COMMONS

Migrant farm workers are the backbone of Canada’s agricultural economy. But because they can be fired and deported at will, their voices are rarely ever heard in this country.

But Gabriel Allahdua is one of the few who can now speak up. And the story he has to tell is startling.

It’s a story of racism and labour exploitation that goes back decades, even centuries. And it’s a prophecy of what is to come — that the hardships inflicted on migrant farm workers are only a trial run for the rest of us. 

This is the second episode in a two-part series on farm labour. 

Featured in this episode: Gabriel Allahdua, Chris Ramsaroop

To learn more:

Harvesting Freedom: The Life of a Migrant Worker in Canada by Gabriel Allahdua with Edward Dunsworth

“‘Overtly racist’: Lawsuit challenges Canada’s migrant farmworker system” by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours in Al-Jazeera

“Former Ontario seasonal farmworker speaks out about exploitation, files class action lawsuit” by Jon Woodward in CTV News

“The Canadian state and the racialization of Caribbean migrant farm labour 1947–1966” by Vic Satzewich in Ethnic and Racial Studies

Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), André Proulx (Production Coordinator), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Additional music from Audio Network

Sponsors: Rotman, AG1

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

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The creation of the Canadian Farmworkers Union, as it would come to be called, was the first step in a struggle that continues to this day.

Because even now, farmworkers have far fewer rights than almost any other class of worker. And even today, the men and women who grow our food are subject to horrific working conditions and racial discrimination.

But to understand why the situation remains so bad, we need to go back in time to a moment when there was progress and hope. A moment when it looked like things might truly change for the better.

This is the first episode in a two-part series on farm labour. 

Featured in this episode: Raj Chouhan

To learn more:

A Time To Rise by Anand Patwardhan & Jim Munro

Union Zindabad!: South Asian Canadian Labour History in British Columbia by Donna Sacuta, Bailey Garden & Anushay Malik

“Charan Gill: An ‘Epic’ Life of Advocacy” by David P. Ball in The Tyee

“1983: The Year BC Citizens and Workers Fought Back” by Rod Mickleburgh in The Tyee

Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), André Proulx (Production Coordinator), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Additional music from Audio Network

Sponsors: Douglas, Athletic Greens 

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Across Canada, emergency rooms have been shutting down, leaving desperate people in the lurch. And at the heart of this health care crisis, is a labour crisis.

Nurses are leaving their jobs in droves, leaving hospitals understaffed and sometimes unable to carry out their most basic obligations.

In this episode, we'll tell you how nursing went from a profession hailed as heroic to one in an utter state of crisis, all through the eyes of a woman who lived through it all.

Featured in this episode: Nadira Ross

To learn more:

“How Canadian hospitals became dependent on expensive, out-of-town nurses” by Tu Thanh Ha, Kelly Grant and Stephanie Chambers in The Globe and Mail

“How nursing staffing agencies are costing Ontario hospitals untold millions” by Mike Crawley in CBC News 

Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), André Proulx (Production Coordinator), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Additional music from Audio Network

Sponsors: Douglas, AG1

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Labour has undergone a seismic shift over the past decade. 

The rise of gig work and temp agencies have made employment more precarious than ever. In the interest of profits, companies are turning more and more towards temporary foreign workers and international students for minimum wage jobs. And even for those with seemingly secure employment, wages and benefits continue to be squeezed. 

One thing seems clear: workers are getting screwed. 

This season of COMMONS will dig into the fascinating history and ever-changing present of what it means to be a worker in Canada.  

Featured in this episode: Jim Stanford

Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), André Proulx (Production Coordinator), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Additional music from Audio Network

Sponsors: Rotman, Douglas, AG1 

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Labour has undergone a seismic shift over the past decade. 

The rise of gig work and temp agencies have made employment more precarious than ever. In the interest of profits, companies are turning more and more towards temporary foreign workers and international students for minimum wage jobs. And even for those with seemingly secure employment, wages and benefits continue to be squeezed. 

One thing seems clear: workers are getting screwed. 

This season of COMMONS will dig into the fascinating history and ever-changing present of what it means to be a worker in Canada.  

COMMONS: Work launches on March 20th.

Canadaland Supporters can listen to all episodes one week early! Become a supporter at canadaland.com/join  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, COMMONS producer Noor Azrieh sits down with Peter Smith to discuss his reporting on right-wing conspiracy groups like Qanon and Romana Didulo.

Featured in this episode: Peter Smith

To learn more:

“Lead in the head”: Self-Declared Canadian Prime Minister and QAnon Adherent Calls for Executions of Officials Who Refuse Her Cease and Desists” by Peter Smith in The Canadian Anti-Hate Network

“Self Declared Queen Of Canada Calling For US Supporters To Invade Canada And Prepare To Execute “Traitors” by Peter Smith in The Canadian Anti-Hate Network

Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor in Cheif)

Sponsors: Douglas, Athletic Greens

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode was originally published on August 28th, 2023. 

Listen to Monopoly 1 - Lost in the Supermarket and Monopoly 17 - Food Fight

In the past several years, Loblaws, Metro and Empire have spent billions on their own stock – And at a time of food price inflation and grocery workers on strike. 

Why are they doing it? And why do some economists say stock buybacks should be abolished? 

Featured in this episode: 

William Lazonick, professor emeritus of economics at University of Massachusetts

Jim Stanford, director of the Centre for Future Work

Further reading:

• Profits Without Prosperity, William Lazonick, Harvard Business Review
• “The American disease’: Canadian companies pouring cash into stock buybacks as backlash grows abroad, Geoff Zochodne, Financial Post
• Striking Metro workers say they face challenges affording the very food they sell, Canadian Press

Host: Jesse Brown 

Credits: Cherise Seucharan (Reporter), Jonathan Goldsbie (News Editor), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Sponsors: Douglas, AG1

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode was originally published on November 7th, 2022. 

Listen to episodes 1 & 3

Richard Marsh was born into the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church. He got out of the group he calls a cult and has made it his mission to expose the Brethren for their alleged abuses.  Now he’s on the run from Brethren members who’ve been searching for him for years. The man hired to hunt Marsh down? David Wallace. 

Written and reported by Jesse Brown and Cherise Seucharan 

Audio editing and sound design by Tristan Capacchione 

Original music by Nathan Burley Additional music by Audio Network 

Editorial Assistance by Sarah Lawrynuik 

Executive Producer, Jesse Brown

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We live in a world of obsessive fandoms. The Stans, Swifties, Potterheads, Beliebers, Trekkies, Bronies, Barbs and their ilk are everywhere to be found.

But at what point does it go from being harmless entertainment and turn into something more sinister?

Featured in this episode: Zoe Alderton, Robert Lawson

To learn more:

“‘Snapewives’ and ‘Snapeism’: A Fiction-Based Religion within the Harry Potter Fandom” by Zoe Alderton in Religions

“Andrew Tate: how the ‘manosphere’ influencer is selling extreme masculinity to young men” by Robert Lawson in The Conversation

Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It by Kaitlyn Tiffany

Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Additional music from Audio Network

Sponsors: oxio, Douglas

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Romana Didulo, the self-proclaimed Queen of Canada, is unlike almost any other cult leader Canada has ever seen. In an incredibly short amount of time, she’s been able to gain a mass following, despite her absurd claims and alarming rhetoric.

At various points, she’s claimed to be a political leader, a monarch, an interdimensional being communing with aliens, and so much more. She’s urged her followers to take up arms and execute migrants on sight.

And now, she’s taken up residence in a small Saskatchewan town that doesn’t know what to do.

Featured in this episode: Mack Lamoureux (VICE News), Peter Smith (Canadian Anti-Hate Network), Hugh Everding

To learn more:

“A QAnon Cult Set Up a Compound in a Small Town. The Locals Are Fighting Back” by Mack Lamoureux in VICE News

“Self Declared Queen Of Canada Calling For US Supporters To Invade Canada And Prepare To Execute “Traitors”” by Peter Smith in Canadian Anti-Hate Network

The Storm is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything by Mike Rothschild 

Credits: Arshy Mann (Host and Producer), Jordan Cornish (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Additional music from Audio Network

Sponsors: oxio, Athletic Greens 

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.