The 2020 Network

In early March, Ontario surpassed 7,000 Covid deaths, over 3700 of which occurred in the province’s long-term care facilities. Around the country, suffering and death in care homes is part of an emergency that has long been ignored -- an emergency that pre-existed the pandemic. Precarious work, low pay, inadequate staffing, neglect, abuse, unreasonable waitlist times, poor communication, and the u...

Canada is ranked *last* according to a non-partisan study assessing the legitimacy of whistleblower laws globally. What? On this episode of @Risk, host Jodi Butts is joined by Dr. John O’Connor, the winner of the inaugural Peter Bryce Prize honouring individuals whose courage in speaking up about wrongdoing has served the public interest, as well as by David Yazbeck, lawyer and Advisory Board Memb...

We have been at...all of this for about a year now. Maybe it feels longer for you. Maybe it feels shorter. Maybe time has lost all meaning. Whatever the case, on this episode of Open to Debate, we are taking a deep breath and mixing things up as we celebrate our 40th episode and process 12 months of pandemic life. How do we simultaneously celebrate this podcast and process what the last year has m...

Each generation carries its unique burdens forward in the face of their own particular headwinds. On this episode of @Risk, Jodi Butts is joined by Dr. Samir Sinha, geriatrician and Health Policy Research Director for the National Institute on Ageing, and Vass Bednar, Executive Director of McMaster University’s Master of Public Policy Program, to discuss the policy opportunities for improving the...

U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have a rare and historic opportunity to make generational progress in the fight against climate change. Listen to a conversation between John Podesta, Founder, Center for American Progress and Former Chief of Staff to the President of the United States, and Gerald Butts, Vice Chairman and Senior Advisor, Eurasia Group and Former P...

Throughout the pandemic, the quality and success of communications from government, public health officials, elected representatives, and others tasked with keeping us in the loop have been, let’s say, inconsistent. There have been highs and there have been lows. Quality has varied across jurisdictions. And it shows. While approaches to good communication work may vary, there are some strategies a...

The secondary effects of public health interventions against COVID-19 continue to impact the health and wellbeing of Canadians, and must not be ignored. Listen to a conversation between Dr. Vera Etches, Medical Officer of Health, Ottawa Public Health, Dr. Vivek Goel, Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Dr. Gail Beck, Clinical Direct...

Dissatisfied with the amount of progress being made towards freedom and equity for all? On this episode of @Risk, host Jodi Butts is joined by University of Toronto professor and author of On Property, Rinaldo Walcott, to discuss his radically optimistic prescription for a different kind of freedom that goes daringly beyond greater representation of Black and Indigenous people in positions of auth...

In late January, the House of Commons unanimously voted on a resolution, proposed by NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, to call on the government to “use all available tools to address the proliferation of white supremacists and hate groups.” The motion included a specific focus on designating the Proud Boys as a terrorist organization. . The rise of white supremacist and hate organisations poses a threat...

The pharmaceutical industry is providing us with a pathway out of this pandemic but manufacturing delays and other disruptions are proving challenging. On this episode of Crisis to Resilience, you’ll hear from Pamela Fralick, the President of Innovative Medicines Canada about the drug policies and investments that can contribute to a healthier more resilient Canada.

Since cyber security risk scales as quickly as fortunes are made by network effects, is it time to adopt new approaches to how we protect and sustain cyber security? On this episode of @Risk, Jodi Butts speaks with F5 Networks’ Global Head of AI, Stanford lecturer and former Googler, Shuman Ghosemajumder to find out if cyber security can keep pace with the evolving threats. To read the full transc...

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...

Canadian policymakers are restructuring our public policy, regulatory, and international approach towards Canada playing a progressive role in the global fight for a more sustainable future. In part 2 of Crisis to Resilience: Canada’s Energy Transformation, we explore the shifting global energy market, Canada’s place within it, and how different stakeholders across the sector are meeting the chall...

Canadian policymakers are restructuring our public policy, regulatory, and international approach towards Canada playing a progressive role in the global fight for a more sustainable future. In part 1 of Crisis to Resilience: Canada’s Energy Transformation, we explore the shifting global energy market, Canada’s place within it and how different stakeholders across the sector are meeting the challe...

It’s always important to understand the why before you get to the what and the how, even in the case of risk. On this episode of @Risk, host Jodi Butts speaks with national best-selling writer and professor of philosophy, Mark Kingwell, about his new book, “On Risk or If You Play, You Pay: The Politics of Chance in a Plague Year.” Beyond our daily COVID risk calculations, lies a white space of opp...

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...

Thanks to effective COVID-19 vaccines, we are able to see light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. On this episode of @Risk, host Jodi Butts speaks with Helen Branswell, a great Canadian and STAT News’ infectious diseases and global health reporter. They discuss the causes for celebration and the lingering uncertainties surrounding the last mile of our COVID-19 journey. To read the full transcript...

Fostering economic growth and development in Indigenous communities is crucial to reconciliation. This year's Indigenous Economic Development Forum explores how we keep up the momentum on our collective efforts to expand economic opportunities with Indigenous communities across Canada. In part 2 of Indigenous Economic Reconciliation, you'll hear from Chrystal Smith, Chief of the Haisla Nation Coun...

Fostering economic growth and development in Indigenous communities is crucial to reconciliation. This year's Indigenous Economic Development Forum explores how we keep up the momentum on our collective efforts to expand economic opportunities with Indigenous communities across Canada. In part 1 of Indigenous Economic Reconciliation, you'll hear from the Hon. Marc Miller, Canada's Minister of Indi...

Small and medium-sized businesses are continuing to grapple with the economic impacts of the pandemic. In this episode of Crisis to Resilience, we learn about the importance of building digital skills in Canadian small businesses to support long-term growth and resilience. You'll hear from the Hon. Mary Ng, Canadian Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, Tabatha Bull...

Canada’s long-term growth and resilience will depend on its ability to make transformational and sustainable infrastructure investments across the country. Learn about  the opportunities and challenges presented by a new Biden administration in Washington as Canada continues its transformational investments in infrastructure to create jobs, tackle climate change and build inclusive communities. In...

Canada’s long-term growth and resilience will depend on its ability to make transformational and sustainable infrastructure investments across the country. Learn about  the opportunities and challenges presented by a new Biden administration in Washington as Canada continues its transformational investments in infrastructure to create jobs, tackle climate change and build inclusive communities. In...

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...

Meltdowns reveal so much about our dependencies, our vulnerabilities, and our character. On this episode of @Risk, Jodi Butts speaks with Canadian author Emily St. John Mandel, whose two most recent books, The Glass Hotel, and Station Eleven, follow characters impacted by disaster. Emily and Jodi explore the real and fictional risks we choose and the ones that choose us. To read the full transcrip...

The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the urgent need for universal robust connectivity from coast to coast to coast. How can we use this moment of crisis to make generational improvements to connectivity infrastructure? In Keeping Canada Connected: Part 2 of the Crisis to Resilience series, we hear from the Hon. Maryam Monsef, Minister of Rural Economic Development and Woman and Gender Equality, a...