Viewpoints

We will all be hoping for a clear sky on April 8th trying to catch a glimpse of the total eclipse of the sun. Saying whoosh to the clouds! A $250M revenue-sharing agreement is reached with BC’s northwest communities. In Ontario, the Elora Centre for the Arts gets an extra $1.2 M in government funding to help its expansion. Millinery artist Natalia Baquero introduces hat-making in the Eastern Townships. And we’re celebrating the 100th episode of Viewpoints with our journalists from all over the country. They’ll drop in from time to time to tell how they feel about radio, journalism and their special part of the country!

That’s it for us for this 100th episode of Viewpoints. Thanks to our our reporters and collaborators: Erica Butler, Bernadine Fox, Aysha Mian, Ted Evans, Ian Gregg, Ryan Hunt, Lauren McKenzie, Scott Onyschack, Pamela Haasen, Taylor McClure, Ryan Gillespie-Wilson, and Sabrina Spencer. To our national editors, Maureen McEwan, Victoria Fenner. Host and producer Boris Chassagne. Thanks to the entire English team at Frequencynews.ca. Some 40 journalists give us their all, every week, so that we can learn more about their villages, towns, cities and provinces. All of them believe in journalism, love their community radio stations and our “gathering place,” the website of frequencyNews.ca. That’s where everything that is produced is gathered every day. Viewpoints is produced by the Community Radio Fund of Canada. A shout out to our team there in Ottawa.

Communicating with the unhoused during extreme weather? What lessons were learned from the Jan 8th snowstorm in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Remembering the late Robbie Robertson—Jace Martin talks about the Lifetime Achievement Award that almost didn’t happen. Global warming is not happening and is based on junk science? Well, yes, according to Julian Fell, Alternate Director for the Regional District of Nanaimo’s Electoral Area F. There are other opinions about that bold statement…

Our journalists this week: David Moses, Bernadine Fox, and Mick Sweetman. Our national editors are Victoria Fenner and Maureen McEwan. Host and producer Boris Chassagne.  Viewpoints is produced by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.

Greater autonomy or devolution is granted to Nunavut. What does it mean and how it could be applied to Northern British Columbia? The VISTA Radio group absorbs 21 Interior B.C. radio stations from BCE. And the Haldimand Township crier is looking to retire. Anyone up for the job?

Thanks to our journalists Jeff Gard and Ian Gregg. To our national editors, Victoria Fenner and Maureen McEwan. Host and producer Boris Chassagne. Viewpoints is produced by the Community Radio Fund of Canada located in Ottawa. 

Ten thousand patients are in desperate need of a family doctor in Sault St. Marie, Ontario. In a 1996 interview with singer-songwriter Robbie Robertson brings back memories for Six Nations radio station and community. A new Nanaimo Art Gallery exhibition looks at “stories that animate us.” We celebrate Black History Month by remembering Green Hill, a New Brunswick area once called the “Locus of Black life” in Westmorland Parish. Lucy, the Lobster predicts six more weeks of winter. Well, five left now! We’ll tell you about Lucy and lobsters in general. Could make you think twice about your next seafood delight!

Thanks to David Moses & Elaine Bomberry, Erica Butler, Lauryn Mackenzie, Owen Thompson and Rick Conrad. Our national editors were Maureen McEwan and Victoria Fenner. Host and producer Boris Chassagne. Viewpoints is brought to you by the Community Radio Fund of Canada with the precious help of this radio station. Comments or questions, you can write to us. Our email is [email protected]. 

February is Black History Month and we’ll have a great story for you. Canada Post honours Mary Ann Shadd, an activist, publisher, lawyer, teacher and journalist who was influential in the Underground Railroad movement. A new stamp was revealed in honour of her accomplishments. One of her descendants shares her excitement with us.
Ottawa caps international student permits. Changes will mainly affect BC, Quebec and Ontario. We’ll then turn to British Columbia to see what it means for the University of the Fraser Valley. And to Ontario, where the Ludmila Art Gallery, which focusses on women artists, closes its doors. The owner feels people just can’t seem to afford luxury art anymore. 

Thanks to the newest additions to our LJI team, Aysha Mian in Windsor, Kaity Brady in Montréal, Charles Brockman in BC, and veteran… Edward Sweeney. Our national editors were Victoria Fenner and Maureen McEwan. Host and producer Boris Chassagne. Viewpoints is brought to you by the Community radio Fund of Canada. 

In Montreal, Ravers rally to save nightlife group, Montreal 24/24. Out in BC, the former Green Party deputy leader was found guilty of contempt of court. Hundreds of Sackville area properties see assessment spikes of over 25%. Citizens wonder how to face the tax hikes that go with it. And to Nova Scotia, where city officials gamble to support people experiencing homelessness taking on the provincial government’s responsibility. And it pays off!

Viewpoints is brought to you by the Community Radio Fund of Canada. Thanks to our journalists: Jules Bugiel, Mick Sweetman, Tori Weldon (welcome!) and Erica Butler. Our national editors were Maureen McEwan and Victoria Fenner. Host and producer Boris Chassagne. Comments, ideas, suggestions? Please write at [email protected]. Also catch all our stories at frequencynews.canews.ca

Transportation advocates say passenger rail service in the Maritimes is doomed if no investments are made. Prince Edward County subsidizes a popular ride sharing company. Five thousand three hundred rides completed in 2022. In Québec, Loisir Sports Outaouais offers free skis and snowshoes to sports enthusiasts. In B.C., Paige Pierce, age 21, is appointed to the position of Youth Poet Laureate by the Nanaimo city council. And after a clampdown on homeless camps, the Edmonton city council declares, “housing and houselessness emergency? In Québec, new rent-increase guidelines worry Quebec’s tenants” groups.

Thanks to our journalists, Mick Sweetman, Ryan Hunt, Brenda Little, Jules Bugiel, Erica Butler, and Caleb Nickerson. Our national editors are Victoria Fenner and Maureen McEwan. Host and producer Boris Chassagne. Viewpoints is brought to you by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.

Halifax is poised to provide more affordable housing. This as homeless encampment sweeps continue in Edmonton, despite community pushback. And as the city of Cobourg, Ontario, opens its first overnight warming centre. We then move to BC where a baker breaks bread to help civilians in Gaza and the occupied territories. And we go to Nanaimo where the late Craig Evans has been honoured with the Medal of Good Citizenship for his work in food sustainability and security. 

Thanks to our journalists, Ryan Hunt, Jeff Gard, Brenda Little, Dan Mesec, Lauryn Mackenzie and Haeley DiRisio. To our national editors Maureen McEwan and Victoria Fenner. Host and producer Boris Chassagne. Viewpoints is produced by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.

Indigenous youth, trains for radio production. OYA Black Arts Coalition celebrates five years of helping black creatives, in Toronto. Quebec confirms tuition hikes for out of province English University Students. And even adds French requirements on top. McGill University has decided it will foot the bill for the tuition hike. And the Calgary Ring Road is finally fully completed ahead of schedule.

Thanks to our journalists this week, Ryan Hunt, Owen Thompson, Ian Gregg and Jules Bugiel. National editors are Maureen McEwan and Victoria Fenner. Viewpoints is made possible through the Community Radio Fund of Canada. Host and producer Boris Chassagne. We leave you with this interpretation of Merry Christmas Mr. Laurence written by Ryuichi Sakamoto interpreted at the harp by Lara Somogyi. Happy Holidays, Peace, Love, Joy and Friendship to each and every one of you. See you next year!

On today’s show:
In B.C., NDP Federal M. P. Taylor Bachrach, wants parliament, to move faster on a Red Dress Alert system. The University of Northern British Columbia is all smiles as it lands $17M in Research Funding. Alberta residents hit by flooding and forest fires will get $68M. And after a record-setting fire season, SOPFEU, Quebec’s provincial firefighting agency, is recruiting and getting ready for the next. The Toronto Transit Commission goes green with plans to have its fleet hit zero emissions by 2040. And Santa takes the helicopter over to a Nanaimo hospital, in transit to other destinations in B.C.

Special thanks to our journalists, Mick Sweetman, Caleb Nickerson, Ryan Hunt, Ian Gregg, Owen Thompson and Sabrina Spencer. Host and producer Boris Chassagne. Our national editors are Maureen McEwan and Victoria Fenner. Viewpoints is presented by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.