The full team of Wojtek Gwiazda, Lynn Desjardins, and Marc Montgomery are your hosts for this edition.
ListenThis week we hear about an interesting archeological discovery.
It’s interesting not only because of what it is, but also where it is.
Nine thousand years ago, when the last ice age retreated, there was a land bridge across what is now the middle of Lake Huron, one of Canada’s Greal Lakes, and which separates Canada and the US state of Michigan to the west.
Animals like caribou used this land bridge in migrations and ancient aboriginal hunters set up special structures to ambush them for their own survival.
Because they are deep in the middle of the lake they have been left almost completely undisturbed for thousands of years. Lynn spoke to archeologist John O’Shea of hte University of Michigan
The federal government as part of an austerity measure recently closed the Cereal Research Centre, and closed or reduced other publicly-funded crop research centres across Canada.
These centres had contributed enormously to improvements in crop plant species in this country.
However, now the federal government has said it will sign onto a deal calle UPOV-91,
Farmers say this will give giant multinational corporations far greater control over creating patented seeds, limit varieties, and eventually and essentially control the food supply. Marc speaks with Glenn Tait, a cereal farmer and board member of Canada’s National Farmers Union.
The president of the Ontario Federation of Labour says the union movement in Canada is at a crossroads.
Sid Ryan heads the union which represents more than a million workers in Canada’s most populous province. That union is part of Canada’s largest union federation, the Canadian Labour Congress representing three million workers.
Ryan is concerned about the anti-union policies of the current Conservative government on the federal level, and about the possibility that a similar anti-union provincial Conservative party might soon come to power.
In that context in this conversation with Wojtek, he says the labour movement must become more militant.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.