Closer Look

The overdose epidemic has hit Northern Ontario harder than any other region in the province, with fatal drug poisonings consistently higher year after year. Yet it’s in the north where two safe consumption sites — one in Sudbury, the other in Timmins — are under threat of imminent closure because the Ford government can’t seem to decide whether to fund them. Amber Fritz, who manages “The Spot” in Sudbury, joins Scott and Frisco to talk about the critical services her team provides, and what will happen if they are forced to close the doors. Also on the podcast: Why we’ve decided to bring back commenting on Village Media’s flagship news site (with other sites likely to follow).

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After a couple weeks of holidays, Frisco and Scott return to the studio to answer a controversial question: When is the right time to give your kid a smartphone? (Spoiler alert: postpone the inevitable for as long as you can.) Our guest this week is journalist, author, and mother of three Katherine Martinko, whose new book is titled: Childhood Unplugged: Practical Advice to Get Kids Off Screens and Find Balance. Martinko explains why her 14-year-old son still doesn’t have a cell phone — and why plenty of parents wish they had done the same with their own kids. By the time you get through this interview, you’ll probably want to scrap your phone, too. (Except to listen to Inside the Village, of course.)

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This week on Inside the Village, Scott and Frisco unpack the recent bombshell report from Ontario’s auditor-general, who found that Doug Ford’s government gave “preferential treatment” to prominent developers during last year’s controversial Greenbelt changes. Bonnie Lysyk’s report reads like a hidden camera, explaining how certain developers used their “direct access” to a senior political staffer to push for their plots of land to be removed from the Greenbelt. Here to explain the revelations are two journalists who know the story as well as anyone: Jessica Smith-Cross and Aidan Chamandy of The Trillium, Village Media’s online news source at Queen’s Park.

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His online dancing videos have garnered more than 100 million views around the world. This week, Gurdeep Pandher spreads his message of joy, hope and positivity with Scott and Frisco on Inside the Village. From his remote cabin in the Yukon, Pandher Bhangra-danced his way through the pandemic for everyone to see, and now he’s on a coast to coast tour to spread his uplifting message of love and cultural diversity. What are the keys to happiness? How does he find joy? Tune in to find out. Also on the podcast: a bombshell report from Ontario’s auditor-general.

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Parliament has adjourned for the summer, which means a much-needed break for the man whose primary job is to make sure everyone behaves inside the House of Commons. Anthony Rota — the MP for Nipissing-Timiskaming, and the 37th Speaker of the House — joins Inside the Village for an in-depth conversation about what really happens during Question Period. He talks to Frisco and Scott about decorum, the pursuit of common ground, and how he juggles his role as both impartial referee and champion for his constituents. Does Rota plan to stand for re-election? We ask him that, too. Also on the podcast: a husband and wife are in custody after a shocking human trafficking investigation near Barrie.

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This week on Inside the Village — the weekly podcast where all news is local and no topic is off-limits — Frisco and Scott tell the story of Barrie native Mike Haggith: the guitar player whose musical skills went viral for all the wrong reasons. A WestJet pilot by day, the musician was playing a concert in Sault Ste. Marie when he fell to the stage in pain, seemingly from a broken leg. Did he skip a beat? Absolutely not. The video of him finishing out the song on his back is now the stuff of Internet legend. Listen to him recall the full story. 

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This week on Inside the Village: broke and broken. A new MNP consumer debt index shows that the largest-ever portion of Ontarians can’t make ends meet — and there’s little relief in sight. Frisco and Scott break down the alarming new numbers with insolvency trustee David Gowling. Also this week: Switched at birth in Sault Ste. Marie. Two 71-year-old men born on the same date in 1952 claim it happened to them, and they’re suing the hospital for millions of dollars in damages.

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On this week’s episode of Inside the Village, Frisco and Scott talk groceries. More specifically, do best before dates lead to more food waste? A new report on grocery affordability from a House of Commons committee argues that Canada should scrap best before dates because a lot of people wrongly believe they indicate whether a product is safe to consume. University of Guelph economist Mike Von Massow returns to the show with some food for thought. Spoiler alert: the professor eats items that are well past their best before dates. Also on the podcast: Why Google has joined Facebook in promising to block Canadian news from its platform.

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This week on Inside the Village, Frisco and Scott welcome Stanley Cup Champion Michael Amadio of the Vegas Golden Knights. The Sault Ste. Marie native takes the guys through the thrill of the NHL playoffs to the glorious night he earned the right to lift hockey’s holy grail over his head — and yes, he was worried about dropping it! He also breaks a bit of news of what he plans to do when it’s his turn to spend a day with the Lord Stanley’s Cup. (Spoiler alert: he’s bringing it home.) Also on the podcast: Like Facebook, Google is now promising to block all Canadian news on its platform, which is terrible news for local journalism.

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On this week’s episode of Inside the Village, Frisco and Scott dissect Bill C-18 and the damage it will do to local journalism — not just at Village Media, but in newsrooms across the country. Facebook has already responded to the Trudeau government’s newly passed law by announcing it will block access to all Canadian news on its platform, a move that will severely limit the amount of reputable, fact-based reporting that shows up in your social media feed. Michael Geist, a professor and leading expert on internet and e-commerce law, joins us to talk about the new bill: who wins, who loses, and what it means for the future of democracy. Also on the podcast: 50 years later, the men responsible for an iconic piece of graffiti come forward to tell their story.

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