Returning to class after so many lockdowns, teachers and parents have noticed a lack of maturity in students. How behind in maturation are they? What can parents do to help?

GUEST: Dr. Jean Clinton, Panel Member, is a Clinical Professor in the division of Child Psychiatry at McMaster University and a Staff member with McMaster Children’s Hospital

We take a peek into what next week's NATO leaders summit may hold, as well as insight into the "no" given to Ukraine's request for a No-Fly-Zone around its borders.

GUEST: Stephen M. Saideman, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University & Director of the Canadian Defence & Security Network

The term "binding interest arbitration" will soon be in your lexicon as the OPSEU strike that was supposed to commence today has been cancelled.

GUEST: Heather Giardine-Tuck, President OPSEU Local 240 and Professor of Communication and Global Studies, Mohawk College

The Bill Kelly Show Podcast w/ Guest Host Shiona Thompson:

Soon, most travellers entering Canada will not have to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test.

As of April 1, the federal government will be lifting the pre-arrival COVID-19 testing requirement at the border for fully vaccinated travellers.

Passengers may still be subjected to random PCR testing at the airport, and travellers will still have to use the ArriveCAN app to enter their proof of vaccination and other required information.

GUEST: Frederic Dimanche, Director of the Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Ryerson University

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Vaccines have proved to be essential in the fight against COVID and preventing severe illness and death. But like Basu, a growing group of Canadians is suffering from vaccine fatigue, wondering what more will be needed to remain protected from the virus. So is a fourth dose necessary? Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla recently said yes. But as governments confront the question of whether to recommend another booster, some experts say the evidence is not yet in.

GUEST: Dr. Dawn Bowdish, Tenured Professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University and Canada Research Chair in Aging & Immunity with the DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research

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The economic cost of Russia’s assault on Ukraine was fully exposed on Wednesday as Vladimir Putin’s sanctions-ravaged government teetered on the brink of its first international debt default since the Bolshevik Revolution.

Moscow was due to pay $117-million in interest on two dollar-denominated sovereign bonds it had sold back in 2013. But the limits it now faces making payments, and talk from the Kremlin that it might pay in rubles – triggering a default anyway – meant even veteran investors were left guessing at what might happen.

GUEST: Ian Lee, Associate, Professor with the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University

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Misinformation & reasoning with someone who’s “gone down the rabbit hole”. Can a person be deprogrammed from a cult? Can someone be deprogrammed from what they read and believe from the internet?  

GUEST: Steve Joordens, Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto

The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis, along with ongoing climate-related disasters, have exposed structural weaknesses across domestic and international supply chains, threatening Canada’s economic and national security, and business competitiveness. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) released its Policy Primer: Supply Chain Disruptions and Delays to provide a snapshot of the issues along with short and long-term recommendations for the provincial and federal governments.

GUEST: Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made direct pleas to Canada to further assist his country in its fight against the ongoing Russian attacks during his straightforward and emotional address to Parliament on Tuesday.

Appearing virtually, donning an army green sweater with a Ukrainian flag off to one side in his frame, Zelensky implored members of the House of Commons and Senate as well as the top officials and special guests present to witness his remarks for further urgent assistance.

ALSO: Justin Trudeau among 313 Canadians banned from Russia

GUEST: Daniel Béland, Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada

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Recently, Health Minister Christine Elliott announced the expansion of private hospitals in Ontario. Missed this? So did many of us, possibly because of the words she selected: “we can let independent health facilities operate private hospitals.” 

That offhand reference to “independent health facilities” sounds a whole lot better than this:

“We will award public funds to private, for-profit hospitals and clinics, knowing that these private facilities are associated with worse care, higher costs and more deaths.”

But if she’d said that, Elliott might have been asked about the Private Hospitals Act, which banned new private hospitals in Ontario in 1973. Or about the Canada Health Act, which bans extra billing for necessary services which is, nonetheless, regularly violated in private clinics.

Read the full article HERE.

GUEST: Dr. Nancy Olivieri, Physician and a Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine and Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist at Toronto General Hospital

The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

Russia’s relentless bombardment of Ukraine edged closer to central Kyiv as a series of strikes hit a residential neighborhood Tuesday, while the leaders of three European Union countries planned a bold visit to Ukraine’s capital and the number of people the war has driven from the country passed 3 million.

Matthew Best is in Lviv and can paint a picture of the trip, some of the folks coming to fight, and the general atmosphere.

GUEST: Matthew Best, Freelance Journalist for the The Globe & Mail, and Ottawa Citizen

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Two Polls:

GUEST: John Wright, Executive Vice President of Maru Public Opinion

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Recent media reporting about the hospitality industry has been dominated by stories about mass resignations and workers leaving for white-collar jobs. 

Many sources cite a combination of low wages, instability and lack of a decent working environment as factors pushing workers out of restaurants and into better paying, more secure jobs.

While repeated pandemic lockdowns and closures have pushed workers to find jobs in different sectors, this version of the story ignores that one in four restaurant workers are and that border closures over the past two years have meant that many potential immigrants have not been able to enter Canada

GUEST: Maggie Perzyna, Senior Researcher with the CERC Migration Program at Ryerson University