The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

Ontario should offer smaller, “bite-sized” tourism experiences — such as road shows — until COVID-19 restrictions ease, and create “Yours to Discover” days and travel point cards, recommends a task force looking at a recovery plan for the hard-hit tourism industry.

MacLeod’s ministry has a five-year recovery plan for the $37-billion sector, which saw massive job losses during the pandemic, accounting for one in every four people unemployed.

Tim Hudak, the former Progressive Conservative party leader and tourism minister who chaired the tourism economic recovery ministerial task force, has now handed over 10 recommendations to the minister. Among them: a 20 per cent travel incentive to boost travelling and stays; promoting “year of the staycation” through a public campaign; creating a “branded Ontario travels point cards with a mobile app”; start “Yours to Discover days” to make up for lost vacations due to the pandemic; and to focus on nature and outdoor tourism experiences.

GUEST: Tim Hudak, CEO of OREA and former Conservative Party leader of Ontario and tourism minister

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Fully vaccinated people can now meet indoors in small groups without masking or distancing, the Public Health Agency of Canada said on Friday.

The agency released the new guidance through an infographic on its website at the tail end of a press conference on Friday. At the virtual event, officials struggled to explain the new guidance and Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam told reporters she hadn’t yet seen it. The agency later clarified that Dr. Tam had seen previous drafts, but not the final version.

The guidance lays out advice for what fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated and non-vaccinated people can do. But it cautions that individuals still need to follow local health advice, in particular for communal spaces such as work and public transit.

But the release of the infographic followed a confusing, hour-long press conference where officials criticized similar rules from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that have been out for months, and pointed Canadians to a risk calculator from Ryerson University that directly contradicts some of the PHAC guidance.

GUEST: Ryan Imgrund, Biostatistician

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Erin O’Toole’s leadership pledge to “take back Canada” was viciously lampooned. “Indigenous folks, did you hear Erin O’Toole wants to give you your land back,” quipped one social media satirist.

The slogan may have helped O’Toole get elected leader but its Trumpian undercurrent ensured it was retired after he decided to present a more moderate image to Canadians.

O’Toole has since released his five–point recovery plan – one million jobs; a new anti-corruption law; a mental health action plan; a stockpile of essential products and vaccines, and, balancing the budget over the next decade – to a collective yawn across the country. Nothing O’Toole has said or proposed so far has moved the needle. On the contrary, his polling numbers suggest he may lead the Conservatives into Michael Ignatieff territory at the next election.

As Parliament breaks for the summer, and Justin Trudeau’s talk about “obstructionism and toxicity” in the House of Commons makes a fall election more likely than not, Conservatives are looking at their prospects with dread and fear.

GUEST: Lori Turnbull, Director of the School of Public Administration with Dalhousie University

It's time for Tech Talk with Adam Oldfield!

Topics Include: Amazon, Facebook audio podcast, Bill C-10 & more.

Hamilton reopening next week—what can people get up to and how they can safely take advantage of the lifting restrictions?

Guest: Paul Johnson, Director of Emergency Centre, City of Hamilton

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Doug Ford is seemingly moving into campaign mode while Ontario still is under restrictions, trying to make heads or tails of what happens next. Will this benefit him in the long run, or raise the ire of Ontarians?

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

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Where will the revelations of Canada's Residential School history lead, as more and more Canadian come to understand the horror that indigenous peoples have lived with? The reality of the situation is, Marieval is not going to be the last story like this. Addressing and uncovering the unjust tragedies and crimes in our nation's history is all part of reconciliation.

Guest: Verna George, Special Advisor in Indigenous Issues with the CCLA

Verna is the daughter of a survivor of Ontario's Mohawk Institute Residential School. She holds two degrees from Trent University – in Economic Development and Native Studies – and is a graduate of the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Law. She was called to the Bar in 2007 and has been a member of the Law Society of Ontario since. For almost a decade, Verna was the Director of Negotiations for the Chippewas of Kettle & Stony Point First Nation, where she oversaw all land claims and negotiation files, including the decommissioning of the former Camp Ipperwash, and return of the Ipperwash Provincial Park. Verna was intimately involved in the negotiations that led to the Camp Ipperwash/Stoney Point Final Settlement Agreement.