Conversations That Matter

Kevin Desmond - Addressing Transportation Needs to 2050

Ep 246

Guest: Kevin Desmond

Headline: Addressing our Transportation Needs

 

If you can’t move, you are a prisoner. No one likes to sit in traffic. But, how do you move more people on transportation corridors that are already full at peak times? That is the question Translink is asking all of us in the Greater Vancouver area to help them address.

 

The transit authority just released Transport 2050 with the aim of asking users to contribute ideas based on their experiences here and from other places they know or have experienced. The idea is to consolidate those suggestions, package them up and then present them to all of us for additional input. Translink plans on going to the public for input three times before presenting its plan to the Mayor’s council.

 

Desmond points out that because Translink is more than just Skytrain, buses and seabuses they are seeking input from drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. We invited Translink CEO Kevin Desmond to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the transportation authorities long range plan to meet the needs of the region over the next three decades.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the 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

Dr. Ali Tehrani - Defeating Cancer

Ep 245

Guest: Dr. Ali Tehrani PhD

Headline: Defeating Cancer

 

Welcome to Conversations That Matter. This episode is brought to you by Odlum Brown, a client-focused investment firm that starts client relationships with straightforward conversations focused on you, your aspirations, and your investment priorities.

 

Odlum Brown has been a supporter of Conversations That Matter from the day we started the show. Their only condition was that we provide a non-biased conversation with people from all sides of all sorts of issues.

 

Of course, we couldn't produce this show without the support of Oh Boy Productions. If you're looking to produce a cast, be it video or a podcast, I suggest you reach out to Oh Boy. They can help you produce it, and they can help you build your audience.

 

And we also need your support.

 

Please pledge your dollar per show at patreon.com/conversationsthatmatter because those dollars add up and play an important role in helping us produce the show.

Now to this week's episode.

 

It’s a great big audacious goal – defeating cancer, that is. But that’s exactly what the team at Vancouver-based Zymeworks plans to do. The biotech company has developed protein therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. They’re also developing a new delivery system and research process.

 

The process and the next-generation therapeutics they’ve created allow for the targeting of differentiated biological pathways that lead to internal, partnered therapies. Those targeting platforms have names like Azymetric platform and Zymelink Conjugation Platform and Cytotoxins.

 

The Azymetric platform, for example, spontaneously assembles antibodies into a single molecule that can easily adapt to rapidly screen, target and sequence combinations of bispecific activities which significantly reduce drug development timelines.

 

The company’s lead product ZW25 is currently being elevated to Phase 2 clinical trials targeting two distinct domains of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, or HER2 – a protein that promotes the growth of cancer cells.

 

The company was founded in 2003 and is working in partnership with global pharmaceutical companies such as Merck, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and others.

 

In addition to taking on cancer, Zymeworks is playing a fundamental role is ensuring Vancouver becomes a global centre of excellence in biotech. The company is led by Dr Ali Therani, who holds degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts and has a Doctoral degree in Microbiology and Immunology from UBC.

 

Not only is he a brilliant scientist but he also has an impressive track record in leadership, having been awarded the UBC Faculty of Science Achievement Award for Outstanding Leadership in 2002. Dr Tehrani says, “We’ve done a really good job of educating brilliant scientists and then watched them leave Canada. I want to give them a reason to come home.”

 

We invited Dr Ali Tehrani to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the biotechnical innovations that are being developed at Zymeworks and his company’s role in turning Vancouver into a centre of excellence and influence in scientific research.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the 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

Simon Jackson: Falling in Love with Mother Nature

Ep 244

Guest: Simon Jackson

Headline: Falling in Love with Mother Nature

 

Welcome to Conversations That Matter. This episode is brought to you by Odlum Brown, a client-focused investment firm that starts client relationships with straightforward conversations focused on you, your aspirations, and your investment priorities.

 

Odlum Brown has been a supporter of Conversations That Matter from the day we started the show. Their only condition was that we provide a non-biased conversation with people from all sides of all sorts of issues.

 

Of course, we couldn't produce this show without the support of Oh Boy Productions. If you're looking to produce a cast, be it video or a podcast, I suggest you reach out to Oh Boy. They can help you produce it, and they can help you build your audience.

 

And we also need your support.

 

Please pledge your dollar per show at patreon.com/conversationsthatmatter because those dollars add up and play an important role in helping us produce the show.

Now to this week's episode.

 

Falling in love with the majesty of Mother Nature early in life is a proven way of instilling a passion for protecting the environment. The best way to do that is to provide an immersive experience, as in taking the class out into the forest. The challenges to doing so are too many to overcome.

 

The next best solution is to provide teachers with online resources that literally pop, or are exciting and intriguing. Curriculum-based materials that instill a foundation of nature literacy designed to enhance critical thinking skills that promote thoughtful decision making are crucial.

 

Why is this important? The answer comes in every decision we all make everyday: decisions that consider the impact on the environment when we purchase a product, manage our trash, determine our mode of transportation and how we use energy. Every decision matters and when we understand our role in the complex weave of combined actions, then we can collectively work towards a better future.

We invited Simon Jackson of Nature Labs to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the project that he and Jill Cooper designed to change students’ relationship with nature.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the 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

Senator Murray Sinclair: Reconciliation; Where to from here?

Ep 243

Guest: Senator Murray Sinclair

Headline:Reconciliation; Where to from here?

 

Are we on the cusp of a breakthrough in relations between indigenous people in Canada and the rest of the country? Or are we swirling around in a quagmire that provides us with an illusion of progress, only to consume it at the point of hope?

 

When the current Prime Minister was elected, he indicated he was going to tackle the issues that divide us and embrace our common humanity. Steps would be taken to move us closer to true reconciliation. But that begs the question – what is reconciliation?

 

The TRC, or Truth and Reconciliation Commission, was created to provide a venue for victims of the residential school system to be heard – to have their stories become a part of the public record. But it was not, nor is it a guidebook to a coming together of equals.

We invited Senator Murray Sinclair to join us for a Conversation That Matters about some of the elements that are required to create a society that goes beyond lip service and become one of respect and acknowledgement of our First Peoples rightful place in the country and in our society.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the 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

Geordie Rose: Humanoid Artificial Intelligence

Ep 242

Guest: Geordie Rose

Headline: Humanoid Artificial Intelligence

 

Humanoid artificial intelligence is coming and there’s a good chance it may come to life in  Vancouver. That’s because some of the brains at work creating AI – human-like AI – live and work here. The odds that they will succeed are high, they have an amazing track record. One of those brains is the mastermind behind the development of quantum computing that has manifested itself into the company known as D-Wave.

At the core of the development on humanoid AI sits an existential question: what does it mean to be human? What motivates us, how do we decide right from wrong and whose morals constitute the foundation of the programming of the machine that will self-learn? These are just a few of the questions that surround what many believe will be the last great human discovery.

We invited Geordie Rose of Sanctuary AI to join us for a Conversation That Matters about Artificial Intelligence – why, what, when, where and how soon.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the 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

Kevin Obermayer and Robert Lewis-Manning - Shipping on the West Coast

As seaports on the West Coast of North America, Vancouver and Prince Rupert play a vital role in the economy of the country, both import and export. If we buy any goods from Asia, they come into the country through these ports.

If Canadian producers want to sell our goods to the world, most of them produced this side of the Great Lakes pass through West Coast ports. Year after year, more than 12,000 ships that require a licensed pilot on-board came and go safely.

The questions that currently hang over the industry and the waters of the West Coast are an increase in oil tankers and the impact all of the ships have during the two plus months when the southern resident whale population visits the Salish Sea.

And then add in Bill C-48 and the impact it may have on the movement of oil-based resources, and we’re left wondering what is the state of shipping on the west coast.

We invited Kevin Obermeyer the CEO of the Pacific Pilotage Authority and Robert Lewis-Manning to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the state of shipping on Canada’s West Coast, the track record, the challenges and the opportunities.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the 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.

 

Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.

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

Susannah Pierce - LNG Canada and First Nations Agreements

 

Ep 240

Guest: Suzannah Pierce

Headline: LNG Canada and First Nations agreements

 

When LNG Canada announced its final decision to go ahead with the massive LNG facility in Kitimat, it not only announced the largest industrial project in BC history – it also demonstrated that industry and First Nations can find agreement in energy projects.

 

The project meets a wide range of objectives that include, but are not limited to, the supply of natural gas to Asia which needs it to replace coal in the production of electricity. Thousands of construction jobs will be created and perhaps the most important component of the project is the model of engagement and agreement between natural resources producers and First Nations.

 

The Haisla, where the plant will be built, and the elected councils of 20 First Nations that will host the pipeline that will deliver gas from the northeast of the province to the LNG plant in Kitimat had to work together to develop long-term agreements. Chief Crystal Smith of the Haisla says this agreement provides jobs and opportunities for entrepreneurs and resources to the community that allow her nation to take control of their destiny.

 

We invited Suzannah Pierce of LNG Canada to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the opportunity the liquified natural gas project offers to the Haisla and the other partner First Nations, BC and Canada.

 

Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.

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

Roslyn Kunin - BC's Economy in 2030

Ep 239

Guest:  Roslyn Kunin

Headline:  Looking ahead to 2030

 

For more than 30 years, Roslyn Kunin has been accurately predicting the future of the BC economy. We asked her to share insights she has gleaned from a recent report that she produced for one of her clients.

 

The good news is the BC economy looks robust. The bad news is that the economy is so rosy, there may not be enough people to fill all the jobs. And she's quick to point out that technology won't be coming to the rescue just in the nick of time either. In fact, she says technology is part of the challenge because it creates even more jobs.

 

We ask the eminent economist Roslyn Kunin to join us for a conversation that matters about British Columbia's blue sky economy.

 

Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.

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

Cindy Preston and Gina Gaspard - Do your meds cooperate with one another?

Ep 238

Guest: Cindy Preston & Gina Gaspard

Headline: Do your meds cooperate with one another?

 

It’s called polypharmacy – that’s when you are taking too many medications and those medications start competing with one another to the detriment of your health. It’s a problem. Let’s say you go to the doctor, complain about an ache or a pain, indigestion or a reaction to a drug you’re already taking and then the doctor issues a new prescription.

 

Not to point the finger at the doctor, because a lot of patients don’t reveal the extent of the medications they’re taking. They almost never talk about the vitamins they’re taking or about their marijuana use – either for pain or recreational reasons or illegal drugs.  And it doesn’t stop there; did you know people share drugs, “as in I’m taking this and it works for me, here, try one”? Doctors don’t hear those stories.

 

There are a host of reasons why people don’t have frank conversations with their primary health care provider: embarrassment, a fear of losing face, a lack of understanding about drug interactions and a worry about challenging the authority of their doctor.

 

And, while I hate to add this in – but I have to in this case – that is, add in the experiences indigenous peoples have with the Canadian medical system: a system that many say does not respect them or their perspectives on health, wellness and prevention.

 

For this episode we invited two members of the team at the First Nations Health Authority, pharmacist Cindy Preston and nurse Gina Gaspard to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the Coyote Medicine Story and how it can help all of us address an important health care challenge.

 

I would also like to acknowledge that this program was recorded on the traditional territories of the Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.

 

Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.

 

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

The Rules Organ Donors Need to Know

Ep 237

Guest:  Hailey Cheema

Headline:  Organ Donation

 

The impact we make on life is determined by our responses to the events that affect us. Do we crumble, do we rise up, do we determine to change the way of the world to improve the lives of others?

 

That brings us to our guest today, who as a teenage girl, experienced the slow deterioration of her grandfather’s life due to failing kidneys. Sadly his life was cut shorter than it needed to be, robbing Hailey, her family and all of us of the incredible contributions he still wanted to make.

 

In response, Hailey was determined to change the lives of thousands of people affected with kidney disease. She became an organ transplant crusader. She started by talking to anyone who would listen. Now she is leading the charge to introduce the issue of organ transplantation into the high school health curriculum.

 

She says it is important that we all appreciate the gift of organ transplantation along with the legal obligations required to ensure your wishes are fulfilled. For example, did you know that your family can deny the donation of your organs upon your death even though you have completed an organ donation card?

 

We invited Hailey Cheema to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the myriad details associated with organ transplantation.

 

Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.

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