Tapestry 2030 – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of the Global Voices Podcast, Migrant Worker Rights in Canada, we dive into the complexities and challenges faced by migrant workers in Canada. Host Bernice Mwaura is joined by two notable guests; Professor Ethel Tungohan and Gabriel Allahdua, to explore Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program in all its facets, while exposing the systemic abuse and issues that require reform.

Meet the Speakers:

Gabriel Allahdua is a former migrant farm worker from St Lucia, an island in the Eastern Caribbean. He has been an organizer with the collective, Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW) for almost a decade. He is currently an Outreach Worker working with migrant workers across Ontario. He was Activist in Residence (AIR) at the University of Guelph, the first person to hold that position, which brought activists and researchers together. He is the author of the recently published award winning book 'Harvesting Freedom' published by Between the Lines.

Ethel Tungohan is an Associate Professor of Politics and a Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism at York University. Her research looks at social movements, immigration and labour policy, and Canadian/comparative politics. She recently published, 'Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement Building and Communities of Care,' which won the National Women’s Studies Association First Book Prize.

Note: Since the recording of this episode, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced a new and enhanced pilot program for Caregivers set to grant permanent residence status on arrival. While this does seem to be a step in the right direction; a number of barriers still exist including meeting the language requirement for the program. It is yet to be seen whether the program will truly encompass all the recommendations migrant rights organizations have been calling for. 

About the Podcast:

Through the third season of the Tapestry 2030 Podcast: Global Voices, a few members of the Ontario Council for International Cooperation (OCIC) Youth Policy-Makers Hub (YPH) are aiming to amplify key global issues from the perspective of voices often unheard or excluded from policy and international development conversations. 

Learn more about the work of OCIC. 

Indigenous Reconciliation and environmental sustainability are especially relevant to the Canadian landscape.  According to the 2021 Census, Indigenous Peoples make up about 5% of the nation’s population.  However, this demographic has faced systemic barriers and historical mistreatment for a long time – ranging from enforced water advisories, residential schools, degraded land quality in reserves, and so forth. In part two of this episode, The Intersection of Indigenous and Environmental Perspectives, host Shoffana Sundaramoorthy is joined by Alicia Richins to share her insights around Indigenous and environmental perspectives, including how amplifying localized and marginalized voices through digital media are critical steps towards transformational change.

Meet the Speaker:

Alicia Richins is a sustainable impact strategist and founder of The Climateverse.  She is a dual citizen of Canada and Trinidad and Tobago. Alicia studied at York University, in which she obtained a bachelor’s degree in Economics & Social Science and a master’s degree in environmental studies. She is based out of Toronto, Ontario. Alicia’s strong interest in environmental policy is visible through her time of supporting communities/organizations with social/ environmental impact measurement, alongside progressing the youth climate movement through advisory and mentorship practices.

About the Podcast:

Through the third season of the Tapestry 2030 Podcast: Global Voices, a few members of the Ontario Council for International Cooperation (OCIC) Youth Policy-Makers Hub (YPH) are aiming to amplify key global issues from the perspective of voices often unheard or excluded from policy and international development conversations. 

Learn more about the work of OCIC. 

En el episodio dos de la segunda temporada, escuchamos a los líderes de increíbles organizaciones de base en la República Dominicana. Georges Tertulien de Plan de Desarrollo Social y Cultural para los Bateyes (PLADESCULBA) y Crismary Gutierrez y Scott Coppa de Puente Desarrollo Internacional se unen a Heather Smith de Rayjon Share Care para reflexionar sobre el poder del liderazgo para superar grandes obstáculos en la comunidad de Barrio 41.

This is the Spanish version of Season 2 Episode 2. 

In this episode we hear from leaders of amazing grassroots organizations in the Dominican Republic. Georges Tertulien from Plan de Desarrollo Social y Cultural para los Bateyes (PLADESCULBA) and Crismary Gutierrez and Scott Coppa from Puente Desarrollo Internacional join Rayjon Share Care’s Heather Smith to reflect on the power of leadership in overcoming great obstacles in the community of Barrio 41.

This episode is also available in Spanish. 

In the first episode of OCIC’s ‘Tapestry 2030’ Season 2 podcast series, OCIC Communications Specialist, Eliana Fleifel, invites Brian Tomlinson, Executive Director of AidWatch Canada, and Marlen Mondaca, localization and development expert, to share what ‘localization’ means to them personally; why it is important; challenges and opportunities they have noted within this agenda; and their take on why the international cooperation sector needs to prioritize ‘localization’ to ensure a just, gender equal, and sustainable future.

Nan setyèm epizod nou an, n'ap pale ak Elida Jeanty e Bénicie Pierre ki fè pati Federasyon Fanm Aysyien nan Sen Mak, Renaud Thomas ki koodinatè kominotè pou Rayjon Share Care Ayiti, epi Heather Smith ki Direktè Egzekitif Rayjon Share Care Canada. Yo pale sou patenarya yo e travay yo fè ansanm pou kreye yon faktori lam veritab epi yon pepinyè lam veritab nan komin Sen Mak an Ayiti. 

This is the kreyòl ayisyen (Haitian Creole) version of Season 1 Episode 7 (Haitian Women in the Lead). 

In the last episode of our first series, we are in conversation with Isata Dumbuya from Partners In Health Sierra Leone, Basimenye Nhlema from Partners In Health Malawi, and Ian Pinnell from Partners In Health Canada. They reflect on the partnership model of their umbrella organization and their collaboration on a 5 year long Global Affairs Canada funded initiative entitled "No Woman or Girl Left Behind". 

In our seventh episode we are in conversation with Elida Jeanty and Bénicie Pierre from the Haitian Women’s Federation of Haut de St. Marc, Renaud Thomas from Rayjon Share Care Haiti, and Heather Smith from Rayjon Share Care Canada. They reflect on their partnership and their shared work to establish a Breadfruit Processing Factory and Breadfruit Tree Nursery in the Haut de St. Marc community in Haiti. 

In our sixth episode we are in conversation with Leonora Obara from Kijiji Cha Upendo in Kenya, Linda Levin from Village of Love Canada, and Claire Holloway Wadhwani from the Canada Africa Partnership (CAP) Network. They reflect on their decade long partnership and commitment to supporting community based orphan and vulnerable child care in Kibera, the largest slum in Africa. 

In our fifth episode we are in conversation with Rugui Balde from Tiniguena in Guinea Bissau and Eric Chaurette from Interpares in Ottawa. They reflect on their 30 year long partnership and their work to promote food sovereignty and women's economic empowerment in Guinea Bissau.