The Long Way

Feature guests: Rabia Khedr, National Director – Disability Without Poverty, and Brian Dijkema, Vice-President of External Affairs – Cardus Canada needs to break down the barriers that stop people with disabilities from getting good jobs. Think-tank Cardus has released a landmark report, Breaking Down Work Barriers for People with Disabilities. It challenges decision-makers to move beyond an emphasis on income assistance to close the employment gap that too many Canadians face because of a disability. Consider this: Only five percent of federal government disability spending is on programs promoting employment; the rest goes to income supports of one form or another. And yet, the poverty rate of people with disabilities was 13.5% in 2019, which is disproportionately higher than it is for other Canadians. Listen as we try to identify which barriers keep people with disabilities from finding rewarding, meaningful jobs and seek ways to break down those barriers. Breaking Down Work Barriers for People with Disabilities is freely available online . A French summary of Breaking Down Work Barriers for People with Disabilities is also available online. Theme Song: Dream Background Beat by MSVoy | https://soundcloud.com/msvoy Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-ND 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/

Feature guests: Father Deacon Andrew Bennett, Director of Cardus Religious Freedom and Faith Community Engagement, and Kristopher Kinsinger, a Cardus NextGEN Fellow, an Ontario lawyer, and the National Director of the Runnymede Society. In this special podcast episode, we dive into the controversial issue of limits on religious freedom in Canada. During a pandemic that's dragged for almost two years, such controversies have become divisive, bitter disagreements. We've seen the results: trucker protests, ugly social media rhetoric, and defiance of public health orders – even by some houses of worship. While public health orders have affected all areas of society, including education, business, and our social lives, they have also affected religious expression and gatherings. So, how well have authorities upheld religious freedom in Canada during the pandemic? How well have religious communities understood and exercised religious freedom? Think tank Cardus has stepped into this polarized debate with a new report, Reasonable Limits: How Far Does Religious Freedom Go in Canada? by University of Saskatchewan law professor Dwight Newman. To find a way through the extremes on either side of this issue, Father Deacon Andrew Bennett, Director of Cardus Religious Freedom and Faith Community Engagement, has an extended conversation with Kristopher Kinsinger, a Cardus NextGEN Fellow, an Ontario lawyer, and the National Director of the Runnymede Society.

Feature guests: Lisa Richmond, Vice-President of Research – Cardus & Brian Dijkema, Vice-President of External Affairs - Cardus After giving a "hard no" to COVID vaccine passports in Ontario over the summer of 2021, Premier Doug Ford did an about-face and imposed a passport system on the province in September. Was that a good and effective change? Is the policy switch justified? Think tank Cardus examined the issue, analyzed the available facts, and concluded the premier had neither made an effective case for vaccine passports nor explained why he suddenly changed his mind on the issue. What's more, we concluded that while vaccinations against COVID are necessary and safe, imposing passports to access public places wasn't likely to help the situation. Cardus even wrote an open letter to the premier challenging him to end a vaccine passport system that is "unjustified, unnecessary, and harmful overreach with serious short- and long-term consequences" and offering a series of better options to protect public health. Thankfully, the premier has conditionally committed to ending the passports in January 2022, which is a small victory. In the meantime, our open letter to Premier Ford has generated a lot of discussion. Some loved it, some hated it, and some wondered why Cardus would even step into such a controversy. So, we'd like to address some of those questions. Rather than our typical short episodes with long perspectives on building the common good, we've put together a special episode that diverges from that format. This is a long episode (though it's still about building the common good!) and features two of the brightest minds at Cardus in simple conversation: Lisa Richmond, Vice-President of Research, and Brian Dijkema, Vice-President of External Affairs. Together, they'll offer you a look under the hood of Cardus, clarify how we approach research and decide what kind of work we'll undertake, and explain our thinking on vaccine passports and other related issues. Listen in and enjoy. We hope you'll learn something. And we hope you'll tell us what you think. You can reach Lisa Richmond at [email protected] and Brian Dijkema at [email protected]. Of course, don't be shy about liking this episode, sharing it, and leaving a comment here too. And do subscribe to The Long Way so that you won't miss other future special episodes and seasons. If you're interested in our other COVID-related work, here are some links you may find helpful: Open letter to Ontario's premier on vaccine passports Exit COVID: What have we learned and where should Canada be focusing post-pandemic COVID Vaccination Incentives for the Common Good The Long Way is a podcast of think tank Cardus. Thanks for listening! Theme Song: Dream Background Beat by MSVoy | https://soundcloud.com/msvoy Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-ND 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/

Feature Guest: Prof. Lydia Miljan, University of Windsor - Department of Political Science For the final Season 3 episode of The Long Way, we return to the theme of news media bias in Canada and getting better journalism. We can accept from the outset that there aren't any easy answers. But we can at least make progress toward understanding what is going on in the world of journalism today while hoping to see a better end product. Among the various aspects of journalism we examine is the way political news media handle the sharing of opinions – something our feature guest, Prof. Lydia Miljan from the University of Windsor, picks up in her comments on the podcast. "So, it's journalists explicitly giving their take on the day's news," Prof. Miljan tells The Long Way. "And why would we say that their opinions are worth more than someone else's? Well, perhaps because they have some insider knowledge and they talk to people, but if you watch those shows on a regular basis, no, you're just getting their point of view based on the fact of their education [and] where they live. You know when I talk to friends across the country, especially those in Western Canada, they're increasingly frustrated with the national news media in this country." We'll also hear from Holly Doan, publisher of the online news platform Blacklock's Reporter. In Peter Stockland's field report for this episode of The Long Way, Doan shares her view that bias isn't necessarily the central problem in news media. During this episode, you'll hear references to journalist Andrew Coyne as well as to Bill C-10 on federal government regulation of the internet and social media (with all the related free speech concerns). If you'd like to dig a little deeper, check out these episodes of The Long Way: S03 E01: Media Bias and False Balance featuring Globe & Mail columnist Andrew Coyne. S03 E07: Free Speech and Broadcast Regulations for more on Bill C-10 with feature guest Michael Geist. If you enjoyed this episode of The Long Way, don't be shy about rating it, liking it, leaving a comment, or subscribing to this podcast. The Long Way is a podcast of think tank Cardus. Thanks for listening! Theme Song: Dream Background Beat by MSVoy | https://soundcloud.com/msvoy Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-ND 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/ Breaking news sting music by audionautix.com

Feature Guest: Melissa Mbarki, policy analyst in the Indigenous Policy Program at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute If you look for news on Indigenous reconciliation in Canada, you'll find a lot of interesting stuff: A lot of talk about the legacy of colonialism and residential schools Environmental activist David Suzuki calling for a new approach to parks and governance Calls for Ryerson University to change its name in order to erase any connection to Egerton Ryerson because of his involvement with residential schools Coverage of Bill C-15 in Parliament to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Reconciliation is a bigger topic than one episode of The Long Way can cover, but this episode starts down that road. We do so starting from the premise that reconciliation – the restoration of a relationship – is necessary. For one thing, it's a simple recognition of the human dignity we all bear, Indigenous or not. For another, it's a step toward healing from past injustices and moving toward a better Canada. Our feature guest in this episode is Melissa Mbarki, an Indigenous woman from Treaty 4 in Saskatchewan who grew up on a reserve. She has spent her career working as an oil, gas, and mining operations analyst. Melissa is also a policy analyst in the Indigenous Policy Program at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI). Listen for Melissa Mbarki's insights on what Indigenous reconciliation looks like on the ground from her point of you. You won't hear much high-sounding rhetoric or calls for grand gestures. However, you will hear a very practical description of what needs to change and what role natural resource development plays in this issue. One issue that really comes through in our conversation involves the benefits of work beyond earning a paycheque. That's something think tank Cardus has studied extensively. To learn more, check out Fuelling Canada's Middle Class and Work is About More Than Money. If you're interested in learning more about Melissa's work and the involvement of MLI in Indigenous issues, visit the MLI website. And if you're interested in reading about some under-reported aspects of reconciliation, here are three articles in Convivium that you may enjoy reading: Images of Indigenous Resilience by Alan Hustak Renewing On Middle Ground by Cecil Chabot Reconcile This by Peter Stockland If you enjoyed this episode of The Long Way, don't be shy about rating it, liking it, leaving a comment, or subscribing to this podcast. The Long Way is a podcast of think tank Cardus. Thanks for listening! Theme Song: Dream Background Beat by MSVoy | https://soundcloud.com/msvoy Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-ND 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/