UNCOMMONS

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 Wallenberg Centre’s current work and human rights concerns around the world, including China’s genocide against the Uyghurs, Saudi Arabia’s mistreatment of Raif Badawi, Venezuela’s systematic use of torture, and more.

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 need for stronger action, and the risks parents and educators need to consider upon their return.

Professor Tuite is an infectious disease epidemiologist and mathematical modeler at the University of Toronto’s school of public health.

Professor Greer is a Canada Research Chair in Population Disease Modeling with appointments at both the University of Guelph and the University of Toronto, and she previously held scientific positions in the Centre for Communicable Diseases and Infection Control at the Public Health Agency of Canada.

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 new and innovative approaches if we are going to disrupt the current trend of drug overdoses impacting communities across Canada. Merely arresting individuals for simple possession of illicit drugs has proven to be ineffective. Research from other countries who have boldly chosen to take a health rather than an enforcement-based approach to problematic drug use have demonstrated positive results.”

You can read the report here.

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. 

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 the Intrepid Podcast focused on national security law and you can follow her on Twitter here. 

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, Nate and Jaime have a conversation about reconciliation, economic racism, and UNDRIP. 

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 much better, and decriminalization is a logical next step.

In another area of consensual crime, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police has now joined public health experts across our country to call for the decriminalization of the possession of all drugs for personal use. The status quo, in their words, “has proven to be ineffective.”

On this episode, Nate is joined by Richard Elliott, the executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, to discuss sex, drugs, and evidence-based policy.

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 serving in parliament. 

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.

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 Parliamentary Black Caucus.

Read the full statement here.