On June 17, the digital publication The Narwhal hosted an online event to look at meaningful solutions to the crisis of old-growth logging. Sarah Cox is BC investigative reporter for the Narwhal. She interviews Garry Merkel, a registered professional forester from the Tahltan Nation and co-chair of BC’s old-growth strategic review panel. We’d like to thank The Narwhal for permission to broadcast this interview.

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Paradigm shift needed in BC's forests: Garry Merkl talks with Sarah Cox

The Wilderness Committee has released a report reflecting the concerns and priorities of leaders in Northern BC. “Northern Vision and Voices: What the region needs to thrive in a changing world” was written by Megan Gordon after six months of interviews in the North. The report says it’s time for British Columbia to invest in building strong communities across the region. We talk with Peter McCartney, climate campaigner for the Wilderness Committee.

Time for BC to stop using North as a resource colony and invest in region

On June 29, the BC Supreme Court ruled that the B.C. government had breached the treaty rights of the Blueberry River First Nations. In her ruling, Justice Burke said that the province has allowed so much development in their territory that they can no longer meaningfully exercise their rights under Treaty 8. Lawyers for the Blueberry River First Nations have called the ruling a ‘complete vindication’ of the Nations’ position. Lisa Glowacki is co-counsel for the Nations.

Supreme Court rules Blueberry River Nations treaty rights breached

There are more than 100 housing co-ops in Vancouver, the majority located on land leased from the City of Vancouver. Many of these leases are expiring over the next decade and the City and the Co-op Housing Federation have been talking about what to do for the last 5 years. Council will make a decision this week. This and more in Redeye’s regular City Beat report with Ian Mass.

City Beat: Housing co-op leases, a new name for Trutch Street and more

Non-unionized workers in BC have no paid sick leave rights under the Employment Standards Act. Guaranteed paid sick time for all workers crept a step closer in May with the announcement of a temporary three-day paid sick policy but it’s set to run out at the end of this year. We talk with David Fairey, labour economist and co-chair of the BC Employment Standards Coalition.

British Columbia workers still waiting for permanent paid sick days

On May 21, the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute hosted a webinar on the ways in which Canada enables Israeli apartheid. Yves Engler gave a presentation on Canada’s political support for the state of Israel, both now and historically. Yves Engler is a Montréal-based activist and author who has published 11 books including his latest House of Mirrors — Justin Trudeau’s Foreign Policy.

How the Canadian government supports Israel's apartheid policies

After the remains of 215 children were found on the grounds of the old Kamloops Indian Residential School, there have been expressions of shock and grief, but also calls to action. Kukdookaa Terri Brown is a Crow Clan member of the Tahltan Nation. She is former chief of her people and former president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada. She served 6 years with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada where she heard many stories of children going missing or not returning from residential schools.

Discovery of the remains of 215 children a national emergency

The killing of four members of a Muslim family in London, Ontario on June 6 has brought white nationalist violence to the forefront yet again. Jasmin Zine is a Professor of Sociology and Muslim Studies at Laurier University. She is lead researcher with the Canadian Islamophobia Industry Research Project. She says the ingredients for this latest tragedy have long been in the making.

Islamophobia industry in Canada normalizes anti-Muslim racism

As of May 13, Greyhound suspended all bus service in Canada. The company’s decision leaves many Canadians stranded with no alternative to private car ownership. The National Farmer’s Union says that Greyhound’s exit paves the way for national public transit system that serves all communities across the country. Bess Legault is NFU’s Women’s President and a first generation farmer in the Peace River Valley.

Urgent need for national public transit system with Greyhound gone

Access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide shows a stark divide between rich and poor countries. In May, people living in G7 countries were 77 times more likely to be offered a vaccine than those living in the world’s poorest countries. David Adler is a political economist who argues that it is time to end the patent stranglehold on Covid-19 vaccines and to transform the for-profit system of intellectual property that impedes the provision of all life-saving drugs.

Time to end the patent stranglehold on vaccines and other life-saving drugs

Translink is introducing a modernization plan for HandyDart, which thousands of people living with disabilities depend on for public transportation. Redeye Collective member Ian Mass joins us today with his regular City Beat report to talk about this plan, the climate emergency policy Vancouver City Council passed last year that has hit a potential roadblock and redevelopments that show us the best and worst of planning and public participation.

City Beat: Modernizing HandyDart, plus permit issues with climate plan

Lawyer and activist Hasan Alam was one of the speakers Thursday June 10 in Vancover at a vigil for the Afzaal family in London, Ontario, murdered by a white supremacist on Sunday night. Hasan Alam was one of the co-founders of the Islamophobia Legal Assistance hotline in 2015.

Hasan Alam, speaking at a vigil for the Afzaal family of London, Ontario

NSCAD University in Halifax is going to set up an institute to study Canadian slavery. The initiative will be spearheaded by Dr. Charmaine Nelson, who was the first Black tenured professor of art history in Canada. The Institute for the Study of Canadian Slavery will be a hub for the study of the art, visual cultures, and histories of Canadian slavery and its legacies. We talk with Dr. Charmaine Nelson today.

New research institute studies the 200 years of slavery in Canada

In a new book just published by UBC Press, editors Miu Chung Yan and Sean Lauer document how the neighbourhood house model, a century-old type of community organization, can help overcome isolation in urban neighbourhoods by creating welcoming places, drawing on a five-year study to document and contextualize the neighbourhood house network in Vancouver. We speak with Miu Chung Yan and Sean Lauer.

Neighbourhood Houses: Building Community in Vancouver

In February, Dr Peter Victor gave the 2021 Gideon Rosenbluth Memorial Lecture. Peter Victor is a Professor Emeritus at York University and was Gideon Rosenbluth's graduate student at UBC in the late sixties. More than 30 years later, they co-authored a research paper called Saving the Environment: How Canada Can Abolish Poverty and Unemployment Even in a No-Growth Economy. A couple of years later, based on their work together, Peter wrote his book, Managing without Growth. Slower by Design, not Disaster.

Managing without Growth: Slower by Design, not Disaster

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