Last Fall, Nashwa and Ryan sat down with Don Davies, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Kingsway. This episode features a pre-show chat about February 24, 2021’s 2nd reading of Bill C-213, An Act to enact the Canada Pharmacare Act. Davies was the sponsor of the 2018 motion for Pharmacare. Despite that vote failing, there is a clear hunger in Canada to have pharmacare embedded into the fabric of our “public healthcare system.” While there was hope for Bill C-213, sponsored by NDP MP Peter Julian, this bill also failed. Rumour has it the government is working on Pharmacare, but we are not hopeful it will be universal and public -- something Bill C-213 would have ensured. Nashwa and Ryan explore this further with Davies who has been passionate about the health of Canadians throughout his tenure as MP. They also discuss another neglected aspect of medicare: dental care, and the absurdity that our mouths are somehow divorced from the rest of our body’s health. They move onto a discussion of socialism and Davies’s opinion on the state of socialism in North America, including Biden’s impact on progressive politics. Nashwa and Ryan’s favourite topic -- international politics -- comes up, and we chat about Canada-US-China relations and the state of Canada’s foreign policy in the context of the Bolivian election. Davies predicts that the Biden-Harris government will inevitably lead to more neoliberal foreign intervention, his prediction was sadly proven correct with recent airstrikes in Syria. Davies ends on a hopeful note, opening up about the opportunities available to us and a “renaissance of the left.”
This episode reflects a bit on international victories for socialism and how the Canadian government’s actions and complicity can often impact other parts of the world. This is why we would like to highlight that friend of the show Niki Ashton is holding a virtual event on behalf of Progressive International with Jeremy Corbyn. The event will be a conversation between Niki and Jeremy Corbyn about the state of progressive politics and how we can demand more. It is an event in support of Progressive International: a collaborative project founded in 2018 in Vermont by activists, leaders, and progressives like Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders and Naomi Klein. We highly encourage people to sign up for the event. Internationalism is inherent to our politics and this show and we hope people attend and are inspired to build a larger and stronger more internationalist left wherever they are.
To buy tickets to the event visit:
Mutual Aid & Community Support:
This week, we want to highlight mutual aid and community support efforts happening in Winnipeg. On April 8th, 2020, Eishia Hudson, an Indigenous teen, was murdered by a Winnipeg police officer. Her family has a gofundme to support legal costs. Eishia’s father William Hudson writes, “My daughter Eishia was a young girl who should have had a long life ahead of her, and within seconds that officer put an end to that. Eishia had a strong bright smile that could lighten a room, she had a contagious laugh, and she was loved by everybody. She was very athletic, loving hockey and basketball. She was very ambitious when it came to the court. She was very creative and artistic. Eishia loved to learn new things, take on projects, and worked hard to succeed. Eishia was a great aunty; she loved spending time with her nieces and nephew, and it made her smile just seeing the smile on their faces. She was a Daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, an aunty, a cousin, a loyal person, a friend and so much more.” Please be sure to boost and give if you can to the Hudson family.
On a previous episode, we sat down with Winnipeg Police Cause Harm to talk about the WPS. For years they have harmed the people of Winnipeg and this group is in solidarity with all peoples and communities that are harmed by the WPS. They call for the defunding and abolition of the WPS and the reallocation of funds to sustainable community led initiatives. We encourage people to check out their blog.
Additional Resources:
Some readings that complement this episode:
Universal Pharmacare in Canada: A Prescription for Equity in Healthcare by Mohammad Hajizadeh
The Importance of a National Pharmacare Program by Cindy Lamoureux
Bolivia Has Provided Us a Radical Vision of Hope by Nicole Fabricant
'Joe Biden Just Dropped Bombs on Syria. Here We Go Again': US Responds to Rocket Attacks With Airstrikes by Common Dreams Staff
Guest Information:
Guest of the week: Don Davies
Don Davies is the Member of Parliament for Vancouver Kingsway. He was first elected in 2008, and re-elected in 2011, 2015, and 2019. Don serves Parliament as the NDP Critic for Health and Deputy Critic for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. Prior to that, he served as Official Opposition Critic for International Trade, Citizenship and Immigration and Multiculturalism, and Public Safety and National Security.
Find Don online!
Production Credits:
Hosted by Ryan Deshpande and Nashwa Lina Khan
Music by Johnny Zapras and postXamerica
Art for Habibti Please by postXamerica
Production by Andre Goulet
Production Assistance by Ryan Deshpande, Raymond Khanano, and Ali McKnight
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Episode 23 with Don Davies