Needs No Introduction

Jack Layton's reputation speaks for itself. For more than two decades he has been dedicated to public service - as a councillor, scholar, president of the federation of Canadian municipalities, chair of the Toronto board of Health, and the city's Member of Parliament and deputy mayor. Since 2003, he has lead the New Democratic Party of Canada and in 2008, successfully increased the federal caucus...

Ken Georgetti is one of Canada's most recognized defenders of labour rights. He was first elected 10 years ago as president of the Canadian Labour Congress, after a quarter century of union activism in British Columbia. This included a 13-year stint as the youngest-ever president of the BC Federation of Labour, during which time its membership doubled. Both provincially and federally, Georgetti ha...

Since 2003, Vancouver East has been home to North America's first legal supervised injection site for drug users lacking access to health services. The program is called "Insite," and provides a safe location for men and women to inject drugs and to receive needed health attention  - everything from immediate care for disease and infection, to addiction counselling and mental health treatment. Lib...

On September 7th, 2007, Kenyan parliamentary candidate Flora Igoki Terah was abducted and tortured by a group of men. The attack took place with the intention of silencing her election bid against a minister in President Mwai Kibaki's government, and was carried out with impunity. Terah's physical recovery took weeks and resulted in the loss of her place in the December election, but the hardest b...

On September 26th, the Yukon NDP Leadership Convention was held in Whitehorse. The event's special guest-speaker was Jim Sinclair - President of the BC Federation of Labour, which represents 500,000 workers throughout the province. For more than 25 years, Jim Sinclair has been an articulate member of the labour movement. After working for the Nelson Daily News, he became part of the fishing indust...

For the past 30 years, Gloria Mills has been a driving force in the trade union movement. After moving from Trinidad to Britain in her late teens, she became a regional organiser for the National Union of Public Employees in London in 1985, beginning her life's work as a campaigner for workers' rights. In 2005, Mills was appointed president of the Trade Union Congress - the first black woman to ho...

On September 8th, the Canadian Centre for International Cooperation's Americas Policy Group hosted a panel discussion at the University of Ottawa to explore concerns raised by the Harper government's proposed Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The meeting highlighted the importance of conducting a Human Rights Impact Assessment before ratifying the agreement, as was recommended by the House of...

On August 26th, Ottawa's Glebe neighbourhood was the location of an enthusiastic panel discussion regarding the Canadian government's abuse of the civil rights of some of its citizens in the name of security and counter-terrorism precaution. The panel, organized by Octopus Books, was an opportunity for the sharing and consideration of the experiences and activism of its speakers and all in attenda...

On May 27th, the fourth and final equity issues panel was conducted at the 2009 Congress of the Humanities. The sessions marked the 25th anniversary of Rosalie Abella's Royal Commission on Equality in Employment, and sought to explore the status of equity today, and the progress made by those committed to the equity agenda in Canadian universities. The last panel, "25 Years After: A Retrospective...

On May 28th at the Congress of the Humanities, Judy Rebick discussed some of the themes explored in her recent book, "Transforming Power: From the Personal to the Political." Her lecture examined the social and political potential of what has become a new, interactive movement driven by technology - a movement Rebick asserts has the capacity to revolutionize our understanding of power and to engag...

On June 26th, The International Development Research Centre hosted a lecture by Neil Turok, Director of the Perimetre Institute for Theoretical Physics, and founder of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Capetown, South Africa. Turok showcased the AIMS model and stressed the importance of investing in the math and science skills of the continent's younger generation -- what h...

"Seeding Change: Linking Youth for Food Sovereignty in Honduras and Canada" took place on July 2nd in Ottawa. The event was hosted by USC Canada, which has been working to improve food security in Honduras since 1998. Three young organic farmers - two from Ottawa and one from Honduras - shared photos of their experiences and, with the help of an intimate audience, discussed the challenges and bene...

The Federation Equity Issues Portfolio conducted the third of its four-part equity panel series on May 26th. It featured Joyce Green, Makere Stewart-Harawira and Rauna Kuokkanen, who examined the status of indigenous peoples in Canadian universities, and the status of scholarship on indigenous people. Held as part of the 2009 Congress of the Humanities, the panels serve to explore what has been ga...

On May 25th, the second installment of a four-part equity panel series was conducted by the Federation Equity Issues Portfolio at the 2009 Congress of the Humanities. The panels served to examine the status of equity-seeking groups in today's Canadian Academy, 25 years after Rosalie Silberman Abella issued the Report of the Royal Commission on Equality in Employment. Speakers: Anthony Stewart, Dal...

Five speakers from across Canada made up the first of a four-part panel series held at the Congress of the Humanities to explore the status of equity-seeking groups in today's Canadian Academy. Speakers: Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Simon Fraser University; James Deaville, Carleton University; Ashok Mathur, Thompson River University; Carl James, York University; Dolana Mogadime, Brock University.   The...

At the 2009 Congress of the Humanities, Carleton University's International Policy Forum presented a panel discussion to promote the launch of "Afghanistan and Canada: Is there an Alternative to the War?". Speakers: Lucia Kowaluk - co-editor of the book, grassroots community organizer and former coordinator of Montreal's Urban Ecology Centre Steve Staples - co-editor of the book, Director of the R...

On May 5, 2009, Ryerson University was host to a free screening of  Us Now,  a UK documentary about how the web enables people of all ages to participate in their communities. The event was organized by  Volunteer Toronto . 02:36 The event began with words from Toronto Mayor David Miller on shift toward open governance in the City of Toronto (see  Toronto.ca/open ), and on Twitter. Mayor Miller is...

SaveourNet.ca partnered with Telecommunities Canada, rabble.ca and The Tyee for Ottawa's Open Internet Town Hall, with support from  NUPGE . Speakers: Michael Geist - law professor at the University of Ottawa where he is Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law; Charlie Angus -  NDP MP, Heritage and Culture;  Rocky Gaudrault - CEO,  Teksavvy Solutions Inc . Introduction by Steve Anders...

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Teamsters Canada held its 10th convention from June 8-11 at the Château Laurier in Ottawa. Globe and Mail columnist and CTV commentator, Jane Taber, addressed the convention on the importance of union engagement with media and new media, and also shared some insight into the experience of reporting from the Hill.

Teamsters Canada held its 10th convention from June 8-11 at the Château Laurier in Ottawa. Jimmy Hoffa Jr, the General president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, addressed the assembly on issues including the new Obama regime, the economic crisis, organizing across borders, and the Columbia Free Trade Agreement. Hoffa is introduced by Teamsters Canada President, Robert Bouvier. To le...

The Future of the Internet:  Access, Openness, and Inclusion A Town Hall Discussion. Open Internet Town Hall Meeting (TORONTO) Monday June 8, 2009, 7:00pm – The  Gladstone  Hotel (1214 Queen St. West) Speakers include: Mark Surman – Executive Director, Mozilla Foundation; Steve Anderson – Co-founder, SaveOurNet.ca; Rocky Gaudrault – CEO, Teksavvy Solutions Inc; Raymi the Minx of  http://raymithemi...

John Agnew, the president of the American Association of Geographers. He was speaking to the Canadian Association of Geographers at the 2009 Congress of the Humanities. Thanks for listening to Needs No Introduction on the rabble podcast network. Tune in again for more fresh ideas from speakers of note.

Alex Marland, Associate Professor at Memorial University, presenting at a 2009 Congress of the Humanities roundtable. Are Canada's political parties selling their image, or changing their image to suit you? Marland looks at the last two elections to answer that question.  The title of the session was The State of Political Marketing in Canada.

What made Obama's campaign marketing work so well? Dr. Jeffrey MacLeod presents research at the 2009 Congress of the Humanities.