This Matters

Kate Allen, science and technology reporter at the Star, talks to Saba Eitizaz about why race-based data is necessary to find out how the COVID-19 is affecting racialized communities, and the impact of not having this information. The death of Leonard Rodriques—a black personal support worker who was sent home from the hospital despite debilitating Covid-19 symptoms—led to calls from health workers across Ontario asking for anti-Black racism to be declared a public health emergency and for the immediate collection of race-based data in the province and the country.

Jim Stanford, economist and director of the Centre for Future Work, talks to Adrian Cheung about the big picture of Canada's economy, why re-opening too quickly could lead to further disaster and ideas on how we can begin recovering financially from this mess. Canada's economic numbers are staggering, for all the wrong reasons. In the span of two months, more than three million Canadians have lost their jobs and another 2.5 million have had their work hours reduced. Unemployment has soared to 13 per cent as businesses and corporations have taken on mass layoffs. A record number of Canadians are turning to government aid to keep their families and businesses afloat. Meanwhile, the GDP is shrinking at a record rate, at levels unseen in more than a decade. Many economists say a plunge of this severity is comparable to the Great Depression of the 1930s. In short: Canada, along with many parts of the world, have seen its economies devastated during the pandemic. But where is the bottom? Have we seen the worst of it or is there more bad news to come?

On the streets of Washington, The Star's Edward Keenan provides analysis on the extremes of the protests as well as the signs of everyday life unfolding around him, as well as seeing democracy in action. To give us a dispatch from Trump's DC, the Star's Washington Bureau Chief shares what's he seen and checks the moods of a divided America. It has been a week of protests and rage in the United States, as civil unrest takes over major cities over the case of George Floyd, a black man whose killing by police officers was captured on video. Since then there have been protests in over 40 U.S. Cities, many peaceful, but instances of violence and looting, with curfews enacted in several jurisdictions. Washington, D.C., has seen its share of both, including at the White House, where President Trump has denounced the violent protests as "domestic terrorism." Trump's approval ratings had already taken a hit from his heavily criticized approach to handling the COVID-19 pandemic, but now there are those that feel he has embraced authoritarian tactics, especially after having authorities violently disperse a peaceful protest so he could take a photo op.

Kanika Samuels-Wortley, assistant professor and criminologist at Carleton University and Wendy Gillis, Toronto Star's crime reporter, are in conversation with Adrian Cheung, about the events leading to—and following—Korchinski-Paquet's death, how systemic racism and anti-Black violence continues to play a huge role in Canada's policing. The sounds, videos and pictures of the mass protests against police violence and anti-Black violence in the United States has the world paying attention. Thousands have taken to the streets, in the wake of George Floyd's killing by a Minneapolis officer. It's an event that has added to a long history and repeated instances of police interactions and racialized people, that have disproportionately ended in violence and death. In Toronto, 29-year-old Regis Korchinski-Paquet fell to her death after a police call to her apartment last week. The exact events of what led up to her death remain unclear, and now subject to an investigation by Ontario's police watchdog. Her death has since spurred demonstrations of thousands of people in Toronto, as family and community leaders call for justice—protests that are not apart from the reckoning in the United States but, rather, part of it.

This Matters will broadcast the Toronto Star's six-part podcast Hustled each Monday, where the Star's labour reporter Sara Mojtehedzadeh takes us behind the scenes of a David vs. Goliath battle between a scrappy group of Toronto food couriers and the app company they work for. EPISODE 3: Oshidashi Technology is at the heart of the battle between Foodora and its workforce. The app company says it's simply a platform that connects customers with couriers — not an employer. In this episode, we explore the tension that lies just beneath the seductive veneer of convenience and efficiency created by apps. Listen here every week or subscribe to Hustled.

Karon Liu, the Star's culture reporter has a conversation with Saba Eitizaz, reminiscing about buffets, their cultural and culinary significance and whether we're about to say a nostalgic goodbye to the traditional buffet. For some, the idea of a buffet can bring back childhood memories of birthdays, Sunday brunches, road trips where you hoped the roadside hotels offer a full breakfast buffet, or where tropical island reviews can make it or break it. For others, the thought their stomach as a bottomless pit is enough to make them cringe—and that's before the debates about the quality of that food, the associated waste, or… as is highlighted now more than ever—those tiny germs on every serving spoon. But one thing is pretty clear. Almost everyone in Canada seems to have an opinion on this style of dining. And now experts are saying self-serve buffets might become a thing of the past as we learn to live with Covid-19. Some public health officers are warning people not to share food in social settings in this time of pandemic. With restaurants struggling to stay afloat through take-out and delivery during lockdown and isolation, is this the end of the traditional buffet during the age of the pandemic? And are Canadian's really ready to say goodbye to something that seems to be baked into the fabric of our multicultural country?

Peter Edwards is a crime reporter at the Star, who has covered organized crime for years. He has written over 15 non-fiction books on the subject. He joins This Matters to break down the two truck turf wars in the GTA and what happens next. A brazen crime spree has gripped the Greater Toronto Area for almost three years. A turf war between towing companies that has resulted in murders, arson, gang violence, threats and intimidation. This past week, a number of police forces working together in an operation called Project Platinum announced 20 arrests and over 200 charges filed against a number of individuals involved in these crimes. They also seized weapons, over one million dollars in various drugs, including Fentanyl, $500,000 in cash, 11 tow trucks and much more. Police allege that four distinct criminal organizations were involved and were fighting over much more than turf. They had a sophisticated scheme that involved insurance fraud at auto centres, physiotherapy clinics and more. It's also not over. Police expect to make 30 more arrests in this ongoing investigation.

If you look at any of the numbers, the Greater Toronto Area's real estate market is in free fall. New homes sales were down by 69 per cent, and several conflicting forecasts say prices could go up 7 per cent or potentially fall 18 per cent. COVID-19 has done what seemed impossible by actually cooling Toronto's white hot market down, in what is usually the high point of buying and selling season. Of course, for some people, this could be an opportunity. With prices expecting to be down for the next 18 months, some think that this is the time to get into the market, and in particular, the time that younger buyers might have their chance to get in. In fact, some experts believe that the market will need first-time buyers—and millennials upgrading—to help speed up the economic recovery. To discuss the trends in the real estate market now, and whether it's a good time to think about buying, Raju Mudhar is joined by Phil Soper, CEO of Royal LePage and Bridgemarq Real Estate Services.

Star reporters Wendy Gillis and Alyshah Hasham talk with Adrian Cheung about how women's police stations could work and how domestic violence remains an urgent public health problem, especially during the pandemic. Canada continues to grapple with a long-standing and disturbing trend of gender-based violence. Canada's Minister for Women and Gender Equity Maryam Monsef calls the current pandemic, a "powder keg" for domestic violence, as victims remain trapped at home. One possible solution that experts say has worked in other countries is creating police stations for women—a place that focuses on supporting potential victims, rather than taking in accused offenders. It would also create a re-thinking of how police stations operate—and who they serve. Could a system like that create safer spaces in Canada? If you—or someone you know—is at risk of violence, Wendy and Alyshah have put together a resource guide for getting help.

This Matters will broadcast the Toronto Star's six-part podcast Hustled each Monday, where the Star's labour reporter Sara Mojtehedzadeh takes us behind the scenes of a David vs. Goliath battle between a scrappy group of Toronto food couriers and the app company they work for. EPISODE 2: Delivery Hero Sara gets a job as a Foodora courier to find out what life is like when your boss is an app. On the job, she uncovers some unexpected challenges and risks. In this episode, we meet several — much more experienced — couriers who explain the many reasons why they need more protection on the road. Listen here every week or subscribe to Hustled.

Alex Boutilier, national politics reporter with the Toronto Star, who covers national security, joins host Raju Mudhar to discuss how CSIS is redefining how it views terrorism. Incel-related terrorism is something that all Canadians became familiar with after the Toronto van attack in April of 2018 which left 10 people dead on Yonge Street. An online movement made up angry, sexually frustrated men who describes themselves as involuntary celibates, that act of terror was the event that cause Canadians to discover and understand what this ideology is all about. Unfortunately, Toronto has seen more of these types of attacks. In February of this year, a 17-year-old allegedly entered a Massage parlour in Toronto and attacked people there, leaving a 24-year-old woman named Ashley Noell Arzaga dead. This week, police called it an act of incel terrorism and added terrorism related charges to that case, which experts says was a legal first and significant moment in terms of how our national security deals with these types of incidents. And then, in its annual report to Parliament, CSIS, Canada's top intelligence agency announced that it is changing how it looks at terrorism, and in particular, reclassifying it in terms of the motives behind them. It also specifically mentioned incels as a threat that they are concerned about.

Kristin Rushowy, Toronto Star's Queen's Park reporter, talks with Adrian Cheung about the cancellation of the remainder of in-person classes in Ontario's schools and what comes next. Everything from students' mental health, how classes might look in the fall based on other jurisdictions, and labour relations is discussed. Ontario's government has extended the closure of schools until the end of June, meaning the remainder of in-person classes are finished for the 2019-2020 year. The decision impacts more than two million students province-wide. While the province says they have every intention of re-opening in September, the future remains uncertain (and frustrating) for students, educators and parents alike. A deep-dive into what led to the Ontario government's decision to finish off the school year online—and what the education system, already fraught with tension between teachers' unions and the province, will look like after the pandemic.

In today's episode of This Matters, we discuss provincial re-opening plans, economic and health risks of opening vs. staying locked down, and the fact that this is a disease that will be around for some time. Saba Eitizaz talks to Dr. Vivek Goel who is the University of Toronto's Vice President Research and Initiatives. He's also a professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and the founding head of Public Health Ontario, which was set up in response to the SARS outbreak.

This Matters introduces the first episode of the Toronto Star's six-part podcast Hustled, where the Star's labour reporter Sara Mojtehedzadeh takes us behind the scenes of a David vs. Goliath battle between a scrappy group of Toronto food couriers and the app company they work for. EPISODE 1: David vs. Goliath A group of scrappy food couriers has just won a major legal battle against a multinational app company. It's part of an ambitious effort to challenge the gig economy and become one of the first groups of app workers on the continent to join a union. In this episode, we go back to the start of the campaign and meet the characters behind it. Listen here every week or subscribe to Hustled.

It's Victoria Day Weekend, which means for many lucky people, it's time to open up the cottage and get summer really going. Traditionally, May Two-Four weekend is all about fun, but as Premier Doug Ford put it in one of his briefings recently, "It's not the party weekend it's been in the past." While all communities have been dealing with the pandemic, cottage country has faced a unique set of challenges as these communities—that depend on seasonal residents and visitors—have been asking people to stay away for fear of their smaller health systems being overrun. Public health leaders echoed that sentiment and some communities tried to ban cottagers outright. Despite all the warnings, some high-profile politicians said one thing, and then zipped off to their lakefront properties. This weekend, community leaders expect a lot of cottagers to visit, but it is going to be a different weekend. To discuss how people should enjoy it, This Matters decided to talk about cottage country etiquette in the time of COVID-19, with Phil Harding, Mayor of the Township of Muskoka Lakes.

While most are isolating at home, hundreds of thousands of Canadians remain stranded abroad, with their families searching for answers. Canada's foreign affairs minister François-Philippe Champagne calls the work of repatriating them, one of the most complex foreign affairs missions in Canadian history. Adrian Cheung talks to two guests for this episode: Scaachi Koul, culture writer for BuzzFeed News, who has two immunocompromised parents stuck in India, and Toronto Star's immigration reporter Nicholas Keung, on why repatriation is proving so difficult and what the Canadian government is doing to bring them home.

To discuss sports re-opening plans, Raju Mudhar is joined by Dave Feschuk, sports columnist at the Toronto Star. This past weekend, UFC 249 took place there, with zero spectators, 1 fighter testing positive for the virus, as well as two of his cornermen, who were pulled from the event, but that didn't stop things. There are more bouts scheduled. The other major sports leagues are also cautiously trying to find their way back to some kind of re-opening. Are these the first actual steps to sports re-opening? Or is this just wishful thinking on the part of all the stakeholders that see the current seasons—and their bottom lines—evaporate?

Saba Eitizaz speaks to two mental health experts about how we can get through this safely, cope with the depression and the anxiety—and whether Canada is ready to deal with the long-term consequences of COVID-19, and an impending mental health crisis. Dr. Laura Hawryluck is Associate Professor of Critical Care at the University of Toronto and an attending physician at Toronto Western Hospital. Dr. Rima Styra is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at U of T. Both of them published a joint research from the frontlines on the effects of quarantine in Ontario during the SARS epidemic.

Several provinces, including Ontario, are beginning to slowly re-open parts of society. Restarting businesses is vital for people who need a pay cheque for their families and to give a shot in the arm to a flagging economy. But what if the workplace you're returning to isn't safe? What are your rights as an employee, in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic? Adrian Cheung talks to Sara Mojtehedzadeh, Toronto Star's work and wealth reporter (whose own podcast on Foodora and the gig economy, Hustled, starts May 19) on what powers you have to keep yourself safe, and what responsibilities employers owe you, if you're heading back to work.

Murder hornets. Murder. Hornets. The Asian giant hornet has quite the moniker, given for its sting and appetite for the offspring of honey bees, and the threat it poses to honey bee populations. News recently emerged that these hornets were in North America. But eight months ago, after hearing about sightings, B.C. beekeepers John and Moufida Holubeshen first tracked, got stung, and then went home, got suited up with better defence and brought reinforcements to terminate and extract a nest of over 100 Asian giant hornets and 600 larvae. This is not the script outline for a B-movie. This happened and the Star's Alex McKeen sat down with John and Moufida, who told their story of a showdown at Robins Park...at the end of Honey Drive (really, that's the road where they found the nest).

It was supposed to be a calling card for Toronto's Waterfront. Using high technology and big data to help cut through the bureaucracy and reveal the neighbourhood of the future. Now it's done, just another project that disappeared like so much other vaporware. Sidewalk Labs, a division of Alphabet and sister company of Google, arrived in Toronto with a raft of ideas and plans to help create a new neighbourhood called Quayside on this city's Port Lands, a vast stretch of land on the east end of the city that is being redeveloped on the waterfront. With several controversies, criticisms and communications issues between some of the stakeholders involved with the project, after two and half years of trying, Sidewalks Labs has decided to pull the plug on the project, citing economic upheaval and uncertainty over Toronto's real estate market. Critics contend that Sidewalk always had their eyes on a bigger prize and made a number of missteps that may have led to this outcome. To discuss why a project that arrived with such fanfare is leaving with a thud, Raju Mudhar is joined on This Matters by David Rider, the Star's City Hall bureau chief, who along with his team, has been following this saga since it began.

The anti-vaccination movement remains a loud and outsized presence, even during a pandemic. Many continue to spread misinformation and are already turning their attention towards any future vaccines for COVID-19, saying they don't want it, and that it shouldn't be mandatory. But as the world depends on medicine and science for an answer to the coronavirus and an end to the pandemic—is the anti-vax movement actually being killed off by COVID-19? Adrian Cheung talks to Dr. Noni MacDonald from Dalhousie University. Her career spans nearly 40 years in public health and global medicine, including consulting with the World Health Organization. She makes the case for the success of vaccines and why--if and when a coronavirus vaccine is created--there will not be enough doses to make them mandatory for some time.

COVID-19 has exacerbated the fault line within this country's long-term care facilities. Underfunded, overcrowded and with less oversight, these facilities were ripe for the kind of disaster that is unfolding in them across the country. As residents and healthcare workers die, beyond talk about fixing what is happening now, there seems to finally be an appetite from government leaders to try and tackle the problem head on. Raju Mudhar speaks with two of the Star's Investigative reporters about this issue. Jesse McLean worked on a project looking at long term care homes and the first 100 days of COVID-19 in North America. It also looked back at previous government's recommendations on what should happen in this type of emergency. In addition, Raju talks to Moira Welsh, who has been covering care for the elderly and long-term care facilities for much of her career. She has been speaking to residents and front-line workers to really see what's happening on the ground in these facilities right now.

As many jurisdictions make preparations to reopen, there are several things that are key to the new hopes of finding a way forward to live with COVID-19. Two of the keys that have been touted by governments and public health officials are contact tracing and immunity passports. The first has been an important activity in the fight against virulent illnesses for years, but the big change now is that while it's traditionally been handled by humans, COVID-19 just moves too fast for that to work, which is why a high tech app approach is being used in some countries, and in development in several more around the world. That said, advocates warn that the public healthcare gains will come up against privacy considerations. Immunity Passports are potentially even more controversial, as the implications involved with these documents can lead to the type of inequality depicted in dystopian science fiction novels. To discuss both of these ideas and efforts, Raju Mudhar is joined by Sandro Contenta, a feature reporter at the Toronto Star, who has recently done a deep dive into both of these topics.

In today's episode, Saba Eitizaz speaks to Andrea Gunraj, the VP of Public Engagement at the Canadian Women's Foundation, about the horror of victims potentially trapped in self-isolation with their abusers, how they can get help, and how it's our responsibility to help them. There are two versions of this episode. This one and another one in today's feed titled "May days." That version doesn't have the term "domestic violence" in the title or description anywhere in an attempt to be more accessible for people at risk of violence who might feel safer listening to it. In addition, if you—or someone you know—is at risk of violence, the Star has put together a resource guide for getting help at thestar.com/pleasehelp.

The world seems to be changing every day, let alone every month. It's now May and there are still so many questions about how our world will look with few answers. This Matters aims to answer those questions, on important stories and ideas, every day, Monday to Friday.

Foodora is bankrupt and leaving Canada. Now what? The popular meal delivery app is declaring bankruptcy and leaving next month. This, even while the demand for meal deliveries has arguably never been higher. The timing of the announcement is raising eyebrows with labour activists, as Foodora's couriers have only recently won the right to unionize from Ontario's labour relations board. Adrian Cheung talks to Sara Mojtehedzadeh, Toronto Star's work and wealth reporter, on why one company leaving signals a much bigger problem for Canada's gig economy. Please consider supporting the journalism of the Toronto Star.

It might be time to start teaching that old dog new physical distancing tricks. With the news of two pet cats catching the coronavirus from their owners in NYC last week, public health authorities have revised their advice on what people who are sick with COVID-19 should do with their pets. As this virus is believed to have come from bats, there are plenty of questions about what might happen if it moves back to other animals. Raju Mudhar speaks with Scott Weese, chief of infection control at the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College, for a look at the animal kingdom in the time of a pandemic.

There have already been COVID-19 outbreaks in correctional institutions across the U.S., British Columbia and Quebec. In Ontario, the largest outbreak has centred on the Ontario Correctional Institute (OCI), where of 109 inmates, 80 have tested positive, as well as 21 correctional officers. But it's not just inside the jails and prisons, as the government is letting many low-risk offenders out to ease the burden on the system, and many are entering a different world, with less post-release support facilities in place. To discuss the prison pandemic, Raju Mudhar is joined by Alyshah Hasham, the Star's courts reporter who has been following this story. As well, he talks with Derrick Peachey, a former inmate at the OCI, who was released in early April, about his experience inside the prison, and dealing with a very different world outside.

The way people move around and commute in cities has changed, perhaps forever. Is the time of COVID-19 actually the perfect moment to remake the transit and transportation networks in cities? Some say the countries that are preparing to make the streets more accessible, post-pandemic, are the places that are built to grow and succeed, not merely recover from it. Adrian Cheung talks to Ben Spurr, Toronto Star's transportation reporter, on what Toronto and other major, dense cities are doing to adapt to big changes in transportation networks, and the very nature of how a society lives and moves in a city.

"It shouldn't be a deterrent to seek emergent care because of COVID," says Dr. David Carr. "You need to come here. We're a safe place for you to come." Some doctors and the Canadian Medical Association warn of a backlog of other serious illnesses, including cancer and heart attacks, that could be going untreated. Some of this is because potential patients themselves are worried about COVID-19 risks at hospitals and are not going to ERs until it's too late. Adrian Cheung talks to Dr. David Carr, an emergency room doctor in Toronto, about why hospitals should restart for non-COVID-19 patients and the worries behind the "collateral damage."

Does Canada have the data and the planning in place for an exit strategy that will help get through this crisis sooner than later and with minimal causalities? Saba Eitizaz talks to Amir Attaran to find out where we're at in the fight against the virus. Attaran is a biomedical scientist, lawyer and professor at the University of Ottawa's School of Epidemiology and Public Health, and was part of a cross-border study that revealed Covid-19 numbers are actually much higher than the government has predicted.

While most of the world continues to be shut down during the pandemic, in Taiwan, society continues to function. The tiny island state off the coast of China currently has less than 500 confirmed cases and deaths are in the single digits due to COVID-19, making it one of the best case scenarios in the world. Adrian Cheung talks briefly to Nick Zarowny, a Canadian in Taiwan, for a view of what life is like there, followed by an interview with Dr. Jason Wang of Stanford University School of Medicine, who has published a paper on the aggressive approach Taiwan has taken—and whether we could take those same measures in Canada and around the world.

Low-wage migrant workers are a significant part of Canada's agricultural workforce—almost half of the agricultural labour that grows the year-long produce that lands in kitchens. Life has become even more uncertain for them as COVID-19 has led to travel bans and border closures. And the decrease in that essential workforce could also mean Canada's food security is at risk. Saba Eitizaz talks to the Star's Work and Wealth reporter Sara Mojtehedzadeh about the crisis Canada's essential migrant workers are facing, and why it took a pandemic to highlight the circumstances of a group that was already vulnerable and unprotected.

From drugs to gambling to theft and more, COVID-19 has also had an adverse effect on the criminal organizations and gangs that run these illegal enterprises. To discuss how organized crime has been affected by COVID-19, Raju Mudhar talks with Peter Edwards, a reporter on the Star's Courts Crime and Justice team, who has also written 15 non-fiction books on organized crime, many of them becoming national bestsellers.

"If you don't need to buy or sell you should be staying home right now," John Pasalis, president or Realosophy, a brokerage that takes a data driven approach to the market. For most, buying a home is the single largest purchase most people will make in their lifetimes, and like with everything in our society, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the real estate market in a number of ways.

Many Indigenous communities face big challenges: fewer doctors, inadequate housing and water that isn't safe to drink. All of those issues, alongside systemic racism, can lead to especially bad health outcomes during a pandemic, Canadian public health officials say. Adrian Cheung talks to Dr. Janet Smylie, one of Canada's first Métis doctors and a lead researcher on the inequities of health care for Indigenous people in the era of COVID-19. Dr. Smylie explains why First Nations, Inuit and Métis people are at a disproportionate risk and what must be done to fix the problem now.

Just as COVID-19 has changed almost every aspect of society, it is also definitely not politics as usual. Leaders are being forged in the crucible of a pandemic, and there is plenty of criticism and kudos to go around. But since COVID-19 has become a serious issue, Premier Ford has drawn praise from many corners for the way that he has handled this ongoing crisis. Raju Mudhar is joined by Martin Regg Cohn, political columnist based at Queen's Park for the Star, to talk about how Ford style of leadership has changed, how he compares with Donald Trump and Winston Churchill and whether we might expect this to last.

Saba Eitizaz speaks to employment lawyer Hermie Abraham to help answer some of the questions around the emergency help--who is eligible, how they can apply and who might still be left behind, although the government is moving fast to expand the umbrella of financial protection-and with Star journalist, Rosa Saba about why some Canadians might have to pay it back.

Employees are taking care of business but are businesses taking care of employees? Within a matter of weeks, Canadians, and people around the world, have learned which industries and workers are essential for our survival. So are major companies doing enough to protect them? Is it time we consider how to make our economy more sustainable in a post-COVID world? Adrian Cheung talks to Toby Heaps and Michelynn Lafleche from Corporate Knights about the economic realities so many of us face—and especially in a time of crisis—what our workplaces owe us.

Star City Hall Bureau Chief, David Rider, talks with Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto's public health guardian, on her life and the weight of the fight against COVID-19. Dr. de Villa, medical officer of health, is the eye of Toronto's public health hurricane. David Rider got a few of de Villa's precious minutes to check up on the doctor.

Some people can work at home, avoid transit, connect to colleagues and friends via Zoom, order supplies to their door, stockpile necessities, and avoid COVID-19. Others can't. Saba Eitizaz speaks to Ian Goldin, of Oxford, about how the Coronavirus has highlighted a class divide and what kind of world will we live in after this is over. Saba also speaks to the Toronto Star's social justice reporter Laurie Monsebraaten about how this looks in Toronto and who are the most vulnerable falling through the cracks.

Raju Mudhar speaks to Kate Allen, the Star's science and technology reporter, and asked under what circumstances it's safe to go out for a stroll. The messages about physical distancing seem to be finally getting through to Canadians, as the mantras of "stay inside" and "stay at home" have been repeated over and over again by public health leaders. But that does leave us with a bit of a strange question: Is it okay to go outside for a walk?

Adrian Cheung talks to Ben Makuch, national security reporter for Vice News, about why some neo-Nazis and white supremacists view the COVID-19 pandemic as their moment to act out their racist ideologies.

Raju Mudhar speaks to fellow Toronto Star journalist May Warren about her experience with COVID-19. She discusses how she got COVID-19, how she couldn't get tested and how much this disease beat her down, regardless of how young she is and revealing how community spread has been in Toronto longer than expected and how—without widespread testing—it's hard to know how pervasive this is.

What is it really like to serve on the frontline of a pandemic? What are doctors and nurses seeing in emergency rooms? How are our healthcare workers coping with the mental stress of making life and death decisions at an unprecedented time, while also being exposed daily to COVID-19? Adrian Cheung talks to an ER doctor, Dr. David Carr, in Toronto. Carr has worked in emergency medicine for nearly two decades and gives a firsthand account on what healthcare workers are facing in the fight against COVID-19.

Yesterday, as Ontario races to get ahead of the COVID-19 curve, the government announced that children won't be returning to class until at least May 4. In today's episode, Saba Eitizaz talks with Dr. Sejal Patel, associate professor of Early Childhood Studies at Ryerson University—and a parent herself—about ways to cope and keep your kids engaged. Saba also speaks to Hema Lozano, a young mother of four, about some unique ways she's come up with to keep her little ones learning.

From fraud to cyber-attacks and terrorism, bad actors may be trying to take advantage of this COVID-19 pandemic. Raju Mudhar discusses crime in the age of COVID-19 and how the actions of some could affect Canadians' civil liberties with Stephanie Carvin, assistant professor at Carleton University and an expert on security issues, who has consulted for the US Department of Defence and worked as a security analyst for the Government of Canada.

Scientists all over the world are working on finding ways to test and develop vaccines for COVID-19. Raju Mudhar talks with a member of the team of researchers who collaborated to become one of the first to isolate the COVID-19 virus. Dr. Karen Mossman, now in self isolation and a professor of pathology and molecular medicine and VP of research at McMaster University, talks about what it took to isolate the virus, what creating a vaccine entails, and what is giving her hope.

When "accidental hero" Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, and more NBAers followed, it triggered a domino effect that shut the doors of every major sport in North America. After Canada was the first to announce it would not send athletes, the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics games were postponed until 2021. We are joined by Hayley Wickenheiser, four-time Olympic Gold medalist, who has been training to become an emergency room doctor, and Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star columnist.