- Mortgaging the future: Why people are leaving the big city
Thursday, September 10th 2020
With many people facing the possibility of working remotely permanently, this pandemic is the right time to move out of the big city. The urban exodus is happening, at least for some, and today on This Matters, we speak with someone who has made the choice to leave the province, as well as a real estate agent who looks at the numbers.
- The costs of the cashless economy
Wednesday, September 9th 2020
The move to cashless business has a big cost. A 2019 study showed that 17 percent of the UK’s population would “struggle to cope in a cashless society.” Many in Canada will also be at a disadvantage. Brendan Kennedy, Toronto Star’s social justice reporter, joins Adrian Cheung to talk about how quickly Canada has embraced the cashless evolution, who is getting quickly left out and why a story often told in technological and economic terms is — at heart — a story about inequality.
- Your back-to-school questions, answered
Tuesday, September 8th 2020
Usually, a day after Labour Day, many kids, parents and teachers are ready and eager — and a bit nervours — to go back to school. But this year, during a pandemic, that nervousness is at a new high. What will this school year be like? What happends if a child or teacher in school tests positive for COVID-19? What about bussing? Or playing? Kids are kids, after all. The Star’s Kristin Rushowy sat down with Evy Kwong from the Star’s audience team to answer questions about back to school sent by readers and listeners in a Q&A last week.
- Food couriers vs. their boss, an app: Hustled episode 1 (Labour Day rebroadcast)
Monday, September 7th 2020
This Labour Day, This Matters is rebroadcasting the first episode of the Toronto Star’s six-part podcast Hustled, where the Star’s labour reporter Sara Mojtehedzadeh takes us behind the scenes of a David vs. Goliath battle between a scrappy group of Toronto food couriers and the app company they work for.
Listen to all six episodes at thestar.com/hustled or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
- A police officer shares her story of surviving workplace sexual harassment
Friday, September 4th 2020
Toronto Police Constable Heather McWilliam was sexually harassed for years by her supervisors, including a sexual assault in the form of a forced kiss, and six years after she decided to fight back — the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has ruled in her favour. Constable Heather McWilliam shares her story with the Toronto Star.
Former Chief of Police Mark Saunders said at the time of the decision “The findings by the Human Rights Tribunal are serious and concerning to me as Chief of Police.”
The department has also issued a statement saying that an external law firm has been contracted to provide mandatory sexual harassment training for all members of the Division — which will eventually be expanded to every member of the Toronto Police Force. There are also plans to address procedural issues in cases like these — as ordered by the Tribunal.
