Vancouver voters are entering the crazy season of municipal politics with just a little more than a year until they go to the polls and decide the fate of Mayor Ken Sim and his deeply-wounded ABC party. Ian Mass joins us to talk about this looming 2026 election, the candidates who have already declared that they will run for Mayor, the upcoming potentially massive cuts at City Hall and lots more.  

The National Farmers Union says Canadians are upset about higher grocery bills, but farmers’ incomes have not kept up with inflation. The NFU points out that revenues for retail grocery companies have increased despite a decrease in the volume of food purchased by Canadians. We speak with James Hannay, policy analyst at the NFU.

For years, landowners near the Metro Vancouver incinerator in Burnaby have reported substantial deposits accumulating on their properties, requiring annual cleaning. Finally, independent testing has revealed dangerous levels of dioxins, furans, and heavy metals in this dust. We speak with Sue Maxwell, chair of Zero Waste BC.

Bob Joseph started a conversation on the Indian Act with his book, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act, which became a national bestseller. And now, he’s followed up with an essential sequel, turning the focus to the alternatives. His new book, 21 Things You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government has just been launched. We speak with Bob Joseph.

Changes in law that bring about more equality have complex roots, but they almost always start with someone who takes a stand. A new book examines ten of the legal cases that advanced women’s rights in Canada. The stories it tells of the women who challenged the law remind us that advances in equality are hard-won and should never be taken for granted. The book is titled Women Who Woke Up The Law. We speak with author Karin Wells.

A new report, co-authored by Lorne Foster and Lesley Jacobs, examines consumer racial profiling of Indigenous people in Canada. The report says it is likely that racial profiling in retail environments is the most frequent form of racism experienced by Indigenous communities. The Heiltsuk Nation released the report as part of its filings for a BC Human Rights Tribunal complaint that will be heard in October. We speak with Lesley Jacobs.

This past summer Uber drivers in Victoria joined UFCW 1518 to become the first platform workers in Canada to formally unionize.   And Amazon warehouse workers in Delta won union certification with Unifor Local 114, becoming the second Amazon facility in Canada to unionize and only the third in North America.  We talk with Véronique Sioufi about what enabled these organizing victories, and what barriers this kind of worker organizing faces. Véronique Sioufi is racial equity researcher and policy analyst at the  B.C. Society for Policy Solutions.

The new book, When Genocide Wasn’t News, is a comprehensive critique of the Canadian media cover-up of the genocide in Gaza featuring essays by journalists, activists, Palestinians and more. We speak with one of the co-authors, Jason Toney, director of media advocacy at Canadians For Justice and Peace in the Middle East.

In his first City Beat of Redeye’s new season, Ian Mass looks at what’s happening in Stanley Park from the upcoming Harry Potter extravaganza to transportation challenges for the 18 million annual visitors to the park. Also on the agenda,  truck traffic to the Port, plans for more billboards, and a safe Fraser River bike route.

Donald Trump’s tariff threats and insistence that Canada become the 51st state have put the issue of national sovereignty firmly on the agenda. It seems obvious that one of the clearest routes to protect Canada now and in the future is to reduce our economic dependence on the United States. One idea that’s been floated is a plan to build an oil pipeline from Alberta to Atlantic Canada. We speak with Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood, senior researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, who says what Canada needs is an east-west electricity grid.