- A foodie’s guide to pandemic dining
Wednesday, March 16th 2022
Guest: Karon Liu, food reporter
Two years of a pandemic have changed the hospitality industry, including the way we look at labour, essential workers, the way we eat and our relationship with food. The Star’s food reporter Karon Liu and food writer Suresh Doss have kept us updated by sharing the best of what the city has to offer our taste buds from a hidden food court at the back of a flea market to a delicious new pierogi spot in an old church basement. Liu joins “This Matters” to discuss the latest pandemic food trends.
- Ontario’s Tiger King and the lack of rules around animals and zoos
Tuesday, March 15th 2022
Guest: Grant LaFleche, investigative reporter
Ontario is the wild west when it comes to regulations for ownership of exotic animals and the running of zoos and other animal exhibitions. This has led to some people opening roadside zoos in rural communities, leaving local governments dealing with all kind of problems including attacks and bites. There is also consideration for the animals, as there are no real requirements for a standard of care or for the owner to have proper animal handling certification. This has led to some gruesome outcomes. Grant LaFleche, an investigative reporter at the St. Catharines Standard and member of The Star's investigations team, joins “This Matters” to talk about Ontario’s Tiger King and an exotic animal’s grisly death.
- Ontario is lifting mask mandates. Here’s what it means for you
Monday, March 14th 2022
Guest: Rob Ferguson, Queen’s Park reporter
Ontario will be dropping mask mandates in most settings including schools on March 21, right after March break. Ontario’s top doctor Kieran Moore cites the province’s vaccination rates, decreasing case numbers and a decline in hospitalizations as reasons to ease some of the rules, and has indicated all other COVID public health measures may be lifted at the end of April. Many health professionals are worried the province is moving too fast and have spoken out. There is also a new Omicron subvariant in town to consider. Reporter Rob Ferguson of the Star’s Queen’s Park Bureau joins “This Matters” to clarify the ground rules come next week and explain why lifting a mask mandate doesn’t necessarily mean we should lift our masks mask.
This episode was produced by Saba Eitizaz, Brian Bradley and Matthew Hearn
- A scientist makes the case against Daylight Saving Time
Friday, March 11th 2022
Guest: Patricia Lakin-Thomas, York University professor
It is time to spring forward! Daylight Saving Time begins this weekend. Clocks shifting ahead an hour on Sunday not only may make you feel a little tired, it’s a much bigger deal than you may think. To some scientists, changing the time twice a year — which is not done in large parts of the world — is one of the world’s biggest experiments, and generally points to negative outcomes like an increase in heart attacks and traffic accidents. The problems don’t end there and thus, there are movements to abolish it. Today we speak to Patricia Lakin-Thomas, a York University biology professor who runs the Clock Lab.
- Escaping invasion in Ukraine: People share their stories
Thursday, March 10th 2022
Today, we will be taking you to Ukraine, speaking with those who are trying to escape war, which for some includes leaving their homes, their families and their lives. Journalist Johanna Chisholm reports.
This episode was produced by Johanna Chisholm, Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Matthew Hearn and Sean Pattendon.
