Uncommons with Nate Erskine-Smith

Border management has become deeply politicized in recent months, and it's worth moving beyond the partisan debate, to reflect on best practices around the world, and to assess what more Canada should do both to enhance travel restrictions and address essential travel needs. On this episode, Nate is joined by Professor Kelley Lee to discuss pandemic border management, including global best practices, how Canada compares, and vaccine certification and other measures that Canada should work towards. She is a professor at Simon Fraser University, Canada Research Chair in global health governance, and leads the Pandemics and Borders Project focusing on cross-border measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past, Professor Lee contributed to major studies of WHO reform, including assessments of the global response to SARS and Ebola virus. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

What is the intent of Bill C-10 and can we deliver on that intent without limiting free speech? On this episode, Nate is joined by Michael Geist to discuss free speech issues around Bill C-10, why he has been opposed to the bill on other grounds as well, and how we should think about addressing illegal speech online in future legislation. Michael is a law professor and Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, and is a member of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society. He has written extensively about his objections to Bill C-10 on his blog here.On the issue of free speech, the government has repeatedly, albeit clumsily, said from the outset that it does not intend to regulate user generated content, and that the focus of the bill is to require Netflix, Spotify and other online undertakings to pay into the system of Canadian content creation as traditional broadcasters are required to do. What needs to happen is for the government to correct its misstep in communication and clarify the law through an amendment to properly exclude user generated content. Thankfully, the Minister has said recently that this is exactly his intention: we “want to make sure that the content that people upload on social media won’t be considered as programming under the Act and that it won’t be regulated by the CRTC. And that’s why we will be bringing forward another amendment that will make this crystal clear.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

The Global Commission on Drug Policy was created in January 2011 to highlight the failure of the war on drugs and to call for a paradigm shift towards drug policies grounded in evidence, human rights, and public health. On this episode, Nate is joined by commissioner Louise Arbour to talk about domestic and global drug policy, the harms of prohibition, and why we need to decriminalize all drugs for personal use and then regulate all drugs according to their respective harms.Arbour has taken on an incredible number of impactful and interesting roles over her career. She served as the chief prosecutor of war crimes before the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, as a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and as a Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for International Migration. As an SCC justice, Arbour dissented in Malmo-Levine, highlighting the harms of prohibition, and she has served as a commissioner of the Global Commission since its inception.You can watch Nate's speech in the House on Bill C-22 here.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Should governments be concerned about generational fairness? On this episode, Nate is joined by Paul Kershaw, professor at the UBC School of Population and Public Health, and founder of Generation Squeeze, a national research, education, and advocacy organization focused on fairness for younger Canadians. With the federal budget set to be released on April 19, Nate and Paul discuss how the budget process can and should better serve younger Canadians, including by addressing the high cost of housing and childcare, delivering climate action, and increasing revenue to meet our growing public debt. You can learn more about Gen Squeeze here.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Public health measures remain critical, but mass vaccination is how we end this crisis. On this episode, Nate is joined by Minister Anita Anand to discuss Canada's vaccine procurement efforts, where we are today, and what we can expect going forward. Anand and her team have worked around the clock for over a year now, towards procuring PPE, rapid tests, and most recently vaccines. After frustrating supply chain issues, the vaccine delivery schedule has been expedited and every adult Canadian should be able to receive a dose by Canada Day. You can learn more about the vaccine delivery schedule here.You can learn more about investments in domestic manufacturing here and here.All vaccines approved by Health Canada are safe and effective. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Experts are warning that Canada's housing market is overheated and unsustainable. On this episode, Nate is joined by John Pasalis and Mike Moffatt to discuss what's driven the surge in prices and what the federal government should do in response.John Pasalis is a specialist in real estate data analysis and president of Realosophy Realty, a Toronto real estate brokerage.Mike Moffatt is an economist and professor whose series, Ontarians on the move, is focused on population growth, migration, and what's going on with Ontario's housing market. By way of background, Canada's big banks have all recently raised concerns about Canada's housing market. Scotiabank says the housing market is off the charts, TD calls it white-hot, CIBC says it's unsustainable, RBC notes that property values have soared to levels far outside historical norms, and BMO has said that Canada is playing with fire. While the Bank of Canada has been slow in voicing its concerns,  after this episode was recorded Governor Tiff Macklem finally came out and acknowledged that "Canadians are stretching and that is worrying" and questioned the sustainability of the market.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Baroness Beeban Kidron joins Nate to discuss children's rights in our digital world, and why we need new rules to protect them. Kidron has been a member of the British House of Lords since 2012. Previously an award-winning filmmaker, her last documentary film InRealLife ultimately led her to become an advocate for children's rights online, which she continues both as a parliamentarian and in her role as Chair of the 5Rights Foundation.Here in Canada, Bill C-11 will strengthen our federal privacy framework, and we expect a new bill to be tabled in the coming months to strengthen online safety and better address online harms.  At the same time, our proposed privacy reform does not include any specific reference to children's rights, so changes will likely be needed and this conversation is a timely one. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Our federal government has committed to end chronic homelessness, and Nate is joined by Adam Vaughan and Anne Babcock to discuss how we can best deliver on that commitment. Adam is the Liberal MP for Spadina-Fort York, and a former Toronto city councillor. His political career at both levels has been motivated by a passionate concern for housing policy, and he’s the parliamentary secretary with carriage of the housing file. Anne is the president and CEO at Woodgreen Community Services, an established and experienced service provider of supportive housing. She has a wealth of experience locally and internationally on housing policy, including most recently as a member of Toronto’s housing task force. Our federal government has increased funding towards ending chronic homelessness over the last five years, including most recently a $1 billion rapid housing initiative. The RHI exceeded its initial target of 3,000 new affordable homes, and will support the construction of more than 4,700 permanent affordable units for Canadian families. We’ve also helped to fund city plans here in Toronto, including for modular housing, and there’s a site in Beaches-East York on Trenton Ave that is currently the subject of some local debate, which is also a focus of conversation in this episode. If you have feedback on that particular project: communityliaison@lura.ca This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Dr. Paul Farmer joins Nate to talk about global health equity, both with reference to past health crises, and today's. In his recent book, Fevers Feuds & Diamonds, Dr. Farmer writes about his first-hand experience responding to the Ebola crisis in West Africa, and what we can learn from it.  Dr. Farmer is professor and chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, chief of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and co-founder and chief strategist of Partners in Health and a board member of Partners In Health Canada.Partners in Health is dedicated to bringing a high standard of public health care to the most vulnerable communities around the world, and PIH Canada is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The story of Dr. Farmer and colleagues Jim Yong Kim and Ophelia Dahl in founding PIH is the subject of the documentary Bending the Arc. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Kevin Page joins Nate to discuss fiscal responsibility, stimulus and recovery spending, and fiscal anchors or what the Fall Economic Statement described as “fiscal guardrails.”Kevin is currently president and CEO of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa, but no doubt better known as Canada’s first Parliamentary Budget Officer, from 2008 to 2013.For his work in that role, he’s been described as an “unlikely hero.” And while it’s a job he’s said nobody wanted, himself included, he’s also described it as “the best five years of my public service career,” - a career that included 27 years of experience in the public service including the Department of Finance, the Treasury Board Secretariat, and the Privy Council Office.Over the last five years, Nate has relied upon Kevin's advice and guidance in reviewing federal budgets and scrutinizing spending, and that continues in this conversation.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca