Jane Brown is joined by Karen Stintz, CEO at Variety Village; and David Crombie, former Mayor of Toronto.

Jane Brown is filling in for Libby Znaimer today. She is joined by Dr. Alisa Naiman, family physician and the founder and medical director of The Medical Station in Toronto, and Dr. Malcolm Moore, a medical oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Dr. Amol Verma, a staff physician in General Internal Medicine at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

Today: we start things off with a discussion about the ideal retirement age for your health. After that, we discuss National Caregiver Day which happened yesterday but still deserves to be talked about today. According to the Ontario Caregivers website, their role became more strained and, "31% of caregivers provide more than 10 hours of care per week, up from 26% before the pandemic. 50% of caregivers are in desperate need of a break but have difficulties finding additional support or time for themselves." Finally, we get into the role that ChatGPT and AI technologies are playing in the healthcare industry. And, are the advancements in AI outpacing the ethical planning we should take to make sure we use such tools in a safe way?

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FOOD BANK IN TORONTO SEES USAGE REACH FORTY YEAR HIGH

Jane Brown is now joined by Neil Hetherington, Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank.

It's not the kind of news you want to hear: the CEO of the largest food bank in Toronto is calling on the province to take urgent action and provide emergency assistance to those on social assistance as usage of the food bank reaches a forty year high (as many as 270,000 visits across its programs and partners in March). That's four times higher than before the pandemic. So, how did we get here? And, when will the government really get the reality that food is a right and one that needs to be a priority when it comes to helping those in need.

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Jane Brown is filling in for Libby Znaimer today. She is joined by Lisa Raitt, former deputy leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, John Milloy, Former Ontario Liberal MPP who served as a cabinet minister under the Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne governments and Peggy Nash,  the New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for the Parkdale—High Park electoral district in Toronto.

Today: we discuss the latest to do with Toronto's mayoral race where high-profile candidates like Councillors Brad Bradford, Josh Matlow, Ana Bailao and former police chief Mark Saunders among others officially registered this week. Meanwhile, we get reaction from our panelists over Ottawa's budget which came out a week ago today and had nothing for Toronto. Will the City have the money needed to fill its own hole in the budget? We also get reaction to Premier Doug Ford calling out Ottawa for a lack of urgency when it comes to bail reform--especially as Toronto sees an increase in violence on and off the TTC. And, Donald Trump becomes the first ever former president of the United States to be charged criminally. We get into all the news.

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DON'T BLOCK THE BOX: CITY TO INCREASE FINES FOR DRIVERS BLOCKING INTERSECTIONS

Jane Brown is now joined by Jennifer McKelvie, Deputy Mayor of the City of Toronto.

The City is going to be cracking down on drivers who "block the box" at intersections and adding to our road congestion. So, if you make an improper stop at an intersection, the fines will go up from $85 to $450 and from $120-$500 if the intersection happens to be in a community safety zone. One of the questions we have is: how will this be enforced?

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ARTEMIS II AND CANADA'S ROLE IN IT

Jane Brown is now joined by Prof. John E. Moores, York Research Chair in Space Exploration and Science Advisor to the President Canadian Space Agency

Yesterday, NASA alongside the Canadian Space Agency announced the crew for the Artemis II mission to the moon. Joining that team is Canadian astronaut Jeremey Hansen. We ask John about the significance of Canada's participation in this mission and what Artemis II is all about.

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

In the news: this morning we saw a number of high profile candidates rolling into City Hall to register for the mayoral by-election including former Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders, city councillors Brad Bradford and Josh Matlow and Liberal MP Mitzie Hunter. We then discuss a concerning reality that women Seniors face a higher risk of poverty than men and the National Institute of Ageing is pushing for better affordable housing options in the community. And, then we look to our rural communities where according to a new study, agricultural communities are facing a retirement crisis.

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NO MORE CARS IN HIGH PARK?

Jane Brown is now joined by Faraz Gholizadeh, a member of the Car Free High Park Coalition and Dr. Shoshanna Saxe, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering at the University of Toronto and the Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Infrastructure.

The City is set to make a final decision on whether to ban cars from High Park with a town hall on the matter happening tonight. It comes after months of community consultation. What do you think about this? Do you think it's fair? Our panelists weigh in.

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Today on Free For All Friday: violence on the TTC was on many peoples' minds. And, so was Toronto's mayoral race.

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Libby Znaimer is joined by David Crombie, former Mayor of Toronto, Karen Stintz, CEO of Variety Village and a former Toronto City Councillor and Paula Fletcher, Councillor for Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth.

The candidate pool for the Toronto Mayoral race continues to grow. This week, Councillor Brad Bradford and Liberal MP Mitzie Hunter both officially declared they are running. Yesterday, we had on former Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders on the show who is also officially running. For him, the key priority is to restore a sense of safety in the community as we see concerning levels of violence on the TTC and in public spaces. But, is he too close to Premier Doug Ford? The Premier told voters openly that they shouldn't vote for any candidate who wants to make cuts to the police budget. What do we make of that? And, should the Premier really be getting involved in municipal politics?  And Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie is blaming Ottawa for not providing much needed funding as part of the federal budget to fill Toronto's budget hole of hundreds of millions of dollars. Our panel has the latest.

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ANA BAILAO IS RUNNING FOR MAYOR

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Ana Bailão, Former Deputy Mayor of Toronto who is now running for Mayor.

The veteran city councillor has thrown her hat in the race  to be the City's next Mayor. For her, one of the big issues is reversing cuts to the TTC, which is certainly a great idea. But, does she have what it takes considering that the list of candidates continues to grow with names like Brad Bradford, Mark Saunders, and Mitzie Hunter now in the race as well?

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A CLOSER LOOK AT THE FEDERAL BUDGET

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Jamie Golombek, Managing Director of Tax & Estate Planning at CIBC.

The federal budget promises to punish high-income Canadians making $1 million or more a year with higher taxes. These Canadians can expect to be paying as much as $59,000 more a year in tax over a five year period. Meanwhile, when it comes to dental, Ottawa wants to help low income families. They are promising families that are uninsured and make an annual household income of $90000 with dental coverage. But are those low-income people? And, what does the budget really offer middle class earners? Jamie weighs in.

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Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Fahad Razak, a  General Internist and epidemiologist at Unity Health Toronto, Dr. Alisa Naiman, family physician and the founder and medical director of The Medical Station in Toronto, and Dr. Malcolm Moore, a medical oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

This week, Libby and guests discuss a study that details a new gene connected to hereditary breast cancer susceptibility. Meanwhile, the province of B.C. wants to limit the sale of the Ozempic drug to non-Canadians as demand for the Obesity drug grows. Then we react to both the provincial and federal budgets that came out this week. We also learned that the province struck a deal with Optometrists.

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MARK SAUNDERS IS RUNNING FOR MAYOR

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Mark Saunders, former Toronto Police Chief who is now officially running to be Mayor of Toronto.

Mark is joining a crowded pool of candidates running for the City's top political job. Will his high-profile as a former police chief help him stand out from the rest? He says that he wants to restore a sense of community safety to our city as it deals with an increase in violence on the TTC and in our streets. Will he also work well with the higher levels of government to get much needed cash for the budget?

 

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Libby Znaimer is now joined by Gideon Rahat, Professor and Chair of Political Science at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Yotam Margalit who is a professor of political science at Tel Aviv University. Both our guests are Senior Fellows at the Israel Democracy Institute.

The world has been tuning in to Israel where hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to reform the country’s highest court. This week, he fired his own defense minister for calling for a freeze to the reform. Netanyahu responded by firing him. That move intensified the protests at which point Netanyahu decided to delay his push.  So why exactly is Netanyahu trying desperately to make a change in the justice system and what are the implications of it all?

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Libby Znaimer is joined by George Smitherman, former Ontario Liberal MPP for Toronto Centre who also served as a health minister and deputy Premier, Lisa Raitt, former deputy leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and Peggy Nash, who is a former NDP MP for Parkdale-High Park.

Today: we start off with a lookahead to the federal budget being announced in Ottawa later today. We then discuss the latest reporting on allegations of foreign interference. Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to launch a public inquiry on the matter including from now independent MP Han Dong who is taking Global News to court over reporting that he allegedly told the Chinese Consul general in Toronto to hold off on releasing the Michaels. Finally, we take a closer look at the latest wave of violence on the TTC that saw a 16-year-old boy get stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack at Keele Subway station last weekend.

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ISRAEL PROTESTS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Gideon Rahat, Professor and Chair of Political Science at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Yotam Margalit who is a professor of political science at Tel Aviv University. Both our guests are Senior Fellows at the Israel Democracy Institute.

The world has been tuning in to Israel where hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to reform the country's highest court. This week, he fired his own defense minister for calling for a freeze to the reform. Netanyahu responded by firing him. That move intensified the protests at which point Netanyahu decided to delay his push.  So why exactly is Netanyahu trying desperately to make a change in the justice system and what are the implications of it all?

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THE LATEST WAVE OF VIOLENCE ON THE TTC

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Ari Goldkind, a criminal defence lawyer based in Toronto.

Just a couple weeks ago, the Toronto Police Service announced that it was ending its additional patrols on the TTC. However, during the latest wave of violence on the transit system, we're wondering if things need to change and security needs to be ramped up. Just this past weekend, in an unprovoked attack, a 16-year-old male was stabbed to death while sitting on a bench at Keele Subway Station. Yesterday, a man was stabbed on a bus on Keele Street and was left with serious injuries.

Libby Znaimer is joined by Peter Muggeridge, Senior Editor of Zoomer Magazine, Bill VanGorder, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Policy Officer of CARP and John Wright, Executive Vice President of Maru Public Opinion.

The Ford government released the largest budget in provincial history at a price tag of $204 Billion. But, did it have much for Seniors? Sadly, no. Meanwhile, the province has reached a deal with optometrists. And, this morning we learned that the federal government is including a grocery rebate for low income Canadians.

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ROBERT FIFE ON ALLEGED FOREIGN INTERFERENCE

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Robert Fife, Ottawa Bureau Chief of the Globe and Mail.

Mr. Fife details the latest on allegations of foreign interference in Canada's political system.

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BIDEN AND TRUDEAU REACH DEAL ON ROXHAM ROAD

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Guidy Mamman, a Toronto immigration lawyer and partner at Mamman, Sandaluk & Kingwell LLP, and Larry Haas,  a former senior White House official and currently a Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council.

When U.S. President Joe Biden visited Ottawa late last week, he came to an agreement with the Trudeau government on dealing with asylum seekers at Roxham Road on the U.S-Canada border. Our immigration and human rights experts weigh in on the latest news.

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