A new report from Hamilton Community brings together data on a year of unprecedented change in how we work, learn, socialize and manage our health, revealing the widening of inequities that existed before the pandemic.

Hamilton’s Vital Signs issued today provides evidence that racialized groups and people living in poverty bore an unequal burden from the pandemic, with disproportionate rates of COVID-19, higher rates of unemployment and a greater likelihood of working in the hardest-hit economic sectors.

GUEST: Terry Cooke, President and CEO of Hamilton Community Foundation

The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

Students of Western University and its affiliated colleges living in residence will be required to have had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as part of the university’s plans to return to full in-person classes.

The university announced that students will be asked to get vaccinated before they arrive. Failing that, they “will have 14 days following their move-in date to get vaccinated on campus.”

Those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or “other protected grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code” can request accommodation.

What is McMasters take on student vaccinations? Do they have a plan?

GUEST: Sean Van Koughnett, McMaster University's Associate Vice-President and Dean of Students

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A new report from Hamilton Community brings together data on a year of unprecedented change in how we work, learn, socialize and manage our health, revealing the widening of inequities that existed before the pandemic.

Hamilton’s Vital Signs issued today provides evidence that racialized groups and people living in poverty bore an unequal burden from the pandemic, with disproportionate rates of COVID-19, higher rates of unemployment and a greater likelihood of working in the hardest-hit economic sectors.

GUEST: Terry Cooke, President and CEO of Vital Signs Hamiton

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Shirley Williams is a survivor of a residential school and she joined Bill Kelly on 900CHML to discuss her experience. She talks about how she feels about the remains of the 215 children found at the former B.C residential school.

How does she feel about Canada’s response so far and what needs to happen next?

GUEST: Shirley Williams, Professor Emeritus with the Chanie Wenjack School of Indigenous Studies at Trent University

President Biden’s call for a 90-day sprint to understand the origins of the coronavirus pandemic came after intelligence officials told the White House they had a raft of still-unexamined evidence that required additional computer analysis that might shed light on the mystery, according to senior administration officials.

The officials declined to describe the new evidence. But the revelation that they are hoping to apply an extraordinary amount of computer power to the question of whether the virus accidentally leaked from a Chinese laboratory suggests that the government may not have exhausted its databases of Chinese communications, the movement of lab workers and the pattern of the outbreak of the disease around the city of Wuhan.

In addition to marshaling scientific resources, Mr. Biden’s push is intended to prod American allies and intelligence agencies to mine existing information — like intercepts, witnesses or biological evidence — as well as hunt for new intelligence to determine whether the Chinese government covered up an accidental leak.

GUEST:  Brian J. Karem, Political Analyst with CNN, Executive Editor of Sentinel Newspapers and White House Reporter for Playboy

The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

The Ontario government will replace Dr. David Williams as chief medical officer of health in June, the province's health minister announced on Sunday.

Williams is set to retire on June 25, Christine Elliott said in a news release. He will be replaced by Dr. Kieran Moore,  currently the medical officer of health for Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health. Moore is expected to step into the role on June 26.

Williams, who was set to retire months ago but delayed the move because of the COVID-19 pandemic, has held the position for five years.

Premier Doug Ford's government will table a motion in the legislature on Monday to formalize the appointment, according to the news release.

Moore is expected to work with Williams as he gets used to the job, starting June 7.

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

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

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The pandemic’s impact on the economy has been staggering — and complicated.

Some of the typical measurements are in conflict: the stock market is soaring while 1.5 million Canadians are out of work. Many of the largest companies recorded historic profits while one quarter of small businesses reported revenue drops of 30 per cent or more.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted in the past year, though the Bank of Canada projects a promising return to pre-pandemic growth. The federal government poured huge sums of money into stimulus measures, but Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says an economic rebound will help cover the debt.

If economists agree on one thing, it is that the price of the pandemic is unprecedented — in dollars, in labour, in product, in everything.

But how much, exactly? With expert guidance, we tried to assign a price tag to the pandemic so far.

GUEST: Moshe Lander, Senior Economics Lecturer with Concordia University