Conversations That Matter

Ep 128

Giselle Portenier

The bravest girls in the world

 

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Giselle Portenier who is producing a documentary on the “Bravest Girls in the World”, girls who run through the jungle, across the desert evading predators of all sorts along the way to escape a ritual that mutilates them and could kill them. Portenier says, “It's a complete violation of their human rights.”

 

Portenier is working to tell the story of girls who are running from genital mutilation, a custom that is imposed upon them by their cultures and their families, “it’s not just a women's issue becau

se the girls get married to men and when they do get married to men, they're much more likely to die in childbirth, they're much more likely not to enjoy sex. And it's also the men that are demanding it be done in many of the cultures, a lot of FGM is performed for financial reasons because if a man wants a cut girl, and he has to pay a bride price for the girl, he's prepared to pay a higher bride price for girls that have been cut.”

 

You can support Giselle’s production by contributing to

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/in-the-name-of-your-daughter/x/7718625#/

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Ep 127

Murray Leith on Stock Markets

Is there a Trump Bump?

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Murray Leith the Head of Research at Odlum Brown on investing during what appears to be a Trump Bump. Leith says, “everybody's calling it the Trump rally but I actually would argue that there's fundamental, economic reasons for the strong performance in the stock market.”

Despite the markets around the world being up by more than 10% over the past two months Leith points out the reasons stem from the strength of the US economy, “there's this feeling that because the market didn't do a whole bunch until after the election, that it's all about Trump and that maybe investors are too euphoric. But really, a 10% return in a year when the economy went from bad to quite a bit better, that's just pretty reasonable.” Leith says enjoy it for now but don’t make your investment choices on swings in the market, he says, “wise investing means having a long term strategy”.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Ep 126

James Hoggan

I’m Right and You’re an Idiot

This week’s Conversation That Matters features James Hoggan who penned, “I’m Right and You’re an Idiot” an insightful look at the toxic level of public discourse. Hoggan has long been  speaking out about anthropogenic climate change and found himself in the midst of some heated arguments. He says he wrote the book to understand why others weren’t listening to him.

Along the way he learned that shifting one’s perspective or beliefs is an extremely difficult prospect. He points out we’re programmed to dig our heels in especially when we encounter a forceful voice on the other side of the equation.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Ep 126

James Hoggan

I’m Right and You’re an Idiot

This week’s Conversation That Matters features James Hoggan who penned, “I’m Right and You’re an Idiot” an insightful look at the toxic level of public discourse. Hoggan has long been  speaking out about anthropogenic climate change and found himself in the midst of some heated arguments. He says he wrote the book to understand why others weren’t listening to him.

Along the way he learned that shifting one’s perspective or beliefs is an extremely difficult prospect. He points out we’re programmed to dig our heels in especially when we encounter a forceful voice on the other side of the equation.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Eugenia Oviedto-Joekes

Crosstown Clinic

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Eugenia Oviedto-Joekes who lead a team of researchers that ran the NAOMI and SALOME clinical trials on the effectiveness of providing chronic heroin addicts with medical heroin or hydromorphone. The trails generated positive results and lead to the creation of Crosstown Clinic.

Crosstown is funded and operated by Providence Health Care because it’s working. Oviedto-Jones points out that injectable heroin is one tiny part of what the clinic offers, “the most important part is the building of relationships and re-establishing a way of caring for people which is something we have not done for more than 30 years.”

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Ep 124

Adam Hart

The Power of Food

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Adam Hart who penned, “The Power of Food” based on his experiences with what he eats. Food that made him sick, food that prevented him from staying focused, food that was killing him, food that ultimately saved him and changed his life.

His plan is antithetical to commonly held beliefs about diet, it includes breathing, positive self-talk and adding rather than taking away.  Hart says, “number one, more than any other food for me has been hemp, hemp seeds. It's the one food that, 15 years ago I discovered talked to me in the way that I wanted a result, mostly stabilized blood sugar. I wanted to feel sustained energy.”

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Michael Chong

Conservative Leadership Candidate

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Michael Chong a man who wants to lead the Conservative Party and ultimately Canada. He says he is the embodiment of a Canadian, multi-cultural, bilingual, socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Chong says, “Canadians believe in building political parties based on fiscally conservative agendas which are also inclusive.”

On immigration, he says he’s not afraid to invite the people of the world come and join us in the building of our nation, “we've created something very special, a place where millions of people have created a different kind of society where it doesn't matter where you come from, what your background, your race, religion, or creed is, but rather what you aspire to be and a place where we all share a common Canadian citizenship centered around our charter rights and freedoms, our laws, our democracy. So we've built something here pretty special that we need to protect, but also enhance.”

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Michael Izen

Finger up the bum

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Michael Izen who wrote “Finger up the Bum” a humorous look at his battle with prostate cancer. He’s only 50 but 51 isn’t looking promising. Why and how did this happen? He’s not suppose to be dying of prostate cancer because, as he was told repeatedly, “guys in their early 40’s don’t get prostate cancer. Nothing to worry about because statistically that’s the way it works.”

Over the past five years he’s had surgery, he’s had one treatment after another. Some work for awhile, others for shorter periods of time but now he’s out of options. So he took a look at what he wanted to do and one thing was to chronicle his relationship with cancer and to focus on the the people he loves.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Professor Santa Ono

What’s the plan for UBC?

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Professor Santa Ono, the newly installed President at the University of British Columbia who left a much higher paying job in Cincinnati to take over at the helm on BC’s top university. Within months he was faced with his first PR challenge over the dismissal and reinstatement of John Furlong as a keynote speaker at a University event.

 

That decision has brought both praise and condemnation. Who is this new President of the University and what is his vision for the future? “I see no reason why UBC can’t go from being one of the top 40 universities in the world to one of the top 20.” Key to his ambitious aspirations is the ability to attract research and research talent. He admits his role is to articulate the vision but it will only happen if the entire UBC community agrees, a community he says includes academic and support staff, the Province, the Federal Government and alumni.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Ep 120

Kirsten Sutton

Workplace Inclusion

This week’s Conversation That Matters features Kirsten Sutton of SAP Canada a company that has mandated that 1% of its workforce is made up of people with autism, a rate that reflects the percentage of people in the world with autism.

 

Sutton says this is not some feel good program, rather it’s a program that is reshaping the company and is paying dividends, “This is not a philanthropic endeavor. We have open roles that we can't fill. Folks on that spectrum are absolutely suited for these roles, and they're not getting employed. So we're filling roles with people that have amazing talents. We've had folks start 1st day in a, say a software testing role, find a bug in the software that's been there 15 years, nobody else has identified it.”

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv