torontoelection2023

Guests: Toronto Star City Hall Bureau Chief David Rider, and reporters Alyshah Hasham and Ben Spurr, join guest host Edward Keenan

Just before the final weekend of the Toronto mayoral campaign, Premier Doug Ford and former Mayor John Tory told us who they’re voting for. The fact that they did it at all was a bigger surprise than the names they came up with. How much difference can it make at this late stage? Our panellists look back on the campaign that was, the post-election prospects for councillors and the unknowns they’ll be looking at on an election day where the question might be “who and what is Toronto for?”

This episode was produced by Ed Keenan and Crawford Blair.

Guests: Toronto Star City Hall Bureau Chief David Rider, and reporters Alyshah Hasham and Ben Spurr, join guest host Edward Keenan

One week before election day, undecided Toronto voters are wrestling with the choice of who to vote for as the city’s next mayor. To help, we’ve assembled the reporters of the Toronto Star’s city hall bureau, who have been covering the campaign. Together they go over the latest poll results that show Olivia Chow with a more commanding lead than ever and tackle questions from readers on provincial relations, public space, budget issues, who gets to keep their job while they run, who gets coverage and other issues.

This episode was produced by Ed Keenan and Paulo Marques.

Guests: Denise Balkissoon, Ontario Bureau Chief for The Narwhal, speaks with guest host Edward Keenan

In the final weeks of the mayoral election campaign, journalist Denise Balkissoon wrote a piece for The Local looking at the environmental platforms of the major mayoral candidates and mostly found them wanting. She joins Edward Keenan to walk through the promises and approaches of front-runners including Olivia Chow, Mark Saunders, Josh Matlow and Mitzie Hunter, and talks about a sense of resignation not just about the issue but about quality of life in Toronto.

This episode was produced by Ed Keenan and Sean Pattendon.

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

Signs are blooming on lawns across the city. The advanced polls are open, which can only mean that the election is nearing. With just over two and a half weeks left before the city goes to the polls, it’s time to reconvene our Toronto Star All Star Opinionator panel.

This episode was produced by Ed Keenan and Crawford Blair.

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