Stay ConnectedCOMMONS is a documentary podcast that proves Canada is anything but boring. Each season, host Arshy Mann guides you through the country’s dark underbelly, bringing you stories about crime, corruption and all manner of misdeeds.
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Copyright: © 2022 CANADALAND
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Attawapiskat has become famous across Canada and around the world. Not for the natural beauty that surrounds it, or for the Cree culture of the people who live there. Instead, it's become a byword for the toxic legacy of Canadian colonialism.
But while Attawapiskat faced crisis after crisis, the community was sitting on a literal diamond mine run by the world's most famous mining company.
So why is it that a community rich in diamonds is so poor? And why did the government and De Beers do so little to help them through?
Featured in this episode: Mike Koostachin, Vicki Lean, Anna Baggio
To learn more:
After the Last Riverby Victoria Lean
The People of the Kattawapiskak River by Alanis Obamsawin
“De Beers decision to dump sewage into Attawapiskat played role in current housing crisis” by Ossie Michelin in APTN News
“Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?” By Edward Jay Epstein in The Atlantic
Additional music from Audio Network
This episode is brought to you by PolicyMe.
Support COMMONS: http://commonspodcast.com
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Support us at www.commonspodcast.com
A monster has been haunting the North.
Giant Mine may be a big reason why Yellowknife exists. But for seven decades, it's been a unique source of suffering for the people in the region.
Three stories from this uniquely haunted place: the damage it did when it opened, the bloodiest labour dispute in Canadian history, and the toxic legacy that may remain for thousands of years.
Featured in this episode: Morgan Tsetta, Arn Keeling, John Sandlos, Lee Selleck
To learn more:
Giant Monster Mine from the Yellowknives Dene First Nation
Dying for Gold: The True Story of the Giant Mine Murders by Lee Selleck and Francis Thompson
Additional music from Audio Network
This episode is brought to you by PolicyMe, and Manscaped.
Support COMMONS: http://commonspodcast.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Support us at www.commonspodcast.com
Twenty-six men were working underground when an explosion tore through the Westray Mine in Nova Scotia. Their friends and colleagues went into the wreckage to try to save them.
The story of Westray is one of managerial malice and the heroism of everyday people. But why is it that governments let this happen over and over again, at the expense of so many lives?
Featured in this episode: Vernon Theriault, Tom Sandborn
To learn more:
Westray: My Journey From Darkness to Lightby Vernon Theriault and Marjorie Coady
“Hell's History” by Tom Sandborn in The Tyee
The Last Shift by CBC's The Fifth Estate
Additional music from Audio Network
This episode is brought to you by Rotman's Executive Leadership Online, PolicyMe, and Manscaped.
Support COMMONS: http://commonspodcast.com
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A tiny Canadian mining company discovers the largest gold deposit in human history. But when the company's chief geologist falls out of a helicopter over the Indonesian jungle, it was all revealed to be a mirage.
Bre-X was a national obsession that made many overnight millionaires. It also happened to be the biggest fraud in the history of mining.
But questions still remain. Why did no one go to jail? And did that geologist actually die falling from a helicopter? Or is he off somewhere enjoying his ill-gotten gains?
Featured in this episode: Warren Irwin, Andrew Willis (The Globe and Mail), Stephen Ewart (Calgary Herald)
To learn more:
Fever: The Dark Mystery of the Bre-X Gold Rush by Jennifer Wells
The Bre-X Fraud by Andrew Willis and Douglas Goold
“Bre-X – Of Course I Know Where Michael de Guzman Is” in CEO.com by Warren Irwin
Additional music from Audio Network
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For a century, Canada was one of the world's leading exporters of asbestos, most of it mined from the small town of Asbestos, Quebec. But during that time, governments and corporations in Canada did everything they could to hide the fact that asbestos is deadly.
They went to extraordinary lengths — secret organ smuggling, corporate-supervised police torture — to keep the ugly truth from the world.
Today, there's no longer a town called Asbestos, QC. But more people than ever are dying from what was mined out of the ground there.
Featured in this episode: Heidi von Palleske, Jessica van Horssen, Tavia Grant (The Globe and Mail)
To learn more:
A Town Called Asbestos: Environmental Contamination, Health, and Resilience in a Resource Communityby Jessica van Horssen
“No Safe Use: The Canadian Asbestos Epidemic” by Tavia Grant in The Globe and Mail
“Asbestos: Canada's Dirty Secret” by CBC's Fifth Estate
Additional music from Audio Network
Support COMMONS: http://commonspodcast.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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When gold was discovered in the Yukon, 100,000 people desperately tried to make it to a small patch of land in one of the most remote environments on the continent. Few made it all the way.
The Klondike Gold Rush was many things: a media conspiracy, a ponzi scheme, a land grab. But above all, it was a humanitarian disaster that stretched over much of the Pacific Northwest.
Featured in this episode: Brian Castner, Deb Vanasse
To learn more:
Stampede: Gold Fever and Disaster in the Klondike by Brian Castner
Wealth Woman: Kate Carmack and the Klondike Race for Gold by Deb Vanassse
Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rushby Pierre Berton
Additional music from Audio Network
This episode is sponsored by Rotman's Executive Leadership Online, Douglas and Dispatch Coffee.
Support COMMONS: http://commonspodcast.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Stories about the dirty business of Canadian mining.
First episode drops October 13, 2021.
Support COMMONS: http://commonspodcast.com
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The destruction of Borneo's rainforests has been called the greatest environmental crime of our time. But journalists and NGOs have long alleged that one man, Abdul Taib Mahmud, has benefitted from that destruction to the tune of billions of dollars. If that's true, it's one of the worst acts of corruption in the modern era.
And for over a decade, those same campaigners have argued that Taib's empire isn't limited to Malaysia. They claim that its tendrils extend deep into Canada.
Featured in this episode: Mutang Urud, Clare Rewcastle Brown (The Sarawak Report)
To learn more:
Money Logging: On the Trail of the Malaysian Timber Mafia by Lukas Straumann
A Time to Swimby Ashley Duong
“Political interference may have helped scuttle investigation of Canadian corporation” by Timothy Wilson in Ricochet
“How Canada's Wealthy Couple Splash Sarawak's Cash” by The Sarawak Report
Additional music from Audio Network
This episode is sponsored by Dispatch Coffee, Sandy and Nora
Support COMMONS: http://commonspodcast.com
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Eddy Haymour has been called a lot of things in his life. Immigrant success story. Kidnapper. Terrorist. Folk Hero.
But the long saga of Eddy Haymour is at its heart a story of obsession. About a man who became consumed by his dreams for a piece of land. And about a government equally determined to stop him at any cost.
Featured in this episode: Omar Mouallem, Greg Crompton
To learn more:
Eddy's Kingdom by Greg Crompton
“The Kingdom of Haymour” by Omar Mouallem in EDify Magazine
“Eddy Haymour and Rattlesnake Island” by CBC's Fifth Estate
Additional music from Audio Network
This episode is sponsored by Dispatch Coffee, Sandy and Nora
Support COMMONS: http://commonspodcast.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Toronto Community Housing Corporation is the biggest landlord in Canada, and the second biggest in all of North America.
But government after government has allowed social housing in Toronto to fall apart. It's not just the buildings that they've let rot. It's also our moral obligation to the most vulnerable in our society.
Featured in this episode: Joe Fiorito, John Sewell, Susan Gapka
To learn more:
“Al Gosling is now homeless at 82” by Joe Fiorito in The Toronto Star
“Ousting Sewell” by Jamie Bradburn in The Torontoist
“Tragic tale of local artist has happy coda” by Joe Fiorito in The Toronto Star
Additional music from Audio Network
This episode is sponsored by Dispatch Coffee, Blue Jays Happy Hour
Support COMMONS: http://commonspodcast.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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