belleville, Ontario. First elected to the role in 2019, she is the president of CUPE's 55,000-worker strong Ontario School Boards Council of Unions (OSBCU). Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute or here.  Image: Laura Walton  / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices)  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 this episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Emmay Mah, executive director of the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) discusses the many intersections between the climate crisis and the housing crisis and the potential fallout from Ontario's proposed housing Bill 23: More Homes Built Faster. According to Mah: “We need to acknowledge that we are experiencing a deep, acute housing crisis. And this is also an environmental crisis.” Reflecting on the Ford Government's proposed Bill-23: The Better Homes Built Faster Act, Mah says:  “The title of the Bill .. is incredibly misleading. It is both bad for addressing the housing crisis and bad from a climate perspective, and there are no two ways around that. ..Basically what this bill proposes to do is it's going to gut about 10 existing provincial laws, which will ultimately strip local governments of their ability to build and protect affordable housing and achieve their climate goals and basically protect the environment and plan communities within municipalities.” In refuting the tension between development and conservation, Mah says: “It is in all our interest to build green affordable housing. It is also in our interests to preserve natural land and resources and food growing areas. So these things should not be pitted against one another. And I think that it is a falsehood that is purposely being constructed to serve these development interests. And so we really need to push back against this. This is incredibly shortsighted.” For Mah, communities are themselves modeling the change we need to see:  “Community members often have the deepest perspective on what solutions will work locally, and understandably so. They bring a lot of knowledge and wisdom and lived experience to working on solutions. So I want to strongly encourage folks that have the impetus to really, really move forward with solutions they know are going to work with their communities. And organizations like TEA should be supporting them and so should local government.” About today's guest Emmay Mah joined the Toronto Environmental Alliance as executive director in 2019. For the last 20 years, Emmay has worked in the non-profit sector locally and internationally, developing and managing programs focused on child rights, health, and the environment. She is passionate about building local movements to achieve healthy, equitable and climate-friendly cities. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute or here.  Image: Emmay Mah  / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices)  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 part two of this special two-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast ‘Mouth Open, Story Jump Out: The Power and Purpose of Storytelling in These Times,' we continue our conversation with storyteller, actor, playwright and filmmaker, Rhoma Spencer; storyteller and teacher, Lynn Torrie; and storyteller, teacher and founder of Queers in Your Ears, Rico Rodriguez. Speaking to the origins of Carnival and the meaning of stories for the formerly colonized and enslaved, Spencer reflects: “Stories [are] indeed a part of resistance. These are stories that my mother talked about. Some she would've experienced and some that would've been passed on to her..These are stories that was told to me. Carnival as manifested through the post-emancipated African was a form of resistance. When we were emancipated in 1834, we took to the streets to celebrate our emancipation, and we did so by mimicking our colonizer.”  According to Torrie, stories are a vehicle to deal with even the most sensitive of subjects: “What I find is sensitive topics like addiction, people have strong opinions about them. And sometimes when you approach them directly, people shut down, it's hard to listen; either because they've been personally touched by the issue or because they have strong opinions about how the issue should be dealt with … Sometimes if you approach something in the context of a story, it's easier to listen to than if you speak to the issue directly. A story gives people room to listen to the feelings and perspectives of the characters involved rather than getting stuck on one side or the other of an issue.” Reflecting on the need to be included in stories and storytelling communities, Rodriguez says: “When we grew up as queers, we're sitting around the table and the stories that are being told are stories that are gonna shape our lives sometimes, even if they're fairy tales, personal stories. Stories that are told at Thanksgiving or big family events or family reunions. Stories are being told around the table, they're not queer affirming … And I think that's what led me to tell more of my personal stories, especially with Queers in Your Ears, is that I wanted to create that dinner table for queers where they came and listened and they got affirmed.” About the storytellers Rico Rodriguez is a storyteller and a teacher who specializes in Latinx tales and writing and telling personal and fictional stories that are infused with equity and social change themes. He founded “Queers in Your Ears” a 2SLGBTQI storytelling event. Rico has facilitated workshops on the art of storytelling in educational settings and community and health promotion agencies. He has told in schools, theatres, libraries, festivals, pubs and conferences as well as on CBC Radio in Canada and on National Public Radio in the U.S. His story credits include: Do The Best You Can In the Place Where You Are And Be Kind, Your Value Does Not Decrease Based On Someone's Inability To See Your Worth, When A Flower Doesn't Bloom, You Do Not Fix The Flower, You Fix The Environment In Which The Flower Can Grow. Rhoma Spencer is an actor, playwright, docu/filmmaker, director and comedian. When not doing all of the above she can be seen at her Sweethand Delights turning a random pot of gastronomic pleasures. Critically acclaimed by the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and NOW Magazine, her works include: Biomyth Mono Digiplay and Login Password Logout ( Aluna Theatre, Caminos Festiva, 2021). Her film, My Execution will be Televised recently won the Impact Award at the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival and her film, A Pile of Dirt will premiere at the Regent Park Film Festival in December. Rhoma can be seen in the award-winning Canadian film, Scarborough. Lynn Torrie is a Toronto storyteller with a passion for traditional folk tales and Canadian history.  Her original adaptations have been performed at the Toronto Storytelling Festival, The Word on the Street, StoryFusion Cabaret, the Ottawa Signature Series and Guelph's Tea 'n Tales. She is a member of the York storytelling Guild and a regular host at both Storytelling Toronto's Storytent and 1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling. She designed and taught over 100 workshops to teachers and educational assistants with the Toronto District School Board and is currently the project co-ordinator for Storytellers of Canada's workshop series and teaches “The Art of Storytelling” at Toronto Metropolitan University, Continuing Education. Since COVID 19, Lynn has travelled the virtual world, hosting, teaching and telling on Zoom. Teagan de Laronde is Métis and a citizen of Red Sky Métis Independent Nation. A graduate of the University of Toronto Teagan was president of the Indigenous Studies Student Union, co-founder/VP for 'BIPOC in Politics', and serves on various committees focused on Truth and Reconciliation including the Victoria College (Re)Conciliation; The Truth is not Fully yet Told". She is currently a project manager with UofT's Department of Religion on the "Relations on the Land" project.  In August 2022, she worked with the City of Toronto and Indigenous partners to Decolonize Museums. Teagan works as a First Story Storyteller, a community-based project that researches, preserves, and shares Indigenous history and perspectives within what is now known as ‘Toronto.' An avid jigger (dancer) and beader, Teagan's work can be viewed at @birchbeadwork on Instagram.  Richardo Keens-Douglas M.B.E is an award winning actor, playwright, author, storyteller and proud Grenadian-Canadian. From drama, dance, and comedy, to musical theatre, storytelling, and directing, Richardo also hosted national radio storytelling show Cloud 9 and Sunday Arts Entertainment on CBC television in Canada and was the host of the television hit Who Wants to be A Millionaire Caribbean. He has appeared on a variety of stages in North America and the Caribbean, including Stratford, Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, TWP, and Theatre Fountainhead in Canada. His play The Nutmeg Princess won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Musical of 1999. In 2003, Richardo was inducted into the Caribbean Hall of Fame for Excellence in Theatre. Dan Yashinsky is a storyteller, writer, and community animator.  His books include Suddenly They Heard Footsteps - Storytelling for the Twenty-first Century, and Swimming with Chaucer - A Storyteller's Logbook. In 1999 he received the Jane Jacobs Prize for his work with storytelling in the community.  His pandemic project was to record 16 folktales with his donkey Eysele. You can see them on Youtube by searching for The Storyteller's Ass. Info: www.tellery.com. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Rico Rodriguez, Rhoma Spencer, Lynn Torrie, Teagan de Laronde, Richardo Keens-Douglas, Dan Yashinsky (photo by Jacob Zavitz),  / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices)  Courage My Friends Podcast Organizing Committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.  Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca Special Thanks to: Debra Baptiste (Executive Director, Storytelling Toronto), Audrey Rochette (Director, Indigenous Initiatives, George Brown College) Host: Resh Budhu

In the fourth, two-part, episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, series III, we are joined by six Canadian storytellers In this special, and very storied, two-part episode of the Courage My Friends podcast Mouth Open, Story Jump Out: The Power and Purpose of Storytelling in These Times, we are very pleased to welcome six Canadian storytellers. In part one, we begin our conversation with First Story storyteller, Teagan de Laronde; actor, author, and storyteller. Richardo Keens-Douglas; and community animator, author and co-founder of Storytelling Toronto, Dan Yashinsky.  Within her story within a story, storyteller, de Laronde says: “In Toronto, like many places, there are many stories of the land; in the land, based on the land. I think one of the biggest misconceptions about Toronto is that there are no Indigenous stories. We tend to see urban places as non-Indigenous spaces.Toronto though is a city, is an urban space because of Indigenous design. It was a meeting place, a council ground, a shared space, and it still is.” Before launching into the story of La Diablesse, storyteller Keens-Douglas describes storytelling as: “connecting through the soul. Storytelling for me is a passing on. It's a sharing of yourself. It's a sharing of where you came from. It's a sharing of a history. It's a sharing of knowledge. And when I connect with my audience, when I tell my stories, I want them to go through the process with me.” Prefacing the story of the tortoise and the leopard, Yashinsky says,“Stories have a way of crossing borders. They don't really respect political frontiers. They slip through all the barricades and they end up being subversive because of that. They're deep and they're personal. and they live by word of mouth. And every attempt to control them has failed. So I've always thought about that, storytellers are the enemies of all champions of control.” About the storytellers Teagan de Laronde is Métis and a citizen of Red Sky Métis Independent Nation. A graduate of the University of Toronto Teagan was president of the Indigenous Studies Student Union, co-founder/VP for 'BIPOC in Politics', and serves on various committees focused on Truth and Reconciliation including the Victoria College (Re)Conciliation; The Truth is not Fully yet Told". She is currently a project manager with UofT's Department of Religion on the "Relations on the Land" project.  In August 2022, she worked with the City of Toronto and Indigenous partners to Decolonize Museums. Teagan works as a First Story Storyteller, a community-based project that researches, preserves, and shares Indigenous history and perspectives within what is now known as ‘Toronto.' An avid jigger (dancer) and beader, Teagan's work can be viewed at @birchbeadwork on Instagram.  Richardo Keens-Douglas M.B.E is an award winning actor, playwright, author, storyteller and proud Grenadian-Canadian. From drama, dance, and comedy, to musical theatre, storytelling, and directing, Richardo also hosted national radio storytelling show Cloud 9 and Sunday Arts Entertainment on CBC television in Canada and was the host of the television hit Who Wants to be A Millionaire Caribbean. He has appeared on a variety of stages in North America and the Caribbean, including Stratford, Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, TWP, and Theatre Fountainhead in Canada. His play The Nutmeg Princess won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Musical of 1999. In 2003, Richardo was inducted into the Caribbean Hall of Fame for Excellence in Theatre. Dan Yashinsky is a storyteller, writer, and community animator.  His books include Suddenly They Heard Footsteps - Storytelling for the Twenty-first Century, and Swimming with Chaucer - A Storyteller's Logbook. In 1999 he received the Jane Jacobs Prize for his work with storytelling in the community.  His pandemic project was to record 16 folktales with his donkey Eysele. You can see them on Youtube by searching for The Storyteller's Ass. Info: www.tellery.com. Rico Rodriguez is a storyteller and a teacher who specializes in Latinx tales and writing and telling personal and fictional stories that are infused with equity and social change themes. He founded “Queers in Your Ears” a 2SLGBTQI storytelling event. Rico has facilitated workshops on the art of storytelling in educational settings and community and health promotion agencies. He has told in schools, theatres, libraries, festivals, pubs and conferences as well as on CBC radio in Canada and on National Public Radio in the U.S. His story credits include: "Do The Best You Can In the Place Where You Are And Be Kind", "Your Value Does Not Decrease Based On Someone's Inability To See Your Worth", "When A Flower Doesn't Bloom, You Do Not Fix The Flower, You Fix The Environment In Which The Flower Can Grow" Rhoma Spencer is an actor, playwright, docu/filmmaker, director and comedian. When not doing all of the above she can be seen at her Sweethand Delights turning a random pot of gastronomic pleasures. Critically acclaimed by the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and NOW Magazine, her works include: Biomyth Mono Digiplay and Login Password Logout ( Aluna Theatre, Caminos Festiva, 2021). Her film, My Execution will be Televised recently won the Impact Award at the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival and her film, A Pile of Dirt will premiere at the Regent Park Film Festival in December. Rhoma can be seen in the award-winning Canadian film, Scarborough. Lynn Torrie is a Toronto storyteller with a passion for traditional folk tales and Canadian history.  Her original adaptations have been performed at the Toronto Storytelling Festival, The Word on the Street, StoryFusion Cabaret, the Ottawa Signature Series and Guelph's Tea 'n Tales. She is a member of the York storytelling Guild and a regular host at both Storytelling Toronto's Storytent and 1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling. She designed and taught over 100 workshops to teachers and educational assistants with the Toronto District School Board and is currently the project co-ordinator for Storytellers of Canada's workshop series and teaches “The Art of Storytelling” at Toronto Metropolitan University, Continuing Education. Since COVID 19, Lynn has travelled the virtual world, hosting, teaching and telling on Zoom. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Teagan de Laronde, Richardo Keens-Douglas, Dan Yashinsky (photo by Jacob Zavitz), Rico Rodriguez, Rhoma Spencer, Lynn Torrie  / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices)  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 the third episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Series III, Dania Majid, director of the Tenant Duty Council Program at the Advocacy Center for Tenants Ontario (ACTO); John Ecker, director of Research and Evaluation at the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness; and Haydar Shouly, senior manager of Shelters and Shelter Programs with Dixon Hall discuss the current crisis of housing insecurity and homelessness facing our most vulnerable communities. Ecker describes some of the ingredients of the housing crisis: “In Toronto we're seeing an emergency shelter system that's stretched to the limit, which is turning people away because there aren't enough beds available. ..We're seeing a significant increase in the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness or homelessness lasting six months or longer in Toronto…About half of people accessing emergency shelters can be defined as chronically homeless. We're also seeing a burnt out workforce that is leaving the homeless system for other opportunities. We're seeing a social housing wait-list that continues to grow due to the lack of housing stock that is being created. Rising rental costs, which is even pushing people out of not just the housing market, but the rental market as well. There's a lack of rental control measures put in place by the provincial government, allowing landlords to increase rent without that typical government oversight on units that were built after 2018.” Reflecting on how the pandemic impacted Toronto shelters, Shouly recalls: “So I remember early 2020, probably February, March 2020 when we started to feel the heat of this pandemic. We had 91 people at Heyworth House, a hundred people at 351 Lake Shore. And we were talking about 2 to 3 feet apart. And that was just not feasible anymore. It was a disaster to keep people in that kind of environment. So collectively as a sector, and the city obviously led that, we moved clients from the traditional shelters and respites to hotels. The city secured a number of hotels to create that kind of social distancing that we were talking about in early 2020. It was really difficult. It was complicated to try to make that move. To transport people to a hotel. And trying to use the city's transport vehicles or taxis... It was a really challenging kind of reality. But with that action, I think we managed to keep the numbers of positive cases low and we managed to create social distancing in those programs. But I think moving people from where they were in congregate settings into more isolated rooms in hotel programs, we actually created new sets of challenges..” Speaking to the financialization of the housing market, Majid says, “Companies like Blackstone, and they're definitely not the only one, they do see housing as an investment vehicle, and that's their primary lens on housing. So what we've seen these types of companies doing is what I call "home hoardership"; they are just accumulating homes just for the sake of accumulating these homes. It deprives people like first time home-owners and renters from accessing these homes. And it's driving the cost of the housing up. What we're seeing in Canada has been happening in the United States for a lot longer and it's a little bit more terrifying when you start putting the pieces together and it's technically already here. About today's guests:  Dania Majid is a staff lawyer and director of the Tenant Duty Counsel Program at the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, a legal aid clinic in Ontario. Prior to joining ACTO, Dania was a legal analyst with the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, and a lawyer with the Human Rights Legal Support Centre and Neighbourhood Legal Services. She is also the founder and executive member of the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association and the Toronto Palestine Film Festival and sits on the steering committee of the Hearing Palestine program at the University of Toronto. Dania is also the lead author of ACLA's 2022 report “Anti-Palestinian Racism: Naming, Framing and Manifestations.” John Ecker, PhD is the Director of Research and Evaluation at the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. In this role, he has been fortunate to collaborate with a number of community partners on their research and evaluation activities. He attained his Ph.D. in Community Psychology from the University of Ottawa where he received advanced training in qualitative and quantitative analyses, as well as program evaluation theory and practice. His research interests are varied and include homelessness, housing, Housing First, community integration, and LGBTQ2S studies. In his spare time, John is an avid tennis player/fan and has a love of pop culture. Haydar Shouly, is Senior Manager of Shelters and Shelter Programs with Dixon Hall in Toronto. Haydar spent more than 18 years in the Community Development, Housing & Homelessness sector with stints in Youth Homelessness Supports, Housing Advocacy, Food Security and Newcomer Settlement sectors. Most recently, he has been working and advocating to enhance the well-being of marginalized and vulnerable populations in our community. In the past 14 years, Haydar's work at Dixon Hall has been focussed on building strategic responses to homelessness in the City of Toronto, primarily in partnership with the Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA) Division. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Dania Majid, John Ecker, Haydar Shouly / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices)  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 the second episode of the Courage My Friends podcast, Series III, Jhoey Dulaca (caregiver and organizer with the Migrant Workers' Alliance for Change), Ethel Tungohan (Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism) and Chris Ramsaroop (activist and organizer with Justicia for Migrant Workers) discuss temporary foreign workers in Canada, the multiple and barriers they face and the struggle for recognition, rights and belonging.  Speaking to the situation facing foreign migrant workers, Dulaca says, “In the beginning it was a dream. It's not what happens in reality. The promise of Canada is when you get in, you are allowed to apply for permanent residence. That's the selling point, why I came here… They allow you to come here, but they won't allow you to have permanent status. And with permanent status, you are exercising your rights.”  Dulaca continued: “A lot of these people are tied to their employers. When I was working as a caregiver, I was tied to my employer and I couldn't do anything. If I was being abused, I couldn't just go and  look for [other] work. Just like the farm workers, they're tied to their employers and the system is made for them to shut up. First and foremost migrants come here to support their family. ..That's what makes it hard for workers to stand up for their rights.”  As Tungohan says, the situation facing these workers is structured into the system itself: “The thing about Canada that I find very perplexing is that it's always been constructed as a liberal immigrant receiving state. And  to a certain extent that's true, but only for certain groups of people. So the easiest way to think about Canadian immigration policies is that there's citizen-track immigration and non-citizen- track immigration. And I would argue that temporary labor migrants tend to fall [in] the latter group.” On speaking to the need for organized resistance, Ramsaroop says: “It's about the role of power and asymmetrical power imbalances..There are no industry specific regulations. And coupled with this constant threat of deportation and permanent loss of work, this is why workers are .. working at heights without protections, being sprayed with pesticides and chemicals, working at a peace-rate system which has numerous and multiple forms of injuries on their bodies.So it is critically important to see this as structural violence .. This is an entire system that's been built to meet the needs of the employers, not thinking about the needs of workers. And this is why trying to build power across the industry and across all forms of temporary work is necessary and essential to change the power imbalance that exists.” About today's guests:  Ethel Tungohan is the Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism, and associate professor of Politics and Social Science at York University. She has also been appointed as a Broadbent Institute fellow. Previously, she was the Grant Notley Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta's Department of Political Science.  Her research looks at migrant labor, specifically assessing migrant activism. Her forthcoming book, “From the Politics of Everyday Resistance to the Politics from Below,” won the 2014 National Women's Studies Association First Book Prize. Her work has been published in academic journals such as the International Feminist Journal of Politics, Politics, Groups, and Identities, and Canadian Ethnic Studies. She is also one of the editors of “Filipinos in Canada: Disturbing Invisibility,” which was published by the University of Toronto Press in 2012. Dr. Tungohan specializes in socially engaged research and is actively involved in grassroots migrant organizations such as Gabriela-Ontario and Migrante-Canada. Joelyn Dulaca is a careworker organizer with Migrant Workers Alliance for a Change which is a coalition of migrant  careworkers, healthcare workers, farmworkers and international students.  A former careworker herself, who had to work away from her children to chase the Canadian dream; she had experienced the struggles of working as a live-in caregiver and is now dedicated to organize caregivers to fight for better immigration, labour laws and permanent status for all. Chris Ramsaroop is an organizer with Justicia for Migrant Workers, a grassroots activist collective that has been organizing with migrant workers for nearly 20 years and whose work is based on building long term trust and relationships with migrant workers and includes: engaging in direct actions, working with workers to resist at work, launching precedent setting legal cases, and organizing numerous collective actions.  Chris is an instructor in the Caribbean Studies Program at the University of Toronto and a clinic instructor at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law. Ramsaroop is working to complete his PhD at OISE/University of Toronto. Chris is also currently assistant professor at New College, University of Toronto, Community Engaged Learning. Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.  Image: Ethel Tungohan, Jhoey Dulaca, Chris Ramsaroop / Used with Permission Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (voice of Tommy Douglas); Kenneth Okoro, Liz Campos Rico, Tsz Wing Chau (Street Voices)  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

Tommy Douglas surely anticipated the likes of Premier Doug Ford when he founded Health Coalitions to defend public healthcare in Canada. These groups have been standing guard over our public healthcare since its inception, but they've never had a fight like this on their hands before. Made up of folks like you and I, our Health Coalitions are very likely the key to taking collective action to stop the privatization of healthcare in Canada. Hear Peter Bergmanis explain what they are, what their mission is and just what is standing in their way. Can they wake up Canadians in time to save our healthcare? Listen in. More info on Health Coalitions:London Health Coalition Holds Virtual Emergency SummitCanadian Health CoalitionOntario Health Coalition

Our guest today on the Lean to the Left podcast is Dr. Joe Eusterman, now nearly 93 years old, spent 50 years practicing internal, occupational and environmental medicine in Oregon and elsewhere, and is mad as hell.In fact, Dr. Joe is so upset that he launched Mad As Hell Doctors.com 14 years ago, and traveled around the country in a decked out RV trying to do something about America's health care system.Dr. Joe is not on the road anymore, but is still mad as hell and promises to remain so until we have universal health care for all Americans. Dr. Joe is part of Physicians for a National Health Program, which promotes public advocacy and continues to see enactment of a single payer healthcare system, such as Medicare for All. We know that Bernie Sanders made Medicare for All a cornerstone of his presidential campaign, but in this divided Congress – even with Democrats in theoretical control – there doesn't seem to be much hope, at least in the immediate future.According to Dr. Joe, the healthcare system in the U.S. is far too costly and at the same time inefficient. A focus on money and profit is at the heart of the problem, he contends, and the major reason why Congress has refused to enact Medicare for All.But he is optimistic and has no intention of quitting, and he hopes you'll pitch in and help, too.Here are some resources recommended by Dr. Joe:On YouTube: Health, Money and Fear; The Healthcare Movie; Prairie Giant: The Story of Tommy Douglas; The Story of Mouseland.Organizations & Background info:mvhca.org/dvdspnhp.org/what-is-single-payer/pnhp.org/about/pnhp-mission-statement/https://madashelldoctors.comSingle Payer bills:Pramila Jayapal-HR1976-"Medicare For All Act of 2021"Bernie Sanders- SB4204-"Medicare For All Act of 2022"Ro Khanna-HR3775-"State-based Universal Health Care Act of 2021"Here are some questions answered by Dr. Joe in this episode:1. Are you still mad as hell?2. Why?3. What are you doing to effect change?4. What's chances for a single payor system in today's political atmosphere?5. Why would it be beneficial?6. Critics say it would put healthcare in the hands of bureaucrats and create long lines and wait times for appointments. Are they wrong? If so, why?7. Do you have some experiences from your practice of medicine that you can share that relate to this topic?8. How many bus trips did you take? When was the last one? What did you do?9. You're almost 93. What are you going to do when you really retire?Take a listen.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-lean-to-the-left-podcast--4719048/support.

Our guest today on the Lean to the Left podcast is Dr. Joe Eusterman, now nearly 93 years old, spent 50 years practicing internal, occupational and environmental medicine in Oregon and elsewhere, and is mad as hell.In fact, Dr. Joe is so upset that he launched Mad As Hell Doctors.com 14 years ago, and traveled around the country in a decked out RV trying to do something about America's health care system.Dr. Joe is not on the road anymore, but is still mad as hell and promises to remain so until we have universal health care for all Americans. Dr. Joe is part of Physicians for a National Health Program, which promotes public advocacy and continues to see enactment of a single payer healthcare system, such as Medicare for All. We know that Bernie Sanders made Medicare for All a cornerstone of his presidential campaign, but in this divided Congress – even with Democrats in theoretical control – there doesn't seem to be much hope, at least in the immediate future.According to Dr. Joe, the healthcare system in the U.S. is far too costly and at the same time inefficient. A focus on money and profit is at the heart of the problem, he contends, and the major reason why Congress has refused to enact Medicare for All.But he is optimistic and has no intention of quitting, and he hopes you'll pitch in and help, too.Here are some resources recommended by Dr. Joe:On YouTube: Health, Money and Fear; The Healthcare Movie; Prairie Giant: The Story of Tommy Douglas; The Story of Mouseland.Organizations & Background info:mvhca.org/dvdspnhp.org/what-is-single-payer/pnhp.org/about/pnhp-mission-statement/https://madashelldoctors.comSingle Payer bills:Pramila Jayapal-HR1976-"Medicare For All Act of 2021"Bernie Sanders- SB4204-"Medicare For All Act of 2022"Ro Khanna-HR3775-"State-based Universal Health Care Act of 2021"Here are some questions answered by Dr. Joe in this episode:1. Are you still mad as hell?2. Why?3. What are you doing to effect change?4. What's chances for a single payor system in today's political atmosphere?5. Why would it be beneficial?6. Critics say it would put healthcare in the hands of bureaucrats and create long lines and wait times for appointments. Are they wrong? If so, why?7. Do you have some experiences from your practice of medicine that you can share that relate to this topic?8. How many bus trips did you take? When was the last one? What did you do?9. You're almost 93. What are you going to do when you really retire?Take a listen.

Mossbank is the site of the first meeting between the NWMP and the Indigenous, with an interesting Indigenous legend surrounding Old Wives Lake nearby. It also features an original blacksmith shop from its early era and was the site of a pilot training base during the Second World War.The most iconic part of its history is the Debate of the Century, which happened in 1955 between Tommy Douglas and Ross Thatcher.Support: patreon.com/canadaehxDonate: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/craigUDonate: canadaehx.comE-mail: craig@canadaehx.comTwitter: twitter.com/craigbairdInstagram: @Bairdo37YouTube: youtube.com/c/canadianhistoryehx

John D. Huston has performed in Canada, the U.K. & the States. A member of Canada's Metis Nation, John's lively career “culturally misappropriating the works and identities of dead white guys”, includes playing Tommy Douglas in Saskatchewan, William Lyon MacKenzie in Toronto, Shakespeare in England, & Charles Dickens across Canada. In 2017 he was privileged to portray Louis Riel for the 50th anniversary production of Canada's longest running dramatic presentation, "The Trial of Louis Riel". In 2016, John performed Mark Leiren-Young's, controversial play, "Shylock" at UNO, Canada's festival of solo work. "SCREWTAPE", John's adaptation of C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters", garnered him a Best Actor nomination in 2015 from the Ottawa Capitol Critics' Circle. His performance of "A Christmas Carol" earned him a second such nomination in 2016, the only non-Ottawa actor to be nominated two years running. Twitter: @bythebookprodu1 Instagram: @bythebookproductions Tickets to CIVILIZED: https://ottawafringe.com/shows/civilized/#showtimes_list Support Stageworthy Tip Jar: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Corey Hogan and Stephen Carter unpack the changes to the UCP leadership review and the subsequent fallout (0:05:50) before turning their attention to the Liberal-NDP confidence deal (1:03:48). Has Jason Kenney changed the odds? Will the UCP hold together? And is Tommy Douglas a poor man's Jagmeet Singh? Zain Velji, as always, picks the questions and keeps everybody in line.

Like the show? https://www.patreon.com/newleftradio (Support us on Patreon)! Jean Charest is in and putting his bet on pipelines! Gas prices are HIGH. This is among the clearest day to day manifestation of corporate greed affecting Canadians. Charest shirks questions on Bill 21. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is addressing the House of Commons tomorrow and the Prime Minister is introducing him. Will he use the opportunity with all eyes on Ottawa to make a major announcement? Maybe Kiefer Sutherland, Tommy Douglas' grandson, should run for parliament? _________ https://twitter.com/Joe_Roberts01 (Follow Joe on Twitter) https://twitter.com/itsrodgermoran (Follow Rodger on Twitter) _________

Canada's healthcare system is failing. With the elderly population three times greater than when Tommy Douglas proposed Medicare, Queen's University's Don Drummond and Duncan Sinclair discuss why the Canada Health Act is failing against its five famous principles, and what to do about it.

This is the story of a place called Mouseland. Mouseland was a place where all the little mice lived and played. But in 2021 Mouseland wasn't the happy place it was envisioned to be. The father of the modern day NDP Tommy Douglas would retell the story of Mouseland when campaigning. Douglas would let people know that the CCF/NDP was a different party to the Liberals, and the Conservatives. Fast forward to 2021, and the NDP have a problem on their hand. There is a growing concern that the mice that were there to support the other mice are no longer mice. Des Bissonnette is the former NDP Federal Candidate in Lakeland (Alberta), and a NDP party organizer. In todays episode Des talks about becoming disillusioned with the NDP, and the party's bleeding of progressive voters to other parties. Bissonnette lays out that there is trouble in Mouseland and its time to get back to electing mice like Tommy Douglas once envisioned. If you like what you hear and want to keep the show going consider sponsoring the show at : https://www.patreon.com/CrossBoderInterviewPodcast Follow the Cross Border Interview Podcast: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crossborderpodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrossBorderPod Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/CrossBorderInterviewPodcast Website: https://www.crossborderinterviews.ca/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI2i25ZVKTO84oUsLyO4jig Miranda, Brown & Associates Inc. © 2021

Jim Bronskill is an award-winning reporter with the Ottawa bureau of The Canadian Press news agency, specializing in security and intelligence, policing, and justice-related issues. He also frequently writes about privacy in the digital realm.The path to a career in journalism [2:31]How investigative journalism has changed over the years [4:11]Freedom of information (FOI) requests as an important reporting tool [4:51]The iceberg theory of journalism [5:31]Uncovering the rest of the iceberg through freedom of information [6:20]Balancing FOI response times with news deadlines [6:55]Ways to advance and modernize the access to information system [8:20]Big news stories that began as freedom of information requests [11:15]Learning about the use of Tasers by the RCMP through FOI [12:18]The Tommy Douglas files [15:55]Tips for making access requests [18:43]Key challenges to access to information and the right to know [24:30]The need for strong leadership on access to information, modernized laws, and practical administrative solutions [25:31]Resources:Your Right to Know (book by Jim Bronskill)Demystifying the FOI Process (Info Matters episode about the steps involved in making an access request) IPC strategic priority: Privacy and Transparency in a Modern GovernmentRCMP edits Taser reports, probe finds (Toronto Star)Documents detail hours before Taser death (Toronto Star)CBC, The Canadian Press win Michener award for Taser probe (CBC.ca)RCMP plans dramatic changes to Taser policy (Toronto Star)Restoring Public Confidence: Restricting the Use of Conducted Energy Weapons in British Columbia (Braidwood Commission Report) Why? The Robert Dziekanski Tragedy(Braidwood Commission Report)  Info Matters is a podcast about people, privacy, and access to information hosted by Patricia Kosseim, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. We dive into conversations with people from all walks of life and hear stories about the access and privacy issues that matter most to them. If you enjoyed the podcast, leave us a rating or a review. Have an access to information or privacy topic you want to learn more about? Interested in being a guest on the show? Send us a tweet @IPCinfoprivacy or email us at podcast@ipc.on.ca. 

Imagine creating a television series premised on a U.S. Capitol building attack, then watching a less-lethal yet all too real version of that event unfold years later.  Writer/Creator David Guggenheim relates how that felt in the second part of our Purple Principle series on Hollywood Presidents. “When the insurrection happened at the Capitol,” recalls Guggenheim, “so many people were emailing…‘Oh my God, this is like straight out of the show.'” That show was Designated Survivor, which aired on ABC in 2016 and starred Kiefer Sutherland as the low-level independent cabinet member Tom Kirkman, elevated to the Oval Office when a Capitol bombing decimates other high-ranking members of the government. Kiefer Sutherland, a grandson of a famous Canadian politician, was entirely on board with the notion of a more independent, more pragmatic American POTUS, according to Guggenheim.  As with previous series guest Rod Lurie (creator of Commander in Chief), Guggenheim confides that creating an independent POTUS was a commercial decision to reach the largest audience possible. Having made that decision, his team portrayed the unique dilemmas faced by a more centrist President lacking major party backing. Tune in to learn more about those dilemmas and the challenges of attracting viewers in our partisan age on “Hollywood Presidents for a Partisan Nation (Part Two): Hail the Independent & Designated Survivor.”  Original music by Ryan Adair Rooney. Our guest David Guggenheim  @DBGuggenheim Designated Survivor Additional Resources Simone Del Rosario (9/4/12). “Kal Penn: From White Castle to the White House.” The Washington Post. Tommy Douglas, “History of Canadian Medicare.” Canadian Museum of History.  Richard Klein Find us online! Twitter: @purpleprincipl Facebook: @thepurpleprinciplepodcast Instagram: @thepurpleprinciplepodcast Our website: https://fluentknowledge.com/shows/the-purple-principle/hollywood-presidents-two Sign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/2UfFSja 

Season 3 Episode 28: Tommy Douglas & All About Canada Tommy Douglas “Courage, my friends; ‘tis not too late to build a better world.” Welcome to Tea Toast & Trivia. Thank you for listening in. I am your host, Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you. This podcast is all about Canada, my home. It is also a story about Canadians. So put the kettle on and add to the discussion on Tea Toast & Trivia. I leave you with this thought by Tommy Douglas. Tommy Douglas “We are all in this world together, and the only test of our character that matters is how we look after the least fortunate among us. How we look after each other, not how we look after ourselves. That's all that really matters, I think.” Until next time we meet, dear friends, keep safe and be well.

Located in southern Saskatchewan, Weyburn is not only the home to the Greatest Canadian, Tommy Douglas, but it is also a place with several great museums, a deep Indigenous heritage and even the story of an outlaw shooting up the hotel. Support: www.patreon.com/canadaehx Donate: www.canadaehx.com E-mail: craig@canadaehx.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/craigbaird Instagram: @Bairdo37 YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/canadianhistoryehx  

This episode is the first in our two-part series on Canada's captivating history with psychedelics. Join us as we take a trip down memory lane... Did you know Canada was once the leading country in psychedelic research? Beginning in the late-1940s, Canada's first so-called socialist provincial government in Saskatchewan set out to improve the state of mental health care with research at the Weyburn Mental Hospital. Over the course of the 1950s, groundbreaking research with LSD and mescaline was conducted at Weyburn and LSD made its way to British Columbia which became home to the most prominent mental healthcare facility in the world during the 1960s. In this episode, we deliver a behind-the-scenes look at the introduction of LSD and peyote into Canada and the story behind the fascinating scientists and researchers that pioneered psychedelic research in the realm of psychiatry, while also advocating Indigenous Peoples and their cultural rights to peyote. This episode was produced and edited by Brendon Campbell. It was researched and written by Jaipreet Mattu, Sean Hallam, Rebecca Troock, Sidath Rankaduwa, Monica Lau, Ross Crockford, and Bob Sybydlo. Readings by Sean Hallam, Jaipreet Mattu, and Brendon Campbell. Original music and audio engineering by Andrew Illmann. We'd like to give a special thanks to Ross Crockford for providing research material and helping us make this episode come alive. MAPS Canada is a registered non-profit; we rely on the generosity of our supporters to fund our life-changing research. Please visit mapscanada.org/donate to become a monthly donor or to make a one-time donation today! Feedback? Feel free to email us at: podcast@mapscanada.org Sources: Bradford, T., & Dyck, E. (2012). Peyote on the Prairies: Religion, Scientists, and Native-Newcomer Relations in Western Canada. Journal of Canadian Studies, 46(1), 28-52 Brown, J.E. Introduction to LSD Experience, December 8, 1957. Cathedral of the Holy Rosary. Letter. Cameron, D. (Executive Producer) (1960). 1960 Saskatchewan election: Tommy Douglas' medicare plan dominates the 1960 election campaign [Television Broadcast]. CBC News Magazine. CBC Television. Crockford, R. (2001a). B.C.'S Acid Flashback. Vancouver Sun. http://www.rave.ca/en/news_info/142625/canada/. Accessed 31 January 2021. Crockford, R. (2001b). Dr. Yes. Western Living. December 2021 issue. Dyck, E. (2019). Psychedelic Research in 1950 Saskatchewan. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/psychedelic-research-in-1950s-saskatchewan. Accessed 25 January 2021. Dyck, E. (2012). Psychedelic Psychiatry: LSD on the Canadian Prairies. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press. Dyck, E. (2007). The History of LSD - The Original Psychedelic Drug: Acid trip. Biochemist, 29(2), 20-23. Dyck, E. (2006). Hitting Highs at Rock Bottom': LSD Treatment for Alcoholism, 1950–1970. Social History of Medicine, 19(2), 313–329. Hofmann, A. (1978). LSD: My Problem Child and Insights/Outlooks. Oxford University Press. Huxley, A. (1954). The Doors of Perception. Harper & Row. Osmond, H. (Performer), Littlefield, C. (Director). (2002). Hofmann's Potion. [Documentary]. Retrieved from https://www.nfb.ca/film/hofmanns_potion/. Accessed 5 March 2021. Metcalfe, B. (1959, Sep 1). The Experience: Moment of truth's alarming. The Province, 1. Sagi, D. (1956, Oct 13). White Men Witness Indian Peyote Rites. Saskatoon Star-Pheonix, 15.

After you immigrate from the US, we are determined to find you a place to live in Canada.  On today's episode we explore Saskatchewan where they have been social distancing for the past 150 years and Manitoba. Friendly,  Manitoba, eh?

GUESTOn this episode, we welcome Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons -  a fellow with the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at American Progress. His work focuses on a wide range of issues related to the role of religion in American public life, including promoting a progressive vision of religious liberty that champions LGBTQ rights and amplifying how faith communities empower social and economic justice.He is the author of the book - Just Faith: Reclaiming Progressive Christianity.  His writing on religion and politics regularly appears in national media outlets, including CNN and The Washington Post. He's also the founder of The Resistance Prays, a daily devotional aimed at spiritually and politically defeating Trumpism.He and his husband, both native Texans, now live in Louisville, Kentucky.We discuss: -his book JUST FAITH, - his upbringing with a missionary grandmother, and parents who were community activists and union organizers.- Being Queer in the church - Legacies of The Rev'd Dr. Martin Luther King, FDR, Walter Rauschenbusch, and even Tommy Douglas. - The surprising number of Consistently Progressive Christians in an America- using our words to join a long legacy of progressive Christians IT'S NOT A LIE Just how many strange things has Kevin eaten?

Regular listeners of the show will know that in just 8 days the House of Commons will be voting on pharmacare for Canadians in the form of Bill C-213. This legislation creates the framework for life saving medication, regardless of ability to pay. It is a step to towards equity in our system, and finishing the job of Universal Medicare envisioned by Tommy Douglas. On today's drop, we're joined by NDP MP Peter Julian, friend of the show and sponsor of Bill C-213 to discuss the goals of the legislation, the obstacles that stand in the way, and urgent action needed today if we hope to make pharmacare a reality. Support this podcast

It's the 1930s. The world is in the midst of the Great Depression. Stalin's grip on the Soviet Union has tightened, and fascism has come to power in Italy and Germany. The Stock Market Crash hit Canada particularly hard, as most of its trade was with the United States. This affected prices, and in some cases, halted exports completely as nobody could afford to buy. People were struggling with high unemployment, drought crippling agriculture, and lower wages for those who managed to keep their jobs. Discontent soared during this time, leading to calls for the Canadian government to take better care of its citizens instead of just the social elite. This growing sense of populism would ripple across the country with full force.   Enter Tommy Douglas, a middle-aged man working on his PhD. While studying in Chicago, he saw the transient camps which housed nearly 75,000 people, with various institutions doing little to nothing to help these impoverished people. Once wishing to become a Baptist minister, his witnessing of the devastation the crash had caused brought him on a different road. He found himself within the ranks of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, a new democratic socialist movement foiunded with the aim of uniting farmers and labourers, as well as protect their rights and improve their working conditions. From there, Douglas would rise through the ranks of the party to lead the first socialist government in North America, and later begin the process of forming Canada's medicare program. His legacy remains today, and culminated in his naming as the Greatest Canadian in 2004.   Looking for some more heartwarming content? Check out the new non-fiction Extraordinary Canadians by famed Canadian news anchor Peter Mansbridge. Extraordinary Canadians is a collection of stories of people who are working to make Canada a better place. Pan Historia host Jonah Petruic recently received it as a gift, and highly recommends it to anyone. From activists, to good samaritans, these tales are enough to bring light back into our lives. Follow the link above or right here to check out the special offer from Amazon, available in both Hard Cover and Kindle. Give Extraordinary Canadians a read today.

A fierce voice for equity in health care & the NDP Critic for Health in the 43rd parliament, MP Don Davies joins us to discuss the enormous challenges we face in dentalcare, Pharmacare, & making Tommy Douglas’s vision of a universal system of Medicare whole. We explore Liberal stalling, the Trudeau government’s opposition to policies supported by 90-plus percent of Canadians, and how broken Liberal campaign promises have led us to a point where the electorate is losing trust in the institutions that have the ability to change policy for the betterment of all. We don’t miss the opportunity to discuss the hard hitting issues - socialist values in our politics, the role of Canadians in enacting change, and Don’s world famous banana bread. Support this podcast

This episode is a deep dive into the origins of Universal Healthcare in Canada, and this story cannot be told without telling the story of Tommy Douglas. I'm joined by my partner, Anna, who works in healthcare as an Occupational Therapist. We hope you enjoy. Tune in for Season 2 in 2021! Happy New Year and thank you for listening! RK

Du début des années 1940 à la fin des années 1960; c’est le temps qu’aura pris la croisade de Tommy Douglas pour que soit adopté, au fédéral comme dans les provinces, un régime public de soins de santé tel qu’il l’avait promis à son entrée en politique, et ce, en dépit de l’opposition des médecins et des assureurs privés. André Bilodeau, ex-médecin et professeur d’histoire de la médecine, parle à Jacques Beauchamp des alliances improbables et des passages de flambeau qui ont été nécessaires pour faire accepter l’assurance maladie au Canada.

On the 50th Anniversary of the War Measures Act, Phil interviews Robin Philpot, publisher (Baraka Books) of "Pierre Trudeau's Darkest Hour - War Measures 1970." The book is a stunning revelation of hitherto private memoirs and testimonies that show that, far from Pierre Trudeau's claim of responding to an "apprehended insurrection" in Quebec, Trudeau deliberately and cynically set out to criminalize the sovereigntist movement in Quebec, particularly Rene Levesque's Parti Quebecois. The victims of Trudeau's War Measures Act were the occupants of 36,000 homes in Quebec that were raided in the early hours of an October day in 1970; the 500 political activists, labour leaders and artists arrested in the roundup and held in jail for months; and the people of Quebec whose territory was occupied by 12,500 federal troops. As then-NDP leader Tommy Douglas correctly stated at the time, it was "overkill on a gargantuan basis."

Today we are honoured to have MP Leah Gazan on the show and learn more about what a Guaranteed Living Basic Income and the motion she put forward to make it a reality in Canada. You can learn more about her motion, sign the petition, and be a part of the national day of action at https://www.leahgazan.ca/basicincomemotion Take a peek at the motion itself (pay attention to paragraph V.We didn't add a Pink Tax rebate today, but there are a few things that you can do (after you sign the petition). We chatted about the failure of CERB and we urge you to look into the response at long term care facilities, compare the benefits of CERB, and the current disability benefits or guaranteed income supplement in your own province. Some articles to get you started:Why poverty is expensive?Clean drinking water across CanadaLong term care facilitiesPandemic impact for post-secondary students and recent gradsThe housing crisis and bathroom accessHow a basic income can impact a person's desire for meaningful workWe have done this in Canada before! For those who may have forgotten, we've seen massive price-fixing on bread and the great fridge debacle. If you don't know who Tommy Douglas is, here's a link. If you like the Pink Tax Podcast, support us here! The GLBI isn't a thing yet so until then we use Libera.

Today we are honoured to have MP Leah Gazan on the show and learn more about what a Guaranteed Living Basic Income and the motion she put forward to make it a reality in Canada.  You can learn more about her motion, sign the petition, and be a part of the national day of action at https://www.leahgazan.ca/basicincomemotion Take a peek at the motion itself (pay attention to paragraph V.We didn't add a Pink Tax rebate today, but there are a few things that you can do (after you sign the petition). We chatted about the failure of CERB and we urge you to look into the response at long term care facilities, compare the benefits of CERB, and the current disability benefits or guaranteed income supplement in your own province. Some articles to get you started:Why poverty is expensive?Clean drinking water across CanadaLong term care facilitiesPandemic impact for post-secondary students and recent gradsThe housing crisis and bathroom accessHow a basic income can impact a person's desire for meaningful workWe have done this in Canada before! For those who may have forgotten, we've seen massive price-fixing on bread and the great fridge debacle. If you don't know who Tommy Douglas is, here's a link. If you like the Pink Tax Podcast, support us here! The GLBI isn't a thing yet so until then we use Libera. 

Teaming up with the Jeremie, Taylor and Brian from hit show Sickboy, we explore the dark side of Tommy Douglas, the father of socialized medicine in Canada.

This week we shake it up with a podcast mish-mash! The fellas are joined by the co-hosts of Canadian Politics Is Boring to talk about Ol' Tommy Douglas and his shady background in the practice of Eugenics. Turns out, he made an oopsie. Big shout out to Jesse and Rhys for the history lesson! If you want to check them out head on over to https://www.canadianpoliticsisboring.com/

This week we shake it up with a podcast mish-mash! The fellas are joined by the co-hosts of Canadian Politics Is Boring to talk about Ol' Tommy Douglas and his shady background in the practice of Eugenics. Turns out, he made an oopsie. Big shout out to Jesse and Rhys for the history lesson! If you want to check them out head on over to https://www.canadianpoliticsisboring.com/

Register here to find out when our webinar is going live. Tuesdays and Thursdays 1pm PST –https://greenmoustache.easywebinar.live/registration-16..... Find out more about and support our 22 Million Campaign - https://nicolettericher.com/ Want to improve your health… Click here to access our FREE resources so you can live your best life! https://nicolettericher.com/free-stuff Today Dr. Terry Wahls, the MS conqueror, is back! We discuss her new book - based on the Wahls Protocol - and dive deeper into the tools and resources to reverse your multiple sclerosis and a host of other chronic diseases. The Wahls Protocol is very similar to the Gerson Therapy and our Eat Real to Heal protocol in that it's all about rebuilding your body's cellular mechanisms to kickstart your body to self heal. Dr. Wahls got the lasting results herself after suffering from debilitating MS for years and being in a wheelchair. Join us and discover how to use your kitchen as your local farmacy to reverse your disease once and for all. Find Terry Wahls on Website - www.terrywahls.com/research Instagram @drterrywahls Facebook/Twitter at @TerryWahls.   NEW BOOK - The Wahls Protocol: A Radical New Way to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions Using Paleo Principles - https://terrywahls.com/the-wahls-protocol/ Other Book - The Wahls Protocol Cooking for Life: The Revolutionary Modern Paleo Plan to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions - https://www.amazon.ca/Wahls-Protocol-Cooking-Life-Revolutionary/dp/0399184775/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Learn more about her MS clinical trials by reaching out to her team: MSDietStudy@healthcare.uiowa.edu. TED Talk - Minding your mitochondria Pick up a one-page handout for the Wahls™ Diet at www.terrywahls.com/diet Copies of our  research papers https://terrywahls.com/researchpapers/ Discussed on the PODCAST: Kreb cycle - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid_cycle Last podcast with Dr Terry Wahls - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-44-dr-terry-wahls-talks-about-her-ms-how-she-reversed/id1442998357?i=1000462606049 Tommy Douglas - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Douglas Book – The brain that changes itself by Norman Doidge - https://www.amazon.ca/Brain-That-Changes-Itself-Frontiers/dp/0143113100 Book – Food fix by Mark Hyman,MD - https://www.amazon.ca/Food-Fix-Economy-Communities-Planet-One/dp/031645317X Health practitioner training program – physicians, health coaches, nutrition professionals and other health professions learn about the wahls protocal – https://terrywahls.com/certification/ Wahls protocol seminar – https://terrywahls.com/seminar/ Find out about our Richer at Work program - https://nicolettericher.com/richer-at-work Find out ways you can work with Nicolette to improve your health here: https://nicolettericher.com/work-with-me Find out more about our non-profit society Sea to Sky Thrivers - https://seatoskythrivers.com/ Want to know more about Nicolette’s Green Moustache Café’s https://www.greenmoustache.com/ Sign up for the Eat Real to Heal Online Course - https://nicolettericher.com/eat-real-to-heal Buy the Eat Real to Heal Book here: https://www.amazon.ca/Eat-Real-Heal-Medicine-Arthritis/dp/163353782X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1567629190&sr=8-1

Former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow has witnessed and made history, from his early association with Tommy Douglas, to the patriation of the Constitution. Along the way he dug his province out of insolvency and advised Jean Chretien’s federal government on reforming Health Care. Kathleen Petty asked him how his experiences shape his view of today’s political challenges. (Recorded February 11.)

Happy Tommy Douglas Day! Tommy Douglas was born on this day in 1904. To learn more about Tommy Douglas, we spoke with C. Stuart Houston, an historian and author of "Tommy's Team : the People Behind the Douglas Years". Dr. Houston is a professor emeritus of the university of Saskatchewan, and an Officer of the Order of Canada.

SEE TIM IN PORTLAND! Thursday(9/26) at 7:30 at Powells downtown. - Tim Faust(@crulge) returns to the show to do a properly roundtable discussion with local Portland healthcare activists and disability advocates to talk about his new book, Garrett & I are joined by Adam from the Portland DSA Medicare-for-All campaign, Betsy from Portland Jobs with Justice, and Nico from Real Choice Initiative here with Tim on the line. Topics we cover: the need for health justice beyond just healthcare, the need for disability and trans rights as part of any actual Single-Payer plan, problems with thinking of healthcare only in marketing terms, nursing homes acting like prisons, the successful efforts of Reclaim Idaho and the Maine People's Alliance. Tim's book: https://healthjusticenow.com/ _Health Justice Now: Single Payer and What Comes Next_ Available here at Powells, and support their union ILWU Local 5: https://www.powells.com/book/-9781612197166/?partnerID=35751 Check out Tim's booktour: He'll be in Seattle on Wednesday(9/25) https://twitter.com/crulge/status/1171989316761006080 --- If you're in Portland, come for the protest on Friday(9/24) at Senator Ron Wyden's office to call for Medicare For All: https://actionnetwork.org/events/picket-of-senator-wydens-health-care-of-the-future-event https://www.facebook.com/events/391221361560951/ --- Recs: --- R. Stevie Moore - https://rsteviemoore.bandcamp.com/ Rebel Galaxy: Outlaw Dogbreth - "When You Call My Name" Tommy Douglas - the "Mouseland" speech Mark Hill - The Antifa Comic Book: 100 Years of Fascism and Antifa Movements Octavia's Brood Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - Freak Out Adolph Reed - "Marx, Race, and Neoliberalism" - https://libcom.org/files/Marx,%20Race%20and%20Neoliberalism%20-%20Adolph%20Reed.pdf Break: Kate Bush - "Cloudbursting" Ending: Tommy Douglas' "Mouseland" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdwySCMovHk National Nurses United's M4A campaigns - https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/medicare-for-all The National Single Payer Strategy 2019 Conference in Portland, Oct 18-29: https://www.healthcare-now.org/strategy-conference/2019-portland/ Real Choice Initiative - http://realchoiceoregon.com/ Join DSA - https://www.dsausa.org/ Our episode with Max Elbaum: https://soundcloud.com/givingthemic/56-max-elbaum-and-lessons-learned-from-the-new-communist-movement-and-the-sds --- Help us make the show! http://www.patreon.com/givingthemic - http://www.twitter.com/givingthemic - Questions/comments/suggestions for great local Korean food: givingthemic@gmail.com - http://facebook.com/givingthemic/ - - Main theme by The Mysterious Breakfast'r Cereal on SoundCloud @chiptheme - - All items trademarked and copyright their respective owners. Please don't sue. Please don't sue. Please don't sue.

Green party candidate Paul Manly discusses his entrepreneurial childhood, campaigning with Tommy Douglas, and his first hours in Ottawa as an MP. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nanaimo/message

PATREON EXCLUSIVE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/27616625 What if the guy who ate McDonald's for 30 days in SUPER SIZE ME tried to capture Osama Bin Laden? That's the ridiculous gimmick at the heart of WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN (2008), a little-loved documentary by the now-disgraced Morgan Spurlock. We injected this ghastly relic of the Bush era straight into our veins. PLUS: we discuss the radical history of Canadian socialist icon Tommy Douglas, and Will reveals how he altered Morgan Spurlock's legacy forever.

The Ontario Liberals have chosen to not change how they choose a leader, with a delegated convention. Is there a front runner and would choosing not to change help or hurt? Guest: Richard Brennan, retired journalist with the Toronto Star. Covered Queen's Park and Parliament Hill. The Raptors broadcast last night was full of political ads attacking Scheer and Trudeau. Who are behind these ads and does it have a place in a telecast such as this? Guest: Duff Conacher, Cofounder of Democracy Watch, adjunct professor at University of Ottawa. Yesterday, actor Kiefer Sutherland had words for the Ontario Premier: Stop talking about my grandfather. His grandfather is Tommy Douglas. Guest: Christo Aivalis, Social Sciences and humanities Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow in History at the University of Toronto.

Yesterday, actor Kiefer Sutherland had words for the Ontario Premier: Stop talking about my grandfather. His grandfather is Tommy Douglas. LISTEN: https://omny.fm/shows/bill-kelly-show/podcast-picking-a-liberal-leader-political-ads-and

Ezra returns to discuss filibuster reform and the legacy of Tommy Douglas with Sarah and Matt. Recommended reading: Tommy Douglas named greatest Canadian Filibuster reform explainer Sanders and reconciliation explainer Doctor strike explainer White paper Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On This Week's Episode... Did you all happen to see this news story? Like, was this on your radar at ALL? In case you haven’t (and you don’t feel like clicking this link), here’s a quick recap for you. There are credible allegations that native women have been coerced into forced sterilizations as recent as 2017. We think the saddest part of this story is that we’re angry and outraged by this, but unfortunately not surprised. We normally don’t go off on a three-person rant, but this issue was too big for us not to have raised. Be angry with us, and enjoy this episode…assuming you can. Also Overheard.... That’s Joshua Cletus Beauregard to you, sir! We’re pretty sure Stalk and Barrel owes us an endorsement deal by now. Right now, we’re just 3 white people feeling very shitty about ourselves…. Looks like the Feds are on it Learn about Tommy Douglas! Needless to say, Tim isn’t going to Mike’s doctor…. No, but I am a professional yodeler! Yes, Lake Titicaca is a real place, Mike. We’re never going to Utah.     We want to hear what you think! Don’t just yell angrily at whatever dumb thing Tim just said, or laugh derisively at one of Mike’s opinions! Write a comment in the comment section below, email us at info@twoandchange.ca, or find us on Facebook or Twitter! The more you comment, the easier it is for people to find our show. Remember, we have to justify this to our wives somehow….

It was back in 2004 that the CBC came up with the idea of ‘The Greatest Canadian,' according to Canadians. Tommy Douglas, considered the Canadian father or medicare was voted number one and Terry Fox ranked second. We have some interesting facts about Terry Fox that you may have never heard before, but what is so incredible about the ongoing success and growth of the Terry Fox Foundation is that we share this great man with the world. The foundation has risen over $750 million dollars, far surpassing Terry's goal of a dollar from every Canadian. He's a Canadian that every kid in the country knows the name of and we honour him in this episode. The Daily Derringer Podcast -- Friday September 14th, 2018 Check out more full episdoes at Q107.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 911 for Health Care Tour took daughter of iconic Canadian politician, Tommy Douglas, credited as the founder of modern Canadian universal health care, across the country to rally the people against federal government cuts to transfer payments to the provinces who administer the program. I went down to Victoria's manifestation and spoke with Shirley, another icon of the political left, Dave Barrett, then-Green Party of Canada leader, Joan Russow, and NDP MLA Steve Orcheton.

Gladys Strum, pioneer in Saskatchewan and Canadian politics, was born. Gladys Grace Mae Lamb was born on February 4, 1906 in Gladstone, Manitoba. At 16, she became a teacher in Saskatchewan, where she met her husband Warner Strum. Early in their marriage, Warner contracted tuberculosis and Gladys got an understanding of the deficiencies in Canada’s health care system. During travels to New Zealand, Strum gained an appreciation for that country’s progressive health care practices, which prompted her to get involved in the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) party in Canada. Although defeated in her bids for the legislature in 1938 and 1944 (the latter by six votes to Premier Patterson), Strum was actively involved in Canada’s first socialist government when Tommy Douglas became premier in the June 1944 election. The Saskatchewan CCF elected Strum president, making her the first woman president of a political party in Canada. The following year, she was elected the CCF Member of Parliament for Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan, the only woman in the House of Commons during that session and the fifth woman MP elected to Ottawa. Among other achievements, Strum was successful in convincing the speaker of Parliament that women need no longer wear hats or handkerchiefs in the gallery. She was also famous for her line, “No one has ever objected to women working; the only thing they have ever objected to is paying women for working.” Strum was defeated in 1949. However, she made her way back into politics in 1960 as a member of the Saskatchewan Legislature from Saskatoon. During that session she was proud to vote for the legislation that created Canada’s first socialized medical system. Strum died in Penticton, B.C. on August 15, 2005. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tommy Douglas, Canada’s “Father of Medicare,” is born. Tommy Douglas was born in Scotland on October 20, 1904. When he was seven, his family moved to Manitoba. As an adult, he settled in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, where he served as a Calvary Baptist minister. Once he entered politics, he tapped his speaking skills to help create the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), a left-leaning political party he represented as a member of Parliament. After returning to Saskatchewan, he became premier of North America’s first socialist government in 1944. Over his lifetime, Douglas created and fought for many social causes. Among them was Medicare, for which be became known as “the father of Medicare.” Under Douglas’ leadership, Saskatchewan became the first jurisdiction in North America to legislate human rights protections. He managed to get the Saskatchewan Bill of Rights Act passed in 1947, one year before the UN passed its Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Years later, the CCF became the NDP, which Douglas led for many years in Ottawa. He died on February 24, 1986. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

George and Face2Face host David Peck talk about love, gratitude, celebrity and rebellion and influence, “earned fear”, how you can be angry for good reasons, U2 and why poverty is so not necessary. More about The Strombo Show here.   More about George here. Biography A six-time Gemini Award and Canadian Screen Award winner for best host in a talk series, George Stroumboulopoulos has interviewed a who’s who of entertainment icons, world leaders and respected thinkers. George has also taken an active role in global initiatives and is a strong advocate for social issues. George is the first Canadian National Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme. And he’s one of three Canadians recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader for 2012. He was also a driving force behind Canada for Haiti, a live benefit that raised more than 27 million dollars for Haitian earthquake victims, and One Million Acts of Green, which saw Canadians register 1.6 million acts of green on the official website. Along the way, George has interviewed Hollywood legends such as Oprah, Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Michael J. Fox, Clint Eastwood, Jodie Foster, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Samuel L. Jackson; political leaders such as Hillary Clinton, Stephen Harper, Jean Chrétien, Sarah Palin, Brian Mulroney, Al Gore and Jimmy Carter; critically acclaimed authors including Christopher Hitchens, Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, Peter C. Newman and Gore Vidal; music stars Coldplay, Nickelback, Robert Plant, Snoop Dogg, Tony Bennett, Shania Twain, Michael Buble, Ice Cube and The Foo Fighters; renowned directors including Spike Lee, James Cameron, Deepa Mehta, Brian DePalma, and Paul Haggis; and Hollywood breakout stars Ewan McGregor, Olivia Wilde, Bradley Cooper, Ryan Reynolds and Robert Pattinson. As well, George took part in The Greatest Canadian TV series on CBC, hosting a documentary to make his case for the founder of medicare in Canada, Tommy Douglas. He was one of ten finalists and ultimately received the most votes from Canadians, winning by more than 50,000 votes over second-placed Terry Fox. George has also hosted the highly regarded CBC documentary series Love, Hate & Propaganda - which examined how propaganda helped shape significant events of the 20th century, including the Second World War, the Cold War and the War On Terror. George is the host and co-executive producer of George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. You can find him on Twitter at @strombo as well as on Facebook. ---------- For more information about my podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit my site here. With thanks to producer Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound.   Image Copyright: George Strombolopolous. Used with permission.     See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Historian Margaret Conrad was a member of the Progressive Conservative Students Society at Acadia University in the late 1960s when she witnessed a speech given by Tommy Douglas. This experience turned her personal politics on its head. “He captured everyone in the room no matter what their political affiliation was,” she says. To Conrad, Douglas was defined by his altruism and his belief that the role of government is to help create a better society and a better Canada. Canada’s History’s editor-in-chief, Mark Reid, talks with Margaret about her History Idol, Tommy Douglas.

Session 4 “Holiness and Reform”   DL Moody, Billy Sunday. The Holiness movement and the birth of Penecostalism: Phoebe Palmer, Asuza, Darwinism, higher criticism, and the rise of fundamentalism ( J Gresham Machen, changing eschatologies).The dark side of industrialization and the Christian response: progressives, the social gospel, Tommy Douglas. Capitalism, Socialism, communism, prohibition

April 4, 2016 will be the 28th General Election in Saskatchewan. A total of 61 seats will be up for grabs, now making the magic number for a majority increase up to 31. Things have changed for the first jurisdiction in North America that had a social democratic government. The legacy of the CCF, later the NDP party includes pioneering Medicare, establishing the doctrine of strong Crown corporations, and the legendary Tommy Douglas. More recent history is dominated by three distinct "eras" The Grant Devine Progressive Conservative era left office in tatters amidst scandals such as breach of trust convictions for misusing constituency funds and the Colin Thatcher debacle. The Roy Romanow NDP era left office being blamed for empty Provincial coffers, insufficient services and a failure to govern effectively. Enter the Saskatchewan Party. An effort by PC's and Liberals to unite and defeat the NDP once and for all. It didn't work the first time around with the tally in 2003 ending NDP -30, SK Party - 28. The 26th General Election of Saskatchewan gave us Premier Brad Wall in 2007 with the Saskatchewan Party forming government. In 2011, The stranglehold increased with 49 of 58 seats. What will next Monday bring? The View Up Here is joined by guest Greg Fingas @juristblog, a Regina based lawyer, blogger and freelance political commentator who writes about provincial and national issues from a progressive perspective. Greg's knowledge and tenure in and around the Regina Legislature scene will help him give us the goods. Tune in, join the chat or call and get in on it. Visit Greg's blog at http://accidentaldeliberations.blogspot.com  

Join Kevin, Nancy, Tyler, Wonder Woman Martina and our friend the Reformed as we explore the question of old atheism as compared to new atheism. Is there such a thing? Whats different today? How did atheism start? Nancy asks us about happiness in This Day in History Tyler puts the spotlight onTommy Douglas And, believe it or not, it's our 2nd anniversary and Kevin has a Confession to make... This episode aired live at 1 pm

This Week: - Election Budget 2015?all the slight of hind needed to win an election - Our prairie correspondent on the value of a Harper's promises - Why you should not tip - The threat to democracy electronic voting represents and - Class and why it matters? - with a post-show treated, Tommy Douglas and Mouse land.Check us out online at www.radiofreethinker.com and email us at info@radiofreethinker.com and follow us on twitter at @citrrft

Vincent Lam is a Canadian-born member of the expatriate Chinese community of Vietnam. He is an emergency physician in Toronto, and lectures at the University of Toronto. He has also worked in international air evacuation and expedition medicine in the Arctic and Antarctic. His first book, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, won the 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize. We met in Ottawa, during a federal election, to talk about his biography of Tommy Douglas, part of Penguin Canada's Extraordinary Canadians series. Of many interesting observations made during our conversation: two government programs by which Canadians define themselves (old age pensions and universal health care) were introduced during periods of minority government, when the CCF/NDP held the balance of power, and Tommy Douglas's 'socialist' government in Saskatchewan produced balanced or surplus budgets in every one of the seventeen years it was in power.