Friday, August 12th 2022

Guest: Noor Javed, staff reporter

Controversial politicians in Brampton, Richmond Hill and Mississauga have caused several issues for the municipal governments in those communities recently. While the reasons are very different, there has been all kind of political manoeuvring, lawsuits filed and city council meetings disrupted or cancelled. One issue this exposes is the lack of mechanism to punish or remove an elected official from office, other than voting them out in the next municipal election.

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

Audio sources: CityNews, CTV and CAGRichmondHill.

Thursday, August 11th 2022

Guest: Dr. Makini McGuire-Brown, chair of International Physicians of Ontario

With emergency rooms closing due to staff shortages and a critical lack of family doctors across the country, many internationally trained doctors who have immigrated to Canada are asking why it’s so difficult for them to practice medicine here. From a lack of residency positions to programs that help them transition to our health care systems, these doctors say a valuable human resource is not being tapped as the health care system gets closer to a breaking point.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Matthew Hearn and Raju Mudhar

Audio Sources: CPAC

Wednesday, August 10th 2022

Guest: Ben Spurr, City Hall reporter at The Star.

There’s a bike fight brewing in High Park. After some park users complained too many cyclists are speeding through the park, police kicked off ticketing blitz. Tensions and activity escalated so much that in one incident, a police car hit a cyclist. Cycling advocates feel that riders are being unfairly targeted and this has been a waste of police resources. What it definitely shows is another fight in the city where pedestrians, cyclists and drivers are once again in conflict over how public space should be shared.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Matthew Hearn and Raju Mudhar.

Audio sources: CTV and CP24

Tuesday, August 9th 2022

Guest: Kayla Bailey, project manager Ontario Building and Construction Tradeswomen

Many women working in the trades sector like construction, say they have faced hostility, sexism and harassment on the job often without recourse. It’s happened enough that the provincial trades council has made a new committee that seeks to address the issues women face regularly, and also look for long-term strategies on improving this sector and making it more welcoming for women. That’s crucial in a sector facing a severe labour shortage. Kayla Bailey, a journeyperson steamfitter, gas fitter and welder in Toronto, has worked in the sector since 2014 and is now project manager for this new committee. She joins “This Matters” to share her experience.

This episode was produced by Saba Eitizaz, Brian Bradley and Matthew Hearn

Monday, August 8th 2022

Guest: Matthew Ball, author of “The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything”

Many of the world’s biggest companies are investing heavily in, and betting big on, the metaverse. There are different visions of what the metaverse might look like depending on who’s speaking, but regardless it will be the next big evolution of the internet as how we interact with it becomes more immersive. It will all take time because there are several challenges and technologies that need to mature before it happens. Matthew Ball, author of “The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything,” joins “This Matters” podcast, to talk about how the metaverse is defined so far and shed light on the road leading to how it may be created.

This episode was produced by Brian Bradley, Matthew Hearn and Raju Mudhar.