Blueprints of Disruption

NDP Leadership hopeful Yves Engler gives an update on his campaign, and discusses the implications of his recent criminal trial in Montreal. The arguments laid out by the Crown in his case, if successful, will reverberate throughout movements, particularly those who encourage followers to inundate state officials with emails. A guilty verdict also holds the potential to provide police officers wit...

With the 2025 Federal Budget vote looming, Ashwin from the International Solidarity Podcast joins Blueprints host Jessa McLean to breakdown some of the $141 Billion in new spending and the cuts that will pay for it all. The biggest ticket item, $89 million for the Canadian Armed Forces, generates a discussion on global politics, the so-called 'elbows up movement' and the appetite for military spen...

Vancouver City Councillor Sean Orr, an avowed socialist elected in April 2025, dishes on what its been like navigating a system hostile to him and his ideas. Sean is very candid on the limitations and pressures facing principled progressives once they're in office. The struggle for socialists to simply exist in elected positions is clear, as is his determination to keep building on that win six mo...

Tenants across Ontario were already mobilizing against Bill 60 when a bombshell dropped...Premier Ford floated an idea that would have stripped renters of almost all their rights. The good news: organizations like York-South Weston Tenants Union had already put in the work and created a structure that could quickly gather folks together and harness the energy that it generated. They were able to g...

After answering a call for general surgeons, Dr. Monica Chaudhuri, an Ontario doctor and activist, recently returned from Gaza. Dr. Chaudhuri shares what it was like working alongside the brave Palestinian healthcare workers, how cruel the Zionist entity can be, and reflects on what its been like returning to Canada while the genocide continues. Dr. Chaudhuri also talks about the sense of duty man...

The Canadian Mining Industry is notorious for its patterns of aiding in regime change, displacing Indigenous peoples from their lands, and the horrific human rights abuses that go with all of that. Activist and author Grahame Russell of Rights Action shares his firsthand experience with a landmark legal case. One that exposed HudBay's use of sexual violence, destruction and death at the Felix mine...

Students from Toronto Metropolitan University have launched a $10 million lawsuit being launched against the school for falsely, and very publicly, labelling them antisemitic. Human rights lawyer Dimitri Lascaris , one of the lawyers working pro-bono on this case, joins Blueprints Hosts Jessa McLean and Santiago Helou Quintero to dish on the details and talk about its wider implications. Dimitri a...

The recent Freedom Flotilla ships seized in international waters by the IOF were not the first, nor the last to try to break the illegal naval blockade on the, now starving, population of Gaza. Mskwaasin Agnew is aboard another vessel determined to draw attention to the issue and force western governments to act. She speaks about the need for risk and sacrifice, of making an impact and of how this...

Draw the Line isn't just a cross-country day of action on September 20th, 2025; activists involved have been building the structure and finding a basis of unity to bring together the movements in Canada who are all fighting the same thing - Capital. Three organizers from Draw the Line join the studio to talk about the work that went into connecting groups big and small, and finding enough common g...

Things are heating up at Christie Pitts, 92 years after the famous riot there. In the first half of this episode, John Clarke and host Jessa McLean talk about the Swastika clubs that sprung up in Toronto back in 1933, how they were emboldened by the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, as well as legitimized, even encouraged by the establishment here in Canada. These clubs, furthering white supremacist i...

Activist and journalist Benjamin Nolan has witnessed a shift in Police tactics over the past two years, particularly in how they deal with Palestinian solidarity protestors. Toronto Police won't admit to any of it and mainstream media fail to tell both sides, which has left an obvious gap in report Ben wants to step up and help fill. He goes over his recent piece in The Grind , Police Chief Plays...

The F35 is back at the Canadian National Exhibition and its airshow - so are the peace activists. For years peace activists, environmentalists, refugee advocates and even pet lovers have been protesting the annual four-day airshow that includes war planes over an urban centre, Toronto. However, there is a new sense of urgency this year, as well as new tools. A recent report revealed the extent of...

The work behind the Arms Embargo Now Report revealed that there are unionized workplaces in Canada making weapons destined for Israel. World Beyond War organizer called this information, along with a recent letter from Unifor's President "an opportunity" for positive action. Activists from Labour for Palestine are going into this week's UNIFOR convention in Vancouver with this top of mind. They ar...

Over 10,000 CUPE unionized Air Canada workers defied the orders of the nation's labour board, stayed off the job and secured a tentative agreement. Kim Siever , Labour Journalist for the Alberta Worker joins host Jessa McLean to talk about what led up to the strike, the Liberals' liberal use of back-to-work legislation and what this means for Canadian Labour. They draw comparisons to other back-to...

A discussion on recent events in the West Bank with activist, Anna Lippman of Labour 4 Palestine . Anna helps tell Awdah Hathaleen's story, one that is sadly, a case study of how ethnic cleansing has intensified in the West Bank at the same time Gaza has been under siege. Instead of F35s and armed drones, the Israeli authorities aid and abet settler violence to remove Palestinians from their land...

Imagine a PR Firm for the movements... Gur Tsabar from the Movement Media Hub joins Host Jessa McLean to talk about the work he does to help organizations get their message out there in an environment often hostile to their stories. Whether it be through traditional mainstream media, or by using resources within the movement, Gur shares tactics that help amplify the work being done on the ground....

Representatives for the Arms Embargo Now campaign have released a scathing report that shows Canada has been actively arming Israel as recently as July 2025. Haneen from the Palestinian Youth Movement and Rachel from World Beyond War , share details included in the report, including what kind of weapons we're sending, where they're going exactly and the routes these shipments are taking. They also...

In a joint episode with the International Solidarity Pod , hosts Ashwin and Jessa breakdown Canadian PM Mark Carney's first 100(ish) days in office. Together they go over the details, context and implications of controversial legislation already passed, promised made and foreign policy positions taken by the banker turned politician. Topics covered: Bill C5 (@8 mins) Bill C2, The Stronger Borders...

Family physician and activist, Dr. Yipeng Ge answers questions about his current journey from deck of the Handala . The humanitarian aid vessel is the latest attempt by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to break the naval blockade on Gaza by sea - something activists have been trying to do since at least 2007. We ask Dr. Ge why he's chosen to travel to Italy and take the risk of engaging with Israeli...

Journalist, author and activist Yves Engler talks about his recent announcement to run for Leader of Canada's NDP and what he's expecting to achieve from what is likely to be a contentious endeavor. Will the NDP, notorious now for their mistreatment of activists, even allow Yves to run? What kind of barriers does he expect will be put in his way? How will he handle it? What is the driving force be...

What will it take for the Canadian government to recognize what is happening in Palestine as a genocide? This growing coalition aims to find out. Three members of United Against Genocide join the studio to explain why that key word matters so much, and what they're doing to add to the pressure politicians must be feeling at this point. They share what its been like meeting with high ranking offici...

Three candidates from the Revolution Party of Canada talk about the "high chaos" that comes with starting a new political party from scratch and what their aims are, beyond being an alternative to the NDP. Kira Loughlin, Matthieu Labelle-Tassé and Troy Roberts join Host Jessa McLean to also talk about the lessons they learned in the last federal election, their expectations for the next and what e...

Dedicated to Ian (John) McLean - January 5, 1952 - June 17, 2025 A discussion about passing down working class consciousness through generations and what we choose to do with that knowledge. To pay tribute Host Jessa McLean 's late father we are resharing their interview together from 2023. He shares how he too was politicized at a young age, and how his involvement in the trade union movement sha...

Activists from StopGenAI.com provide a litany of reasons why they think we should be ridding ourselves of this pervasive technology altogether: Its environmental impact, privacy concerns, exploitation, and even detrimental impacts to our individual and collective abilities to think or create. It is also replacing jobs at incredible rates, albeit inadequately. But this is of no concern to the techn...

Labour 4 Palestine Ontario Education Workers issued a scathing report in April 2025, on anti-Palestinian racism within the Province's school boards. The report, School Delegations for Palestine , documents and analyzes months of delegations given to Trustees across the Province that mostly went ignored. Four Education Workers from various backgrounds talk about their personal experiences with supp...