Category: News

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 lawsuits over the use of the name. In December, she released the track “My Name is All I got.”

This episode is not about names, but about histories, experiences, power, and the question: How does institutionalized racism shape the music industry?

On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Lady A, a blues, soul, funk, and gospel singer who has released five solo albums, the latest of which is Lady A: Live in New Orleans. We also hear from John Oliver III, Lady A’s Seattle based producer.

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 of this episode, click here.

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 opportunity for greater fairness and meaning.

To read the full transcript of this episode, click here.

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 deficits and the debt did not induce the constraints we thought? Modern monetary theory invites us to think about money and government spending in a new way, opening up possibilities that were seemingly out of reach before. But is the promise too good to be true? On this episode we take a look and ask: Who’s afraid of modern monetary theory?

On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Stephanie Kelton, Senior Fellow at the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Stony Brook University, and author of The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People’s Economy.

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 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 challenge.

 
You’ll hear from the Hon. Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, and the Hon. Anne McLellan, Senior Advisor at Bennett Jones, and former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, Kim Rudd, Consultant, Canadian Nuclear Association, Former Ontario MPP and former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources, Robert Hornung, President & CEO, Canadian Renewable Energy Association, Scott Dodd, Director of Business Development, Enbridge Gas Distribution, Monica Gattinger, Director of the Institute for Science, Society, and Policy, University of Ottawa, and Theresa Redburn, Senior Vice-President, Commercial and Corporate Development, Imperial Oil.

Fostering economic growth and development in Indigenous communities is crucial to reconciliation. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated systemic inequities and resulted in a steeper road to recovery for vulnerable populations across the country, but most acutely for Indigenous people.

This year’s Indigenous Economic Development Forum discussed  how we keep up the momentum on our collective efforts to expand economic opportunities with Indigenous communities across Canada.

Featuring participation from: The Hon. Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services, Tabatha Bull, President & CEO, Canadian Council for Aboriginal Services, Dawn Madahbee-Leach, Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Minerals Development and Vice-Chair of the National Indigenous Economic Development Board, Clayton Walker, President & CEO, Iron Ore Company of Canada, Tanis Peterson, Executive Director, Tshiuetin Railway, Crystal Smith, Chief Councillor, Haisla Nation, Susannah Pierce, Director, Corporate Affairs, LNG Canada, Byng Giraud, President, Sedgwick Consulting, Brian McGuigan, Manager, Indigenous Affairs, CAPP, Niilo Edwards, Executive Director, First Nations Major Projects Coalition, Sahir Khan, Executive Vice-President, IFSD at University of Ottawa and Alex Paterson, Executive Director, Canada 2020.

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, President & CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, Dax Dasilva, CEO of Lightspeed, Neil McLaughlin, Group Head, Personal & Commercial Banking at RBC and Sabrina Geremia, VP & Country Manager, Google Canada.

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 decolonization, including robust, structural changes informed by the answers to the question: How we can re-imagine Indigenous healthcare and healing?

On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with elder Alma Brooks of the Native Women’s Association of Canada.

Getting the Infrastructure Spend Right explores 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.

Speakers include the Hon. Catherine McKenna, Canada’s Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Jason Bordoff, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs, Advisor to the Obama Administration on energy and climate and Founding Director of the Center on Global Energy Policy, Carole Saab, Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Jacob Glick, Vice President of Public Policy at Telus, Craig Stewart, Vice President of Federal Affairs, Ottawa at the Insurance Bureau of Canada and Helaina Gaspard, Director of Governance & Institutions, Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa.