Real Talk Ryan Jespersen

Cara Moffat has two very important jobs. She's a respiratory therapist helping COVID-19 patients at Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital. She's also one of Santa's helpers. She tell us what it's been like in Santa's mailroom this year, and how messages from kids are different in 2020. Mohammad Hussain is celebrating his very first Christmas, after years and years of ignoring the holiday. He takes us into the experience, including what it was like to hear from Prime Minister Trudeau himself. And Brandon Rudics, a Real Talk audience member, recalls his very first Christmas after leaving his Jehovah's Witness faith community. Merry Christmas, friends!

What were the top food stories in Canada in 2020? What food trends should we be focusing on for 2021? Professor Sylvain Charlebois of Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab. Mayors Cathy Heron, Alanna Hnatiw, and Tara Veer join from St. Albert, Sturgeon County, and Red Deer. We get into the year that was, the impact of COVID-19 on their communities, where the biggest economic opportunities exist in the year to come, and whether or not women approach politics differently than men.

Ryan starts the show reading a letter from Freson Bros founder Frank Lovsin, OC. A member of the Alberta Business Hall of Fame, Mr. Lovsin takes issue with billion-dollar corporations accepting federal wage subsidies, then paying out millions in dividends to shareholders. MLA Rakhi Pancholi joins to discuss universal child care, and what the model might look like. Dr. Madhav Sarda, a medical education professor at the University of Saskatchewan, explains in laypersons' terms how the COVID-19 vaccine actually works, and what's so remarkable about its development.

Strategist Chris Henderson joins Ryan to discuss our "Get Real: Question of the Week" on how COVID is affecting your holiday shopping. Of course, as you might expect, there's a whole bunch of poli-talk too. Calgary City Councillor Jyoti Gondek discusses the high-profile arrest of Ocean Wiesblatt, a Calgary man who refused to cooperate with police after violating COVID-related restrictions at an outdoor ice rink. Councillor Gondek also shares her powerful perspective on racism, after another public demonstration by the group Soldiers of Odin. Political strategist Stephen Carter wraps up the show with an extended-length (and lively!) conversation around Wiesblatt's arrest, changes to the federal carbon tax, and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney's plan for a referendum around equalization in October 2021.

Ryan rolls out the best rants of the week, as submitted to talk@ryanjespersen.com. Buckle up for another edition of Trash Talk, presented by Local Waste.

Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, takes questions on the implications of Ottawa's climate policy on prairie producers. Our Anti-Racism Friday round table, featuring Dr. Farha Shariff, Adam North Peigan, and Rahma Mohamed, focus on taking meaningful individual and collective action to confront discrimination in our communities.

Robyn Strain, a respiratory therapist, was among the first Albertans to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. She joins us hours later to discuss the process, and how she and her colleagues are feeling as cases continue to rise. The politics of a pandemic are producing interesting polling results, including the rise of a right wing party that could take votes from the governing UCP. Dr. Jared Wesley helps us sort it all out. Momin Saeed and Trent Daley give us a sense of how Alberta's Muslim community is holding up in light of multiple targeted attacks in Edmonton. And April Prescott takes us inside her creative mind, and how she's dealing with the mental health impacts of COVID-19.

Dr. Stephen Duckett joins from Melbourne to discuss what's worked, and what work remains, with Australia's COVID-19 response. University of Toronto Law and Bioethics professor Trudo Lemmens explains why he's concerned with Bill C7 - Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying legislation. Legendary ice bather John Mark Earle (literally) takes us into Peace River on the one year anniversary of his first polar bear swim. And eight-time World Champion boxer Jelena Mrdjenovich checks in minutes before her weigh-in, ahead of her title defence against Paola Torres in Los Angeles.

Dr. Stephen Duckett, Director of the Health program at Grattan Institute, explains why Australians are already back to hosting dinner parties, their masks packed away in their sock drawers. Dr. Duckett also looks back on the famous "cookie incident" that led to his dismissal as CEO of Alberta Health Services in 2010.

Why should Canada roll out a universal child care, and what would it take to make it happen? Journalist Anne Casselman dives into her feature in The Walrus, "The Case for Affordable Childcare". Heidi Bergstrom's an accountant, a mom, and the engaged citizen behind a petition calling for national childcare. She gets into the dollars and cents of national childcare. And, after a sexist Wall Street Journal op/ed called Dr. Jill Biden "kiddo" and urged her to "drop the 'Dr'" before her name, we get the straight goods from Dr. Muna Saleh, an author and educator from Concordia University.