Tag: Conservative

Woodstein Media Podcast Episode 25: UK musician, poet, and activist Joe Solo on socialism, antifascism, and community building

Posted on by Colin Burrowes

On this episode, award-winning musician, writer, poet, activist, broadcaster and washing machine engineer Joe Solo speaks about spreading his message of social justice, anti-fascism, and socialism in his music and books from Scarborough. Not the Scarborough that will jump into the minds of people raised in southern Ontario, but the one across the Atlantic on England’s North Sea coast.

Solo began his musical journey in 1987 and has seen him leaping around with pop-punk upstarts Lithium Joe or his solo albums hammering out his unique brand of Folk, Punk and Blues. His songs bring to mind great lyrical thinkers like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joe Hill, and Billy Bragg.

Woodstein Media Podcast Episode 24: Celeste Trianon on the rise of anti-trans hate, how to oppose the hatred, name and gender marker change in Quebec  

Posted on by Colin Burrowes

As anti-trans rhetoric gets normalized across Canada, activists stand up to the hatred.  This episode highlights the work and activism of Celeste Trianon, a trans-feminine jurist and activist. On the legal front, she helps people in Quebec with name and gender marker changes. Across Canada, she has been involved in activism, resisting hatred directed towards the 2SLGBTQIA community, specifically trans, two-spirit and non-binary people.

Woodstein Media Podcast Episode 22: StreetWorks director Talia Storm on harm reduction, supervised consumption, safer supply

Posted on by Colin Burrowes

This episode spotlights harm reduction services provided by Positive Living Niagara.  Talia Storm, Director of StreetWorks Services, discusses supervised consumption, safer supply and other services that have saved lives during the toxic drug crisis. As Storm says, the staff at StreetWorks are just the passengers, and the individuals accessing the services are driving the car because harm reduction is an aspect of the treatment continuum that aims to empower and respect a person’s right to self-determination.

There were 36,442 apparent opioid toxicity deaths in Canada between January 2016 and December 2022.

A total of 7,328 apparent opioid toxicity deaths occurred in 2022. This is an average of 20 deaths per day. In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the average number of deaths per day was 10. The average number of deaths per day peaked at 22 in 2021. However, based on current national data, analyses show no significant decrease in trend, and rates remain high.

Perth-Wellington MP John Nater proposes slowing the flow of media Bill C-18

Posted on by Colin Burrowes

Bill C-18, an act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada, was the focus of discussion in the House of Commons on May 13. The Bill is intended to protect news media who currently have their work pilfered by online platforms such as Google and Facebook without proper compensation.

Nater moved that the motion be amended to read that Bill C-18  be “not now read a second time but that the Order be discharged, the Bill withdrawn and the subject matter thereof referred to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.”