Brian interviews George Tavares. George is one of the by-election candidates for Mayor of Mississauga, that is not currently on council. He has a diverse background in Political Science, Canadian Indigenous Studies, Electronic Engineering Technology, Smart City Design, and Business Management, including International Business, which he feels equips him with the skills needed to tackle the current issues plaguing our city. He says he is well-versed in city governance and recognizes the importance of inclusivity in decision-making. I am concerned that non council candidates don’t have the same ability to get known so it’s a pleasure to interview George and try to give him some more exposure. We have an in-depth chat about some of the big issues facing Mississauga.

Brian interviews Nicolas Ruszkowski. Nicolas is founder of Tactix Government Relations and Public Affairs that represents some of the largest and most important brands, globally. Nic believes his TacTix AI enabled research model has unique deep learning capabilities. Given the Prime Minister's approach to rolling out key planks of his budget in advance this year, he thought it was a unique opportunity for him to show how the technology works, and how it can measure the course of significant public policy and political events in real time.

Brian interviews Hollay Ghadery. Hollay is an Iranian-Canadian writer living in Ontario. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. "Fuse", her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions (2021) and won 2023 The Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, "Rebellion Box", came out Radiant Press in 2023 and her collection of short fiction, "Widow Fantasies", is scheduled for release with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024. She is a poetry editor with long con magazine, and a host of HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM and the 105.5 HITS FM Bookclub. She is also the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township and the founder of River Street Writing, a boutique book publicity and author support services firm that’s known for its community building.

Brian interviews Carolyn Whitzman. Carolyn is a housing expert at the University of Ottawa. She focuses on the homeless and less advantaged in our society. "I am concentrating on the Canadian and global challenges inherent in scaling up affordable housing for all. I also have a long-standing interest in the right to the city as it supports women, children, people with disability, racialized communities, and other marginalized groups in creating better cities.” She wrote a column: “Housing is a direct federal responsibility, contrary to what Trudeau said. Here’s how his government can do better." Tonight we talk about our housing crisis and the assessment of the new federal government announcements about housing.

Brian interviews Marc Kealey. Marc is the President of K&A Inc., a Canadian public policy, research and management consultancy. K&A has clients throughout Canada and globally. Over the past several elections he has provided in-depth research riding by riding and his research has led to interesting outcomes that far and away reveal more than even some of the main stream polling companies. He has also worked for a former Prime Minister, John Turner. He talks about our cities and how we can make them great. We discuss the housing affordability crisis in the GTA, how our cities are run and what we need to make them more successful.

Brian welcomes on two different guests.

First guest is Magdalena Stoch. Magdalena has just finished sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Martinique to Miami! She swam with sea turtles, fished for dinner, saw some beautiful coral reef and much more...

Then, Miranda O'Connor. Miranda talks about her Storytelling video business, the amazing people she’s met and stories she’s heard.

Brian interviews Dr. Diana Mok. Dr. Mok is Associate Professor at Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics. Her interests are broadly defined in the realm of real estate and urban economics, with a focus on housing and urban development. Specifically, her work has evolved and developed around three themes, intertwined, and with a spatial focus: risk, real estate, and urban growth. She seeks to understand the interrelatedness among risk, the real estate market, and how the real estate market affects people’s economic activities in everyday life. Professor Dr. Diana Mok talks about the housing affordability crisis in the GTA.

Brian interviews Mark Smallwood. UK Executive Coach and author/historian Mark Smallwood has recently written a compelling piece comparing the invasion of Ukraine and Russian moves both before and after the invasion to the historical comparable 1935-1945 and the comparisons and similarities are striking. Mark goes on to draw out the lessons which are bottom line, we need to do more now to support Ukraine or we will live to regret it. A great history lesson and current affairs lesson as well as a scary prediction of what might come true.

Brian speaks with Dan Donovan. Dan is the Publisher and Editor of Ottawa Life Magazine, a former political staffer, stand up comedian and an excellent writer. After my announcement from April 1 Dan contacted me saying our cities are broken and need massive change. Dan Donovan talks about city politics and how critical he thinks strong capable leadership is for our cities. We discuss many issues including transit, housing, infrastructure, debt, bad leadership, not listening to the people, career politicians, the need for a business sense and how our political system is broken, how can the current politicians be trusted to fix it.

Brian interviews Sabine Matheson. Since 1998, Sabine Matheson has been a Principal at StrategyCorp, which serves clients across Canada and internationally. She is the founder of StrategyCorp’s Municipal Affairs Practice Group, which has served well over a hundred municipalities across Canada on a variety of strategic projects. She is currently strategic advisor to Ontario’s Large Urban Mayors Caucus on provincial relations. A well-known commentator on the municipal world, she has also been an advisor to AMO, AMCTO, and OMAA. Sabine served as Chief of Staff to Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. She talks about Housing Affordability Crisis in the GTA and how our cities are run.