Conversations That Matter

Skills and Trades in an A.I. World Guest: Ajay Patel

Skills and Trades in an A.I. World

Guest: Ajay Patel, President of Vancouver Community College

By Stuart McNish

 

As the world learns to adjust to and adapt to artificial intelligence, one of the key questions parents and those entering the workforce are asking themselves is, “What professions will survive? In other words, what should I study to ensure I can be assured work now and into the future?” Ajay Patel, the President of Vancouver Community College answers: “Skills and trades. A.I. can’t mimic the uniquely human skills needed for, in these fields.”

 

As the world adjusts to the role of A.I. in the workplace, Vancouver Community College has pivoted to integrating its course load to ensure students are equipped to utilize A.I. in careers that need human skills, dexterity, and judgement. “We’re not afraid of A.I.,” says Patel. “We’re embracing it and ensuring our students are the best equipped to meet the needs of the market.”

 

We invited Ajay Patel to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the vital role community colleges are filling in equipping the workforce of the future.

 

You can see the interview here https://www.conversationsthatmatter.ca/

Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca

Fentanyl: No One is Immune Guest: Kevin deBruyckere

Fentanyl: No One is Immune

Guest: Kevin deBruyckere, former head of federal policing in British Columbia

By Stuart McNish

 

“In 2013, in my role as Head of Federal Policing in British Columbia, I started to see an increase in drug-related deaths attributed to a powder form of fentanyl being delivered by mail,” says Kevin deBruyckere. “On May 23rd 2014, it hit home for my family – my 22-year-old son lost his life and our family became a victim of the fentanyl epidemic.”

 

Over the next decade, more than 16,000 people have lost their lives due to overdoses in British Columbia. Vancouver is at the epicentre of this epidemic. “Unless there is a significant reframing of response to the drug crisis, we can’t beat it. It’s not a law enforcement challenge or issue only – it’s much larger than that,” says deBruyckere.

 

“This is a public health issue; it’s a housing issue; it’s an educational issue; it’s a prevention issue,” says deBruychkere. The costs to take on the drug epidemic are significant. The costs of not having a coordinated long-term strategy are much larger. “People are dying, families are being destroyed, and all of society is paying a price,” says deBruyckere.

 

We invited Kevin deBruyckere to join us for a Conversation That Matters about fentanyl and the devastating impact it is having.

 

You can see the interview here https://www.conversationsthatmatter.ca/

Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca

C-5: Build, Baby, Build! Guest: Radha Curpen

 C-5: Build, Baby, Build!

Guest: Radha Curpen, McMillan LLP

By Stuart McNish

 

In an odd way, it’s as though Prime Minister Mark Carney has borrowed a card from President Donald Trump when he pushed through Bill C-5. The Prime Minister announced the concept of the bill on June 6 and twenty days later, it passed in the House and Senate. That’s lightyears faster than the U.S. President's passing of his “Big Beautiful Bill.”

 

Bill C-5 has been framed as a national plan to “remove federal barriers to interprovincial trade and improve labour mobility.” Radha Curpen of McMillan LLP says, “Bill C-5 also sends a signal that Canada is open for business. It is a bill designed to improve efficiencies in approval processes. The biggest question is, will it also respect indigenous rights?”

 

We invited Radha Curpen of McMillan LLP to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the upsides and the concerns about Bill C-5.

 

You can see the interview here https://www.conversationsthatmatter.ca/

Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca

Repurposing the Site C Work Camp Guest: Mukhtar Latif

Repurposing the Site C Work Camp

Guest: Mukhtar Latif, CEO of Pomegranate Housing Consultancy

By Stuart McNish

 

“We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create Canada’s premier centre for excellence in mental health and addictions in [British Columbia]’s northeast,” says Mukhtar Latif of Pomegranate Housing Consultancy. The North Wind Wellness Centre Society and Treaty 8 First Nations have put forward a plan to repurpose the Site C workers’ camp into a permanent asset that will deliver transformational healthcare services.

 

The worker accommodation facility was built to house 1,600 workers and it came with a wide range of services and utilities.  Now that the work of building the dam is complete, the site is about to be decommissioned. “This facility will address a more than 6 month waitlist for people needing treatment in Northern BC,” says Latif.

 

If successful in their bid to have BC Hydro endorse the plan to repurpose the site, the benefits are multidimensional. “The centre will generate new treatments and best practices, train more than 200 people in critical healthcare roles, [and] save the healthcare system more than $30 million,” says Latif.

 

We invited Mukhtar Latif to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the innovative plan to reuse the Site C workcamp as a place of healing.

 

You can see the interview here https://www.conversationsthatmatter.ca/

Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca

Tech Entrepreneurship in British Columbia Guest: Shawn Johnston

 Tech Entrepreneurship in British Columbia

Guest: Shawn Johnston

By Stuart McNish

 

In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, the journey of building a tech company from scratch in British Columbia can be both exhilarating and daunting. Shawn Johnston, a serial tech company founder, knows the ups and downs better than anyone. “I’ve had my face pressed against the glass more than once. That’s when you stare into the financial abyss and can’t see a way out, but then you do.”

 

Survival in the hostile world of start-ups and, in particular, tech start-ups demand an ability to focus, refocus, and refocus again and again and again. “Since 2010, I’ve had to reinvent myself so many times I can’t recall all the ways I’ve had to do it,” says Johnston. “I redefined and refocused so many times because it’s the only way to find the path forward. You simply have to stay on task and never give up.”

 

The founder of Forge and Smith, a web design and web design agency, saw a new opportunity and launched another new company, Refoundry, a low-code themeless site builder for Wordpress. Johnston says, “I saw a need and decided I could fill it for companies that needed a faster [and] lower-cost path for their customer’s presence, and it’s a hit!”

 

We invited Shawn Johnston of Refoundry to join us for a Conversation That Matters about how you find the inner strength and discipline to keep going in the world of tech entrepreneurialism.

 

You can see the interview here https://www.conversationsthatmatter.ca/

Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca

The Odds of You Being You Guest: Ali Binazir

The Odds of You Being You

Guest: Ali Binazir

By Stuart McNish

 

About four and a half billion years ago, Earth’s Hadean eon was undergoing significant geological and chemical changes. Evidence suggests that the Earth’s first crust was forming and the beginnings of life were lining up. Fast-forward 3.8 billion years and biological life started to emerge shortly after the formation of the oceans.

 

It was a turbulent time in Earth’s history and the evidence suggests that human intelligence emerged a few million years ago. “If you consider everything that had to happen to allow for human life to emerge from the biological soup, the odds worked against it ever happening,” says Dr. Ali Binazir, the author of “Are you a Miracle? On the Probability of You Being Born” and “Five Hidden Love Questions.”

 

Now add in the odds of you being born you – not your brother, not your sister, not your cousin. You.  Binazir says, “When you factor in the 155,000 generations of your family that preceded you, the odds are one in 400 quadrillion against you being born [as] you.” In other words, you are a miracle.

 

We invited Dr. Ali Binazir to join us for a Conversation That Matters about embracing the magic and miracle of being born you.

 

You can see the interview here https://www.conversationsthatmatter.ca/

Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca

Mark Carney so far Guest: Don Stickney

Mark Carney so far

Guest: Don Stickney

By Stuart McNish

 

On April 28, 2025, Mark Carney won enough seats to claim victory and form government. He’s three seats short of a majority government in a parliament that won’t defeat him. There is no coalition that will rise up and pass a motion of non-confidence. He immediately went to work as a Prime Minister with confidence that he could rule with authority – and he has done so.

 

Much to the surprise of many, he quickly cherry-picked the Conservative Party’s platform, incorporated it with his vision, and went to work. Don Stickney, the founder of Playbook, was in Ottawa recently and wrote, “I went in assuming the usual political conversations and measured optimism. Instead, I found myself connecting with Canadians from across the country who were genuinely energized about what is happening right now – premiers collaborating across party lines, federal leadership stepping up on a focused economic strategy, and nearly universal support for increased defense spending.”

 

Stickney says, “Six months ago, I would never have predicted any of these outcomes. The political landscape felt fragmented, the economic challenges overwhelming, and consensus on major issues seemed impossible.” 

 

We invited Don Stickney to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the unexpected mindset and action changes he witnessed on Parliament Hill.

You can see the interview here https://www.conversationsthatmatter.ca/

Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca

Why Happiness Matters Guest: John Helliwell

Ep 563 - Why Happiness Matters

Guest: John Helliwell

By Stuart McNish

 

“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin hit the charts in 1988 and it soared to number one on the Billboard charts. It was the first a-cappella song to hit number one. Why? “Because it struck a chord with people; it lifted their spirits and got them bopping along,” says John F. Helliwell, the author of the World Happiness Report.

 

Helliwell says, “Happiness is an enduring state of mind that consists of the capacity to experience pleasure on a daily life basis, coupled with the ability to enrich one's life and the lives of others.” Generosity is one of the six elements of a happy life, Helliwell says. “The others include a sense of purpose, a positive mind set, physical and financial well-being, along with positive relationships.”

 

The good news is, should you take the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire and not be happy with the outcome, it is within your power to make changes that can improve your happiness quotatant. Helliwell says, “It starts with wanting to make a change and that starts the process of re-wiring your brain. A daily commitment to looking for the upside has huge upsides in mind set and health.”

 

We invited John F. Helliwell to join us for a Conversation That Matters about why happiness matters in the moment and over the course of your life.

 

You can see the interview here https://www.conversationsthatmatter.ca/

Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca

Indigenous Tourism’s Many Benefits Guest: Chyanne Trenholm

Indigenous Tourism’s Many Benefits

Guest: Chyanne Trenholm, Homalco Wildlife and Cultural Tours

By Stuart McNish

 

“It is challenging to know how the tourism industry in British Columbia is going to be affected by ‘elbows up’ nationalism,” says Chyanne Trenholm of Homalco Wildlife and Cultural Tours, a First Nations tourism operator. “I can tell you we are seeing an increase in interest and in bookings. Just how much business will be up this summer, it’s too early to tell. But business is up.”

 

A move to unique tourism experiences, such as indigenous wilderness adventures, is in line with changes in sustainable and culturally authentic vacations. Trenholm says, “The Homalco First Nations take visitors on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. They see grizz salmon fishing and orcas breaching right in front of their eyes as an eagle flies overhead. It’s breathtaking.”

 

The benefits of indigenous tourism include cultural preservation, reconciliation, and jobs. Trenholm says, “More than 7,400 people are working in direct full-time indigenous tourism jobs. The sector generates more than $700 million in direct economic output.”

 

We invited Chyanne Trenholm of Homalco Wildlife and Cultural Tours to join us for a Conversation That Matters about indigenous tourism and its benefits to British Columbia.

 

You can see the interview here https://www.conversationsthatmatter.ca/

Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca

Indigenous Rights in One Minute Guest: Bruce McIvor

Ep 561 - Indigenous Rights in One Minute

Guest: Bruce McIvor

By Stuart McNish

 

“Over the 27 years since the Delgamuukw decision, the relationship between First Nations and the Government of Canada has changed – in some ways significantly. In others, not so much,” says Bruce McIvor, the author of "Indigenous Rights in One Minute.” The legal relationship took another step forward following the Haida decision in 2004. That decision led to changes in the way resource and infrastructure projects are approved and built.

 

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was another milestone: first as a healing journey and second in establishing a record of indigenous history in Canada. The TRC recorded the mistreatment and trampling of rights of First Nations people and shared those stories with the entire country. The Commission heard testimony from 6,500 witnesses, which culminated in a call to 94 actions to further facilitate reconciliation.

 

Understanding and appreciating the unique legal and societal circumstances indigenous people lived under and endured for more than 150 years is challenging. Bruce McIvor says, “A big part of reconciliation is calling out misinformation and lies, getting to the truth so that we can have honest conversations. That was my motivation to write the book.”

 

We invited Bruce McIvor to join us for a Conversation That Matters about what we all need to know in order to talk about reconciliation.

 

You can see the interview here https://www.conversationsthatmatter.ca/

 

Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca