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On December 12, COP 28 closed with an agreement that the UN heralded as the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era. At the meeting in Dubai, world leaders agreed to quote “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems”. I spoke with Jens Wieting shortly after the climate conference wrapped to get his assessment of what this means for BC and for Canada.

In City Beat this week, Ian Mass tells us about the stunning move to abolish Vancouver’s Parks Board, Vancouver’s 2024 budget which includes a climate emergency budget for the first time, plans for new artist studios and much more.

Education and public schools are often a hot button issue. Parents, teachers and governments sometimes have criticisms about our schools. But most people agree that public education should be supported and preserved as an important part of a democratic society. BC's Institute for Public Education is asking British Columbians to share their hopes and dreams for public education. We speak with teach...

It’s gotten a lot harder to find solid, progressive journalism in the face of social media bans on Canadian news. But there is some good news! A brand-new independent media platform launched last month. Unrigged.ca is a non-profit journalistic collaboration featuring 20 publishers of online articles and op-eds, print magazines, community newspapers, and podcasts covering news and current events fr...

The independent Canadian media outlet The Breach published a story last week about the suppression of critical coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza. They report that CTV directed journalists not to use the word Palestine and has cultivated a ‘culture of fear’ at the network. We speak with Emma Paling, who investigated the story for the Breach.

The National Farmers Union’s held their annual conference in Ottawa last month. The day before the conference began, NFU members gathered on Parliament Hill to demand a ban on investor ownership of farmland. To find out more, I speak with Rav Singh, youth advisor with the National Farmers Union – Ontario and Hannah Kaya, the NFU’s farm worker organizer.

Recently, there has been a raft of affordable housing initiatives coming from all levels of government. Alex Hemingway is a senior economist from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives of BC. He joins me today to talk about how effective these policies are likely to be and what else needs to be done.

More than 30 Palestinian trade unions have issued a united call to stop arming Israel. This call comes in light of Israel’s intensified assault on Palestinians over the past weeks, and particularly the unfolding genocide in Gaza. Activists in Canada have responded by blockading weapons facilities in Ontario and Quebec and informing Canadians about the flow of weapons from Canada to Israel. We talk...

As the climate emergency deepens, we hear repeatedly that the solution involves sacrifice. Fossil fuels, travel, meat - all things we need to give up to preserve the planet for human habitation. However, trio of academics say that effective climate action requires us to stop viewing our efforts as a sacrifice. We speak with Daniel Steel, associate professor in the School of Population and Public H...

On City Beat with Ian Mass this week, a draft of Vancouver’s 2024 budget with a recommended property tax increase of 7.6%, a motion supporting the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, plans for Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and more.

The Gaza Strip is now a graveyard for thousands of children. UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, says that more children have now been killed in Gaza than all other conflicts since 2019. Despite the fact that the vast majority of Gaza’s population are refugees, they are not included in the United Nations international refugee protection regime. Today we speak with Dr. Maissaa Almustafa, Le...

Temporary Modular Housing currently provides over 750 units of shelter-rate housing across Vancouver. OneCity councillor Christine Boyle brought forward a motion in July to renew or extend the leases for all these sites. Mayor Sim and his ABC party majority unanimously voted against that motion - and the dismantling or demolition of these units is now underway. We speak with Nathan Crompton, a mem...

This week, the BC Health Coalition is in Vancouver talking about the urgent need for reform and innovation in public health care. Meanwhile the Canadian Medical Association is sponsoring a cross-country conversation about the role of private – read for-profit – health care. We talk with Dr. Saad Ahmed of Canadian Doctors for Medicare about the truth behind the myths of privatization and what it wo...

Affordable housing is on the agenda this week at Vancouver City Council. Council will hear about four different initiatives designed to make housing cheaper and also more equitable, including a bold proposal to increase density in the city’s richest neighbourhood. Ian Mass joins us with his City Beat report.

Over a quarter of a million Canadian workers now participate to varying degrees in app-based gig work. Most of these are ride hail and food delivery workers. The BC government is planning on updating regulations that affect these workers. The Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives-BC made a submission to the government, aimed at extending protections and benefits that other workers receive. We sp...

As the bombardment of Gaza continues, thousands of Canadians are calling for a ceasefire. These protests are being met with a concerted international effort to suppress rallies and speeches that express solidarity with Palestinians. On November 5, the co-organizer of a large rally in Calgary was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace. We speak about the case with Muhannad Ayyash, sociology...

From sexual harassment to online bullying and threats of violence, women politicians face far more challenges in public life than their male counterparts. A new research project took a close look at what women, gender minorities and racialized politicians face when they get elected to councils in BC and Alberta. We talk with Nadine Nakagawa, city councillor in New Westminster and one of the lead r...

In Vancouver, single room occupancy hotels are often a last resort before homelessness, but rising rents mean that many low-income residents lose their housing each year. City of Vancouver vacancy control bylaws designed to protect SROs were quashed by the BC Supreme Court in 2022. On Nov 7, that ruling is being challenged in the BC Court of Appeal. We speak about the case with Wendy Pedersen, dir...

In the lead-up to last year’s municipal election, Women Transforming Cities launched the Hot Pink Paper Campaign with eight policy asks based on months of community input from women and gender-diverse residents. A year later, we talk with Clara Prager about how council is doing on fulfilling their campaign commitments to create a more equitable city for all.

As attacks continue on Palestinian people in Gaza, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism is on the rise. This hatred of Muslim people is fomented by a concerted propaganda campaign and by the repetition of false news stories and misinformation. To help us understand what is happening, and the impact on Muslim people here in Canada and elsewhere, we’re joined by Dr. Jasmin Zine, professor in soc...

Mayor Ken Sim has targeted OneCity councillor Christine Boyle with two code-of-conduct complaints and investigations in the last six months. Ian Mass talks about these complaints. Also in today’s City Beat report, Ian discussed the campaign to rebuild the Britannia Community Centre complex, Vancouver’s 2023 homeless count and a whole lot more.

On Oct 26, BC brought in new legislation to help municipalities regulate short-term rentals on sites like Airbnb. The mayors of cities as diverse as Victoria, Kelowna and Tofino were enthusiastic about the move. Thorben Wieditz is with the organization Fairbnb. He says this kind of regulation is an essential first step in ending ghost hotels. I spoke with him a few days before David Eby’s announce...

Despite record high drug-poisoning deaths in Yaletown, the city of Vancouver is closing an overdose prevention site on Seymour Street. So far, there is no guarantee that another site will be opened to replace it. Vince Tao is a community organizer with VANDU, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users. He joins us to talk about what led to the decision to close the site.

Whether you’ve been in the fight against climate change for decades, or are a newcomer, the struggle can feel overwhelming in so many ways. Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua have produced a new book to support and energize us – it’s called Not Too Late. Rebecca Solnit is in Vancouver for the Writers Fest this month. We speak with her about hope, possibility and the book.

A recent ruling by the Ontario Superior Court marks an important acknowledgment in the ongoing battle against systemic Islamophobia. In September, Justice Markus Koehnen recognized that the Muslim Association of Canada faced differential and biased treatment faced during a Canada Revenue Agency audit. However the judge stopped short of intervening in the federal examination. We speak with Nabil Su...