Broadcast every Thursday at 6 PM and Friday at 11:30 AM on 101.5 UMFM (for listeners in Winnipeg) and available on the Rabble Podcast Network (for listeners elsewhere), Alert radio brings you all kinds of leading-edge information we think you want to hear. Our show covers politics, economics, issues of social and environmental justice; features interviews, commentaries, profiles of people in the news; has features on music, media, the arts; as well as special shows dedicated to new ideas or significant events.
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Alert #94, May 1st, 2008
Alert’s Last Show of the Season. Historian Bryan Palmer reflects on May 68 and its relevance for today. Morna Ballantine explains what MAYWORKS is all about and how to participate in your city.
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Alert #93, April 24th, 2008
Denis Lemelin, newly elected president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers discusses the controversial Israel boycott/divestment/sanctions resolution passed at CUPW’s recent convention. James Petras provides a radical analysis of the global food shortage and food riots.
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Alert #92, April 17th, 2008
Toronto Labour Council President, John Cartwright discusses the reasons behind his newly launched Action Agenda to Build Labour in the 21st Century. Luz Ilagan, member of the Phillipino House of Congress for the Womens’ Party, discusses her efforts to persuade Ottawa to investigate the more than 1000 extra-judicial killings and disappearances in the Phillipines since 2001.
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Alert #91, April 10th, 2008
Jeff Halper, arrested in the West Bank last week for trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian home, discusses the state of the resistance and Israel’s anti-occupation forces attitude towards the boycott & divestment movement. Jim Petras gives his take on the just wide-open Congress of the union of writers and writers of Cuba, just completed in Havana.
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Alert #90, April 3rd, 2008
Diana Ralph, coordinator of last week-end’s historic conference of the Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians discusses what can be expected from this alternative voice of progressive Jews.
Rajagopal PV, here in Canada this week to meet with First Nations groups, discusses the non-violent action he led last October, a march by 25,000 people to press the Indian Government to provide land for the millions of landless peasants and farmers.
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Alert #89, March 27th, 2008
Author and physician Dr. Gabor Mate discusses addiction in society and his bestseller, In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts. Dru Oja Jay, editor of the Dominion Paper, talks about that paper and web journal’s national tour to create an independent media coop.
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Alert #88, March 20th, 2008
Are we heading towards another Great Depression? Economist James Divine gives his answer. What really happened when Colombia invaded Equador? Jim Petras interviewed Hugh Chavez on the front line.
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Alert #87, March 13th, 2008
Ramallah business man and political commentator Sam Bahour evaluates the latest developments in Gaza and the West Bank. Executive Director of climateforchange.ca, John Bennett discusses the Conservative government’s plans for carbon capture and storage.
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Alert #86, March 6th, 2008
Feminists Nancy Peckford and Marianne Cerelli tell us what they want for women for International Womens Day 2008. Al Rae, writer for Little Mosque on the Prairie, tells us what he thinks about the Conservative government’s efforts to censor what films will receive tax credits by means of its proposed changes to the Income Tax Act. Also, Mordecai Briemberg gives us the inside scoop on Canwest Global’s legal charges against him for allegedly being the leader of a conspiracy in producing and distributing a June 2007 a satirical edition of its newspaper, "The Vancouver Sun." The satire focused on the Sun’s biased media coverage of Israel/Palestine. Lastly, Trevor Harrison comments on the results of the Alberta election.
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Alert #85, February 28th, 2008
Ian Angus, editor of the on-line journal Climate and Capitalism talks about the limitations of BC's much heralded carbon tax. Council of Canadians researcher Stuart Trew reveals the story behind a secret Canada-US agreement that paves the way for the militaries from either nation to send troops across each other’s borders during an emergency — and the implication the agreement has for Canadian sovereignty.
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Alert #84, February 21st, 2008
Salim Vally, South African scholar and activist discusses the turmoil in that country that produced a major upset of ANC president Thabo Mbecki by controversial upstart Jacob Zuma and what this means for the future of that country.
Irreverent Globe & Mail TV critic describes the recently concluded CRTC hearings on the future of made-in-Canada television.
Political sociologist Trevor Harrison comments on the Alberta election campaign so far.
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Alert #83, February 14th, 2008
What's behind all the platitudes of Barack Obama? Does the "change" he promises amount to anything beyond image? Max Fraser of the Nation magazine (New York) dissects Obama's policies and the neo-liberal views of his advisors.
The Senate committee on anti-terrorism rejected Diana Ralph's application to appear on behalf of the Alliance of Concerned Jews of Canada regarding Bill C-3, the government's new legislation designed to deal with foreigners deemed to pose a security risk to Canada. Diana tells us what she would have said and what happens now that the Bill sailed through the Senate and the House of Commons.
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Alert #82, February 7th, 2008
Political activist Sid Shniad gives his take on the free-speech/Islamophobia controversy set off when four young law students, on behalf of the Canadian Islamic Congress, submitted a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission that Maclean's magazine refused to allow them an opportunity to rebut the misinformation contained in articles published in the magazine.
Parkland Director Gord Laxer explains why it is important that Canada establish strategic petroleum reserves. Atlantic Canada and Ontario are highly dependent on precarious Middle East oil imports, even though Canada is a large exporter to the US.
US film maker, writer and broadcaster Saul Landau gives an hilarious commentary on the US primaries in the wake of Super Tuesday.
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Alert #81, January 31st, 2008
Rideau Institute's Steven Staples sorts out Canada's Afghanistan policy options following the release of the Manley report. York University political economist Sam Gindin talks about the economic policy options that political leaders and labour leaders are avoiding in the wake of the coming economic recession.
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Alert #80, January 24th, 2008
CAW economist Jim Stanford talks about the coming recession and its likely impact on Canada.
Canadian author Arnold August reports from Havana about the recent Cuban elections which he has been observing as part of his research for a book on Cuba's electoral system.
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Alert #79, January 17th, 2008
Phil Fontaine, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations responds to the fact that he was not invited to participate at last Friday's meeting hosted by Prime Minister Harper for the premiers of the provinces and territories. What does this say about the role of First Nations in the Canadian federation?
Investigative journalist Jonah Gindin shares his experiences with Philip Agee, the former CIA agent turned whistle blower who passed away in Cuba earlier this month at the age of 72.
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Alert #78, January 10th, 2008
Detroit-based editor of Labor Notes, Chris Kutalik discusses the Democratic Party primaries race from the point of view of America's working class; who in US organized labour supporting and why?
Dwayne Winseck, professor of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University in Ottawa, argues that Canada is losing important voices on account of the recent merger mania topping up the continuing concentration of ownership of Canadian media.
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Alert #77, December 20th, 2007
For our last show of the year, ALERT asks Joan Kuyek, Mel Watkins, Paul Moist, Saul Landau, Gord Laxer and Buzz Hargrove what they want for X-MAS and the New Year for Canada, the environment, the world.
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Alert #76, December 13th, 2007
Why did it take more than six years for the Mulroney-Schreiber scandal to surface in Canada's mainstream media? Political commentator Frances Russell Tells all.
Canada continues to embarrass itself at the Bali climate change conference. Marc Lee, senior economist of the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives Centre, analyses the Canadian position of rejecting all emissions targets so long as China, the USA and India are not part of a new accord.
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Alert #75, December 6th, 2007
Why did Hugo Chavez lose the referendum? Latin American expert James Petras provides some unexpected answers and outlines some possible directions for the Bolivarian Revolution.
In this holiday season, give your child, spouse or friend a gift of a goat, a pig, mosquito netting to be sent on their behalf to a villager in China or Angola. Rosemary McCarney, CEO of Plan Canada, tells about its Catalogue of Hope that includes forty gifts and a way of connecting to families in Africa and Asia.
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Alert #74, November 29th, 2007
The meeting between Abbas, Olmert and Bush at Annapolis this week ended with an agreement to negotiate all the issues dividing the Palestinians and Israelis and establish a Palestinian state within 12 months. Sam Bahour lives and works in Ramallah. He talks about how this agreement looks from the streets of Palestine.
Uranium is toxic and radioactive and used for nuclear weapons. Canada is the largest exporter of uranium ore in the world. Joan Kuyek, National Coordinator of Mining Watch Canada, talks about the risks involved.
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Alert #73, November 22nd, 2007
Bob Sass, the National Coordinator of Ban Asbestos Canada, and Chair of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour - Ban Asbestos Saskatchewan (SFL-BAS) committee, discusses Canada's continued exportation of asbestos to developing nations.
Saturday December 8 is a day of International Demonstrations on Climate Change. This will be midway through the UN Climate Talks In Bali, Indonesia. We speak to Dylan Penner, an organizer with Stop Climate Chaos about global efforts and demonstrations.
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Alert #72, November 15th, 2007
Chris Arsenault, author of a recent report titled “A new Paradigm for Paying the Piper: Access, Control and Commercialization at Halifax Universities” explains why the student movement should be shifting its focus to democratizing university structures rather than being primarily concerned about tuition fees.
Josh Brandon, an agriculture campaigner with Greenpeace in Vancouver talks about new efforts to introduce mandatory labeling of products with genetically-engineered and toxic ingredients.
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Alert #71, November 8th, 2007
Veteran Saskatchewan political economist John Warnock explains why the NDP lost the election in that province and what can be expected from the new Saskatchewan Party. Communications professor and media activist Robert Hackett talks about the urgency of media reform in Canada and the campaigns being undertaken by the newly established Canadians for a Democratic Media.
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Alert #70, November 1st, 2007
In this show ALERT talks with former CAW research director Sam Gindin about what's really at stake for Canadian workers in the controversial CAW-Magna framework agreement. We also talk with Susan Howatt, the Council of Canadians' water campaigner about what went on at the 22nd AGM of the Council held last week-end at Kelowna, BC.
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Alert #69, October 25th, 2007
Alert speaks with Ian Angus, editor of the web-based Capitalism and Climate Change about the recent founding of the eco-socialist international network. And we speak with retired Toronto business executive Jack Santa Barbara who has moved to New Zealand as part of a team of climate change and peak oil activists reinventing self-reliant village life there.
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Alert #68, October 18th, 2007
The show this week features electoral reform author and activist Dennis Pilon explaining why we lost the Ontario referendum and why he doesn't believe it's “three strikes you're out” for PR. We also talk with the Cuban embassador to Canada, Ernesti Senti on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the murder of Che Gueverra -- and to Nino Pagliccia, an organizer of the November “Breaking the Silence” Cuban Five conference to be held in Toronto.
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Alert #67, October 11th, 2007
This week's show features an interview with political economist John Warnock about the oil and gas royalties issue that has flared up in Alberta. A second interview with Texas-based anti-globalisation writer Richard Vogel, shows definitively that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is dead wrong when he dismisses reports that a six-lane NAFTA Corridor from Mexico to Canada is under construction.
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Alert #66, October 4th, 2007
This episode we interview Roger Annis, a Vancouver activist who updates us on the Human Rights Investigation in Haiti. Plus, writer Andrea Levy celebrates the life and works of the intellectual André Gorz who died this week in France.
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Alert #65, September 27th, 2007
In this episode Dale Marshall, climate change analyst of the Suzuki Foundation takes a hard look at Canada's new direction on climate change enunciated by Prime Minister Harper in New York this week.
Economist Sam Gindin explains what's behind the crisis of Canada's manufacturing sector and explores some radical options.
Jeff Hughes reviews a far-out new film Zeitgeist. And ALERT takes a tour of what's happening around the Left over the next seven days.
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Alert #64, September 20th, 2007
ALERT this week (September 20-27) features an interview with author and self-styled revolutionary James Petras about why he was singled out by Fidel Castro as an enemy of the Cuban revolution. Also featured is an interview with NDP MP Charlie Angus who raised the alarm about how the CBC is going about finding a replacement for its outgoing president Robert Rabinovitch.
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Alert #63, September 13th, 2007
On the occasion of the sixth anniversary of 9/11, ALERT interviews Barrie Zwicker, leading Canadian figure in the "Truth" movement.
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Alert #62, May 4th, 2007
This is our last show of the season. We'll be back in September. In this show we interview Adam Hanieh who is with Canadians Against Israeli Apartheid. Adam tells us about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign around the world and the Chapters-Indigo boycott in Canada. We also introduce you to Aaron James, a young Manitoban of mixed heritage whose trip for medical aid at a Minnesota Clinic took him into the shadows of racism and paranoia of Homeland Security.
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Alert #61, April 27th, 2007
This is ALERT'S May Day show. We interview Sam Gindin on the state of the labour movement with a particular focus on labour and the environment. And we interview Rob Rainer, executive director of NAPO on how the Living Wage campaign is going across Canada. In between we play Pete Seeger's version of the Internationale.
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Alert #60, April 20th, 2007
This show is entirely devoted to deeper integration. We talk with Texas researcher and writer Richard Vogel about the super six-lane North American highway corridor already under construction that will link Canada, the US and Mexico.
And we talk with the Council of Canadians trade campaigner, Jean-Yves LeFort, about the leaked document revealing that government officials and business representatives from Canada, Mexico and the United States are scheduled to discuss bulk water exports in a closed-door meeting on Friday, April 27 in Calgary.
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Alert #59, April 13th, 2007
Frances Russell sounds off on a story the corporate media is ignoring, the stealthy advance of The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. And, dirty dealings in dirty weapons. Dr. Alfred Lambremont Webre tells us all about Canada's role in Depleted Uranium (DU) Weapons worldwide.
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Alert #58, April 6th, 2007
In this show ALERT talks with Mathew Behrens, End Secret Trial Activist, about the current situation regarding Gunatanomo North detainees and the status of security certificate provisions following the Supreme Court ruling this past February. We also talk with researcher/writer Anthony Fenton about the newly released Canadian armed forces manual on counterinsugency warfare.
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Alert #57, March 30th, 2007
This week's ALERT is entirely devoted to examining the results of Monday's Quebec election. We interview two candidates for the fledgling new party, Quebec Solidaire (Sujata Dey and Bill Clennett) along with veteran commentator Richard Fidler, and for a view out west, Frances Russell.
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Alert #56, March 23rd, 2007
The show this week is all about the federal budget: sparkling interviews with tax expert Neil Brooks of Osgoode Law School and economist Ellen Russell of the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives. Next week we cover the results of the Quebec election.
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Alert #55, March 16th, 2007
On the eve of world-wide demonstrations and marches against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, we talk with a veteran participant and leader of the Canadian peace movement about the state of the movement.
We also talk with CD collective member Saul Landau about the situation in Syria where Saul has just visited. Landau is an award winning filmmaker and broadcaster.
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Alert #54, March 9th, 2007
Alert's International Women's Day show is highlighted by an interview with Judy Rebick. Judy talks about her friend Doris Anderson and her impact on shaping the women's movement over the past quarter century.
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Alert #53, March 2nd, 2007
This week's show features Jane Runner of New Directions Winnipeg on the child prostitution trade and Mustafa Koc, professor of food studies at Ryerson and former head of Food Security Canada.
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Alert #52, February 23rd, 2007
In this show writer, film maker and TV producer Don Marks takes us through Pukatawagan, also called Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, a community of 2,600 people located 825 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. Marks recently led a group of ten on a tour through this troubled reserve. This is followed by an interview with leading aboriginal issues author/activist, Peter Kulchyski who comments on the recent media blitz targetting the horrific conditions on northern reserves.
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Alert #51, February 16th, 2007
This week we talk with noted Canadian author James Laxer about his recently released report on Afghanistan Mission of Folly; and we talk with Bill Jeffery, National Coordinator of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest about the just revised Canada Food Guide.
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Alert #50, February 9th, 2007
This week ALERT interviews Anthony Fenton about the current situation in Haiti and Canada's role in that country since the coup; Grand Chief of the Dehcho Herb Norwegian about his call for a moratorium on tar sands development; and Abraham Weizfield about the formation of the Alliance of Concerned Canadian Jews, an oppositional voice within the Jewish community.
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Alert #49, February 2nd, 2007
Today on Alert! we talk with Winnipeg Free Press aboriginal affairs columnist Colleen Simard about CFS Manitoba's continuing practice of seizing children from native families. We are also joined by Ian Boyco, campaign co-ordinator of the Canadian Federation of Students, who talks to us about the CFS February 7 Day of Action against post secondary tuition increases. And Suzuki Foundation Climate Change specialist Ian Bruce discusses wether or not Canadian politicians' rush to green themselves will translate into Environmental Action.
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Alert #48, January 26th, 2007
Our show today features an interview with Steve Staples, director of the Rideau Institute about Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor's recent statement that Canada's combat forces are in Afghanistan as a matter of retribution against the Taliban for their alleged responsibility for 9/11.
We also interview sports economist Ian Hudson about Canwest's David Asper's proposal to construct a new football stadium in Winnipeg and to take ownership of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, which for 77 years has been a community-owned team.
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Alert #47, January 19th, 2007
The theme of this week's show is media concentration. We begin with an interview with Scott Edmonds, vice president of the Canadian Media Guild concerning the purchase of Atlantis Alliance by Canwest. We hear excerpts from a speech by celebrated broadcaster Bill Moyers at last weekend's National Conference on Media Reform held in Memphis Tennessee. We end the show with an interview with Duff Conacher, co-director of Democracy Watch.
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Alert #46, January 12th, 2007
This week on ALERT, we talk to Mathew Behrens about Guantanamo North located at Milhaven penitentiary in Kingston Ontario where five Muslim men have been detained without charge under Canada's security certificate provisions. Behrens is coordinator of the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada.
We also talked with acclaimed US film maker and regular ALERT correspondent Saul Landau who recently acted as guide for author, actor, and US presidential candidate, Gore Vidal undertaking his first trip to Cuba. Landau has traveled to Cuba many times and has made documentary films with Fidel Castro, among several other films.
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Alert #45, January 5th, 2007
In our first show of 2007, we ask members of the Canadian Dimension collective to talk about their hopes for the new year and what can be done to realize them. Interviewed on the show are Dennis Pilon, Saul Landau, Richard Harding, Henry Heller and Andrea Levy. In the show, we recommended that listeners watch this amazing video giving the historical relationship between Saddam Hussein and the USA.
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Alert #44, December 22nd, 2006
Final episode 2006. Finale to the search for "The most dangerous song in the world."
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Alert #43, December 15th, 2006
We talk with Aiden Enns of Buy Nothing Christmas about their 2006 campaign and with James Petras about the passing of Augusto Pinochet who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990 after assassinating Salvadore Allende and leading a military coup there.
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Alert #42, December 8th, 2006
In this episode of ALERT we interview Stewart Myiow concerning the case of Six Nations Mohawk, Trevor Miller. Miller was arrested near Grassy Narrows on charges related to the Six Nations Land Reclamation adjacent to Caledonia. Miller sat in a Hamilton jail for four months before his case was first heard. Miller challenged the jurisdiction of the court and returns to court on December 20. Stewart Myiow is a representative of the Mohawk traditional council.
We also interview Lynette Shultz concerning child labour in Canada and around the world. Shultz is the Director of the Global Education Network of Educational Policy Studies, University of Alberta.
And film maker, broadcaster Avi Lewis makes his pitch for "the most dangerous song in the world."
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Alert #41, December 1st, 2006
In this show, Steve Patton, professor of political science, University of Alberta analyses the three run-off candidates for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta who will be the next premier of Alberta. Plus, onnie Diamond of the Feminist Alliance for International Action talks about Stephen Harper's latest moves in his war against women.
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Alert #40, November 24th, 2006
In this episode of ALERT, economist Fletcher Baragar reflects on the passing of Milton Friedman, his contributions to economic thought and policy, his influence and legacy and the reign of neo-liberalism in government and the academy. Plus, freelance writer Anthony Black explains why he opposes "humanitarian intervention" in Darfur and offers alternative solutions to the slaughter taking place there.
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Alert #39, November 17th, 2006
Jim Stanford, CAW economist answers some key questions about China based on his recent trip there. Plus, Brant Bardy from Tyendinaga, a Mohawk community near Belleville, Ontario tells us about the campaign to stop a piece of Mohawk land from being turned into a housing project without the consent of its owners. When will we ever learn?
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Alert #38, November 10th, 2006
On this episode of ALERT, our US correspondent, Saul Landau gives some insight into the outcome of the US congressional elections. Freelance Indymedia writer/broadcaster Tommy Jonsson who is accompanying the caravan of the Coalition of Indigenous Peoples of Oaxaca across central Canada gives us an up-to-date report on the developments in Oaxaca.And, Saul Landau nominates his candidate for "the world's most dangerous song".
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Alert #37, November 3rd, 2006
In this show ALERT interviews Terry Pugh, executive secretary of the National Farmers' Union about the Harper government attempt to extinguish the Canadian Wheat Board. We also interview Hanna Giesbrecht, portfolio manager at Jory Capital about the decision to rescind tax benefits to income trusts. And Loa Henry, director of the Winnipeg Labour Choir, makes her selection of "the most dangerous song in the world".
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Alert #36, October 27th, 2006
This week ALERT talks with Osgoode law professor Harry Glasbeek about the recent court rulings regarding Canada's anti-terrorism Act and about the applications of the security certificate procedure that is now before the Supreme Court. Balladeer Greg Macpherson makes his choice of "the most dangerous song in the world" and Canadian Dimension publisher Cy Gonick tells us about the November issue of the magazine with its focus on Canadian foreign policy.
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Alert #35, October 20th, 2006
With this show, ALERT begins a series that searches for the world's most dangerous song. We start off with a selection by Mitch Podolak, founder of the Winnipeg and Vancouver Folk Festivals.
We interview student activist Daniel Freeman Maloy about Canada's Middle East policy; and author Anthony Fenton about Canada's Latin America policy.
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Alert #34, October 13th, 2006
In this show we interview Faith Johnson, author of the recently published biography of Doreen Nelson; and Greg Olson, University of Manitoba professor, on the defeat of Sweden's social democratic government.
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Alert #33, October 6th, 2006
This show is all about Canadian politics. Winnipeg Free Press columnist, Frances Russell talks about the Tory de facto majority she says exists because of the division of the "left-centre" into three separate parties.
Political scientist and Canadian Dimension collective member Greg Albo talks about the origins of Canada's increasingly militaristic and imperialist-complicit foreign policy.
Long-time Chomsky collaborator, Ed Herman talks about the real meaning of Michael Ignatieff, leading contender for the Liberal Party leadership.
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Alert #32, September 29th, 2006
This week's show features interviews with James Petras, one of the world's foremost experts on Latin America and Tony Clarke, director of the Polaris Institute. He is co-recipient with Maude Barlow of the 2005 Right Livelihood Award.
James Petras talks about the October 1 presidential elections in Brazil and the disappointing record of the da Silva (Lula) administration.
Tony Clarke talks to us about the pressures to push ahead with bulk water exports to the USA and the potential ecological dangers to Canada of agreeing to this policy.
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Alert #31, September 22nd, 2006
ALERT this week features interviews with Petr Cizek and Maureen Webb. Cizek is the author of "Scouring Scum and Tar from the Bottom of the Pit", an article that appeared in the July/August issue of Canadian Dimension magazine. Webb is the author of a new book Illusions of Security, Global Surveillance and Democracy in the Post 9/11 World.
In his interview, Cizek talks about the way Canadian environmental organizations have eased off their demands for a moratorium of oil sands developments as a result of the funding they have received from the Pew Foundation. The Pew family were the original developers of the tar sands and continue to own Sunoco.
In her interview, Webb talks about the Maher Arar case in the light of her work on global surveillance and human rights.
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Alert #30, September 15th, 2006
This week's show features interviews with Sam Bahour in Ramallah, Palestine and Saul Landau in Washington DC. Sam describes the critical living conditions of people in Gaza and whether the formation of the new coalition government will bring an end to the economic boycott there. Saul talks about the new leadership emerging in Cuba and gives his views on whether the revolution will survive after Fidel.
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Alert #29, September 8th, 2006
ALERT's new season opens with a half hour exploration of conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11. Canadian Dimension collective members Barrie Zwicker, Ed Janzen and Brenda Austin-Smith head up the discussion hosted by Lesley Hughes.
Our next show features an interview from the Belly of the Beast in Washington DC with Saul Landau on Cuba After Fidel and an interview with Sam Bahour from Ramallah in Palestine.
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Alert #28, May 9th, 2006
Kim Pate of the Elizabeth Fry Society and Jim Stanford respond to the Conservative government's newly released budget.
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Alert #27, May 2nd, 2006
A May Day special edition, recapping the best labour coverage on Alert from the past year. Panel discussion: Are unions doing enough to organize and Involve young workers? Featuring: John Friesen (CUPW), Kevin Rebek (CUPE), Kim Dufour (UFCW). Playwright Danny Shur describes his adventures in producing the popular musical theatre presentation,'STRIKE!' based on the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. Geoff Bickerton talks about the most important labour stories in the news from the past year.
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Alert #26, April 25th, 2006
Saul Landau reflects on recent travels in Vietnam. An interview with Kahentinetha Horn on the Six Nations land-claims stand-off in Caledonia, Ontario.
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Alert #25, April 18th, 2006
In this program ALERT talks to Saul Landau, award winning film maker, journalist and broadcaster about the outsourcing of American military and security personnel in Iraq to Latin America. We also talk to David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Metis Federation about the historic land claims suit being heard in a Winnipeg court room. And we talk to Vince Mosco, Canada Research Chair in Communication and Society, Queen's University about the implications of legislation being considered by the Conservative government deregulating Canada's telecommunication sector.
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Alert #24, April 11th, 2006
Denise Vellieux, a founding member of Quebec Solidaire, analyses the results of a bi-election in Montreal, the first election contest for Quebec's new left-wing party. Bonnie Swaine who three years ago organized a blockade to stop logging trucks from entering the traditional lands of the Grassy Narrows First Nation updates the state of the struggle. Nobel peace prize nominee Jeff Halper talks to ALERT from Israel about his thoughts of the situation there in the wake of the Israeli election.
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Alert #23, April 4th, 2006
Kristen Andrews of the Stop Charging Bison campaign describes the Canadian Army's urban warfare training exercisees scheduled for the city of Winnipeg April 30 to May 6 and the oppostion being mobilized against it. Patrick Elie, on the last leg of his national speaking tour, talks about the latest develpments in Haiti and why Canada should withdraw from its participation in supporting the current regime there. Henry Heller analyses the importance of the protest against reforms to France's labour laws.
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Alert #22, March 28th, 2006
Allan Cumyn of PEN discusses the banning of Deborough Ellice's award-winning "Three Wishes: Palestine and Israeli Children Speak" from Toronto schools. Lesley Hughes comments on the Danish cartoon controversy. Avery Saul, a long-time member of the Canadian Wheat Board, describes the likely consequences of ending the CWB's single desk delivery system.
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Alert #21, March 16th, 2006
Lesley Hughes interviews Canadian representatives attending the World Water Campaign in Mexico City. Colleen Ross of the National Farmers Union explains why farm organizations oppose so-called suicide seeds and why the Canadian government is now lobbying to have the six-year moratorium against them lifted. Veteran observer Paul Phillips talks about the legacy of Slobodan Milosevic a day after his death.
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Alert #20, March 9th, 2006
Femme Fiscale describes her intervention at the Manitoba Legislature on the day the provincial budget was released. On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, History Professor Henry Heller talks about the impact of "the speech that shook the world"-- Nikita Krushchev's revelations of the crimes of Josef Stalin. Journalist and broadcaster Barrie Zwicker contends that there is no legal ground for Canada's military presence in Afghanistan.
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Alert #19, February 23rd, 2006
Alice Olsen Williams of Anishinaabe-kwe of the Curve Lake First Nation in Ontario describes her cross Canada campaign for quilt squares to help alleviate the pain from the discrimination and violence against indigenous women in Canada. James Winter, professor of Communication Studies at the University of Windsor, talks about how and why the Canadian media is ignoring Canada's involvement in Haiti.
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Alert #18, February 9th, 2006
Denise Veilleux discusses the composition, principles and goals of Quebec's new political party, Quebec Solidaire. Anil Naidoo head of the water campaign of the Council of Canadians talks about the cancellation of the Bechtel water privitization contract in Bolivia. Leo Panitch describes his travels to the World Social Forum in Caracus.
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Alert #17, February 2nd, 2006
Winnipeg-based stock broker Patrick Coonie talks about what effects the new conservative minority government could have on increasing the concentration of ownership in the Canadian banking and financial sectors. Canadian nationalist icon Mel Hurtig comments on the sale of the Hudson's Bay Company to an American Investor. Palestinian business man Sam Bahour and Israeli peace activist and Nobel nominee Jeff Halper discuss the impact of the surprising election of Hamas as head of the Palestine Authority.
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Alert# 16, January 26th, 2006
ALERT analyses the election results with three members of the Canadian Dimension collective - Joyce Green, Dennis Pilon, Geoff Bickerton. Economist Paul Phillips talks about the coming Peak Oil and its impact on our lives.
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Alert # 15, January 19th, 2006
George Soule, National Chairperson of Canadian Federation of Students discusses students' stake in the outcome of the federal election. James Petras discusses what can be expected from and Evo Morales government in Bolivia. Paul Rusesabagina, manager of Hotel Rwanda, talks about his heroic role in the Rwandan genocide.
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Alert #14, January 12th, 2006
Maude Barlow tells us What Went on at the WTO Meeting in Hong Kong; Israeli peace activist and Nobel nominee Jeff Halper evaluates the legacy of Ariel Sharon and speculates about the post- Sharon era. Author David Arnasan discusses the poetry of Irving Layton. Journalist Murray Dobbin and publisher Cy Gonick give their views on the federal election.
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Alert #13, January 5th, 2006
Maude Barlowe, Murray Dobbin, Leo Panitch and Geoff Bickerton tell us which 2005 news stories were most important for them. Leo Panitch discusses the federal election, the first of a series of ALERT election commentaries.
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Alert #12, December 1st, 2005
Native Studies prof Peter Kulchyski on the recently concluded Kelowna Summit of Aboriginal leaders and federal/provincial leaders. Israeli peace activist and Nobel nominee Jeff Halper attempts to make sense of the continuing crisis in Israel/Palestine.
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Alert #11, November 24th, 2005
We talk with Maude Barlow about her new book, Too Close for Comfort ; about the coming federal election and about the 2005 Right Livelihood Award that she and Tony Clarke received. We interview psycho-therapist Miriam Greenspan about her work in relieving stress suffered by victims of abuse and by social activists.
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Alert #10, November 17th, 2005
Latin American authority James Petras discusses the recently concluded summit of the Americas meeting in Argentina that discussed establishing a Free Trade Agreement of the Americas. Historian David Noble on how the new pro-Israel Lobby works on Canadian campuses. Professor Paul Hamel, from the University of Toronto, reveals how that university's scientific research is funded by the U.S Department of Defence and its resulting contribution to America's military projects. This is Part Three of our Subversion of the University series.
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Alert #9, November 10th, 2005
ALERT'S REMEMBRANCE DAY show. World-famous anti-nuclear activist Helen Caldicott talks about new dangers stemming from nuclear weapons and nuclear power and the surprisingly large presence of the military-industrial complex in Canada. Historian Henry Heller provides background to the riots in Paris.
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Alert #8: November 3rd, 2005
Mathew Bramley, director of Climate Change for the Pembina Institute, discusses Canada's performance under the Kyoto Protocol. Cathy Hotslander updates the appeal of a lower court decision in Saskatchewan denying certified organic farmers' bid to carry out a class action lawsuit against Monsanto and Bayer for losses due to GMO canola contamination of fields and crops. Sharon Yandle comments on the the B.C. Teacher's union strike.
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Alert #7, October 28th, 2005
Professor Arthur Schafer, in Part 2 of the Subversion of the University series on how Big Pharma distorts medical research at the University of Toronto. Film-maker Jim Sanders reveals how the University of Manitoba censored his film research on genetically modified seeds for fear that it would be sued by Monsanto which invested heavily in that university's Smart Park. Jordan Samoleski, from Propagandhi, discusses their latest album, 'Potemkin City Limits.'
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Alert #6, October 13th, 2005
On the anniversary of the FLQ crisis, Stan Gray remembers his arrest; writer and activist Ken Kalturnick considers the use of terrorism by the FLQ and today. Jonah Gindin, our correspondent in Venezuela talks about the latest developments in the Bolivarian Revolution.
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Alert #5, October 6th, 2005
Professor David Noble discusses the Subversion of the University with a case study of York University. Chief Ovide Mercredi talks about the demonstrations against Manitoba Hydro destruction of native fisheries in Grand Rapids, Manitoba.
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Alert #4, September 29th, 2005
Metis author of Half Breed, Maria Campbell discusses The Year of the Indigenous Woman. Sam Bahour, our correspondent in in Palestine discusses the latest developments following the Gaza pull-out. Economist Armine Yalnitzian comments on how women have fared in recent federal budgets. Sy Kahn, troubador, discusses his book 'The Fox in the Henhouse: How Privatization Threatens Democracy.'
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Alert #3, September 22nd, 2005
Author Sherene Razack discusses the illusions of Canadians as peacekeepers - The New White Man's Burden. Peace activist and publisher Richard Saunders reveals how missile defence is alive and well in Canada. Jenn Kern, poverty activist discusses the Living Wage Campaign in the USA.
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Alert #2, September 15th, 2005
Barry Zwicker reflects on conspiracy theories on this anniversary of 9/11. Muslim activist Shahinna Siddique on the impact of 9/11 on Muslims residing in Canada. Dan Zeidler updates on the CBC lockout. American author and scholar James Petras discusses how the US occupation of Iraq weakened the response to the Gulf Coast tragedy.
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Alert #1, September 8th, 2005
Labour Day Panel discussion: Are unions doing enough to organize and Involve young workers? Featuring: John Friesen (CUPW), Kevin Rebek (CUPE), Kim Dufour (UFCW). Canadian Dimension film reviewer Rick Slye discusses new and old labour films. Danny Shur describes his adventures in producing the popular musical theatre presentation,'STRIKE!' based on the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.