The 905er Podcast

You can support the work we do by visiting our website at https://905er.ca Last week a civic meeting at the Bennetto Community Centre in Hamilton was shut down due to attendees' disruptive behaviour. The issue of the meeting was to inform the local community about the proposed site for the Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters, or HATS. We've spoken about the HATS project before on the podcast. However, over the last year, what seemed to be an innovative way to address the tent encampments and rising homelessness around Hamilton, has turned into a lightning rod of controversy. Seemingly the city has been unable to take the leadership to find a suitable location and encourage local support for this project. While cities around Ontario, namely Waterloo and Kingston have embraced the concept, Hamilton still seems in turmoil over whether or not it wants HATS to succeed. As the housing crisis continues across the country, where could HATS fit into a new housing strategy that seeks to help people get back on their feet and climb the social ladder again? We reached out to Tom Cooper, one of the co-founders of the HATS project and director of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction to talk about where the project stands and what is at stake with it's success or failure. 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 us by visit our website: https://905er.ca The Greenbelt scandal continues to grow and become a bigger and bigger albatross around his government's neck. Each day new revelations add a new level to the scandal. How deep does this scandal go? And how is it undermining our belief in good and responsible government? Our guest today wants to examine exactly that. Jennifer Keesmaat is the former city planner for Toronto, and founder of the not for profit development firm Markee Developments. She joins us to examine how Doug Fords actions threaten our democratic norms and distracts us from taking action on 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

Please support our work at our website https://905er.ca As families and students get prepared to return to school for another year, the LGBTQ+ community is coming under undo scrutiny once again. Over the summer, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan provincial governments changed their policies regarding notifying parents of a student's wish to change their pronouns or assigned name from birth. Here in Ontario, the Minister of Education Stephen Lecce voiced support for the policy and opened the door to Ontario making a similar change to its policy. This of course kicked open the hornet's nest of public debate with those on the right arguing for the policy under the guise of 'parental rights'. LGBTQ+ advocates, unions, and education professional organizations have stated that this policy would in fact harm students who wanted to change their pronouns. All of this comes under the umbrella of an Ontario government that is desperate to change the channel on its ongoing Greenbelt scandal. We thought it would be prudent to discuss the politics and practicalities of what a change in this policy might have on Ontario schools and students. To that end, we invited to the podcast the Hon. Kathleen Wynne to discuss the matter. Ms. Wynne is a former Toronto School Board Trustee, Ontario Minister of Education, Canada's first openly gay Premier, a mother and a grandmother. We thought her expertise on the topic would be invaluable. She joins us today. 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 https://905er.ca Now and again we come across what seems to be a small idea that could have a significant impact. The Burlington Public Library has one of those ideas. Their Digital Archive was recently launched, putting their collection of historical documents online for the world to see. Now while most would see this as just an added service that the library would offer to its citizens, we see it as something more profound. When we started this podcast, we knew that the 905 region was changing into something different something more than what it used to be. What that is is yet to be realized, however, if the people who live, work and play in the cities of the 905 are to take charge of that change and steer it in the direction they want it to go, then they need to know where they've been. The Burlington Digital Archive can help make that story more accessible to not just Burlingtonians but all of the world. We invited the Library's CEO Lita Barrie to share with us the importance of this project what it could mean for Burlington going forward and what lessons can be applied to other cities around the province. 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. 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

Support us at https://905er.ca We bring to you our second part of our dive into the homelessness crisis in the 905. In our previous episode we talked with Michelle Bilek of the Ontario Alliance to End Homelessness, to get the grassroots perspective of the issue. This episode, we speak with two councillors of two of the largest cities in the 905 to find out what barriers our cities are facing to address the issue of affordable housing and homelessness head on. Joining us are Maureen Wilson, Hamilton Ward 2 Councillor and Joe Horneck, Mississauga Ward 6 Councillor. They help us to better understand the limitations of what a municipal council can accomplish on this national file. You can listen to our episode with Michelle Bilek of the Ontario Alliance to End Homelessness here: https://905er.ca/2023/08/the-summer-of-the-tent-is-a-failure-of-housing-policy/ This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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

Support the Podcast at https://905er.ca We know we were supposed to bring you the second episode in our discussion about homelessness this week. That is still coming however something really important happened in the week between. Ontario's Auditor General, Bonnie Lysyk released her report on the Ontario PC Government's Greenbelt opening, and it did not go well for Premier Doug Ford and Minister Steve Clark. Essentially everything that we and every other respectable pundit has been saying about this deal has been confirmed. From the insider dealing to the too intimate arrangements between developers and the powers that be in this government, to the fact that the deal itself is unnecessary to achieve our housing needs. So...we couldn't pass up the opportunity to reflect, criticize and opine on the scandal that very well could bring down the Doug Ford dynasty in Ontario. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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 summer and this year has seen tent encampments spring up across not just the 905 but across the entire country. As housing prices continue to skyrocket and wages remain stagnant, a very real and very immediate economic crisis has emerged. More and more people are being forced out of their rental properties and homes due to them becoming more and more unaffordable. The result has seen a crisis of homelessness on our streets. It is virtually impossible for one to walk through their community and not see those suffering from homelessness in an alcove or a tent in a park. We wanted to talk about this crisis on the podcast from a different approach however. To that end we devoting the next two episodes on the topic from different perspectives. This episode is devoted to learning about the homelessness crisis at the grassroots perspective. We invited on Michelle Bilek from the Ontario Association to End Homelessness. Michelle is a grassroots organizer in Peel, devoted to ended homelessness across Canada. She is a former candidate for all levels of government and is a tireless advocate for homeless and affordable housing in Ontario. She joins us today. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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

Support our work at our website https://905er.ca We complete our interviews with the Ontario Liberal Party Leadership candidates by sitting down with the last candidate to jump into the fray, Adil Shamji. Adil is one of two leadership candidates who currently has a seat in the Ontario Legislature. He is also a doctor who was on the front lines of COVID and ran and won in the last provincial election. So what drove Dr. Shamji to leave a promising career in medicine to jump into the mess that is Ontario politics and then to say he wants to lead the third place Liberal party back to government? Well we thought we'd ask him. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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

Support our work by visiting us at https://905er.ca A few weeks ago, we received an alarming notification on our Instagram page. Meta would no longer be sharing our content in Canada, in retaliation against the Federal government's Bill C-18. We had though that maybe we'd be too small to be affected by this move, however it turns out we were wrong. Instead we have found ourselves to be reduced to collateral damage in the fight between the federal government and two tech giants. So then, what are our options, and what can we do to protect ourselves going forward? To talk about that we invited on podcast professional, Matt Cundill of Sound Off Podcasts and Crier Media, to discuss the ins and outs of Bill C-18, how it will affect the digital and new media marketplace. You can visit Matt's website here: https://www.soundoffpodcast.com/ This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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

Now on Fountain.fm fountain.fm/the_905er987 Support us there and help keep the podcast going! The Ontario government recently announced a new curriculum for teachers to implement this fall concerning literacy. While it is based on updated techniques and science concerning children's development, it is of course not without controversy. Usually in developing and unrolling curriculum, it is a slow process. Testing to see what works and doesn't and ensuring that all teachers have the best tools to implement it and ensure success for students across the province. In Ontario's rush to implement this new curriculum it appears that one stakeholder has been left out of discussions. Ontario's teachers. Teachers are pointing out that they have been only given two webinars to learn how to implement an entire new process on teaching students how to read and write. One critic of the unrolling process is Nathaniel Arfin. Nathaniel is a former candidate for Trustee who is an advocate for public education. He is an entrepreneur and BIA board member. He has written an Op-Ed for the website and we invited him on to talk about it. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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

Now on Fountain.fm fountain.fm/the_905er987 Support us there and help keep the podcast going! We are venturing outside the 905 today. In fact outside the province all they across the prairies to the great province of Alberta. Don't worry we aren't changing our address, but in light of the aftermath of the recent Alberta provincial election of Danielle Smith we wanted to look at the effects of it on the 905. This might seem like a stretch for an episode but there is a method to our madness. For sometime, the Alberta government has been encouraging 905 and Toronto residents to move to the province with the promise of bigger houses, bigger yards and a lesser mortgage. And it appeared to be working with more and more Ontarians moving out west. As we often talk about the housing crisis on this podcast we thought it would be prudent to see how the Alberta provincial election of a right wing Premier might encourage or discourage some 905ers from backing up and making the move. We reached out to Nate Pike, the host of the excellent podcast The Breakdown AB. A similar venture in Alberta, focusing on that provinces politics and issues, much like we do here in Ontario. What happened was a lively and surprising discussion about the similarities between Ontario and Alberta and that despite what you often read in the media, the differences between the west and central Canada aren't that different to begin with. The Breakdown is available on Apple Podcasts This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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

Now on Fountain.fm fountain.fm/the_905er987 Support us there and help keep the podcast going! Our conversations with the Ontario Liberal Leadership contenders keeps going! We sit down with the only Ontario Liberal Leadership candidate who currently holds a seat in the legislatures. Kingston and the Islands MPP Ted Hsu joins us to discuss why he wants the top job in the Ontario Liberal Party. In the 2022 Ontario election, Ted successfully won back his home riding of Kingston and the Islands from the New Democratic Party. He currently holds critic roles for the Liberal caucus in the following areas: Energy Mines Natural resources and forestry Citizenship and multiculturalism This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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

Now on Fountain.fm fountain.fm/the_905er987 Support us there and help keep the podcast going! In May, the York Catholic District School Board voted to not fly the Pride flag at it's properties for Pride Month. Followers of this podcast will know of our coverage of the Halton Catholic School Board's year long debate over raising the flag at it's properties and how contentious that proceeding was. The result was a questioning of how accepting are York Catholic schools for their LGBTQ+ students and staff? Opponents to the Pride flag often cite that the symbol goes against their Catholic beliefs and has no place within a Catholic School's walls. Which brings up the further argument of, in a multicultural and accepting society such as Canada, why should public tax dollars go to a system which is opposed to acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. The question often asked is why should Ontario continue to fund a Catholic school system at all? One person who asked that question in an opinion piece on the TV Ontario website was David Moscrop. David has written about politics for numerous publications, hosts two podcasts and authors a Substack, and holds a PhD from the University of British Columbia in Political Science. His opinion piece titled "It's time to abolish the Catholic school system in Ontario" sparked our interest and we invited him on to discuss the matter in far more detail. It's time to abolish the Catholic school system in Ontario - TVO Today This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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

Now on Fountain.fm fountain.fm/the_905er987 Support us there and help keep the podcast going! Our conversations with the Ontario Liberal Leadership contenders continues! On his episode we sit down the Federal Liberal MP, Yasir Naqvi to talk about his career and why now he wants to run for the top job in the party. Yasir is the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, and was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Emergency Preparedness and President of the King’s Privy Council prior to stepping down to pursue this leadership bid. Prior to entering federal politics, Yasir was the Member of Provincial Parliament for Ottawa Centre and the former Attorney General of Ontario. He has also held several other Cabinet portfolios provincially, including the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Government House Leader, and Minister of Labour. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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 Ontario Liberal Party leadership race is finally kicking off. For the last two election cycles, the Ontario Liberals have failed to attain even official party status in the Legislature. The party has failed to seemingly capture the imagination and the support of the Ontario public. Many are seemingly writing off the party as a shell of it's former self. No longer a contender in Ontario politics. For Ontario Liberals though the hope is that this leadership race and rekindle momentum to government. The question for us on the podcast was whether or not that momentum would lead through the 905. In that spirit, Roland and Joel decided to invite on the declared Liberal leadership contenders for a sit down interview to put the questions to them about how they view Ontario's problems and how would they rebuild the Ontario Liberal Party and tackle solving those issues. The first contender up is Nate Erskine-Smith. The Federal Liberal MP for Beaches-East York who is making the leap to provincial politics to lead the OLP rebuilding process. Nate is a former lawyer who left the profession for politics and is now seeking the Ontario Liberal Leadership. He joins us today. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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

Now on Fountain.fm fountain.fm/the_905er987 Support us there and help keep the podcast going! “I Like Movies” is the debut film from Chandler Levack, set in 2003, and telling the story of Lawrence Kweller, a 17 year old boy attending Aldershot School in Burlington who is obsessed with movies and movie-making and who is hired to work in his local video store. Levack grew up in Burlington and attended the real-life Aldershot School, and so the film has a clear autobiographical side, but Levack chose to make her protagonist male rather than female, something that allows her to explore the world of obsessive young men in a fresh and interesting way. Isiah Lehtinen gives an outstanding performance as the awkward and sometimes infuriating Lawrence, and the movie features a number of other excellent portrayals from his co-stars, most obviously from Romina D’Ugo as Alana, Lawrence’s long-suffering boss at the video store. If you would like to see I Like Movies, it is released today (June 6th 2023) to on-demand services such as You Tube movies and Amazon Prime for viewing at home. More details can be found online at Mongrelmedia.com. We are delighted to welcome Chandler Levack onto the podcast to talk more about “I Like Movies”. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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

Now on Fountain.fm fountain.fm/the_905er987 Support us there and help keep the podcast going! We welcome back to the podcast Frank Domenic! Frank joins Roland and Joel to recap two previous episodes and look at where we stand now on their issues. Previously we had on Karen Brown, President of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario to discuss violence in Ontario schools against teachers. Frank is a teacher himself and so his insight into the dynamic in the classroom was invaluable. We also talk about how the trend hasn't decreased but has seemingly become more and more pronounced in our school system. What can be done about it and where are we falling short. Then we follow up on the story we did with the Ontario Health Coalition Executive Director Natalie Mehra. The Ontario Healthcare Coalition is kicking off a referendum for Ontarians to weigh in on the status of healthcare in Ontario. As the Doug Ford government pursues more and more private options for health care, what are people's concerns and fears about the direction the province is going. For the first time, Ontarians will have a chance to directly weigh in on how they view their health care options in the province. How did this conversation get to this point, and are we doing the best to provide Ontarians with the best choices for healthcare? Frank joins us for a lively discussion. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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

Now on Fountain.fm fountain.fm/the_905er987 Support us there and help keep the podcast going! Well its happening. Last week, the Minister of Municipal Affairs Steve Clark announced that they would be tabling legislation to break up Peel Region. The Town of Caledon, City of Brampton and the City of Mississauga after 50 years together will now be going their separate ways. What will this mean for the billions of dollars in shared costs and infrastructure between the municipalities? According to the Province they will have until 2025 to sort it out. Both Brampton and Mississauga Mayors are indicating that this may not be an amicable separation. Prior to the announcement we had the chance to sit down with Mayor Bonnie Crombie of Mississauga. In our interview we had the opportunity to dive into the question of why now and what did Mississauga hope to gain by going on their own away from Peel Region. As the 905 region is on the cusp of being changed irrevocably for the future, what could this mean for the region and for that matter future decisions on regional governance in Ontario? We pose the questions to Mayor Crombie and what the future is going to bring to Mississauga, Caledon, Brampton and the 905. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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

Continuing from our previous episode on cycling in the 905, we are taking a trip outside of the region. All the way across the country to Vancouver to speak with Dale Bracewell. Metaphorically of course. Dale was in attendance at the Ontario Bike Summit in Hamilton that happened earlier this month. He was there to showcase the work he did in Vancouver to transform that city into a more cycling-friendly urban environment. We asked him to talk with us about the accomplishment, as well as the difficulties in transforming one of Canada’s major cities into a more cycling friendly one. More importantly, we ponder how can a city like Hamilton and other cities in the 905 to make the changes to allow more diverse modes of transportation to function in our cities. Dale is a former manager of transportation with the City of Vancouver. There he helped to bring about the changes needed to introduce cycling infrastructure to the city. More recently he is the principal consultant with Mobility Insights. A consulting firm that aims to help Canadian cities become more cycling friendly. 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. 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

Now on Fountain.fm fountain.fm/the_905er987 Support us there and help keep the podcast going! Last week, in Hamilton the Ontario Biking Summit was held. A conference to discuss how we can implement new policies and build infrastructure to create safer biking communities. This is a topic that comes up frequently in the 905. As we become a more denser and urban community, biking is a more and more viable option to get around. Biking lanes on major roadways, bike paths through our cities, and better infrastructure to support cyclists are often areas of contention and debate. However, does it have to be that way? Part of the summit was to look internationally to Europe and other cities around the world who are trying to make their places they live more friendly to all modes of travel. Can we incorporate that here in the 905? To dive into these ideas and questions we invited onto the podcast Eleanor McMahon. Eleanor is no stranger to the podcast. She was on previously to discuss the Trans-Canada Trail. Today she joins us as a founder of Share the Road. A not for profit to bring awareness to cyclists and cycling infrastructure in Canada. She was in attendance at the summit and we asked her to come on today to talk about the importance of cycling infrastructure and how we can make our cities better for all on the road. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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

Now on Fountain.fm fountain.fm/the_905er987 Support us there and help keep the podcast going! We are welcoming back to the podcast for his third time at the microphone Mike Moffatt. We’ve been wanting to do this episode for sometime now but had trouble with scheduling. Finally the stars aligned and we were able to make it happen. As no doubt you are aware both the provincial and federal governments layed out their budgets for the year. Billions upon billions are tabled to be spent. So one would expect that the number one issue for not just 905ers but all Canadians would be a top priority to be addressed. I am of course talking about housing affordability. Consistently, the issue of house prices and being able to make rent and mortgage payments have been polled as top of mind for Canadians. In the age of inflation we are in, this is understandable. On the surface the federal government is committed to spending approximately $4 billion on housing. And well, the provincial government’s plans are well known to Ontarians, and they are controversial and confusing at the same time. So clearly a path towards housing affordability is there right? Well not according to Mike Moffatt. He has been critical of both the federal and provincial governments for piecing together ad hoc policies and plans which don’t really seem to address the core problems Canadians are worried about. So what does he think ought to be done? Well, we invited him on again to give us his expertise and insight into this number one issue for Canadians. Mike is an economist with the Smart Prosperity Institute. His work centres on the housing market and housing affordability. This is his third time on the podcast and we welcome his insight. Have a listen. This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending https://grahamagnew.ca/ It takes money and time to 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. 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

An article on the CBC caught our eye. The Hamilton Police Services has spent $30,000 to purchase drones for use. According to the report the drones have been used for simple search and rescue missions, as well as for use to monitor university parties, and protests against Justin Trudeau. This is such a wide range to use this tool we pondered what was the criteria for it being implemented? More importantly, what happens to the footage recorded? What might come of future decisions to implement facial recognition technology in these drones? All reasonable and justifiable questions to be asked. Yet we took it a step further in our discussion. Exactly where is the oversight for our police services? They are meant to serve and protect us the citizens of the 905 and Ontario. Yet when scrutiny and oversight is wanted to be introduced, especially in the use of drones by our law enforcement departments, often cries of anti police sentiment are thrown against the ones asking the questions. Right wing politicians who often are the first to decry over spending and mismanagement of public funds, often go silent when police departments consistently get higher and higher budget approvals with little to know pushback. When did we let hero worship run amok, that often our elected officials are unable to hold police departments to account to justify their spending? Roland and Joel look at what something like a police department owning a drone might mean for our Charter rights and where oversight and accountability might need to be brought into ensure abuse and mismanagement doesn't come into play. https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/police-drones It takes money and time to 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. 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

Over recent months there have been some high profile stories in the media that concern Ontario’s schools, and even specifically schools in the 905 region. Some attracted a lot of media attention, and some attracted the sort of attention from far right groups that makes our stomach sink. But here’s the thing. Speak to a teacher, and it’s unlikely that the issues that have been prominent in the media are remotely what they see as the important challenges currently being faced in Ontario’s schools. Instead it is their feeling of a worsening risk from violence in the classroom, and a lack of tools and supports to handle students with sometimes very serious behavioural problems that we have found dominates their experience. This extends to a feeling that teachers are sometimes undermined by school administrators and board staff in their attempts to maintain basic order and a safe classroom, and that there is a wide culture of discouraging staff from making official reports of serious incidents. The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, or ETFO, has made violence in schools one of its key priorities over the last half decade. We are therefore delighted today to be joined by Karen Brown, President of ETFO, to discuss this story in depth. Karen began her career as a special education teacher with the Toronto District School Board in 1993. She has worked extensively in the area of autism and children’s mental health. Karen is passionate about the early years, and also holds a diploma in early childhood education. Since 2009, Karen has been a member of the ETFO provincial Executive, becoming president in 2021. She is committed to promoting equity, and social justice. It takes money and time to 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. 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

Today we are joined by Laura Steiner once again from the Milton Reporter! The Ontario government is in a race to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031 in the province. In an effort to do so Minister of Municipal Affairs Steve Clark has reached out to the various municipalities to get them to pledge to build a specific number of homes by the provinces deadline. What is surprising to us is the number of municipalities in the 905 who are eagerly agreeing to the provinces demands. A number of these municipal councils, such as Burlington were elected on a mandate originally to keep development as localized as possible. Others like Hamilton are resistant to being forced to build beyond their urban boundaries. So why are they bending over backwards to accommodate this demand from the province? Especially without any new supports from the province to help with this development push? Laura joins us as we give an analysis over this new change to the political make up of the 905. It takes money and time to 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. 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

It is impossible to ignore the headlines on the state of Ontario's healthcare system. In Doug Ford's second term as Premier, despite a promise not to privatize the system, it seems that is exactly what is happening in Ontario. For private clinics are now part in parcel for healthcare in this province. Brought in under the pretence that it would help to alleviate the overburdened and crumbling system. Or at least thats how it's being sold to us by the government. A critic of that framing is the Ontario Health Coalition. A group of medical professionals and grassroots Ontarians who are committed to ensuring that the health care system remains a predominantly publicly funded one. Where Ontarians of all walks of life have equitable and efficient access to care, and are not forced to pay out of pocket for services that are normally covered by OHIP. To get a better sense of the status of Ontario's healthcare system, how it go to be this way, as well as what would be required going forward to improve the quality of care, we asked their executive director to join us. Natalie Mehra has headed up the Ontario Health Coalition for over 22 years. In that time the Health Coalition has grown into the largest and broadest public interest group on health care in the province, representing more than 750,000 Ontarians in its network of more than 400 member organizations and more than 50 local chapters. Natalie Mehra joins us today. It takes money and time to 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. 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

We welcome back to the podcast President of the Auto Parts Manufacturers Association of Canada, Flavio Volpe. A while back we had Flavio on, to discuss their still just and idea concept car, Project Arrow. At that time we promised that we'd have him back on once it was completed and unveiled. Well that time as come. This year Project Arrow was finally revealed to the public at the Consumer Electronics Show and later at the Toronto Auto Show. The potential of this car to reshape the automotive industry in Canada is unprecedented. As the industry shifts towards electric vehicle production, the importance of being able to show case our skills and talents to the world is more important than ever. We are a knowledge based economy so it's important for us to show off what we know. Project Arrow is hoping to do just that. When we first talked about Project Arrow we promised our listeners that we would have Flavio back on to discuss in detail what this concept car has in it. So today faithful listener we are doing just that. Flavio Volpe returns to talk with Joel about Project Arrow. They discuss some of the companies that contributed to the project, what the technology that is in it, and how this simple concept car could go on to transform not just the 905 but the country as well. It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. 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. 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

After a bit of back and forth, Roland and Joel have made a decision on how the 905er is going to be structured going forward. We're looping all of you in on our decision making process and announcing how we'll be producing this podcast going forward. Have a listen. It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. 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. 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

Climate change is the biggest threat to our existence. Its effects can be seen all around us. So it's no surprise to find efforts being made to combat it's effects. Its common place these days to find companies engaging in public relations campaigns to showcase their efforts to be more conscious of climate change. Whether that's in the promotion of a more sustainable product or service, or perhaps trying to highlight a campaign to give back to environmentally friendly causes. However one industry is taking a far more serious approach to the problem. Your insurance provider. We've touched up on this before in previous episodes. The insurance industry in Canada has been crunching the numbers on the effects of climate change on their policies. For years now they have been raising the alarm. They do not like what they see. The costs of climate change are forcing the industry to see an increase in billions of dollars paid out under policies. That's a billion with a b, and that doesn't even go into what the uninsured costs can be. It is clear that climate change is no longer a larger than us concept. It's real, it's here and it is already starting to affect us in the 905. So going forward what can be done in this province to help you and us, mitigate the costs of climate change to the most important asset we own, our homes? To answer that question we asked Mark Cripps from the Insurance Bureau of Canada to come on today. Mark is a communications manager with the Bureau and works to help advocate to government and raise public awareness on the importance of shifting our mindset around climate change and how to prepare ourselves for it's effects. He has a background in communications and journalism as well, and he joins us today. It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. 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. 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

Long time friend of the podcast Laura Steiner returns! It's not news per se, that Peel region is a hot bed of car thefts. It's so common now, that you can find videos of thefts in broad daylight posted on social media. Cars have been reported found in shipping containers in Montreal or Halifax destined for the other side of the world to be resold by organized crime rings. Police have yet to make a dent in the ring, and it appears to be expanding. Laura shares her reporting on Halton Police's recent discovery of a chop shop in Milton along with the workings of an organized crime ring preying on the affluent cars and neighbourhoods of Milton. The evidence is mounting that this is not the actions of a few young kids looking for kicks each night. Rather a coordinated organized effort to steal cars on a whim and deliver them to overseas markets, all at our expense. The question Laura and Joel ponder, is are Halton and Peel police in over their head trying to tackle an international car theft ring? Where is the OPP or the RCMP on this file? Then after our break: The Hamilton Centre By-Election continues on. Recent reporting from early voting shows only 5% of eligible voters have cast a ballot in this election. Low turnout isn't new in a by-election. However, the recent stories of the two progressive candidates, Sarah Jama and Deirdre Pike accusing the other of anti-semitism and racism can't make for an enticing option for voters seeking an option rather than the Ontario PC party. Is this a case of just typical low voter turnout for a by-election, or is it an example of when you throw mud you only get dirty? It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. 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. 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

Brian Lilley waded into the Hamilton Centre By-election with an accusation of antisemitism against the NDP. The Liberals jumped on his bandwagon with candidate Deirdre Pike demanding an apology from NDP candidate Sarah Jama to the Jewish community. Jama fought back by accusing Pike of racism. Jama and Pike have both dedicated their lives to activism on behalf of disadvantaged and persecuted groups. So it makes perfect sense to have an election that paints career community activists as antisemites and racists. And thus a man who, days later, would post a tweet ridiculing Jagmeet Singh's turban, and then furiously denied the tweet was racist asking why on earth would anybody think it was offensive, made the Hamilton Centre by-election worse for everybody, above all the people who live in Hamilton Centre. Later in the episode we ask what happened to the climate emergencies declared in every 905 city in 2018/19? Can you guess? It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. 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. 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 Ontario Liberal Party for the better part of last year was written off for dead. A humiliating result from the last provincial general election made many in Ontario think that the party would quietly fall into the trash bin of history. With no gains of seats in the legislature, the Ontario Liberal Party does not even have party status at Queen's Park. It's former leader Steven Del Duca resigned on election night, and for sometime it was a question of why would anyone want to take on the mantle of leadership? Well all that changed this past weekend. At their Annual General Meeting, new life was seemingly breathed into the once dead Ontario Liberal Party. A major change to their constitution opens the leadership race to one member one vote for all Liberals. Something that opens the doors for new members to enter the party. However most important is that there seems to be a legitimate race brewing for the top job in the Ontario Liberal Party. With three and possibly four high profile names being thrown around as contenders for a leadership race. Could the Ontario Liberal Party return from defeat to become the big red machine once again? After our break, it appears that Doug Ford and the Ontario PC Government continue to rack up defeats in the courts. The latest loss is their Third Party Advertising legislation which was meant to curb the ability of unions and other grassroots entities from campaigning during an election. Third Party groups such as Working Families Ontario and Ontario Proud were legislated to limit the amount of money they could spend prior to a general election. Working Families Ontario took the government to court and won in the Ontario Court of Appeals, with the Court citing that the legislation infringed section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. What does this mean for Ontario Elections? More importantly, does Doug Ford and his government know how to legislate? This government has not had a lot of wins since taking office and would rather invoke the Notwithstanding Clause than try to build consensus or write proper legislation. What does the future hold? Lastly, while Doug Ford can't write legislation apparently he can throw a party. To the tune of $6.5 million. That is the sum the Ontario PC Party took in at their last fundraiser dinner in Toronto. Attended by the who's who of the elite of Ontario and Toronto's society. Who says money is not an issue in politics? Clearly it can buy you a seat close to power with a chicken dinner to go with it! It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. 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. 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

We like to pride ourselves on being open to opposing view points. We concede that sometimes we don't always get it right However, we also pride ourselves on offering the chance for those opposing viewpoints to come on and clear the record. Which is sort of the story on how we invited our guest this week to the podcast. Last week we listened to another local podcast called What's the Point, produced by the fine people at the Pointer. They had on to their podcast Stella Ambler, former Conservative MP for Mississauga South to discuss her new non partisan political watchdog organization Municipal Watch. Municipal Watch is billed as being a grassroots funded, non partisan organization tasked with keeping an eye on how municipal governments function and spend our tax dollars. All seemingly good things and something that no one would have an issue with...right? Well we had questions. We always do when it comes to people saying that they are keeping an eye on government. Usually it ends up being too good to be true. How does the organization decide what is worthy of their time? What makes a scandal in their books? How do they balance the competing interests and needs of the communities that they portend to look after? This is where watchdogs have to trend carefully in our opinion. To get answers, we thought we'd reach out to Stella Ambler to see if she'd want to come on. If you're a fan of this podcast you can understand our trepidation, as Conservatives do not tend to come on this podcast...ever. To our delight and surprise, Ms. Ambler agreed to take time from her busy schedule to share her vision and passion for Municipal Watch and to fill in some of the gaps we have on this project. We were thankful to have someone with a different political take on things on to the podcast for a lively discussion on matters and to see where this new organization could fit into the political landscape of not just the 905, but Ontario and Canada as well. Stella Ambler joins us today. Municipal Watch It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. 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. 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

Nobody works harder than Joey Coleman to monitor and report everything done at Hamilton City Hall. His opinions demand respect. After October's change election saw major changes in personnel on Hamilton council, there were high expectations for not just a change in tone at City Hall, but an activist and courageous council. Yet it came into being with perhaps its greatest challenge already determined by the province, when the Ford government declared as the new council was being sworn in that the previous council's decision not to expand the city's urban boundary was to be thrown out. That was just the start, as the provincial government has since made sweeping changes that reduce municipal powers over the planning process, and slashed essential city funding sources, leaving a funding deficit at the heart of every city in Ontario. But how has the new council responded to these challenges? Who is doing well? Who is disappointing? And how are the novice councillors and old hands handling their most ... erm ... delicate relationship - the one every councillor in Ontario has with City Hall staff? Because one thing appears to be clear: while there have been some big changes on council, the institution of Hamilton City Hall has begun the new era much as it ended the old one. With a host of baffling decisions and proposals that seem designed to highlight an institution with deep and systemic problems. It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. 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. 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 905 Round-Up is coming to you early this week! A follow up on stories we've already touched upon on the podcast. Starting with the Halton District School Board. Last year, the board made international headlines when a transgender teacher was photographed wearing enormous prosthetic breasts in a shop class at Oakville Trafalgar High School. At the time the board stated that it had no dress code policy to enforce teacher attire. It's concern was over the potential human rights violations when it came to any other transgender teachers in their employ. At the time, freedom convoy protesters shifted their focus from COVID-19 to the high school and set up shop outside. At the time we had Caryma Sa'd on to share her coverage of the protests. Since that time however, the story hasn't gone away. Parents have organized and petition not just the school board but the Minister of Education Stephen Lecce to intervene. Pressure is on for the HDSB to come up with a workable policy to solve this issue. Last week, the Toronto Star published a story detailing the latest developments at the board. Surprisingly, parents are not pleased with the latest proposals for a policy and the board is looking to re work it. Joel and Roland debate who's really to blame for this predicament and how can a solution be found? After the break, we look at the ongoing saga of Highway 413. The potential legacy of Doug Ford has had its problems. Despite the Premier's eagerness to see it built, he just can't seem to get the job done. It was one of the few promises he made during the campaign. Yet, it appears that not all the paper work is in order. According to the Toronto Star, the province is skipping over some of the environmental assessments that should be done prior to breaking ground on a project of this scale. This has caught the attention of the federal government and they have begun their own assessments of the project. Why the urgency to skip the rules in the first place? Could it have something to do with who will actually profit from this highway? Will it even be built? Joel and Roland discuss. It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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

It shouldn't surprise you to know that housing is at a crisis in not just the 905, but all of Ontario. In fact, across Canada, housing prices and supply are in crisis mode. Our supply of housing in whatever form you wish to choose, whether it's a detached house, a condo or rental isn't keeping up with the population. We have just not built enough to keep up our numbers. We do not have enough places to live, is what it comes down to basically. Which is what Bill 23 was supposed to help solve. Premier Doug Ford and Minister Steve Clark were going to unleash the power of the development industry by allowing them to do what they do best. Build homes. According to the Ontario PC government, the biggest impediment to doing that was the red tape and dastardly municipal governments around the province that held back the honest hard working developers. So with that Bill 23 was enacted, the Greenbelt was carved up and we are all now living in a housing development paradise. Well not quite. This week, TVO published an opinion piece wondering what Plan B was for the province's housing plans? According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation new housing starts were down 31% in Ontario, in Toronto down 51% and only a 7% bump up in Hamilton. In essense our housing plans are not working and we are not building enough to keep up with demand. We need to build 1.5 million new homes over the next ten years so when is that going to happen? Why are we not building like crazy at the moment? In our second half of the episode, we flash back a few episodes to our chat with former Ontario Liberal candidate Kate Graham, who was a signatory to a now infamous letter asking Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner to run for the top job in the Liberal party. Well Mike finally got back to everyone, and it's a no. So what does that mean for the Ontario Liberal Party? Was it a good plan to ask Mike? And what does the future of the Ontario Liberals look like? In that regard what does the future of the opposition in Queen's Park look like for the next four years? Should Marit Stiles and the NDP be worried? Should Doug Ford? Plan A for Housing is Failing in Ontario. What's Plan B? - TVO Today Mike Schreiner's Response to the Ontario Liberal Letter It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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

February as many of you are aware is Black History Month Each year through the month of February figures and prominent individuals of african origin whether they be activists, politicians, artists, musicians, authors or historical figures, are front and centre in our schools and libraries. People of African descent have lived and worked on this continent since the first Europeans arrived. Slavery was a part of colonisation of the continent and is tied to the foundations of Canada as much as it is the United States. The struggles for equality existed here in the 905 and in Canada too. And yet, how can over 400 years of history in North America be confined to merely one month of the year in our schools? No doubt you can agree this is very very surface level telling of a rich and complex history in Canada. So does this mean we aren’t doing a great job of telling what ultimately is our own story? The story of black Canadians and for that matter other minorities who have worked to build what today is the country of Canada that we all wish to enjoy? On that note, we welcome back to the podcast Kojo Damptey to talk on the importance of Black History Month, and how it ought to be a stepping stone to a much more rich and diverse conversation of the true history of this part of Ontario and Canada as a whole. And how it can help to dismantle systemic racism that permeates our culture. Kojo is the former executive director of the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion. He is a former candidate for Hamilton city council, an award winning musician and instructor at McMaster University. Kojo joins us today. It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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

If you're a fan of this podcast, then you'll no doubt be aware of our fan of smart urban design. For years the car guided how we designed and built our cities. The idea was that we would alway require a car to get from place to place where we live. Spawl became a way of life and almost official policy for development in the 905. In recent years however, sprawl has become problematic. We have come around to the notion that we cannot keep building over greenspace to accomodate the growth that the region is experience. So what does that mean for our cities? Well, for urban planner policy wonks, the notion of a city where the vital amenities of life would be within walking distance of our homes began to take hold. Thus came the idea of the 15 minute city. Groceries, doctors offices, small businesses, clinics etc, would all be within a 15 minute walk of one's home. Is this doable? We honestly don't know. But as a utopian goal for us collectively to build our cities around, it seemed like an interesting idea. It's entirely a policy wonk's fevered dream. Which is why we found it ridiculous to find it coming up in Op-Eds and rallies by the far right as an evil plot by the World Economic Forum. That this was just another step in an evil move by the WEF, or George Soros or whichever boogeyman you want to substitute into the argument to put us in manageable pens and fenced off districts to limit our movements. All of which is laughably ludicrous and not true. However, in the world post-pandemic these conspiracy theories have a life of their own and often tend to poison discourse around good ideas. We didn't want that to happen to the 15 minute city. In that spirit we reached out to former guest of the podcast Glyn Bowerman of Spacing Radio to come on to discuss how we got here, and how we can work to keep the 15 minute city from becoming a bad word in politics. You can catch Spacing Radio here http://spacing.ca/podcast/ It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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 Premier hosted a Stag and Doe for his daughter's wedding last year and surprisingly all of his closest developer buddies got an invite whether they liked it or not to attend. To literally hand over envelopes of cash. How this does not topple his Premiership is a mystery to us. This event singlehandedly might make Doug Ford's government the most corrupt in Ontario political history. So where are the calls for his resignation? And speaking of resignations, we look at the resignation of John Tory as Mayor of Toronto. Surprising? Uncalled for? The last desperate play to save face? Joel and Roland can't seem to agree on what this means for politics in the 905's biggest neighbour? It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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

Another weekly brace of stories affecting the 905. When is disrupting a democratic meeting appropriate? Uncle Doug is building nuclear power plants. Uncle Justin is thowing money at the provinces to spend on healthcare to make up for the fact the premiers won't throw enough money at it themselves. Isn't that just rewarding the delinquents? And is the fact Canada's 'fiscally prudent' premiers are all demanding more money from the feds than they're being offered an example of nauseating hypocrisy? Yes. Yes it is. It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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

Roland spent most of January in Scotland, and took the time to record his impressions of Edinburgh's Tram network, which opened it's first phase in 2014. The tram's construction was anything but smooth (sound familiar?), but now it's here, what's it like? It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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

Laura Steiner sits in for Joel as we discuss the late Hazel McCallion's legacy for Mississauga and the 905 region. And we share some first impressions (recorded before Tuesday's interview with Kate Graham - go and listen to it if you haven't heard it yet) on the 40 Liberal insiders who have put their names to an attempt to co-opt Mike Schreiner from the Ontario Greens. It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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

At 10am on Sunday former Ontario Liberal leadership hopeful Kate Graham posted an open letter on her Twitter account which certainly achieved something Ontario's Liberals have not done too often lately--it got people talking about the Ontario Liberals. The letter was a public invitation, signed by forty prominent Liberals, including such noteable party grandees as Greg Sorbara, Deb Matthews and Lyn McLeod, for Mike Schreiner, leader of the Ontario Green Party, to throw his hat into the ring to run for the Ontario Liberal leadership. The reaction from Liberals, Greens and independents has been strong, and runs the gamut from strong support on one side to feelings of betrayal on the other. Some voices within the OLP (some likely supporting rival leadership candidates) are, quite simply, furious and feel the letter is damaging in both what it says about the once mighty Ontario Liberals, and what it says about prominent Liberals' faith in their own party. And while many would agree that politics in Ontario needs to change, is headhunting a leader from a rival and less-successful party the way back to electoral relevance for the Ontario Liberals, or a demonstration of callous disregard towards both the Ontario Greens and the party grassroots? Kate Graham joins us today to answer these questions and more in a fascinating exclusive interview. It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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

Roland returns to the show, and Joel has the privilege of bringing him up to speed on all he's missed around the 905 and the province in his absence. Share in the shock and awe! We recap privatization of health care. It turns out Hazel McCallion, who made her reputation on sprawl in Mississauga is now over seeing the Greenbelt. And speaking of which it appears our property taxes are poised to take a hike. It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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 Greenbelt continues to be front stage in Ontario politics. Doug Ford's reversal on his stance to allow developers to begin building inside the Greenbelt is proving to be rather unpopular to say the least. According to the Ontario Progressive Conservative government the land is too valuable to not build housing on. However, is that the only way to view the Greenbelt? As a plot of land waiting to build housing on? Michael Twigg of the Smart Prosperity Institute says otherwise. He helped to author a paper which views the Greenbelt as an invest waiting to be made in the conservation of the land. Helping to preserve it to offset insurance costs, environmental concerns as well as the recreation values to be extracted from the Greenbelt. The paper goes on to see how actual fiscal rewards can be extracted from the land now, rather than as land speculation down the road. We speak with Michael on this episode about his report and how we can shift our thinking on the Greenbelt to something more productive for all Ontarians. Read the report here: https://institute.smartprosperity.ca/publications/investing-ontarios-greenbelt It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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

Joel is joined by guest host Laura Babcock for this episode. The last municipal election saw Hamilton being the only municipality which saw real change. An old council was effectively replaced by fresh blood. Bringing in new ideas and perspectives to solve long time problems in the city, and possibly re-shape the relationship between the city and possibly the 905 and the province. A few months later, we ponder has the lustre been lost from that vision? Laura chats with Joel about how new Mayor Andrea Horwath is settling into her new job as leader of the 6th largest city in Canada. And if she's in step with the needs of Hamilton? It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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

While searching for stories to cover on this podcast, we often look through social media to keep an eye on what we think is relevant to life in the 905. In that process, we come across various personalities online. If you’re on Tiktok and follow anything political, chances are you’ve come across Frank Domenic. If you’re not entirely familiar with his online content we’ll provide a link to his profile in our show notes for you to get caught up. Those of you who do follow Frank, you are no doubt familiar with his passion for social equality, justice and fair play. As well as his equal criticisms of the Doug Ford and Justin Trudeau governments. Especially as both awkwardly navigate the effects of runaway inflation and the growing inequality in our economy. Frank caught our eye with his quick and effective criticisms of Doug Ford’s overreach in the Notwithstanding Clause against CUPE workers. And he continues to target the growing scandal list of the Ford government in their second mandate. As conservatives in Ontario seemingly enact more and more legislation without consultation of the public or accountability to anyone other than themselves, where does outrage and anger go? Is there a role for individuals like Frank and to be truthful us, to inform and channel that anger into something productive? Frank's Tiktok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@frankdomenic It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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

With Roland on a break for a bit, we reached out to a former guest of the podcast, Laura Steiner to come on and fill in on the mic. We pick up on our closing story of 2022, and how Doug Ford's greenbelt troubles are only starting. This week the OPP announced they were looking into what actually happened in Bill 23. As well what the results of no development charges will actually mean for a town like Milton and others like it in the 905. And lastly, it seems Burlington got a win, or did it? It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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

We are back from our break for 2023. Just prior to the New Year, word spread around the province of the tragic killing of OPP Officer Gzregorz Pierzchala in the line of duty, just outside of Hamilton. The accused in that case have been apprehended and will face their charges in a court of law. This episode is not about the details of that case. Instead this is about a tweet. Just after news of this tragedy spread across the province, condolences and messages of sympathy were expressed by all peoples towards Officer Pierzchala's friends, family and colleagues. One of those messages came from the Halton Police in the form of the Thin Blue Line logo on their Twitter feed. In response to that, Indigenous journalist and former guest to the podcast Karl Dockstader tweeted a response, advocating his unease at the imagery being used. Shortly afterwards the Halton PD took down the tweet. For many in the BIPOC community the Thin Blue Line imagery contains a lot of emotions and history to process. And yet in a time like this, that image is perceived by many in the law enforcement community as a sign of respect and honour to a fallen comrade. I wanted to chat with Karl to get his perspective on this and see where a common ground could be reached and what relations between all Canadians and their law enforcement services should look like in 2023 and beyond. It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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 our last episode for 2022 folks! As per a yearly tradition, Roland and Joel look back at what they saw as their top stories of 2022. Without going too much into detail, the Halton Catholic School Board's fight over the Pride Flag as well as the surprising twists and turns of the Hamilton Municipal race topped out the stories. As we highlight in the episode, Hamilton is turning into a new media ecosystem with more and more new media filling in gaps in coverage. It's a trend we're proud to be a part of. As well, we look forward to what's next. Speaking of what's next, we look a head to 2023 and what we predict will be the top story for the beginning of the year at least. Our suspicion is that Doug Ford's greenbelt troubles are only starting. And that this will prove to be an even larger scandal as more and more details become known. This is it for us in 2022!!! We'll see you in 2023!!! This episode of The 905er is brought to you by our sponsor: South River Brewing. Listen to this episode to see how you can save money on your next order by visiting the link below: South River Brewing It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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

(Updated with corrected interview file.) Once again we are looking today at the Ford government’s attack on environmental protections, and its handing of power and financial windfalls to a small number of major developers who just happen also to be major PC donors. Last week Environmental Defence and Democracy Watch formally called for a police investigation into the circumstances surrounding apparent insider information leaks to developers ahead of the announcement of lands being removed from the greenbelt. Joining us to discuss the nature of the evidence, and the implications for both the environment and our democracy if the allegations prove to be true, is Tim Gray of Environmental Defence. Tim has over 25 years of experience developing and implementing environmental policy change efforts, and has worked with multiple governments across the political spectrum in pursuit of better environmental protections, working both with government, and alongside other activists on the front lines of the battles to combat climate change and defend the environment. This episode of The 905er is brought to you by our sponsor: South River Brewing. Listen to this episode to see how you can save money on your next order by visiting the link below: South River Brewing It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills. Why not buy us a coffee? Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions. Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at https://www.patreon.com/the905er. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team. 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