In this episode, Sandy and Nora talk about the Liberal tendency to work through other organizations, lik, WE to build support and consensus for the Liberal brand. Plus – Quebec’s new Me Too movement and that Harper’s fReE sPeEcH letter.
Note: Nora misspoke and said Bob Rae had been appointed the ambassador for the US. He’s been appointed the ambassador to the UN.
Last week, the Toronto Public Library held an event that violated its own policy to not allow events that would have the effect of discriminating against someone based on gender identity or gender expression. In this episode, Sandy and Nora talk about the politics of so-called free speech, actual free speech and why people who are afraid of cancel culture are actually just afraid to defend their arguments.
Update — Nora incorrectly stated that the Murphy event in Vancouver was cancelled. SFU cancelled the talk but the Pan Pacific hosted the event anyway: https://bc.ctvnews.ca/protesters-gather-at-gender-identity-speaker-s-talk-despite-location-switch-1.4667969
There has been a recent burst of street violence perpetuated by the same individuals, looking to fight with social activists. The response from the police – indifference and violence against the targets of this violent – reminds us that we need to understand the role that police play in society, and they they aren’t there to protect us.
To read the report back from what happened in Hamilton, please go here (image is from here too) https://itsgoingdown.org/hamilton-pride-2019-reportback/
When should we engage with an idea, and when is engaging with an idea admitting that the idea isn’t racist trash? There’s no consensus on where the lines are, and so Sandy and Nora explore this debate, test the boundaries and discuss why debate for debate’s sake is boring.
Last week, Doug Ford released his new budget. In it, his government committed to changing how universities and colleges are funded, by referring to “performance outcome” … two words that when placed beside one another, become so meaningless that it’s almost funny to read in a budget.
Sandy and Nora are sounding the alarm — this is literally the end of higher education as we know it, and they explain why.
Attacks on free speech abound! But where are the Free Speech CrusadersTM? Sandy and Nora talk about the ways in which speech is limited, and how the left needs to build support around individuals who have their free speech attacked.
Here is the GoFundMe that we reference in the episode: https://www.gofundme.com/legal-fees-for-free-speech
In this episode, Sandy and Nora talk paywalls. On their always-free, listener-funded platform, they talk about what’s wrong with a society that makes access to news based on ability to pay, and why we need free news now more than ever.
Nora’s note — at one point, Nora says IP and not ISP. She knows.
Live from Toronto on Nov. 2, Sandy and Nora take on The Munk Debate. From Frum and Bannon to Bay Street’s continued colonial exploitation of locations across the globe for mining, they tie together extremely obvious links that everyone in the mainstream media somehow forgot the week prior to this debate.
Special thanks to the Black Liberation Collective at Ryerson, volunteers at CJRU and Noah for capturing this sound, staff at the Ryerson Student Centre and the folks who arrived early enough to help us set up and take down the chairs. It was greatly appreciated.
This is part one of two parts. The second part, the Q&A, is Episode 38.
At the end of August, the Ford government issued a directive to Ontario colleges and universities that threatened sanctions if institutions didn’t pass free speech policies that were favourable to his government. Sandy and Nora break down the policy and ask: how and who are resisting this attack on institutional autonomy?
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