- Behind the mask, a COVID story
Tuesday, April 6th 2021
The mask has become a symbol of all we’ve been through in the age of the pandemic. Amy Dempsey traced the trajectory of Toronto’s “mask life” and joins “This Matters” to talk about how a piece of cloth became both protection and a political symbol. As well, we mark the “maskiversary,” one year since the day Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advocated mask wearing and warned of “speaking moistly.”
Guest: Amy Dempsey, Toronto Star’s investigative feature writer
- Developing Highway 413: Who benefits?
Monday, April 5th 2021
Guest: Steve Buist, investigative reporter and feature writer at The Star
The Ontario government has resurrected plans to build Highway 413, a new road that runs from Vaughan to Halton Hills. There are several controversial aspects to this planned route and a joint Toronto Star/National Observer investigation has found that a number of developers are set to benefit if this road is built. Looking at land registries, lobbying funds, changed laws and more, there appears to be quite a potential windfall for a number of developers if the Ontario government manages to go ahead and construct this highway.
- The fight over sick pay in Ontario (Rebroadcast from March 12, 2021)
Sunday, April 4th 2021
This is a rebroadcast from March 12, 2021.
Public health officials, city mayors and small businesses have called for it: paid sick leave. It has been cited as a factor that’s been proven to slow the spread of COVID-19 — without the protection of paid sick leave, employees often feel forced to go to work even while sick and symptomatic, to avoid missing a pay cheque or losing their jobs. The Ontario government has said for months it has no plans to create a paid sick leave program of its own but the pressure, both internally and publicly, is ratcheting up on the Ford government, ahead of the 2021 budget. Robert Benzie, Toronto Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief, talks to “This Matters” host Adrian Cheung, about the months-long political fight over paid sick leave in Ontario and what might be expected in the coming weeks.
If you would like to support the journalism of the Toronto Star, you can subscribe at thestar.com/subscribingmatters
- Opening Day: Blue Jay Jordan Romano, MLB.com’s Alyson Footer and Kim’s Convenience’s Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (simulcast of Deep Left Field baseball podcast)
Thursday, April 1st 2021
It’s April 1 and Major League Baseball — and spring — has officially started. We’re bringing you a special episode today, simulcasting the launch of Deep Left Field, a new baseball podcast from the Toronto Star, featuring long-time Blue Jays radio voice, Mike Wilner. Today, Mike speaks with Toronto Blue Jay pitcher Jordan Romano, MLB.com’s Alyson Footer and Kim’s Convenience’s Paul Sun-Hyung Lee.
Let’s play ball and we hope you'll listen to Deep Left Field wherever you find your favourite podcasts.
- How the ‘model minority’ myth fuels anti-Asian racism and white supremacy
Wednesday, March 31st 2021
A reckoning of anti-Asian racism and violence has been ongoing in the wake of the shooting in Atlanta that left eight people dead, along with the thousands of reports of anti-Asian incidents during the pandemic. With both Canada and the U.S. have torrid histories of racism, how have long-running stereotypes and the ‘model minority myth’ of Asian Canadians and Americans turned into violence? Three Asian-Canadian journalists talk about the myth playing out in their lives, how it’s wielded as a weapon of anti-Asian and anti-Black hate and what unlearning it means.
Guests: Toronto Star journalists, Angelyn Francis, equity and inequality reporter, and Evelyn Kwong, team editor, speak to This Matters host, Adrian Cheung
