rabble radio

Too often, the issue of climate change is believed to be an either/or situation, as in, we can have a healthy environment, or we can have economic growth. Farmers tend to be a fairly cautious bunch of people who are slow to change when they perceive that what they're doing is working fine. There isn't widespread agreement that change is necessary. Or when there is agreement, what to be done about...

The long awaited overhaul of Canada's broadcast and telecommunications acts came another step closer to realization last week with the release of the report " Canada's Communications Future: Time to Act ." The report was commissioned in June 2018 by the Trudeau government because the current acts are outdated, especially because of all the changes that have happened because of the internet. The re...

We're hearing a lot about the benefits of 5G wireless networks , the next generation of broadband which will give us faster speeds on our wireless devices, but the downside of the technology isn't getting near as much press. Among its benefits: it will make self-driving cars possible, enable robotics in factories which are managed from remote servers, and improve the delivery of remote medical car...

Finding care for a loved one with a serious ongoing medical condition is heartwrenching for families. When long-term care or homecare is needed, it's also frustrating and confusing. There are few options, and the standards of care can vary significantly from one provider to another. And most of the time, there are few choices. Though the provinces are supposed to fund this kind of medical care, it...

Many people were frustrated and angry when the federal Liberals broke their 2015 campaign promise that electoral reform would happen before the next election.  Dave Meslin , community activist and organizer from Toronto, decided that it was only a setback. He's continued doing his research and organizing people to fight for proportional representation. On December 1, he launched a  Kickstarter cam...

Anybody with a family who has to rent will tell you that a lot of landlords don't like to rent to families. This is especially true if the head of the family is a teenager with very small children. Today's guest is  Melissa Tremblay , a University of Alberta assistant professor in educational psychology. She has received a Mitacs Award for Outstanding Innovation in the Indigenous category, present...

COP 25 , this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference, was scheduled in Madrid from December 2-13. It went into overtime and didn't end until two days later on December 15. Simon Chambers, today's rabble radio guest, was at COP 25 in his capacity as communications director for the ACT Alliance. The  ACT Alliance  is a global organization of more than 145 churches and related organizations...

Now that the holiday season is upon us, you're maybe thinking about what kind of gifts to give that doesn't add to the amount to the stacks of stuff that so many people already have too much of. Here's a gift idea — you can give a piece of land to the people of your community. Or, if you don't have land to give, you can make a financial gift to your local land trust, if you have one. Or you can vo...

Here in Canada, we like to believe that we are a welcoming people, kind and generous to anyone who shows up on our doorstep. Today's guest challenges that assumption. Graeme Truelove's book  Un-Canadian: Islamophobia in the True North  looks specifically at our treatment and attitudes towards Muslims. The book looks further back, and demonstrates that our treatment of Muslims isn't all that differ...

As the nation down south tucks into turkey dinners this year, there is bound to be a lot of interesting and even volatile conversations around the dinner table. Because, with the American presidential election just a little under a year away, not to mention the impeachments proceedings happening right now, dinner time could get a little fractious. Good luck with that! To recognize American Thanksg...

In Montreal, there are currently numerous Guinean asylum seekers facing deportation from Canada. Some of them, along with other community activists, have come together to protest the Canadian government's moves to deport refugees to West Africa. In the last year, stories of numerous cases of Guinean refugees have been shared widely on social media in Montreal and also discussed in the mainstream m...

Over the past year, we've brought you stories on rabble about Edwin Espinel, a political prisoner in Honduras who was arrested in January 2018 following anti-government protests and held in a maximum security prison in deplorable conditions. It was the best of news when he was released on bail just this past August, after 18 months behind bars. But he's far from out of danger because his bail coul...

In recent weeks, mass protests have been shaking Chile. The protests began on October 7 as a fare-evasion protest by high school students. Throughout the rest of the month and now into November, the protests have rapidly escalated into a comprehensive challenge to the political and economic order established by Augusto Pinochet in the nation's 1980 constitution. On today's rabble radio, we'll also...

We're well into the semester for Ontario's post secondary students. Reading week is over and everybody is settling in. One thing that isn't settling in yet, though, is the budgets of students unions, radio stations, student newspapers, food banks and all the other services which are being affected by the Ontario provincial government's  Student Choice Initiative . Last spring, the program was anno...

The dust is settling on the 2019 election and we're all still figuring out what it all means. Minority governments can be messy, but it can also be a time for creative solutions too. In theory, it means that more voices will be heard, not just the governing party. Hopefully that will mean that some of the marginalized voices will be able to speak and be heard, including the voices of women. This t...

This election is a nail biter. Will it be a minority government? Which party will have the most seats? What kinds of deals are going to be going down as the parties make their power plays to be the one who will lead our country. And, since it's looking like it won't be a majority government, which parties are positioning themselves to be king-makers?  There are many questions and there won't be an...

For a long time, many campus and community stations have considered themselves to be a force for social change in their communities.  So, once again, they're using their airwaves towards that end. 1. Facts are Free is a collection of public service announcements that are being aired on campus and community radio stations across the country in the weeks leading up to the election. The non-profit an...

With the election less than a month away, all of us who are politically engaged are reflecting on how well our government has worked over the past few years. And governments of all kinds are operating very differently than they did even 10 years ago, thanks to digital innovation and theories of information management which arise from new technologies. The digital age has had a profound effect on t...

This month, starting tomorrow until September 27, students across Canada are organizing a week of action to call attention to climate change. People around the world are seeing more and more severe weather. Oceans are rising, deserts are growing and the planet is in trouble. We are glad to work with organizers who are demanding that every government and industry take on climate change as a priorit...

James Gordon thinks that we might be able to sing our way towards a solution in dealing with the climate crisis. Not just through song alone, of course, but by mobilizing groups of people and lifting the mood a little bit with a whole theatrical range of seriousness, scariness, inspiration and hopefulness.  Today on rabble radio, podcast executive producer and rabble radio host Victoria Fenner tal...

As the climate crisis escalates, new solutions and new groups are emerging to becoming part of the dialogue.  Extinction Rebellion  is a fairly new one — it started just last year in the U.K. on May 18, 2018. Its first major action was the blocking of five bridges across the Thames just last November. Since then, there have been Extinction Rebellion groups coming together in other parts of the wor...

Hamilton, Ontario. Factory city, crime-ridden downtown, mafia stronghold. At least that's what people used to think of Hamilton. That's been changing in recent years as people from "away" have been discovering the good things about the city as they've moved to escape high real estate in Toronto. They've been discovering what longtime residents have known all along — that it's a city full of people...

Today marks the anniversary of the death of Jack Layton. He passed away from cancer on August 22, 2011, leaving a void in Canadian politics which will never be filled in quite the same way. Because Jack Layton was one of a kind. His message resonated with people so much that he brought the NDP party from 37 seats in the 2008 election to 103 seats in 2011. Under Jack Layton's leadership, the NDP be...

When  rabble.ca  podcast producer Victoria Fenner heard that Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was coming to the small conservative city of Barrie, Ontario, on July 18 for a pre-campaign town hall and rally, she could think of a lot of things to talk to her about. Barrie is right in the middle of Tory blue country and tough territory for progressives. It's the biggest city in Simcoe County, located...

When you think about it, public libraries are a pretty remarkable. Fascinating fact — did you know that the first free tax-supported public libraries in Canada opened in 1883 in Saint John, Guelph and Toronto? And now every town has one. Where else can you get access to thousands of books, magazines, newspapers, CDs and DVDs for the amazingly low price of free? (Well, except for the overdue fines,...