The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

Ontario Premier Doug Ford promised Monday to maintain a wage increase brought in for personal support workers during the pandemic but didn’t say how or when his government would back up the pledge.

The workers who staff long-term care homes and similar facilities were given a temporary $3 per hour wage bump in October, which was later extended until late August.

Ford said his government would keep that increase in place.

ALSO: As the days get hotter, nearly 40 per cent of Ontario long term care home residents are still without air conditioning in their rooms.

That despite an original promise from the government at the end of May, that many would have A/C before the summer.

GUEST: Dr. James Tiessen, Director of Health Administration & Community Care, and an Associate Professor with Ryerson University

-

Still no safe school plan for September from education minister Stephen Lecce yesterday but his government did invest in programs to help address antisemitism in schools.  

ALSO: Ontario PC MPP Floats Idea of Replacing Teachers With Pre-Recorded Videos To Cut Education Costs

GUEST: Charles Pascal, Professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education with the University of Toronto and former Deputy Education Minister

-

Canada’s federal and provincial governments may have underestimated the power of the economy to rebound from the pandemic-induced recession this year.

By, like, $35-billion or so.

That’s how much National Bank of Canada economist Warren Lovely estimates government revenues will exceed federal and provincial budgets for 2021-22. In a recent research paper, Mr. Lovely argued this “enormous unplanned fiscal windfall” could pave the way to “accelerate deficit reduction, slow debt accumulation and cut borrowing needs down to size,” especially among the provinces.

That is, if governments can be disciplined enough to keep their hands off it.

The found billions are a result of what now, just a few months after those budgets were issued, look like far too conservative estimates of economic growth. Without question, many governments leaned toward caution in their economic assumptions, amid a highly uncertain global health crisis. Regardless, the recovery has been faster and stronger than the vast majority of economists predicted a few months ago.

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

Whether or not you want one, can afford one or think they will do essentially nothing to stop global warming, electric vehicles are coming to Canada en masse. This week, the Canadian government set 2035 as the “mandatory target” for the sale of zero-emission SUVs and light-duty trucks.

That means the sale of gasoline and diesel cars has to stop by then. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra called the target “a must.” The previous target was 2040.

Have they though the plan through? 

GUEST: Marvin Ryder, Professor with the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University

The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

There will be no two-dose or even one-dose summer for close to five million Canadians — children under the age of 12 who do not yet qualify for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Advocates, who have long complained that children have been afterthoughts during the pandemic, say it is crucial they not be forgotten now, especially with so many unable to be vaccinated and the highly contagious Delta variant on the rise.

Health Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children and youth 12 and over early in June. But approval for younger children is unlikely to come until at least mid to late fall.

GUEST: Dr. Peter Juni, Director of Ontario’s Science Table and a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Toronto

-

Starting late July 5, eligible Canadian travellers who are fully vaccinated and have negative COVID-19 test results and symptoms will be able to enter Canada without having to go through mandatory hotel stays and home quarantines.

While non-essential business travel may soon be in the cards, Corporate Canada is not off to the airports just yet. According to Mr. King: “We’re not going to run and get on a plane right away.”

The pandemic has prompted many companies to reconsider their business travel strategies. According to the Global Business Travel Association, business travel in Canada dropped by 51 per cent in 2020. As restrictions ease and vaccinations speed up, business leaders are having conversations about what’s next. For some, it’s a restless waiting game until borders reopen. But for many, a hybrid approach to travel may be the new normal.

GUEST: Mark Agnew, VP of Policy for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce

-

Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp have been named to Canada's Olympic golf team for a second time.

Golf Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee announced Canada's team for the Tokyo Games last week.

Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Hamilton's Sharp represented Canada at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the first Olympic golf tournament since 1904.

Henderson finished in a tie for seventh in the women's individual competition, while Sharp was 30th.

GUEST:  Alena Sharp, 2x Olympian, LPGA Golfer from Hamilton