Public transit in Canada is facing a crisis. Between chronic underfunding, dwindling ridership, and outdated infrastructure, it's becoming increasingly difficult for urban residents to rely on transit, while rural areas often have no options at all. Could making public transit free be a climate solution that also addresses social inequities?

Guests Rubens and Christian are organizers with Climate Justice Montreal, a group pursuing environmental and climate justice through education, mobilization and collective action in solidarity with directly affected communities. Rubens and Christian make the case for why public transit shouldn’t just be affordable - it should be free for all. Free transit reduces carbon emissions, eases traffic congestion, and improves noise and air pollution. It removes financial barriers, helping low-income riders, students, and seniors get where they need to go. This episode explores how a fare-free system isn’t just a dream – it’s a practical step towards more just, sustainable cities.

Our social safety nets were designed to protect people from “social risks” like illness and unemployment, and to alleviate poverty. But in the era of climate change, do we need to re-boot the social protection system so that it’s adaptive and responsive to climate risks?

On today’s episode we spoke with Dr. Meghan Bailey, the Head of Social Protection and Health at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre. Meghan leads the portfolios on climate-responsive social protection and the climate-health nexus. They are also an adviser on the design of forecast-based financing systems. Meghan holds a PhD on climate change adaptation from the University of Oxford. Meghan explains the need for climate-responsive social protection systems and the promising practices that are already being implemented around the world today – like providing people cash transfers before disaster strikes to prevent people from falling into poverty.

We know that climate change disproportionately affects those of us who are already struggling. But can climate mitigation and adaptation policy be designed in a way that promotes environmental justice? And if so, how? We speak with Anna Shipp, Principal Policy Associate, and Joseph Schilling, Senior Research Associate, from the Urban Institute’s Research to Action Lab about Justice40 — a Biden-era initiative that directed 40% of federal climate spending benefit equity-deserving communities.

The Urban Institute, a nonprofit focused on equity and social mobility, has studied climate justice in depth, including the challenges of implementing Justice40. Although the initiative was repealed under the Trump administration, it remains one of the most ambitious attempts to embed environmental justice into federal climate policy — and offers valuable lessons for future efforts.

The transition off of fossil fuels is important and needs to happen, but it will affect the livelihoods of oil and gas workers and those in fossil fuel dependent communities. How can we make sure the transition is just and people-centered?

We spoke with Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood, a senior researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Hadrian’s work focuses on the social and economic dimensions of Canada’s shift toward a zero-carbon economy, including the necessity of a just transition for vulnerable workers and communities across the country. He is a contributor to the CCPA's Trade and Investment Research Project and Alternative Federal Budget. Hadrian holds a MA in Political Economy from Carleton University. Hadrian explains the concept of a people-centered just transition and the challenges Canada will have to overcome to move away from fossil fuels. We also discussed the policies that are needed to help workers transition into new industries, including the need for green industrial policy.

We spoke with Dr. Samantha Montano, an assistant professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and author of Disasterology: Dispatches From the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis. In this conversation, Samantha explains the counterintuitive reality that the people who most need support during a disaster tend to get less government assistance, and her suggestions for how emergency management can be reformed to support disaster justice.

Welcome to Season 4 of Pullback, where we’ll be focusing entirely on climate justice — what it means, why it matters, and the policies we can implement today to address the crisis and build a fairer world. In this first episode, hosts Kristen and Kyla explore how climate change is already impacting people around the world, including the ways it’s deepening existing inequalities — especially for communities that are already marginalized.

These days, humans are interacting with chatbots powered by artificial intelligence more and more, including for companionship. Can these new tools help a society experiencing a loneliness epidemic, or do they risk deepening isolation? And do they give tech companies even more power? This episode we’re joined by Dr. Jill Fellows, a faculty member in the philosophy department at Douglas College and host of the feminist tech podcast Cyborg Goddess. Jill explains the history of AI, and introduces philosophical questions about trust, bias, and the reliability of modern AI systems. We discuss the impact of AI on human creativity, whether AI could ever be considered “conscious”, and how AI is affecting our social relationships.

Rates of anxiety, depression, and chronic illnesses like heart disease are on the rise, and more doctors are looking beyond the medicine cabinet for solutions. Could our healthcare system be missing a simple remedy that’s been right outside our door? In this episode we talk to Dr. Stacy Beller Stryer, a paediatrician and Associate Medical Director for Park RxAmerica. Dr. Stryer does public health work for the US federal government and natureprescribed.org, and she helps to develop programs that educate providers, schools, and park agencies on the benefits of nature and nature prescriptions. Dr. Stryer explains what nature prescriptions are, what they look like in practice, and why doctors are turning to nature to address their patient’s health concerns. We dig into some of the barriers people face in accessing nature, how nature prescriptions intersect with environmental justice and climate resilience, and the role of healthcare providers and community members in advocating for healthier environments.

Universities have faced steep and sustained public funding cutbacks and have adapted by changing the way that they operate. What are the consequences of the de facto privatization of universities for students, researchers, and society? In this episode, we talk to Randy Robinson, Ontario Director for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and co-author of Back from the Brink, a report that explores public funding cuts in Ontario universities. Randy describes the deep provincial funding cuts that have led Ontario universities to hike tuition, especially for international students, while making university jobs more precarious and less permanent. We discuss how this is changing the student experience, reducing research capacity, and hollowing out communities.

With Loblaws facing criticism for soaring grocery prices and record-high profits during a cost-of-living crisis, can a boycott drive real change? We talk to Emily Johnson, the lead organizer for the Loblaws boycott, and Eric Wickham, a Toronto-based journalist and host of Big Shiny Takes. Emily is a mental health and addictions worker and single mother of two living in the suburbs west of Toronto, and Eric has been working on a year-long investigation on the price of groceries for The Hosier, an independent digital media outlet based in the Greater Toronto Area. We are also joined by Robert Miller, climate activist, organizer, and “spooookiest” friend of the pod, to discuss more solutions to reduce the price of groceries and save Halloween for children nationwide.