Conversations That Matter

Chris Sankey: Real Talk About Racism

Ep 03

Chris Sankey

Having Real Talks About Racism

 

Finally and thankfully it looks like we’re on the cusp of having a real discussion about racism.

 

It’s something I know all too well.  I was beaten down by society's judgments of who they perceived me to be, through discriminating mockery with a smile, aggressive language and stereotyped views that included thinking I am a lesser person and will amount to nothing more.

 

Why? Well because I’m an indigienous person in a country that didn’t want me.

 

Am I bitter? No. Did it make me stronger? Absolutely, anger wasnt getting me anywhere.

 

Was I going to let the actions of others determine who I would become and what I could accomplish?

  

No, that thought never crossed my mind.

 

I put my mind to being a successful person and I also wanted to set an example. I wanted to break down racist barries, not build em up.

Happy Creator: Your Relationship with Your Spirituality

June 12, 2020

Ep 299 - What role Faith?

Guest: Happy Kreter

 

Who are you? What is your purpose in life? Do you matter? These are questions most of us ask ourselves during the course of our lives. “How do I define ‘I’ and how does my faith influence that definition?” asks Chaplin Happy Kreter, the host of a new podcast that looks at our relationship with faith and how that, in turn, guides the principles we live by, and then how do we manifest those principles in our modern secular society.

 

For Kreter, these are the questions he asked himself as he reconnected with faith. In the podcast series, he will be engaging with people from diverse spiritual backgrounds. “I want to talk about what it means to be human and our relationship with something we know is greater than our individual selves, that we are a part of something that is magnificent.”

 

We invited Chaplin Happy Kreter of Portland Hotel Society to join us for a Conversation That Matters about our relationship with our faith and how that guides us in our lives.  

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs 

Quick Dick McDick: Food and Fossil Fuels

Ep 298 - Food and Fossil Fuels

Guest: Quick Dick McDick

 

Saskatchewan farmer Quick Dick McDick has decided to throw himself into a number of hot-button issues. Food production and its reliance on fossil fuels is a common theme. From his perspective: “You can’t have one without the other.” It’s a point he believed was being drowned out by people in urban settings, who as he put it, “have no idea what it takes to produce food in Canada.”

 

Rather than moan and whine, Quick Dick decided to employ cutting humor and a raw on-camera presence to make his point. Namely, he feels that decisions about how to produce food and the increasing cost of energy are out of touch with the reality of farming. His concern is: “I worry that we’re needlessly driving up the cost of food production while the commodity price on crops has not gone up, making it even more difficult than it already is to be a farmer.”

 

His style is a no-holds-barred poke-ya-in-the-eye one that has gained him a huge online audience. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney shared QDM’s “Protestor Diet” video and, in doing so, ignited interest in Quick Dick’s YouTube channel. Now he is an internet sensation and before C-19, he was in hot demand as a speaker. 

 

We caught up with QDM on his farm in Saskatchewan as he was seeding one of his fields. We invited him to join us for a Conversation That Matters about him, his message and why he is not going to stop sharing his down-to-earth messages.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs

Dawn Buschert: Greenhouse Farming

May 29, 2020

Ep 297 - Greenhouse Farming

Guest: Dawn Buschert

 

Fresh beautiful veggies from a well managed greenhouse are a delicious and nutritious addition to your table. Producing these vegetables is hard and detailed work. As a result, farmers need to charge more for their produce. Therein lies a significant challenge: will wholesalers support those prices? Will consumers?

 

In Canada, there are a number of producers who sell their products into the well established food supply system. When they sell into the system, they are competing with vegetables from California and Mexico, where they are grown in significant quantities. The price the farmer is paid fluctuates based on the market supply.

 

For some farmers, that price won’t support the cost of their operations, which leaves them with few options. Either they stop farming or they opt out of the system and sell directly to consumers. For some consumers, these products are highly sought after because the product is delivered from farm to table and isn’t touched by so many hands.

 

Farmers markets play host to a number of producers who have decided to grow, package and sell their products. It’s also a lot more work. In addition to nurturing the plants to maturity, the farmer needs to design and source packaging. They also need to complete the packing process and transport them to the market. Once there, they need to set up their site and sell. As Dawn Buschert of Shirley’s Greenhouses says, “It’s a lot of work but for us, because we are small, it is the only way we can survive financially. We can’t produce at a rate that competes with imported prices.”

 

We invited Ms. Buschert to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the work of operating a greenhouse in Canada and why it is important that she and others take on the arduous task of complementing the food supply system.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs 

Mark Milke: Western Alienation

Ep 296 - Western Alienation

Guest: Mark Milke

 

Alberta and the prairie provinces have been hammered like everyone else by the shutdown of their economy by the coronavirus. It is another blow to an already beleaguered region. Oil and gas revenues tanked over the past few years when the price of a barrel of oil plunged.

 

Add in a chorus of voices, both domestically and internationally, calling for the demise of the Canadian energy sector and the current federal government’s mixed messages about the development of resources in Alberta in particular.

 

The combination of hits fueled feelings of alienation and growing support for separation. Premier Jason Kenny, in reading the mood of Albertans, commissioned the “Fair Deal Panel” in an attempt to get feedback on ideas that would provide Alberta with greater control of its destiny.

 

Then in the midst of the pandemic that is affecting the entire country, Green Party outgoing leader Elizabeth May warned the Prime Minister to not put money into supporting the oil and gas sector because, as she put it, the industry is dead.

 

All indications are that Ms. May is wrong. The Energy Information Administration says the demand for oil will remain strong for decades to come. Her comments and those of the Bloc Quebecois leader are one of the many elements fueling a growing interest among Albertans to leave Canada.

 

We invited Mark Milke to join us for a Conversation That Matters about Alberta and the western provinces’ contributions to Canada and how to find a path back to a calmer relationship. This is the first in a series of interviews focusing on alienation and a push toward separation by Alberta that will be published on the Conversations That Matter YouTube channel.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs 

 

Murray Leith: Investment Uncertainty

Ep 295 - Investment Uncertainty

Guest: Murray Leith

 

The stock market plunged and now it’s rebounding. Is that an indication that the economy will do the same? Or are the markets acting in a hopeful manner? Or are they a reflection of opportunists trying to capitalize? Or not! Those who are fortunate enough to have money in investments are watching the swings and asking themselves, “What do I do?”

 

If you have money in the market, you may very well be asking, “Do I hang on, or do I sell this stock and buy another one? Do I get out of the market now and take a wait and see attitude?’  The questions are many and the answers are varied.

 

Murray Leith is the Executive Vice President and Director of Investment research at Odlum Brown’s he says, “Quality companies are essential to a well rounded portfolio, they provide stability.” However, wild fluctuations create opportunities and capitalizing on those opportunities requires an in-depth understanding of how markets function. Leith says, “There’s a real tough trade-off in markets where out-of-favour stocks sometimes get so cheap  and so hated that they can do well as stocks, even while the business struggles. They can go from hated to just disliked and in doing so jump 50% in value.”

 

Leith goes on to say in the past, that strategy has proven to be successful. But he says, “The underlying fundamentals of the market were different then than they are now.” He says you need to have a long term strategy that takes into account the economic backdrop and what types of companies you want to invest in.

 

We invited Murray Leith to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the state of the investment world, its relationship to the economy and how to proceed if you are in a position to invest.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs 

Dr Mark Mullins: The Era of the Safety State

May 8, 2020

Ep 294 - The Era of the Safety State

Guest: Dr Mark Mullins

 

In a matter of weeks, our lives have been turned upside down. Amid one of the strongest financial rallies ever, suddenly everything changed when it became clear the coronavirus was spreading around the world, killing hundreds of thousands of people. As of May 5, 2020, “Worldometer” reports that more than three million cases have been reported and 253,000 people have died.

 

The spread of the virus also spread fear. That fear may, in the short term and likely into the long term, be even more significant than the virus itself, according to Dr. Mark Mullins of  Veras Inc., an expert on global markets, macro investing and public policy. “In the same way that 9/11 was a one-day event that triggered an endless global war on terrorism and the rise of the security state,” Mullins says, “the social and political response to the pandemic is ushering in the era of the safety state - a fundamental change and a response to today’s complete breakdown of social trust and stability.”

 

Mullins goes on to say, “The crisis moment will dissipate with time but the safety state will continue, bolstered by permanent policy actions and the barnacle-like development of new institutions, technologies, and social habits.”

 

We invited Dr. Mark Mullins to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the shape of our world during and after this once-in-a-century public health crisis and how the aftershocks will last much longer than the virus.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs

Julaine Treur: In Udder News

Ep 293 - In Udder News

Guest: Julaine Treur

 

Over the past 70 years, there has been a silent exodus from farming in North America. In the United States, the number of farmers fell from 30 million to less than 3 million between 1950 and 1980. The reasons are many: the allure of the city, the bone numbing and exhausting work in an ever and challenging landscape, crop failures, weather conditions, poor market prices, lack of access to farm workers.

 

Today, we may be witnessing a small and slow reversal of that trend - a trend that, in part, is motivated by dedicated farmers like the Truer family. “We love it,” says Julaine Treur. “Farming was in my blood, it was in my husband’s blood but our families had moved away from the farm. We decided to return to dairy farming and we couldn’t be happier.”

 

A visit to Creekside Dairy makes farming appear idyllic; it is only so because the Truer’s make farming look easy. That in itself is difficult to do. Central to their success is their passion for their work, their animals and for their place in Canada’s food supply system.

 

A system that is under intense scrutiny - according to the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity, “As of last year, only one in three Canadians believe our food system is headed in the right direction.”

 

The top issues of concern are a rise in the cost of food (especially healthy food), coupled with rising health care costs, rising energy costs and the safety of food imported from elsewhere. Then add in climate change, the treatment of animals and concerns about an ample supply of food.

 

We invited Julaine Truer of Creekside Dairy to join us for a Conversation That Matters about her and her family’s approach to farming and why she believes that Canada has an exceptional food security and supply system.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs 

 

Dr Scott Lear: Chronic Health and Covid - 19

Ep 292 - Chronic Health and COVID-19

Guest: Dr Scott Lear

 

The coronavirus pandemic is exposing how poorly we manage patients with chronic diseases. According to Dr Scott Lear, a Professor of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University, “This is because the system relies on the unnecessary requirement of having patients attend hospital clinics for treatment, instead of using ubiquitous communications technology.”

 

Lear says, “Approximately 12.8 million Canadians have a chronic disease and more than half of them have two or more. On any given day, hundreds of these patients go to hospitals for clinics, simple physician consultations and rehabilitation sessions.” But he stresses, “Hospitals are the last place they should be. And this is now being recognized as hospitals across Canada have stopped all clinic visits due to the coronavirus crisis.”

 

Why, you ask, does the system function this way – especially in a digitally connected world?  Lear says, “Our healthcare system is a late adopter. It was designed more than fifty years ago when people were either cured or died in hospital.” He goes on to say the entire system has hung onto outdated models including billing. 

 

“The coronavirus pandemic is a call to action for the Canadian healthcare system. Adversity brings with it challenge but also innovation,” says Lear. He goes on to say, “Coming out of this crisis, this crisis is showing us there are better ways to care for patients with chronic diseases. And once over, we must resist the urge to go back to business as usual.”

 

We invited Dr. Scott Lear of the Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Health to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the potential benefit to our healthcare system now that COVID-19 has forced the system to adapt to one where chronic care patients may never have to step into a hospital again.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs 

Jeffery Sterling - Unwanted Spy

Ep 291 - The Bravery of Whistleblowers

Guest: Jeffrey Sterling

 

According to Fuad Alakbarov, the Azerbaijani-Scottish human rights activist,  “Every country needs its whistleblowers. They are crucial to a healthy society. The employee who, in the public interest, has the independence of judgement and the personal courage to challenge malpractice or illegality is a kind of public hero.”

 

Brave heroes to be sure. Take the example of Dr Ai Fen, the Director of the Emergency Department at the Central Hospital in Wuhan, who shared information about COVID-19 with other doctors in late December. Dr Ai and the others have since been arrested or their whereabouts are unknown, according to the Times of Israel.

 

According to the University of Southampton, if China had intervened at that time, the transmission of COVID-19 could have been reduced by 95 percent. The government of China hid the truth. At great risk to themselves, people stand up to the suppression of the truth, be it in China or any other country where those in power seek to conceal the facts.

 

In the United States, the Whistleblower Protection Act was enacted in 1989 - an act that many whistleblowers say provided them with little or no protection. Former CIA agent Jeffrey Sterling in his book, “Unwanted Spy,” says the very act of carrying out his duty to report wrongdoing cost him his job and eventually his liberty.

 

What started as a discrimination complaint turned into allegations of leaking confidential information that led to jail time. He has since been released from prison and continues to shine a light on government wrongdoing. 

 

Thanks to the support of the Allard Prize for International Integrity, we were able to arrange an online interview with Jeffrey Sterling for a Conversation That Matters about the overwhelming need to protect the brave women and men who simply can not turn their heads away from an injustice.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Center for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs