ZOOMER SQUAD: FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER TURNS 99!

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Jane Brown is filling in for Libby Znaimer today. She is joined by Bill VanGorder, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Policy Officer of CARP, Peter Muggeridge, Senior Editor of Zoomer Magazine, and Anthony Quinn, Chief Community Officer of CARP.

We kick the discussion off by reflecting  on the life and times of former U.S. President and iconic Zoomer Jimmy Carter who turned 99 years old this week as he lives in hospice care. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement marking National Seniors Day yesterday and called them "pillars of our community". Finally, we discuss finances and how many Seniors are going back into the workforce amid the pressures of inflation and other economic factors.

OTTAWA PLANS TO REDUCE MILITARY SPENDING BY $1 BILLION

12:30-12:50 PM

Jane Brown is joined by Dr. Adam Chapnick, A professor of defence studies at the Royal Military College of Canada and deputy director of education at the Canadian Forces College and Dr. Christopher Ankersen is a Clinical Professor of Global Affairs at New York University, a former Canadian Forces officer and expert on Canadian defence policy.

Ottawa has asked the Department of National Defence to cut nearly $1 billion from the military's budget. Our guests weigh in the actual implications of such a decision and how it will likely impact our relationship with NATO especially amid Russia's war against Ukraine.

ONTARIO PHARMACISTS GET MORE POWERS TO TREAT AILMENTS

12:50-1 PM

Jane Brown is now joined by Justin Bates, CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association.

The province has given Ontario pharmacists the ability to provide treatments and medications for another 6 types of ailments including acne, canker sores, and yeast infections. Justin details the importance of this move and also provides a PSA on boosters that are available to Seniors as we continues to face COVID-19 spread in the community.

Today on Free For All Friday: our listeners weighed in on a former Nazi war veteran being invited to the House of Commons during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's address to Parliament. Since that happened, house speaker Anthony Rota resigned and, after some time, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized for the incident.

TUNE INTO THE TOWN:  GREENBELT BOUNDARIES & CROSSTOWN LRT

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Libby Znaimer is joined by Matt Buckman Former Senior Advisor to former Mayor John Tory, Councillor Paula Fletcher, Toronto City Councillor for Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth, and Councillor James Pasternak, Toronto City Councillor for Ward 6 York Centre.

The Ford government is planning to introduce a bill that will protect the boundaries of the Greenbelt and enshrine them into law. This comes after Premier Ford backed down from the Greenbelt scandal and apologized to Ontarians over it. Meanwhile, it's a never ending story from Metrolinx as they continue not to give answers about when the Eglinton Crosstown LRT will open up. Our panel reacts to the latest.

MINIMUM WAGE TO INCREASE IN OCTOBER: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

12:30-1 PM

Libby Znaimer is joined by Jim Stanford Economist and Director, Centre for Future Work and Robert Chee, Owner / operator of AVIV immigrant kitchen restaurant located at 779 St Clair west and Neil Hetherington, CEO of The Daily Bread Food Bank.

Minimum wage is set to increase on October 1st from $15.50 to $16.55 per hour. Our guests weigh in on how this will impact businesses and how those who are currently making minimum wage feel about it.

THE MEDICAL RECORD:  FOOD BANK REPORT GIVES FAILING GRADE TO PROVINCES OVER POVERTY MEASURES

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Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Alisa Naiman, Family Physician and Founder and Medical Director of The Medical Station in Toronto, Dr. Malcolm Moore,Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Dr. Jamie Spiegelman, Internal medicine and critical care physician at Humber River Hospital.

This week: a new report from Food Banks Canada has been released. Meanwhile, The European Commission has approved marketing for ritlecitinib to treat adults and youth 12 years of age and older who suffer from severe alopecia areata. And, demonstrations took place at Queen's Park this week against the privatization of healthcare in the province.

THERE'S A LOOPHOLE WITH CITY PARKING LOTS BUT THAT COULD CHANGE SOON

12:30-12:45 PM

Libby Znaimer is joined by Councillor Stephen Holyday, Ward 2 Etobicoke Centre and Coun. Paul Ainslie (Ward 24, Scarborough Guildwood), who chairs the general government committee.

Some Toronto drivers have been using City parking lots without paying their fare because of a loophole whereby parking violation fines are cheaper (costing $30) than paying the posted rate in many cases. But that could soon change. Stephen Holyday explains what the City wants to do to close the loophole.

THE AFTERMATH OF SPEAKER ROTA'S INVITATION OF A NAZI WAR VETERAN TO PARLIAMENT

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Libby Znaimer is joined by John Capobianco

Senior Vice President & Senior Partner, FleishmanHillard HighRoad.

This week, house speaker Anthony Rota resigned from his position after he invited a Nazi war veteran Yaroslav Hunka to the house of commons during Zelenskyy's address. But even after an apology and his resignation, the event remains an international embarrassment for the country, and hurtful to Canada's Jewish community. The question we have is should more people be held accountable for what took place including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau? And why has the PM not apologized yet?

RECOVERING POLITICIANS PANEL:  CANADA'S EMBARRASSING WEEK OF BAD DIPLOMACY

Libby Znaimer is joined by Lisa Raitt, former deputy leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, George Smitherman, former Ontario Liberal MPP for Toronto Centre who also served as a health minister and deputy Premier and Andrew Cash, Former NDP MP, Toronto-Davenport district.

Canada is having a tough couple of weeks when it comes to diplomacy. First, Trudeau's announcement in the House of Commons linking India to the killing of a Sikh leader in BC earlier in the Summer which has soured the relationship between the two countries and now the revelation that a former Ukrainian WW2 vet who fought in a Nazi Waffen-SS unit and received a standing ovation in the House of Commons during Zelenskyy's visit to Parliament. Of course this was only discovered after the fact, but seriously: how was he not vetted? Now experts are saying that it could be used to fuel Russian propaganda. Our panel weighs in on the latest diplomatic mishaps to come out of Ottawa and whether house speaker Anthony Rota should resign.

POLAND WANTS YAROSLAV HUNKA EXTRADITED & CALLS FOR HOUSE SPEAKER ROTA TO RESIGN

Libby Znaimer is now joined by by Michael Levitt

President and CEO Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center

There are growing calls, including from foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly and Jewish organizations, for the resignation of House speaker Anthony Rota over the invitation of a former Nazi Waffen-SS war veteran to the House of Commons during Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's visit to Ottawa last week. Meanwhile, Poland's education minister says he is taking steps to extradite Yaroslav Hunka. So, how can Ottawa solve this debacle.

PROTESTS AGAINST PRIVATIZATION OF HEALTHCARE AT QUEEN'S PARK

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Dr. Claudette Holloway, President of the Registered Nurses Association.

Thousands of protesters made their way to Queen's Park this week to protest against the privatization of healthcare in the province. Dr. Holloway weighs in.

Listen live, weekdays from noon to 1, on Zoomer Radio!

THE ZOOMER SQUAD

Jane Brown is filling in for Libby Znaimer today. She is joined by Bill VanGorder, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Policy Officer of CARP, Anthony Quinn, Chief Community Officer of CARP and Peter Muggeridge, Senior Editor of Zoomer Magazine for a conversation about Ontario getting back to business; Canadians navigating their health care; and more.

HOUSE OF COMMONS SPEAKER PRAISES VETERAN WHO FOUGHT FOR NAZIS

Jane Brown is joined by Dr. Eric Ouellet, professor in the Department of Defence Studies at Royal Military College of Canada; and Bob Richardson, President, Hammersmith Consulting to discuss House Speaker Anthony Rota praising a veteran who fought for the Nazis.

CARS IN HIGH PARK

Jane Brown is joined by Diane Buckell, 40-year resident and supporter of High Park, and founding member of the petition 'High Park-Access for All' for a conversation about the contentious issue of cars in High Park.

Today on Free For All Friday: the BIG news of the week is that Premier Doug Ford has backed down on his Greenbelt development plans after facing backlash from the general public, and in the aftermath of scathing reports from both the provincial auditor general and integrity commissioner. So, is this scandal now completely over?

TUNE INTO THE TOWN: THE LATEST BLOW TO THE FORD GOVERNMENT

12-12:30 PM

Libby Znaimer is joined by Karen Stintz, CEO, Variety Village, Alex Blumenstein,Co-Founder of The Peak which is now part of the ZoomerMedia family, and Councillor Paula Fletcher, Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth

Ontario PC MPP Kaleed Rasheed is resigning in what has become the latest blow to the Ford government in the aftermath of the Greenbelt scandal. MPP Rasheed stepped down after providing incorrect information to the integrity commissioner during his investigation which involved a trip to Las Vegas where a developer involved in the Greenbelt deal was also on vacation at the time. And, this is the first time we convene with the panel after Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Premier Doug Ford met to discuss the City's budget hole stemming from the pandemic and out of that came a working group that will address it.

MORE ON MPP RASHEED’S RESIGNATION

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Libby Znaimer is now joined by NDP MPP and finance critic Catherine Fife (Waterloo).

As we brought up in the previous segment, a second MPP in the Ford government has resigned in the aftermath of the Greenbelt scandal (that continues to plague the Ford government). His office did not provide accurate information to the integrity commissioner when it came to his trip to Las Vegas in 2020 where a developer involved with the Greenbelt also happened to be on vacation. So, what happens next and how impactful is this latest resignation on Premier Doug Ford's ability to govern with integrity?

THE LATEST REGARDING CANADA-INDIA'S DIPLOMATIC FALLING OUT

12:40-1 PM

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Bob Richardson, Senior Council to National Public Relations and Dr. Elliot Tepper, A professor of International Relations at Carleton University.

In the aftermath of PM Trudeau's accusations towards India that they were behind the killing of a Sikh leader and Canadian citizen based in BC, Canada's relations with India continue to strain. In the latest move, India announced that it is cancelling its visa services here and issued a warning to its citizens here. So, where do our two countries go from here and can Canada really afford tensions with yet another global economic power?

THE MEDICAL RECORD: THE IMPACT OF QUITTING SMOKING ON YOUR OVERALL SURVIVAL

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Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Alisa Naiman, Family Physician and Founder and Medical Director of The Medical Station in Toronto, Dr. Malcolm Moore, Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Dr. Fahad Razak, General Internist at Unity Health Toronto.

We begin with a study published in Lancet that indicates that quitting smoking can help your survival even if you get diagnosed with lung cancer. The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre lead the study. Meanwhile, research in the U.S. shows that multiple emerging risk factors for heart disease in women must be looked at in order to make early diagnoses and treatment happen. Risk factors include pregnancy complications, depression, breast cancer among others that will be discussed on today's show. And, our panel discusses the latest ways in which AI are proving useful in the healthcare system.

NATION WIDE PROTESTS OVER SCHOOL GENDER POLICIES: WHEN DID THIS ALL BEGIN?

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Libby Znaimer is joined by Tasha Kheiriddin, A Canadian public affairs commentator, and Julia Malott, a transgender individual from Toronto who is concerned about the increasing divisiveness around gender identity and ideology in Canada.

Nation wide protests from organizations supported by groups like Hands Off My Kids and Parents Rights Coalition of Canada are taking place today with messages like #1MillionMarch4Canada circulating widely on social media. They are demonstrating against the gender policies at schools and, here in Toronto, they are organizing at Queens Park to voice their concerns. But, one of the questions we have is: when did this all become front and centre of the culture wars?

UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY TO VISIT CANADA

12:50-1 PM

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Maria Popova, Associate Professor of Political Science and Jean Monnet Chair at McGill University.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be visiting both Ottawa and Toronto starting on Friday. He has been in New York this week addressing the United Nations over Russia's war against his country and to rally support. This will be his first visit to Canada since the war broke out in February of 2022. Dr. Popova explains the significance of his visit.

RECOVERING POLITICIANS PANEL: PREMIER DOUG FORD AND MAYOR OLIVIA CHOW'S MEETING

12:00-12:30 

Libby Znaimer is joined by Lisa Raitt, former deputy leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, George Smitherman, former Ontario Liberal MPP for Toronto Centre who also served as a health minister and deputy Premier and Andrew Cash, Former NDP MP, Toronto-Davenport district.

This week, the heads of big grocery retailers like Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro, Walmart and Costco met with Ottawa to discuss stabilizing food prices ahead of Canadian Thanksgiving weekend as Canadians continue to grapple with high inflation. According to industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, they have agreed to work with the government on this. But what will that actually look like? Meanwhile, both Premier Doug Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow looked to be chummy after their meeting yesterday afternoon to discuss getting support from the province to help fill the City's billion dollar shortfall stemming from the pandemic. They announced a new-deal working group to address the issue. Finally, we discuss the bombshell news we learned this week when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in the House of Commons that he recieved "credible evidence" from our intelligence services that India was behind the killing of a Sikh leader in British Columbia on June 18th. Our panel reacts to the latest.

PM TRUDEAU: REASON TO BELIEVE INDIA BEHIND KILLING OF BC SIKH LEADER

12:30-12:45 

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Gurratan Singh, Vice President at Crestview Strategy and Former NDP MPP for Brampton.

As mentioned in the previous segment, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the news to the House of Commons this week that he has credible information from our intelligence community that India was behind the murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia on June 18th. The Prime Minister says that he brought his concerns about this directly to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 Summit. Canada has since expelled an Indian diplomat and in a tit for tat response, India did the same with a Canadian diplomat in India. Gurratan details the latest and why he takes issue with the Indian government.

AIR PASSENGER COMPLAINTS' BACKLOG REACHES  THE 57,000 MARK--A NEW PEAK

12:45-1 pm

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Martin Firestone, a travel expert and President of Travel Secure Inc.

Canada's transport regulator reached a backlog of air passenger complaints amounting to 57,000--a new peak. How did it get to this point? Marty weighs in.