Open to Debate with David Moscrop

Lady A has been in the music industry for decades. In recent months, she has been in the national spotlight in the United States for reasons other than her music. After the band Lady Antebellum shortened their name to “Lady A” in the wake of the death of George Floyd to dissociate themselves from the “Antebellum South” and the racism bound up with that phrase, the band and Lady A entered into laws...

For as long as anyone can remember, talk about deficits and the debt have been central to political life. How much can we spend? On what? What are the trade-offs? What will it cost? I mean, what will it really cost. If politics is about choosing, if it is about, as the classic phrase goes, “Who gets what, when, and how?” then spending constraints are central to what makes it so. But what if defici...

Throughout the country, politicians and policymakers routinely talk about the need to address Canada’s historic and ongoing colonial practices. Talk is plentiful. Action, less so. Among the many manifestations of Canada’s legacy and present-day colonialism is a healthcare and healing crisis in which Indigenous Peoples are overrepresented among those struggling. The challenge calls for decolonizati...

Around the world, the calls have begun to “build back better.” The slogan, or some variant of it, is ubiquitous. Even as we continue to manage life during the pandemic, we start to look beyond it, towards something better, we hope. In Canada, the idea of a universal basic income has been circulating for decades. However, as the discussions and debates around our post-pandemic world pick up, it’s a...

Around the world, the race is on to develop a Covid-19 vaccine. So far, nearly 200 candidates are in the works, including dozens at the human-trial stage. The optimistic experts tell us that a vaccine could be ready this year or early next, and set for distribution by mid-to-late 2021. The pessimists suggest it could take longer. But few doubt that we will be able to produce a vaccine. The questio...

In the United States, the votes have been cast. In some jurisdictions, they are still being counted despite the best efforts of President Trump to stop it. But counted they will be. The presidential election was closer than many expected, despite Joe Biden winning more votes than any contender in U.S. history. We are left with questions about the Biden campaign strategy, polling, and the state and...

On Tuesday, November 3rd, Americans will head to the polls in the country’s 59th election. After four years in power, Donald Trump’s presidency is on the ballot and on the ropes—things are not looking good for the incumbent. But will the US election be free and fair? For years, Trump has been working to undermine the integrity of American electoral institutions. He has refused to say whether he’ll...

Over 500,000 people die around the world each year from drug use, and  the vast majority of those deaths are related to opioids. Thousands of the lives lost are Canadian lives. The old ways of thinking about, legislating around, and policing drug use have failed. New ways of thinking about drug policy, including an emphasis on safe supply, destigmatization, and treatment are ascendent. But more mu...

In Canada, the opioid crisis has killed thousands of people and continues to claim more lives each and every day. In August, British Columbia marked its third straight month with over 170 deaths by overdose - and its fifth-straight month with over 100 lives lost. In Canada’s westernmost province, the crisis has been, by far, deadlier than covid-19. While there is no panacea for the crisis, there a...

Democracy is in decline in the United States of America. While President Trump is hastening that decline, he is neither the initial nor the sole cause of it. Indeed, prior to Trump’s election, the Economist, in its Democracy Index, downgraded the USA from “Full Democracy” to “Flawed Democracy,” citing the concerns that would help give rise to the 45th president. Stretching back to the 18th century...

For over a year, Open to Debate has brought you smart, witty and thoughtful political conversations on current affairs, to help make sense of today's politics and policy, in Canada and around the world. At its core, Open to Debate is a space for agreeable disagreement, driven by the belief that honest, meaningful and vigorous discussion are essential to democracy. Open to Debate returns this fall....

Social media has opened up opportunities for sharing, networking, self-expression, and collaboration that were previously difficult, if not impossible for many. In plenty of ways, it has pluralized and democratized communication. While social media offers opportunities, it also comes with risks and costs. At times, it becomes an utter wasteland: a haven for harassment  and a steward of violence. O...

The year 2020 will be, for many, the most difficult year of their life. And yet, there will still be difficult years ahead. We are living through a pandemic. We are facing structural shifts in the global order. We are witnessing the decline of democracy, or at least its stagnation. We are grappling with climate change. The struggles we face are shaped by factors we control, and factors we cannot c...

In the United States, the United Kingdom, and around the world, protestors are defacing and toppling statues of figures whose legacy of deeds include oppression, violence, and death. While these monuments purport to celebrate these individuals for other reasons, the mere presence of such tributes speaks to a particular construction and understanding of history. In Canada, John A. Macdonald has bee...

In June, Canada lost its bid for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council. The loss came after four years of campaigning for the spot and is reminiscent of Stephen Harper’s 2010 failure. Back then, we lost to Germany and Portugal. This time, it was to Ireland and Norway. Each time, we have been left asking: Why? Previously, going back to 1946, Canada had won each of its bids for a U...

Since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, observers have been talking about the “egalitarian” nature of the virus. ‘Covid-19 doesn’t discriminate’ has been a common refrain. But while the virus itself may have common effects across populations, the pandemic and its consequences are far from equally shared. As with many public health challenges, the effects and costs of the pandemic are distri...

Around the world, Black Lives Matter and their allies - are demanding justice -- and structural change -- in response to years upon years of racist violence, marginalization, and repression. In many instances, activists are being met with further state violence at the hands of police and resistance from elected representatives and officials. Despite state intransigence, one of the core demands gai...

Humankind is facing an extraordinary threat. No, not that threat. The other one. Climate change. And we are running out of time to develop and implement solutions to meet the challenge -- or, at least, to mitigate the worst of what’s coming. Tackling the climate crisis requires radical change, including adaptations to -- or perhaps upheavals of --  the social, political, and economic systems that...

As of May 18th, 2020 there are more than 1.52 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States of America. While 280,000 people have recovered from the virus, 90,000 have died -- the most of any country in the world. The American response to the pandemic has been criticized, appropriately, by just about everyone who is paying attention. And life in the time COVID-19 has just begun, which m...

Canadians like to tell themselves stories about the serene, progressive country they call home. In certain imaginations, Canada is immune to the social and political toxicity we find around the world -- especially that which we find to the south of us. And yet, a cursory glance at our past and our present tells another tale. Racial prejudice is embedded in Canadian minds and institutions. We must...

The coronavirus pandemic continues. So does lockdown. Before the crisis, many of us used the internet for our day-to-day and month-to-month tasks. During the crisis, more of these tasks will be online. No doubt, that will continue in the future -- and change too. But we must be able to trust this digital identity: trust that it is safe and reliable, that it doesn’t lead to a further commodificatio...

As the coronarvius pandemic continues, a mutual aid movement known as ‘caremongering’ has emerged in Canada. The endeavour is encouraging and welcome, but it isn’t new. Mutual aid and solidarity have long been practiced, especially in racialized, disabled, and Indigenous communities. On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with international development scholar Yvonne Su about the h...

The COVID-19 virus has upended life around the world. On this special episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop sits down -- remotely -- with professor, author, parent, and friend Amanda Watson to ask: How do we manage life during COVID-19? We discuss how she and others are managing life during the pandemic and how a lens of compassion and care can help us navigate this difficult time -- and beyond...

Masculinity dominates our social, political, cultural, and economic lives. As a way of seeing and being in the world, it is often narrow-minded, aggressive, and oppressive. Toxic conceptions of masculinity are a threat to all of us; but they are also social constructions. As such, they can be deconstructed and reconstructed in the service of a healthier world for everyone. But first, we must under...

As Canada watches protests, blockades, and other actions from Wet'suwet'en land defenders and their allies, we are reminded that protest and civil disobedience are essential to a free and democratic society. What purpose does direct action serve? For whom? Why not try other means to achieve your ends? In other words: Why protest? On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks about protest...