The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

Construction union LIUNA says government funding negotiations to resurrect Hamilton’s LRT are “close to the finish line” — but questions remain about who would pay tens of millions in annual financing costs if the project requires private loans.

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government recently announced it is willing to pay $1 billion to build a shorter version of the light rail transit line it controversially cancelled 14 months ago — but only if the federal Liberals cover the rest of the estimated $2.5-billion construction tab.

City council, which approved the original cancelled project, has not yet been given a chance to debate the new plan — a sore point with councillors.

But vocal project backer LIUNA, which offered last year to help offset construction costs, has been negotiating possible funding scenarios with both levels of government that include private financing from its pension arm.

GUEST: Joseph Mancinelli, LiUNA International Vice President and Regional Manager of Central and Eastern Canada

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Ontarians should be encouraged to see friends and relatives outdoors in the coming months, some health experts said Tuesday in stressing the need for realistic pandemic guidance following a winter of isolation.

Now that most of the province has emerged from the stay-at-home order imposed in January, it’s crucial to give residents safer options to socialize to help prevent another spike in COVID-19 infections, particularly in light of new, more contagious variants of the virus, some experts said.

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

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MPP Randy Hillier’s Twitter account was temporarily suspended after he tweeted a thread to “shame” people who wear masks. After over 40 local doctors called on Hillier to stop spreading “misinformation” about COVID-19 and putting his constituents at risk, the independent politician has continued his behaviour online.

What do we do when our politicians are the ones spreading the misinformation on social media? 

GUEST: Marcus Kolga is the Director of DisinfoWatch.org and a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad

As the digital payments landscape grows, data theft and fraud continue to become more complex. The added layer of a global pandemic brings new security risks and opportunistic fraud to the payments industry and requires special consideration. Companies like Interac, at the centre of the financial services and payments ecosystem, have an essential role to play to combat financial crimes.

According to a new survey from Interac Corp., over half (55 per cent) of Canadians worry increased isolation is making people more susceptible to fraud. This concern contributes to heightened feelings of worry, with nearly six in 10 Canadians (58 per cent) reporting the pandemic has increased stress levels.

GUEST: Rachel Jolicoeur, Director of Fraud Prevention & Partnerships at Interac Corp

Like so many other sectors, the trades are not immune from the wave of baby boomers set to retire in the coming decade, adding urgency to the recruitment of younger and underrepresented people, those in construction say. Experts say by 2029, we will be short about 100,000 tradespeople if we don’t do anything. The concern is that this could slow down projects and increase costs.

While the pandemic has resulted in a short-term slowdown and job losses for the construction industry, the long-term outlook will be largely affected by the retiring generation, industry insiders say; this will require efforts to recruit new blood to the skilled trades.

GUEST: Bob Bracalenti, Sr. Manager of Construction with Hays Specialist Recruitment

An Ontario bill will make it harder to launch class action lawsuits like the ones accusing nursing homes of negligence during the COVID-19 pandemic, lawyers and advocates say.

GUEST: Charles Wright, Partner with Siskinds Law Firm