<p>Continuing from our previous episode on cycling in the 905, we are taking a trip outside of the region. All the way across the country to Vancouver to speak with Dale Bracewell. Metaphorically of course.</p><p>Dale was in attendance at the Ontario Bike Summit in Hamilton that happened earlier this month. He was there to showcase the work he did in Vancouver to transform that city into a more cycling-friendly urban environment. We asked him to talk with us about the accomplishment, as well as the difficulties in transforming one of Canada’s major cities into a more cycling friendly one. More importantly, we ponder how can a city like Hamilton and other cities in the 905 to make the changes to allow more diverse modes of transportation to function in our cities.</p><p>Dale is a former manager of transportation with the City of Vancouver. There he helped to bring about the changes needed to introduce cycling infrastructure to the city. More recently he is the principal consultant with Mobility Insights. A consulting firm that aims to help Canadian cities become more cycling friendly.</p><p>This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending</p><p><a href="https://grahamagnew.ca/">https://grahamagnew.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 own 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>

Can the Ontario Biking Summit Show the Way Forward?

Mike Moffatt explains why the federal and provincial budgets are inadequate to address Canada's biggest problem

Roland and Joel Discuss the newest addition to the Hamilton Police Toolbox and wonder where does the line need to be drawn?

Why is there so little attention being paid to teachers concerns about violent acts in the classroom?

We look at the provinces housing targets that 905 municipalities are agreeing to? Is this a Catch 22?

<p>It is impossible to ignore the headlines on the state of Ontario's healthcare system. </p><p>In Doug Ford's second term as Premier, despite a promise not to privatize the system, it seems that is exactly what is happening in Ontario. For private clinics are now part in parcel for healthcare in this province. Brought in under the pretence that it would help to alleviate the overburdened and crumbling system. Or at least thats how it's being sold to us by the government.</p><p>A critic of that framing is the Ontario Health Coalition. A group of medical professionals and grassroots Ontarians who are committed to ensuring that the health care system remains a predominantly publicly funded one. Where Ontarians of all walks of life have equitable and efficient access to care, and are not forced to pay out of pocket for services that are normally covered by OHIP.</p><p>To get a better sense of the status of Ontario's healthcare system, how it go to be this way, as well as what would be required going forward to improve the quality of care, we asked their executive director to join us. Natalie Mehra has headed up the Ontario Health Coalition for over 22 years. In that time the Health Coalition has grown into the largest and broadest public interest group on health care in the province, representing more than 750,000 Ontarians in its network of more than 400 member organizations and more than 50 local chapters.</p><p>Natalie Mehra joins us today.</p><p><strong>It takes money and time to 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 own 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>

How Project Arrow is Going to Change Canada

Roland and Joel announce a big change to the format going forward

Mark Cripps of the Insurance Bureau of Canada shares why the industry is warning us all of climate change costs

Laura Steiner Chats about the Trend of Car Thefts in the Region and we look at low voter turnout in Hamilton

Brian Lilley waded into the Hamilton Centre By-election with an accusation of antisemitism against the NDP. The Liberals jumped on his bandwagon, and the NDP fought back. Who does it help?

Have the Ontario Liberals turned a corner? Meanwhile, the PCs are swimming in corporate money in a world where corporate donations are illegal. What gives?

<p>We like to pride ourselves on being open to opposing view points. We concede that sometimes we don't always get it right</p><p>However, we also pride ourselves on offering the chance for those opposing viewpoints to come on and clear the record.</p><p>Which is sort of the story on how we invited our guest this week to the podcast.</p><p>Last week we listened to another local podcast called What's the Point, produced by the fine people at the Pointer. They had on to their podcast Stella Ambler, former Conservative MP for Mississauga South to discuss her new non partisan political watchdog organization Municipal Watch.</p><p>Municipal Watch is billed as being a grassroots funded, non partisan organization tasked with keeping an eye on how municipal governments function and spend our tax dollars. All seemingly good things and something that no one would have an issue with...right? Well we had questions. We always do when it comes to people saying that they are keeping an eye on government. Usually it ends up being too good to be true. How does the organization decide what is worthy of their time? What makes a scandal in their books? How do they balance the competing interests and needs of the communities that they portend to look after? This is where watchdogs have to trend carefully in our opinion.</p><p>To get answers, we thought we'd reach out to Stella Ambler to see if she'd want to come on. If you're a fan of this podcast you can understand our trepidation, as Conservatives do not tend to come on this podcast...ever. To our delight and surprise, Ms. Ambler agreed to take time from her busy schedule to share her vision and passion for Municipal Watch and to fill in some of the gaps we have on this project. We were thankful to have someone with a different political take on things on to the podcast for a lively discussion on matters and to see where this new organization could fit into the political landscape of not just the 905, but Ontario and Canada as well.</p><p>Stella Ambler joins us today.</p><p><a href="https://municipalwatch.ca">Municipal Watch</a></p><p><strong>It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. 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 own 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>

Joey Coleman of thepublicrecord.ca joins us to share his take on the first 100 days of Hamilton's new council.

<p>The 905 Round-Up is coming to you early this week!</p><p>A follow up on stories we've already touched upon on the podcast. Starting with the Halton District School Board. Last year, the board made international headlines when a transgender teacher was photographed wearing enormous prosthetic breasts in a shop class at Oakville Trafalgar High School. At the time the board stated that it had no dress code policy to enforce teacher attire. It's concern was over the potential human rights violations when it came to any other transgender teachers in their employ. At the time, freedom convoy protesters shifted their focus from COVID-19 to the high school and set up shop outside. At the time we had Caryma Sa'd on to share her coverage of the protests. Since that time however, the story hasn't gone away. Parents have organized and petition not just the school board but the Minister of Education Stephen Lecce to intervene. Pressure is on for the HDSB to come up with a workable policy to solve this issue. Last week, the Toronto Star published a story detailing the latest developments at the board. Surprisingly, parents are not pleased with the latest proposals for a policy and the board is looking to re work it. Joel and Roland debate who's really to blame for this predicament and how can a solution be found?</p><p>After the break, we look at the ongoing saga of Highway 413. The potential legacy of Doug Ford has had its problems. Despite the Premier's eagerness to see it built, he just can't seem to get the job done. It was one of the few promises he made during the campaign. Yet, it appears that not all the paper work is in order. According to the Toronto Star, the province is skipping over some of the environmental assessments that should be done prior to breaking ground on a project of this scale. This has caught the attention of the federal government and they have begun their own assessments of the project. Why the urgency to skip the rules in the first place? Could it have something to do with who will actually profit from this highway? Will it even be built? Joel and Roland discuss.</p><p><strong>It takes money and time to create two podcasts a week. 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>Why not <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/the905er">buy us a coffee</a>?</p><p>Or you can support us by becoming a patron for a month, for six months, or forever. See <a href="https://www.patreon.com/the905er">https://www.patreon.com/the905er</a>. Patreon listeners also get to hear our episodes without commercial interruptions.</p><p>Thanks to our existing patrons! You can join them at <a href="https://www.patreon.com/the905er">https://www.patreon.com/the905er</a>. Supporting the 905er with a monthly donation enables us to do this podcast, to make it better and better, and to make sure it reflects your priorities. Please consider joining our growing team.</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>

It shouldn't surprise you to know that housing is at a crisis in not just the 905, but all of Ontario.  In fact, across Canada, housing prices and supply are in crisis mode.  Our supply of housing in whatever form you wish to choose, whether it's a d...

February as many of you are aware is Black History MonthEach year through the month of February figures and prominent individuals of african origin whether they be activists, politicians, artists, musicians, authors or historical figures, are front ...

If you're a fan of this podcast, then you'll no doubt be aware of our fan of smart urban design.  For years the car guided how we designed and built our cities.  The idea was that we would alway require a car to get from place to place where we live...

The Premier hosted a Stag and Doe for his daughter's wedding last year and surprisingly all of his closest developer buddies got an invite whether they liked it or not to attend. To literally hand over envelopes of cash. How this does not topple his...

Another weekly brace of stories affecting the 905. When is disrupting a democratic meeting appropriate? Uncle Doug is building nuclear power plants. Uncle Justin is thowing money at the provinces to spend on healthcare to make up for the fact the pre...

Roland spent most of January in Scotland, and took the time to record his impressions of Edinburgh's Tram network, which opened it's first phase in 2014. The tram's construction was anything but smooth (sound familiar?), but now it's here, what's it ...

Laura Steiner sits in for Joel as we discuss the late Hazel McCallion's legacy for Mississauga and the 905 region. And we share some first impressions (recorded before Tuesday's interview with Kate Graham - go and listen to it if you haven't heard it...

At 10am on Sunday former Ontario Liberal leadership hopeful Kate Graham posted an open letter on her Twitter account which certainly achieved something Ontario's Liberals have not done too often lately--it got people talking about the Ontario Liberal...

Roland returns to the show, and Joel has the privilege of bringing him up to speed on all he's missed around the 905 and the province in his absence.  Share in the shock and awe!We recap privatization of health care.  It turns out Hazel McCallion, w...