Pod Bless Canada

The world has followed closely the attempted assassination via poisoning, recent arrest, and now conviction of Russian anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny. With thousands of Russian citizens having taken to the streets to protest the corrupt and authoritarian rule of President Vladimir Putin, many have asked whether countries like Canada will do anything in response to Russia’s brazen attempts to target, kill, or otherwise stifle the voices of Russian pro-democracy figures.

To discuss these recent events and what the world ought to consider doing, MLI Senior Fellow Marcus Kolga spoke with Vladimir Ashurkov, the Executive Director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation and a close colleague of Alexei Navalny. The two examine how measures like Magnitsky Sanctions could be used to hold corrupt and abusive officials in Russia (and beyond) to account.

This episode of Pod Bless Canada is a joint podcast between the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, the University of Toronto’s Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (CERES), and UpNorth Magazine.

Spanning from the West coast of the Americas to the East shores of Africa, the Indo-Pacific region contains four of the world’s five largest economies and accounts for over half of global GDP. Of those economies, few are as large and share as many values as Japan. Japan and Canada continue to share many interests in the region, and both leaders recently reiterated their shared vision for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.

To better understand the leadership role that Japan plays in the region, MLI Senior Fellow and Director of the Institute’s Indo-Pacific Program, Jonathan Berkshire Miller, spoke with Tomoaki Ishigaki who serves as Director of the Economic Policy Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

During their conversation, Miller and Ishigaki examine the economic challenges posed for the region due to COVID-19, Japan’s involvement in international trade, the role of multilateral institutions, and Japan’s vision for the Indo-Pacific.

In an effort to improve Canada’s approach to the Indo-Pacific region, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute has launched a dedicated “Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative.” To discuss this important new project, MLI Communications Manager Brett Byers was joined by Senior Fellow and Director of MLI’s Indo-Pacific Program, Jonathan Berkshire Miller.

Miller and Byers examine the challenges and opportunities in the region - ranging from security, to trade, to multilateral cooperation, and more - as well as the role that Canada can play. They outline the importance of Canada embracing its status as an Indo-Pacific nation, urging policy-makers to develop a clear-eyed view of Canada's priorities in the region.

In the latest episode of Pod Bless Canada, MLI Senior Fellow and Foreign Policy Program Director Shuvaloy Majumdar is joined by Blair Gibbs, former advisor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, to discuss the future of Brexit.

In the latest episode of Pod Bless Canada, MLI Senior Fellow Balkan Devlen is joined by fellow MLI Senior Fellow Marcus Kolga and Elisabeth Braw, Visiting Fellow at the American Entreprise Institute, to discuss countering information warfare from hostile foreign states with a resilient society.

This episode of Pod Bless Canada continues our ongoing series that examines Indigenous prosperity at the crossroads. Particularly, MLI is seeking to amplify the voices of Indigenous leaders and entrepreneurs who are on the frontline of economic reconciliation, often by way of securing meaningful partnerships for their communities in the natural resource economy.

To that end, MLI Munk Senior Fellow Ken Coates spoke with Karen Ogen-Toews, the CEO of the First Nations LNG Alliance. Previously, she served as elected Chief of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation for six years, and is currently an elected council member for that nation.

Coates and Ogen-Toews discuss the issues at play within First Nations as often divided communities seek to responsibly engage in the energy economy.

In this episode of Pod Bless Canada, MLI Munk Senior Fellow Ken Coates was joined by and JP Gladu, one of Canada’s foremost Indigenous entrepreneurs.

Coates and Gladu cover a wide range of issues, particularly looking at how new, meaningful partnerships with Indigenous people in the natural resource sector serve as the frontline of economic reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous peoples.

This is the first entry in a series on this important subject.

In the latest episode of Pod Bless Canada, MLI Senior Fellow Balkan Devlen is joined by Dimitrios Triantaphyllou, the Director of the Centre for International and European Studies. Devlen and Triantaphyllou discuss the tensions between Greece and Turkey which has been exacerbated by the global pandemic . Some are worried there may be a military conflict within the region.

Sharing personal anecdotes to illustrate the geopolitics of the two countries, Triantaphyllou  also makes the case for why Canada should pay attention to this issue as we move forward.

This episode of Pod Bless Canada features a conversation between MLI’s communication officer Ai-Men Lau and Chemi Lhamo. Lhamo, an outspoken Tibetan activist and former president of the University of Toronto Scarborough student president, found herself in the middle of a political firestorm. But it wasn't the usual dirty politics that can accompany of student government; rather, Lhamo's social media was quickly flooded with threatening comments from Chinese international students and petitions began circulating calling for Lhamo to step down.

Lhamo and Lau discuss the intimidation and harassment Lhamo faced during her tenure as student president. They also delve into why the Canadian government should be paying attention the issue of foreign interference in our academic institutions.

This episode of Pod Bless Canada features a conversation between MLI’s communication officer Ai-Men Lau and Sherap Therchin. Therchin is the executive director of the Canada Tibet Committee, an organization that promotes human rights and democratic freedoms in Tibet.

Therchin and Lau discuss the recent motion that was passed by the Special Committee on Canada-China relations which supported the resumption of dialogue between the representatives of Tibet and the Chinese government. Additionally, they also delve into the current situation in Tibet under Chinese rule as it pertains to freedom, human rights, and democracy. 

Lau and Therchin also explore what Tibet means for Canada-China relations and how Canada should move forward.