The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

It's budget day here in Ontario! The Ford government will deliver its second spending package during the pandemic today.

Premier Doug Ford says the budget will focus on economic recovery and fighting the pandemic.

ALSO: Chamber Network meets with all four political parties ahead of Budget 2021 to address pressing concerns for Ontario business and lay the groundwork for a strong economic rebound

GUEST: Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce

-

Advocates continue to call on Ontario to ease COVID-19 restrictions in LTC homes.

ALSO: The Ford government says it is investing $3.7 million as part of the new budget to help seniors and people with disabilities get their COVID-19 vaccinations in areas or regions where transportation is an obstacle.

GUEST: Dr. Amit Arya, Co-Founder of Doctors For Justice in Long Term Care and Palliative Care Physician

-

There has been a disturbing surge of anti-Asian hate, including physical assaults against children and elderly people being spat on, according to a first-of-its-kind report that breaks down the specific types of attacks that have occurred during the pandemic.

The new report, released by several advocacy groups including the Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter, looks at more than 1,150 cases of racist attacks reported through online platforms such as Fight COVID Racism and Elmin8hate.

GUEST: Justin Kong, Executive Director of The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) Toronto chapter

Lumber prices across Canada are surging and industry experts warn that it could be years before the numbers go down to pre-pandemic levels.

According to the latest provincial data, prices have gone up threefold when compared to previous annual averages.

As of March 12, a basic SPF (spruce, pine, fir) two-by-four cost $1,040 per thousand board feet, while the annual average in 2019 was $372, according to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development's weekly forest product price tracking.

GUEST: Liz Kovach, President of the Western Retail Lumber Association

A week of blockbuster deals has propelled Canada to its best-ever start to a year for mergers and acquisitions, with little sign of any slowdown moving into the second quarter.

Transactions valued at US$102 billion have been announced by Canadian companies this year, up 143 per cent from the same point in 2020, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s already the most for a first quarter on record and compares with a 67 per cent year-on-year increase in U.S. deal values, 36 per cent across Europe and 21 per cent in Asia Pacific, the data shows.

GUEST: Michael Manjuris Professor at Ted Rogers School of Management with Ryerson University

The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

Public health says 69 thousand people, or just over ten per cent of all eligible Hamiltonians have received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Those numbers are expected to increase as vaccination ramps up at the new large-scale clinic at FirstOntario Centre, which began administering doses to seniors aged 75 and older on Monday.

The city says it's working on making it even easier to get the vaccine.

One of those strategies includes asking the province to add Hamilton pharmacies to those in the G-T-A that can administer the AstraZeneca vaccine.

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

-

Keanin had a call with Premier Doug Ford on Monday to discuss the future of small business in Hamilton. He joins us to discuss the conversation.

ALSO: The Ontario Vaccination Support Council (OVSC) launched an online portal to connect Ontario’s public health units with private sector organizations offering local support.

The portal will allow for two-way communication between the private sector and public local health units so that organizations can volunteer time or resources to support the province’s vaccination efforts. The portal will also serve as a resource to the general public by providing links to key public health information and resources.

The OVSC is seeking volunteers from the Hamilton business community to populate the portal. Businesses can offer support including voluntary staff, storage of vaccines, providing PPE, or their workplace as a space to vaccinate the general public and employees. Visit the portal at vaccinesupportcouncil.com to list how your business can contribute to the local vaccine efforts.

Businesses are asked to fill in the portal by March 26, 2021.

GUEST: Keanin Loomis, President of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce

-

Canada is hitting four Chinese officials and one entity with sanctions in relation to what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called “gross and systematic human rights violations” taking place in Xinjang region.

The sanctions, which Canada is applying in coordination with the United States and the United Kingdom, come amid multiple reports, studies and news articles detailing the horrific mistreatment and abuse China’s Uyghur population has been subjected to in the Xinjiang region.

ALSO: Trudeau says there is no link between trials of detained Canadians and the fresh sanctions on China.

GUEST: Sarah Teich is an international human rights lawyer and a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute