Uncommons with Nate Erskine-Smith

David Morley is the President and CEO of UNICEF Canada . With millions of kids around the world still out of school, and with vaccine efforts central to our recovery, UNICEF has a unique role to play. David has long been dedicated to issues of global justice, with over thirty years of experience advancing children’s rights and sustainable development on the world stage.  In this episode Nate and D...

Carla Qualtrough is the Liberal MP for Delta BC, and the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Disability Inclusion. She will lead efforts in this parliament to strengthen Canada's social safety net, through EI reform and a new disability benefit.  On this episode, Minister Qualtrough discusses the work that lies ahead, the challenges of rolling out income supports in the pandemi...

Victor Madrigal-Borloz is a Costa Rican lawyer and the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Earlier this year, he published a report that called for a global ban on conversion therapy. Our federal government here in Canada is moving forward with amendments to the Criminal Code to effect such a ban, and in this epis...

It's been two years since Canada legalized cannabis and, while there is much to celebrate, we haven't done enough to right the historical wrongs of cannabis prohibition. Annamaria Enenajor joins Nate to discuss why this matters and what should be done about it. Annamaria is a criminal and constitutional lawyer, a powerful advocate, and the founder and executive director of Cannabis Amnes...

The federal government has introduced Bill C-7 to fix our assisted dying laws and address the unconstitutionality of its past legislative effort. But there remain problems with the law as drafted, and Professor Jocelyn Downie joins Nate to discuss those problems and how to fix them. Professor Downie is an expert in the law of assisted dying in Canada. In 2004, she published a book on the subject,...

Isha Datar is a food pioneer. She's the CEO of New Harvest , a research institute that funds and conducts public research on cellular agriculture, and she's co-founder of companies making milk without cows , and eggs with chickens .  Nate and Isha discuss the potential for cell ag, how close we are to a reality of animal products without animals, and why it matters for our planet, for he...

Senator Ratna Omidvar has dedicated her life to strengthening migration, diversity, and inclusion, through roles as president of the Maytree Foundation, the head of Ryerson's Global Diversity Exchange, and her continued work with the World Refugee Council.  On this episode, Ratna and Nate discuss what was missing in the throne speech, reasons to better support charities and essential migrant...

Professor Joe Stiglitz is a Nobel Prize winning economist, former chief economist at the World Bank, and former chairman of the US president's Council of Economic Advisers. He's also a profilic author. He's recently co-written a report that makes the case for a green recovery, he's a leading voice for both measuring success differently and addressing inequality , and his most r...

Shoshana Zuboff is a Harvard professor, philosopher, and author of the book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism . Nate and Shoshana discuss the mass collection of personal information and data in our digital world, its consequences for individual autonomy and democracy, and what we can and should do about it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get...

Leah Gazan is the NDP MP for Winnipeg Centre, and she is the sponsor of Motion 46 calling for a guaranteed livable basic income. Leah joins Nate to discuss her motion and to call for action to end poverty as a matter of human rights and dignity. Read the full text of Motion 46 here . This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes,...

Jim Balsillie is a philanthropist, businessman (former co-CEO of Blackberry's RIM), and he has led efforts in calling for a new innovation agenda in Canada. On this episode, Jim joins Nate to discuss a report from the Council of Canadian Innovators , how Canada lags our peer countries on innovation, why Canada needs national IP and data strategies, and what an innovation agenda means in a mod...

From our food supply, to frontline healthcare, migrant workers are often essential workers. Yet they are both undervalued and subject to systemic exploitation through our temporary immigration work programs. That migrant workers are predominantly racialized raises additional concerns about the exploitative nature of these work programs, as our federal government has committed to address systemic r...

Dr. Jane Goodall is a world famous primatologist and anthropologist best known for her work with chimpanzees, 60 years ago in Tanzania. Her life's work is focused on conservation and animal welfare issues. In 1977, she founded the Jane Goodall Institute which does important work in nearly 100 countries around the world, including engaging young people through its Roots & Shoots program. I...

Irwin Cotler is a giant in the field of human rights, most recently as founder and chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights . He's also a former McGill professor, parliamentarian, Minister of Justice, and he has dedicated a great deal of his life to defending political prisoners, including as Canadian counsel for Nelson Mandela.  In this episode, Nate and Irwin discuss the Wallen...

Parents and educators are rightly concerned about a safe September in our schools and for our kids. More, a failure to open schools safely has the potential to increase community transmission and affect us all. On this episode, Nate is joined by expert epidemiologists and professors Ashleigh Tuite and Amy Greer to discuss provincial plans, the frustrating lack of planning from the province and the...

In July, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police published a report calling on governments to treat drug use as a health issue, including action to decriminalize all drugs and create options for a safer drug supply. In this episode, Waterloo Police Chief Bryan Larkin joins Nate to talk about why police in Canada want to decriminalize all drugs. As the CACP report notes: "We must adopt ne...

Senator Murray Sinclair has accomplished much in his career, including as a judge in Manitoba and as the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Nate is joined by Senator Sinclair to discuss the government's reconciliation efforts to date, the slow pace of change, and how we can improve efforts going forward.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other su...

China has arbitrarily detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, weaponized tariffs and trade, violated international law and human rights in Hong Kong, and continues to commit mass atrocities against the Uyghurs. In this episode, Nate is joined by national security expert and professor Stephanie Carvin to discuss Canada’s relationship with China. Professor Carvin is also the co-host of...

In 2019, Jaime Battiste was elected as the MP for Sydney—Victoria, and he's the first Mi'kmaw MP in Canada. He's been a professor at Cape Breton University, a senior advisor to Eskasoni Band Council, a citizenship coordinator for KMKNO and Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief. In addition to his MP role, Jaime is also the Chair of the Liberal Indigenous Caucus. In this episode,...

While we've recognized the criminal law's failure in our approach to assisted dying and cannabis, we continue to undermine the human rights of sex workers and people who use drugs. Seven years ago in Bedford , the Supreme Court struck down criminal laws against prostitution because they prevented sex workers from taking measures to increase their safety. Our current laws don't fare...

Jenica Atwin is the MP for Fredericton and the first Green MP in New Brunswick. In this episode, Nate is joined by Jenica to talk about life as a first-time MP in these difficult times. They discuss making mental health a priority, the importance of measuring well-being, why she's definitely not running for leader, independence in the House, and the challenges of raising a young family while...

Despite public statements in support of a strong minimum wage, CEOs of our national grocers communicated directly with each other about the prospect of ending pandemic pay for essential workers. On this episode, Nate is joined by Unifor president Jerry Dias to discuss the Industry committee hearings, the growth of precarious work in our country, the NAFTA re-negotiation, and more. This is a public...

The Prime Minister kneeled at an anti-racism protest, and then declared in the House of Commons that "we will do everything we can to eradicate" racism. The Parliamentary Black Caucus has published a roadmap to that goal, signed by 160 parliamentarians, including many cabinet ministers. Nate speaks about the letter and its calls to action with Greg Fergus, Liberal MP and Chair of the Par...

In the face of opposition from legal scholars, animal rights advocates, and associations of journalists, Ontario has now passed unconstitutional ag-gag laws, an attempt to silence whistleblowers who expose animal cruelty. Nate speaks with Animal Justice lawyer Camille Labchuk and University of Alberta law professor Peter Sankoff about efforts in Ontario and across our country to hide animal cruelt...

The pandemic and economic fall-out have taken a toll on our society in a number of different ways, including a serious impact on our mental health. Before his appointment, Senator Stan Kutcher was an expert in the area, having served as the department head of psychiatry at Dalhousie University and as the director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health. Nate and...