Unmaking Saskatchewan

From the anti-trans "parents' rights" bill to the rise of the Sask United Party, the province is moving aggressively to the right. People are increasingly using the term fascism to describe what they're seeing. But fascism is a specific type of right wing politics, and it's not a term to be used lightly. So Alex dug in to the political philosophy of fascism to figure out whether the fash in Sask are really ascendant.


Sources:

The Anatomy of Fascism by Robert O. Paxton
The Nature of Fascism by Roger Griffin
How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley

In 1944 the CCF was elected on a platform of implementing medicare. It would take 18 years for that promise to be realized...but the dream realized was a shadow of what had been proposed. How did we get here, what was the vision, and what did we lose?

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Hoshins? Check. Kaizens? Check. The support of actual healthcare professionals? No check. Lean management has been with the Saskatchewan health care system for over a decade and if we know one thing for sure, it's that health care workers hate it. This episode hears from University of Victoria professor Justin Leifso about how and why the government of Saskatchewan decided to try to run the health care system like a manufacturing plant.

You can find us on Patreon at patreon.com/unmakingsaskatchewan. Huge thanks to our supporters, Courtney, Stefan, Devon, Nicole, Daniel, Avianna, Jeremy, Joel, epaul, Tara, Kevin, Conor, Aiden, Rob, Rod, Sandra, Leblanc Jensen Law, Conlin, Erica, Brent, and Julian!

For better or for worse, Tommy Douglas is the figure most closely associated with Medicare in Canada. But long before the CCF was first elected in 1944, Saskatchewan people were organizing and strategizing to ensure their communities had access to doctors, nurses, hospitals, and infectious disease treatment. This episode looks at the evolution of public healthcare in the province between 1872 and 1944.

Follow Sara on Twitter at @sbirlios.
Support us on Patreon at patreon.com/unmakingsaskatchewan

Sources:
Boychuk, Gerard Explaining Public Health Insurance in the United States and Canada

Countess of Aberdeen What is the use of the Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada?

Daschuk, James Clearing the Plains

Houston, C. Stuart Steps on the road to medicare: why Saskatchewan led the way

Houston, C. Stuart Leading the way: A Matter of Life and Breath. The 75 Year History of the Saskatchewan Anti-Tuberculosis League and the Saskatchewan Lung Association

Middleton, F.C. Evolution of Tuberculosis Control in Saskatchewan

Ostry, Alec National History of Medicine: The Foundations of National Public Health Insurance

Rands, Stan Privilege and Policy: A History of Community Clinics in Saskatchewan

Shandel, Tom Bitter Medicine, Part One: The Birth of Medicare

Taylor, Malcom G. Health insurance and Canadian public policy: the seven decisions that created the Canadian health insurance system and their outcomes

On November 29, 1990, the body of Neil Christopher Stonechild, a 17-year-old Saulteaux high school student, was found frozen in a field on the outskirts of Saskatoon. Despite his family's suspicions of foul play, less than a week after he was found, the Saskatoon Police closed the investigation into his death. It would take another 10 years - and two more freezing deaths - before Neil's death was properly investigated and it was revealed to the world what many Indigenous people in Saskatoon had known for years: the Saskatoon Police had a habit of driving Indigenous people far beyond the city limits and dumping them on the roadside to walk home, or die.

Support us on Patron (and find episode transcripts) at patreon.com/unmakingsaskatchewan

Saskatchewan has a long history of incarcerating physically and intellectually disabled people. Megan Linton of Invisible Institutions comes on the show to talk about the history and present of disability confinement in the province.

Find Megan on Twitter at @invinstitutions and find Unmaking Saskatchewan on Patreon at patreon.com/unmakingsaskatchewan

Guest Julie Yu calls it "the story everyone knows, but no one knows anything about." Chinese restaurants are a small-town Saskatchewan staple, especially along the rail lines. But who are the people behind them and what was life like for the first Chinese restaurateurs who made their home on the prairies?

You can support the show (and find transcripts for episodes) on Patreon at patreon.com/unmakingsaskatchewan

On July 17, 2022, Colby Tootoosis was attacked and beaten by settlers as he returned a trailer to a friend. The assault, which was caught on camera and happened not far from where settler farmer Gerald Stanley shot and killed Colten Boushie in August 2016, laid bare the juxtaposition between how colonial law is applied to Indigenous people and how it is applied to settlers. aLEX talks with Colby’s brother, Mylan, about the assault and how it fits into the context of Indigenous-settler relations in Saskatchewan. Mylan is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Saskatchewan and can be found at the Radicle Narrative podcast: https://radiclenarrative.com/.

Support the show on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/unmakingsaskatchewan

(Warning: This episode contains strong language) Colter Wall is one of Saskatchewan's most popular musicians. But what is Brad Wall's son actually singing about? Jeremy Davis joins Alex to talk about pan-hickism, murder ballads, and whether Swift Current is a small town, as Colter often claims (spoiler: it's not).

You can support the show (and find transcripts for episodes) on Patreon at patreon.com/unmakingsaskatchewan

In the first half of the 20th century, an Indian Agent named William Morris Graham decided to set in motion one of the largest human experiments in so-called Canada. Graham moved Indigenous graduates from residential schools onto the Peepeekisis First Nation, arranged their marriages, and set them to work farming. Graham's control over their lives was absolute, and it has ramifications to this day. Cheyanne Desnomie, a scholar from Peepeekisis shares the story of the File Hills Colony.

Find out more about Cheyenne's academic work:
https://www.schoolofpublicpolicy.sk.ca/iphrc/about/our-people/cheyanne-desnomie.php


You can support the show (and find transcripts for episodes) on Patreon at patreon.com/unmakingsaskatchewan