Episode date15 October 2011

Masala Canada - Saturday, October 15th 2011

Conversations with Barbara Byers, Shawn Mativetsky, and Kundan Joshi

MASALA CANADA with WOJTEK GWIAZDA

On this edition of MASALA CANADA we look at the Canadian union movement, at conservative think tanks and the Government of Canada’s attitude towards organized labour. I talk to Barbara Byers, the Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress, the CLC, which represents 3.2 million unionized workers in Canada in public sector and private sector unions and federations. She is also one of 14 worker delegates at the International Labour Organization, a United Nations agency with union, employer and government delegates. We discuss a number of recent interventions by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper in labour management negotiations, and what they mean for the future of the labour movement in Canada.

Montreal tabla player Shawn Mativetsky shares his passion for the tabla, India’s traditional percussion instrument. He’s just released a new solo album called “Cycles” which presents a number of Canadian new classical music composers works, which he specifically commissioned to utilize the tabla. When we talked this past Thursday, he still hadn’t received the album, an album which has taken ten years to produce.

 

 

 

And Kundan Joshi, an active member of Toronto’s Indo-Canadian community, talks about the International Film Festival of India which starts this Wednesday, October 19^th and continues until next Sunday. The festival is part of the Year of India celebrations in Canada organized by the Government of India.

WEB LINKS:

Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) – www.canadianlabour.ca

Shawn Mativetsky music and info – www.shawnmativetsky.com

Int’ Film Festival of India – www.lightuptoronto.com