Impaired driving has been on the rise in 2020, which is especially worrying as large gatherings, typically seen as catalysts to impaired driving, have not been happening. On Thursday November 12, a motion was made in the PEI legislative assembly to address impaired driving, to multipartisan support. Lacking from conversations around impaired driving, however, is a proactive approach towards prevention. Today, we are chatting about impaired driving, what it looks like, and how it can be prevented

Canada saw 2 provincial general elections and a provincial by-election in the ten-day period between October 24 and November 2: BC held snap elections, Saskatchewan had scheduled general elections, and PEI had a by-election in its District 10. These elections differed in many ways, but were also similar in that they were pandemic elections, held in the midst of COVID19. Political scientist Dr. Don Desserud is with us today to chat about what these elections look like. 

Over the last decade, basic income has come up multiple times in conversations, not only within Canada, but globally. COVID19 has however led to an amplification of those discussions as light was shone on the weaknesses in social nets in the midst of a global crisis. Basic Income has received  multi partisan support federally over the last few years, and provincially within Prince Edward Island as well. To discuss basic income with us is Charlottetown MP Sean Casey. 

With the cost of postsecondary textbooks increasing at a rate much higher than inflation over the past few decades, these learning materials have become a very tangible financial barrier to access to education. The alternative? Open Educational Resources, or OERs. These are freely available materials that may be modified, distributed and utilised under a creative commons license. To chat with us about what this means and how to implement OERs is Clancy McDaniel, Executive Director of StudentsNS. 

Our guest for Episode 1 is Jane Ledwell, Executive Director of the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women. We'll be discussing gender-specific impacts of COVID19, and what a sustainable, inclusive recovery looks like. 

We are in an era of quantity over quality when it comes to information. While this means that we obtain news from diverse sources, it also means we are unable to delve as deep as we would like into the many intricacies and implications of the dozens of decisions we have to process daily. This is where Emma Drake and Sweta Daboo come in, providing a progressive, in-depth analysis of many, many issues, mingling seriousness with good humour and pop culture. This is Dialogue, the progressive podcast on policy, politics, and pop culture.