The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province is set to make an announcement later this week about reducing COVID-19 restrictions.

Ontario has been in a modified Step 2 of COVID-19 restrictions since Jan. 5, closing restaurants, gyms and other businesses, introducing capacity restrictions and limits on gatherings. The measures are scheduled to remain in effect until at least Jan. 26.

Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said Monday that he was “starting to have much more hope” that the spread of the Omicron variant was slowing. But he said the decision to lift restrictions was a government one.

Is it too soon to loosen restrictions?

ALSO: Cabinet is set to have its regularly scheduled meeting today. Dr Kieran Moore said the gov’t will have new data on the spread, and staffing levels in hospitals. 

GUEST: Allison Smith, Founder of Queen's Park Today

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The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce’s Board Chair, Louis Grilli, has accepted the resignation of President and CEO, Keanin Loomis, which will be effective March 4, 2022.

Keanin joins Bill to discuss his next steps.

GUEST: Keanin Loomis, President of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce

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Brian's new book “Free The Press: The Death Of American Journalism and How To Revive It” was released this past Saturday, Jan. 15th

Click HERE for more information.

GUEST: Brian J. Karem, Political Commentator for CNN, Columnist for Salon.Com and The Washington Diplomat, and Host of the podcast "Just Ask the Question".

GUEST: Moshe Lander, Senior Economics Lecturer with Concordia University

 The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

Canada’s busiest airport and largest airlines are calling on the federal government to drop its arrival testing rule for vaccinated air travellers, as some of the country’s leading health experts also question the policy’s value.

Air Canada, WestJet and Toronto Pearson airport issued a joint letter on Monday to the federal and Ontario governments, calling on them to ditch the arrival test that is required on top of a vaccination mandate and prearrival negative COVID-19 test.

A growing number of physicians and public-health experts also say the rule should be revisited because it is out of step with Canada’s overall approach to COVID-19 and diverts critical lab resources to asymptomatic people with less need.

GUEST: Beth Potter, President of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada

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Canadian special force operators have been deployed to Ukraine amid rising tensions between the NATO military alliance and Russia, Global News has learned.

The deployment of a small contingent from the Canadian Special Operations Regiment comes as diplomatic talks aimed at staving off an armed conflict in Ukraine have faltered, and an estimated 100,000 Russian troops remain camped on Ukraine’s border.

Sources told Global News that the Canadian special operations presence is part of an attempt by NATO allies to deter Russian aggression in Ukraine, and to identify ways to assist the Ukrainian government.

GUEST: Aurel Braun, Professor of International Relations and a Senior Member of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto

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Health Canada has approved Pfizer's COVID-19 therapeutic for use in adults 18 and older, paving the way for the distribution of a potentially lifesaving drug at a time when the country's hospitals are overwhelmed.

Pfizer's Paxlovid is an oral antiviral treatment prescribed by a doctor and administered in pill form. It is designed to help the body fight off the SARS-CoV-2 virus, reduce symptoms from an infection and shorten the period of illness.

GUEST: Thomas Tenkate, Professor at the School of Occupational & Public Health with Ryerson University