The 905er Podcast

For the first time in a long time home-owners and home-buyers in the 905 are facing the prospect of house prices that go down instead of up. Is this entirely bad? A needed but hopefully limited adjustment triggered by interest rates? An unexpected fix to affordability? Or none of the above? The Ontario Liberals are beginning a new phase of reflection and self-analysis after finishing the provincial election exactly where they finished in 2018 - with a handful of seats and without official party status. Some voices claim that it's because the party is still perceived as too left wing? Does that really have anything to do with why the party completely failed to grasp the imagination of Ontarians? (Hint: no.) 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

It's time to look forward to summer again. One of the largest music festivals in Canada happens right here in the 905. This year bands like Finger Eleven, The Trews and The Tea Party are playing to crowds of hundreds of thousands on Father's Day weekend in downtown Burlington. And most important, it's free. Yes, that's right free! The previous two years have been challenging for artists and live music fans due to the pandemic restrictions. However, as we start to put that behind us, it's time to get back to enjoying the things we love. To give us some insight into the challenges of coming back from a global pandemic stronger than ever, and to show us what to expect at this year's festival, we asked Myles Rusak the Executive Director of the Burlington Sound of Music Festival to join us. Myles is clearly a music fan, and if you're one too, you're going to want to listen to this episode. Festival webpage: https://www.soundofmusic.ca 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

Join us on YouTube at 9pm this evening (2nd June) when the polls close as Roland, Joel and special guests discuss the Ontario election results and what they mean for the 905 region. Here's the link you'll need: https://youtu.be/AMBnJb-JqT0 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

Don't miss our election night live stream on Thursday. We'll spice up this election or die trying. Either way, it should be a fun evening for our listeners, and we're hoping to have some special guests. Join us and drown your sorrows or unexpectedly celebrate the (what colour do you get if you merge Green, Orange and Red?), er, 'Brown Wave'© of 2020. But, so far, this is not looking to be an election for the ages, unless something very unexpected happens on Thursday. Doug Ford's government has spent four years providing clear evidence that it would struggle to organize a fun evening at a brewery, while the sticker-magnate premier failed to make a sticker stick or a licence plate show up in the dark. But there was much worse. Seniors dying of COVID, abandoned by staff and and completely unprotected as the disease spread unhindered. Vacillation and ineptitude over multiple failed attempts to control spread by colour-codes and levels we've all now long forgotten. Federal COVID relief funds misappropriated and misused. And right back at the start in 2018, a budding green economy pointlessly destroyed. And yet it looks very much like Ontarians are about to convey a renewed mandate, while both Andrea Horwath and Steven Del Duca appear to be failing to land a single truly significant blow on Doug Ford during this election. W, as the the saying goes, TF? And talking of unbelievable, Councillor Terry Whitehead, Hamilton's regular entrant in the crowded field of challengers for 'worst councillor in Ontario', really went off on one last week, launching an extraordinary attack on the leftist cabal he claims is trying to take over the city. All we can say is that Comrade Danko's disguise as a middle-of-the-road moderate is pretty darn convincing, and he's keeping his copy of Das Kapital well hidden underneath a well-crafted disguise of stockbroker chic. And Councillors Wilson and Nann seem more like entirely reasonable and at least lucid voices on council than the shock troops of Hamilton's leftist fifth column.* Whitehead's ranting and raving gives serious concern for his wellbeing, and yet with the way local democracy works in this province, does his bizarre behaviour even actually harm his re-election chances? 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! *Yes Roland is trying to show off all the fancy jargon he learned in Russian History 101 back in 1989, what of it? 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 saga surrounding Robert Bateman High in Burlington continues! First off we look at the Aird & Berlis report clearing the City Council of wrong doing in the Shawna Stolte disciplinary matter. While technically they are in the right, there is a big caveat of whether or not they should keep going with how they have been acting so far. Roland lays out a big criticism of the city council that still lingers over the whole affair. Then after the break, Joel looks at the city finally getting around to asking for public input on the purchase of Robert Bateman High. Only there isn't a lot more information than what is out there already. How are people supposed to make an informed decision when they don't have all the facts. Namely an estimate of cost to the public treasury. While technically this is a public consultation, it is the bare minimum of one in our opinion. We discuss it. ***NOTE*** On this episode we had some technical issues on the recording and so the quality is not up to our usual standard. We did not have time to re-record the episode and so we had to make do. 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

Here is The 905 Round-Up! Coming off our episodes on the Green Party, NDP and Ontario Liberal Party platforms, we get a chance to dive into some polling data! Abacus Data issued a poll on Monday, May 16th, which seemed to back up a lot of what Roland and Joel have been saying about the performance of the so-called progressive parties in this election. Then after the break, we look at a story from The Spec showing that a ban on drinking in public parks by law, hasn't existed since 2005. So why were fines issued in 2021? And more than that, why do we ban drinking in public parks at all? Isn't it time to update our Victorian-era Puritanical laws on alcohol? Lastly, as it turns out Brampton is a very diverse and multicultural city in the 905. So why doesn't its city hall bureaucracy match the facts? No doubt it's due to the fact that city halls are slow to adapt and change. And in case you were wondering, yes this is what structural racism looks like. 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

In keeping with our coverage to date of the Ontario Provincial Election, here is Joel and Roland's take on what works and what doesn't in the Ontario Liberal Party Platform. 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

This week saw the media and political parties foam at the mouth at the revelation by the NDP that Lisa MacLeod, Ontario PC MPP in Nepean was given an allowance of $44,000 over the last four years from her riding association. Further investigation saw that up to 8 other PC MPPs took thousands of dollars from their riding associations in similar manners. Including here in the 905, Mississauga East-Cooksville MPP, Kaleed Rasheed. While many at first looked at this as a clear scandal of financial abuse, Roland wrote for our website a detailed article on why it is not. Joel and Roland debate the ethics of this and whether or not this is actually a scandal or just a case of too much money to spend. Then, after the break, Roland and Joel focus their attention on Hamilton. Specifically, the latest revelations of the Red Hill Valley Parkway scandal. How did Hamilton get to this point? While the truth is slowly coming out, we have to wonder whether or not a culture of obtuseness, secrecy and arrogance was a factor in this report and truth being so difficult to come to the surface. These traits in 905 municipal governments are a troubling trend. Both Roland and Joel explore what this means for the region. 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

The Green Party of Ontario's platform gets the 905er treatment today. But first, are we even smart enough to manage to download the darn thing? Listen to find out. 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

Joel and Roland take a look away from the Ontario election beginning and focus on the municipal candidates declaring their candidacy for this falls election. Why is there such ridiculousness around the public property not being used for campaigning? It is publicly owned and are we not smart enough to know a campaign when we see it? They are already used enough by sitting councillors and mayors in between elections. Level the playing field. Then we look at the potential legal minefield the City of Hamilton is going into with their declaration that unvaccinated transit workers will be terminated on May 31. The problem is a combination of poor rules from the province and delayed action by the city in our opinion. We dive into it! 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

Following our interviews with the leaders of the Greens and Ontario Liberals in the last two weeks, we take a look today at the NDP's platform for the election which gets properly underway on Thursday. The NDP are first out of the gate with their full platform, and we choose the things we think are good and not so good from the NDP's program for government. In the coming weeks we'll turn our attention to the other party platforms as and when they become available. 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

The 905 Round-Up is up and running! Coming off our coverage of the Burlington City Council's decision to reprimand Councillor Shawna Stolte we look at the very public and lengthy response to the situation from Mayor Marianne Meed-Ward. The Mayor pins the situation as a necessary task for the common good and explains the decision by relying on the integrity commissioner's report. However, there is a nuance to be explored here. And the secretive nature of Burlington City Council's repeated use of in-camera meetings without providing justification or explanation remains unaddressed. Roland and Joel look at the story and ponder just how damaged the relationship between the council and its citizens has been eroded after this sordid bit of Burlington history. Then after the break, we examine the rising cases of COVID-19 in Hamilton as well as the province at large. It seems that people are eager to ignore that a pandemic is still happening. While lockdowns have grown to be unnecessary in the current wave, there have emerged other problems that are not being addressed. Namely the fact that worker sick days are not flexible enough to handle the wave of illness we are facing. A new deal for workers coming out of COVID may be necessary. However, going into this year's provincial election none of our political parties seem to be wanting to address it. We take a look at all of it in this episode. 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

In the second of our interviews with Ontario party leaders, this week we are joined by Steven Del Duca, leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. Steven Del Duca was first elected to the legislature in 2012 when he became MPP for Vaughan following the retirement of Greg Sorbara. In 2014 he became Minister of Transportation, one of the most high-profile ministries in the Wynne government. He lost his seat in 2018 as part of the Liberal collapse, but in the ensuing leadership election in March 2020, he became leader of the Ontario Liberals on the first ballot with overwhelming support from the party membership. In what appears to be a highly confusing polling landscape just days before the election writs are issued, the Ontario Liberals appear to be running marginally ahead of the NDP, with a seat projection that might put them back into second place, but far from forming a majority. The extent to which Del Duca can make an impact with Ontario voters over the next few weeks will be crucial in deciding whether the OLP and NDP split the progressive vote, or one of them is able to unite the public behind them enough to prevent a second term for Doug Ford. 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

As promised, we are bringing you our talks with the leaders of the major Ontario political parties prior to the campaign starting next month. We had wanted to do this for some time leading up to the election. A chance to sit down with the various leaders and get a sense of how well they grasp the issues and problems we face here in the 905. Our goal was a simple interview where they would answer our questions, free from soundbites, spin and rhetoric. A chance for them to really project their vision for the region and province. And a chance for you to listen and really grasp if they got the issues or not. The idea was if you liked what they said, or if you didn't do well then it would be the fault of the leaders, not us. To that end, we bring you our episode with Mike Schreiner of the Green Party of Ontario. Mike is the first Green Party MPP elected to the legislature and currently represents the riding of Guelph as of 2018. He is of course looking to expand his party's seat count in the legislature and has his eyes on the 905 as a region that would respond well to his party's policies. 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

This episode of the 905 Round-Up is short and sweet this week. Due to Joel feeling under the weather it was decided to keep this episode to the point. As well, despite Joel's assertions, the day after recording this episode he tested again and discovered indeed that he contracted COVID. Reminder folks! Masks work! The NDP made news this week when sitting MPP Kevin Yarde in Brampton was ousted by his own riding association in a nomination meeting for Sandeep Singh. In Brampton North, approximately 150 people were able to over rule the voice of 100,000 people before the provincial election this June. What does it say about our democracy when so few people in a riding association are able to decide the candidates to represent so many people in our places of power? Joel and Roland are no stranger to the machinations and mischief that can happen at nomination meetings. This episode they use their insight to critique something that all parties in Canada are guilty of and ponder how can the system be made more democratic and transparent for all citizens in a democracy? 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

[The incorrect file was initially uploaded with this episode. It has now been corrected.] At the same time as society has been dealing with COVID-19, another public health crisis has been taking place. This is the epidemic of deaths being caused across North America by overdoses above all from synthetic opioids like Fentanyl. To discuss the scale and nature of the problem, we spoke to Halton Regional Police Service Chief Steve Tanner. Chief Tanner was born in Oakville and entered the police service in 1982. After stints in Guelph, Belleville and Kingston, he returned home to Halton as Chief of the Halton Regional Police Service in 2012. 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 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 mayoral race is heating up in Hamilton as a familiar face finally throws his hat into the ring. Meanwhile, Waterdown and Flamborough area councillor Judi Partridge announces she’s not running again, bringing the remaining Hamilton council to the verge of ‘lame duck’ status.Last week the announcement that Halton District School Board was re-allocating all its librarian teachers caused a stir online—a total of 90 school librarians will no longer be librarians. What’s it all about, and if anybody deserves to receive blame, who should it be? 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

Rory Nisan is a city and regional councillor for Ward 3 in Burlington and Halton and Maureen Wilson is a councillor for Ward 1 in Hamilton. Both of them join us today to give their perspective on why the municipal votes in Hamilton and Halton to repeal mask mandates were so one-sided when the public seems far from united on the wisdom of abandoning masks. Last month, Doug Ford announced that vaccine passports and mask mandates would be a thing of the past. For many across Ontario, this was good news. For others real trepidation and fear took hold. What would this mean for possible future waves of COVID-19? No one could give clear answers. Only our scientists wished for more time to learn what was around the corner. But there was no time for that. Instead, Premier Ford pushed forward. Only he hit a snag. The provincial government wasn't the one who had implemented the mandates, it was actually the various municipalities around the province that did the heavy lifting. So it would be them to have the debate and determine the proper course of action right? Actually no. The municipalities of the 905 rushed with seeming little debate to lift all restrictions. Between Hamilton and Halton only three councillors voted in favour of keeping mandates. Three. Why was this the case? Why was the argument so one-sided? To get a sense of what was going on, we spoke to two of the three councillors who voted to maintain mandates. 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

We are joined by a special guest on this Round-Up. Milton Reporter, Laura Steiner returns to The 905er to share her insight on 905 politics! Doug Ford and the PC government is lifting mask mandates across the province, however...they forgot to tell the 905 municipalities. So every regional and municipal government in the 905 is rushing to hold special council meetings to repeal the mask mandates. We just ask, where is the debate over this? Shockingly there seems to be very little resistance to the idea of repealing mask mandates at the local level. Especially as the public mood over mandates is not uniform one way or another. We have to ask ourselves is this politics over science? Then we look at the party's various chances of success in the upcoming provincial election in the 905. Where are the star candidates and why does it seem that no one is eager to really have this election? Despite there being a feeling of exhaustedness with this current government in the air? Lastly, we have to discuss the impact the NDP and Liberal agreement in Ottawa will play on the provincial election here in Ontario? Will this be a sign of things to come in the provincial election? We examine it all on this episode of the 905 Round-Up. Check out Laura Steiner's work here: https://miltonreporter.ca/ 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

On this episode of The 905 Round-Up, it's all political. Mayor Patrick Brown has announced his campaign to become the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. One might think this would make his being mayor of Brampton rather difficult. We agree. Roland and Joel ponder what does it mean for the people of Brampton, now that they have a part-time mayor? And just what are Patrick's odds of winning anyways? Either way, it doesn't appear that the people of Brampton will come out on top. Then we look at Doug Ford's edict prohibiting his caucus members from helping any of the federal Conservative leadership candidates' campaigns in Ontario. This is a similar rule to one passed in the last federal election, in which no Progressive Conservative caucus member actively helped out their federal cousins. Is this a strategy of actively distancing the conservative party of Canada's largest province away from its federal counterpart? Lastly, we take a look at Hamilton City Council. Well, whether or not the allegation of former mayor Larry DiIanni that the council is too left has any merit. We don't think so. As well, maybe the shift we've seen in Hamilton lately is due to the longstanding desire to see business done differently in Hamilton. It's all discussed on this episode! 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

This week, Burlington lost an elder statesman of local politics. Former Mayor Walter Mulkewich passed away this week. His legacy in Burlington and Hamilton's civic as well as political life will be missed by many. If you were involved in local politics in Burlington, there wouldn't be any doubt that in some circle or another Walter Mulkewich would be a figure. And always for the better. Roland and Joel take time to remember the legacy of Burlington's former mayor and how he was truly a rare breed in politics. Willing to put aside ideology and rhetoric in favour of compromise and finding a way to make the city a better place. After the break then, Roland and Joel take a review of the Ontario government's decision to start drastically rolling back COVID-19 rules. What will this mean going forward, and what does it say to the millions of Ontarians who sacrificed and followed through on the restrictions, only to have them suddenly end under the guise of having to live with COVID-19? 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coming off our well-received episode on the #halton boundary debate, Joel and Roland look at both sides and how we think the debate over land use needs to progress in #the905. After that, we look at recent statistics provided by our friend Alan Kan on #Mississauga's apparently drop in population. And lastly, we look at Doug Ford's loss of candidates leading up to this spring's #Ontario Election. Particularly Burlington MPP Jane McKenna's decision not to run again. What does it mean for the region? You can read Alan's piece here: https://munipolimatters.substack.com/p/sidebar-what-the-2021census-says?utm_source=url 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last Thursday we mentioned a new idea that had been mooted in Hamilton media the same day as a way to solve the current homeless crisis. That idea is being advocated by the Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters - HATS - an alliance of poverty reduction activists, churches and Hamilton residents looking to reproduce a successful project launched in 2019 in Kitchener. To discuss the background to the HATS project, and why it is being argued to offer an innovative approach to providing decent transitional temporary housing for Hamilton’s homeless, we spoke to former MPP for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, and former minister of, among other ministries, Municipal Affairs and Housing and Community and Social Services, the Hon. Ted McMeekin. Today Ted describes himself as "a Lifetime community volunteer. Interested in affordable housing, homelessness and basic Income, and desirous of bending the world toward social Justice". 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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

On this episode of The 905 Round-Up: Of course, all we can talk about is the trucker convoy in Ottawa. While the eyes of the country are on Ottawa right now, the convoy passed through the 905 drumming up supporters demonstrating at overpasses. One day the convoy is going to end and these people will return home, here to the 905. So what does that mean for our civil discourse and what ought to be done about it? Then on a note of good news, Hamilton has taken positive action towards the homeless issue in its city. Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters (HATS) is building tiny homes for the homeless community at John A Macdonald School. Is this the positive direction Hamilton ought to be doing for its homeless population? Can this be the right foot forward on this issue? Spoiler, the answer is yes! 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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

January is National Alzheimer's Awareness Month. Alzheimer's is the most common form of a range of diseases that is collectively referred to as dementia. In Canada, dementia affects over 500,000 Canadians. The annual costs to the Canadian health care system come in at around $10.5 billion. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, shortcomings in our health care system and more specifically our long-term care home system have been exposed. As the baby boomer generation continues to age is not just the 905 but Ontario and Canada at large, it is becoming increasingly apparent that we are not planning properly for the future. We invited Mary Burnett, the CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Brant, Haldimand Norfolk, Hamilton Halton, Phyllis Fehr who was given a working diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s at 53 years old and works to break down stigmas associated with Alzheimer's and Dementia, and Jill Davis who is returning to the podcast to provide the experience of a caregiver to a loved one with dementia. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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

On this episode of The 905 Round-Up: Roland and Joel look at the long journey to raise the #prideflag at #HCDSB schools, and the perils of live-tweeting 5-hour long board meetings. Then Roland reviews the leaked proposals from the Housing Affordability Task Force as reported on by TVO. Could this be the progressive policy to transform Ontario's housing market? Will the Ford government follow suit on it? Lastly, Joel and Roland talk about the cruelty of #HamONT forcing away the homeless from getting warm at City Hall. Taking away options without providing new ones only exacerbates the problem in Hamilton and the 905 at large. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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

As the Omicron variant continues to paralyze the 905 and all of Ontario, we asked epidemiologist Dr Todd Coleman what we should be doing to live with COVID-19 as we enter the third year of this pandemic. Todd Coleman received his PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics in 2014 from the University of Western Ontario. After his PhD studies, I worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Ryerson University, then, as a Public Health Epidemiologist with the Middlesex-London Health Unit. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Wilfrid Laurier University, where he teaches courses in Epidemiology and Population Health. His research focuses on issues of social inclusion and health equity in terms of health outcomes and health care access in minority groups. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For this episode of The 905 Round-Up, Roland and Joel look at a story from Durham on the far side of the region and ask why didn't the local media cover it better? And on that note, why doesn't the local media in the 905 do a better job of covering the issues and stories that make an impact on the region. Well, thank goodness there is the 905er! Following up on that story, we look at a story from the start of the year in Mississauga and the last developable land being sold off. What does this mean for Mississauga now that expansion is no longer an option? And what lesson can be taken away for other cities in the 905? Lastly, Roland looks at an editorial that he wrote for our website, and asks where did our leadership go during this pandemic? https://905er.ca/2022/01/a-polite-suggestion-to-ontarios-big-city-mayors-shut-up/ 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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

Download episode One of the biggest stories we have covered since this podcast began was last year's decision by Halton Catholic School Board over a motion brought that, if passed, would have seen the Pride flag fly over Halton's Catholic Schools during Pride month, along with a variety of other measures to demonstrate and support acceptance of LGBTQIA+ students in HCDSB schools. The motion, brought by Trustee Brenda Agnew following an initial question raised by a student, was not so much defeated as disassembled by a thousand amendments. But the message was clear - a majority of HCDSB trustees were opposed---some virulently so---to raising the Pride flag over Halton's Catholic Schools, and, at least for some, any suggestion of support for or endorsement of LGBTQIA+ students. It was a decision that received national and even international attention, and went against a trend seen at other Catholic School Boards in Ontario, where numerous votes saw support for raising the Pride flag. But Trustee Agnew is bringing a new motion to HCDSB this evening (January 18th 2022), and with it an opportunity for trustees to take a different approach. Trustee Agnew joined us late last week to discuss why she's bringing another motion, and what she expects from her fellow trustees this time, and why she believes HCDSB's decision over the Pride flag is so important. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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 and Joel are back at it! Our first episode of 2022, has our intrepid hosts looking down the barrel of another lockdown and shutting of schools to mark the start of the year. At this point it's clear our provincial government in Ontario is winging this pandemic from wave to wave, with parents, students and the economy considered collateral damage. What are we all to do going forward with Premier Ford at the helm? Then Roland looks at the city of Hamilton adjusting their rules surrounding lawn signs during elections. It ends up they took what probably should've been a pretty simple and clear clarification of the rules, and ended up making them thicker than mud. Why the confusion? Is it political in motivation, or something far more mundane? Lastly, Joel brings up the fact that the Halton Catholic District School Board is going to give raising the Pride flag in June another kick at the can. The last time this was brought up, the entire process degenerated into a mess of bigotry and division. Is that the sign of things to come? Or has the school board finally learned its lesson and will stand on the right side of history finally? Time will tell... 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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

Here it is! Our last episode of #2021! Joel and Roland look back on the year that was and select our top three stories that we'll be keeping an eye on in #2022. We look at the HCDSB Pride Flag debate, the impact the Federal election will have on this year's provincial election in Ontario and of course the story of Burlington Taxi's closure in Burlington! You can listen to those episodes by clicking on the links here: The HCDSB Pride Debate: https://905er.ca/2021/04/a-question-of-pride-for-halton-catholic-school-board/ Our Election Night Live Stream Special: https://905er.ca/2021/09/905er-election-night-special/ Scott Wallace on Burlington Taxi's Closure: https://905er.ca/2021/12/scott-wallace-of-burlington-taxi-sets-the-record-straight/ 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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 Penultimate episode before the holidays. So we wanted this to be a good news story. Back in January, we did an episode on Peel Region's struggles with COVID-19. At that time Peel was an epicentre of the pandemic struggling to get a handle on the situation. Today, the region is the top spot in Canada for Vaccination rates. A big factor in that turnaround was the mobilization of various communities to get their people vaccinated. Groups like the Canadian Muslim COVID-19 Task Force worked to turn the tide on COVID-19. We invited Urz Heer to the podcast to discuss the hard work that went into achieving this accomplishment. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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 look at what we learned from our explosive interview with Scott Wallace of Burlington Taxi. Where is the outrage from Burlington City Council towards the failure of staff to follow through on its directive? Then Joel and Roland look at a recent poll of Ontario political leadership that shows a big uphill battle for Ontario Liberal Party Leader, Steven Del Duca as well for Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horvath. What do they need to turn things around in the #newyear? Stop operating like it's 1995 for starters. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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

On November 26th Burlington Taxi, which began operation 53 years ago, shut down for good, leaving many local services and the residents who depended on them without any immediate replacement means of transportation. In the days that followed, it became apparent that there were more factors at work than just the inability of the company to remain profitable. A key element appeared to be the failure of City of Burlington staff to follow through on a council direction back in 2018. Somehow, an instruction from council to staff simply went missing. What happened? Today our interview is with Scott Wallace, President of Burlington Taxi. Scott sat down to give us a detailed account of his side of the debate. It was an interview that certainly added greatly to our understanding of the timeline of what went on. Yet, as you will hear, there remain significant questions for the city to answer about how and why the council’s direct instructions could simply be ignored. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The 905 Round-Up, Joel and Roland take a look at Peel region. Specifically, the fact that while Mississauga is getting massive funding for a badly needed hospital. To the tune of $3 billion. While its neighbour to the north is getting nothing. This isn't the first time Brampton has called for more attention to its health care system. And it isn't the first time they've been ignored. Since the start of the pandemic calls from Brampton has fallen on deaf ears at Queen's Park. What is behind this? Is it a feud between Premier Doug Ford and Mayor Patrick Brown with Brampton citizens caught in the crossfire? Then we look at the Burlington Taxi controversy in you guessed it,...Burlington! More specifically the call by the Burlington Gazette to fire city clerk Kevin Ardoon. We examine why this is just looking for a scapegoat and the irresponsibility of calling for the sacking of a public official and tarnishing of his reputation, without a lot to back it. Lastly, some good news in Halton with the proposed plan to construct badly needed social housing in Georgetown, Milton and Oakville. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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 a tumultuous time in Hamilton, with major stories concerning the city's present and future cropping up every week. Events such as the recent violence associated with the clearing of the homeless living in J. C. Beemer Park, the successful Stop Sprawl HamONT campaign to persuade council to vote against urban expansion, and the ongoing saga of the behaviour of some of the most longstanding councillors. iElectHamilton, who we spoke to in the spring when their campaign for change at City Hall was launched, recently launched a survey of Hamilton residents and their views of the leadership at City Hall. The results of the survey appear to illustrate a city ready for change. To discuss this trend and what is going on on the ground in Hamilton, we invited back Graham Crawford, one of the organizers of iElectHamilton, to the 905er, to discuss the survey, recent events, and the preparations for a 2022 municipal election that promises to be one with a clear choice for voters to make at the ballot box. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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 the weekend saw violence erupt in J.C. Beemer park in Hamilton over the tent encampments there. Protesters from Hamilton Encampment Support Network clashed with police. The details are being investigated by the province's SIU. However, the episode has brought to the forefront the issue of affordable housing in the city. Joel and Roland discuss the interconnection of the various issues that keep popping up in Hamilton, and the seeming unwillingness of city leadership to properly address them. Then Joel and Roland segue into the looming provincial election as NDP and Ontario Liberal Leaders both made big campaign promises. As talk and rhetoric continue to rise as the election draws closer, it seems that more and more the political leadership in Ontario tends to miss the mark in terms of what's actually needed for the people on the ground. What does this disconnect from Ontarians mean for our political options come election season, and is there time for a party or leader to seize the narrative and propose real substantive change? 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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's episode goes to the heart of the planning and development debate in the 905. The new council elected in Burlington in 2018 has undoubtedly achieved significant change to Burlington’s downtown planning framework, and extracted major concessions from the province--at least, it has on paper. Previously, the presence of Burlington’s provincially designated Urban Growth Centre and a Metrolinx Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) in the downtown acted like large neon signs pointing downtown which said ‘build highrises here’, regardless of what the city or residents wanted. All that appeared to change this year. On November 10th Minister of Municipal Affairs Steve Clarke confirmed in writing to the City the details of changes that had been announced at a press conference in June--the province had agreed to move Burlington’s Urban Growth Centre away from downtown, and closer to Burlington Go Station. Burlington will still have to take just as many new residents as it ever would have done, but they'll be located where the city council has argued is most appropriate. Meanwhile, the MTSA designation which claimed Burlington’s tiny bus station was a major transit hub, was also removed. Clarke said in June, “By re-designating the Urban Growth Centre away from the downtown and closer to the Burlington GO station we will ensure that the downtown area is preserved.” So, it seems like Burlington’s new council has gotten everything it wanted. Right? Not so fast... Today we speak to Burlington's Councillor for downtown Lisa Kearns, about the catch in the deal with the province, and the wider need for reform of how municipalities control planning. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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 week saw a major victory for the grassroots organizers to protect the remaining rural area of Hamilton from development. Hamilton City Council voted not to expand it's Urban Boundary. This came after a sustained grassroots pressure from groups such as Stop Sprawl Ham ONT organized and campaigned to stop the expansion. Joel and Roland look at what this victory will mean for the city as it's undergoing a grassroots empowerment movement, and they ponder if this is a sign of a shift in culture from council. Then after the break, Joel and Roland look at how the Six Nations Land Defenders of 1492 Landback Lane are showing solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en peoples in downtown Hamilton. More than a year from the last #shutdowncanada protests over the gas pipelines on the Wet'suwet'en land, it appears that we are starting the cycle up again. Reconciliation is at the doorstep of the 905 region. We talk about what this means for the region, the province and Canada at large. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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

Something all parents are all too aware of is the price of daycare. Not just in #the905 but across the province. In some cases, the cost is comparable to a second mortgage on a family's expenses. Finally, the federal government is getting a plan in place across the country to help bring the cost of daycare down to $10 per day. However, to date, only New Brunswick and Ontario have yet to sign. We asked the Federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould to come on the podcast to explain exactly what is the proposed offer, and what the hold-up is to get a deal in place for Ontario. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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 Joel and Roland look over the Minister of Municipal Affairs finally moving the Urban Growth Centre. Spoiler it's a gift that's actually not a gift. The devil is in the details and it appears that Burlington is probably not getting what it actually wants. The fact is the development in this province under this government progresses no matter what. We then look at Hamilton City Council's decision to job interview for a new Ward 5 Councillor rather than ask the people of Ward 5 themselves whom they'd like to represent them on the council. It's anti-democracy in action at Hamilton City Council. Lastly, we sneak in a chat about Erin O'Toole demonstrating leadership by kicking Senator Denise Batters from the Conservative Caucus and in the process seems to have kick-started a civil war in the party. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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 month the Ontario government announced it would be raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. A reversal of the decision to cancel the minimum wage increase when they came into power four years ago.⁠⁠As the Ontario economy recovers from COVID-19 the question of why now, and whether or not this is too little too late permeates the discussion. Some who are saying this doesn't go far enough are the people at Ontario Living Wage Network. They released their numbers for what the living wage in the province and the 905 should be, and the proposed minimum wage increase falls far short.⁠⁠We invited Craig Pickthorne from the network to discuss the need for a living wage and why it's important to consider it now.⁠ https://www.ontariolivingwage.ca/ ⁠ 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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 Roland and Joel discuss the recent report by the Hamilton Integrity Commissioner on Councillor Terry Whitehead's conduct. Spoiler alert...it's not a favourable one. Both our hosts discuss the antics that go on at City Hall and what ought to be done to hold bad municipal politicians to account. And in keeping with the Hamilton theme, the folks at Stop Sprawl Ham ONT have shaken up the debate surrounding the Urban Boundary Expansion. By using their know-how and hard work, they have identified all the vacant and used properties in downtown Hamilton which could be rezoned or developed into housing, workspaces or other uses. Our hosts talk about how this has changed the argument drastically in this contentious debate. Here is the article from The Spectator in question: https://www.thespec.com/opinion/contributors/2021/11/04/mapping-hamiltons-vacant-spaces-helps-paint-a-picture-for-the-future.html?rf&utm_source=twitter&source=thespec&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=&utm_campaign_id=&utm_content= 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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

Something we take for granted in the 905, is how unique a setting our own backyard can be. It can be a terrific backdrop to our imagination and whisk us away on adventures. One local Burlington author has done exactly that. Doug Cockell is a local author who has written a trilogy of supernatural mysteries, all taking place in the Niagara Escarpment. His novels: Requiem for Thursday, Requiem for Noah and most recently Requiem for Mary Mac are all currently on the Amazon Bestsellers list. Requiem for Thursday was a semi-finalist for the 2020 Booklife Prize Fiction contest. He joins us today to discuss how the 905 has driven his inspiration for his writing, and what makes it such a potent backdrop for his stories. As well you can find his works here. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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

Burlington is in a pickle. Recently the Ontario Land Tribunal ruled in favour of developers at Lakeshore and Pearl to increase their height to 29 stories. Over the objection of council and citizens. This sparked a public statement from the Mayor. Joel and Roland analyze the situation that the city is in and what options they really have. Then it appears that the Halton Catholic School Board can't keep its bad news out of the press. This time a well-intentioned webinar for parents of black students was cancelled. Instead of looking at how to better educate students on anti-racism measures, the board appeared to be telling black students how to deal with it. Joel and Roland look at what's going on and how the board keeps finding itself in these situations. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent days Doug Ford and the PC government have been doubling down on their intention to build Highway 413, an additional radial highway planned to run almost entirely through Green Belt lands from Halton at the 407 and Winston Churchill, between Brampton and Caledon, joining Highway 400 a few kilometres north of Canada's Wonderland. Irene Ford joins us from the grassroots Stop the 413 group to discuss the latest developments and the many reasons why she believes Highway 413 should be stopped. Can you guess what might be motivating the government? For more on the campaign to stop the 413, see https://www.communityclimatecouncil.org/stopthe413 and our previous episode discussing the excellent Community Climate Council seminar in February. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coming off our episode this week with Stop Sprawl Ham ONT, Roland looks at using bike share and cycling as an innovative tool to help curb sprawl in 905 communities. Afterwards, Joel questions if the current Ontario government is giving up on getting vaccines in the arms of the remaining 20% of the population to be inoculated, as it appears all masking and vaccine mandates will be lifted in the new year. 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. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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've been following Hamilton municipal politics recently, then no doubt you are aware of the contentious debate over whether or not the city should expand its urban boundary. The small sliver of land of viable farmland that exists between the developed part of Hamilton and the border of the greenbelt is the current battleground for developers in the 905. The current city council is in vigorous debates over whether or not to allow the boundary to extend into this space. Developers are eager to build new single-family unit homes, and the debate has even gotten the attention of Ontario's Minister of Municipal Affairs Steve Clark, who wrote an Op-Ed in The Hamilton Spectator advocating the urgency for developing this plot of land. However, to get their way, they'll have to go through a grassroots organization mobilizing to keep the Urban Boundary right where it is. Stop Sprawl Ham ONT is fighting to turn attention away from expansion into farmland and to direct the focus to intensification in the downtown core. One of the founders of this group is Nancy Hurst. Nancy helped to found Stop Sprawl Ham ONT in January 2020. The campaign has gathered over 5000 supporters and peppered the city with anti-sprawl lawn signs. She joins us to discuss the campaign and how we should be thinking of our cities in the 905. Stop Sprawl Ham ONT Website - https://www.ssho.caIf you are interested in delegating or otherwise providing your opinion to Hamilton Council on this subject, sign up to learn how: https://www.environmenthamilton.org/delegate_workshop 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. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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

On this episode of the 905 Round Up we are focusing on politics. This past weekend, Ontario Liberal Party leader Steven Del Duca made a bold proclamation. Declaring that ranked ballots would be returning not just as an option for Ontario municipalities, but will be the way we elect our provincial legislature going forward. As well the Basic Income pilot project that the Progressive Conservatives cancelled, would be reinstated and the Liberals would introduce a four day work week. These were impressive promises, however we've heard this rhetoric before from Liberal leaders. It's a question of if the people would believe he would follow through. As well is it enough to get Del Duca into the Premier's office? After that, we look at how the Progressive Conservative Minister of Municipal Affairs Steve Clark is inserting himself into Hamilton's Boundary Expansion debate. Why does a Minister need to write Op-Eds in favour of expansion when it is up to the municipality to make that call? More important, why is this government so forceful on siding with developers in this region? 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. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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

Cities are made up of more than just buildings and roads. It's the people and the entrepreneurs that live and work in them that come together to create something unique. Each city has its own quality that makes it what it is. Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver...all of them have a distinct image in your mind. Part of what makes each city its own is the arts and culture that the city creates. We wanted to take a look at Hamilton's music and culture scene this week. And how it is working to define a changing city into a 21st-century arts hub. And how that in turn is changing the way Hamiltonians view themselves. To help us out, we invited Kristin Archer. Kristin is the creator of the blog I Heart Hamilton where she has documented experiences around her hometown since 2011, growing a local social media presence along the way. Kristin is also the host of the weekly show “I Heart Hamilton” on community radio 93.3 CFMU where she further showcases Hamilton with an emphasis on the local arts & culture scenes. She is a major supporter of the local music scene through promoting local music, booking shows, and DJing. 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. 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! Don’t forget to check out 905er.ca, even if you get the podcast delivered to you automatically. We post additional news and stories there when we can, and welcome submissions and ideas for additional content. 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