Viewpoints

In this episode Sean Rasmussen speaks with Melanie Bennet, co-host of the popular YouTube channel, The Canadian Culture Wars Report, about the activist takeover of Ontario’s K-12 Education system.

K-12 Education in Ontario has undergone a transformation in the past twenty years, by taking some fairly radical and untested concepts and methods from obscure academic disciplines and pushing them through the system, in a top-down manner. Not many parents understand what is happening. However, the Ontario Human Rights Commission recently released The Right to Read Report condemning the Ministry of Education for using methodologies that are leading to poor student achievement (instead of evidence-based methodologies that are shown to work).

Why are educators doing this? Why isn’t there more pushback from parents? Is it possible to depoliticize education? We discuss these questions and more, including: the purpose of K-12 education, political echo chambers, “progressive” politics, the reactionary right, the reluctance of centrist Canadians to get involved in culture issues, and the Trump administration’s new education executive order. It’s a great conversation you’re not going to want to miss, especially if you have a child in public school.

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About the Guest

Melanie Bennet is co-host of the popular YouTube channel, The Canadian Culture Wars Report, a show that explores the ideological shifts that are shaping Canada’s education system and public institutions. Links:

The Canadian Culture Wars Report

@finkledusty

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Resources

Ontario Human Rights Commission – Right to Read Inquiry

Parents Rights Coalition of Canada

Host Sean Rasmussen speaks with Mia Hughes, author of The WPATH Files. If you have felt like mainstream Canadian coverage you’re seeing on gender issues has been lacking, you’re right, and you’ll want to listen to what Mia has to say. We discuss gender ideology, gender medicine and how Canada’s handling of gender issues is lagging years behind Europe and the UK–who have all changed their policies in response to emerging evidence.

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About the Guest

Mia Hughes is Senior fellow at the MacDonald-Laurier Institute, the author of The WPATH Files and the director of Genspect Canada. British born, Mia currently resides in Ottawa, Canada. Her links:

Twitter (X): https://x.com/_CryMiaRiver

Genspect Canada: https://genspect.org/genspect-canada/

The Macdonald-Laurier Institute: https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/

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To find out more about Viewpoints, visit viewpointspodcast.ca

In this episode host Sean Rasmussen speaks with Mark Milke, the president ofThe Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy. It's a wide ranging conversation that gets to the heart of what it means to be Canadian. We also discuss the anti-reality of many of the utopian political movements in the 21st Century, Trump's trolling statements about being the 51st state, the role of think tanks and much more.

Topics discussed:

• Should Canada become the 51st State?
• What does "being Canadian" mean anymore?
• The dangers of concentrated power
• Reason under attack in the 21st Century
• Anti-reality in political thinking
• Dealing with past wrongs and the rewriting of history
• DEI and Cancel culture
• The Aristotle Foundation and the role of think tanks
• Reforming universities
• And much more...

About the Guest

Mark Milke is the founder and president of theAristotle Foundation for Public Policy. He is the author of six books, over 70 studies, and over 1,000 columns published in the last 25 years. His policy work has been published by think tanks in Canada and internationally, including theFraser Institute, theMontreal Economic Institute, theAmerican Enterprise Institute, and theHeritage Foundation. He is also editor of the Aristotle Foundation’s first book, The 1867 Project: Why Canada Should Be Cherished–Not Cancelled. His sixth book,The Victim Cult is an Amazon bestseller.

For more information, and the transcript, visitviewpointspodcast.ca.

Many of the guests on Viewpoints, so far, have been critical of the mainstream media for being too left-leaning. Well, in this episode you're going to hear from someone who thinks that mainstream media is, if anything, still too right-leaning.

Josh Elstro is a podcast and multimedia producer for Convergence Magazine, a publication that works with organizers and activists to promote socially progressive causes.

We discuss media bias, echo chambers and the possibility of talking across political divides. It is a fun and spirited discussion that I think you're going to enjoy, regardless of your politics.

Some of the topics we get into (and often disagree on) are:

And much more....

To find out more about Viewpoints the podcast, visit: ⁠viewpointspodcast.ca

There is a bill before the Canadian Senate right now, Bill C-293, titled “An Act respecting pandemic prevention and preparedness.” But, despite its innocuous and bureaucratic sounding title, it could have far-reaching implications for Canadians. At least according to my guest today...

Returning guest Lisa Miron has been raising the alarm about the potential dangers of this bill to the Canadian democratic processes and civil liberties.

Links for further reading:

Lisa Miron’s Substack

The official C-293 Bill

Nate Erskine-Smith’s response page (with video)

You may have heard of the "Smart City" before, or maybe the "15 minute city" or "C40 city". But, do we really understand what they are and what they mean to our democracy? Host Sean Rasmussen speaks with Lisa Miron about how these related initiatives are quietly

Lisa Miron has a degree in environmental science, and a Masters of Law with a focus on conflict of interest. She's a litigation lawyer, writer, activist and an outspoken critic of smart cities.

Lisa's substack: https://lawyerlisa.substack.com/

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For more information about this episode and Viewpoints, the podcast visit viewpointspodcast.ca

Whether your political leanings are right, left, or centrist today's guest, historian Scott Miller, will help you understand today's extreme polarization and how conservative thought fits into the picture. Topics discussed:

This essay by Scott Miller is worth a read. A fascinating look into how one institution was transformed by a handful of activists: Fulcrum And Pivot The New Left Remaking Of Toronto School Policy

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For more information or to connect, visit https://viewpointspodcast.ca

Host Sean Rasmussen speaks with Dr. Eric Kaufmann about his new book, The Third Awokening, which is a deep dive into the politics of the left. Eric's breadth of knowledge and unique perspective on what drives left-liberalism make this episode a must-listen for anyone who wants to understand the past, present, and future leftist politics in Canada and abroad.

About the Guest

Dr. Eric Kaufmann is professor of politics and Director of the Centre for Heterodox Social Science at the University of Buckingham. He is also Adjunct Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. In addition to his academic work, he has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Times of London, Newsweek, National Review, New Statesman, Financial Times, and other outlets. His new book, The Third Awokening , is a deep dive into political polarization and the culture wars.

Eric Kaufmann's official website: https://www.sneps.net/

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To find out more about Viewpoints the podcast, visit: viewpointspodcast.ca

In this episode host Sean Rasmussen speaks with Marco Navarro-Génie, co-author of the book Canada's Covid: The Story of a Pandemic Moral Panic. If you want to understand what happened during Canada's pandemic response this is a must-listen.

Topics discussed:

Marco Navarro-Génie is president of the Haultain Research Institute and co-author of the book Canada’s Covid: The Story of a Pandemic Moral Panic.

Find out more about the book and where to buy it.

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To find out more about Viewpoints the podcast, visit: viewpointspodcast.ca

Floyd Marinescu has been a long-time advocate for Universal Basic Income, and more recently, the Land Value Tax (a significant rejigging of the way we tax people). Is he a dreamy radical? Or are his ideas, in fact, sensible policy strategies to build a fairer, more productive Canada? Listen and find out.

Floyd is CEO and co-founder of C4Media, which provides software development news and learning events serving 1.2 million online on InfoQ.com, and 8,000 attendees annually via QCon conferences in SF, NY, London, Beijing, Shanghai, and Sao Paulo. Floyd is an angel investor in over a dozen startups and has built teams and businesses in the US, Canada, China, Brazil, and Europe.

Floyd is founder and primary donor to UBI Works, a basic income advocacy organization that has grown into a network of over 100,000 basic income supporters across Canada and publishing content seen over 1 million times a month. In 2018, Floyd organized 120 Canadian CEOs to sign a letter endorsing basic income in Canada.

His latest initiative, Common Wealth Canada raises awareness for a land value tax as a solution to the housing crisis, and the creation of a sovereign wealth fund that could pay all Canadians dividends.

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To find out more about Viewpoints the podcast, visit: viewpointspodcast.ca