The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

The Ontario government has announced that some high school students will be given take-home COVID-19 tests as part of a pilot project when classes resume in September.

Officials said the project will be aimed at staff and students who are vaccinated, asymptomatic high-risk contacts due to an outbreak.

The testing pilot project will launch the week of Sept. 7. — for eight weeks — ending on Oct. 29. It will focus on 13 of the 34 local public health units across the province.

GUEST: Dr. Martha Fulford, Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at McMaster Children's Hospital and Hamilton Health Sciences

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A federal election is upon us. On Sept. 20, many Canadians will deliver their judgment on the government’s handling of the pandemic, the economy, a global climate crisis and much else besides. And like every election since 1920, Elections Canada will be ready.

Elections Canada is among our country’s most trusted public institutions – and deservedly so. The trouble is, Elections Canada is no longer up to the job – or rather, after 100 years, it’s time for its job to change.

Canadian democracy is being challenged on multiple fronts. As the public-relations giant Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer tells us, changes in our media landscape, especially the advent of social media, have led to an alarming rise in misinformation and distrust, and a corresponding decline in confidence in public institutions, including representative democracy.

Ready the full article HERE.

GUEST: Peter Macleod, Principal with MASS LBP

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is prepared to keep its military personnel in Afghanistan after an Aug. 31 American deadline.

Trudeau made the announcement after meeting Tuesday in a virtual summit with fellow G7 leaders who were convening to discuss the crisis and the re-emergence of the Taliban as the country's rulers.

Going into the meeting, Trudeau played his cards close to his chest on whether he wanted the G7 to push for an extension of the American military commitment to Afghanistan.

But afterwards, as he was about to board a federal election campaign bus in Hamilton, he said Canada was prepared to stay longer, if possible, past the Aug. 31 deadline.

GUEST: Wayne Petrozzi, Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University

The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

Abacus Data just completed a national survey of 2,000 Canadian adults eligible to vote (August 17 to 22, 2021).

After the first week of the campaign, what did they find?

GUEST: Oksana Kishchuk, Consultant at Abacus Data

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With each federal election, more and more native social media users are turning 18 and becoming eligible to vote. And increasingly, Canadian politicians are harnessing the power of different social media platforms to spread their message.

GUEST: Jeffrey Dvorkin, Senior Fellow at Massey College, Former Director of Journalism at the University of Toronto-Scarborough and author of “Trusting the News in a Digital Age”?

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Fans will need to be vaccinated, or provide a negative COVID-19 test result, to watch professional sports at Tim Horton’s Field this fall.

The Hamilton Tiger Cats and Forge FC are the latest to announce their health and safety protocol.

The new rules take effect for the TiCats home opener against the Toronto Argonauts on Labour Day and require all employees, event staff and guests to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result to enter the stadium.

GUEST: Matt Afinec, President & COO of Business Operations with Hamilton Tiger-Cats Football Club

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Jagmeet Singh will be in Hamilton today to make a campaign announcement. What’s the announcement about? 

GUEST: Jagmeet Singh, Leader of the Federal NDP 

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An education advocacy group has asked Ontario to add COVID-19 vaccinations to the list of immunizations required to attend school in the province.

Annie Kidder, executive director of People for Education, wrote to Education Minister Stephen Lecce with the request on Sunday.

She said that it’s “vital” to require COVID-19 shots for eligible students as fewer than 70 per cent of those aged 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated, with school set to begin in two weeks.

Her letter suggested that COVID-19 be added to the list of diseases under the Immunization of School Pupils Act, which covers other conditions including polio, measles, mumps and whooping cough.

GUEST: Annie Kidder, Executive Director of People for Education

Sometimes you need to get some distance from a situation to see it clearly. On Aug. 1 our family rented an RV and headed across Canada. 

Everywhere we went the kids insisted on wearing Hamilton shirts to show their hometown pride. This prompted a lot of comments and questions about Hamilton and more than a few comparisons. News of new transit investments were great brag points, but images of a statue being torn down because of council’s inaction and a middle-of-the-night attempt to intimidate a councillor at her home didn’t help mitigate our brand as the Hate Capital of Canada. Talk of council debating dumping even more sewage in Cootes Paradise after the #sewergate scandal made Hamilton sound downright regressive.

But it wasn’t until a chance meeting with McMaster students on Vancouver’s impressive Sky Train (the very project Hamilton turned down decades ago) that the true cost of our toxic political culture became apparent. As we chatted about the amazing public transit and cycling infrastructure in Vancouver we shared a collective groan. Oh, the Hammer. When will it ever catch up?

Click HERE to read the full article. 

GUEST: Laura Babcock, President of PowerGroup