This podcast features Dick Lucas, singer of SUBHUMANS, Culture Shock, and Citizen Fish. For over 45 years, Lucas has blended punk, ska, and reggae sounds with thought-provoking lyrics on life and politics. He’s still loving that energetic bump performing brings, with SUBHUMANS set to play at Nofx’s final Toronto concert.
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.
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.
On January 31, North Perth Chamber of Commerce Chair Sharon D’Arcy shared a Facebook post on the Chamber page promoting a People’s Party of Canada event, which upset some member businesses and organizations. The PPC and its leader Maxime Bernier have a reputation for being racist, misogynist, and homophobic.
The post was removed on February 2. However, before its removal, D’Arcy sat down with Woodstein Media to discuss the post, the PPC and more.
It’s a two-election year, at least in Ontario, provincial and municipal, and it’s time for people to be considering if they are going to step up to get their name on the ballot. Will it be the usual names people will have the option to vote for, or will there be new faces at the all-candidates meetings?
Joe Keithley has persevered in music for over 40 years as the leader of legendary Canadian punk band D.O.A. He successfully stepped into municipal politics in 2018 as a city councillor in Burnaby, British Columbia, and has proven that the will to keep trying can succeed in elections, even if you might be an outsider.
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