UNCOMMONS

Nate is joined on this episode by Dr. Isaac Bogoch for a discussion on Neglected Tropical Diseases, global health equity, pandemic prevention and preparedness and his advocacy during the pandemic.

He’s a professor of medicine at U of T, an infectious diseases specialist with a focus on tropical diseases and HIV, and he became very public facing in his work and regular commentary through the COVID pandemic.

Click here for more info on NTDs

& click here to learn more about Nate’s pandemic prevention & preparedness bill

On this episode, Nate is joined by Jennifer Keesmaat for a discussion around housing, transit, and the roles that each level of government can and should play. 

Jennifer is the former Chief Planner for the City of Toronto, she’s worked around the world in urban design, and she’s currently a partner at and co-founder of Markee Developments, doing the work of building affordable housing. 

It is past time for all levels of government to deliver on housing and transit. If we don’t, we will see productivity and generational fairness challenges only further exacerbated.

Now, we have a mayoral election ahead of us, and an opportunity for greater ambition here in Toronto. At the provincial and federal levels, we have upcoming budgets, and an opportunity to revisit and reinvest in our National Housing Strategy, for example.

But as I think about Liberal and progressive politics more broadly, we have to send a strong message that we are ready to build and especially to build housing and transit. There is no reason for us to cede that ground to anyone else. 

On this episode, a conversation with former principal secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and current Eurasia group Vice Chair Gerry Butts. 

During his time in the Prime Minister’s office, his work included overseeing economic policy, the negotiation of the Paris climate accord, and the creation of Canada’s first national climate change plan, which included an economy-wide price on carbon. 

Currently, his work focuses on advising global financial firms, educational institutions, and philanthropists on strategic investments in climate mitigation and resilience. 

Nate is joined on this episode by Timmins Mayor, Michelle Boileau. 

First elected as a councillor in 2018, she’s a born and raised northerner, a proud Franco-Ontarian, she has a range of different experiences in the post-secondary sector, and at only 34, she represents thoughtful generational change, with a focus on serious long-term impacts rather than short-term election cycles.

And while she also ran as a federal Liberal candidate in the 2019 election, she has taken a positive and non-partisan approach to her work.

This is the second in a series we’ll continue, focused on the civic leadership we need. Our last episode with Mayor Amy Martin covered some of the issues faced in southwestern rural Ontario, and this conversation with Mayor Boileau is squarely focused on the needs of her northern municipality. 

Nate is joined on this episode by Norfolk County Mayor Amy Martin. 

Mayor Martin is the kind of Mayor we could all use more of. She’s passionate, smart, kind, and she’s driven to make a difference in her home community. She served as a counsellor starting in 2018, and she defeated an incumbent mayor this past fall. She is also a product of Norfolk County herself, and at the age of 34, she represents the generational change we very much need with an approach to politics that we very much need. She comes to politics with experience in the nonprofit sector, including stints with the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the MS Society. 

This is the first in a series of podcasts we plan to do with new civic leaders to hear about the issues in different communities and to highlight a new generation of municipal leadership. 

Be sure to check back as we continue to post new episodes in this series

Nate is joined by Dr. Bob Bell to talk about the key challenges facing our healthcare system and what we should make of the proposed expansion of for-profit delivery and surgical procedures proposed by Premier Ford.

Dr. Bell is a former surgeon. He served as Ontario’s Deputy Minister of Health from 2014 to 2018. And he’s held senior leadership positions at a number of healthcare organizations, including as president and CEO of the University Health Network.

On the healthcare file federally, the prime minister will be hosting the premiers on February 7 to make headway toward new health accords.  We’ve been clear at the federal level that our dollars will come with strings attached, including five priority areas. 

1. Reducing backlogs and supporting our healthcare workers. 

2. Enhancing access to family health services.

3. Close to my heart, improving mental health and substance use services.
 
4. Helping Canadians age with dignity and closer to home. 

5.  using health data and digital health more effectively. 

Nate is joined by Benjamin Perrin to discuss his criticisms of the Conservative Party’s renewed call for a war on drugs but also this Liberal government’s slow and incremental action in the face of an overwhelming crisis. 

Ben advocates for bringing a compassionate, evidence-based approach to pressing criminal justice issues like the treatment of victims of crime and offenders, the opioid crisis and reimagining criminal justice.

Ben is a professor at the University of British Columbia, Peter A. Allard School of Law. He served as a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada, and was the lead justice and public safety advisor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper from 2012-13. 

Nate is joined on this episode by Catherine Mckenna, former minister of environment and climate and former minister of infrastructure and communities. She is currently the Chair of the United Nations High-Level Expert Group on the Net-Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities.

The discussion covers a range of topics at federal and provincial levels but primarily focuses on a report from her UN working group, which calls out greenwashing and recommends radical transparency and accountability to make net zero pledges a reality. 

Nate is joined by Dr. Ladan Boroumand to discuss the courageous and sustained uprisings in Iran following the death of Mahsa Jina Amini.

Dr. Ladan Boroumand is the co-founder of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy in Iran, a nongovernmental organization that promotes human rights awareness through education and information dissemination, including by way of the online human rights library Omid memorial, a website that documents human rights abuses committed by the Islamic Republic and memorializes its victims. In addition, she serves on the Steering Committee of the World Movement for Democracy.

Nate is joined by Dr. Tara Kiran a physician and medical researcher and professor who, over the last decade, has led a program of research evaluating the impact of primary care reforms on quality in primary care in Ontario. 

Dr. Kiran is currently leading the Our Care project, including a 15 min research survey to inform a patient perspective on the future of primary care.

As provinces look to improve healthcare and as a debate between provinces and the federal government around healthcare heats up, it is important that we consider the gaps in the existing system to improve care across the province.