- Inside the Trudeau-Singh agreement
Wednesday, March 23rd 2022
Guest: Susan Delacourt, national columnist
With a deal in hand with the federal NDP, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government will be staying in power until at least 2025. Effective immediately, Trudeau has promised to roll out an NDP plan for dental care, pharmacare, climate change and other policies – all items that have long been on NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh's wish list. Both leaders say they're seeking stability but the move has infuriated Conservatives, with interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen calling it a power grab. Veteran politics reporter and the Star's national columnist Susan Delacourt gives us the view from Ottawa.
This episode was produced by Saba Eitizaz, Alexis Green and Matthew Hearn.
- How Ontario’s changes to the Blue Box program might need to be recycled
Tuesday, March 22nd 2022
Guest: Richard Warnica, business feature writer
Ontario's Blue Box paper and plastic recycling program is in the midst of the overhaul, catching up with jurisdictions all over the world by putting more of the responsibility for getting rid of waste packaging on to producers. The made-in-Ontario solution has left no one happy, including industry stakeholders and environmental experts. Both are asking for clarity as deadlines loom to make proposed changes. Will the new regulations gets tossed to the curb, or will they be recycled into something that may work?
This episode discusses several parties, including the Ontario government and Green For Life. Below are their responses when asked for comment:
"From our perspective, there's no disagreement," he said. "They think that we are the big bad guys that are going to get in and drive up costs significantly once we control the market. And it couldn't be further from the truth." — Patrick Dovigi, founder and CEO of Green For Life Environmental, Ontario's largest waste management company
"We are working to deliver a blue box system that will make recycling easier by standardizing what goes in the blue box and expanding services to more communities across the province....We have made sure we have a process that ensures broad collaboration and brings all parties together in pursuit of the best possible recycling system, and one that will be a North American leader." — a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
- A family violence case set a legal precedent. Can it help save lives?
Monday, March 21st 2022
Guest: Alyshah Hasham, courts reporter
A recent court ruling in Brampton, where a Superior Court judge ordered a man to pay his ex-wife $150,000 in damages for a 16-year pattern of abuse, might change how courts look at domestic violence. In considering such cases "often go beyond assault and battery to include complicated and prolonged psychological and financial abuse," experts say there is a new pathway for survivors to seek fair compensation in the civil courts. The Star's courts reporter Alyshah Hasham explains.
- Hang up that phone! Robocalls, spoofing and phone-related fraud
Friday, March 18th 2022
Guest: Katie Daubs, feature writer
Many of us have gotten that call from someone saying they are returning your call even though you never dialed their number. Then there are calls about owing money to the Canada Revenue Agency or border security. It’s something the scam operators do that’s called spoofing, which along with robocalling technology and humans armed with scam scripts are all part of the process of trying to trick people into giving up banking information or other personal data. This kind of phone fraud is a huge problem, and while both authorities and telecommunications companies are trying to tackle it, people still need to be careful, and most importantly, know when to hang up.
- New highways need gravel from GTA quarries. Residents are fighting back
Thursday, March 17th 2022
Guest: Noor Javed, reporter for The Star who focuses on municipal politics and affairs in the 905 region.
As Premier Doug Ford pushes ahead with two major highway projects, how those roadways actually get built is a not-often considered process. Unless, of course, you happen to live next to one of the open-pit mines needed for the gravel to build them. Those residents and environmental activists say there are serious concerns with the growing number of mines across the GTA and a lack of regulations to stop them.
