The 905er Podcast
The 905er is a news, politics and discussion podcast for the GTHA region focusing on the region outside central Toronto where 4 million people live, but where news coverage and discussion hardly exists. Presented by Roland Tanner and Joel MacLeod, long-time activists, volunteers and sometimes even wannabe-politicians, we aim to provide a lively weekly podcast featuring interviews with people in the news, round-table discussions, analysis and more. It aims to be intelligent, though-provoking, lively and entertaining. Get bonus content on Patreon
201
The 905 Round-Up: Fewer Masks & Why Can’t Parti...
We are joined by a special guest on this Round-Up. Milton Reporter, Laura Steiner returns to The 905er to share her insight on 905 politics!Doug Ford and the PC government is lifting mask mandates across the province, however...they forgot to t...
46 min
202
The 905 Round-Up: Absent Mayors and Leadership ...
On this episode of The 905 Round-Up, it's all political.Mayor Patrick Brown has announced his campaign to become the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. One might think this would make his being mayor of Brampton rather difficult. We a...
44 min
203
The 905 Round-Up: Paying Tribute to Mayor Mulke...
This week, Burlington lost an elder statesman of local politics.Former Mayor Walter Mulkewich passed away this week. His legacy in Burlington and Hamilton's civic as well as political life will be missed by many. If you were involved in local poli...
36 min
204
The 905 Round-Up: Boundary Issues and Missing P...
Coming off our well-received episode on the #halton boundary debate, Joel and Roland look at both sides and how we think the debate over land use needs to progress in #the905.After that, we look at recent statistics provided by our friend Al...
39 min
205
Ted McMeekin Discusses the Hamilton Alliance fo...
Last Thursday we mentioned a new idea that had been mooted in Hamilton media the same day as a way to solve the current homeless crisis. That idea is being advocated by the Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters - HATS - an alliance of poverty reduction...
38 min
206
The 905 Round-Up: Convoys and HATS for the Home...
On this episode of The 905 Round-Up:Of course, all we can talk about is the trucker convoy in Ottawa. While the eyes of the country are on Ottawa right now, the convoy passed through the 905 drumming up supporters demonstrating at overpasses. One ...
30 min
207
The 905er Takes Time to Reflect on National Alz...
January is National Alzheimer's Awareness Month.Alzheimer's is the most common form of a range of diseases that is collectively referred to as dementia. In Canada, dementia affects over 500,000 Canadians. The annual costs to the Canadian healt...
57 min
208
The 905 Round-Up: Pride and Progressive Housing
On this episode of The 905 Round-Up:Roland and Joel look at the long journey to raise the #prideflag at #HCDSB schools, and the perils of live-tweeting 5-hour long board meetings.Then Roland reviews the leaked proposals from the Housing Afforda...
40 min
209
Todd Coleman Explains the Future of COVID-19
As the Omicron variant continues to paralyze the 905 and all of Ontario, we asked epidemiologist Dr Todd Coleman what we should be doing to live with COVID-19 as we enter the third year of this pandemic.Todd Coleman received his PhD in Epidemiology ...
40 min
210
The 905 Round-Up - Poor Media & Last Developmen...
For this episode of The 905 Round-Up, Roland and Joel look at a story from Durham on the far side of the region and ask why didn't the local media cover it better? And on that note, why doesn't the local media in the 905 do a better job of c...
41 min
211
Brenda Agnew Tries to Fly the Pride Flag at the...
Download episodeOne of the biggest stories we have covered since this podcast began was last year's decision by Halton Catholic School Board over a motion brought that, if passed, would have seen the Pride flag fly over Halton's Catholic Schools dur...
39 min
212
The 905 Round-Up: Covid Deja Vu, Lawn Sign Loop...
Roland and Joel are back at it!Our first episode of 2022, has our intrepid hosts looking down the barrel of another lockdown and shutting of schools to mark the start of the year. At this point it's clear our provincial government in Ontari...
37 min
213
The Year 2021 in Review
Here it is! Our last episode of #2021!Joel and Roland look back on the year that was and select our top three stories that we'll be keeping an eye on in #2022.We look at the HCDSB Pride Flag debate, the impact the Federal election will have on...
47 min
214
Urz Heer Shares How a Peel Community Turned the...
This is our Penultimate episode before the holidays. So we wanted this to be a good news story.Back in January, we did an episode on Peel Region's struggles with COVID-19. At that time Peel was an epicentre of the pandemic struggling to ge...
35 min
215
The 905 Round-Up: Cabs, Council and Politics
We look at what we learned from our explosive interview with Scott Wallace of Burlington Taxi. Where is the outrage from Burlington City Council towards the failure of staff to follow through on its directive?Then Joel and Roland look at a ...
41 min
216
Scott Wallace of Burlington Taxi Sets the Recor...
On November 26th Burlington Taxi, which began operation 53 years ago, shut down for good, leaving many local services and the residents who depended on them without any immediate replacement means of transportation.In the days that followed, it ...
42 min
217
The 905 Round-Up: Hospital Short Changes and Ba...
In this episode of The 905 Round-Up, Joel and Roland take a look at Peel region. Specifically, the fact that while Mississauga is getting massive funding for a badly needed hospital. To the tune of $3 billion. While its neighbour to the north is g...
34 min
218
Graham Crawford Shares what Hamilton Thinks of ...
It is a tumultuous time in Hamilton, with major stories concerning the city's present and future cropping up every week. Events such as the recent violence associated with the clearing of the homeless living in J. C. Beemer Park, the successful Stop ...
39 min
219
The 905 Round-Up: Park Protests and Political P...
Over the weekend saw violence erupt in J.C. Beemer park in Hamilton over the tent encampments there. Protesters from Hamilton Encampment Support Network clashed with police. The details are being investigated by the province's SIU. H...
42 min
220
Lisa Kearns Discusses Why 905 Cities Need a Bet...
Today's episode goes to the heart of the planning and development debate in the 905.The new council elected in Burlington in 2018 has undoubtedly achieved significant change to Burlington’s downtown planning framework, and extracted major co...
45 min
221
The 905 Round-Up: A Grassroots Victory & First ...
This week saw a major victory for the grassroots organizers to protect the remaining rural area of Hamilton from development. Hamilton City Council voted not to expand it's Urban Boundary. This came after a sustained grassroots pressure...
35 min
222
How Do We Get Daycare Funding in Ontario?
Something all parents are all too aware of is the price of daycare. Not just in #the905 but across the province. In some cases, the cost is comparable to a second mortgage on a family's expenses.Finally, the federal government is getting a...
27 min
223
The 905 Round-Up - Bad Democracy and Civil Wars
Today Joel and Roland look over the Minister of Municipal Affairs finally moving the Urban Growth Centre. Spoiler it's a gift that's actually not a gift. The devil is in the details and it appears that Burlington is probably not getting what it...
43 min
224
The Need for a Living Wage in the 905
This month the Ontario government announced it would be raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. A reversal of the decision to cancel the minimum wage increase when they came into power four years ago.As the Ontario economy recovers from COVI...
42 min
225
The 905 Round-Up - Bad Councillors and Redrawn ...
Today Roland and Joel discuss the recent report by the Hamilton Integrity Commissioner on Councillor Terry Whitehead's conduct. Spoiler alert...it's not a favourable one. Both our hosts discuss the antics that go on at City Hall and what ou...
35 min