Closer Look

If you’re going to drink and drive in Ontario, be prepared to face some harsher penalties.

New provincial rules that took effect Jan. 1 include lifetime licence suspensions for anyone convicted of impaired driving causing death, and mandatory remedial education for first-time offenders caught behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Time will tell if the stricter regulations make a difference, but this much is certain: sadly, plenty of people are still drinking and driving in Ontario.

This week, on the heels of the rules coming into force, the OPP released the results of its latest Festive RIDE checks: in the month of December, nearly 1,300 people were arrested for impaired driving. And that’s just the roads patrolled by the Ontario Provincial Police; add in city police forces, and it’s hundreds more.

“Doesn't surprise me, never fails to disappoint me,” said Steve Sullivan, the CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada, during an interview on tonight’s Closer Look podcast. “There's no excuse, and it's disappointing that so many people make that choice. On the other hand, it's heartening to see that law enforcement are so active in trying to take as many drivers off the road as they can.”

“No one ever thinks they're going to get into a crash,” Sullivan continued. “No one ever thinks they're going to hurt someone else, or hurt themselves or kill themselves. But it happens everywhere. It happens every day somewhere in the country.”

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is [email protected].

Reach out to Frisco and Scott

As of today, the Ford government has taken control of six school boards across the province — using words like “incompetence,” “mess” and “off the rails” to describe how things were going before the province seized the wheel.

The passage of Bill 33, which came into force in November, made it even easier for Ontario to intervene. The Near North District School Board learned that lesson the hard way on Dec. 1.

Now that we’ve reached 2026, an even bigger question looms: Will the Ford government scrap school trustees altogether?

Education Minister Paul Calandra has made it clear he's exploring the possibility — and that he's seen nothing so far to convince him his ministry’s $43-billion budget needs to be delivered by trustees.

He promised to reach a decision by early this year. The clock is ticking.

Joining us tonight on Village Media’s Closer Look podcast is our education expert at Queen’s Park: Sneh Duggal, the deputy editor of The Trillium.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is [email protected].

Reach out to Frisco and Scott

Even now, months later, Liam Mooney has a hard time believing just how fast everything came together.

One day, he and his wife, Emma Cochrane, were watching Premier Doug Ford on television, talking about Donald Trump’s 51st state rhetoric and how Canada would never be for sale. A few days later, the Ottawa-based couple had stitched together a hat bearing Ford’s patriotic message — a hat that Ford himself would soon be sporting.

From there, the design went viral: “CANADA IS NOT FOR SALE.”

As hat sales soared, Mooney learned a lot about the challenges of domestic manufacturing, and the lengths some Canadian firms must go in order to get their creations on local store shelves. His mission now is to share his many lessons, hopeful he can help other homegrown entrepreneurs catch the made-in-Canada train.

Mooney is our guest on tonight’s episode of Village Media’s Closer Look podcast. As you'll see, he's much more than a talented designer and driven entrepreneur. He's a passionate Canadian who understands exactly what's at stake.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is [email protected].

Reach out to Frisco and Scott

Years in the making, Canada’s new “grocery code of conduct” is finally in place. The enforcement powers officially kicked in on Jan. 1.

Supported by the country’s five largest grocery chains — Empire, Loblaw, Metro, Walmart and Costco — the code of conduct is designed to promote fair dealing between grocers and their many suppliers.

What does that actually mean? What will change? Who will benefit?

And most importantly, will the new code translate into smaller grocery bills for you and your family?

Joining us on tonight’s episode of Closer Look to answer those questions, and many more, is Mike von Massow, a food economist and professor at the University of Guelph.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is [email protected].

Reach out to Frisco and Scott

Have you seen this missing sweater? The family that’s desperately trying to find it has done everything possible to track it down — tracing the cherished heirloom from Oregon to Ontario to a pop-up market in the small community of Meaford.

From there, the trail has gone cold.

Crafted in the 1950s, the letterman sweater belonged to an American high school teacher named Walter Skowhede, who passed away last summer. Only after he died did his loved ones realize his beloved article of clothing was gone — likely stolen, then sold online.

After tracing the sweater to its last known location, the family reached out to CollingwoodToday, hoping an article about their search would prompt locals to check their closets.

No luck yet.

“I’m pretty committed to figuring this out,” says William Farnbach, Skowhede’s grandson. “My grandfather is the kind of person we want to remember. This is a way for us to honour that memory.”

Joining us on tonight’s Closer Look to talk about the ongoing search is Jessica Owen, a reporter at CollingwoodToday who just so happens to have a pretty good track record of reuniting relatives with their family heirlooms.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is [email protected].

Reach out to Frisco and Scott

In cities and towns across Ontario (and at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill) our journalists work for you. Their mission is to dig for answers and tell you what they find.

This daily podcast — Closer Look — is all about the stories we tell.

Launched in September, our mission is to go beyond the headlines with in-depth, eye-opening conversations featuring Village Media reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and major newsmakers.

Tonight, as we begin a two-week break for the holidays, hosts Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith look back at the wide range of stories that we featured on our new podcast. They also look ahead at what's shaping up to be a huge year for Village Media, the publisher that operates this local news site.

Frisco and Scott will be back with fresh episodes starting Monday Jan. 5, 2026. In the meantime, we want to express our sincerest thanks to everyone who has tuned in, either here on your local news source or wherever you find your favourite podcasts.

See you next year!

Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is [email protected].

Reach out to Frisco and Scott

Australia has become the first country in the world to ban social media for kids under 16 — a move welcomed by plenty of parents and child advocates.

As of last week, popular platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat were ordered to block all Australian kids from using their sites or face hefty fines.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it "a proud day" for the country, saying the ban will “make an enormous difference” on the well-being of millions of children.

"It's a profound reform which will continue to reverberate around the world," he said.

Should Canada follow suit? Would such a drastic step make any real difference? We ask an expert who knows a thing or two about kids and screens: Katherine Martinko, the author of Childhood Unplugged: Practical Advice to Get Kids Off Screens and Find Balance.

Spoiler alert: Martinko waited until her son turned 16 before allowing him to have a smartphone. After watching tonight’s episode of Closer Look, you might be convinced to do the same.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is [email protected].

Reach out to Frisco and Scott

For decades, a serial killer in Ontario went completely unnoticed. No one had any idea he even existed.

His victims — Christine Prince, Claire Samson and Gracelyn Greenidge — were sexually assaulted and brutally murdered in Toronto between 1982 and 1997. But for years, not a single piece of evidence led police to suspect their killings were connected.

That all changed last week.

Using an emerging forensic technique known as investigative genetic genealogy, Toronto Police and the OPP say they were able to “conclusively identify” the man responsible for the murders: Kenneth Smith, who died in Windsor in 2019 at the age of 72.

The case has made headlines around the world, and police suspect there may be more victims. Born in South Porcupine, Ont. — and convicted of the rape and kidnapping of a 14-year-old girl in Barrie in 1975 — Smith left behind a lengthy history of criminal convictions.

Det.-Sgt. Steve Smith, who heads up the cold case unit at the Toronto Police Service, said his team was grateful to finally provide some answers to the victims’ loved ones.

“This was one of the cases that we were fixated on,” Smith said. “I know both the OPP and our investigators, they wanted nothing more than to solve this case, just because it was so unique. It was three vulnerable women minding their own business, and all three were taken, sexually assaulted and murdered viciously. So when we were able to actually say 100 per cent that Kenneth Smith was our offender, it was unbelievable for our investigators. Everybody was just so happy.”

Det.-Sgt. Smith is our guest on tonight’s episode of Village Media’s Closer Look podcast. He lays out in detail how the investigation evolved, how the killer was finally exposed, and what the breakthrough could mean for hundreds of other cold cases across Ontario.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram,

Reach out to Frisco and Scott

The Ontario Legislature has adjourned for the Christmas break — until March 23. (Yes, you read that right.)

But don’t expect our team of political journalists at The Trillium to slow down as a result. Their work never really stops.

Throughout the fall sitting, The Trillium’s exclusive reporting on the Ford government’s $2.5-billion Skills Development Fund (SDF) led the conversation at Queen’s Park. One company at the centre of the controversy is now under OPP investigation.

As previously reported, we’ve also launched a crowdfunding campaign to help pay the hefty cost of ongoing freedom of information requests related to this story. You can learn more about that HERE and HERE.

Joining us tonight on Closer Look to talk about the latest SDF developments is Charlie Pinkerton, a reporter at The Trillium.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is [email protected].

Reach out to Frisco and Scott

Buying some gift cards for Christmas? Don’t get scammed.

Like so much else these days, gift cards have become a prime target for fraudsters, costing Canadian shoppers millions of dollars a year. (The Retail Council of Canada reported $5.7 million lost to gift card scams in 2024 — up from $3.8 million 2021.)

Last week alone, police in both Hamilton and Waterloo Region announced major busts involving fraudulent gift cards. In the Hamilton case, police allege a man was “manipulating” cards on display at a store by replacing the barcodes with ones that belonged to cards he already had.

“As a result, when an unsuspecting customer purchased one of the altered cards, the monetary value loaded at the checkout would activate only the card held by the suspect, leaving the purchaser with a worthless card,” Hamilton Police said in a news release.

Ritesh Kotak is not the least bit surprised by the recent headlines. A lawyer and cybercrime expert, he is our guest on tonight’s episode of Closer Look.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

Want to be the first to know when a new episode lands? Sign up for our free nightly newsletter, which delivers the latest Closer Look straight to your email inbox. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Have something to say? Please reach out. Our email address is [email protected].

Reach out to Frisco and Scott