Face2Face with David Peck

Today’s interview was a real thrill for me. I was able to spend some time with the former Prime Minister of Bhutan – Jigme Thinley while he was in town for a Humber College IDI and SoChange Symposium recently called: Beyond GDP. Listen is as he talks about Gross National Happiness , “enlightened selfishness”, creating living conditions that matter, how to control our greed and about universal aspi...

Abram today talks about the moral and wise application of knowledge, learning to be quiet, why technology is only going to take us so far, “crops of merit” and how humility is essential to good development. Biography Dr. Abram Bicksler is the Director of the ECHO Asia Impact Center in Chiang Mai, Thailand. For over 30 years, ECHO has been helping thousands of development workers and organizations...

Today’s conversation covered a lot of ground. Listen in as Atom speaks about his approach to understanding the human condition, remorse and reconciliation, national self-determination and the stories he tells. Biography With fifteen features and related projects, Egoyan has won numerous prizes at international film festivals including the Grand Prix and International Critics Awards from the Cannes...

Wendy talks about shame, guilt, principled pluralism and the walking wounded. She considers how many of us have been socialized to feel disgust for the other and touch on how secrets breed toxicity and ultimately cover up truth and justice. Biography Wendy Gritter, M.Div, D.Min cand. is the author of, “ Generous Spaciousness : Responding to Gay Christians in the Church.” She has served as executiv...

Steve discusses his passion for clean water, prioritization, volunteerism and mentorship. He reminds us that even Ghandi used the media well to further his cause and speaks about the power of one. Check out The Cherry Trees Band initiative and their  website  and find out more about what Steve’s up to on their Facebook page. And for more info check out this piece in the Globe and Mail and a recent...

Michelle talks to day about her approach to solving social issues in her community. She speaks about celebrating difference, facilitating community and how we really need to learn how to say hello more often. Biography Michelle lives in Oakville with her husband Jeff. She has 4 adult children and one teenager. Michelle attended Humber College for the Community Worker program and had great placemen...

Brett talks about empowerment, innovation and money. He asks how we can bring the villagers struggling for survival all over the developing world, inside our evolving ‘global village’? Biography Brett Hudson Matthews is dedicated to lighting the path out of poverty for the poorest billion rural citizens of our planet. In 2012, following a fellowship at the McLuhan Program for Culture and Technolog...

Martin speaks passionately about tacit knowledge, mentorship, the Master/Disciple relationship, the relief found in realizing that we don’t have to “prove” everything and why the thought of Michael Polanyi matters. Biography Martin is a Jesuit priest and a Professor at  Canisius College  in Buffalo, New York. He teaches introduction to world religions (“Lose Your Faith 101″) and various topics in...

Join us today as Annie talks candidly about “why she’s not special”, her fight with a rare form of Cancer, about “we” versus “me”, why she’s so positive and why her life and philosophy has changed so radically over the past few years. Biography ANNE PARKER is a Canadian living in Toronto, Ontario. She was born in 1951 and lost her mother and her sister to cancer. Having survived both breast (1980)...

In this fun and engaging chat Brady speaks about love, thoughtful speech as action, why he doesn’t believe in the good old days and why we have to be the authors of ourselves. Biography Dr. Brayton Polka is Professor Emeritus of Humanities at York University in Toronto . He is the author of several books and numerous smaller studies in which he focuses on the issue of interpretation. He shows that...

Join us for a lively chat about leadership, community wellbeing and why we should care, why democracy matters and why we need to leave the planet in a better place than how we found it. Biography David Miller is President and CEO of World Wildlife Fund – Canada , Canada’s foremost conservation organization. The WWF creates solutions to the most serious conservation challenges facing our planet, he...

Dennis talks in today’s interview about the social determinants of health, the working poor, poverty in Canada, influence, corporate power, income inequality and the power of unions and how they’re all connected. Biography Dennis Raphael is Professor of Health Policy and Management at York University, as well as the author of over 250 publications that speak to topics in public policy, poverty, an...

Tom talks about why ghosts haunt places not people and about magic, ufology and superstition and why as a sleight of hand magician he’s still believes in the notion of mystery. Biography Tom Ogden has never seen a ghost. But as a professional magician for the past forty years, his interest in ghosts, hauntings, and all things paranormal was a given. Tom’s tours have taken him to more than a hundre...

Listen in today as Ron and I discuss Gross National Happiness, full cost accounting, political will, social change and integrated ways of looking at progress. Biography Dr. Colman is founder and executive director of GPI Atlantic , a non-profit research group that, over 15 years, constructed a comprehensive index of wellbeing and sustainable development in Nova Scotia, Canada, called the Genuine P...

Photo credit: Véro Boncompagni Listen in today as these filmmakers, Mina Shum and Selwyn Jacobs, talk about Canada’s hidden history, implicit and explicit racism, why we need to listen to others and why they’re confident we can overcome our fears. Check out the trailer of their new NFB film Ninth Floor making its world premiere at TIFF 2015. Synopsis of Film It started quietly when a group of Cari...

Listen in as Patrick and Michelle talk candidly about truth, injustice and provide important insights into the life of Omar Khadr. Synopsis of Film Omar Khadr : child soldier or unrepentant terrorist? The 28-year-old Canadian has been a polarizing figure since he was 15. In 2002, Khadr was captured by Americans in Afghanistan and charged with war crimes. In October 2010, Khadr pleaded guilty to fi...

Listen in on our chat today with director Jamie Dagg about his new film River , corruption, justice, why storytelling matters and how unintended consequences can make all the difference. Read more about the film here  and it’s World premiere at TIFF and check out it’s trailer here . Synopsis – River Accused of murder after intervening in the sexual assault of a young woman, an American volunteer d...

Listen in as film maker Danae talks about her new film P.S. Jerusalem , racism, exploitation, why it’s so difficult to film in Jerusalem and how she has become increasingly uncomfortable pointing the camera at other people. The new P.S. Jerusalem trailer is here and for more info about Danae’s work check out her  website . Film Synopsis Returning to her hometown of Jerusalem with her young family...

Listen in on today’s chat with Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra about his new film Embrace of the Serpent , mystery, the environment, the importance of indigenous cultures and why western science is still so close-minded. Film Synopsis You can find trailer here. Tracking two parallel odysseys through the Amazon three decades apart, this visionary adventure epic from Colombian director Ciro Guerra o...

Listen in as Geeta talks about why she wanted to make a “kick ass” story about women, gender justice and how little things make a big difference. Film Synopsis Documentarians Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (the Academy Award-winning  Saving Face ) and Geeta Gandbhir follow the stories of three Bangladeshi policewomen who served with the UN peacekeeping mission to Haiti in the aftermath of the devastat...

Join in today as my guest talks about non-GDP metrics for development, ideological tool kits, policy development and why the “weight of ideas” matters a great deal. Biography Lauchlan Munro is the Director, School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa and a socio-economist and manager. Before joining the University of Ottawa, Lauchlan served as Vice-President...

Listen in today as Hermon and Max Conil talk about their film The Price of Love , about film making in Ethiopia, relationships and what makes us better human beings. Trailer Film Synopsis A cab driver and a beautiful young prostitute fall in love while struggling to survive on the mean streets of Addis Ababa, in this frank, gritty drama from Ethiopian writer-director Hermon Hailay. One of the...

Paul talks passionately today about Grace, gender, and inclusion. He’s also has plenty to say about his new book Eve  and how The Shack is being made into a major motion picture. Biography Paul is the 20 million-bestselling author of The Shack . Paul was born in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, but the majority of his first decade was lived with his missionary parents in the highlands of Netherlan...

This conversation was a real pleasure for me. Listen to Avi chat about neo-liberalism, why movements are essential, a future of radical change, why he has hope and why his film this film is really about finding meaning through story, relationships and validating others. Film Synopsis Directed by Avi Lewis and produced in conjunction with Naomi Klein’s best-selling book of the same name,  This Chan...

Kelly has a great story to tell and is a woman with a cause. Listen in as she proves that little things do indeed make a big difference and that moving the needle from a social change perspective requires commitment, passion and focus. Biography Inspired by her Uncle, Canadian astronaut Cmdr (Ret’d) Chris Hadfield , Kelly Hadfield was raised recognizing that a person has no limits to what they can...