The 905er Podcast

Joey Coleman, editor of The Public Record, joins us for part 2 of our examination of the reasons and justifications for Hamilton Council launching an Integrity Commissioner investigation into a citizen volunteer on an advisory committee. Joey has explored the legal context in detail and suggests there are major problems with the City of Hamilton's arguments that Cameron Kroetsch released confidential information, and its claim that the Integrity Commissioner has the right to investigate advisory committee members. Roland and Joel conclude with a discussion of implications of the apparent unwillingness of some municipal leaders to tolerate dissent, and what needs to change if we're going to build local governments of which we can be proud. Special thanks to our 905er volunteers who are helping us to make these episodes - check out their websites: Gayle Lawes: research. Wendy Nicholson: sound engineer and podcast consultant. The Quadrafonics: dope sounds. 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, for the first time, we shall be releasing two episodes of the 905er podcast, on Tuesday and Thursday. In our 'two part' episode, we take a deep dive into Hamilton politics, and explore why Hamilton City Council decided to launch an investigation by its Integrity Commissioner into the actions of a volunteer chair of one of its advisory committees - Cameron Kroetsch. We speak to Cameron to get his side of the story, and ask whether the claims against him have merit, why council would want to appear so heavy-handed with regard to the actions of a volunteer, and what message they are sending to the wider community. Make sure you also listen to Part 2 on Thursday, where we speak to Joey Coleman, an award-winning independent journalist who covers Hamilton City Hall, about whether what Hamilton council has done is justified or even legal. Special thanks to our 905er volunteers who are helping us to make these episodes - check out their websites: Gayle Lawes: research. Wendy Nicholson: sound engineer and podcast consultant. The Quadrafonics: dope sounds. 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

Originally Aired October 6, 2020 ______ There cannot be two people better placed to speak about Ontario's Basic Income Pilot than Deirdre Pike and Jessie Golem. Created by the Ontario Liberal government in the final years before it lost power, and canceled (contrary to assurances to the contrary) by the incoming PC government in 2018, the Basic Income Pilot was intended to provide hard data on how a basic income based on tax returns, replacing the mishmash of benefits currently on offer, could work to transform the lives of people living on lower incomes. Deirdre Pike is a lifelong activist for social justice, notably with respect to LGBTQ+ and feminist issues, but also as one of the most prominent advocates for a universal basic income. Through this involvement, she ran as a candidate for the Ontario Liberal Party in Hamilton Centre in 2018. Deirdre's weekly column in the Hamilton Spectator is essential reading. Jessie Golem is a professional photographer and participant in the Basic Income Pilot. In 2018 Jessie produced a photo series called Humans of Basic Income that powerfully illustrates the stories of the recipients of the canceled Basic Income Pilot Project in Ontario. Her photos have been exhibited across Canada and around the world. Deirdre and Jessie give a fascinating and sometimes heartbreaking account of the Basic Income Pilot, the tragic human cost of its cancellation, and their hopes that the time for Basic Income in Canada might be approaching. Later in the episode, Joel and Roland take a first look at the developing story of the Hamilton Integrity Commissioner's decision to recommend that Council reprimand and fire Cameron Kroetsch, volunteer chair of the city's LGBTQ+ advisory committee, a fact made doubly curious by the same commissioner's repeated failure to reprimand councilors for behaviour which seems to often border on bullying and ad hominem attacks. 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

Some of the industries hit hardest by Covid-19 are those providing some of the more fun things in life - for instance food and drink, entertainment and tourism. As we find out this week, the Niagara Peninsula's wine industry touches on all three of those categories, with many smaller wineries dependent on tourist 'cellar door' purchases to remain profitable. But like so many other areas, businesses are innovating at an incredible rate to meet the challenges they are facing and finding new ways to succeed. This week we are joined by Andrea Kaiser, chair of the Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake (https://wineriesofniagaraonthelake.com/), who tells us about the challenges the industry has faced since March, the new measures they have adopted, and their plans to remain open and welcoming to guests as we head into winter. For people in the 905 region, there are certainly no shortage of ways to buy local and support one of Ontario's most unique industries. In other news, Joel and Roland look at the growing trend across the region of golf courses being purchased by developers, as they are rare spaces not covered by Greenbelt legislation. Does there need to be a change in Ontario law to allow protection of what amount to some of our largest urban green spaces? And is the 905 really seeing the spread of US-style anti-mask protests? Why, yes ... yes it is. We publish articles too. Check out our website at http://905er.ca/ Contact us at [email protected], and we're on the social medias Twitter, Facebook. Instagram, LinkedIn. Thanks as always to the Quadrafonics for the music. 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

Politics is a rough business, but is it ever ok for councillors to insult and belittle members of the public? Lately some councillors in Hamilton appear to be making a habit of behaving towards the public and other council members in ways that - well, let's just say they lack 'decorum'. We're joined by Hamilton Spectator columnist, National Post auto journalist and onetime city hall volunteer Lorraine Sommerfeld, as we discuss some of the themes from the last few weeks in light of the behaviour we are seeing in Hamilton, and the general problem of how to get citizen voices heard in ways which are respectful and don't waste anybody's time. There are a few sound problems this week, so please bear with us. We're still learning how to do this. We publish articles too. Check out our website at http://905er.ca/ Contact us at [email protected], and we're on the social medias Twitter, Facebook. Instagram, LinkedIn. You can find Lorraine Sommerfeld on Twitter at @tweeetlorraine. 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 we're pleased to welcome Dave Meslin to the podcast. Dave was described by Andrew Coyne as ‘a force of nature - a one man think tank/pressure group who won’t stop until he sees his ideas for better democracy put into action’. He’s also been called a ‘wizard’, ‘mastermind’, ‘ultimate ideas guy’ and a ‘mad scientist’. His Ted Talk, “The Antitdote to Apathy” has nearly two million views. Dave has been the most prominent voice encouraging the adoption of ranked ballots in municipal elections, something that both Burlington and Mississauga are currently considering adopting, and which is coming to committee stage in Burlington this Thursday. His book “Teardown: Rebuilding Democracy from the Ground Up” is an entertaining look at both the massive systemic problems with how our democracies currently work, and the well established solutions that already exist, if we can only have the courage to adopt them. Joel, Roland and Dave discuss the huge potential in Ontario's medium-sized cities to act as leaders in democratic innovation and renewal, and Dave restores a little bit of Roland's faith in municipal governments' abilities to change. Later in the podcast we talk about jobs, tax and Amazon's new facility coming to Hamilton; Inside Halton's problem with statistics gets a stern dressing down, and it wouldn't be the 905er podcast without at least another quick look at schools and Covid. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new generation moving out of Toronto want more than just a house with a double garage. Audra Williams and her partner Haritha Nanaratna have created a website named ninetyminutesfrom.com. It's a website that quantifies and categorizes the communities of the 905 region on factors you won't find on many real estate websites. Such as Black Lives Matter support, LBGTQ and Pride organizations, indigenous issues awareness and voting patterns. We invited them on to the podcast to chat with us about their project. How it started, what they hope it will develop into, and how the 905 region is changing as more and more people move out of Toronto in search of affordable housing. In the second half of the episode, Joel and Roland discuss the tough decisions being made by parents as schools reopen, how city halls act to build walls that discourage more than a few voices from ever contributing in their communities, and the lastest examples of crass and unacceptable behaviour by members of Hamilton council. Music by kind permission of the Quadrafonics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After 4 years, is Burlington's Official Plan almost complete? The marathon process of developing a new Official Plan for Burlington has in many ways typified the challenges being faced in every city in the 905 region - both in creating coherent visions for our future, and in implementing local democracy. This week we discuss the provincial background to how our cities are run with Zac Spicer, Director of Research at the Institute of Public Administration in Canada. Zac provides a wealth of insight, based on his years as a researcher into Ontario's municipalities, about the background context which shaped how Burlington's controversial OP was written and then rewritten, and how debates in other 905 cities are taking shape. If we're to demand the best for the cities where we live, we need to understand the processes at work. How much power does a council have? Who runs our cities? Is local democracy in Ontario being undermined by the province and appeals by developers to the LPAT? Do local governments really know how to 'engage' the public, or are they better at superficial tokenism when it comes to public consultations? Make sure you also check out the Quadrafonics who have generously allowed us to use some of their music in our episodes. Visit https://quadrafonics.bandcamp.com/ to hear their music and, if you like, name your price to buy their albums - it's a great moment to support local musicians. As always, send your comments, corrections and more to [email protected], visit our 905er.ca for opinion and commentary, and find us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn 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

Perhaps no industry has been hit harder by Covid-19 than the hospitality industry, and even as businesses reopen there is no avoiding the massive challenges that still exist for restaurants, cafes bars and the places where people have always gathered to eat, drink and socialize. But in the midst of crisis we came across a story of innovation and hope developing in Hamilton. This week we speak to Jason Cassis, founder and partner of Equal Parts Hospitality Inc which owns some of Hamilton's best known eateries, about the experience of having to shut down operations almost overnight as Covid hit, and his new venture Mamma Rossa Italian Kitchen (mammarossa.ca) - a new type of restaurant that has no physical location and sells exclusively through Uber Eats. You'll definitely want to hear Jason describe his experience facing unprecedented challenges, but also stories of positivity and pride in how his community and Canada as a whole has responded to the events of 2020. Later in the episode, Roland and Joel discuss the crisis in Burlington's planning department, and the reasons it appears to have reached breaking point. Elsewhere, the province's interventions are making good planning by municipalities extremely difficult to achieve, reducing local democracy to a sideshow. Joel provides an update on the latest on the province's back to school plans. With just two weeks left, Halton Catholic District School Board has now issued it's plan (https://learnathome.hcdsb.org/return-to-school-2/). Halton Public School Board submitted a letter politely rebuking the Stephen Lecce's constantly changing plans and the lack of funding they are receiving to do an incredibly challenging job. Send feedback and corrections to [email protected]. Make sure to subscribe on your favourite podcast platform and if you want to encourage us, please submit a review - it makes a huge difference. 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 on the 905er podcast we are delighted to be joined by two people intimately involved in planning for children returning to school in September. Andréa Grenbenc, chair of Halton District School Board and a trustee in Burlington, and Marvin Duarte, vice-chair of Halton Catholic District School Board, trustee for Milton, join us an answer questions on the preparations being made for a safe return, the financial challenges being faced, the experience with online learning, and much more. Later in the episode Roland and Joel follow up on Burlington's planned discussion of ranked ballots, and Roland gets hot under the collar about the province's plan to build a new 400 series highway through the greenbelt and farmland of York, Peel and Halton regions, contrary to independent advice received just three years ago, as well as modern thinking on induced demand. Expect more episodes on this subject before we're done. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast to be notified of new episodes, and send your feedback, suggestions and ideas to [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. 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 June 4th, an estimated 7 to 10,000 people marched in Burlington in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests then happening across the US. It was an astonishing and unexpected display for a city not known for mass activism, overwhelmingly made by younger Burlingtonians. This week Joel and Roland speak to Isabella Mallon and Korede Balogan, two of the organizers of the event, about their motivations and expectations for the event, and their plans and hopes for building on their success in the months and years ahead. In other 905 news, Roland and Joel discuss the cancellation of Hamilton's LRT based on the highly suspect claim of $5 billion in costs made by the province. Finally, they discuss the decision on ranked ballots which is coming to committee at Burlington City Hall this week, and the reason why many consider ranked ballots a major step towards fairer elections in Ontario's cities. 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 Tanner and Joel MacLeod are joined by Cindy Cosentino, who recently retired after 32 years as a teacher in Hamilton and Halton school boards teaching science and math. Cindy shares her concerns, and the concerns of many of her colleagues, at what is being asked of teachers as children head back to school, and we explore the many unanswered questions about how the province's plan can be implemented safely. Is the provincial plan ultimately more about protecting the economy than the interests and safety of children, parents and teachers? 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 Tanner and Joel MacLeod introduce the 905er podcast - a podcast for the Ontario GTHA's 905 region outside Toronto. "The 905" is the economic powerhouse of Canada and home to 4 million people and growing, but receives little media coverage. We'll be uploading a weekly podcast discussing the important issues for our region, with interviews, round-tables and analysis of what's happening in our city halls and on our streets. Comments, corrections? Email [email protected] 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