<p><strong>Warning this episode deals with child abuse and endangerment</strong></p><br><p>We welcome back to the podcast Ajay Sharma for this episode.</p><br><p>As we prepared to cover this episode several news items broke ground in Ontario that we felt could not be ignored. First was the Ontario PC government's plan to back out of the $ 10-a-day daycare funding formula for private daycare providers. The result could be disastrous for parents, children, and ECEs who were enjoying a $2 an-hour pay increase. This sudden reversal is going to leave a big game and lead to what we think will be two-tiered daycares in the province. Result in greater costs for parents with less return.</p><br><p>The second and rather quite alarming news item was a story broke by Global News that under this Ontario government, wards of the state in Children's aid programs were dying at the rate of one every three days. A dishonour that should bring down any provincial government. So why is there so little outcry or attention being paid to this travesty?</p><br><p>Links to the articles and previous episodes mentioned in the episode are here.</p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/2021/11/karina-gould-minister-of-families-children-and-social-development-will-the-province-blink-first-on-childcare/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development: Will the Province Blink First on Childcare?</a></p><br><p><a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/10736430/ontario-funding-daycare-centres-10-a-day-program/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ontario cutting funding from daycare centres not in $10-a-day program</a></p><br><p><a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/10735101/ontario-child-care-system-deaths/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">‘The system has fallen apart’: A child dies every 3 days under Ontario’s care network</a></p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><br><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><br><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p><p><br></p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>It's the end of summer and Ontario and the 905 are returning to work and school.</p><br><p>We thought it prudent to take a moment and look back on the summer that was. This summer, Doug Ford faced the first LCBO strike ever, suddenly shut down safe consumption sites across the province based on his gut feeling, and lost his Education Minister at the last minute just before the start of the school year. Normally this would be the cause for alarm and stress in the Ontario PC government. At least that's what probably should be happening if an effective opposition was present. Which begs the question: Where have Bonnie Crombie and Marit Stiles been all summer? Why haven't we seen the Ontario Liberal and Ontario NDP Leaders around the province much this summer? Have they blown their chance at making a good first impression with Ontarians in the 905?</p><br><p>These were the questions we posed to Sabrina Nanji of the QP Observer. Sabrina is the publisher, founder and reporter for the QP Observer a substack that covers the ins and outs of Queen's Park politics. We've had her on before to talk and we welcome her back this episode to discuss why the opposition in Ontario has yet to find traction in the province and what the fall might look like for the Ontario Liberals and Ontario NDP.</p><br><p>You can check out the QP Observer here: <a href="https://qpobserver.ca/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://qpobserver.ca/</a></p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><br><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><br><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p><p><br></p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>We are back from vacation folks!</p><br><p>After some needed time off Roland and Joel are back to talk shop and of course the first you do when getting back to work is...cleaning out the ol' email inbox. In the process, we discovered an interesting email from a San Francisco start-up Optiwatt.</p><br><p>Optiwatt is partnering with The Atmospheric Fund here in Ontario to offer an app that can lead to cheaper rates to charge electric vehicles in the 905. As the push for electrification of the auto industry intensifies, saving money on our energy bills is always a good thing. More importantly, saving money on charging new electric vehicles can help to make them more affordable to everyday consumers which in turn helps promote greener, less carbon-intensive measures on our environment—helping to take on climate change.</p><br><p>Small things like this always catch our eye. We want to look at any measure to help us take on climate change. So in that regard, we reached out to Optiwatt to invite them to discuss what their app will do exactly, what their plans are for the electrification of North America, and ultimately why they decided to do this in the 905 of all places on the continent.</p><br><p>If you'd like to learn more about the app you can visit their website at:</p><br><p><a href="https://www.optiwatt.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.optiwatt.com</a></p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><br><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Ajay Sharma joins us again to discuss the latest stories from around the 905.

<p>The news moves fast and people are moving on from the flooding in the 905 last week. However, those affected by the intense rainfalls still struggle to make themselves whole again.</p><br><p>Joel's neighbourhood was one of the most intensely impacted by flooding, and thus he attended a neighbourhood meeting with his city councillor to discuss what came next. What he took away from the meeting is that ten years ago, the province, region and city response to this level of damage was monumentally different. All levels of government seemingly mobilized to help put people together and supposedly to take measures to mitigate future flooding.</p><br><p>Instead, the message is only the bare minimum will be done. Insurance is expected to pick up the tab, even though it won't cover all the damage for some. This echoed what Mark Cripps mentioned in our previous episode. As these climate change events continue to grow and become more common, the costs to people will mirror the severity. The question comes though, what happens when people who can't afford the costs are impacted? Are they to be written off as expendable?</p><br><p>Last week's episode with Mark Cripps is here: <a href="https://905er.ca/2024/07/the-905-flooding-is-only-the-beginning/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://905er.ca/2024/07/the-905-flooding-is-only-the-beginning/</a></p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><br><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p><p><br></p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Last week the 905 saw flooding that overwhelmed many parts of its respective cities. Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga and Toronto saw an estimated $3.1 billion in damage to infrastructure and homes.</p><br><p>This isn't an isolated incident either. In the last few years, the region and Canada have seen an increase in the frequency and severity of storms and conditions affecting our communities. The fact is that this is exactly what scientists predicted would happen as a result of climate change. As we emit greater quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, our weather and climate will become more and more extreme.</p><br><p>Unfortunately, the situation is too politicized to address it head-on. Politicians are making their careers on reversing climate change policies, and denialism runs rampant across all parts of Canadian society. There is one industry though that is taking it incredibly seriously. They are working on the numbers of what the true costs of this catastrophe will be. The insurance industry for years has been forced to pay out increasing sums due to climate change events.</p><br><p>We've talked about this before on the podcast, but in light of recent events, we thought it prudent to revisit the topic. To that end, we've invited back to the podcast Mark Cripps from the Insurance Bureau of Canada to explain that whether our leaders are taking climate change seriously or not, the insurance industry is. So whether we like it or not, we're going to end up paying for it, one way or another.</p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><br><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><br><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>It looks like this is going to be a dry summer for Ontarians.</p><br><p>Just as schools let out, the government's talks with LCBO Unionized employees broke down. All LCBO retail locations are closed for the summer, leaving only grocery and convenience stores available for Ontarios to purchase wine or beer. For the union, this is to ensure that LCBO locations retain the sale of ready-to-drink cocktails from private retailers.</p><br><p>The Doug Ford, Ontario PC Government isn't backing down. They are doubling down on moving ahead with greater privatization in the sale of alcohol to Ontarians, promising greater choice in the marketplace when it comes to where Ontarians can purchase their alcohol.</p><br><p>However is this what this strike is actually about? Who gains from this strike action? And in fact, are Ontarians trading a publicly owned monopoly for a private one in alcohol sales? These questions are being asked by our guest, from the independent news site Corruptario. Morgan Grenfell is a journalist who has looked into the makeup of the board of the LCBO and uncovered several conflicts of interest when it comes to who gains from the strike, and whether or not they do have Ontario's best interests at heart.</p><br><p><a href="https://www.corruptario.ca/fords-obsession-with-booze-sales/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can read the article from Corruptario here</a></p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><br><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>The proposed Highway 413 is the Doug Ford government's landmark project. It has been promised for years by the Ontario PC, despite facing court battles and criticism from grassroots organizations and environmentalists. It has been heavily criticized for its effectiveness and the environmental impact it could have on habitats and farmland. Yet despite all this opposition, the project is still being pushed forward at the highest levels of the Ontario government.</p><br><p>So with the pressure to move forward, one would think a plan and budget had been formulated for the project. Thanks to reporting by Emma McIntosh of The Narwhal, information has come to light about the lack of a solid plan and budget on this highway. Despite assurances that shovels will be in the ground next year to start the project, there is no budget, assessments or definitive plans on how this highway will be built or designed. So what does this mean going forward?</p><br><p>We have Emma McIntosh on the podcast to discuss her article and what's next for the Ford Government's legacy project.</p><br><p><a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/ontario-highway-413-construction-timeline-commitment/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Emma's article on The Narwhal Website is here</a></p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><br><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><br><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Last week, Premier Ford visited Burlington's small business community. The purpose of which, of course, was to find clout with the small businesses. In the lead-up to a potential election? Who knows. </p><br><p>During the visit, however, Premier Ford was asked about Hamilton's LRT project, and when it would begin construction. Ford reiterated his government's support for the project, but the question remains...when will it start being built? For almost 6 years now, the LRT has been just a promise on paper. No tenders have been issued for work and ground has yet to be broken on King St. Yet Ford re-committed to the building of Hamilton's LRT. The catch though, is this comes in light of the government's failure to sufficiently fund the Ontario Science Centre, forcing it to close due to the risk of collapse. In June, a heat wave raised concerns about sufficient air-conditioning in Ontario schools and the Ford government refusing to commit the necessary money to ensure schools are suitable for children. Our point is that this government is tepid on actually spending money, even on items that some would deem crucial. So why would they want to spend money on Hamilton's LRT?</p><br><p>After our break, we face facts that Conservativism is on the rise in North America. We recorded this episode the day after the disastrous debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the United States. Trump is going to be a real contender to become president. Here in Canada, we appear to be eager to select Pierre Poilievre as Prime Minister of Canada. And in Ontario, Doug Ford is riding high in the polls. Why is it, that we appear to be giving conservative right-wing authoritarian parties the keys to democracy for the foreseeable future? We have some theories, have a listen.</p><br><p><a href="https://youtu.be/N0c5EQW2BVM?si=TkWASveaJVV29AJf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The CHCH News Clip that we reference in the episode is here.</a></p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>We planned on finishing our coverage of the Mississauga Mayor's By-Election with our episode last week. However, something crossed our path that we couldn't ignore.</p><br><p>A column appeared in the Toronto Star, titled Good luck, Mississauga. With your new mayor, you’re going to need it. The column was written by Ajay Sharma, a university political science lecturer specializing in municipal governance. His column outlined many of the problems involved with the system we have for electing municipal politicians, and that the system itself does not reward change. A link to the column is below.</p><br><p>We reached out to Ajay to invite him on to the podcast to let him elaborate on his column and how our current system of municipal government promotes a passing-of-the-buck culture, resulting in many of the real problems we have never been properly addressed. Ajay has been a lecturer at the University of Guelph since 2010, specializing in Municipal governance and Environmental Policy</p><br><p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/good-luck-mississauga-with-your-new-mayor-youre-going-to-need-it/article_e9892c28-29c8-11ef-8440-e343657265ea.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=copy-link&utm_campaign=user-share" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">His column is here</a>.</p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><br><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><br><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Nokha Dakroub on the Mississauga Mayor By-Election

<p>It's a good old-fashioned 905 Round Up!</p><br><p>The Ontario government is on break now until October. However, Doug Ford shuffled his cabinet before he let out the Ontario Legislature. It's not anything incredibly noteworthy in our opinion. However, one raised our attention, and we thought threw fuel on the rumours from last week of an early election in Ontario.</p><br><p>Stephen Lecce is out of the Ministry of Education and into the Ministry of Energy. With such little time left until the actual scheduled election, that doesn't leave a lot of time to execute an agenda or major plans in the energy field. It does, however, leave enough time to make some friends with industry insiders and those with deep pockets in the field who might help fuel Lecce's future political ambitions.</p><br><p>After our break, we looked at a local 905 story in Burlington that we weren't able to talk about until now. The rebellion of sorts of local councillors against the big mayor powers given to Mayor Marianne Meed Ward. Clearly, not all are comfortable with a big city mayor in the 905 having this much power. How tenable is council cohesion going forward? And why are they so timid to speak out about this?</p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><br><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><br><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Rumours are circulating in Queen's Park of Doug Ford's interest in an early election for Ontario. Polls show he is riding high, possibly earning another majority for the Ontario PC party. He just won two by-elections in Milton and Lambton Kent Middlesex. He is moving ahead on the construction of the new Highway 413 in the 905 and is currently announcing beer in corner stores by year's end. All in all it's been a good year so far for Doug Ford and the Ontario PC Party.</p><br><p>So is it no wonder that the Premier has been reluctant to stomp down persistent rumours of an early election call? However, is this just posturing or is there a real chance that we'll have an election in Ontario before June of 2026? We thought we'd dive into the rumour mill and see what is going on in the back rooms of Queens Park. So we invited back to the end the founder and publisher of the QP Reporter, Sabrina Nanji to discuss if there are any merits to the rumours running around and if we should be preparing for an election soon.</p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><br><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><br><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>A couple of stories caught our eye the previous week.</p><br><p>In Newmarket, the town council heard pushback from the community over a proposed 9-story condo project, over concerns that a Tim Horton's drive-thru down the road could face increased times at the window. In Oakville, the Town Council received a harsh letter from Federal Liberal Housing Minister Sean Fraser threatening to withdraw their Housing Accelerator money due to its refusal to grant higher density in the city around Sheridan College.</p><br><p>Are we facing a pushback against the needs of density and development in our 905 communities? Despite the need for more housing, it seems that fewer and fewer communities are willing to let their neighbourhoods grow and change to accommodate that need. People want housing affordability to come down, but are they willing to see the change in their communities that will result in more affordable pricing? What might happen if NIMBYs win the arguments against change in the 905?</p><br><p>We invited back to the podcast, housing economic expert Mike Moffatt to discuss this new wrinkle in the housing crisis, and what might happen if we don't solve it.</p><br><p><a href="https://www.yorkregion.com/news/completely-out-of-character-concerns-raised-about-proposed-newmarket-9-storey-condo-building/article_f0531f5f-e0c9-5832-9b5f-3dcf3c8e910a.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">‘Completely out of character’: Concerns raised about proposed Newmarket 9-storey condo building</a></p><br><p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/federal-minister-threatens-to-pull-housing-funding-after-oakville-reneges-on-promises/article_274b1860-1465-11ef-abd6-dfe394bf5ba9.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Federal minister threatens to pull housing funding after Oakville reneges on promises</a></p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><br><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><br><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p><br><p><br></p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Times are tough these days. It's getting harder and harder to make ends meet. Rent, mortgage, and gas are increasing, outpacing real wages and salaries for the average Canadian. Most noticeable to Canadians coast to coast is the price of food. It's harder and harder to stretch your dollar when feeding your family these days after stepping foot in a supermarket.</p><br><p>Politicians like Pierre Poilievre like to espouse that it is taxation that has caused the increase in prices. Justin Trudeau on the other hand is saying he's keeping an eye on grocery stores about the increase in prices. So where does that leave the average Canadian?</p><br><p>For a subreddit community, it's forced them to take action on their own. To send a message to the corporate conglomerates that own the food retail business in this country, using the only tool available to them...their hard-earned money. The subreddit community, LoblawsIsOutOfControl is organizing a nationwide boycott of the country's largest supermarket conglomerate. What started as a small protest against the rising cost of groceries, has turned into a national movement of ordinary Canadians trying to send a message to the corporations that control food in this country. Canadians aren't going to take it anymore.</p><br><p>However, does this movement have legs? Especially in the 905? If this boycott can make an impact on the ledger of Loblaws it will be here in the 905. So to that end, we reached out to the organizers of the boycott, Emily Johnson. Emily is a single mother, who lives here in the 905 and is taking on Canada's richest grocer, Galen Weston. We spoke with her to talk about the origins of this boycott, how it's going, and what victory looks like to them.</p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><br><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><br><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p><p><br></p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>At the beginning of May, Pam Damoff, the Liberal MP for Oakville - North Burlington announced that she would be retiring from federal politics at the end of this term. She would not be seeking re-election.</p><br><p>Her reasoning was a common refrain from female politicians across all party lines. The misogynistic and violent threats to her personhood and family had become too great to make the job worth it. While it takes tough skin to make it in politics it's another thing entirely when it becomes impossible to go out in public to grocery shop or run errands because threats are lobbied across aisles.</p><br><p>What does it say about our politics that we consider threats a common part of our civil dialogue now? Where it's no longer satisfactory to simply vote out a politician we disagree with, we must now drive them from office under threats to their person? When political parties use rhetoric to drive support and build up anger in the populace? More important, what happens to that anger if it has nowhere to go?</p><br><p>We asked Pam Damoff to join us today to discuss how she came to this decision in her career, the state of political discourse at the moment in Canada, and where do we go from here.</p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><br><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><br><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Well, the Milton By-Election has come and gone.</p><br><p>The people of Milton handily supported Zee Hamid and the Ontario PC’s to represent them in the Ontario Legislature until the next general election.</p><br><p>During the by-election, Doug Ford gave special attention to the riding.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br><p>In the last week of the campaign, Doug Ford made a point to reiterate that the controversial Highway 413 construction would begin in 2025.</p><br><p>The proposed highway would connect Milton to King City bridging the 401 and 400 highways.&nbsp;Doug Ford says it will alleviate traffic congestion in the 905, while critics of the proposed highway say it will save a mere 30 seconds of travel time, at the cost of invaluable farmland and an unknown price tag, estimated in the billions.</p><br><p>With the by-election victory in Milton, Doug Ford is taking this as a sign of permission from the electorate to move ahead on this project.&nbsp;But is that what we all want?&nbsp;How much did this announcement play into winning Milton?&nbsp;What were the factors that led to the Tories keeping Milton?</p><br><p>To answer those and a few other questions we have, we reached out to a friend of the podcast Laura Steiner to join us.</p><br><p>Laura covered the Milton By-election for the Milton Reporter and today she joins us to discuss whether or not Highway 413 is wanted in Milton, how exactly the Tories won the Milton By-Election, and how they got a long-time Liberal supporter like Zee Hamid to carry their banner into the next general election.&nbsp;</p><br><p>Our Episode with Sabrina Nanji of The QP Observer:</p><br><p>https://905er.ca/2024/04/sabrina-nanji-and-the-milton-by-election/</p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><br><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><br><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><br><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>When we started this podcast, one of the first episodes we ever did was covering the aftermath of the basic income pilot project here in Ontario. One of the first acts the then-newly elected Doug Ford government did was to break their word and cancel the project without warning. In that episode, we interview Jessie Golem, a resident of Hamilton who was one of the recipients of basic income. We spoke with her then about the impact the project had on her life and what the repercussions were of the cancellation.</p><p>Recently, Jessie has appeared in the news again with basic income, but this time on the offensive. Last week, it was announced that a class action lawsuit would be filed against the Ontario government for breach of contract over the basic income pilot project. This lawsuit marks another breach of contract that the open-for-business Doug Ford Conservatives have faced since taking office. To learn more about this case and what the repercussions might be we reached out to Jessie and Stephen Moreau the lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the matter.</p><br><p>You can listen to our previous episode with Jessie here:</p><p>https://905er.ca/2020/10/episode-11-hope-and-betrayal-the-human-stories-and-human-cost-of-ontarios-cancelled-basic-income-pilot</p><br><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>The City of Hamilton saw itself come under attack by cybercriminals in early 2024. City Council, apps, phone communication and the city's library system were all inaccessible or unavailable. Criminals used malware to hold the city hostage until it paid a ransom. The city did not pay and eventually, and order was restored.</p><p>This is not an isolated event though. Toronto Public Library saw its system become unusable for a year due to a cyber attack, and numerous small municipalities in Ontario have reported similar events over the years. This isn't going away. Cyber attacks and ransomware are the new norm. A common feature that governments and businesses alike need to face reality about. In the modern age, if you possess data you're a target, and everyone possesses data. Municipalities are ripe targets though, as they have a treasure trove of our data stored. Everything including tax records, business files, social insurance numbers, and credit cards, chances are goes through our municipalities at one point. So naturally we asked the question, are our municipalities up to the task of securing our personal information?</p><p>To answer the question we invited on to the podcast Seyed Hejazi of MNP. Seyed is a cyber security expert who is hired by government institutions as well as private enterprises to consult on their cyber security needs. We spoke with him today to find out exactly how large of a problem this is, what is needed to secure our data from cyber criminals, and are our municipalities capable of meeting the challenge.</p><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><p>Or, why not&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Sabrina Nanji of the QPObserver joins us on this episode as we get into the weeds with the Milton By-Election.</p><p>When Parm Gill announced that he was stepping down from the Ontario PC's to run for Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives, it of course opened up a By-Election to replace him as Milton's MPP. Normally, By-Elections are sleepy affairs with little fanfare, however, this one has an undercurrent of importance to it. To start, the Ontario PC's need to show that they are still relevant in the 905, and to do so they have scooped former Ontario Liberal supporter as well as Milton Councillor Zee Hamid to run for them. Fans of the podcast will remember our interview with him when he ran for Mayor last municipal election.</p><p>For the Ontario Liberals, there were talks about whether or not new leader Bonnie Crombie would seek a seat in the Legislature via Milton. However it appears after a lot of back and forth over candidates, Galen Naidoo-Harris will carry the banner for the Ontario Liberals in this race. What does this say about Bonnie's leadership and the Ontario Liberal brand? Especially as they only lost this seat by a narrow margin in the last general election?</p><p>To discuss this all and to share her insight, we are joined by Sabrina Nanji. Sabrina is a former reporter with the Toronto Star and has since gone off to start her venture in journalism with the QPObserver. You can find her work here:</p><p>https://qpobserver.ca/</p><p>Our previous episode with Zee Hamid is here:</p><p>https://905er.ca/2022/09/the-race-for-milton-zeeshan-hamid/</p><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><p>Or, why not <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p><p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a></p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Hamilton Police have been having a pretty bad start to 2024.</p><p>Last month, the Hamilton Police Board made headlines when it took disciplinary action against one of its members, Ward 2 Councillor Cameron Kroetsch for asking questions surrounding its budgetary process. As of this airing date, Councillor Kroetsch is suspended from serving on the Police Board in Hamilton.</p><p>This bold action on the part of the police board raises serious questions about how much oversight and accountability do our elected officials have over the municipalities biggest expenditure. Do police in this province operate without the same conditions that other municipal agencies have?</p><p>We thought we'd get into this topic where it started, by asking Councillor Kroetsch to join us. We've had him on before to The 905er when we first launched this podcast a few years ago. Since that time, he was elected to represent Ward 2 on Hamilton City Council in the last election. Today he joins us to discuss what happened around the table at the Hamilton Police Board.</p><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><p>Or, why not <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p><p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a></p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Last month, we released an episode on the rise of anti-semitism in the 905. We released it and thought it would be some time before we might have to revisit the topic. We were shocked to find out that only a few weeks later the topic would rear its ugly head once again in Hamilton.</p><p>On March 19th, without warning The Playhouse Cinema in Hamilton announced unilaterally it would be postponing the Hamilton Jewish Film Festival, slated to happen in April, citing concerns from emails and social media surrounding the event as justification for the decision. Later, the Cinema would clarify that no specific threats had been issued to the venue, just a general atmosphere towards the event itself because it was a Jewish Film Festival. Nevertheless, pressure on the Cinema to cancel the event because it was a Jewish cultural event can only be described as anti-semitic. We reached out to the Playhouse to invite them for comment, however they did not respond to our requests.</p><p>We did want to discuss this though with the organizers of the festival to hear their side. To that end, we invite back to the podcast Jazmyn Rymberg of the Hamilton Jewish Federation, to present their side and how this setback will not deter Hamilton's Jewish community from celebrating their heritage.</p><p>Tickets for the Film Festival can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://www.jewishhamilton.org/film-festival">https://www.jewishhamilton.org/film-festival</a></p><p>Our Previous episode with Jazmyn Rymberg can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://905er.ca/2024/01/confronting-anti-semitism-in-the-905/">https://905er.ca/2024/01/confronting-anti-semitism-in-the-905/</a></p><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><p>Or, why not <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p><p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a></p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>For years, the Doug Ford government has promised Whitby a new hospital. As the region continues to grow it is becoming apparent that the status quo in terms of its health care will not do. In a notoriously safe PC riding like Whitby and Durham, it seems like they would be a shoo-in for a brand spanking new hospital, just like Doug promised. So where is it? Why hasn't the Doug Ford PC's started the process of fulfilling their promise to the people of Durham Region?</p><p>In a notoriously safe conservative part of the province like Durham and Whitby, it shocked us to hear about Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy's campaign to put public pressure on the Ontario PC party to own up to their promise. Why did she have to start a PR push last month to ask the province to spend only $3 million to start the process of development for a badly needed hospital? To answer those questions and learn more about how dire the situation is in Whitby's healthcare system, we invited her to the podcast.</p><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><p>Or, why not <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p><p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a></p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>A few weeks ago, Hamilton City Council voted to redesign its major street running into its downtown core.</p><p>The new plan is to essentially divide Main St, a one-way six-lane wide boulevard running through the middle of its downtown into a two-way street, despite concerns from city staff that this would create a problem with traffic, leading to congestion. Their concern is that this move will limit the ability to travel down and through the downtown. Is this a pointless and ultimately futile move on the part of Hamilton City Council? Or is this a brave decision to take steps to transform a decaying downtown into a vibrant pedestrian and people-friendly place to live, work and play?</p><p>One person who is highly critical of Hamilton City Council's decision is Hamilton Spectator columnist Scott Radley. His opinion piece criticizing the council's decision caught our eye and so we invited him to share his opinion in-depth and see if we were wrong in our approval of the city council's decision. What happened was a great conversation with two sides of the topic on how best to revitalize and improve one of Canada's most important cities. Did either side win? Not sure, but some great ideas hopefully popped out for you to listen to. This is how these debates are supposed to go, isn't it?</p><p><a href="https://www.thespec.com/opinion/columnists/brace-yourself-for-hamiltons-looming-perma-gridlock/article_93050fa5-d96e-5b18-aed7-4d583b0a8b71.html">Scott's Column in The Spec</a></p><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><p>Or, why not <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p><p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a></p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<p>Coming off our previous episode, we wanted to examine the state of Catholic education in Ontario. Sparked by the recent York Catholic school board controversy, along with the stories of Catholic school boards fighting against raising the Pride flag, we were wondering about its future in Ontario. What is the support for Catholic education, and does it have a purpose in today's multicultural and diverse mosaic in Ontario?</p><p>To dive into this topic we reached out to Paolo De Buono. Paolo is a former Catholic school teacher in Ontario as well as a lawyer, who has been highly critical of the institution in recent years. Citing its curriculum encourages homo and transphobia, and that in a modern diverse society such as Ontario and Canada, it is outdated and harmful. He is also behind the website Stop the Catholic Harm.</p><p>He joins us today.</p><p><a href="https://stopthecatholicharm.ca/">https://stopthecatholicharm.ca/</a></p><p><strong>It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.</strong></p><p><a href="https://905er.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/">You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca</a>. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!</p><p>Or, why not <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><p>Nicholas Paul: sound editing.</p><p>The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!</p><p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a></p> <a target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href="https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/4723909">Get bonus content on Patreon</a><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>