Latest podcasts
- It’s a deal: unpacking the $10-a-day child care plan
Tuesday, March 29th 2022
Guest: Robert Benzie and Tonda MacCharles, Star reporters
With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford signing on the dotted line confirming the province of Ontario is in, Canada will have a national child-care program for the first time in history. With the province having one of the highest child-care rates in Canada, the federal government has earmarked 13.2 billion for Ontario over six years. Parents could see fees reduced by up to 50 per cent by the end of the year, with costs dropping to as low as $10-a-day by September 2025. The timing couldn’t be better. The country’s fiscal year-end is this week and the province is just nine weeks out from an election. In this episode, we talked to reporters from the Star’s Queen’s Park and Ottawa bureaus to unpack the plan, why Ontario took so long and what it means for Canadians.
This episode was produced by Saba Eitizaz, Brian Bradley and Matthew Hearn
- Jerry Dias and Unifor: How the head of Canada’s largest private sector union fell
Monday, March 28th 2022
Guest: Rosa Saba and Sara Mojtehedzadeh, Star reporters
Jerry Dias was one the most high-profile and well known union leaders in Canada, but now Dias is under investigation for breaching union rules and allegedly accepting money from a supplier and then trying to share it with another employee. The consequences for the former head of Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, have been swift but there plenty of a questions remain about how and why this happened, as well as what the labour movement can do to root out potential corruption at its highest levels.
- Mid-Life Happiness: Why joy later in life looks different than you think
Friday, March 25th 2022
Guest: Arthur Brooks, author of the bestselling book, “From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life”
What if everything that brought you to success, happiness and satisfaction in the first part of your life does a terrible job to prepare you to find those things in the latter half of it? That’s something that Arthur Brooks decided to tackle in his latest book. For all Brooks has accomplished — he’s a Harvard professor, columnist at The Atlantic and a bestselling author — the research on this book started out for himself, trying to figure out how to find happiness and fulfilment as he got older. Now he’s sharing the results and we discuss his findings.
This episode was produced by Raju Mudhar, Julia De Laurentiis Johnston and Matthew Hearn
- Scarred by war: The impact on Ukraine's children will be lasting
Thursday, March 24th 2022
Guest: Dr. Samantha Nutt, War Child Canada and War Child USA
It’s been exactly a month since Russia invaded Ukraine. According to the United Nations, more than three million people have been forced to flee. Half of those are children. In addition, Ukrainian officials say more than 100 children have been killed. Children have nothing to do with war and yet it impacts them more than anyone. One in every six children across the world continue to live in active conflict zones, caught up in violence not of their own making. In today’s episode, Dr. Samantha Nutt, founder and president of humanitarian organization War Child Canada and War Child USA, joins to look at how children are scarred by war.
This episode was produced by Saba Eitizaz, Brian Bradley and Matthew Hearn - 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.