Open to Debate with David Moscrop

As Prince William and Kate Middleton wrap up their Jubilee tour of the Caribbean, Barbados and Jamaica are moving towards becoming republics, casting doubt on the future of the Commonwealth. Ahead of the royal visit to Jamaica, more than 100 prominent Jamaicans signed an open letter to the prince and duchess, calling for “an apology for British crimes against humanity” alongside reparations. The c...

As Canada and the world watched a convoy roll across the country to Ottawa, occupy the capital, and terrorize the city, those who have long warned about the risks of the far-right and white supremacists reminded us that this has been a long time coming. Canada has long ignored and neglected growing extremist movements while condemning, suppressing, and over policing morally just protest and state...

Globally, democracy is in recession. In the United States, it is in crisis. In Canada, it is, at best, plodding, complacent, and exclusionary. The social, political, and economic order that so many have taken for granted for so long now faces upheaval. Some believe that shift is long overdue, but alternatives driven by authoritarian populism and other toxic varieties of self-government threaten to...

Canada is home to several active nuclear power plants and is the second largest uranium producer in the world. Nuclear energy accounts for roughly 15 percent of the country’s electricity production. In Ontario, it meets approximately 60 percent of the province’s energy needs. While the popular image of nuclear power is conditioned by infamous historical events, some climate activists and industry...

Everybody loves a trilogy. In March of 2020, host David Moscrop and guest Amanda Watson dug into how folks were managing their lives during the early days of the pandemic. In the spring of 2021, the two checked back to talk about managing anxiety in what was billed, optimistically, as the “late pandemic.” Now, just under two years into this whole thing, the two connect once more to ask: Are we com...

Canada is home to structural racism. As much as some might wish to exempt our provinces, cities, political parties, laws, policies, and institutions from systematic exploitation and discrimination, such practices are routine. They are embedded in the fabric of our social, political, and economic lives. To better understand how these systems work, we look to the very processes by which we are gover...

Climate change is real, it is caused by human beings, and it is an existential threat to humankind. Politicians and industry leaders now claim to be taking it seriously. Their performances often fall short of their promises. Theoretical physicist and author Steven Koonin, however, extends climate critique to scientists and the media, arguing that while climate change is real, the consensus conclus...

For decades, we’ve heard about the rise of China. A major historical and contemporary power, the country shapes domestic and global politics -- as Canada knows quite well. And yet, coverage of China, its affairs, and its international relations is often hyperbolic, skewed, and incomplete. A new book from a veteran reporter on China-Canada relations adds depth, rigour, and new perspectives to that...

Managing the pandemic has required a delicate balance of expert guidance and government decision making. While experts provide knowledge essential for deciding what we should do and how we should do it, politicians are ultimately accountable to the public for the policies, laws, and programs they adopt. So, what is the role of experts during a pandemic? On this episode of Open to Debate, David Mos...

Surveying the state of market competition in Canada, you might be forgiven for thinking the country is a handful of companies in a trench coat. One of the central critiques of capitalism is that it tends towards monopoly -- or at least oligopoly. Canada is a telling case study that supports the hypothesis. Market monopoly and oligopoly makes for a raw deal for consumers, leading us to ask: What is...

Canada’s 44th general election is underway. On September 20th, electors will return the members of Parliament who will decide who governs the country. When casting a ballot, however, voters typically think of political parties and their leaders. So, we ask: What are the policy priorities of Canada’s political parties? On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with candidates from thre...

Let’s start with a little celebration: This is the 50th episode of Open to Debate! Thanks to each and every one of you for listening. We look forward to many episodes to come. For this milestone moment, we are excited to welcome a special guest to help us navigate the question: What is the state of Canada’s courts? Plus, as a bonus, we get into the topic of...thriller novels and the virtues of Ste...

The free market is notorious for its contradictions and inequities. Competition tends towards monopoly. Owners accrue capital at the top but extract it from labour at the bottom. Large enterprises enter, disrupt, and even decimate communities, often leaving workers holding the bag, worse off than they were before. It doesn’t have to be this way. There are alternative economic systems to capitalism...

Despite a steady stream of news about the politics of the day, each of us might be forgiven for being unsure what a member of Parliament actually does. Even members themselves, from time to time, seem unsure. Are they lawmakers? Government foot soldiers? Opposition sentries? Committee investigators? Community service-persons? Issue advocates? An admixture of each? The fact is that the role of an M...

In 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States recognized same-sex marriage in the country as a fundamental right protected by the Constitution. The ruling was the culmination of decades of legal battles and advocacy labour by the gay rights community and their allies. The story of same-sex marriage in the United States is long and complicated. But one author has distilled this history into an ac...

June is Pride Month. For decades, the 2SLGTBQ+ community and their allies have been advocating and organizing for rights recognition. This month is both a celebration of that community and a remembrance of the struggle for justice and equality. A struggle that is ongoing. Even as we celebrate Pride, the Canadian government is fighting to uphold a discriminatory policy that requires men who have re...

There are plenty of criticisms of democracy in Canada. While the country ranks in the upper echelons of mainstream reviewers concerned with global comparisons, there are disconcerting cracks in the foundation of our self-government. Indeed, the foundation itself is fundamentally flawed. One could—and should—point out the country’s inequities and inequalities, embedded colonialism, vestigial electo...

In March of last year, David Moscrop spoke with feminist theorist and friend Amanda Watson about managing life during the pandemic. The conversation included thoughts about compassion, care, inequity, resistance, and, of course, anxiety. Just over a year later, as the end of the pandemic begins, the two revisit that conversation. This time the focus is on processing...all of this, with special att...

In Canada and around the world, anxious, weary populations are looking forward to returning to something that will approximate normal life. That return is predicated on, among other things, mass Covid-19 vaccination efforts that continue along slow and steady. As more of us get the jab, states, including Canada, are considering vaccine certification programs for domestic use, foreign travel, or bo...

In Canada, wireless and broadband prices are too damned high. Why? The recent news of a merger attempt by Rogers and Shaw gives us a hint—and a look into the world of telecom strategy and oligopoly. Indeed, observers would be forgiven for thinking the country is a handful of telecom companies in a trenchcoat, perhaps with an airline or two crammed in there. But there’s more to it than that—a bit m...

Canada’s political left is facing a series of choices. What kind of movement should it pursue in the face of contemporary challenges at home and around the world? How can left-wing parties win at the local, provincial, and federal orders of government? Should communists, socialists, and social democrats work together -- and, if so, when and how? Also, to what extent does the leading social democra...

In early March, Ontario surpassed 7,000 Covid deaths, over 3700 of which occurred in the province’s long-term care facilities. Around the country, suffering and death in care homes is part of an emergency that has long been ignored -- an emergency that pre-existed the pandemic. Precarious work, low pay, inadequate staffing, neglect, abuse, unreasonable waitlist times, poor communication, and the u...

We have been at...all of this for about a year now. Maybe it feels longer for you. Maybe it feels shorter. Maybe time has lost all meaning. Whatever the case, on this episode of Open to Debate, we are taking a deep breath and mixing things up as we celebrate our 40th episode and process 12 months of pandemic life. How do we simultaneously celebrate this podcast and process what the last year has m...

Throughout the pandemic, the quality and success of communications from government, public health officials, elected representatives, and others tasked with keeping us in the loop have been, let’s say, inconsistent. There have been highs and there have been lows. Quality has varied across jurisdictions. And it shows. While approaches to good communication work may vary, there are some strategies a...

In late January, the House of Commons unanimously voted on a resolution, proposed by NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, to call on the government to “use all available tools to address the proliferation of white supremacists and hate groups.” The motion included a specific focus on designating the Proud Boys as a terrorist organization. . The rise of white supremacist and hate organisations poses a threat...