Democracy Watch

This episode of Democracy Watch features the second part of our series on how America's passing of SESTA/FOSTA has affected sex workers in Canada—"Warning: Backpage Not Found." The piece includes an interview with local sex worker and activist Carmen, who tells us her story and the real world impact the bills have had on her. We then hear a short piece on the affects a fire at Topanga Cafe has had on the Kits community. For the final section of our show, we have a live interview with OneCity council candidates Brandon Yan and Christine Boyle. Brandon joins us live in studio and Christine joins us by phone. Both chat about their experiences with online harassment.

Democracy Watch begins with an interview with South-Surrey MLA and disability rights activist, Stephanie Cadieux on the topic of wheelchair accessible taxis and the role Uber will have on accessible transportation, if it comes to B.C. This segment is an updated re-broadcast, in light of an incident that happened this past Sunday—Canada Day—when a woman was forced to wait three hours for a wheelchair accessible taxi. After that, we have part one of a three part series on the April 2018 passing of the SESTA and FOSTA bills in the United States. News Collective member Ande Laidman interviews Carolyn Derkson from PACE to discuss how SESTA/FOSTA has been affecting sex workers in Vancouver. The show ends with a short piece on a camp for recently arrived refugee children, lead by local university students called the BC Newcomer Camp.

Democracy Watch starts off with a short interview with NDP MP Jenny Kwan. Kwan discusses Canada's detention of noncitizen, including children, in the wake of Trump's policy to separate immigrant children from parents at the Mexico-U.S. border. After that we turn to Vancouver's new randomized ballot policy and feature political scientist and University of Calgary professor, Jack Lucas, who challenges the idea that voting in Vancouver will now be fairer with a randomized ballot. The show ends with an original report from Vancouver's Green Party election nomination meeting, including an interview with incumbent city councillor, Adriane Carr.

After headlines from Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, Democracy Watch presents an hour of Indigenous-focused, local current affairs in honour of National Day of Indigenous Peoples. The show begins with Rehmatullah Sheikh, who reported on Vancouver's first urban Heiltsuk language classes as part of UBC's Reporting In Indigenous Communities program. After that, we hear an interview lead by Ande Laidman with Vancouver-based Cree scholar and activist, Harlan Pruden. Laidman speaks with Pruden about the nuances of being Indigenous and two-spirited.

After headlines, the News Collective remembers the life of Anthony Bourdain through the eyes of Vancouver's celebrity celebrity chef, Vikram Vij. News Collective member Zubin Shroff-Mehrabadi interviews Sydney Ball of the Vancouver Tenants Union about the province's new Rental Housing Task Force, and the set of 50 recommendations presented by the VTU in Victoria last week. Then, News Collective members Zoe Power and Sammy Smart present original reporting from Jean Swanson's campaign launch over the weekend, where, surrounded by some of Vancouver's priciest mansions, she announced that she'll be seeking a seat on city council as a candidate for COPE this year. After that we receive an update on COPE's confirmed candidates for Council, School and Park board before turning to an interview with Nate, one of over 200 people who are awaiting sentencing next week after being arrested for protesting the pipeline expansion at Kinder Morgan's Burnaby facility.

The News Collective speaks with the NPA's 2018 mayoral candidate Ken Sim, former NPA 2014 mayoral candidate and UBC Journalism School professor, Kirk La Pointe, as well as NPA sitting councillor, Hector Bremner, who is running for mayor under the banner of a new party he's founded. Democracy Watch also features interviews with West Van residents at Attorney General David Eby's Tuesday night town hall on housing, followed by an interview with Alex Hemingway from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives on the topic of the NDP's controversial school tax.

It’s 148 days till we elect a new mayor, city councillors, school board trustees and park board trustees. In this summer edition of Democracy Watch, we bring listeners an update on Vancouver's coming municipal election. After that, a report from Vancouver's city hall. News Collective members Aidan Tong and Sammy Smart speak with concerned parties at a hearing on May 16th, which concludes in the passing of a ban on single-use plastic items. Democracy Watch ends with interviews on the soon-to-be-built Vancouver Airport Fuel Facilities Corporation (VAFFC) pipeline. News Collective member Alex de Boer speaks with journalist Glen Korstrom of Business in Vancouver and Richmond City Councillor, Carol Day on exactly how imminent this pipeline in.

This is the final episode of Democracy Watch for the 2017/2018 school year! Instead of presenting headlines and original reporting, this week the News Collective revisits past episodes and discusses where the stories we reported on are at now. The collective also analyzes our own coverage of local news, as well as coverage provided by other media outlets.

After headlines from Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, Democracy Watch airs a super chill, music-centred episode.

After headlines from Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, today's show features an interview with the Managing Director of Social Policy at the city's newly opened temporary support centre for families and survivors affected by the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG). Mary Clare Zak talks with reporter Aidan Tong about the Saa-ust Support Centre and its significance.

Next we turn to a story on a dispute involving the UBC Geography Student Association (GSA) and Hillel BC. Democracy Watch reporters Olamide Olaniyan and Aidan Tong talk to The Ubyssey's Lawrence Ge about his reporting on this incident and the challenge both he and Democracy Watch faced in trying to get the Geography department to comment on what went down.

After that we turn to an interview with Thomas Davies of Climate Convergence Vancouver. Reporter Areeka Riaz interviews Davies about a series of direct actions that took place at TD Banks across Burnaby last Saturday. These actions were meant to disrupt and shame TD, which is the world’s largest bank investor in the Transmountain pipeline expansion.

The show ends with a conversation on a small demonstration that was held in conjunction with UBC’s annual Storm the Wall event. Yesterday, Democracy Watch’s Areeka Riaz, in collaboration with members of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, the Talon and the Social Justice Centre set up a booth adjacent to UBC's Storm the Wall event in an effort to draw attention to colonial legacies on Indigenous lands including the building of border walls.