Off the Hill is a fast-paced live panel on current issues of national significance. It features guests and a discussion you won’t find anywhere else, centred on the impact politics and policy have on people, and on ways to mobilize to bring about progressive change in national politics — on and off the hill.

This month, the theme was “In the extreme.” It features special guests Avi Lewis, Jim Stanford and MP Leah Gazan. They deconstructed the recently released federal budget. Joining our panelists were returning co-hosts Libby Davies and Robin Browne.

Robin Browne is Off the Hill’s co-host. Robin is a communications professional and the co-lead of the 613-819 Black Hub, living in Ottawa. His blog is The “True” North.

Libby Davies is Off the Hill’s co-host and author of Outside In: a Political Memoir. She served as the MP for Vancouver East from 1997-2015, and is former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader.

Leah Gazan is the Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre. She is currently the NDP Critic for Children, Families, and Social Development, as well as the Critic for Women and Gender Equality, and the Deputy Critic for Housing. Leah is a member of Wood Mountain Lakota Nation, located in Saskatchewan, Treaty 4 territory.

Avi Lewis is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, educator, and co-founder of The Leap – a grassroots climate organization launched to upend our collective response to the crises of climate, inequality and racism. In 2021’s federal election, Avi was the NDP candidate in the West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast–Sea-to-Sky riding and is currently an Associate Professor in Geography at the University of British Columbia.

Jim Stanford is an economist and the director of the Centre for Future Work, a labour economics research institute with operations in Canada and Australia. He previously served as economist and director of policy with Unifor.