An hour of programmer created content, podcasts, music, interviews, and community announcements. CKMS Community Connections airs from 3:00pm to 4:00pm every Monday.
Lance Russwurm tells us about his early exposure to music with his parents Lynn and Laura performing country music, learning music in high school, playing in Lynn’s band, how Lynn wrote and submitted music, Lynn’s collaboration with Hank Thompson, and the song “I Cast A Lonesome Shadow.” He tells us about the CKNX Barn Dance, on radio and as revivals through the years. Lance produces the Elmira Sunday Night Concert Series at Gibson Park in Elmira. And Lance tells us about his artwork, and trading art for airplane rides.
The interview starts at 3m45s.
Lance appeared in a three-part episode of Musician’s FAQ with Stuart McKie in January 2021.
Lance tells us about his first exposure to music: Running around in the aisles while his parents played on stage, listening to The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, meeting Ian Tyson, and listening to Gordie Lightfoot and Joni Anderson. Playing in Jimi Hendrix and Steppenwolf in high school, dropped out, and started to play in his dad’s band, all over Southern Ontario. Lance was shy, and had to be coaxed into singing by his dad. Lance had no formal music education, but that was common for many musicians. Today Lance does recommend getting a formal musical education. Mike Slauenwhite, a violinist with the KW Symphony Orchestra, moonlighted in country music bands playing fiddle because that paid better. He’d play with The Ice Capades because he could sight-read music. Lance’s dad Lynn Russwurm had piano lessons when he was young, and wrote out the sheet music for his songs when he sent them out to publishers. Lance can pick up things by ear, but has to try every possible chord to find the right one.
11m02s
In the 1970s people started submitting music on tapes instead of sheet music. Lance remembers Lynn would be in the basement making demo tapes. Lynn wrote a lot of music that was recorded by other people. One such musician was Hank Thompson who recorded “The Wild Side of Life”, about a guy stuck at home with the kids while his wife was out hitting the honky tonks. Then Kitty Wells recorded the answer to that, “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”. That’s a genre of country music called “Honky Tonk”, which became popular when Lance was playing. It’s about cheatin’ and drinkin’ and truck drivin’. Hank Thompson bought a song from Lynn Russwurm outright, so that Lynn gave up the copyright and royalties, something that wouldn’t happen today. After that Lynn and Hank co-wrote a number of songs, sharing the credit.
14m35s
Lance particularly remembers one song, “I Cast A Lonesome Shadow”. It was on a number of Hank Thompson albums, but it was never a hit, probably too weird for the country musicians of the time. Merle Travis, the inventor or finger picking or “Travis Picking” plays on the song. There were some royalties, not much, and the song appeared in collections from time to time. But then in 2003 (not 1999) it was covered by Martin Gore of Depeche Mode, and suddenly the song made some wild royalties. Lynn and Hank Thompson had no idea who Depeche Mode was, but got a kick out of it. Later “I Cast A Lonesome Shadow” became popular with rockabilly bands, and then a recording by Sonny Crockett was used on the TV series “American Gods.”
Lance says “The song has legs.” Lynn sold a number of songs to other musicians as well. Lance reminisces about Lynn and Laura performing on “The Barn Dance Show” on CKNX radio. Lance played on some Barn Dance shows in the 1970s. Lynn did a revival in the 1980s, and with Earl Heywood revived the live performances in the 1990s. There are still occasional Barn Dance revivals today.
24m30s
Lance talks about the start of the Elmira Sunday concerts. Lynn started playing in the Elmira Gore Park gazebo, at first to a few dozen people, and eventually to hundreds of people who were spilling out of the park and blocking the road. Lance took over in 2016, but shut down because of Covid in 2020. Then the concerts resumed in 2023 in Gibson Park where there was more room. It’s the only place where you can get real Country music these days.
Talking about songwriting. Lance has written about 25 or 30 songs, but Lynn wrote over 700. Lance talks about his CD, about one third his dad’s songs, one third his songs, and one third classic country songs.
35m45s
Hot Gen!Music was not Lance’s full-time gig, he was a commercial artist. Specializing in old mechanical things, old house, old airplanes, old trains. One print that’s well known in the area of the old Kitchener city hall at Christmas time. Lance has a lot of art in the Hamilton Warplane Museum. It’s not an art gallery, but a museum where they restore old planes. Lance was selling his art out of a gallery in St. Jacobs, where he met some people from the museum which rekindled his interest in old planes. An old school friend who became a pilot now flies the Lancaster bomber out of the museum. Lance hasn’t just painted pictures of planes, he’s painted the planes themselves — nose art and engine art. Lance tell stories of flying in those planes.
42m39s
Lance has also painted murals all over Southern Ontario, starting with the firehall in New Hamburg. He’s trying to be retired, so he’s turned down some jobs for murals. He wants to concentrate on other hobbies, like model trains. Between both art and music, Lance feels he’s spread too thin, not an expert at either. He enjoys blending the art and music, like making the cover for his CD.
Analyzing the musicology of Bob Dylan’s music. The phrasing of his songs is the way people talk. Jimi Hendrix and Mark Knopfler sing with Bob Dylan’s phrasing. Bob Dylan had a huge influence on music. Lance relates his progression through musical genres.
52m25s
Lance gives a recap of the Elmira Sunday Night Concerts. Lance does some Travis Fingerpicking to play out the show while Bob gives the credits.
CKMS Community Connections airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 from 3:00pm to 4:00pm on Mondays.
Michael Druker of TriTAG joins Bob Jonkman to talk about all things transport, traffic, and transit. Michael tells Bob about the history and the work that TriTAG does, how TriTAG performs its advocacy, some interesting details on the Light Rail Transit project and Phase Two now being built to Cambridge, how Phase Two can avoid the pitfalls of transit projects in other cities, other projects of TriTAG like the Frequent Transit Network, and the resources available on the TriTAG website.
Michael Druker introduces TriTAG, a local organization that’s been around since 2009, that’s all about people being able to more easily walk, bike, and take transit in Waterloo Region. The advocacy takes place through events, info tables at events, but the focus is on the website, the newsletter, news roundups, and the deep dives they do on policy topics and advocacy focus. There will be an election questionnaire for the upcoming municipal election. Sometimes TriTAG presents at municipal councils, and will sometimes reach out to staff or politicians, but mostly they encourage the public to get in touch with their elected officials.
6m50s
Right now the City of Kitchener is working on their Mobility Master Plan, something where more public input can really make a difference in what gets prioritized. It’s possible to be invested in a policy that’s just not possible due to, for example, budget constraints. Providing positive feedback as well as negative is very valuable; positive voices is something staff and politicians will listen to; they like to know their efforts are appreciated. But it’s easy to take things for granted when they are going well. Is it social media that’s responsible for negativity with council projects? Not just transport but housing and finance. TriTAG can offer a balanced view. It’s not useful to despair or not despair based on the social media algorithms. Michael has not seen a trend, either positive or negative, driven by social media. There are things that capture people’s imagination, in a way that other things don’t, even though they’re important. It depends on how much work is put into public engagement.
12m11s
Introduction to Cold Shoulder by Awake & Dreaming.
Does TriTAG reach out to the province on provincial transporation issues? Not really, most of their advocacy is local.
16m48s
Michael gives some of the history of TriTAG, starting in 2009 with the “Waterloo Region Rapid Transit Project.” Even then, the vision of TriTAG was to give people a choice is choosing their mode of transport: Walking, biking, transit. The issues even extend to land use. TriTAG lost some steam after Light Rail Transit was established in Waterloo Region, but it is now getting a fresh start. Even if transport issues appeas completely solved, there will still be a role for TriTAG. Bases on past performance, there will be lots to do in the future. Even now, there is an approved project for Phase Two of the LRT to Cambridge.
21m30s
The LRT was planned in two phases, there was no way that the entire project could have been funded in one phase. But now that Phase One is done, it does what it was designed to do, and people like it. This matters to people, who want to live next to the LRT. Now we need to bring this to Cambridge, but why stop there? One of the themes in the transit world is the cost of transit construction. When the LRT was proposed, it seemed like a really expensive project, but that was because it seemed unproven. Now that it does work, the cost on a comparative scale was pretty low. That’s not the case in other areas (Toronto’s Eglinton Crosstown LRT, Finch West LRT), and there are knowable reasons for why that happened. We want to take better charge of those reasons when we build Phase Two to Cambridge. If we build cost-effectively, then we can build even more transit infrastructure.
25m56s
What’s the resistance to Phase Two of the LRT? The project is approved, there’s an approved route, although there are some land use questions. Today, the actual barrier is funding — the Region of Waterloo is seeking upper level funding. Bob has heard that costs for Phase Two have ballooned; Michael says that cost estimates have ballooned. The cost estimates have gone up, in part from using the same poor cost practices used in the Toronto LRT projects. But we don’t have to follow the lead of those projects, we can follow the lead of Phase One and build it more cost-effectively. TriTAG hopes that funding can be used for programs that are more than just Phase Two. If we keep building, build in stages, build as we build other infrastructgure, then we keep the knowledge of how to build transit. Michael thinks that the main start will probably be delayed until after the municipal election, but there are other small projects that have prepared for LRT construction.
Other projects TriTAG is working on: “Frequent Transit Network”, already in the business plan for Grand River Transit. Frequent transit is a game changer, at 10-15 minute frequency the service changes qualitatively, people don’t have to allocate time for route planning and waiting for transfers. There are already some frequent routes, the challenge is to add frequency on other routes and to make it consistent, on evenings and weekends. TriTAG has just written an article: Why GRT needs a Frequent Transit Network. People already understand frequent transit from other cities and subway systems. Some people in rural areas would be happy with any transit service at all. Frequent service should be cheap and simple, no additional infrastructure is required, no additional ticketing systems, no new bus stops, only some extra buses and operators. Michael says some routes are already doing frequent service at busy times, although additional bus service will require more maintenance and may wear out the buses faster. But the GRT fleet is fairly new, Michael says buses have a service life of about 14 years. Bob has lived in places where the buses were 20 years old.
44m12s
Talking about the things available on the TriTAG website https://www.tritag.ca/: Newsletters, a weekly news roundup with mobility news, walking, biking, transit, and land use, highlighting what people can get involved in, consultations, feedback, events, plus there are analysis posts, and a series on LRT expansion called IONize Waterloo Region. People can subscribe to the newsletter and news roundup, and follow on the TriTAG social media accounts. Bob mentions an article Kitchener to Stratford by Transit. Michael lists a few other good articles, and reminds us of the upcoming muncipal election.
46m10s
Bob thanks Michael and gives the end credits.
CKMS Community Connections airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 from 3:00pm to 4:00pm on Mondays.
Adrean Farrugia, jazz pianist and educator, talks to Bob Jonkman about improvisation, commercial music, composing music, performing, and Adrean’s performances at the Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival.
Talking about the time signature of High Five, in five/fourths time. Introducing Adrean Farrugia, pianist, composer, jazz musician, and teacher. Adrean talks about his teaching career and the Contemporary and Commercial Music program at the Wilfrid Laurier Faculty of Music. Laurier celebrated its 50th anniversary, and has expanded its Faculty of Music from mostly classical to jazz.
10m05s
Talking about Improvisation — how can you teach that? There is an impression of “lesserness” for improvised music. But high-level improvisation requires a vast skillset on one’s instrument, a level of technical mastery that is comparable to that of a concert pianist, and on top of that there needs to be a deep grasp of musical theory, and the ability to apply it. Adrean compares improvisation to having a conversation: using a set vocabulary and grammar to spontandeously express ideas. Many of the skill sets for classical music and jazz music are identical, but they are different styles, for different audiences. At Laurier the classical and contempory music is not siloed, but integrated together. Adrean is teaching an improv class equally populated by jazz and classical majors.
16m11s
Is jazz and classical “commercial” music? Not like rock, pop, and hip hop. But the disciplines of rock, funk, gospel, hip hop, country are all rooted in jazz music. If you study jazz then you’ll be quite well equipped to play in a funk or R&B band. Adrean likens it to chef school: Why would a Japanese chef specializing in tepanyaki study French cuisine? But when you study culinary arts you study everything to get broad knowledge, and filter that into a specialty. The vast majority of jazz students don’t become jazz musicians, but become really well educated rock and pop musicians, or film or video music composers. As a “commercial” music program there are courses for music production, and business of music courses to address writing grants, booking tours, promotion.
20m59s
Talking about composing music as a part of “commercial” music. In jazz there is a culture of writing your own music; in classical music a performer can have a good career without ever composing anything. Adrean tells us about composing “production music”, music written specifically for use as licenced music for film. Music is written and performed in particular styles, and searchable in the music libraries. This is not AI generated music! Adrean has produced a few “production music” albums, and has heard it used in movies and commercials. But even with billions of plays on the internet, there is not a lot of revenue from royalties. No-one is getting rich from writing music, unlike the 1950s when someone could write a hit song and retire on the proceeds from that one song. Adrean doesn’t consider himself a ‘Composer’, but a performer who composes.
27m03s
Introducing Blued Dharma, talking about performing as a duo, and how actual jazz music is different from production music.
The challenges of peforming as a duo. Challenging for the listeners too. Talking about playing in other groups, and upcoming albums. New albums provide an excuse for touring and booking some gigs, almost certainly at The Jazz Room.
39m55s
Talking about upcoming performance at the Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival, Friday at 3:00pm backing for Jessica Lalond, and on Sunday at 1:30pm with his own band: Adrean Farrugia on Piano with bassist Roberto Occhipinti, drummer Ethan Ardelli, saxphonist Allison Au, and special guest Brad Good on trumpet. Shoutout to Derek Hines, the music director for the Jazz Festival. Festivals have been declining, but Adrean says they’re important cultural events for communities.
44m00s
Cultural events provide a way for an audience to be connected to performers — it is too easy today to not engage with the rest of humanity. But Adrean sees just the opposite in the students he teaches; some reject technology in order to hang out “in real life”. Adrean gives the example that young people have far more diverse Spotify playlists than older people. Older generations derived their identities from music, but younger people listen to music because they like it. One silver lining to streaming services is that it makes music more accessible. Adrean says today’s music students are leagues better than students from the 1990s. But the convenience of streaming can still breed bad habits of laziness, entitlement.
50m28s
A hasty summary of the Jazz Festival and a hasty goodbye.
CKMS Community Connections airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 from 3:00pm to 4:00pm on Mondays and alternate Fridays.
There was no guest in the studio today, so Bob played some KWCon Christmas music by Waterloo Region musicians. Except for The Small Town Titans, but Bob couldn’t let such a catchy tune escape unplayed.
Bob talks with Boris and Paul of Love Your Neighbour Communities or LYNC. It builds attainable housing for the community, currently in the historic feed mill in Baden. Paul has a historic display in the mill. A LYNC Christmas is an afternoon of music to give back to the community that made this happen. Paul and Boris tell of their backgrounds, and discuss the ways that society has made it difficult for people to get assistance.
Bob asks about Love Your Neighbour Communities. Boris says that it’s an organization to provide attainable housing for everyone in the community. They discuss the scarcity of available housing. “LYNC” is not the organization Bob thought it was, there are others using the same name. They’re working in partnership with the Region of Waterloo, as well as the Township of Wilmot. They’re redeveloping the old police station in New Hamburg, right beside the historic feed mill, which LYNC bought in 2022. The community came together to raise $1.5 million to purchase the properties. There will be 35 units of housing in this building.
10m45s
Boris explains the term “Attainable Housing” — high quality housing that should be available to anyone. The development will be mixed income housing, mixed generational housing. There are accessible units, some with two bedrooms. This development is in New Hamburg, but Boris will be going to Drayton in Mapleton Township to see about developing there. Boris is looking to repurpose existing buildings to reduce the environmental footprint.
16m04s
Paul has been creating a history program out of the mill block where you can see the history from the time the mill block was established. It started when someone requested a tour of the mill, but the building had been empty for two years and not ready for a tour. So Paul accessed research by local historians and put together the history of the mill. Some of this history is available on the LYNC YouTube channel. The housing should be ready around the time of the mill’s 200 year anniversary. Paul has set up one of the old police cells as a display area. There are community walk tours; Boris wants to have the mill and the history project part of that.
21m03s
A LYNC Christmas is Paul’s brainchild. He says that as an organization, they need to give back to the community. There are two events to do this, one is the porch music festival. They raised $30,000 even though this wasn’t supposed to be fundraiser. A LYNC Christmas is free afternoon of music, tickets are about three-quarters sold. Boris gives the event details, and Paul runs down the musicians: Juneyt, Anat Hector, Lisa Hagen and the Local Vocals, and Derek Goupil and the Highview Community Church Band. Paul is concerned that the show will be sold out and people will miss the performances. Paul has a phenomenal reputation in the community, so he had contacts to get all these musicians. He’s not just an event planner, Paul is the treasurer on the LYNC Board of Directors.
27m30s
Paul tells us of his past, when he was homeless as a youth, and how important it was to get help from his community. Bob comments on the precarity of housing, most people are only one paycheque away from not paying rent. Boris tells us of a young lady who is working, and making too much money to live in social assitance housing but not enough to pay rent at market rates, and so ended up homeless. Boris tells us of his frustration about this, how difficult the process for getting assistance is. LYNC doesn’t provide transitional housing, but focuses stopping individuals from getting on the street, provide housing so they can provide for themselves. The problems in society have become so great people can’t get ahead of it. People aren’t listening to what people need, Boris is changing that. Paul says that when he first looked to help from the community he was told “You’re not a brand.” Now LYNC is that brand.
35m50s
Boris tells us of the LYNC partnership with a construction manager, Nith Valley Construction. LYNC finds people in the community who need jobs and find employment for them. The ground floor of LYNC is entirely social enterprises, ready to help people in all kinds of jobs.
36m45s
Bob asks how rent costs are determined in a mixed income community. Boris tells us they’re aiming for “deep affordability”, far less than the government’s definition of 80% of market rate. One of the keys is that it has to be sustainable. The LYNC Board has financial planners, with experience in all things. And they will hire staff to provide building management. LYNC will maintain management of the buildings, but the tenants will form a cooperative to develop programs that meet their needs. And there is room for volunteers! That’s how they can have programs like A LYNC Christmas, and community gardens, and learning how to prepare food. Purchased food is so expensive, people can reduce those costs by growing their own food.
43m33s
LYNC is looking for volunteers, but Paul has things well in hand for A LYNC Christmas. Paul makes a pitch for donations on Giving Tuesday. As a registered charity, tax receipts are made available for all donations. Donations can be made online at https://lyncommunities.com/donate/. Paul tells us about their newsletter, not just with info about LYNC but also info about he community. Bob explores the LYNCommunties.com website.
45m50s
How did Boris get involved? He used to work at Ray Of Hope and was contacted by a former co-worker who needed help. He’s worked in organizations across the world, and LYNC is one of the most exciting groups he’s worked with. Housing is a big issue, more so than helping at the soup kitchen or donating to the food bank. LYNC gets lots of help from the Region and the Township, but the system makes it hard to do what they’re doing, but they keep on plugging ahead. And the community is very generous.
50m17s
Paul got involved when he was living on the streets at age 15. He had help from people in the community, and he felt the need to give back. He started with LYNC when the building was purchased.
53m41s
Boris recaps the event details for A LYNC Christmas, and Paul recaps the musicians, all local. Bob makes a pitch for local musicians to submit music to Radio Waterloo.
56m33s
Bob gives the end credits.
CKMS Community Connections airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 from 3:00pm to 4:00pm on Mondays and alternate Fridays.
Kevin Swayze tells us about Unsilent Night, an annual one-night festival put on by the City of Cambridge in downtown Galt. He gives a description of the walking tour, talks about the historic buildings downtown, tells us of Galt as a film set, compares Galt to Hespeler (and Kitchener!), and tells us about living in the Rose Hill area of Galt.
Throughout the interview Phil Kline’s music for Unsilent Night plays in the background.
Kevin Swayze tells us of the origin of Unsilent Night from Wikipedia. There are references to “Boom Boxes” and “Walkman” players. Cambridge joined in 2008, it’s a walk around the streets of old Galt. It started with about 500 people, but participation increased to 10,000 people by 2018. It’s a very different energy from ducking out of the way of trucks barrelling through the streets.
8m35s
Kevin gives us a descriptive tour of Unsilent Night. You’ll run into layers of history throughout all of old Galt. He describes the streets, buildings, displays, and performances. There’s fun for everybody. Kevin tells us of some of the buildings that were used as film sets, and some of their historic uses.
16m40s
Kevin takes a brief detour to talk about the University of Waterloo School of Architecture building and its library. And then continues across the river on the west side of Galt. Kevin tells us of the buildings and the businesses and manufacturers that used to be there.
26m30s
Kevin gives his impressions of the sense of space he gets from downtown Galt. Talking about the intended purpose of the streets — for people, horses, and trains. Not even bicycles, really. Heavy trucks were banned downtown two years ago.
28m10s
Kevin says he feels Unsilent Night as a visceral event, he feels it deep inside. Bob asks if he needs prior historical knowledge to appreciate it. Kevin supplies some that historical knowledge.
32m04s
Kevin describes downtown Galt as seen in The Handmaid’s Tale, describing some of the sets used in filming. And segues into the coffee shops and other stores in Galt.
36m12s
Unsilent Night takes place on Friday, 5 December 2025 at 7:00pm. Traffic will be terrible, best to park and do some shopping in Hespeler, then take the bus to downtown Galt. Get there early, and have a meal in a downtown restaurant while you’re waiting.
38m15s
Reminiscing about downtowns as they used to be, both Kitchener and Cambridge. Kitchener is different, bigger and beefier, with bigger space and no river running down the middle. Kevin tells us of his time working downtown, walking over the bridges, and describes the downtown as it was then.
40m40s
Kevin says he could walk the Unsilent Night in about 20 minutes, but it’s meant to be taken at a more leisurely pace. And because it’s crowded, the progress is slow. Expect it to take about an hour and a half. Dress warmly, there may not be places to duck inside to warm up. It’s one night only, but come down to see the space, it’s great fun. This has the largest turnout of any Unsilent Night across the world. Downtown Galt is a space that’s built for it, like walking in a snow globe.
43m10s
Kevin doesn’t know much about the music, or Phil Kline, the composer. His personal impressesion is a soundtrack to fill the gaps while your attention is on the displays. It doesn’t overpower the other things going on. It’s the same music that plays every year, at all the venues across the world. Unsilent Night is a space to go out and not feel there’s any agenda, it’s explore and see what you can find. There’s no worry about cars, it’s nice to let people have a space without cars.
47m10s
Kevin compares Galt with Hespeler, another downtown built for pedestrians. Even more compact than Galt, it’s more “muscular” than Galt, but still feels like a little mill town. Kevin describes the library there, and some other downtown sights. Bob comments that Kevin has an eye for architecture and history. Talking about heritage protection and worries about sticking tall buildings in the downtown. Kevin lives where there are bits of history in suburbia. Talking about baseball and toboganning.
57m33s
Kevin summarizes Unsilent Night and Bob gives the end credits.
CKMS Community Connections airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 from 3:00pm to 4:00pm on Mondays and alternate Fridays.
Michael Bell, who performs as David Bowie in The Bowie Lives talks to Bob Jonkman about the show, the fans, the band, performing on Hallowe’en, seeing David Bowie live, how young people didn’t know about David Bowie, why the name is The Bowie Lives, and some of the other work Michael does.
Michael Bell gives some background of The Bowie Lives. True Bowie fans hate the idea of a Bowie impersonator, so Michael doesn’t pretend to be David Bowie; he’s a sound-alike. But the fans come around, even the hard-core fans. There’s a great band, and it’s challenging material, from folk tunes to industrial metal. Michael covers some of all the Bowie periods. It’s about celebrating the genius of Bowie.
11m20s
Michael introduces the band. The shows were booked a year ahead, so the band members can do their own gigs. The band is of a calibre that they don’t have to rehearse, maybe one paid rehearsal in the spring. If they’re adding a new song they can rehearse it during a sound check.
18m28s
Bob asks if the show on October 31st is a Hallowe’en show. Michael says there’s no better show for Hallowe’en than a Bowie show, there are endless costumes people can wear. It’s the first time he’s playing a legion hall, but he’s fond of playing a small stage. Michael tells Bob of Bowie Fest at the Toronto club Ground Control.
25m02s
Michael calls the show “A Bowie Spectacular”. It’s an all-encompassing experience, bringing in the audience. It’s art. Michael saw David Bowie perform live when he was coming off the road in the 1980s when he was running an entertainment magazine, The Wire Megazine. It was a hardcopy magazine then (and still availble online today), and Michael was reviewing shows. He was able to get in the pit and photograph David Bowie. That show was opened by Nine Inch Nails and many younger people left after NIN, they weren’t familiar with David Bowie. In The Bowie Lives Michael performs some material that was popular in the UK, but not here. It’s a two-hour show, Michael needs to shave seconds off some songs in order to squeeze in another. It’s a set repertoire, so that the segues are smooth and the show is tight.
33m44s
Why The Bowie Lives, why not David Bowie Lives? Michael was inspired by an Elvis sign, “Elvis Lives” on someone’s rooftop. Bowie was a performer whose music will never die, proved by younger people who are now coming out to the shows. “The Bowie” is a state of mind. Some people pronounce it as “the lives of Bowie”, which Michael thinks works too. Bob thought there might have been intellectual property rights over the name. No-one has challenged them about the use of David Bowie’s name and stage presence. Elvis impersonators have had copyright issues, but The Bowie Lives is flying under the radar.
42m43s
Is there a The Bowie Lives album in the works? No, but Michael has considered releasing a DVD of a performance. Michael doesn’t think there’ll be an album.
Bob is impressed by Michael’s accurate rendition of Heroes. Michael says that was recorded during the Covid shutdown. He talks about the devastating effects of the Covid shutdown on performance musicians — session and studio musicians weren’t as badly affected. Music is Michael’s full-time job, although he does some other work such as consulting on festivals, and writing for his magazine.
51m15s
Bob asks about Michael’s political career. Michael was a federal Green Party candidate, and is very involved in his community. Happily, most Bowie fans lean in the same political direction as Michael. But that’s not necessarily the case for other shows that he works on. Bob and Michael talk international politics for a while.
55m20s
Michael recaps the details for the show on 31 October 2025 in Cambridge, and Bob gives the end credits.
CKMS Community Connections Hour One airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 on Monday from 11:00am to Noon, and Hour Two airs alternate Fridays from 3:00pm to 4:00pm.
Ray Angod of Protect the Land Surrounding Huron Natural Area tells us about the wildlife in the area surrounding the Huron Natural Area, the plans for “light industrial” development, some history of the site. Ray and Bob discuss zoning, the surplus of industrial land currently in Waterloo Region, and the delegations to the Planning and Strategic Initiatives Committee on Monday 27 October 2025. Ray tells us about reading through the 500 page environmental assessment report, and finding inconsistencies and contradictions which he will be pointing out in his delegation. Bob wonders about provincial interference in land acquisition, and Ray talks about the effects on the Huron Natural Area itself, notably the increase in light, noise, and sodium in the ground water.
Ray Angod explains what needs to be protected at the Huron Natural Area — meadow and wooded lands are to be replaced with industrial space. Huron Natural area is located in Ward 5, the south end of Kitchener. It’s not the Huron Natural Area itself that’s being developed, but the area surrounding it. There is a buffer of 20 metres between the wetland and the area slated for development. “Light Industrial” is warehousing, not smog-producing manufacturing. There are snapping turtles, regionally significant wildlife, and it’s a coyote habitat. Ray explains why a coyote habitat is important. The area is also a habitat for the Midland Painted Turtle. The environmental impact study indicated there were 96 depredated turtle nests (where eggs had been dug up), but did not count the viable turtle nests that are buried in the soil. There are also 70 species of birds in the subject area, not just in the Huron Natural Area itself. It is considered one of the seven wonders of Kitchener.
9m40s
Ray tells us the history of the land, how it was bought and sold in the past, and its previous intended use as a hog slaughtering plant. The land had been prepared for development, with trees and vegetation removed, but since the plant wasn’t built the land returned to a somewhat natural grassland that happens to be ideal for turtles and the Grasshopper Sparrow. There was a plan in the 1990s to expand the Huron Natural Area, but plans changed, and areas to the east, south, and west have been developed. Bob and Ray discuss zoning issues. Adding more industrial space in Kitchener makes no sense, there is already a vacancy rate of 7.5% for industrial space, second-highest in southern Ontario. The area is twice the size of the land for Conestoga Mall, but there’s no demand for it. Talking about the recent history for land demand.
16m35s
There will be a meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee on Monday, Ray and others will be delegating to the committee. The intent is to raise doubt for the councillors, will this Ray tells us about the Change.org petition, and the Linktree. Ray encourages everyone to register to delegate at the Committee meeting on Monday; today is probably the last day to register. People can get involved by signing the petition, and contacting their councillors.
What does Ray want to see? Just leave it as is, there’s nothing wrong with the way it is now. Recapping the surplus existing industrial space. Do the developers have customers lined up? Ray would like to know that too. Ray points out the many roadside signs advertising industrial space, showing the surplus of available land. Ray gives his history in doing local advocacy. Ray says the environmental assessment reports are easily found online, but inaccessible in that they’re long, technical, boring, and full of jargon. He’s spent many hours to figure out how it all works, and finding inconsistencies and where the gaps are. The environmental assessment studies are paid for by the developer, so many of the inconsistencies are in favour of the developer. It’s too expensive to commission their own environmental assessment report, and the area is all fenced off with “Private Property” signs. Have the councillors read the environmental assessment report? If not, Ray will point them towards certain areas that they should focus on, such as the turtles, and the Grasshopper Sparrow. The report says the area is not suitable for the Grasshopper sparrows because trees will crowd them out, but also state that trees won’t grow there. There are peculiarities with “complexing” the wetlands, or expanding them. The authors contacted the Ministry of the Natural Resources to discourage them from looking at complexing the wetlands. But other studies contradict their reasoning.
35m30s
Was there provincial involvment in getting this land developed? Ray has not seen evidence of that. Bob is reminded of the Wilmot land assembly, which was definitely instigated by the province, and the Region of Waterloo joined in.
37m05s
How will the industrial activity in these lands affect the Huron Natural Area itself? Ray says the immediate concerns are noise and light. The proposal says the 20 metre buffer will block noise and light. It’s shrubs and trees, and maybe an enclosure fence. People who live there say that noise has increased considerably since development started some years ago. There is now an audible industrial hum in the natural area. Bob is concerned about industrial runoff, Ray says that salt for parking lot maintenance is a big concern. Sodium levels in our water supply is already high, and getting higher. But there is no enforcement for salt use, there are no fines, there are only guidelines.
Ray recaps what he will be doing on Monday (delegating to the Planning and Strategic Initiatives Committee). Bob looks at the various websites: the petition, Instagram, Facebook, and the Linktree. There are lots of resources listed there, including Ray’s article on Melissa Bowman’s website, Citified. Ray tells us how he will be presenting to council, Bob reminds the councillors of the upcoming municipal election in 2026.
49m28s
There has been a lot of community support. There are a few dozen people who stay in constant touch. People are from all demographic, young, old, blue collar, white collar, left and right politically. Ray says the best way to get involved is to start with the petition. People can leave their comments on the petition, and Ray will use some during his delegation.
51m09s
Bob gives the end credits.
CKMS Community Connections Hour One airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 on Monday from 11:00am to Noon, and Hour Two airs alternate Fridays from 3:00pm to 4:00pm.
Today, the eve of the second full year of the continued genocide in Gaza, we’re playing music from Palestine, for Palestine.
Today’s guests were to be Shatha Mahmoud and Foufou from the Palestinian Youth Movement in KW, but they were unavailable. We hope to have them back in the studio for February of 2026.
Helen Biemers-Templeton [Open House Convenor] for Waterloo Potters’ Workshop visited Radio Waterloo Community Connections on September 26th. So much information in this interview! Check their website: waterloopotters.ca for more information. We played the song “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers.
Bob Jonkman talks with Tamara Lorincz and Peter Eglin about the role of universities in taking a moral stand on world events. We also announce a few initiatives for Peace Week.
Dr. Peter Eglin, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Wilfrid Laurier University explains what Sociology is: It’s the interrogation of social life; what makes it possible for people to live together? The problem of social order, why doesn’t it all fall apart? What makes society work? Peter is concerned with climate breakdown, the political stuff that’s happening in the United States and affecting us in Canada. One of the problems with climate breakdown is that people who are most affected, in the global south, are least responsible for it.
6m30s
Peter and Yves Engler have an upcoming lecture, speaking on Canada and the genocide in Gaza. It’s a free event, no registration required. Peter has known Yves for over 15 years; Peter was teaching a course for which he didn’t have a textbook, and Yves had just written one that was exactly what Peter needed. Peter invited Yves to talk to his class, several times, and they became friends. Tamara has known Yves even longer than Peter has. They’ve worked together on several conflicts: Gaza, Haiti, Canada’s role in Iraq and Afghanistan. They’ve worked on getting Canada to have a foreign policy premised on peace, international law, justice, sustainable development. Tamara and Yves came together to prevent Canada from getting a seat on the UN Security Council; Canada’s record on foreign policy has been egregious, and doesn’t deserve a seat. From there they launched the Canadian Foreign Policy Iniative (CFPI) which is sponsoring the event on Friday.
12m00s
Peter and Yves will talk about their new books: Yves has written “Canada: Building Apartheid with Israel”; Peter has written “Analyzing the Israeli Effect in Canada”. It’s an account of episodes in Peter’s experience with the media and at Wilfrid Laurier University. It recounts Peter’s own encounters trying to get recognition from the ‘intellectual class’ in Canada. Media and the University both support Israel heavily. Peter tells us of the different reportage for victims from Israel than from victims from Palestine. Peter also tells of the lack of response by WLU on the bombing of Gaza University. Peter had tenure, so his career was not in jeopardy from his outspoken views. But an article he wrote on the Palestinian issue in 2001 in response to an article by his colleague Barry Kay (written from a Zionist position); Peter’s article was removed, but not Barry’s. The target of Peter’s book is fellow intellectuals, what they have failed to do in response to what Israel has done to Palestine.
20m00s
Tamara is a student at the Balsilie School of International Affairs, an institution that should be discussion the topic of the situation in Palestine, and how Canada should be helping to end the injustice, ending the genocide, ending the disposession — Canada has a history of committing the same injustices against Indigenous people. But there has been a suppression of dialogue about Palestine. There is no serious talk about Canada’s role in Ukraine, in arming Taiwan against China, how Canada is fuelling and fomenting conflict in the world. Tamara is troubled by the state of universities, not welcoming diversity of opionion, peace, justice, and sustainable development. Neither WLU nor the University of Waterloo has made a statement on the genocide or the starvation of Palestine by Israel. We need to reflect on the role of universities in society.
24m30s
Bob asks that since the University has not acknowledged these international affairs, how much can Tamara trust the program she’s in? Tamara is worried that the University is duplicating the dominant narrative, that it is not doing research, engaging in dialogue, or critiqueing Canada’s role in these international conflicts. By not acknowledging the problem the universities are perpetuating the problem. Tamara gives several examples of Canada’s participation in violence, but without any accountability. Tamara wants to see more voices and research calling attention to these issues. But students with divergent opinions are being marginalized, shut out, denied research funding, and not getting positions at the university. Tamara is a long time peace and environmental justice activist. There have been complaints against her, but she relies on solid, evidence-based analysis to give her the confidence to articulate her views. Tamara notes that there is no Canada Research Chair in peace studies.
29m00s
Bob points out that it’s not just the Department of International Affairs or the Department of Sociology, this anti-peace, pro-violence view extends to Physics and Engineering. Tamara says that the University of Waterloo is training its students to produce weapons that bomb, kill, injure, maim, and destroy the people in Gaza. Why are there no seminars to respond to the report “Exposing Canadian Military Exports to Israel” that shows that Canada is sending weapons to Israel that are used to kill Palestinians during the genocide.
31m00s
Bob brings up the increase in NATO spending, will this be used to enhance university spending on these programs to develop weapons? Tamara says “No doubt”, but we do not yet have the details on Canada’s military spending, which will come out with the federal budget in the fall. In the past 10 years Canadian military spending increased 100%, about half of which went to universities. But there is no funding for peace research. Canada spends $41 billion a year on military spending; in the next decade military spending will increase to $150 billion a year. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said this will mean cuts to social and environmental programs. There will be cuts to pensions, housing, health care, and education.
33m30s
Bob thinks that a Department of Sociology is the closest thing a univerity would have to a Department of Peace. Peter has been taken with the question of what is appropriate for a university to do in response to events. Universities are supposed to be above party politics. Peter has written about two kinds of politics, one to do with human rights, like the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which Peter calls Politics One. The party politics is Politics Two. Politics One is something the parties themselves are subjected to, and so supersedes Politics Two. Peter says that the University’s mission statements are full of humane statements, but when it comes to the injustice of Israel and Palestine one cannot justify not commenting when a university in Gaza is attacked. The corporate media is beholden to the corporate sector, and journalists know where their bread is buttered.
37m00s
Tamara says a university is a different institution from journalism. A university is supposed to welcome and encourage evidence-based analysis, have dialogue and debate on the issues that are taking place in the world, encourage diversity of opinion, and then using the principles and values the university articulates to come to a greater understanding of what’s going on, and then helping our governement and society take good and appropriate action. But Tamara doesn’t see that happening. There is so much destruction in Gaza, and the universities’ failure to speak out is troubling. The double standards that we see in the universities’ and government is responding to what is happening in Palestine and how it’s treating Israel, then comparing that to what is happening in Ukraine and how it’s treating Russia. Tamara gives the example of the Russian drones flying over Poland’s airspace, how the government reacted, calling in diplomats, treating this as a huge diplomatic incident with a lot of condemnation, censure, and media attention; compared to what has happened in Gaza: more bombing of civilians, Palestinians are starving to death, but there has been no comment from our government.
Peter takes a moment to quote Niko Block: “We have seen far more of this genocide than any other while it was ongoing, and I believe the combination of its visibility and longevity marks it as one of the greatest moral failures in the history of humanity. Never before have we seen this level of international complicity in manifest war crimes.” Peter is moved by the scale of this genocide, the enormity of getting away with it, that it has gone on for two years.
42m30s
Tamara says we need to act more on this, and they are having these two events in recognition of Peace Week. The first, “What Rules-Based Order? Canada and the Genocide in Gaza” lecture on 19 September 2025 at WLU, then an action at the Waterloo Public Square, “Draw The Line”, in solidarity with a number of other organizations. There are five demands: 1) Put people over corporate profits, fund our families and communities; 2) Refuse ongoing colonialism, uphold Indigeneous sovereignty; 3) Stop blaming migrants, demand full immigration status for all now; 4) End the war machine, stand for justice and peace, cut military spending; and 5) End the era of fossil fuels, protect Mother Earth.
Bob comments that we need better political leadership to advocate for peace. Peter points out that Yves Engler would be a good leader for the federal NDP, his platform aligns with all these values. He also advances degrowth; to effective handle climate breakdown we need to stop the economic growth we seem to think must be driven along at any cost. Peter says it will be inspiring to be on stage with Yves. His speaking engagements are partially a leadership campaign tour. Tamara says we do need better leadership to ensure a good future for our children. Peter comments on the youth unemployment rate; Tamara gives examples of the poverty in Canada. This is the reason for ending military spending, that funding needs to be invested in young people, green jobs, community resilience, health care, education.
53m00s
Tamara gives a quick review of her upcoming activities, including a speech she’s giving at Peace Toronto, “A Peace of the Pie: People’s Hearing on Military Spending” on 21 September 2025. Peter will be a delegate for the Kitchener NDP riding association in Niagara Falls this weekend. Peter gives a quick plug for Debbie Chapman’s definition for affordable housing.
55m00s
Bob gives the end credits.
CKMS Community Connections Hour One airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 on Monday from 11:00am to Noon, and Hour Two airs alternate Fridays from 3:00pm to 4:00pm.
Abby tells us about the Multicultural Festival of Elmira and why it’s not the “Elmira Multicultural Festival” — it’s to avoid acronym confustion with the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival, which has provided support to MFE.
9m19s
Abby tells us about the needs for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and the reasons for H.O.P.E. It is more than just the MFE, and focuses on the rural townships. There has been a lot of acceptance, with more and more people attending their events. Abby, who is a person of colour herself, hasn’t experience racism or exclusion in Elmira, but the Region of Waterloo is rated one of the worst communities for hate crimes. H.O.P.E.‘s approach is to educate about culture. The MFE is the showcase event to make that happen.
Abby tells us of the other activities that are happening at the MFE. There are eight cultures represented in the Cultural Tent. There’s an art project, the mural produced will be exhibited at the Breslau branch of the Region of Waterloo Library. There is Indigenous hair braiding, and a presentation on lacrosse. There are also Mennonite exhibits. And there’s free henna art and face painting.
39m45s
Abby tells us of some of the logistics of planning, which started in January. Telling us how the organization grew. Abby gives contact info on how to get involved. E-mail Abby at acooper@heartsopenforeveryone.ca
Talking about other volunteer opportunities throughout the year, including placement opportunities from Conestoga College. Abby gives a bit more of the support and sponsors for the festival. There are two streams of funding, one for H.O.P.E., the other for MFE.
51m33s
Abby tells us of her plans after the MFE is over: A birthday celebration for her nephew! And there will be other programs, like a Muslim workshop in October/November, talking about hate crimes. In December there is “Holidays With H.O.P.E.“, how different cultures celebrate their holidays. Check the H.O.P.E. website for more upcoming events.
55m30s
Bob gives the end credits.
CKMS Community Connections Hour One airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 on Monday from 11:00am to Noon, and Hour Two airs alternate Fridays from 3:00pm to 4:00pm.
Last minute cancellation led to venturing into music this hour, as well as recapping the Summer 2025 with CKMS.
Event coming up: September, 6th at Ouroboros Sport Lounge, 101 Hazelglen Dr. – Kitchener: TRI-CITIES Producer’s Showcase – Beat Battle – $15 cash – Event Starts at 8 PM. Hosted by Shark. For more information: @jay_young_music on IG
These are the songs played during this hour:
The Five Stairsteps – O-o-h Child
Al Green – Let’s Stay Together
Dox Tha Doctrine – Journey
Nina Simone – Feeling Good
Billie Holiday – Summertime
Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come
Raye – Oscar Winning Tears [radio edit]
Joni Mitchell – California
The Halluci Nation – R.E.D. ft Yasiin Bey, Narcy & Black Bear
Today Bob plays KW Content music — music by musicians from all over Waterloo Region.
If you’ve made music you want to hear on the radio send it to office@radiowaterloo.ca and we’ll get it on the air. See How To Submit Music for the full details on the format and info we need for music submissions.
With the Hepcat Swing, Jeff Benoit & Tara Natter in the Radio Waterloo studio during Community Connections. Thank you Jeff Stager–featured in picture and also host of the Agriculture Show–introduced the Hepcats to Radio Waterloo! This fantastic crew visit nursing/retirement homes and dance to orchestra music as well as.
This Summer they have featured the Uptown Square together with the Grand River New Horizons. Check out hepcatswing.com for up to date events and more information.
Johnny Keys, Kathryn Scobie, and Peter Morrison of Gaucho
Bob is joined by three members of the Steely Dan tribute band, Gaucho: Johnny Keys, Kathryn Scobie, and Peter Morrison. They talk about the intricacy of Steely Dan music, the musicality, learning the music, the lineup of the band, a bit of musicological comparison for “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”, and Gaucho‘s upcoming gigs.
Introducing the members of Gaucho who are in the studio: JT or Johnny Keys, one of the co-founders of the band; Kathryn Scobie, trombone and backing vocals, and the newest member of the band; and Peter Morrison, drummer and the other co-founder of the band. Started the project three years ago, and it was all Johnny’s fault. Although JT was not a Steely Dan fan, he was intrigued by the musicality while in university. Years later they got together, just to play Aja, with Jeff (JD Maas) and other musicians.
9m30s
Steely Dan is old music, is it still popular? Yes! It was popular amongst audiophiles and a “certain” genre of people, but now it’s mainstream. When you’re playing Steely Dan then you’re not only playing, but listening to the music. It was the song Gaucho that was a favourite, they became hyperfocused on it, and is partially responsible for naming the band. JP (John Pagnotta), the sax player, hit the notes perfectly. Other band members came on, everyone feels like they belong. Kathryn thought she was getting spam when JT first asked her to join. The first thing she did was a vocal rehearsal.
17m39s
Talking about the upcoming album! Radio Waterloo has pre-release tracks.
Bob remarks that Gaucho is a tight band. The music isn’t as difficult as people make it out to be, but you have to be very precise. One missed note can throw off the entire band. It’s jazz because of the chord structure, maybe not the rhythms. It’s really hard to pick it up by ear, so jazz is the only genre that fits. But the only improvisation is the endings of the songs.
27m35s
Where do they get the music? Making charts by listening to the music; someone in England had transcribed the music. Hal Leonard, a music publisher, has a series called Note For Note which is how JT learned the music. Even Steely Dan stayed faithful to the score. Talking about using technology like Amazing Slow Downer to analyze the music.
32m23s
Bob wants to do some side-by-side comparison musicology. Peter picks “Rikki”, JT is surprised by this twist in the interview.
Talking about the differences: The biggest difference is Jeff, the singer. Steely Dan was all male vocals, but Gaucho has female backing vocals. Bob finds that Gaucho is a lot more “guitar prominent” than Steely Dan, JT attributes that to the Brian, the guitar player. But early Steely Dan was a lot more rock-oriented.
42m22s
Are there critics who don’t like Gaucho‘s interpretations? Not really, everyone seems to like Gaucho. It’s because of the members of the band, the stage setup, and the quality of the sound. The Jazz Room is known to have good sound. Talking about the Jazz Room gig on Thursday 24 July 2025. JT is always looking for new musicians to join the band, which Becker and Fagen of Steely Dan did too.
44m40s
Introducing Peg. JT says they still haven’t perfected it, but since Kathryn came on board it’s closer.
Bob notes that all the Steely Dan songs are long, over four minutes. JT runs down the line-up of the eight-member band. Will they all fit in the Jazz Room? Kathryn has performed with 20 musicians. JT hopes his keyboards will fit, Peter may bring only his bongos. Discussing the different instrumentation on Steely Dan numbers.
55m35m
Talking about some other performances: Meaford on 22 August 2025, and Cobourg on 26 September 2025, and Penetang on 13 December 2025. More event listings at https://gaucholive.com/events/. How JT made a cold-call to the studio to book the interview.
57m40s
Bob gives the end credits.
CKMS Community Connections Hour One airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 on Monday from 11:00am to Noon, and Hour Two airs alternate Fridays from 3:00pm to 4:00pm.
Tamara Lorincz comes back to CKMS Community Connections to talk about her PhD dissertation on climate and geopolitics, Canada’s impending purchase of F35 fighter jets, the genocide in Gaza, the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, and briefly comments on the NDP leadership race, and Bob and Tamara talk about Palestine Day in downtown Kitchener. Tamara provides information from her research about Canada’s involvement in escalating global conflict, and talks about the causes and effects of NATO expansion.
Tamara Lorincz introduces herself: A PhD candidate at the Balsillie School of International Affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University, finishing up her (very long) dissertation, linking climate change and geopolitics.
5m36s
Talking about the F35 fighter jets (Lockheed Martin stealth fighters) that Canada is planning on buying for $19 billion, but the lifecycle costs will be $74 billion dollars. Purchase is expected in 2026 or 2027. There is controversy, not just over the cost, but that they are under the control of the US. Both software and hardware are entirely managed by Lockheed Martin; Canada does not have the expertise or facilities to repair or manage them. And, they’re bad planes, there are still 800 open deficiencies after 25 years of development. There are great risks to our finances because of their high operational costs. Canada will need to cut social programs to afford these fighter planes. The F35 fighter plane program is the costliest weapons program in human history. Parts for the plane are manufactured and assembled in the US, but there are companies here in Waterloo Region that are supplying components, to be sent to the US. These strategic agreements for supplying parts are intended to secure commitments for purchasing the completed fighter jets. But Lockheed Martin has the final control over the workings of the F35; not even the Pentagon has that level of control. Tamara has been saying for the past 15 years that the F35 fighter jets program is a boondoggle, costly, out-of-control, exacerbates the climate crisis, and risks nuclear war (these planes are designed to carry nuclear weapons). Canada does not have sovereign control over this fighter jet. It’s a single-engine aircraft, and it is vulnerable to crashing. Canada intends deployment on stolen Indigenous land, flying low over Indigenous communities, disrupting those communities with noise, and the danger of crashing. There are no F35s in Canadian service, but they are being used in the US, in the air strikes on Iran. And Israel has been using F35s to bomb Gaza.
16m00s
Canada is complicit in the genocide in Gaza. Not just by supplying F35 components, but also sending millions of dollars of weapons systems to Israel for many decades. Tamara refers us to the Global Affairs Canada Export of Military Goods Report. These weapons are used to kill Palestinian people, not just in Gaza but in the West Bank. In 2019 Canada joined the “Arms Trade Treaty”, which prohibits Canada from supplying weapons to any country involved in human rights violations. But Israel is the “state extraordinaire” for human rights violations, and Canada has been supplying weapons to Israel for a very long time. Canada also gives moral and public support to Israel such as the Israel-Canada Free Trade Agreement, Canada has its embassy in Israel; if Canada wants to sanction Israel there is a lot more that Canada should be doing like closing the embassy and cancelling the Free Trade agreement. Tamara has a list of many of the human rights violations that Israel has committed.
21m10s
The International Criminal Court has announced arrest warrants for crimes against humanity and war crimes against members of the Israeli government, including Benjamin Netanyahu. But Israel and the United States are not parties to the International Criminal Court, so they are not accepting jurisdiction. But Canada is a member of the International Criminal Court by virtue of the ratification of the Rome Statute of 25 years ago. Canada was very supportive of the establishment of the International Criminal Court, which did make the right decision to pursue the prosecution of Israel. There are a lot of sanctions by the United States and Israel against the International Criminal Court, but Canada can exert jurisdiction, for example, if Netanyahu should come to Canada, Canada should turn him over to the court. Bob doesn’t believe that will happen, Tamara agrees that both Liberals and Conservatives have supported Israel for many decades by supplying weapons, financial, and moral support. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, just before he stepped down, said “I am a Zionist.” And Prime Minister Marc Carney has said that a new Palestinian state should be a Zionist state. The NDP is a little bit better, but they have not been standing up for Palestinian rights either, neither federally or provincially. The federal NDP is selecting a new leader, Tamara believes that the NDP’s position on Palestine will attract people to support their leadership race.
28m37s
Bob comments that he hasn’t seen much in the media about the leadership race. Tamara says that in the past five years there has been a narrowing of the public discourse in the mainstream media. So much of our media is corporate controlled so the debate is very limited, and any type of ideas, people, views that are more radical, or progressive, or divergent from this very limited dominant mainstream position is ignored. Bob makes a pitch for more volunteers to come to Radio Waterloo to help with reporting on these issues from a local perspective.
30m17s
Bob asks if Tamara was at Palestine Day on Sunday; Tamara did a lot of promotion and publicity, but was under an intense deadline with her dissertation and so wasn’t able to attend. Bob describes what the event looked like, Tamara gives more details of the destruction as an example of the war crimes Israel is committing. We’re not hearing the condemnation that Canadians should from Canada or Canada’s universities. In contrast, the universities did issue statements after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Why were universities so quick to condemn what Russia did in Ukraine, but were silent on what the U.S. and Israel did against Iran, and what Israel, the U.S. and all of the other NATO countries are doing against the Palestinians.
34m53s
Bob is baffled why, when Israel keeps bombing Lebanon, this is not considered an act of war. Tamara says people need to understand what is going on in the broader Middle East and West Asia, and when Israel is bombing Lebanon, and Syria, and Iran, and Yemen, and the Palestinians, it is part of a larger strategy that is supported by the United States and NATO to crush all of the resistance in the Middle East to Israel, and also to China and Russia. We have to see this as one of the fronts of a broader war. Israel is acting as a proxy for the United States and NATO. Chancellor Merz of Germany has said “Israel is doing our dirty work.” The leader of the British Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has also said “Israel and the Ukraine are proxies, and doing the dirty work of the west.” What is this dirty work? They want to crush the resistance in the Middle East: Lebanon, Iran, Syria. This is to stop China and Russia. It is for broader control of Eurasia, a plan for thirty years. And Canada is using Ukraine in Europe to degrade Russia, and using Taiwan as another proxy against China. This is the reason we’ve been arming Taiwan with the other NATO allies, and why Canada sends warships into the South China Sea with the British and the Americans. Canada is planning a war against China. We are at the beginning stage of a global war. For those who don’t believe it, ask “Why is Canada not bringing about a diplomatic solution to this war in Ukraine? Why is Canada continuing to escalate it? Why is Canada continuing to arm and fund Ukraine? What is really going on here? Why is Prime Minister Carney talking about being in a coalition of the willing with the British and the French and the Europeans?” The U.S. Secretary of Defense and the U.S. Secretary of State have said that China is a threat, and have built American bases encircling Russia and China. Why has Canada continued to re-arm Europe? Why is Canada now going to be spending 5% of GDP on NATO? Canadians need to ask critical questions. Our politicians should be asking what’s going on. Canadians should be calling for peace, and saying “No” to this militarization, “No” to this increase in military spending. Canada needs to find ways to work collaboratively with Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and all countries on the planet because we are facing catastrophic climate change.
40m15s
Bob points out that all conflicts, international, domestic, even traffic tickets, are always settled through negotiation. Why does Canada continue to pour money into the escalation of violence instead of negotiated settlement? Tamara says that countries like Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and Nicaragua are sovereign countries, and do not want to follow the dictats of the United States and NATO; this is seen as a threat to the United States and NATO. NATO is comprised of 32 countries that control 50% of the global economy, and they want to keep it that way. Countries like Russia and China have been able to rapidly develop over the past 25 years, creating dynamic economies and becoming economically powerful, and so seen as threats to the United States. This is what the Ukraine war is all about. Tamara has been to Russia twice in the past two years to meet with faculty from Moscow State University to find out their position about this confict. Her impression of Russia was very much challenged; all of her negative assumptions were wrong. They have high speed rail from Moscow to St. Petersburg, whereas Canada and the U.S. don’t have one kilometre of high speed rail!
46m10s
Tamara says that we cannot afford to be in a long global war with these countries. If we care about climate change, if we care about children and youth, the best thing is to peace-build, to end these conflicts, and find ways that we can live cooperatively together on this shared planet.
46m40s
Finland and Sweden have just joined NATO, but people in those countries believe this was a coup by the political elite as a result of manoevering by NATO for many years. There was no public referendum, there was no public debate on joining NATO. There is much public opposition to NATO in Finland. A new initiateve was started about three years ago called Global Women For Peace United Against NATO led by Finnish women. Sweden and Finland are very close to Russia: Finland shares a border; there were trains going four times a day between Helsinki and St. Petersburg; there are family and friend connections between Finland and Russia. This is a manufactured conflict by the political elite that are very close to the American political elite. Joining NATO is not in the best interests of either the people of Finland or Russia to have this new enmity and these borders between the countries. Bob points out that Russia’s Putin has said the war in Ukraine is to stop the advancement of NATO, yet NATO has now moved closer to Russia. Tamara has done research on NATO expansion, this has been planned since the 1990s. She has discovered records from inside the Canadian government that show that Canada and the United States were arming and training neo-Nazis in the Ukraine since 2014 to attack the Donbas (south-eastern area of Ukraine with a Russian-speaking minority population) in order to provoke a civil conflict to draw in Russian troops coming to protect Russian speaking people. Tamara has other details of Canada’s support for Ukrainian fascism, arming neo-Nazis in Ukraine, and supporting a Nazi collaborator in parliament. Bob and Tamara both question the silence of the mainstream Canadian media on the involvement of the Canadian government. Tamara raises a number of related issues.
50m58s
How can we help? Tamara lists a number of web sites (Online, above) and lists some upcoming events.
52m10s
Bob gives the end credits.
CKMS Community Connections Hour One airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 on Monday from 11:00am to Noon, and Hour Two airs alternate Fridays from 3:00pm to 4:00pm.
Today we play the newest album by J.P. Mortier: Together. I’d hoped we’d have a chat on a web conference, but that didn’t happen this week. J.P. Mortier will be touring in Ontario this fall, with a stop in Waterloo Region. We’ll have him back in the studio then. In the meantime, go to the Tranzac in Toronto and catch his show on Sunday 29 June 2025!
Bob talks to Mo, Klaudio, and Jesse of The Rottweilers about musical styles, doing band business, their instruments (and especially the telephone handset!), keeping control of their music, making albums, making a living, and the technical ins and outs of mixing and mastering.
Instrumentation: Mo on guitar, Klaudio on drums, Jesse on bass. Talking about Mo’s mic, a telephone handset. Talking about switching up the instruments sometimes. Playing with Mooch at last night’s gig. Discussing pop music and mainstream media. Keeping away from the corporate influence, keeping the rights to their own music. Explaining how they produce their own CDs and productions.
Mo likes old time country music! And so do the people in the audience! How do they decide who goes first or last on an album? It’s decided based on the music. But they’re not planning any “Concept Albums”. There’s no adapting to the audience, The Rottweilers are already giving everything they’ve got. They’re having fun, it’s not just a job. Although it would be nice to make a living of their music. Talking about their day jobs.
Mo tells us about his acoustic guitar, and how he modified the sound. They’ll re-do Death Train for the new album, and add harmonica. Mo just picked it up. Jesse wants to try upright bass. But they don’t want to rent, they’re pretty hard on their instruments. They hope to have their new album coming out by the end of July. Just working on the mixing and mastering. Mo explains the difference. Reviewing their upcoming gigs, The Red Papaya and a festival in Orono in August.
57m00s
Bob gives the end credits.
CKMS Community Connections Hour One airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 on Monday from 11:00am to Noon, and Hour Two airs alternate Fridays from 3:00pm to 4:00pm.
Students from St. Mary’s High School. Back: Aman, Jaden, Devonne; Front: Armen
Today’s episode is again guest-hosted by students from Mr. Lacalamita’s music class at St. Mary’s High School. It’s a casual conversation between the musicians, Armen (artist name Shxnti), Aman (1gen), Jaden (Jayski), Devonne, teacher Dave Lacalamita, and regular show host Bob Jonkman.
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Creative Commons Attribution Only license. Copy, re-use, and derivative works are allowed with attribution to Radio Waterloo and a link to this page. Music selections are copyright by the respective rights holders. The theme music is written and performed by Steven Todd.
https://heartsopenforeveryone.ca/multicultural-festival-of-elmira/
