Welcome to The Trillium, your go-to source for Queen’s Park headlines. Launched this week by Village Media, The Trillium is a comprehensive news and information website devoted exclusively to in-depth, insider coverage of politics and policy at the Ontario Legislature. Editor-in-Chief Jessica Smith Cross and Deputy Editor Charlie Pinkerton join the podcast to talk about how it all came together — in lightning-quick fashion — and what readers can expect from this talented team of journalists. You can check out their work at TheTrillium.ca.

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Remember Ryan Willis? He joined Inside the Village last year to talk about his pet project: the Trent University Sasquatch Society, whose members spend their spare time searching for Bigfoot. Ryan is back on the podcast — with some big news. No, he hasn’t found Sasquatch yet, but he’s definitely found something. Tune in to find out what. Also on the podcast: some big wins for Village Media’s talented team of journalists.

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 On this episode: an exclusive interview with Juliette Lamour, the 18-year-old university student who came forward Friday morning to claim one of the largest jackpots in Lotto 6/49 history.

After weeks of rumours, the Sault Ste. Marie resident finally revealed herself as the $48-million winner of the Jan. 7 Gold Ball draw.  

At 18, she is Ontario’s youngest winner of such a massive jackpot. In fact, her lucky ticket was the first she’d ever purchased.  In her only sit-down interview, Lamour tells Inside the Village the amazing full story: what motivated her to buy that ticket, the precise moment her life changed forever, and what she plans to do with such an enormous amount of money. 

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In the latest episode of Inside the Village, the guys sit down with Noah Irvine, a soon-to-be 23-year-old who, after the deaths of his mom and dad, spent years fighting for improvements to the way Canada’s health-care system deals with mental illness and addictions. He has written letters — lots of them — to politicians of all stripes in the hopes of revamping a broken system. And now he has written a book: Learning to Live: From the Loss of My Parents to Mental Health Advocate…In other news, we finally have an email address: [email protected]. Reach out anytime.

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On this episode of Inside the Village, the unthinkable happens: Frisco and Scott’s guest had to cancel at the last minute. But the show must go on. Thankfully, there was still lots to talk about: A record-setting fentanyl bust in Sault Ste. Marie. An Orillia man asking to die by assisted suicide — not because of a physical ailment, but because he feels hopeless and doesn’t want to carry on. Plus, we cover Scott’s Air Canada woes, rising interest rates, the soaring cost of groceries, and Health Canada’s new alcohol consumption recommendations. Cheers to our first episode without a guest.

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 In recent weeks, sophisticated computer hackers have infiltrated some high-profile targets, including Scouts Canada, the LCBO, and even SickKids Hospital. In Sault Ste. Marie, a ransomware attack forced the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board to send kids home early for the Christmas holidays. Why are cyberattacks on the rise? What steps can organizations do to protect themselves? Why do you still insist on using 1234 as your password? On this week’s episode, Scott and Frisco talk to Sai Huda, a best-selling author and founder of CyberCatch, a leading online security firm.

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Frisco and Scott return for Season Two of Inside the Village. After the fatal shooting of an OPP officer last month, politicians and police chiefs decried the sorry state of Canada’s bail system. Why? One of the two people charged with murdering 28-year-old Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala was banned for life from owning firearms and somehow out on bail — free to allegedly commit a horrible crime. Our guest is prominent defence lawyer Alison Craig, who has spent a lot more time in bail court than most of the people screaming for an overhaul. Does the system need some fixing? It sure does, but maybe not for the reasons you think.

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Welcome back to Inside the Village — and Part 2 of our “Year in Review.” This week, we take a look back at the lighter side of the news, from Peter Piper to Sasquatch Guy to the incomparable Brittlestar. And of course, the F-bomb heard round the world! If we learned anything during our inaugural season of the podcast, it was to not take ourselves too seriously.

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Welcome back to Inside the Village, a one-of-a-kind podcast where all news is local — and no topic is off-limits. In the latest episode, Scott and Frisco take a stroll down memory lane in Part I of our first-ever “Year in Review.” We covered a lot of ground in 2022, from inflation to the opioid crisis to the high-profile search for a former soldier who mysteriously vanished. Let's remember.

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Coyotes are everywhere these days, or so it seems. Whether it’s a city council debating how to deal with hungry coyotes in their midst — or joggers being followed by them — the wild canines are generating plenty of headlines across Ontario. On Episode 25 of Inside the Village, Frisco and Scott ask the question everyone wants to know: Are coyotes taking over the neighbourhood? Lesley Sampson, co-founder of the not-for-profit organization Coyote Watch Canada, joins us for some much-needed perspective.

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