Episodes
Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Ep 464 - Addressing Renewable Energy’s Weak Link Guest: Matt Harper
Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Ep 464 - Addressing Renewable Energy’s Weak Link
Guest: Matt Harper
By Stuart McNish
Will vanadium redox flow batteries address an issue that has been the Achilles’ heel of renewable energy production – how to store the power generated by wind and solar power generation? The sector has challenges, such as the inability of renewable energy sources to produce consistent on-demand power needed to supply an ever-fluctuating need.
Matt Harper of Vancouver-based Invinity Energy Systems, a leader in battery storage systems says, “Yes. And in doing so, we will be filling a significant need in jurisdictions where there is a huge increase in the amount of renewable power being generated – power that needs a home until it is required for use: places like California, Australia and Alberta.”
We invited Matt Harper to join us for a Conversation That Matters about harnessing, storing, discharging and recharging renewable energy to meet the electricity needs of the future.
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
Join me Oct 3 for Conversations Live - A Vancouver Sun Town Hall: AI - Friend or Foe
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Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Ep 463 - Working Towards Ending Genocide Guest: Dr James Smith
Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Ep 463 - Working Towards Ending Genocide
Guest: Dr James Smith
By Stuart McNish
“More than 60% of the population of Rwanda was born after the genocide in 1994. They feel its effects, but have little knowledge of what caused it to happen,” says Dr. James Smith of Aegis Trust. The ravages of genocide tear familes, communities and societies apart. Smith adds, “It takes decades of reconciliation, peace-building and support to repair the damage done, and constant vigilance to ensure it does not happen again.”
Central to ensuring it doesn’t happen again is the need to help people who have no concept of peace or how to plan to start to envision a future. Dr. Smith says, “The victims of genocide spent years focused on the minutes ahead of them, relying on their wits to stay alive. Tomorrow, next week, next month never existed, so there was no need to plan or work toward a better future.”
Since 2008, Aegis’ peace-building education program has reached thousands of young Rwandans – a “Peace Education” program that is changing attitudes and behaviour among students and their communities.
We invited Dr James Smith from Aegis Trust to join us from Kigali, Rwanda for a Conversation That Matters about working toward the prediction, prevention and ultimate elimination of genocide.
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
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Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Ep 461 - Life in Canada after fleeing Syria Guest: Nour Suliman
Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Ep 461 - Life in Canada after fleeing Syria
Guest: Nour Suliman
By Stuart McNish
It’s been eight years since 25,000 Syrian refugees were resettled in Canada. Our country, in keeping with our commitment to the United Nations Commission for Refugees, is “obliged to protect refugees and treat them according to international standards.” Nour Suliman and her family fled to Canada after dodging bullets, landmines and barrel bombs in Syria.
Nour and her family were some of the 13 million Syrians forced from their homes. Some moved within their country; others fled fearing for their lives. In an earlier Conversations That Matter interview, Nour said, “17 of us would pack into my father’s car at a moment's notice. My grandparents, parents, aunt and uncle and my cousins all squeezed into the car to escape numerous deadly threats.”
It has now been 7 years since Nour and her family arrived in Canada. We invited Nour Suliman to join us for a Conversation That Matters to share how life in her new home is unfolding.
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
Join me Oct 3 for Conversations Live - A Vancouver Sun Town Hall: AI - Friend or Foe
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Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Ep 462 - How to reduce adverse drug reactions Guest: Amani Saini
Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Ep 462 - How to reduce adverse drug reactions
Guest: Amani Saini
By Stuart McNish
According to the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, “there are more than 2.2 million serious adverse drug reactions in hospitalized patients, causing over 106,000 deaths annually.” The British Pharmacological Society in a “Fatal Adverse Drug Reaction” global study says, “Adverse drug reactions are the most common cause of hospital admission and one of the top seven causes of death.”
In Canada, Amani Saini’s sister had a critical adverse drug reaction to an over-the-counter medicine. Her sister’s near-deadly ordeal led Amani to investigate the causes and rate of hospitalization and death in Canada. The numbers were disturbing. Amani says, “There are an estimated 200,000 adverse drug reactions in Canada. More than 10,000 people a year are dying and the cost to the healthcare system exceeds more than $13 billion.”
We invited Amani Saini to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the work and mission of Adverse Drug Reaction Canada and its mission to reduce ADRs.
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
Join me Oct 3 for Conversations Live - A Vancouver Sun Town Hall: AI - Friend or Foe
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Friday Aug 25, 2023
Ep 466 - Ozempic and Weight Loss Guest: Dr Devyn Parsons
Friday Aug 25, 2023
Friday Aug 25, 2023
Ep 466 - Ozempic and Weight Loss
Guest: Dr Devyn Parsons
By Stuart McNish
It has been called a wonder drug for its unintended benefits to anyone wrestling with obesity. Ozempic does for obese people what their bodies can no longer do – shedding weight. Dr. Devyn Parsons, an obesity specialist, says, “Your body locks onto what it believes is your ideal weight – that, being the highest weight of your life. And it doesn’t want to let go.”
According to a study published by the American Journal of Public Health, “the odds of returning to normal weight for a man with obesity is one in 210 and, for women, one in 124. The odds worsen as weight increases.” Dr Parsons adds, “For those who do lose weight, keeping it off is an even more difficult battle. That’s because your body reprograms itself to believe that your highest weight will ward off starvation.”
We invited obesity specialist Dr. Devyn Parsons to join us for a Conversation That Matters about obesity and Ozempic.
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
Join me Oct 3 for Conversations Live - A Vancouver Sun Town Hall: AI - Friend or Foe
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Friday Aug 25, 2023
Ep 465 - Seeing Street Kids’ Potential Guest: Krista Thompson
Friday Aug 25, 2023
Friday Aug 25, 2023
Ep 465 - Seeing Street Kids’ Potential
Guest: Krista Thompson
By Stuart McNish
“The reasons why children end up on the streets are complex. Often, their arrival represents an active decision on their part in response to serious rights violations at home,” says Moses Ogutu in “Under The Bridge: The Invisible Lives of Street Children.” Ogutu was a child of the street for five years. Today, he is an international business and trade lecturer at the African Leadership University and a 2017 Mandela Rhodes Scholar.
Ogutu’s life journey is proof that children who end up on the streets can and do rise above the challenges they face. Ogutu points out that homelessness among youth is a global problem and in each jurisdiction, the reason a child arrives on the street is individual and globally similar.
Krista Thompson, the past CEO of Vancouver’s Covenant House, agrees. “There are many successful intervention strategies that work to help young people who clearly have smarts and grit and problem-solving abilities to move forward toward a more positive future.” One such strategy is “Relentless Support,” a program that Covenant House offers.
We invited Krista Thompson to join us for a Conversation That Matters about ensuring that young people are not forgotten, are visible, and supported to grow, develop, and realize their potential.
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
Join me Oct 3 for Conversations Live - A Vancouver Sun Town Hall: AI - Friend or Foe
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Friday Jul 14, 2023
Ep 460 - Creating Sustainable Pet Food Guest: Christine Mallier
Friday Jul 14, 2023
Friday Jul 14, 2023
Ep 460 - Creating Sustainable Pet Food
Guest: Christine Mallier
By Stuart McNish
Cats and dogs are everywhere in Canada and they outnumber children under 14 by a big margin. According to the Canadian Animal Health Institute, there are 16.5 million cats and dogs in Canada. Statistics Canada, for 2021, puts the child population at 15.6% or 6.2 million. In other words, we love our pets.
There are myriad reasons why people love pets. One is they never grow up and move away. According to Mindpath Health, “Pets need you now, next week and years from now; they don’t ask for much and you’ll never have to pay for their college tuition.”
That love of pets led two friends in Chilliwack to create Petcurean, a company committed to producing premium food for pets. The idea took off and sales are soaring, not only because the food is nutritious and delicious, but also because the company is committed to sustainable agricultural practices.
We invited Christine Mallier, the sustainability manager at Petcurean, to join us for a Conversation That Matters about caring for our pets and our planet.
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
Join me Oct 3 for Conversations Live - A Vancouver Sun Town Hall: AI - Friend or Foe
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Friday Jul 07, 2023
Ep 459- British Columbia’s economy is a question mark Guest: Jock Finlayson
Friday Jul 07, 2023
Friday Jul 07, 2023
Ep 459- British Columbia’s economy is a question mark
Guest: Jock Finlayson
By Stuart McNish
British Columbia is but a speck on the global GDP map. “We are 0.3% – in other words, not very significant,” says economist Jock Finlayson. He goes on to point out that our place in the world isn’t about to change. In fact, it’s going to slip. “We are entering a lost decade of real per-capita GDP growth, which means growing real salaries will be challenging.”
It’s not all doom and gloom, however. BC does have some strengths. Finlayson says, “Steady in-migration is creating a positive consumer faced economic setting. We have an educated workforce. There are positive signs in the life sciences and tech sectors. BC has a strong and exceptionally diverse natural resource economy and, importantly, we are the gateway to Asia.”
That’s the good news on the other side of the balance sheet. Finlayson points out, “We are a long way from the economic, political and financial power centres of Canada. The cost of housing is staggering. BC has the highest household debt burden in Canada. When it comes to head offices, there are few and NIMBYism makes getting anything done difficult.”
We invited Jock Finlayson to join us for a Conversation That Matters about BC’s economy – now and for the foreseeable future.
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
Join me Oct 3 for Conversations Live - A Vancouver Sun Town Hall: AI - Friend or Foe
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Friday Jul 07, 2023
Ep 458 - Vaccinating against rejection Guest: Dr Eli Joseph
Friday Jul 07, 2023
Friday Jul 07, 2023
Ep 458 - Vaccinating against rejection
Guest: Dr Eli Joseph
By Stuart McNish
It is common to be intimidated by rejection. The thought of failing or getting turned down for an opportunity that we have always wanted can influence the way we make genuine decisions toward our goals. Moreover, the overall experience of getting rejected can negatively affect our self-esteem.
Dr Eli Joseph says, “You can get over this fear of rejection! In fact, you can become immune to it.” Based on his own experience of thousands upon thousands of rejections, he says, “I emerged from the ordeal of rejection stronger than I was before.” In a sense, he was following Mithridates’ example of dosing poison to become immune to poison.
Dr Joseph points out that “the total of human accomplishment is rooted in the fact that everything that has been developed and learned was through trial and error.” According to him, “Failure and rejection are on a continuum; either can stop you in your tracks or they can motivate you to go further, try harder, become stronger and immunize you against undermining your self esteem.”
We invited Dr Eli Joseph, the author of “The Perfect Rejection Resume,” to join us for a Conversation That Matters about embracing your bumpy, rejection-laden path through life.
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
Join me Sept 19 for Conversations Live - A Vancouver Sun Town Hall: AI - Friend or Foe
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Friday Jul 07, 2023
Ep 457 - Can Fish be Farmed on Land? Guest: Tony Pantages
Friday Jul 07, 2023
Friday Jul 07, 2023
Ep 457 - Can Fish be Farmed on Land?
Guest: Tony Pantages
By Stuart McNish
In February 2023, federal Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray announced that licenses for 15 open-net Atlantic salmon farms around British Columbia's Discovery Island will not be renewed – a planned cancellation that has now been delayed in large part due to concerns raised by indigenous leaders, who point to problems associated with moving fish farms on shore.
Norway has generated a depth of knowledge and experience in the field of land-based salmon farming in state-of-the-art recirculating aquaculture systems and is leading the way, including identifying challenges. According to Norwegian SciTech News, “ land-based fish farming is not free of challenges. The sector suffers from mass mortalities and fish meat tainted with an earthy flavour because the biological conditions in land-based facilities are difficult to control and very young fish are sensitive to poor water quality. In the worst cases, many thousands of smolt can die relatively suddenly, which can lead to major losses.”
BC-based Octaform has developed a land-based construction system that is addressing the issues associated with land-based fish farms in Norway and around the world, and is poised to offer the same technology and construction methods to the sector in BC. Tony Pantages, the CEO of Octaform, says, “We have a technology that addresses the issues related to land-based fish farming.”
We invited Tony Pantages to join us for a Conversation That Matters about protecting wild salmon through the use of new tank materials and construction materials and processes.
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
Join me Sept 19 for Conversations Live - A Vancouver Sun Town Hall
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