This Matters

Guests: Jennifer Pagliaro, crime reporter, and Alyshah Hasham, City Hall reporter

With so many high profile and violent crimes in Toronto in the past year, public safety has become an important issue in the mayoral byelection. Many feel like the city is less safe, but how does that align with the actual numbers and data? Crime isn’t equal across the city but to discuss how best to deal with it, we should start with what is actually happening to decide the best ways to combat it.

This episode was produced by Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Guest: Mike Flannigan, chair in Predictive Services, Emergency Management and Fire Science at Thompson Rivers University

Canada is on fire from coast-to-coast. As a wildfire burns on northern Vancouver Island, Alberta was in a state of emergency for most of May. As seasonal fires began shockingly early in Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia relied on weekend rain to contain flames that forced thousands to evacuate. It has been a dynamic and dramatic situation. Experts say the fire season is starting earlier and going later with hotter, dryer weather thanks to climate change. Adding to that, 50 per cent of these fires are actually started by people, accelerating an already challenging problem. The situation has many desperately wondering what will it take to make them stop. The bad news is, they won’t. It comes down to having resources to manage them and a shift in government approach from reactive to proactive.

Audio Sources: CBC News/TikTok, CBC/The National

This episode was produced by Brian Bradley and Paulo Marques

Guest: David Suzuki, world-renowned geneticist and environmentalist

Before the Paris Agreement, before the Kyoto Protocol, before even the UN Climate Convention was signed in Rio, world-renowned geneticist and environmentalist David Suzuki was ringing the alarm bell and saying that climate change is a “matter of survival.” In this episode, Suzuki joins “This Matters” guest host and climate reporter Marco Chown Oved to discuss the state of today’s environmental movement and where it needs to go.

Audio sources: CBC

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Marco Chown-Oved and Paulo Marques

Toronto Star columnists Emma Teitel and Edward Keenan co-host this episode of “This Matters” to discuss how Ana Bailão, Brad Bradford, Olivia Chow, Mitzie Hunter, Josh Matlow and Mark Saunders performed at the Toronto Star-United Way sponsored debate at the Ted Rogers School of Management, a part of Toronto Metropolitan University. It was moderated by Keenan and held May 31.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Edward Keenan, Emma Teitel.

Audio source: CP24

Guests: Scott Reid, advisor to former prime minister Paul Martin and political analyst with CTV, speaks with guest host Edward Keenan

Exactly 21 years ago, Scott Reid’s boss, then Finance Minister Paul Martin, delivered a speech on the need to give cities a new source of revenue. It was regarded as the new deal for cities, and a speech Reid recalls led to Martin’s departure from Jean Chrétien’s cabinet. Now all these years later, as Reid and guest host Edward Keenan agree, Toronto needs to demand a new deal that acknowledges Toronto is different than any other city in Canada. Reid, a “lifelong political hack,” talks through how mayoral candidates should approach it as a campaign issue to win a mandate and how it might work out in practice to create leverage if anyone won the election on that message.

Audio source: CSPAN, Canadian Question Period, June 3, 2002

Guest: Clarrie Feinstein, business reporter

Elevators are key piece of apartment and condo living, but due to a number of factors, they often take a long time to get fixed once they break down. From a shortage of mechanics to a small number of companies who control the industry and use proprietary parts, there are several reasons why critics feel the entire sector can use better oversight.

This episode was produced by Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Guest: Kerry Gillespie, sports reporter

Ontario Soccer is launching a pilot project this summer that will see some referees wearing body cams to record and deter abuse. What is surprising is that this isn’t happening at the professional or adult levels, but starting with the under 9 and 11 age groups. Many sports are facing a shortage of people wanting to officiate matches and one of the biggest reasons cited is the taunting and abuse referees take from parents, spectators and coaches. Is this a way to change the culture around treatment of officials?

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Guest: Francine Kopun, senior writer

Toronto is in the process of renaming Dundas Street, but some critics think it’s not worth the cost and trouble. Three years after City Hall acted on a petition to change the name due to the actions of its namesake, Henry Dundas, some mayoral candidates are pledging to reopen the debate. Much of it hinges on the role Dundas may have played in delaying the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Audio sources: BBC, CNN

Guest: David Rider, City Hall bureau chief

We are learning a lot more about the candidates running to be mayor of Toronto, particularly the six leading contenders who have floated to the top while 96 others are in the mix somewhere else. Amid a busy week of campaigning that included a handful of debates, here’s what we are learning about their policy positions and what we know our city wants in a mayor post-John Tory.

This episode was produced by Brian Bradley, Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Audio Sources: Twitter, City News

Guests: The Toronto Star All-Star Opinionator Panel, featuring columnists Emma Teitel, Shawn Micallef, Matt Elliott and guest host Edward Keenan

Our political panel talks about the election race as Toronto enters the feverish debate season, and asks what to make of the polls, how a big lead can disappear, whether voters want hope or anger and which candidates are bringing real talk on taxes.

This episode was produced by Ed Keenan and Paulo Marques.

Guests: Robert Benzie, Queen’s Park bureau chief, and Noor Javed, staff reporter covering the 905

The Ontario government is breaking up Peel Region to make Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon stand-alone municipalities in 2025. The move has had mixed responses but two things are clear: there will be plenty of haggling over resources like shared infrastructure and the “divorce” will change the political landscape in the province.

This episode was produced by Brian Bradley, Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Audio Sources: CPAC

Guest: Jason Miller, crime and justice reporter

An Ontario man is facing two charges of counselling or aiding suicide and, as details emerge, we have learned authorities in other parts of the world are looking into other specific deaths never before questioned. The case centres around sodium nitrite, a substance widely available that can be used to cure meats but can also be lethal. Here’s what we know so far about the local case that could have international ramifications.

If you are thinking of suicide or know someone who is, there is help. Resources are available online at www.crisisservicescanada.ca or you can connect to the national suicide prevention helpline at 1-833-456-4566, or the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868.

This episode was produced by Brian Bradley, Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Guest: Isabel Teotonio, education reporter

The Toronto District School Board has been experiencing a staffing shortage that is leaving administrations scrambling for teachers and some parents and students worried about time missed learning. To help, the board has redeployed nearly 100 of its learning coaches and hired more than 200 additional occasional teachers but there is a domino affect to all of the shuffling and other areas are impacted. Unions are calling it a crisis and there’s no quick fix.

This episode was produced by Brian Bradley, Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Guest: Lex Harvey, transportation reporter

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT continues to be a nightmare for the residents of that area and the end is nowhere in sight. With reports of “no credible plan” toward completion of the $12.8-billion light-rail transit line, the consortium of companies building it has filed legal papers to stop work until a number of issues are resolved. With another court decision needed to decide the way forward, trains will not be running this year and many are left wondering if this is a harbinger for other transit projects, like the Ontario line.

This episode was produced by Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Audio Sources: CP24

Guest: Mark Richardson, technical lead for HousingNowTO

According to polls and the platforms, housing affordability is THE big issue in this mayoral election campaign, especially as the city’s Housing Now program has failed to get shovels in the ground (or people in apartments). Mark Richardson’s citizen-led HousingNowTO organization has monitored the problems and progress all along, and has been taking all the major mayoral candidates on walking tours of proposed sites to show what’s holding things up and what potential is out there. He joins guest host Edward Keenan to outline what all the major candidates are proposing to build on city land (so far) and how.

This episode was produced by Paulo Marques and Edward Keenan.

Guests: Katie Daubs, senior writer, and Christine Dobby, business reporter

As cities around the world return to the office, Toronto lags behind other global centres as many workers are choosing to continue working from home. That’s having a spillover effect on the downtown core, and in particular, on the PATH, the underground network of shops and stores that support a downtown economy. Are these changes temporary or long lasting? What do they mean for the future of Toronto?

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Guest: Wendy Gillis, crime reporter

When George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer, protests erupted around the world. Calls to defund the police rang out and, for a moment, it seemed like change was imminent. But three years on, efforts to revolutionize public safety have varied. Star reporter Wendy Gillis recently visited Minneapolis as part of the ongoing “Beyond the Badge” series (made possible with the financial assistance of the R. James Travers Foreign Corresponding Fellowship) looking at what cities around the world are doing to combat violence and redesign public safety. Gillis explains what’s happened to policing since Floyd’s murder and what we can learn from Minneapolis, a city that’s become a case study in the frustratingly slow pace of systemic change.

Audio Sources: CNN, WWCO, NBC, Kare 11, MSNBC, ABC, Newsweek

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Raju Mudhar and Paulo Marques

Guest: Noor Javed, staff reporter

The Ontario government has made building more housing fast a priority and, to get that done, it wants to throw out planning rules that set guidelines for how municipalities should grow. The proposed changes could upend how Ontario has planned its cities since 2005 and some critics fear that it is a perfect recipe for sprawl.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Guest: Joanna Chiu, staff reporter

The Canadian government is creating a list of foreign universities and labs that it says pose a national security risk. The news comes at the same time several Canadian universities are reviewing their research partnerships. Last week, the University of Waterloo announced it is ending its relationship with Chinese telecom giant Huawei amid security concerns. The government list will further impact research funding and possibly, academic freedom.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.