GUEST: Andy McNamara, National Fantasy Sports Host / Analyst / Writer for Sportsnet

GUEST: Joe Casciaro, Senior NBA Writer for TheScore.com

Six Hamilton-area businesses are facing 12 charges for failing to follow COVID-19 safety rules, according to the city’s municipal bylaw office.

Among them are two well-known franchises, The Beer Store on Mohawk Road East and a Tim Horton’s location on South Service road in Stoney Creek.

The Tim’s location faces three charges for exceeding the indoor capacity limit, failing to ensure face coverings were worn and failing to enforce physical distancing within the store.

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

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Finance Minister Rod Phillips left the country for a personal trip earlier this month and remains abroad, even as health officials plead with Ontarians to only venture outside of their homes for essential purposes.

In a statement provided to Newstalk 1010 on Tuesday, Phillips said that he and his wife departed on a previously planned trip outside of Canada sometime following the end of the legislative session on Dec. 8.

GUEST: NDP Deputy Leader Sara Singh

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The retail landscape in 2020 was always going to be grim, but the pandemic turned it into a graveyard of bankruptcies and closures, with dozens of chains shuttering doors at hundreds of store locations across Canada. And this does not even account for the countless local businesses also forced to close after serving neighbourhoods for decades.

Apparel and fashion sales in particular suffered one of its worst years, with that segment of the industry on track to see a 90 percent plunge in profit, according to the State of Fashion report by The Business of Fashion and consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

GUEST: Diane Brisebois, President and CEO of the Retail Council of Canada

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The best available science supports allowing family and caregivers into hospitals, not restricting them.

We believe that overly restrictive visitation policies do not reflect the most up-to-date science about either COVID-19 transmission, or the crucial role of family and caregivers in medical care.

There is overwhelming evidence supporting the role of family and caregivers in providing the best possible medical care. They facilitate communication and decision-making, and act as patient advocates and substitute decision-makers when patients are no longer capable.

GUEST: Dr. Laveena Munshi,  Critical Care Physician at Sinai Health System, University of Toronto. Also the Co-author of Op-Ed

Year in Review: Music

How has the pandemic changed the music industry?

How did musicians adapt to the industry during the pandemic?

What changes are here to stay?

GUEST: Eric Alper Music Expert

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Year in Review: Entertainment

How did the entertainment industry change in 2020 because of the pandemic?

How moving new releases to on demand and streaming to bypass theatres will change the industry going forward - or will it?

Biggest losses? Alex Trebek, Sean Connery and Chadwick Boseman to name a few. What was their impact on entertainment history?

GUEST: Vicky Sparks, Film and Pop Culture Expert

GUEST HOST: Rick Zamperin

Only five of a possible 17 vaccination clinics across Ontario were in operation over the Christmas holidays as staffing challenges forced the province to scale back operations.

Ministry of Health officials say just over 11,200 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered since Dec. 15 but less than 500 of those were given out since Christmas Eve.

By comparison, Quebec has already administered 17,316 vaccines since Dec. 14, with more than 6,000 alone given since Dec. 24.

The conversation on Twitter all day Monday was about the Ontario Government shutting down vaccinations for holidays in spite of rising cases and deaths because hospitals officials asked for a break. Many physicians have come out and said they were willing and able to work through the holidays to administer them. 

Then late Monday evening, Gen. Rick Hillier admitted they should not have stopped vaccination over the holidays.

ALSO: 41 dead amid COVID-19 outbreak at Scarborough long-term care home.

GUEST: Dr. Amit Arya, Palliative care physician specializing in long term care

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How does the new strand of COVID-19 affect the current vaccine?

Ontario and British Columbia have identified cases of a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus, first detected in Britain, prompting calls for stronger border enforcement and for provinces to move faster administering vaccines.

Public-health officials say four cases of the variant, found in B.C., Ottawa and the Durham Region, are all connected to travellers from Britain. In Durham, east of Toronto, officials first reported two cases there that were linked to community spread, but the couple later told health officials they had been in contact with someone who had travelled.

GUEST: Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious disease specialist with St. Joseph’s Hospital and an associate professor in the division of infectious diseases, Department of Medicine, Mcmaster University

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The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board says elementary classes might not start as scheduled after the holiday break if the board cannot distribute remote learning technology on time.

In an interview with The Spectator, HWDSB director Manny Figueiredo said the board is still waiting on a shipment of at least 1,000 devices for the roughly 6,000 elementary students who need them to learn remotely when schools begin virtually on Jan. 4.

The board is also rushing to distribute their inventory of iPads and computers to families following the province’s announcement on Monday that schools would be shuttered come January, prompting concern among teachers and staff that not all students will be able to collect their devices in time.

GUEST: Manny Figueiredo, HWDSB director

GUEST HOST: Rick Zamperin