• Search
    • Sign up for our newsletter
    December 20, 2021
    SHARE
    CANADALAND
    #739 The Duty To Sh*t Disturb
    He's the academic expert people love to hate. But he considers stirring the pot his moral duty. This week, CANADALAND brings you a profile of Amir Attaran.
    Jesse Brown
    Host & Publisher
    Tristan Capacchione
    Audio Editor & Technical Producer
    Sarah Lawrynuik
    Senior Producer
    Kieran Oudshoorn
    Managing Editor, Podcasts

    Amir Attaran might not be a name you know off the top of your head, but if you listen or read Canadian media, you’ve definitely come across him before.

    He is a professor at both the University of Ottawa law school and also its School of Epidemiology and Public Health. He’s got a PhD in immunology from Oxford, along with a law degree from UBC.

    Attaran has been a real sh*t disturber throughout the pandemic, criticizing all levels of government for their public health responses, but he liked stirring the pot long before COVID-19 reared its head. He makes the case that it is his duty.

    The Prime Minister scolded him. Twitter deplatformed him. Journalists have largely stopped calling him… Well, that is, except for us.

    Support Canadaland at canadaland.com/join or gift a subscription to someone else at canadaland.com/gift.

    Sponsors: Policy Me, Douglas

    More from this series
    #836 Cops, Lies, And Videotape
    *A note to listeners: Today’s episode deals with sexual violence inflicted on minors and won’t be suitable for all listeners. In 2006, RCMP Const. Joseph Kohut kicked down the door to his ex’s home in Prince George, B.C., and left with certain belongings. His ex said that one of the things Kohut took was a videotape showing him sexually harassing an underage Indigenous girl. Kohut had already been investigated for sexual misconduct after a local judge pled guilty to sexually assaulting several Indigenous minors. Kohut’s ex, also a Mountie, reported the alleged theft of evidence. So what happened next? Reporter Jessica McDiarmid tells the story of 16-years of entropy and indifference within the RCMP.
    November 28, 2022
    #832 Ratfucker Chapter Three: The Trojan Horse
    Thanks to David Wallace and Richard Marsh, the Klondike Papers blew up online - and nothing garnered more attention than Wallace’s claim that there was a plot to get rid of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Could it be true? Cherise and Jesse try to get to the bottom of what actually happened, and in doing so discover a complex network of Brethren business with extensive political connections around the globe.
    November 14, 2022
    #830 Ratfucker Chapter Two: The Brethren
    Richard Marsh was born into the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church. He got out of the group he calls a cult and has made it his mission to expose the Brethren for their alleged abuses.  Now he’s on the run from Brethren members who’ve been searching for him for years. The man hired to hunt Marsh down? David Wallace. 
    November 7, 2022
    #828 Ratfucker
    Meet David Wallace, political fixer and dirty tricks operative. After a career in the shadows, he’s turned whistleblower, leaking his files and sparking a conspiracy theory. But why? And can he be trusted?
    October 31, 2022
    #824 Hark! A Migrant (Worker)
    Kate Beaton has written the best book about the oil sands, ever. It's a nonfiction comic book called Ducks, and it's about class in Canada as much as it's about anything. She talks with Jesse about what it's like to be a migrant worker in your own country.
    October 17, 2022
    #822 Salvaging The Beachcombers
    The Beachcombers was a wildly long-running series, by any measure. With 387 episodes, the CBC dramedy had more installments than CSI, and five times as many as Schitt’s Creek. For nearly two decades, it was just always there — until one day it wasn’t. Since the last episode aired in 1990, The Beachcombers has largely been forgotten, its title reduced to a punchline. But there’s one place that can’t forget. Producer Sophie Woodrooffe pays a visit to Gibsons, BC, the town that takes The Beachcombers more than a little seriously.
    October 10, 2022
    #820 Crimes Against Nature
    Every year, hundreds, possibly thousands, of crimes are happening in the woods of British Columbia. Sometimes the law catches them, but more often than not, they don’t. So, what exactly is happening in BC’s forests?
    October 3, 2022
    #818 CTV Workers On Workplace Abuse
    Lisa LaFlamme was but one CTV News employee. Dozens more speak to us about a toxic workplace where abuse, bullying, and burnout have allegedly been normal. This culture comes from a deliberate corporate plan. In one case, the consequences may have been fatal.
    September 26, 2022
    all podcasts arrow All Podcasts
    CANADALAND