Building Left

Join Kallee Lins and Jaime Frederick as they speak with Ben Simoni, Executive Director of the BC Youth Climate Corps. Ben unpacks the rapid growth of this youth-led, community-based climate program across British Columbia.

The episode explores the unique model of the Climate Corps: paying youth a living-wage for cohort-based positions working on local climate resiliency projects. These projects range from wildfire mitigation, ecosy...

Join hosts Jaime Frederick and Kallee Lins as they sit down with former Vancouver city councillor, professor and strategist Andrea Reimer to unpack "power literacy." What is power? How does it work? And why do activists, politicians and progressive movements need to learn how to use it?

The conversation covers concrete organizing tools like power mapping, the social dynamics that shape political choices, and how local governments c...

In this episode of Building Left, our guest, PhD candidate Dawn Moffat McMaster, discusses her research on the nonprofit sector as a pathway into electoral politics, why women—though making up the majority of nonprofit workers—remain underrepresented in legislatures, and how parties and local recruitment shape who runs for office.

Join us for a conversation about nonprofits' role in policy and community life, the challe...

Join Kallee Lins and Jaime Frederick as they interview Luke Savage. Luke is a writer whose work has appeared in the Toronto Star, the New Statesman, Jacobin and more. He is also the coauthor of Ed Broadbent’s 2023 book Seeking Social Democracy.

Join us for Luke's commentary on the rising popularity of explicitly socialist movements around the world, the failures of Carney's centrism in Canada, and strategies for building broa...

Hosts Jaime Frederick and Kallee Lins speak with Guerric Haché, an Electoral District Association (EDA) member in Vancouver Centre, about rebuilding and energizing NDP EDAs.

Guerric is a designer and programmer with 13 years' experience in the video game industry, alongside being as an independent writer and artist, and a prolific nature photographer. Originally from Gatineau, Québec, they've made their home in Vancouver for well o...

In this episode of Building Left, hosts Kallee Lins and Jaime Frederick speak with Trevor McAleese, a Kelowna-based video game developer and former federal NDP candidate who is now running for city council. Trevor discusses why municipal politics matter, and explains how he proposes to tackle issues such as affordable housing, short-term rental challenges, childcare, climate change and wildfire preparedness.

The conversation explor...

In this episode, hosts Kallee Lins and Jaime Frederick speak with El Foulkes, an organizer, union activist and artist who sits on the NDP federal council as a table officer from Quebec.

El explains how the council and executive operate between conventions, shares their experience on transparency, consultation and decision‑making, and discusses internal organizing to strengthen democratic processes across the party. Join us for a co...

Just days before the federal NDP chooses its new leader in Winnipeg, hosts Kallee Lins and Jaime Frederick break down the race to Convention: a mutual endorsement proposition between candidates, strategic ranked-ballot math, attacks over the decade-old Leap Manifesto, and the fallout from Nunavut MP Lori Idlout crossing the floor to the Liberals. Join us as we weigh in on what these flashpoints mean for the party’s direction ...

Join Jaime Frederick and Kallee Lins for the latest spotlight on NDP leadership hopefuls. Jump in and get to know Heather McPherson!

Heather McPherson, the NDP MP for Edmonton Strathcona and the only sitting MP running for leader, shares the tactics that have led her team in Alberta to repeated electoral successes. 

On Building Left, Heather discusses the need for balancing a just transition for oil and gas workers with climat...

Join hosts Jaime Frederick and Kallee Lins as they debrief the final NDP leadership debate held on Feb 19. Questions ranged from energy policy to managing US aggression. (Don't worry—they were speaking English this time, so ideas were much more fulsome!)

This recap covers everything from Tony's memorable zingers to the spicy and thinly veiled jabs between candidates. 

What was your takeaway from the debate? Send us a mes...

Longtime NDP MP Peter Julian joins Building Left to reflect on the party's catastrophic 2025 defeat and the national renewal effort. Julian, alongside former MP Matthew Green, have proposed 25 resolutions for the federal NDP Convention coming up in Winnipeg, resolutions aimed at reviving both the Party structure and its policy commitments.  

Peter joins co-hosts Kallee Lins and Jaime Frederick to share how key reforms—pu...

Jess Wittman began climate activism at the age of nine, going door to door. As she grew up, so did her passion for community engagement. She worked on five provincial and federal election campaigns between 2024 and 2025, what she calls a "bootcamp" in political organizing. 

Jamie Frederick and Kallee Lins speak with Jess about her role as an NDP regional organizer for the 2025 federal election. This is a deep dive into the nit...

Hosts Jaime Frederick and Kallee Lins unpack Emilie Taman's post‑election review of the federal NDP, tracing how the party's pre‑campaign decisions, campaign messaging, other systemic issues and the political landscape all shaped the 2025 result.

The episode discusses the Review & Renewal Report's focus on gaps in fundraising and grassroots support, the party’s relationship with organized labour, and the current challenge...

Join Jaime Frederick and Kallee Lins as they interview the NDP's leadership candidates. Our latest guest: Tony McQuail!

Tony McQuail is a farmer, educator and lifelong advocate for a fairer and more sustainable Canada. For more than 50 years, he has been a leader in sustainable agriculture and rural development. 

Tony’s vision for Canada goes beyond sustainability to true regeneration. His Green Progressive Movement call...

Hosts Kallee Lins and Jaime Frederick break down the NDP's leadership debate last week in Montreal, where a bilingual format exposed uneven French skills among the candidates. Despite policy discussion feeling thin, the event provided a strong snapshot into candidates' personalities and priorities.

Join us as we highlight standout moments from Avi, Tanille, Tony, Rob and Heather, and touch on recurring themes throughout the evening...

Join Jaime Frederick and Kallee Lins as they interview the NDP's leadership candidates. Our latest guest: Tanille Johnston!

Tanille Johnston is a proud Liǧʷiłdax̌ʷ woman from the We Wai Kai First Nation. A dedicated social worker, mother, and bold new voice for the future of the NDP, Tanille currently serves as Director of Community Programs with the First Nations Health Authority and as a City Councillor in Campbell River, BC.

On ...

Join Building Left to break down Mark Carney's first federal budget. The document lays out deep program cuts, 40,000 public sector job losses, and a large spike in defence spending, alongside some encouraging moves on housing investment, apprenticeship support and automatic tax filing for a mixed bag of austerity and "generational investments."

We're unraveling budget week's political fallout — a high-profile floor crossing, ...

Back in April, Jäger Rosenberg made headlines as the youngest person running in the Canadian federal election. He was the NDP candidate in the BC riding of West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country. Last year he also ran as a nominee for the BC NDP candidacy in the provincial riding of Powell River–Sunshine Coast. He’s currently a member of the executive for the BC Young New Democrats and a member of ...