Category: News

Crisis to Resilience is a new Canada 2020 virtual series exploring how we can build a more resilient future for all Canadians.

Listen to our first episode featuring the Hon. Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier of Ontario and Ontario Minister of Health, speaking with Canada 2020’s Alex Paterson, about Ontario’s response to the pandemic, what we’ve learnt, and what the future might look like.

It’s election day in America and to mark the occasion, Jodi Butts speaks with internationally acclaimed American painter and sculptor, Eric Fischl, the artist behind the controversial sculpture, Tumbling Woman, inspired by the events of 9/11. Art has forever been a risky endeavour. The artist can never control how any person reacts to their creation. That reaction though — whether positive or negative — can reveal the soul of the beholder and a nation.

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

When America votes for its President, Canada tends to catch election fever but, with all that’s at stake this time around, it feels like a matter of duty to pay attention.

On this episode of @Risk, Jodi Butts sits down with former U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Bruce Heyman, and former cultural envoy, Vicki Heyman, to discuss the risks on the U.S. presidential ballot, as well as what it all may mean for the Canada – U.S. relationship.

To read the full transcript of this episode, click here

On Tuesday, November 3rd, Americans will head to the polls in the country’s 59th election. After four years in power, Donald Trump’s presidency is on the ballot and on the ropes—things are not looking good for the incumbent.

But will the US election be free and fair? For years, Trump has been working to undermine the integrity of American electoral institutions. He has refused to say whether he’ll recognize the results of the vote. He has attacked the postal service and postal balloting. He has made unfounded and incorrect claims of voter fraud. When stacked alongside gerrymandering and long waits to vote, there are more than a few reasons for concern.

On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Adam Gopnik, staff writer with the New Yorker and author of, among many other books, A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism.

On this episode of @Risk, Jodi Butts sits down with Cass Sunstein, bestselling author of Too Much Information, Understanding What You Don’t Want to Know, and Carl Bergstrom, co-author of Calling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World.

There are lots of salesmen trying to convince us of miracle cures for the things that could kill us, while couching their misleading statements in superfluous mathematical and scientific jargon. There is also a ton of accurate information out there which can confound and overwhelm us without trying. Sunstein and Bergstrom provide us with the tools to better process and understand the data that feeds our risk decision-making and the risks created by too much information and too much B.S.

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

Risk is all of our business but some decisions really bring it home. On this episode of @Risk, Jodi Butts speaks with four parents about their decision to return their children to in-person learning in public schools.

Hear how these parents carried out their risk decision-making
responsibilities during a September unlike any other. We explore their policy ideas for what could have made the decision easier and better informed, and consider how to move towards a safer, more equitable and better functioning public education system.

Over 500,000 people die around the world each year from drug use, and the vast majority of those deaths are related to opioids. Thousands of the lives lost are Canadian lives. The old ways of thinking about, legislating around, and policing drug use have failed. New ways of thinking about drug policy, including an emphasis on safe supply, destigmatization, and treatment are ascendent. But more must be done.

Decriminalizing drugs reduces harm and saves lives. That’s what the evidence says. The policy is supported by the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction, and many, many others. So, should Canada decriminalize drugs?

On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Scott Bernstein, Director of Policy with the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.

In Canada, the opioid crisis has killed thousands of people and continues to claim more lives each and every day. In August, British Columbia marked its third straight month with over 170 deaths by overdose – and its fifth-straight month with over 100 lives lost. In Canada’s westernmost province, the crisis has been, by far, deadlier than covid-19.

While there is no panacea for the crisis, there are policies that can reduce harm and save lives. Those policies require political will and cooperation across federal, provincial, and municipal jurisdictions. To date, these political efforts have been slow and insufficient. More must be done, and done quickly. To better understand what that “more” is we must ask: How can we solve the opioid crisis?

On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Travis Lupick, a Vancouver-based, award-winning journalist and author of Fighting for Space: How a Group of Drug Users Transformed One City’s Struggle with Addiction (2018).