The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

Ontario students will be required to wear masks and maintain physical distancing indoors wherever possible when they return to the classroom next month, but will be allowed to participate in many extracurricular activities that had been banned since the start of the pandemic.

The province’s back-to-school plan was released on Tuesday, after an academic year during which in-person learning was shut down for longer than anywhere else in Canada. Even though in-person classes will resume, families can continue with remote learning. Vaccinations for students 12 and older will be encouraged, but not mandatory.

The plan drew criticism from teachers’ unions and opposition parties, who have called on the government to reduce class sizes and do more to improve ventilation. Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Theresa Tam, warned on Friday that Canada is in a race to vaccinate enough people to prevent a fourth wave that could overwhelm hospitals.

Is the plan enough?

GUEST: Ryan Imgrund, Biostatistician

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A former leader of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation is set to run for the NDP in the riding of Brantford—Brant during the next provincial election.

Harvey Bischof was introduced as a candidate by Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath at a press conference at North Park Collegiate in Brantford on Tuesday.

Can Harvey help the NDP win over educators?

ALSO: The Ontario Liberals are poised to get a high-profile candidate in Toronto. Dr. Nathan Stall, a member of the COVID-19 Science Table is expected to become the Liberal candidate in Toronto-St. Paul's, according to Queen's Park Observer.

GUEST: Sabrina Nanji, Founder of the Queen’s Park Observer

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In these calls between world leaders, it’s not always easy to tell exactly how the discussion went. Comparing the public notes from the two governments, you can see that each is selectively leaving at least some things out.

However, in comparing how each leader’s office publicly recaps such a call, you can see their own priorities — what they want to be seen emphasizing to their own citizens, and which topics (like sports defeats) they’d prefer not to discuss back home.

For instance: Trudeau’s summary very prominently says they talked about “the benefits to each country of open government procurement.” Team Biden’s recollection of the call doesn’t include anything about procurement at all.

So what exactly did they discuss?

GUEST: Elliot Tepper, Emeritus Professor of Political Science with Carleton University

The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

The day every Raptors fan has been dreading finally arrived Monday, as the free-agent point guard confirmed their worst fears from the past few months. Lowry released a social-media post that read “Miami Heat X Kyle Lowry” and “Let’s Goo!!” followed by numerous fire emojis, setting the stage for him to sign what ESPN reports will be a three-year, US$90-million contract on Friday at noon, when the NBA makes free-agent signings official.

GUEST: Donnovan Bennett, Host, Writer, Producer & Podcaster with Rogers Sportsnet

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Nine years after heartbreak and controversy at Old Trafford at London 2012, the Canadian women's soccer team defeated the number-one ranked United States 1-0 in their semifinal on Monday at the Tokyo Games.

The only goal of the match came off the boot of Jessie Fleming of London, Ont., who converted a penalty kick in the 74th minute.

Fleming was cool under pressure, delivering a perfect strike that sent Canada into the championship game.

GUEST: Oliver Platt, Reporter and Analyst for One Soccer

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The poles holding up the federal Conservatives’ big blue tent are wobbling, raising questions about whether the huff and puff of the next election could just blow it down.

Multiple party sources tell the Star that discussions within their ranks these days bring to mind the early 2000s and a fractured right that rendered conservatives incapable of taking down the governing Liberals.

GUEST: Richard Brennan, Former Journalist with The Toronto Star covering both Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill