Is This For Real‪?‬ Is This For Real?

We ended up taking a bit of an unexpected pause due to the dynamics around police criticism given the officer deaths in March. In this episode we discuss how the officer deaths were politicized to further consolidate power and resources for police as an institution, and examine how institutional failures of police may have even led to these officer deaths..

Oumar had a with Hailey Yasmeen + Mae of the Asilu Collective, a grassroots abolitionist organization working towards policing-free schools in Ontario. Oumar talked with them about their approach to activism and education, a more holistic definition of abolition, and collaborating with other community groups to work around the system rather than in direct opposition.

We’re unraveling the current situation with policing downtown, where the province has deployed 12 sheriffs to the already heavily policed Chinatown area and self-identifying “liberal” politicians are more openly pro-police than ever.

We also got to talk with an anonymous worker in the nonprofit sector, who shared some thought-provoking insights about the ways that organizations are set up to fail and why he will ultimately be leaving the sector.

We’re diving into some ways that our system of governance tries to control or eliminate threats to their power. From a deliberately inaccessible public civic engagement process amid budget deliberations, to local pundits endlessly pushing for a return to the status quo when we never left in the first place. Oumar interviewed Calgary community organizer Taylor McNallie about the relentless attacks she’s faced from police and the media’s ignorance.

We’re diving into the fourth police budget increase of the year so far, the police DNA phenotyping scandal, Alberta's new premier, and the announcement that the provincial province will be providing $187M towards homelessness and addiction supports. Oumar also got to interview Nicholas Marcus Thompson of the Black Class Action lawsuit against the government of Canada, a landmark case that was recently elevated to the United Nations after the government tried to dismiss it.

Edmonton’s city council recently committed to funding the Chinatown Healthy Streets Operation Centre, a $15M hub meant to deploy additional officers into Chinatown. We interviewed councillor Michael Janz about the decision, his “insider-outsider” theory of change, and whether meaningful progress can be achieved from within city council.

We're turning our focus to the devastation inflation that has been hitting low-income households especially hard while companies like Loblaws are making record profits. We also have some on the ground reporting from the Pope's visit to Edmonton.