Episode 1: “Is The Media Becoming the Message?
Has the mainstream media lost its relevance for most Canadians and does the rise of independent journalism point to a brighter future?
Episode 2: “Who Stands on Guard for Thee?”
In 1961, a young Canadian hero named Frances Oldham Kelsey stopped the approval of Thalidomide in the US saving thousands of lives…in Canada, however, we allowed pregnant women to take the drug. Have we learned anything since then?
Episode 3: “Are We Running Roughshod Over Democracy?”
How well have Canada’s democratic institutions held up during the past two years? Has the pandemic provided a convenient cover for the weakening of voter accountability and public voice?
Episode 4: “Never Say Never Again - The History of Internment in Canada”
As we witness the awful scenes of war and displacement in the Ukraine, did you know that during WWI Canada interned around 80,000 people, mostly Ukrainian Canadians under the authority of the War Measures Act. Many were also obliged to register as “enemy aliens” during the war. The same thing happened again during WWII to Japanese, Italian and Jewish Canadians of German descent. Who’s to say it can’t happen again?
Episode 5: “Inflation Nation - Is Inflation Out of Control in Canada?”
Just under a year ago we were being told by government officials that the problem with our economy was the threat of deflation. Now that gas is approaching 2 dollars a litre, housing prices are through the roof across the country, and food prices skyrocketing, does anyone doubt that we are in an inflation spiral?
Episode 6: “Canada’s Covid Exit Strategy - What Can Be Learned from the Past Two Years?”
The pandemic began with a simple catch phrase – “two weeks to flatten the curve”. Two years later we ask the question, have we learned anything about how to handle the next public health crisis?
Episode 7 - What's Canada's Place in the World?
For years - for better or for worse - Canada had a fairly clear vision of its role in both the global economy and in global politics. Today Canada's position in the world is much more muddy. So what gives, and what does Canada have to do to regain a clear vision of itself for the challenging times ahead?
Episode 8: The Covid Contrarian
Currently there is a reckoning occurring around the impacts of measures taken during the past 3 years to stem the spread Sars-cov-2 the virus Covid-19. Yet, you wouldn't really know it if you were watching or reading the mainstream news. Furthermore: did the vaccine policies further breed mistrust and sow division - giving fuel to movements like the Truckers protests of February 2022? The question for our expert panel - could we have done better?
Episode 9: Has Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying Program Spun Out Of Control?
In 2021 Canada enacted a law that made it much easier for Canadians to apply and receive medical assistance to commit suicide. Is this the return of a new "eugenics"? Have we crossed the Rubicon in terms of what it means to provide "care" and "compassion" in Canada? This show will answer those questions with two U of T professors who feel passionately about disability rights and are concerned about the return of “eugenics” under the guise of “accessibility”.
Episode 10 - Speaking Freely with Tara Henley: On the Unexpected Rise of Independent Media in Canada
One year on from her very public break-up with the CBC, we ask Tara Henley, what’s happening in the world of independent journalism? Can the independent media survive? What has been their impact, especially in the wake of big stories the mainstream media either missed – the rise against Woke by ordinary Canadians – or misrepresented – like the Convoy protests of February 2022.
Episode 11 - The Ukraine Conflict: An Insiders View
So much of what we hear about the Ukraine conflict is either uninformed or purely ideological. But what if we had someone on the "inside" who could discern the truth from the deception? Someone who can read and understand both Russian and Ukrainian first-hand accounts of the conflict. Someone who is a Ukrainian democrat and an advocate for a peaceful resolution to the conflict?
Episode 12 - Canada's Closed Door Situation in the Political & Labour Markets
Despite the much-vaunted turn to inclusivity in Canadian society - a casual perusal around the GTA would find many professions closed off to recent immigrants or even first-generation sons and daughters. Is it time for the gate-keepers to open up their patch of protected space?
Episode 13 - Is Multiculturalism in Need of a Reboot?
What drew many if not most immigrants to Canada was the ability to live a private life free from state coercion and political litmus testing on a daily basis - at work, at school etc… But individual freedom and a sense that you could park your politics at the door when you went out to play or work- was the norm. Author and writer Lydia Perovic will help us unpack what's happening to Canada in the wake of a "woke" awakening.
