Shows
#FempireEp 16: Cultivating Connection - Reconnecting Soil to Soul (Part 1)What if your hands in the dirt could change your relationship with the Earth? Environmental scientist, Destiny Allen-Green invites us to reconnect with nature through a revolutionary approach to gardening that transforms how we view our place in the natural world.Destiny Allen-Green is a proud Black Afro-Métis daughter of The Underground Railroad and the First Peoples of Turtle Island. She is an environmental scientist by trade and a farmer by experience, but maybe not in the traditional way you might be picturing.Just as Destiny’s ancestors tended to...2025-07-1824 min#FempireEp 17: Cultivating Connection - Reconnecting Soil to Soul (Part 2)What if your hands in the dirt could change your relationship with the Earth? Environmental scientist, Destiny Allen-Green invites us to reconnect with nature through a revolutionary approach to gardening that transforms how we view our place in the natural world.Destiny Allen-Green is a proud Black Afro-Métis daughter of The Underground Railroad and the First Peoples of Turtle Island. She is an environmental scientist by trade and a farmer by experience, but maybe not in the traditional way you might be picturing.Just as Destiny’s ancestors tended to...2025-07-1821 min
Let's Talk PoliticsEp 37: 10 Million Hungry - Inside Canada’s Food Insecurity CrisisSend us a textHunger doesn't discriminate, but our systems often do. In 2024, Statistics Canada reported that 10 million Canadians — including 2.5 million children — lived in households that couldn’t reliably afford food. That’s families skipping meals, parents making impossible choices, and children going to school hungry in one of the world's wealthiest nations.And while food insecurity touches every province, it cuts even deeper in the territories. In Nunavut, nearly half the population struggles with access to food. In the Northwest Territories and Yukon, it's more than 1 in 5. These numbers don’t just tell...2025-07-1432 minLet's Talk PoliticsEp 36: Made in Canada - Navigating Trade TurbulenceSend us a textTariff threats, labor shortages, and political uncertainty are creating unprecedented challenges for Canadian manufacturers. Matt Conley, Manager of International Trade and Skills Policy at Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME), provides a powerful perspective on navigating these turbulent waters while building resilience in Canada's manufacturing sector.What once seemed settled — the free trade relationship between Canada, the US, and Mexico — has been thrown into question. As Conley notes, "You should always expect the unexpected in politics." Despite these challenges, he emphasizes that the USMCA agreement has generated billions in pros...2025-06-2624 minLet's Talk PoliticsEp 35: Manufacturing Resilience - Canada’s Fight for Industrial SurvivalSend us a textTrade wars have real consequences, and right now Canada's manufacturing sector is absorbing the shock of escalating US tariffs firsthand. When steel and aluminum tariffs jumped from 25% to 50%, they didn't just change numbers on paper – they fundamentally altered the landscape for thousands of businesses and workers across the country.Matt Conley, Manager of International Trade and Skills policy at Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME), takes us inside the industry's fight to navigate this uncertain terrain. The data paints a sobering picture: manufacturing has shed 55,000 jobs since February, merchandise exports pl...2025-06-2529 minLet's Talk PoliticsEp 34: Separatism or Scapegoating? Jim Stanford on Power, Profits, and PoliticsSend us a textWelcome back to Let’s Talk Politics! This is Part 2 of my conversation with economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work, Jim Stanford. In this episode, Stanford brings clarity to contentious economic debates and issues — from wealth inequality and corporate power to the misleading narratives that shape our political discourse. It’s a candid, eye-opening discussion you won’t want to miss.Born and raised in Alberta, Stanford dismantles the province's separatist rhetoric with insider precision, revealing how record-breaking oil industry profits have fai...2025-06-2427 min#FempireEp 15: How Beepzz is Changing the Car GameThe road to entrepreneurial success is rarely straight, especially when you're navigating industries that haven't traditionally welcomed women behind the wheel. In this episode of #FEMPIRE, I sit down with Jessi Kessel and Farah Mohammed, the innovative leaders behind Beepzz – a groundbreaking automotive recruitment and talent platform challenging industry norms.Jessie, co-founder of Beepzz, shares how her two-decade journey through various automotive roles led to identifying a crucial gap in specialized recruitment. Born during the pandemic when businesses needed to adapt quickly, Beepzz emerged as more than just a staffing agency – it's a comprehensive comm...2025-06-2353 minLet's Talk PoliticsEp 33: Debunking Interprovincial Trade with Jim StanfordSend us a textCanada at a Crossroads: Jim Stanford on Tariffs, Recession Risk, and Rethinking EconomicsWhat happens when a leading economist breaks down the storm clouds gathering over Canada’s economy? Jim Stanford, Director of the Centre for Future Work, delivers a compelling analysis of how looming U.S. tariffs could trigger a recession on par with the downturns of the 1980s and ’90s.Stanford argues we’re living through “a hinge point in history”—a moment demanding a shift in economic thinking. He outlines how Trump’s threatened tariffs could...2025-06-2026 min#FempireEp 14: Values Over Vanity - Rewriting the Nonprofit Playbook with Maria RioWelcome back to #FEMPIRE. Today’s guest is a powerhouse in the nonprofit world—shaking things up with bold ideas, lived experience, and a strategic vision for change. Maria Rio is the founder of Further Together, a fundraising consulting firm she launched in 2023. But her story doesn’t start there.Maria came to Canada as a refugee, and her early experiences with charitable services sparked a lifelong commitment to equity, community, and transformative nonprofit work. From her first days as a face-to-face fundraiser back in 2011 to leading development and communications at sma...2025-06-1848 minLet's Talk PoliticsEp 32: Beyond the Water - Reimagining a Waterfront CitySend us a textThe transformation of Toronto's waterfront represents a microcosm of urban challenges and opportunities facing major cities across North America. Tim Kocur, Executive Director of the Waterfront BIA, takes us deep into how this iconic area is evolving while tackling some of the most pressing urban issues of our time.Toronto stands at a crossroads of urban development. With housing prices soaring to globally significant levels and condos shrinking to "shoebox" proportions, families face difficult choices about city living. Kocur offers a refreshingly candid perspective on where urban housing must...2025-06-1822 minLet's Talk PoliticsEp 31: Unlocking Toronto’s Waterfront Potential with the Waterfront BIASend us a textToronto's shoreline holds untapped potential that could transform the city's global standing. Tim Kocur, Executive Director of the Waterfront BIA, reveals that what we see today represents only half of what's possible for the 10-kilometer stretch connecting Exhibition Place through the central harbor to the developing Port Lands.Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) occupy a unique space in urban development—technically agencies of the city but independently funded and operated by local businesses. The Waterfront BIA raises $2.5 million annually to support everything from social media promotion and street cleaning to...2025-06-1723 minLet's Talk PoliticsEp 30: Money Talks - Why Canada’s Economy Needs Women NowSend us a textMoney talks, and what it's saying about gender equality in Canada isn't pretty. We've left $180 billion of GDP growth on the table by failing to ensure women's full participation in our economy. That's not just a moral failing—it's economic malpractice.Joining us once again to break it all down is Marwa Abdou, Senior Research Director at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Business Data Lab — and what she uncovered is nothing short of sobering. At our current pace, we won't see gender equality in our lifetimes, our daughte...2025-06-1724 min