Conversations That Matter

Ep 432 - A Wicked Problem Guest: Douglas Todd

Dec 30, 2022

Ep 432 - A Wicked Problem

Guest: Douglas Todd

 

In his book, “White Angel,”  John MacLachlan Gray describes the Vancouver of the 1920s as “a dirty, smelly, corrupt hellhole.” Anyone who passes through the Downtown Eastside of the city today might wonder if he was referring to 2020 – an unfortunate consideration because, in 2008, then-mayor Gregor Roberstson promised to end homelessness.

 

When Robertson left office, the Vancouver Sun reported that “tent-city organizers said that they ‘savour Gregor’s resignation and the humiliating end of Vision Vancouver.” When he left office, there were 2,181 homeless people in Vancouver. Today, it is difficult to know the exact number because for the second year in a row, the City of Vancouver cancelled its homeless count.  No matter the number, the situation is worse.

 

As Douglas Todd, a senior Vancouver Sun journalist, wrote in a recent opinion piece, “It’s impossible to find someone who doesn’t feel compassion for the residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.” With that said, the situation gets worse year over year. Todd asks, “Why has so much philanthropy and community activism – and arguably billions of dollars of government and charitable money – had such minimal effect? Why does compassion appear to be failing?”

 

We invited Douglas Todd to join us for a Conversation That Matters about how we got to now in the Downtown Eastside and how to figure out where to go.

 

Join me Jan 17  for Conversations Live - A Vancouver Sun Town Hall with Ian Anderson formerly of Transmountain,  Chief Crystal Smith, Haisla Nation, Mark Jacquard, SFU, Ross Beaty, Alterra Power, and Fortis CEO Roger Dall'Antonia.

 

If you love communications and speech writing you'll gain valuable insights from Presidential SpeechWriting which I narrated.

Ep 431 - The Magic, Mystery and Power of Words Guest: Jonathan Berkowitz

Ep 431 - The Magic, Mystery and Power of Words

Guest: Jonathan Berkowitz

By Stuart McNish

 

Words are magical things. Words, when spoken out loud in performance, can be  and often are like music. When rhythm, timber, pitch and pace are spoken aloud, they are like notes of music. Words – whether spoken, read or thought – ignite a complex series of neural circuits that bring meaning to words.

 

Words can be and are fun unto themselves. Pulling together a combination of words – like “cantankerous old curmudgeon” – oddly and in a contradictory way, is fun to do. Just ask Jonathan Berkowitz, the author of “The Whirl of Words and Tales from the Word Guy,” who says, “Oh yes, they are!” His love of words, he says, “comes from a home where “life was salted with stories and peppered with puns, each delivered with relish.”

 

He goes on to say, “Words are a part of every language.” For the purposes of this piece, the focus is on English, a global and welcoming language. Berkowitz, in a chapter of his book, called “The Birds and The Bees: Where do words come from?”, said the answer is, “English words come from everywhere, they are created, emerge, are adopted and liberated.” 

 

We invited Jonathan Berkowitz to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the magic, the mystery, and power of words.

Ep 430 - How we can Save Plastic Guest: Bob Masterson

Ep 430 - How we can Save Plastic

Guest:  Bob Masterson

 

Plastics are ubiquitous. You can’t go anywhere without them. Your kitchen, for example, is filled with them and most likely you don’t realize how much a part of your life they are. Turn on a light switch – the switch, the face plate, the coating around the wires are all made from plastic. Turn on the tap and drain the sink, and it is plastic that delivers the water and takes it away.  Not to mention, all of the wraps on foods that are in your fridge or pantry. And then there are the drink containers and sauces.

 

Bob Masterson, the President and CEO of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada says, “The overwhelming majority of plastic products last for decades because they were designed that way.” He also says, “Far too much plastic waste ends up in landfills and as litter and in water – and the industry is committed to reducing that waste.”

 

The industry association has launched a campaign working with producers, recyclers and organizations to repurpose plastic called “Save Plastic.” Masterson says, “It is a call to action – a call for a meaningful change.” He goes on to say, “Almost $8 billions’ worth of plastic waste is sent to landfills – waste that can be recuperated.”

 

We invited Bob Masterson of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada to join us for a Conversation That Matters about turning plastics into a renewable resource.

Ep 429 - Sounding the Ambulance Alarm Guest: Troy Clifford

Ep 429 - Sounding the Ambulance Alarm

Guest: Troy Clifford

By Stuart McNish

 

Imagine that a loved one in your family has fallen and hurt themselves. They can’t move. You call 9-1-1 and ask for an ambulance to be sent to your home – at least, that’s what you thought was the best way to care for your cherished family member. “Now, you can’t help but wonder if an ambulance will arrive,” says Troy Clifford, the Provincial President of the Ambulance Paramedics and Dispatchers of British Columbia union.

 

From the streets of Vancouver to Valemount and everywhere in between, calling for an ambulance and having one arrive in a timely and life saving manner is becoming iffy. Clifford says, “It’s the service that is on life support and we’re sounding the alarm.”  Simply put, paramedics are in the business of helping people when they are having one of the worst days of their lives.

 

Clifford says, “It’s the system that is failing at the bureaucratic and operational levels; it’s not because our members can’t treat patients.”  The union says over 30% of staff are either off work getting treatment for PTSD or still working while traumatized and seeking treatment. The union is asking for public support, by asking you to go to SoundingTheAlarm.ca.

 

We invited Troy Clifford of the BC Ambulance Paramedics and Dispatchers Union to join us for a Conversation That Matter about one of our most precious public safety and healthcare services.

Ep 428 - HIV/AIDS is still a Pandemic Guest: Dr Julio Montaner

Ep 428 - HIV/AIDS is still a Pandemic

Guest: Dr Julio Montaner

By Stuart McNish

 

In 1996, Julio Montaner hosted the Vancouver International AIDS Conference and, at the same time, shared the HAART antiretroviral treatment that he and a team of committed scientists were pioneering in Vancouver. Since then, he has pioneered the concept of Treatment as Prevention (TasP). Dr Montaner was the first person to advocate for the expansion of HAART coverage to curb the impact on the HIV/AIDS pandemic and to decrease progression to AIDS and death.

 

Dr Montaner says, “It’s more than that – the antiretroviral treatment is also decreasing HIV transmission”. So effective have been Dr Montaners efforts that TasP has been implemented with great success in British Columbia and it is progressively been embraced in countries around the world; in 2013, it was fully incorporated into the World Health Organization’s Consolidated ARV Guidelines.

 

We invited Dr Julio Montaner to join us for a Conversation That Matter about HIV/AIDS, where we are in treatment, where we need to go and what roadblocks still need to be removed.

Ep 427 - Working with Artificial Intelligence Guest: Thomas Davenport

Ep 427 - Working with Artificial Intelligence

Guest: Thomas Davenport

By Stuart McNish

 

“The world does not lack for management ideas [sic]. Thousands of researchers, practitioners, and other experts produce tens of thousands of articles, books, papers, posts, and podcasts each year. But only a scant few promise to truly move the needle on practice, and fewer still date to reach into the future of what management will become. It is this rare breed of idea – meaningful to practice, grounded in evidence, and built for the future – that we seek to present,” says Robert Holland, the Editor-in-chief of MIT Sloan Management Review.

 

“Working with AI, Real Stories of Human-Machine Collaboration” endeavours to show that the needle can and will move through the addition of artificial intelligence to the complex work of today’s world. Thomas H. Davenport, one of the co-authors of the book says, “There is no shortage of commentary on what artificial intelligence will do to human jobs. It’s easy to find a multiplicity of predictions, prescriptions, or denunciations. It is not so easy, however, to find descriptions of how people work day-to-day with smart machines.”

 

We invited Thomas Davenport to join us for a Conversation That Matters about our emerging and ever-expanding relationship with a technology that scares a wide range of people, including Elon Musk and Bill Gates.

Ep 426 - Can Farming Survive Gov Policy? Guest: Kritjan Hebert

Ep 426 - Can Farming Survive Gov Policy?

Guest: Kritjan Hebert

By Stuart McNish

 

Farming is a risky business and it’s even riskier when bad government policies undermine good farming and agricultural practices. Kristjan Hebert says, “I can deal with a bad year, a bad crop, and even Mother Nature, but I can’t insure against bad policy.” He is speaking to the federal government’s plan to cut back on the amount of nitrogen Canada emits by use of fertilizers.

 

That plan would see a 30% reduction in emissions from fertilizers – a plan that farmers warn will result in a dramatic reduction in food production coupled with a dramatic increase in the cost of food. Kristjan Hebert says, “Villainizing farmers is counterproductive because farmers are committed to protecting the environment.” He points to the fact that farmers invest heavily in scientific practices in soil testing, crop rotation, nutrient management, and chemical applications.

 

Adding to that, during the crop rotation process many farmers grow pulses that naturally return nitrogen to the soil. Hebert says, “It all adds up to a care for the land and the environment and farmers do that because the land is their lifeblood.”

 

We invited Kristjan Hebert to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the myriad ways in which agriculture benefits the environment and how farmers are constantly striving to improve best practices.

Ep 425 - Is Breast Cancer Research Flawed? Guest: Paula Gordon

Ep 425 - Is Breast Cancer Research Flawed?

Guest: Paula Gordon

By Stuart McNish

 

If you are a woman in your 40s, don’t worry about a mammogram. At least that’s what Canadian research has been saying since the 1980s. Dr. Paula Gordon, a renowned radiology researcher and clinical professor at the University of British Columbia, says, “The research is wrong!” In a commentary paper that was published in the Journal of Medical Screening, Gordon and colleagues point out the Canadian National Breast Screening Study classified women incorrectly.

 

Gordon says, “Two trial groups were created – one group where women were given a mammogram and other not. The intent was to determine if a mammogram in women under 40 would reduce the likelihood of death.

 

Here’s the problem, according to Gordon: “All of the women had a breast examination before the program started. And to complicate matters, the women with existing breast lumps were placed in the study group that would receive a mammogram.”

 

The result was that the mammogram group saw a higher mortality rate. The women were supposed to be randomly selected, but they weren’t. As a result, the disproportionate death rate diminished the apparent value of a mammogram. Those results led many provincial governments to not fund nor recommend mammograms for women under 50.

 

We invited Dr. Paula Gordon to join us for a Conversation That Matters about providing women with the best possible information about their health.

Ep 424 - YVR - Gateway Airport Guest: Tamara Vrooman

Ep 424 - YVR - Gateway Airport

Guest: Tamara Vrooman

By Stuart McNish

 

Anyone who passes through Vancouver’s YVR airport recognizes that the facility – like the city, the region and the province it services – is beautiful. So many other airports around the world are utilitarian structures designed to move people with no regard for the aesthetics that make people feel as if they are in a special place.  Tamara Vrooman, the CEO of YVR agrees: “It’s spectacular!”

 

YVR is not only beautiful – it's functional as well. Tourism and cargo facilitate 20.2 billion dollars in total economic output and 10.4 billion in total GDP, along with 1.4 billion in revenue to the government. More than 26,000 people work at the airport and another 126,000 indirect jobs are linked to the airport. In other words, YVR is a big deal.

 

The airport is also a vital part of British Columbia’s role as a gateway between North America and Asia, and North America and Europe. Going forward, the airport’s 2037 Master Plan envisions “strengthening the non-passenger side of the business by putting land assets into productive use in cargo and logistics and activating digital opportunities.”

 

We invited Tamara Vrooman, the CEO of YVR, to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the airport’s role as a diverse global hub.

Ep 423 - Canada’s Gateway Port Guest: Duncan Wilson

Ep 423 - Canada’s Gateway Port

Guest: Duncan Wilson

By Stuart McNish

 

Dock workers, truck drivers, forklift operators, tug boat deck hands, ships pilots, and crane operators rarely make the news. In fact, the only time we hear about them is when, in rare cases, something stops working the way it does 99.9% of the time.

 

Duncan Wilson, the VP of Environment and External Affairs at the Port of Vancouver says, “These are the people whose work makes our lives work. They are the lifeblood of the country, the province, the region and our city and they are so good at their jobs that sometimes that gets forgotten.” While their work has an impact in Europe, Asia and North America, it is work that doesn’t sparkle the way high tech does, so it is easily overlooked.

 

Wilson says, “The Port of Vancouver is a shining jewel on the west coast of North America. No other port is as diversified nor has a gateway network like Vancouver.” The Port is so vital to Canada that it generates close to 1% of the national GDP.  The Port employs more than 40,000 people and it is linked to more than 100,000 supply chain jobs.

 

We invited Duncan Wilson to join us for a Conversation that Matters about the role and value of our gateway port.