May 17, 2012 show: Obert Madondo and his hunger strike against parleamentary bill

On May 17, 2012, CHUO 89.1 FM (Ottawa) The Train's Mireille Gervais interviewed renowned Ottawa-based hunger strike political activist Obert Madondo.

April 12, 2012 show: Mireille Gervais interviews Monira Kayhan on racial profiling in middle class Ottawa

On April 12, 2012, CHUO 89.1 FM (Ottawa) The Train's Mireille Gervais interviewed Ottawa resident Monira Kayhan about personal experiences with racial profiling by police and others in middle class life in Canada's capital.

Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Centre

On February 23, 2012, CHUO 89.1 FM (Ottawa) The Train's co-host Mireille Gervais interviewed Heather and Jess, two members of the Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Centre, live in-studio.

The Coalition wants a student run service for students funded by the university administration. The university administration wants control. The usual admin preoccupation with image over substance has caused the administration of "feminist" president Rosane Runte to bar the Coalition and to refuse to refer students to the free service.

SAC Director and La Rotonde Editor in Chief on campus developments, administrative misbehaviours

On February 2, 2012, CHUO 89.1 FM (Ottawa) The Train's Denis Rancourt interviewed University of Ottawa student union staff Director of the Student Appeal Centre Mireille Gervais and La Rotonde Editor in Chief Anais Elboujdaini on University of Ottawa campus developments regarding some of the university administration's various misbehaviours.

Main topics were:

• Three medical doctors dismissed by the Faculty of Medicine
• President Allan Rock refusing to meet with student media, questionable behaviour

Atiya Hussain and Shelley Welchner on home schooling, with Mireille Gervais

On January 19, 2012, CHUO 89.1 FM The Train's Mireille Gervais interviewed Ottawa-based home schooling parents Atiya Hussain and Shelley Welchner about the home schooling movement and about their families' experiences with home schooling and re-integration into state schooling.

Key resources are:

Home Based Learning Network

The Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents

Unfortunately, the sound recording experienced technical difficulties and is not usable.

Mireille Gervais on defending students at the University of Ottawa

On April 14, 2011, CHUO 89.1 FM Ottawa The Train's Denis Rancourt interviewed Mireille Gervais, Director, Student Appeal Centre (SAC), Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO), live in studio.

What is the SAC? Campus justice. Nature of the university administration beast. Gross examples of injustice. President Allan Rock's inaction. The recent outrageous case of Dean of the Faculty of Education Marie Josee Berger...

About the co-hosts

Mireille Gervais

Mireille joined The Train to co-host with Denis Rancourt in December 2008. Since then Mireille has brought her vibrant activism, feminist, graduate student, and dedicated professional services perspectives as well as her extensive knowledge of both student life and university governance to the show. In real life, Mireille is a graduate student in law at the University of Ottawa and is the director of the student federation’s (SFUO) Student Appeals Centre (SAC). Due to her eclectic music tastes, she has also de facto become the show's music-break editor.


Denis Rancourt

Denis joined co-hosts Chris Jack and Jack DeJong as a co-host on CHUO’s Train in July 2005. Denis took up the activism/politics portfolio whereas Chris and Jack did the alternative arts scenes and community building portfolios, respectively. In August 2006 Denis became the only host of The Train until he was joined by Mireille Gervais in December 2008. Denis is the former tenured physics professor who developed the popular “Activism Course” at the University of Ottawa and is a public intellectual who has concentrated on social justice activism in modern society.