The 905er Podcast

This week we’re talking to Melanie Walker, co-chair of “Walk to the Lighthouse” in Burlington, and social worker in Mental Health and Addiction Services at Burlington’s Joseph Brant Hospital, where she has worked for 22 years, in addition to her own private practice. In the previous decade Jo Brant hospital received a major expansion and renovation via a large new patient tower, funded by the province, the city and community donations. At the time this was described by people involved - even some in provincial government - as ‘Phase 1’, and there was a clearly appreciated need and perhaps even expectation of a Phase 2. At the top of the list of ‘Phase 2’ needs was the urgent need to upgrade the cramped and aging facilities used by Mental Health and Addiction Services. Infrastructure built for a small suburban town in 1960s, today handles the needs of a major urban centre. And then COVID-19 hit in 2020. COVID may have been a virus that caused physical symptoms, but one of its greatest knock-on public health effects was a massive increase in demand for mental health services. I saw first hand mental health professionals exhausted by the increased demands being put on them in 2020, but that demand has never returned to pre COVID levels. Despite these pressures, the staff at Jo Brant, like so many around Ontario, Canada and the rest of the world, have risen to challenge magnificently, providing excellent services to their community, even if their facility is almost literally bursting at the seams. Walk to the Lighthouse aims to raise both awareness of this need, and practical money towards the day when ‘Phase 2’ finally happens. We wanted to learn more, and to help spread the word about this fantastic community initiative. https://www.equilibriumburlington.com/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Warning this episode deals with child abuse and endangerment We welcome back to the podcast Ajay Sharma for this episode. As we prepared to cover this episode several news items broke ground in Ontario that we felt could not be ignored. First was the Ontario PC government's plan to back out of the $ 10-a-day daycare funding formula for private daycare providers. The result could be disastrous for parents, children, and ECEs who were enjoying a $2 an-hour pay increase. This sudden reversal is going to leave a big game and lead to what we think will be two-tiered daycares in the province. Result in greater costs for parents with less return. The second and rather quite alarming news item was a story broke by Global News that under this Ontario government, wards of the state in Children's aid programs were dying at the rate of one every three days. A dishonour that should bring down any provincial government. So why is there so little outcry or attention being paid to this travesty? Links to the articles and previous episodes mentioned in the episode are here. Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development: Will the Province Blink First on Childcare? Ontario cutting funding from daycare centres not in $10-a-day program ‘The system has fallen apart’: A child dies every 3 days under Ontario’s care network It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the end of summer and Ontario and the 905 are returning to work and school. We thought it prudent to take a moment and look back on the summer that was. This summer, Doug Ford faced the first LCBO strike ever, suddenly shut down safe consumption sites across the province based on his gut feeling, and lost his Education Minister at the last minute just before the start of the school year. Normally this would be the cause for alarm and stress in the Ontario PC government. At least that's what probably should be happening if an effective opposition was present. Which begs the question: Where have Bonnie Crombie and Marit Stiles been all summer? Why haven't we seen the Ontario Liberal and Ontario NDP Leaders around the province much this summer? Have they blown their chance at making a good first impression with Ontarians in the 905? These were the questions we posed to Sabrina Nanji of the QP Observer. Sabrina is the publisher, founder and reporter for the QP Observer a substack that covers the ins and outs of Queen's Park politics. We've had her on before to talk and we welcome her back this episode to discuss why the opposition in Ontario has yet to find traction in the province and what the fall might look like for the Ontario Liberals and Ontario NDP. You can check out the QP Observer here: https://qpobserver.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are back from vacation folks! After some needed time off Roland and Joel are back to talk shop and of course the first you do when getting back to work is...cleaning out the ol' email inbox. In the process, we discovered an interesting email from a San Francisco start-up Optiwatt. Optiwatt is partnering with The Atmospheric Fund here in Ontario to offer an app that can lead to cheaper rates to charge electric vehicles in the 905. As the push for electrification of the auto industry intensifies, saving money on our energy bills is always a good thing. More importantly, saving money on charging new electric vehicles can help to make them more affordable to everyday consumers which in turn helps promote greener, less carbon-intensive measures on our environment—helping to take on climate change. Small things like this always catch our eye. We want to look at any measure to help us take on climate change. So in that regard, we reached out to Optiwatt to invite them to discuss what their app will do exactly, what their plans are for the electrification of North America, and ultimately why they decided to do this in the 905 of all places on the continent. If you'd like to learn more about the app you can visit their website at: https://www.optiwatt.com It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A day late, but hopefully not a dollar short. Joel is away, and for technical reasons the upload is a little later than usual, but hopefully you'll forgive us. Standing in for Joel, we have a return visit from Ajay Sharma, professor in the political science department at the University of Guelph, and a contributor to the Toronto Star on recent political events in Mississauga. We take a look at a couple of stories. First, the decision of the Canadian Tax court to unexpectedly and apparently unilaterally close its doors in Hamilton, citing the danger posed to its staff and users of the court following a recent shooting nearby. Nobody claims Hamilton is perfect, but should the court be allowed to get away with this claim unchallenged? Should a court, which can presumably call on the daily protection of the provincial and federal police, really 'give up' so easily? Then we take a look at the new regime in Mississauga, where it appears Carolyn Parrish's new mayoralty has been marked by a number of high-profile firings, followed by some high-profile resignations from people who've decided they want no part of the new order. And does the mayor have the power to do what's needed to handle the housing crisis? It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The news moves fast and people are moving on from the flooding in the 905 last week. However, those affected by the intense rainfalls still struggle to make themselves whole again. Joel's neighbourhood was one of the most intensely impacted by flooding, and thus he attended a neighbourhood meeting with his city councillor to discuss what came next. What he took away from the meeting is that ten years ago, the province, region and city response to this level of damage was monumentally different. All levels of government seemingly mobilized to help put people together and supposedly to take measures to mitigate future flooding. Instead, the message is only the bare minimum will be done. Insurance is expected to pick up the tab, even though it won't cover all the damage for some. This echoed what Mark Cripps mentioned in our previous episode. As these climate change events continue to grow and become more common, the costs to people will mirror the severity. The question comes though, what happens when people who can't afford the costs are impacted? Are they to be written off as expendable? Last week's episode with Mark Cripps is here: https://905er.ca/2024/07/the-905-flooding-is-only-the-beginning/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week the 905 saw flooding that overwhelmed many parts of its respective cities. Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga and Toronto saw an estimated $3.1 billion in damage to infrastructure and homes. This isn't an isolated incident either. In the last few years, the region and Canada have seen an increase in the frequency and severity of storms and conditions affecting our communities. The fact is that this is exactly what scientists predicted would happen as a result of climate change. As we emit greater quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, our weather and climate will become more and more extreme. Unfortunately, the situation is too politicized to address it head-on. Politicians are making their careers on reversing climate change policies, and denialism runs rampant across all parts of Canadian society. There is one industry though that is taking it incredibly seriously. They are working on the numbers of what the true costs of this catastrophe will be. The insurance industry for years has been forced to pay out increasing sums due to climate change events. We've talked about this before on the podcast, but in light of recent events, we thought it prudent to revisit the topic. To that end, we've invited back to the podcast Mark Cripps from the Insurance Bureau of Canada to explain that whether our leaders are taking climate change seriously or not, the insurance industry is. So whether we like it or not, we're going to end up paying for it, one way or another. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It looks like this is going to be a dry summer for Ontarians. Just as schools let out, the government's talks with LCBO Unionized employees broke down. All LCBO retail locations are closed for the summer, leaving only grocery and convenience stores available for Ontarios to purchase wine or beer. For the union, this is to ensure that LCBO locations retain the sale of ready-to-drink cocktails from private retailers. The Doug Ford, Ontario PC Government isn't backing down. They are doubling down on moving ahead with greater privatization in the sale of alcohol to Ontarians, promising greater choice in the marketplace when it comes to where Ontarians can purchase their alcohol. However is this what this strike is actually about? Who gains from this strike action? And in fact, are Ontarians trading a publicly owned monopoly for a private one in alcohol sales? These questions are being asked by our guest, from the independent news site Corruptario. Morgan Grenfell is a journalist who has looked into the makeup of the board of the LCBO and uncovered several conflicts of interest when it comes to who gains from the strike, and whether or not they do have Ontario's best interests at heart. You can read the article from Corruptario here It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The proposed Highway 413 is the Doug Ford government's landmark project. It has been promised for years by the Ontario PC, despite facing court battles and criticism from grassroots organizations and environmentalists. It has been heavily criticized for its effectiveness and the environmental impact it could have on habitats and farmland. Yet despite all this opposition, the project is still being pushed forward at the highest levels of the Ontario government. So with the pressure to move forward, one would think a plan and budget had been formulated for the project. Thanks to reporting by Emma McIntosh of The Narwhal, information has come to light about the lack of a solid plan and budget on this highway. Despite assurances that shovels will be in the ground next year to start the project, there is no budget, assessments or definitive plans on how this highway will be built or designed. So what does this mean going forward? We have Emma McIntosh on the podcast to discuss her article and what's next for the Ford Government's legacy project. Emma's article on The Narwhal Website is here It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Premier Ford visited Burlington's small business community. The purpose of which, of course, was to find clout with the small businesses. In the lead-up to a potential election? Who knows. During the visit, however, Premier Ford was asked about Hamilton's LRT project, and when it would begin construction. Ford reiterated his government's support for the project, but the question remains...when will it start being built? For almost 6 years now, the LRT has been just a promise on paper. No tenders have been issued for work and ground has yet to be broken on King St. Yet Ford re-committed to the building of Hamilton's LRT. The catch though, is this comes in light of the government's failure to sufficiently fund the Ontario Science Centre, forcing it to close due to the risk of collapse. In June, a heat wave raised concerns about sufficient air-conditioning in Ontario schools and the Ford government refusing to commit the necessary money to ensure schools are suitable for children. Our point is that this government is tepid on actually spending money, even on items that some would deem crucial. So why would they want to spend money on Hamilton's LRT? After our break, we face facts that Conservativism is on the rise in North America. We recorded this episode the day after the disastrous debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the United States. Trump is going to be a real contender to become president. Here in Canada, we appear to be eager to select Pierre Poilievre as Prime Minister of Canada. And in Ontario, Doug Ford is riding high in the polls. Why is it, that we appear to be giving conservative right-wing authoritarian parties the keys to democracy for the foreseeable future? We have some theories, have a listen. The CHCH News Clip that we reference in the episode is here. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We planned on finishing our coverage of the Mississauga Mayor's By-Election with our episode last week. However, something crossed our path that we couldn't ignore. A column appeared in the Toronto Star, titled Good luck, Mississauga. With your new mayor, you’re going to need it. The column was written by Ajay Sharma, a university political science lecturer specializing in municipal governance. His column outlined many of the problems involved with the system we have for electing municipal politicians, and that the system itself does not reward change. A link to the column is below. We reached out to Ajay to invite him on to the podcast to let him elaborate on his column and how our current system of municipal government promotes a passing-of-the-buck culture, resulting in many of the real problems we have never been properly addressed. Ajay has been a lecturer at the University of Guelph since 2010, specializing in Municipal governance and Environmental Policy His column is here. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Bonnie Crombie stepped down as Mayor of Mississauga to be the Ontario Liberal Party leader, it triggered a by-election to replace her in the city's top seat. Twenty people put their names in the ring to run for Mississauga Mayor. Of those twenty, four rose to the top as contenders for the job. Dipika Damerla, Alvin Tedjo, Steve Dasko and Carolyn Parrish. A close four-way race emerged, with polls showing Carolyn Parrish maintaining a lead while Dipika Damerla and Alvin Tedjo bit away at her support bit by bit. However, at the end of election day, Carolyn Parrish emerged as the duly elected Mayor of Mississauga. This was the first election in Mississauga's history, with a real contest. No long-time incumbent, or heir apparent to the position, this was an election where real ideas were presented to Mississaugans. So, what is the future of Ontario's third-largest city? And what will the impact be on Ontario's provincial politics as politicians adjust to new political leadership at Mississauga City Hall? That's where our guest comes in. Nokha Dakroub, a former school board trustee, co-hosted the Beyond the Ballot podcast for Sauga 960 AM for this by-election. She followed closely the ins and outs of the election and today she joins us to discuss how the election played out, what the people of Mississauga are expecting of their new mayor and how this will shape Peel and 905 region politics for the foreseeable future. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a good old-fashioned 905 Round Up! The Ontario government is on break now until October. However, Doug Ford shuffled his cabinet before he let out the Ontario Legislature. It's not anything incredibly noteworthy in our opinion. However, one raised our attention, and we thought threw fuel on the rumours from last week of an early election in Ontario. Stephen Lecce is out of the Ministry of Education and into the Ministry of Energy. With such little time left until the actual scheduled election, that doesn't leave a lot of time to execute an agenda or major plans in the energy field. It does, however, leave enough time to make some friends with industry insiders and those with deep pockets in the field who might help fuel Lecce's future political ambitions. After our break, we looked at a local 905 story in Burlington that we weren't able to talk about until now. The rebellion of sorts of local councillors against the big mayor powers given to Mayor Marianne Meed Ward. Clearly, not all are comfortable with a big city mayor in the 905 having this much power. How tenable is council cohesion going forward? And why are they so timid to speak out about this? It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rumours are circulating in Queen's Park of Doug Ford's interest in an early election for Ontario. Polls show he is riding high, possibly earning another majority for the Ontario PC party. He just won two by-elections in Milton and Lambton Kent Middlesex. He is moving ahead on the construction of the new Highway 413 in the 905 and is currently announcing beer in corner stores by year's end. All in all it's been a good year so far for Doug Ford and the Ontario PC Party. So is it no wonder that the Premier has been reluctant to stomp down persistent rumours of an early election call? However, is this just posturing or is there a real chance that we'll have an election in Ontario before June of 2026? We thought we'd dive into the rumour mill and see what is going on in the back rooms of Queens Park. So we invited back to the end the founder and publisher of the QP Reporter, Sabrina Nanji to discuss if there are any merits to the rumours running around and if we should be preparing for an election soon. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A couple of stories caught our eye the previous week. In Newmarket, the town council heard pushback from the community over a proposed 9-story condo project, over concerns that a Tim Horton's drive-thru down the road could face increased times at the window. In Oakville, the Town Council received a harsh letter from Federal Liberal Housing Minister Sean Fraser threatening to withdraw their Housing Accelerator money due to its refusal to grant higher density in the city around Sheridan College. Are we facing a pushback against the needs of density and development in our 905 communities? Despite the need for more housing, it seems that fewer and fewer communities are willing to let their neighbourhoods grow and change to accommodate that need. People want housing affordability to come down, but are they willing to see the change in their communities that will result in more affordable pricing? What might happen if NIMBYs win the arguments against change in the 905? We invited back to the podcast, housing economic expert Mike Moffatt to discuss this new wrinkle in the housing crisis, and what might happen if we don't solve it. ‘Completely out of character’: Concerns raised about proposed Newmarket 9-storey condo building Federal minister threatens to pull housing funding after Oakville reneges on promises It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Times are tough these days. It's getting harder and harder to make ends meet. Rent, mortgage, and gas are increasing, outpacing real wages and salaries for the average Canadian. Most noticeable to Canadians coast to coast is the price of food. It's harder and harder to stretch your dollar when feeding your family these days after stepping foot in a supermarket. Politicians like Pierre Poilievre like to espouse that it is taxation that has caused the increase in prices. Justin Trudeau on the other hand is saying he's keeping an eye on grocery stores about the increase in prices. So where does that leave the average Canadian? For a subreddit community, it's forced them to take action on their own. To send a message to the corporate conglomerates that own the food retail business in this country, using the only tool available to them...their hard-earned money. The subreddit community, LoblawsIsOutOfControl is organizing a nationwide boycott of the country's largest supermarket conglomerate. What started as a small protest against the rising cost of groceries, has turned into a national movement of ordinary Canadians trying to send a message to the corporations that control food in this country. Canadians aren't going to take it anymore. However, does this movement have legs? Especially in the 905? If this boycott can make an impact on the ledger of Loblaws it will be here in the 905. So to that end, we reached out to the organizers of the boycott, Emily Johnson. Emily is a single mother, who lives here in the 905 and is taking on Canada's richest grocer, Galen Weston. We spoke with her to talk about the origins of this boycott, how it's going, and what victory looks like to them. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the beginning of May, Pam Damoff, the Liberal MP for Oakville - North Burlington announced that she would be retiring from federal politics at the end of this term. She would not be seeking re-election. Her reasoning was a common refrain from female politicians across all party lines. The misogynistic and violent threats to her personhood and family had become too great to make the job worth it. While it takes tough skin to make it in politics it's another thing entirely when it becomes impossible to go out in public to grocery shop or run errands because threats are lobbied across aisles. What does it say about our politics that we consider threats a common part of our civil dialogue now? Where it's no longer satisfactory to simply vote out a politician we disagree with, we must now drive them from office under threats to their person? When political parties use rhetoric to drive support and build up anger in the populace? More important, what happens to that anger if it has nowhere to go? We asked Pam Damoff to join us today to discuss how she came to this decision in her career, the state of political discourse at the moment in Canada, and where do we go from here. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, the Milton By-Election has come and gone. The people of Milton handily supported Zee Hamid and the Ontario PC’s to represent them in the Ontario Legislature until the next general election. During the by-election, Doug Ford gave special attention to the riding. In the last week of the campaign, Doug Ford made a point to reiterate that the controversial Highway 413 construction would begin in 2025. The proposed highway would connect Milton to King City bridging the 401 and 400 highways. Doug Ford says it will alleviate traffic congestion in the 905, while critics of the proposed highway say it will save a mere 30 seconds of travel time, at the cost of invaluable farmland and an unknown price tag, estimated in the billions. With the by-election victory in Milton, Doug Ford is taking this as a sign of permission from the electorate to move ahead on this project. But is that what we all want? How much did this announcement play into winning Milton? What were the factors that led to the Tories keeping Milton? To answer those and a few other questions we have, we reached out to a friend of the podcast Laura Steiner to join us. Laura covered the Milton By-election for the Milton Reporter and today she joins us to discuss whether or not Highway 413 is wanted in Milton, how exactly the Tories won the Milton By-Election, and how they got a long-time Liberal supporter like Zee Hamid to carry their banner into the next general election. Our Episode with Sabrina Nanji of The QP Observer: https://905er.ca/2024/04/sabrina-nanji-and-the-milton-by-election/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When we started this podcast, one of the first episodes we ever did was covering the aftermath of the basic income pilot project here in Ontario. One of the first acts the then-newly elected Doug Ford government did was to break their word and cancel the project without warning. In that episode, we interview Jessie Golem, a resident of Hamilton who was one of the recipients of basic income. We spoke with her then about the impact the project had on her life and what the repercussions were of the cancellation. Recently, Jessie has appeared in the news again with basic income, but this time on the offensive. Last week, it was announced that a class action lawsuit would be filed against the Ontario government for breach of contract over the basic income pilot project. This lawsuit marks another breach of contract that the open-for-business Doug Ford Conservatives have faced since taking office. To learn more about this case and what the repercussions might be we reached out to Jessie and Stephen Moreau the lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the matter. You can listen to our previous episode with Jessie here: https://905er.ca/2020/10/episode-11-hope-and-betrayal-the-human-stories-and-human-cost-of-ontarios-cancelled-basic-income-pilot It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The City of Hamilton saw itself come under attack by cybercriminals in early 2024. City Council, apps, phone communication and the city's library system were all inaccessible or unavailable. Criminals used malware to hold the city hostage until it paid a ransom. The city did not pay and eventually, and order was restored. This is not an isolated event though. Toronto Public Library saw its system become unusable for a year due to a cyber attack, and numerous small municipalities in Ontario have reported similar events over the years. This isn't going away. Cyber attacks and ransomware are the new norm. A common feature that governments and businesses alike need to face reality about. In the modern age, if you possess data you're a target, and everyone possesses data. Municipalities are ripe targets though, as they have a treasure trove of our data stored. Everything including tax records, business files, social insurance numbers, and credit cards, chances are goes through our municipalities at one point. So naturally we asked the question, are our municipalities up to the task of securing our personal information? To answer the question we invited on to the podcast Seyed Hejazi of MNP. Seyed is a cyber security expert who is hired by government institutions as well as private enterprises to consult on their cyber security needs. We spoke with him today to find out exactly how large of a problem this is, what is needed to secure our data from cyber criminals, and are our municipalities capable of meeting the challenge. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sabrina Nanji of the QPObserver joins us on this episode as we get into the weeds with the Milton By-Election. When Parm Gill announced that he was stepping down from the Ontario PC's to run for Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives, it of course opened up a By-Election to replace him as Milton's MPP. Normally, By-Elections are sleepy affairs with little fanfare, however, this one has an undercurrent of importance to it. To start, the Ontario PC's need to show that they are still relevant in the 905, and to do so they have scooped former Ontario Liberal supporter as well as Milton Councillor Zee Hamid to run for them. Fans of the podcast will remember our interview with him when he ran for Mayor last municipal election. For the Ontario Liberals, there were talks about whether or not new leader Bonnie Crombie would seek a seat in the Legislature via Milton. However it appears after a lot of back and forth over candidates, Galen Naidoo-Harris will carry the banner for the Ontario Liberals in this race. What does this say about Bonnie's leadership and the Ontario Liberal brand? Especially as they only lost this seat by a narrow margin in the last general election? To discuss this all and to share her insight, we are joined by Sabrina Nanji. Sabrina is a former reporter with the Toronto Star and has since gone off to start her venture in journalism with the QPObserver. You can find her work here: https://qpobserver.ca/ Our previous episode with Zee Hamid is here: https://905er.ca/2022/09/the-race-for-milton-zeeshan-hamid/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hamilton Police have been having a pretty bad start to 2024. Last month, the Hamilton Police Board made headlines when it took disciplinary action against one of its members, Ward 2 Councillor Cameron Kroetsch for asking questions surrounding its budgetary process. As of this airing date, Councillor Kroetsch is suspended from serving on the Police Board in Hamilton. This bold action on the part of the police board raises serious questions about how much oversight and accountability do our elected officials have over the municipalities biggest expenditure. Do police in this province operate without the same conditions that other municipal agencies have? We thought we'd get into this topic where it started, by asking Councillor Kroetsch to join us. We've had him on before to The 905er when we first launched this podcast a few years ago. Since that time, he was elected to represent Ward 2 on Hamilton City Council in the last election. Today he joins us to discuss what happened around the table at the Hamilton Police Board. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last month, we released an episode on the rise of anti-semitism in the 905. We released it and thought it would be some time before we might have to revisit the topic. We were shocked to find out that only a few weeks later the topic would rear its ugly head once again in Hamilton. On March 19th, without warning The Playhouse Cinema in Hamilton announced unilaterally it would be postponing the Hamilton Jewish Film Festival, slated to happen in April, citing concerns from emails and social media surrounding the event as justification for the decision. Later, the Cinema would clarify that no specific threats had been issued to the venue, just a general atmosphere towards the event itself because it was a Jewish Film Festival. Nevertheless, pressure on the Cinema to cancel the event because it was a Jewish cultural event can only be described as anti-semitic. We reached out to the Playhouse to invite them for comment, however they did not respond to our requests. We did want to discuss this though with the organizers of the festival to hear their side. To that end, we invite back to the podcast Jazmyn Rymberg of the Hamilton Jewish Federation, to present their side and how this setback will not deter Hamilton's Jewish community from celebrating their heritage. Tickets for the Film Festival can be found here: https://www.jewishhamilton.org/film-festival Our Previous episode with Jazmyn Rymberg can be found here: https://905er.ca/2024/01/confronting-anti-semitism-in-the-905/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years, the Doug Ford government has promised Whitby a new hospital. As the region continues to grow it is becoming apparent that the status quo in terms of its health care will not do. In a notoriously safe PC riding like Whitby and Durham, it seems like they would be a shoo-in for a brand spanking new hospital, just like Doug promised. So where is it? Why hasn't the Doug Ford PC's started the process of fulfilling their promise to the people of Durham Region? In a notoriously safe conservative part of the province like Durham and Whitby, it shocked us to hear about Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy's campaign to put public pressure on the Ontario PC party to own up to their promise. Why did she have to start a PR push last month to ask the province to spend only $3 million to start the process of development for a badly needed hospital? To answer those questions and learn more about how dire the situation is in Whitby's healthcare system, we invited her to the podcast. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few weeks ago, Hamilton City Council voted to redesign its major street running into its downtown core. The new plan is to essentially divide Main St, a one-way six-lane wide boulevard running through the middle of its downtown into a two-way street, despite concerns from city staff that this would create a problem with traffic, leading to congestion. Their concern is that this move will limit the ability to travel down and through the downtown. Is this a pointless and ultimately futile move on the part of Hamilton City Council? Or is this a brave decision to take steps to transform a decaying downtown into a vibrant pedestrian and people-friendly place to live, work and play? One person who is highly critical of Hamilton City Council's decision is Hamilton Spectator columnist Scott Radley. His opinion piece criticizing the council's decision caught our eye and so we invited him to share his opinion in-depth and see if we were wrong in our approval of the city council's decision. What happened was a great conversation with two sides of the topic on how best to revitalize and improve one of Canada's most important cities. Did either side win? Not sure, but some great ideas hopefully popped out for you to listen to. This is how these debates are supposed to go, isn't it? Scott's Column in The Spec It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coming off our previous episode, we wanted to examine the state of Catholic education in Ontario. Sparked by the recent York Catholic school board controversy, along with the stories of Catholic school boards fighting against raising the Pride flag, we were wondering about its future in Ontario. What is the support for Catholic education, and does it have a purpose in today's multicultural and diverse mosaic in Ontario? To dive into this topic we reached out to Paolo De Buono. Paolo is a former Catholic school teacher in Ontario as well as a lawyer, who has been highly critical of the institution in recent years. Citing its curriculum encourages homo and transphobia, and that in a modern diverse society such as Ontario and Canada, it is outdated and harmful. He is also behind the website Stop the Catholic Harm. He joins us today. https://stopthecatholicharm.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few things in the world of public education cropped up on our radar this week. In the York Catholic District School Board, the Our Lady of the Lake Academy, saw students upset at what they viewed as an inappropriate presentation from a right-wing anti-abortion organization. The Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethics gave a presentation in the school auditorium, as reported by City News contained graphic depictions of aborted fetuses and upset many students and teachers with its content. In light of its history with the PRIDE flag debate, we were pondering what was happening at YCDSB. How was this permitted to happen? And is this a symptom of a larger issue in Catholic education across the 905 and Ontario? After the break, we look up to higher education and another new potential scandal emerging from the Doug Ford government. Despite being elected on a promise to stop cash-for-access fundraisers, it seems the Ford government can't help itself. As reported by The Trillium, this time it's Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop who is in the hot seat. This time seemingly encouraging donations from Presidents and Executive Directors of private colleges. The same private colleges which have encouraged a spike in foreign students in Ontario, to fill seats in what are essentially degree mills. Little credentials are being offered but big bucks are being taken in from foreign students. It is coming to light that these executives of the private colleges have been donating to the Minister and the Ontario PC party for some time now. What does this mean for higher education? Especially when their funding problems are coming to light due to the inaction of the Ontario PC government. The Story from City News on YCDSB The Story from The Trillium on Min Jill Dunlops Private College Fundraisers It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Doug Ford government is looking to protect political staffers in Ontario's city halls. As reported by The Spec on February 21, 2024, Minister of Municipal Affairs Paul Calandra will be tabling legislation that would see Mayors and Councillors thrown out of office for workplace harassment. Ontario Liberal MPP Stephen Blais had similar legislation defeated by the Ford Government, at the time Min Calandra cited that the voter should be the one with the final say to remove an elected official from office. So what brought about this 180 degree reversal? Activists for better workplace protections in political settings have put pressure on the government to reverse their reversal. Our question is, does this go far enough? What about Queen's Park? Exactly how does the political workplace differ from an everyday workplace? We thought it would be prudent to dive into this topic. To that end we invited to the podcast Jennifer Olchowy a former federal Conservative staffer, and Prof. Julie MacFarlane of the website: https://www.cantbuymysilence.com/ A group advocating for the end of Non-Disclosure Agreements in workplaces. The Spec: https://www.thespec.com/politics/provincial/ford-government-says-law-to-punish-local-politicians-who-harass-staff-coming-soon/article_79feb4c5-dd4f-5c2a-9049-f55c32497add.html#tncms-source=hamilton-region It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lorraine Sommerfeld, author of the long-running Motherlode column in the Hamilton Spectator and multi-award-winning journalist at Driving.ca returns to discuss her new novel "A Face at the Window", before taking the time to dive into what on earth is going on with the recent driving-related announcements from the provincial government. "A Face at the Window" by Lorraine Sommerfeld is published by Winding Road Stories and is available from your local independent bookstore, as well as from Chapters, Indigo and Amazon. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anyone who has looked at the news in the past 6 months knows of the enormous shift in political leanings happening. Polls from various sources have shown that an enormous shift is coming in the federal government. According to the polls, the overwhelming number of Canadians in the 905 and the country at large want Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative Party of Canada to form the next government. However, on the ground, it's almost impossible to find someone who is eager for this shift in politics. We saw this as a sign of our social media bubble and thought it would be prudent to step outside and find a different perspective. To that end, we welcomed Kerri Black, an entrepreneur, mother and wife from Hamilton. She is a former political agnostic who has said in recent years she's drifted right. While we're not sure that this conversation isn't going to change anyone's political leanings, it was a welcomed insight into what apparently the majority of people in the 905 are embracing. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In previous episodes, we examined the City of Hamilton's flirtation with the Tiny Shelters project—a collection of shed-sized shelters with heat and power for the homeless to get back on their feet. However, the project has bordered on failing for the better part of last year. Hamilton City Council has yet to build support for the project and find a suitable location. In the meantime, homelessness has continued to grow. Tent encampments are becoming increasingly common in Hamilton's parks and streets. It is becoming a crisis. In response, Hamiltonians look to their leaders for answers and plan to tackle this issue. To that end, Mayor Andrea Horwath has remained silent mostly on the file, failing to take leadership on the HATS project and refusing to declare a plan of action to address the encampments in parks. Mayor Horwath hasn't been visible on numerous issues facing Hamilton. The city is starting to notice, that their Mayor doesn't seem to take the lead on anything of importance at Hamilton City Hall. One critic of the Mayor's lack of leadership is a long-time friend of the podcast, Laura Babcock. Laura has been especially critical of the Mayor's absence on the homelessness file. As well Laura has a unique perspective on the matter, having been volunteering with the homeless in Gore Park, getting to know the families, individuals and volunteers literally on the front lines of this crisis. She gives us her insight on the matter of what is happening on Hamilton's streets. She also helps us answer the question that is on everyone's mind with this crisis...Where's Mayor Horwath? To volunteer with the Gore Park Outreach visit their website here: https://goreparkoutreach.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A lot of stories have come through the news cycle this week. Roland and Joel have taken several of them to follow up with for a 905 Round-Up! Coming off our episode on Anti-Semitism in the 905, we travel down the QEW to Niagara Region. This week past at Niagara Regional Council, the Middle East found its way onto the Council's agenda. A motion was made to call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to be endorsed by the Niagara Regional Council. St. Catharines Mayor and Chair Jim Siscoe put a stop to it by removing it from the agenda before the vote, citing it being a divisive topic for citizens of the region. We talk about why he's right and why our political leaders in the region want to weigh in on topics outside their mandate. Then after our break, the federal government is restricting the number of foreign students able to come into Canada. This is already proving to play havoc with post-secondary institutions as overnight it seems that a major source of their funding has dried up. At Queen's University alarms are sounding on the viability of programs and bankruptcy is being floated in the air. How many more post-secondary institutions are under threat, from decades of underfunding about to catch up with them overnight? The Ford government needs to ensure that post-secondary education remains vibrant and accessible to all. Will they make the necessary funding adjustments? Lastly, the PC MPP for Milton, Parm Gill is stepping aside to run federally for the Conservatives. If you can do the math like we did, this leaves an opening for newly elected Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie to run and win a seat in the Ontario Legislature. Will she do it though? We have thoughts on why she should. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the last few months of 2023, while we were all preparing for Christmas and New Year, Doug Ford was busy with plans to further privatization of Ontario's public service. Namely Service Ontario. This month, Richard Southern of CityNews reported that Doug Ford sold several privately operated Service Ontario locations to Staples Canada. The sale would see Staples Canada move the locations inside their stores and operate by Staples employees. To further complicate matters, the contract was sole-sourced and is still not entirely public knowledge. All of this under the guise that it would save Ontario tax dollars. There is a lot to unpack in this deal. To do so as best we can, we invited you back to the podcast Frank Domenic. Frank is a well-known social media political commentator, that you might know from Twitter and Tik Tok. He has been focusing on this story for a while. He joins Joel for a discussion on what the ramifications of this deal going through would mean for the Ontario taxpayer, our privacy rights and what the costs truly might be. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In October, Hamas launched an attack on Israel that killed 1,300 people and kidnapped 250 hostages. Israel launched a retaliatory strike campaign into the Gaza Strip to destroy Hamas and rescue its citizens. Around the world, countries saw protests against Israel's retaliation and for it pop up. Here in Canada and around the province, news has been highlighted with Pro-Palestinian organizations marching along overpasses, at city halls and interrupting public gatherings. Along with those protests, there have been reports of anti-semitic rhetoric used by the protestors. Reports of Jewish businesses being targeted and vandalized, and even violence towards people. In Vaughan, two individuals were targeted with violence, for no other reason than that they were Jewish. While peaceful expression and protest for opinions that one may find objectionable is protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it is not an excuse to explicitly target businesses or people on the basis that they are Jewish. Such behaviour can only be described as one thing: Anti-Semitism. As more and more anti-semitic actions have been reported we thought it would be important to talk about this dangerous rise in Canadian politics. We wanted to discuss the anti-semitism we are seeing in our streets. We do not dive into the Middle East's issues, mostly as that is not our beat and is not our experience. However, a community in our region, province and country is feeling isolated and alone. That is something we can talk about. To do so, we reached out to the Hamilton Jewish Federation and invited Jazmyn Rymberg to discuss this rising trend, and what can be done about it. Links to the Federation's website are here: www.jewishhamilton.org It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy New Year 2024! After a welcomed break we are back and ready to dive into what awaits us in 2024! To start the year though, it appears that for Mississauga and Peel region, it will be more of the same. As loyal listeners of this podcast know, we interviewed then-Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie back in May about her push to see Mississauga leave Peel region. Shortly after that episode aired, Premier Doug Ford announced a special team to investigate how to accomplish this within two years. And then...shortly after that, Bonnie Crombie announced her bid to become Ontario Liberal Party Leader. In November, her bid to win was a success and apparently, Doug Ford's commitment to Hazel McCallion's dying wish wasn't there anymore. In December, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra announced that the province would no longer be dissolving Peel Region citing a possible increased tax burden on the residents of Peel. This reversal upset a few folks on Mississauga's City Council. One of whom is Ward 2 Councillor Alvin Tedjo. Alvin has taken to social media to make the continued argument for Peel Region's dissolution. We reached out to invite Alvin to the podcast to discuss what is behind this sudden reversal from the Ontario government and what's next for the city of Mississauga. It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is it! Our final episode for 2023! As is usual for our year-end spectacular, and is the norm for every other news podcast and show, we wanted to focus on the year that was. What were the big stories, and how close did we get our predictions for this year? Well, as it turns out...we were pretty close. In 2022, we thought that the Greenbelt scandal would still prove to be a thorn in the side of Premier Doug Ford. Little did we realize how big of a thorn it truly was. We talk about the fantastic reporting by the Narwhal and the grassroots activism of Environmental Defense in bringing to light the depth of the corruption and incompetence surrounding the Greenbelt scandal and the Doug Ford Progressive Conservative government at Queen's Park. What at first looked like a bit of a faux pas by the Ford government has turned out to be one of the biggest political corruption scandals in Canadian History. The Federal, Justin Trudeau government finally got off the sidelines and into the housing file. Many guests on this podcast, concerning that file, from Mike Moffatt to Jennifer Keesmaat and Michelle Bilak have all said that the federal government could loosen the purse strings and change the tax code to promote affordable housing to be built. Well this summer after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre jumped in the polls, it seems that it has triggered this government to get involved. Will it change the game? Time will tell, but at least movement is being made. Lastly, we turn to a theme we returned to time and again on this podcast. The issue of trans rights in our school system. This year conspiracies of teachers forcing students to identify as trans encouraged people to protest en masse at school boards across the 905 and province. We spoke with former Premier Kathleen Wynne about the matter, as well as our first-hand coverage of the protest outside the Halton District School Board. Where was the outcry from the provincial government to set the record straight about what policy is in Ontario schools? What does it bode for the future as more and more Ford government policies fail and they need to mobilize a base that is open to believing such conspiracies? We predict 2024! Our past episodes this year for reference: https://905er.ca/2023/05/mike-moffatt-critiques-canadas-housing-plan/ https://905er.ca/2023/09/jennifer-keesmaat-draws-the-line-on-the-greenbelt-scandal/ https://905er.ca/2023/08/the-summer-of-the-tent-is-a-failure-of-housing-policy/ https://905er.ca/2023/10/what-comes-next-in-the-greenbelt-scandal/ https://905er.ca/2023/09/the-hon-kathleen-wynne-on-what-is-at-stake-with-student-pronouns/ https://905er.ca/2023/09/from-the-frontlines-of-the-1millionmarch/ https://905er.ca/2023/09/special-a-follow-up-from-the-frontlines/ This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. https://freepodcasttranscription.com/transcription/bce7a67e5d23a45a7ec3dcdbc52504436659a927.srt Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a good old-fashioned 905 Round-Up! There have been a few stories that have cropped up in the last few weeks that have caught our eye. Rather than try to pick which one to spend time on, we decided to do a few for this episode. Our theme has been stories which back up things we've stated in the past on this podcast. Hamilton City Centre has been slated to be redeveloped into a four-tower condo project adding some 2,000 badly needed units for the city. Last year, the city approved the proposal and the new landlord began the process of getting the remaining small business tenants out of the site to begin demolition. Last week, the developer announced that it would put the project on hold due to financial concerns. Namely, it's no longer viable for the developer to make their projected profit on the development. Leaving Hamilton City Centre empty and Hamilton short 2000 housing units. Speaking of Hamilton, an inquiry into what happened with the report on the issues of the Red Hill Valley Parkway was released. Showing that a culture in city halls still exists to protect their own. Rather than serve the public good. Lastly, how do 905 cities plan for the future when they are addicted to sprawl? Burlington recently passed their budget. Instead of looking to build a transit system that served a denser community. It puts off any road safety initiatives. How are cities supposed to build themselves in the 21st century if they still rely on 1950's planning to do so? Burlington isn't alone in this thinking. New ways are needed if 905 cities are going to build themselves for the future. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are closing off a series of episodes we did at the beginning of the summer on the Ontario Liberal Party leadership. Originally we interviewed all the candidates in separate episodes so you'd have a chance to hear their priorities and plans for Ontario and the 905. When the Ontario Liberal Party chose former Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie to lead them into the next election, we thought it prudent to cap off those discussions and see what the path forward for them. The Ontario Liberal Party is a former shell of itself. The big red machine no longer seems ready to take them back to the government at Queens Park. So what is the path ahead for the Ontario Liberals with Bonnie Crombie at the helm? What does she need to do to rebuild this once mighty political force in Ontario politics? And more importantly is she what voters in the 905 and Ontario are looking for to replace Doug Ford and the Ontario PC government? To that end, we invited on to the podcast Ontario Liberal party veteran staffer, Theresa Lubowitz. Theresa spent the leadership campaign studying the various camps' policies and actions, finally settling on Bonnie Crombie herself as her choice for leader. We speak with her today about the reasoning behind her choice, and what exactly is needed to bring back the Ontario Liberals to power. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, the federal government announced a deal with Google to keep Canadian news indexed on their search engine. This was fortunate for us on a few levels. The first was that we had been waiting for a while to learn what Google would do in the face of Bill C-18. As we had reported earlier, we were caught up in the Bill C-18 fiasco when Meta decided to block our posts on their platforms. We were waiting to hear whether or not Google would follow suit. With this new agreement, it appears that the worries from Google are no longer there, however, Meta's holdout still affects us, which brings us to the purpose of our episode today. The second fortunate part of the news was that it coincided with our recording of this episode with our guest. We had invited Michael Geist to discuss what seemed to us to be some inherent hypocrisies in the federal government's Bill C-18 application. With the government trying to offset the losses for media giants, through payroll tax credits, we pondered where was the support for small operations like us in this scheme. What is the future of Canadian media in this environment? Will this help or hinder us? We asked Michael all about it. You can listen to our previous episode on Bill C-18 here: https://905er.ca/2023/07/matt-cundill-on-how-bill-c-18-will-hurt-podcasters/ This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The provincial government has rolled back all of its greenbelt and development policies. Being caught in one of the biggest scandals in Canadian history tends to do that. Included in that rollback have been the urban boundary changes the province introduced for Halton, Hamilton and other communities in the 905. The consensus around this move is that it's a welcomed reset and in general what people in the 905 want. A return to protected environment and farmlands, and hopefully a renewed focus on intensification within our communities. This is why a story in The Globe and Mail caught our eye. According to the article by Jeff Gray, Milton Mayor Gord Krantz has written to Premier Doug Ford as well as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra to insist on the boundary reversal to be well...reversed. What is behind this move by Mayor Krantz? And how does it play into the larger picture of solving the housing crisis in the 905? We asked Milton Reporter, Laura Steiner to find out what's going on in Milton You can read Jeff Gray's story in the Globe and Mail here: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-fast-growing-milton-asks-province-to-reinstate-urban-boundary/ This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part of the Ontario government's plans to address the housing crisis was to break up the 1.5 million new homes needed among the various municipalities in the province. Each municipality would be obligated to build an amount of the total housing in exchange for funds. Every municipality in the province signed on except for one. Newmarket Mayor John Taylor refused to sign the province's pledge, bringing the criticism of Premier Ford on him. He was often cited by the Premier as being an example of nimbyism in the province and not being on 'Team Ontario'. Is this the case though? Well according to Mayor Taylor, there is a very good reason for his refusing to sign the pledge. According to Mayor Taylor, along with many other Mayors in the 905, with Bill 23's elimination of development charges, they have lost the financial resources to ensure the supporting infrastructure for these new houses is built as well. For Newmarket in particular, it is a question of wastewater and how to dispose of the waste from thousands of new homes, safely. We had Mayor Taylor on to discuss Bill 23 when it was first signed into law, and many of his criticisms pointed to the loss of funding for needed infrastructure around the 905. As the urgency to build grows, how are we going to ensure that the infrastructure to support that growth is met? This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An underreported story in the 905 happened a few weeks ago. The Canadian Premier League championship was played at Tim Horton's Field. In extra time Béni Badibanga Diata, scored on a corner kick to win the game for Forge FC against their rivals Calgary Calvary FC. The victory secured a fourth championship title. In the five years since the league and the franchise's founding, Hamilton Forge FC has won 4 of the 5 championship titles. That level of accomplishment is rare in any professional sports league. So the question is being raised by soccer fans in Canada, are we seeing the creation of a soccer dynasty in Hamilton? Our host Roland Tanner was in the stands for the thrilling goal and caught Forge FC fever. He was won over by the fans and players. But coverage of the Forge's success in local media has often been slim to non-existent. So what's happening here? Fans and players are fiercely determined to see success not just in Hamilton but in the Canadian Premier League as a whole. We wanted to get a better insight into this phenomenon. To do that we extended an invitation to Kyle Bekker, Captain of Forge FC, and Erick Harrisson, the leader of Forge FC's official supporter group the Barton St. Batallion to come on the podcast. We talk about that game and how the landscape of sports fandom in the 905 and Canada might change. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last episode we spoke with Tim Gray of Environmental Defense, about their ongoing legal action against the Ontario Government to get to the bottom of the Greenbelt Scandal. Little did we know how deep the rabbit hole went. A few days after the episode aired, Environmental Defense alongside Eco Justice released close to 7,000 pages of documents obtained under an FOI request. Those documents illuminated the shady backroom politics and deals that have been a symptom of this Ontario government. Newsrooms have put their interns and resources into plowing through the trove of documents to see what it tells us. At an early glance, the tale tells of a government which carved up the greenbelt and protected lands at the whims of particular developers who had their ear. Those stories are coming to light slowly but surely. We didn't want to repeat or take credit for the hard work of other journalists, so that's not what this episode is going to do. Instead, we're going to look for a pattern in what the documents reveal. How does the relationship between the development industry and this government work? What can they tell us about where we are in the housing crisis currently? Is there hope at the end of the tunnel to solve this crisis responsibly and efficiently? Or is there no process at all and it's clear that it is all just insider bag men and quid pro quo politics? This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Greenbelt scandal is a fast-moving story. Each week it seems that a new layer to the shady backroom deal to carve up sensitive protected land for a select few developers is revealed. Just how far down the rabbit hole does this story go? Thanks to grassroots organizations like Environmental Defense and Eco-Justice, as well as independent news like The Narwhal, we are learning more and more about how this scandal operates. Last week, Environmental Defense and Eco-Justice announced that they would be suing the government to learn what more details were to be learned about the Greenbelt scandal. When Environmental Defense originally sued the provincial government to uncover what happened in the Greenbelt, it sparked an avalanche of information. At that time we invited Tim Gray, their Executive Director to discuss the action. So this time we extended the invitation once again, and Tim graciously accepted. However, in true Greenbelt scandal fashion, the morning of our recording the government announced that they would be rolling back their zoning orders concerning the urban boundaries of 905 cities. Nevertheless, we used the opportunity to discuss what more is there to uncover and what trust is left between Ontarians and this government. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our own patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the last few weeks, news of the horrific attacks by Hamas against Israel shocked the world. As was expected, Israel responded aggressively against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. We aren't going to get into the midst of that conflict on this podcast. That isn't our beat. What is our beat however is local politicians. Namely how they have responded to the attacks in the Middle East. One MPP has waded into the highly politicized and contentious issue through a public statement affirming her support for the Palestinian people while at the same time ignoring the attacks against Israelis. By now, you realize we are talking about Hamilton Centre MPP, Sarah Jama. Sarah Jama's statement has drawn much criticism, in the way it omitted any reference to the attack on innocent Israeli lives. The response to it has been calls from her leader to issue a retraction and apology for the statement. To this date, she has not retracted the statement. As well, Premier Doug Ford has taken the extraordinary step of issuing a motion in the legislature to prohibit the Speaker from recognizing her in the chamber. Essentially silencing her voice as a representative of the people of Hamilton Centre. While Ms Jama's point of view is indeed controversial it is a shocking step to bar her entirely from participating in the democratic process. At least that's the view of our guest today. Joey Coleman returns to the podcast today to discuss his opinion piece from his website The Public Record. In which he argues that the Ontario PC government is taking extreme and possibly dangerous measures to silence their opposition. That decision should be left to the citizens of Hamilton Centre at the next election. A link to his piece is below. We talk with him about his opinion as well as the greater risk to democratic norms and how the media is covering this. **NOTE**: We recorded this episode prior to Monday's announcement that Marit Stiles the NDP Leader was removing Sarah Jama from caucus. https://www.thepublicrecord.ca/2023/10/coleman-free-expression-sarah-jama-and-the-governments-motion-to-remove-her-from-the-legislature/ This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our own patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We like to keep ahead of what we see as important to the 905 and Ontario. As such, we think we've been keeping you informed on the intricacies of developments and housing before they became household topics. In that spirit, we wanted to focus this episode on an aspect of the housing crisis that hasn't had a lot of focus to date. Our federal political leaders like to speak about tax cuts and red tape elimination to spur development, and here in Ontario, the provincial government is mired in the Greenbelt scandal in an attempt to free up land to developers. However, what none of our political leaders seem to be focused on is who will be building the new housing that is needed. It is not news that we are currently in a skilled labour shortage in Ontario. So how will we find the carpenters, electricians and plumbers we'll need to build millions of new homes? We turned to Craig Brockwell to ask that question. Craig is a former tech teacher in Ontario high schools and worked in government relations for the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers Federation as well as Support Ontario Youth, a not-for-profit that helped put students into the skilled trades. He joins us today to talk about this important yet often secondary concern of the housing crisis. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our own patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've been wanting to do this episode for a few weeks now—however, other more immediate stories needed to be addressed fully. However, we are getting back on schedule and talking to set the matter straight on the issue of housing in the 905 and Ontario at large. This summer, it seemed that the Conservative Party of Canada would be taking the lead on the housing issue. Pierre Poilievre surged to take a massive lead in the polls over Justin Trudeau with his addressing the housing crisis and placing that at the centre of his political identity. And then, Trudeau changed the script. At the end of the summer, the federal Liberals announced a policy that affordable housing advocates that we've had on this podcast have been advocating for. The elimination of HST on new rental accommodation builds. While this was happening, however, in Ontario the provincial government became embroiled in the largest land speculation scandal in the province's history. As it sounds now, the Greenbelt scandal is continuing to unfold and shows no end in sight. Amongst all of this whirlwind in the news, we got wind of some mistruths and rumours that started to circulate. Myths that landlords would be the beneficiaries of the tax cut. We took it upon ourselves to sit down and review everything we've learned about the housing crisis so far from our episodes surrounding it and put together this episode to clear the air and set the facts straight. So plug in and have a listen as we set the record straight on the myths and realities of the housing crisis in Ontario. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our own patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can support our podcast by visiting our website at https://905er.ca September is supposed to be busy for students as they head back to school. Get acquainted with new schedules and expectations for a productive school year. Instead at four Hamilton high schools, a total of 16 bomb threats have forced four high schools to close for student safety over four separate days. Hamilton police have open investigations into all of them, and preliminary reports have the threats linked to anti-LGBTQ+ and Trans rights motives. In September, the 1 Million March for Children came through Ontario advocating for policies that would put Trans students' safety at risk and eliminating pro-LGBTQ and Transgender policies from schools in the province. We don't believe in coincidences, at least not ones this big or obvious. So the question we had on our minds was, why is no one speaking up about this risk to student safety? To date, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Education Stephen Lecce have issued no statement condemning the threats to student safety. We invited on to the podcast, long-time friend and colleague Laura Babcock to dive into what is going on with this issue. As well we take the opportunity to broaden our inquiry into Ford's attitude towards Hamilton, as a prominent business Collective Arts Brewing is threatened with a massive tax bill from archaic and harmful tax laws. For a pro-business government, they seem to not care about policies that are hurting Ontario industries. We talk about it all! This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our own patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please support us by visiting our website https://905er.ca We bring to you a special follow-up episode from our report on the front lines of the 1MillionMarchforChildren. As our host, Joel MacLeod reported in our last episode at the end of the protest he had the opportunity to speak with a group of teenagers who attended the Halton District School Board who identified on the trans spectrum. At the time, it was peculiar that a protest which was essentially held to protect their issues and concerns, would not include them. At no time during the protest did Joel see a protester reach out to them to converse with them or to hear their concerns. Even though they were only 50 feet away. Amongst the national rhetoric and politicking on both sides, the voice that seems to be ignored the most in this debate is that of teenagers who identify as transgender. In Joel's chat with the teenagers, one of them came across as quite passionate and articulate on the nuances and intricacies of the topic. As it's easy to find advocates for both sides to argue back and forth over what trans teens need in our schools, we thought it would be prudent to just ask them directly. To that end, and with their parent's permission, we invited on to the podcast Jayden Hill. Jayden is a grade 12 student in the Halton school system and identifies as a trans student. We invited them on to the podcast to allow them to share their unique story and what they want both sides to understand in this national debate about what is actually going on in our school system. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our own patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please support our work at our website https://905er.ca On Wednesday last week, crowds appeared in cities across the country protesting pro-LGBTQ+ student policies in school boards. Remnants of the Freedom Convoy, have transformed from being anti-vaccine mandates into anti-LGBTQ+ policies in school boards. Under the guise of protecting students, these groups argue that pronouns should be disclosed to parents, as well as the elimination of gender identity and sexual orientation education from the Ontario curriculum. At the same time, pro-LGBTQ+ organizations and individuals want to ensure that students who identify as such are protected and kept safe while attending school and at home. Both sides met face-to-face at many school boards across the country last week. At the Halton District School Board in Burlington, protesters and anti-protesters met. Our host, Joel MacLeod, went down to see the protests in person and talked to people from both sides to see if there could be any common ground on this divisive topic. As well as to get a sense of what is driving this latest aspect of the culture war in Canada. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our own patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win! Or, why not buy us a coffee? Nicholas Paul: sound editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices