Tree Planters: A podcast about change for a better world
We live in a world running out of space, resources, and time. There are solutions. We can build a better world - a world that is fair, healthy, and prosperous. But this requires transformative change. Why Tree Planters Podcast you ask? Well, there's a great proverb that goes as follows:“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”We feel there's a scarcity of tree planters in positions of power these days. Each month we look at problems and solutions relating to how we live in modern society, including those of sprawl and associated consumption patterns and behaviour, climate change, habitat degradation and species loss, community development and empowerment, knowledge of and connection to place, leadership and accountable governance, among others.We welcome you to join us on our journey. Please don't hesitate to connect with us if you have suggestions or questions.
Episodes
As Canada marks National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we reflect on the commitments that remain unfinished and the future we hope to build together. In this episode, we speak with Jeff Monague—educator, storyteller, and former Chief of Beausoleil First Nation—about the progress on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and what reconciliation truly means in practice.
This conversation is an invitati...
Barrie’s mayor has declared a state of emergency over the city’s growing homeless encampments—a crisis that’s been building for years while governments at every level have largely failed to respond. Is this declaration a genuine step toward solutions, or will it shift the burden onto those least able to carry it: the people already living on the margins?
The Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition has a new Executive Director. We sit down with Jonathan Scott to discuss his vision for the organization, his outlook on the future of advocacy for Lake Simcoe, and how he believes economic and environmental priorities can be balanced in the years ahead.
What's happening with the impending review of the Greenbelt?
The Greenbelt Act requires the province to conduct a review of the Greenbelt plan every 10 years. The last one was in 2015, so, while nothing has been announced yet, it is expected that the province will conduct a review in the coming months.
Show links:
The Tyee: Robert Macfarlane’s New Book Asks, ‘Is a River Alive?’
Ray Tomalty is an expert in urban sustainability and the founder of Smart Cities Research Services. He’s worked with cities across Canada and beyond to help design communities that are more livable, walkable, and resilient. In this episode, Ray helps us unpack the idea of the 15-minute city—where it’s working, what it really means, and why some of the controversy around it misses the mark.
We talk with Ted about the province's proposed transfer of a portion of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park to the town.
Ted is a resident of Wasaga Beach and member of the Wasaga Beach Climate Action Team.
The Honourable Kathleen Wynne is a Canadian educator, community organizer, and former politician best known as Ontario’s 25th Premier—the first woman and openly gay person to hold the office. Long before entering electoral politics, Wynne was deeply engaged in grassroots organizing in her North Toronto community. She advocated for public education, equitable urban planning, and inclusive policy through school councils, neighbourhoo...
Dr. Alison Meek is a history professor at King’s University College at Western University, where she studies conspiracy theories, cults, extremism and misinformation.
Alison brings an engaging and thoughtful perspective to how beliefs take root and spread, and what they can tell us about society today.
Jacob is a farmer, and advocate for farming as a means to increase economic and environmental resilience in local communities. We talk about some ideas for how this can happen, and how young people can be supported in contributing to their communities through sustainable agricultural practices.
Learn more about the National Farmers Foundation here.
Once a month we do a mailbag episode, where each of us, along with a guest, shares an issue for discussion. We don't know about each other's issue until they present it during the podcast, keeping it lively and interesting!
Have an issue that you'd like us to address? Let us know, and if it's selected, we'll invite you on the show!
Claire is stepping down as Executive Director of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, and we chat about her experience at the forefront of grassroots environmental advocacy in central Ontario, including how the landscape has changed and what the future might hold.
The Oak Ridges Moraine is a gem of Ontario's natural heritage, providing a source of headwaters to countless rivers and streams on the north shore of Lake Ontario.
In the late '80s and early 90's, a grassroots movement to protect the area emerged. Debbe Crandall and Robert Brown, of Save the Oak Ridges Moraine (STORM) talk about how this came about, and the challenges today facing efforts to protect Ontario's nat...
Taylor Nicole has organized protests against the Ford government's Bill 5, a bill that will allow the government to, in effect, ignore environmental assessments in designated locations, and prohibit public consultation.
We get into the details of the Bill and what it could mean for Ontario.
Eco Guardians of Ontario - Stop Bill 5 Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1051925256910873/
There's a difference between living somewhere, and really living there. We explore some of that with Virginia.
David has decades of experience in leadership roles in the non-profit sector, including as the founding Executive Director of the Chigamik Community Health Centre, as the National Director of Development for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), and as Executive Director of the United Way of Greater Simcoe County.
We speak about his experience in these positions, and how they've helped shape his approach to d...
Margaret talks to former Canadian Environment Minister, Catherine McKenna, about the challenges of climate change, political polarization, and her experience as a woman in politics.
This month we have Claire Malcolmson, of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, joining us.
We talk about health of Lake Simcoe, the strange silence from this government on reviewing the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan (now several years overdue), among other things.
Oh, and it's RLSC's 20th birthday! Tickets for their November 23rd celebration are available here.
Show links:
Lake Simcoe Protect...
Our October episode focuses on the scandal that was the Greenbelt land take-outs, the public backlash, and the fall out.
There is the immediate problems around how land was given to developers, and there are more pervasive problems around democratic accountability, around how our governments make decisions, and about the attitudes of those entrusted with making decisions on all of our behalf.
All of this and more ...
This is a recording of the public forum we held, addressing the assault by this government on the Greenbelt.
Featuring:
Jeff Monague, former Chief of the Beausoleil First Nation on Christian Island, former Director of Treaty Research with the Anishnabek (Union of Ontario Indians) and a Canadian Forces Veteran;
David Crombie, former mayor of Toronto and former chair of Greenbelt Council;
Tim Gray, ED of Environm...
Margaret and Adam talk about Ontario's controversial Bill 23, which drastically changes how communities are planned, about the Ford government's attack on the Greenbelt, which is a reversal from their often repeated promise to not touch it, as well as many more topics.
Adam swears once, hence the explicit tag. (We're talking about the Ford government here, so it's difficult to not be explicit.)
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