Conversations That Matter

How to plan, build, operate and finance Transportation Infrastructure

This week Conversations That Matter features Jane Bird who as CEO of the Canada Line Rapid Transit Inc, the company that planned, built and figured out how to pay for the public transit line to Richmond and the airport. How did she do it? What can we learn from her experience as we tackle transportation infrastructure planning in the GVRD?

 

Rule number one according to Bird is, “people need to feel like it's fair. They need to feel like it's reasonable for me to have to pay this. It’s not fair if one person pays to drive to on the road work and another drives in for free.” She goes on to say, “if users are paying for something they want to know it is an investment in better service, people need to feel that, bottom line, they need to understand why. If we can demonstrate that, then we have a shot at social license.”

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Is Canada Ready for Legal Pot?

Ep 154 - Barinder Rasode

Is Canada ready for legal pot?

This week Conversations That Matter features Barinder Rasode of NICHE an organization that is playing a role in helping producers, regulators, police and provincial governments get ready for the biggest social change since the abolition of prohibition.  Rasode says, “there is a need for greater collaboration between governments, industry and the public.”

With less than 11 months before pot become legal is Canada ready? The answer is, probably not and there will be mistakes. Provincial Governments across the country are already telling Ottawa it is moving too fast. Radose acknowledges there is push back from the provinces but says, “It will take time for all of the pre-prohibition market to move into the post-prohibition market and to be properly regulated, checked by health authorities and municipal licensing bylaw officers but it is possible. The important thing is this was the right time for use to move forward with legalizing cannabis.”

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Is Omar Khadr a victim or a terrorist?

Ep 153

Is Omar Khadr a victim or a terrorist?

 

This week Conversations That Matter features Scott Taylor, a former Canadian Armed Forces Commando, former Ansar-al-Islam hostage and the founder of Esprit de Corps Magazine on  Omar Khadr. Is Mr. Khadr a terrorist or a victim? In a recent Blog, Scott Taylor says he is a victim.

 

The details of Mr. Khadr’s life, his battlefield engagement, the extraordinary efforts that saved his life only to ensure he was taken to Bagram Air Force Base and to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. A facility Amnesty International says operates without regard for human rights, a facility that employed an interrogation technique commonly referred to as, “the frequent flyer program”. The evidence of torture and a disregard for human rights did not sway successive Prime Ministers to ask for Mr. Khadr’s return to Canada. Scott Taylor says, “This is where the Canadian government failed.”

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

 

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Is Site C the right energy project for BC?

Is Site C the right energy project for BC?

 

This week Conversations That Matter features past BC Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald in a Conversation that was recorded at Site C in April of 2017. Ms. McDonald insisted the Conversation be embargoed until after the final results of the provincial election were known.

 

We sat down with her to hear from her why she believed that Site C was the right project. The Conversation covers a wide range of topics including projected energy demand, sources of clean reliable energy, the expropriation of the Boon family farm, the loss of arable land, erosion of the banks of the Peace River, the claims of Treaty Rights infringement by the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations and more.

 

Ms. McDonald was dismissed as CEO within days of the swearing in of John Horgan as Premier. While Ms. McDonald is identified in the video as the CEO of BC Hydro, which was true at the time, she no longer speaks for the company.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

 

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Is Site C the wrong energy project for BC?

Is Site C the wrong energy project for BC?

 

This week Conversations That Matter looks at Site C from the legal perspective of two Treaty 8 First Nations, the West Moberly and Prophet River, who say their rights are being infringed upon and we also have a conversation about BC Hydro’s numbers. Do they add up?

Both Indigenous legal rights lawyer Gordon Christie and Eoin Finn of the NGO, the Pacific Electricity Ratepayers Association, while approaching the topic of Site C from different perspectives, argue that Site C is the wrong project.

 

Mr. Christie points out that since the Delgamuukw and Tsilhqot’in Land Claims decisions in the Supreme Court of Canada, treaty rights issues have been pushed into the consultation arena that is at the core of the land claims rulings. Mr. Christie says this is wrong, he says, treaty rights are not negotiable, they are entrenched and he contends those rights are being abused.

 

Mr. Finn goes into great detail about the numbers and he says,  “our Columbia River Treaty, agreement is 80% plus of the size of the proposed power from Site C.”  He adds in technological innovation that has seen a per person usage drop and he challenges Hydro’s population increase numbers. Add in an expansion of renewable energy sources and Mr. Finn says we don’t need Site C.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

 

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

The Energy Transition is Already Underway

Markham Hislop

The Energy Transition is Already Underway

 

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Markham Hislop, who has turned his full attention to the energy transition under way in Western Canada and globally.

 

He considers being called "the man in the middle of the road" a compliment. He believes the climate debate is settled, that the energy transition started 10-15 years ago, and the global economy is slowly adopting the clean energy tech needed to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, he contends it will take the rest of the century to do it.

 

But Mr. Hislop worries that clean energy boosters are getting too far ahead of the technology. He expects oil and gas will compete with renewables for many decades before finally losing the battle for marketshare.

 

Interestingly - he says BC is moving too fast and Alberta is moving too slow. He says both provinces need to align their objectives and stop going head to head. To talk about the largest energy revolution since the introduction of electricity, we sat down with Markham Hislop, for a Conversation That Matters.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

 

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Just the Facts with Blair King

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Blair King an earth scientist who specializes in environmental remediation and speaks out on a range of resource based issues. He appreciates emotional appeals are extremely compelling and he understands why we all want to rally around a good story.

King, however, worries we’re making complicated policy and land use decisions based on emotion and sidelining the facts. That’s why he decided to speak up. Look for him on any social media platform where he freely shares his insights into a variety of issues that include energy transition, Kinder Morgan and Site C.  He has his fans and detractors.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

 

Transgender with Lisa Salazar

 

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Lisa Salazar a woman who helps us to understand the transgender spectrum.  What does it mean to be Transgender? The term is relatively new. It is widely misunderstood. Many people believe trans or transgender is about sexual orientation rather than gender identity.

After decades of fighting the voices in her head Lisa took on the long and challenging transition from her life as a man to the one she knew was her true self.  Lisa takes us on her journey and at the same time provides insight into the lives of transgender people.

Her life story coupled with the recent enactment of Bill C-16 which ensures that transgender people are guaranteed the same human rights as those who identify with the gender they were assigned at birth lead to this week’s conversation.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Legalizing Marijuana with the Hon. Anne McLellan

Hon. Anne McLellan

Legalizing Marijuana

 

This week’s Conversation That Matters features the Hon. Anne McLellan who lead the task force on legalizing marijuana in Canada. She says, “it’s a bold move” because Canada becomes the first G-20 country to make pot legal. In doing so we contravene three United Nations treaties that control or prohibit access to drugs like marijuana.

 

There are risks and rewards. On the upside we will set the standard internationally, we could become the supplier of choice to a growing international medical market and the government can collect tax. McLellan says, “it’s also about safety, right now there are no safeguards, no standards and no inspectors.” She goes on to point out prohibition hasn’t worked for marijuana the same way it didn’t work for alcohol.

 

On the downside, the US, China, India and other nations could restrict trade and the movement of Canadians within their countries.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

 

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Change Your Accent with Desh Pillay

Change Your Accent

 

This week’s Conversation That Matters is about English and how it grew to be the number one, number two language in the world. There are so many versions of English that learning the language is one thing, learning the local dialect is another. Desh Pillay of, Change Your Accent says, “heavy accents make it harder to get emergency help, get or give directions and they can hinder your career.”

 

Professor Molly Babel takes on a guided tour of how and why English took off as the international language. Today there are about four times as many people who speak English as their second language as there are those who speak it as their mother tongue. Chinglish, Franglish, Hinglish and so on, all of which have their own phonemes and graphemes that make understanding one another challenging. Desh Pillay says the good news is you can learn and adopt the sounds of the local dialect with the help of a speech pathologist.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

 

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv