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

Today: World Cancer Day is coming up on Saturday. Meanwhile, Toronto's request for the decriminalization of personal possession drugs is still being reviewed by Health Canada, while BC is rolling out a three-year pilot program that will allow for possession of small amounts of certain types of drugs. 

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CANADIAN YAZIDIS AGAINST REPATRIATION OF ISIS DETAINEES 

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Jamileh Naso, President of the Canadian Yazidi Association. 

Canadian Yazidis do not want ISIS-affiliated detainees to be repatriated to Canada. In January, Ottawa agreed to repatriate as many as 19 Canadian women and children from Syria where they were being detained in Kurdish camps. According to Jamileh, Ottawa's decision to repatriate has left her community members feeling "heartbroken and betrayed". The Yazidis originate from an ancient Kurdish-speaking farming community in Northern Iraq--a community that was viscously attacked by fighters of the Islamic State. Jamileh weighs in on the latest.    

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THE FUTURE OF TORONTO'S CAFETO PROGRAM

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Toronto City Councillor Paula Fletcher (for Ward 14 Toronto—Danforth), and Robert CheeOwner and operator of AVIV immigrant kitchen restaurant located at 779St Clair west and Chair of the Hilcrest BIA. 

Today: a discussion about the future of Toronto's CafeTO program. 

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Libby Znaimer is now joined by Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Geriatrics at Mount Sinai and the University Health Network Hospitals in Toronto.

New standards for Canadian long-term care homes have been published by The Health Standards Organization in a 60 page report. To be clear, these are voluntary standards but health experts like Dr. Sinha say that they won't be effective unless long-term care homes apply all of them.  Meanwhile, this morning, Ontario LTC minister Paul Calandra announced the province's plans to make it easier for residents to gain access to diagnostic services. Dr. Sinha gives us his reaction the latest news.

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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 MPP for Parkdale-High Park.

In Ottawa, Charles Sousa was given an applause as he entered Parliament and joins the federal Liberal caucus. Will he make the party a more fiscally responsible one? And, will he become the future minister of finance? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, here in Ontario, Mike Schreiner has responded to a growing number of calls from Ontario Liberal party members to join them and run for their leadership. He says he's seriously thinking about it. But what would such a move mean for the future of the Liberals and Queens Park?

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NEW LTC STANDARDS

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Geriatrics at Mount Sinai and the University Health Network Hospitals in Toronto.

New standards for Canadian long-term care homes have been published by The Health Standards Organization in a 60 page report. To be clear, these are voluntary standards but health experts like Dr. Sinha say that they won't be effective unless long-term care homes apply all of them. Here are just some examples of standards included in the new report: single rooms in LTC homes should have three piece bedrooms while shared rooms should have special private rooms for "intimate acts". The standards also call for access to outdoor space at the home and dedicated hand hygiene sinks for residents to use. Libby and Dr. Sinha talk about the standards in greater detail. Meanwhile, Dr. Sinha says that right now the biggest challenge that LTC homes face is retaining and recruiting additional staff especially as hospitals face staff shortages and provide better wages. As of July 2022, 17,000 LTC residents died in Canada because of COVID-19. Meanwhile, this morning, Ontario LTC minister Paul Calandra announced the province's plans to make it easier for residents to gain access to diagnostic services.

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MIKE SCHREINER: WILL HE JOIN THE ONTARIO LIBERALS?

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Mike Schreiner, Leader of the Green Party of Ontario.

Mike Schreiner knows that as many as 40 members of the Ontario Liberals want him to cross over to their camp and become the leader of their party. His response? In a statement he released this week, he said he's now seriously thinking about it. Libby goes directly to the source and asks the current Green party leader about what factors he is considering as he mulls over this very big decision and whether this would be an identity/philosophical shift considering the Liberals are not like the Greens. Will he give us any indication that he's arrived closer to an answer? Tune in to find out!

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Libby Znaimer is joined by Peter Muggeridge, Senior Editor of Zoomer Magazine, David Cravit, Chief Membership Officer of CARP, and Bill VanGorder, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Policy Officer of CARP.

Today: We remember the life and legacy of "Hurricane" Hazel McCallion who served as mayor of Mississauga from 1978 until 2014. She was 101 years old and just shy of her 102nd birthday. Meanwhile, the funeral for former Ontario Lt. Gov. David Onley is being held today. And, in other news, the ratio of grandparents to children is a lot higher today than before. So, what are the implications of that? Our panel has the latest.

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THE WHO ON THE FUTURE OF THE PANDEMIC

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Dr. Christopher Labos, cardiologist and epidemiologist based in Montreal and Dr. Prabhat Jha, an epidemiologist and faculty member at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

Today: The COVID-19 pandemic remains a global health emergency according to the World Health Organization. Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that we are in a much better place now as it pertains to the virus but that in the last 8 weeks as many as 170,000 people have died globally because of it. So, how will the WHO's decision inform Canada's public health policies towards COVID-19 and where do we go from here? Our epidemiologists react to the latest.

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THE RISE OF CHATGPT: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Carmi Levy, a technology analyst and journalist based in London, Ontario.

What is ChatGPT and what are its advantages and unintended consequences? Carmi weighs in.

 

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You weighed in on the wave of violent attacks taking place on the TTC and what authorities are trying to do to address the problem. And, callers talked about the importance of Holocaust education as we mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Libby Znaimer is joined by David Crombie, former Mayor of Toronto, Karen Stintz, CEO of Variety Village and Jon Burnside, Toronto City Councillor Don Valley East, and Chair of the TTC.

Today: we have a very important discussion about the recent wave of unprovoked attacks taking place on the TTC against both transit riders and employees. Why is this happening all of a sudden? And, what does the City of Toronto and the TTC have to do in order to effectively tackle this issue?

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VIOLENCE ON THE TTC CONTINUED

Libby Znaimer is now joined by John Di Nino, National President of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Canada.

Yesterday, TTC CEO Rick Leary provided comment on the recent wave of violence on the transit system saying that he is planning for more uniform visibility and upping the security presence. Meanwhile, John wants a national task force to be convened to address "crisis levels" of attacks. He wants the task force to look into whether additional mental health funding, housing supports, harsher penalties, greater police presence and de-escalation training for staff is needed amid the violence. He comes on to talk all about it.

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THE REAL ESTATE MARKET & BANK OF CANADA INTEREST RATES 

Libby Znaimer is joined by Moshe Lander, Senior Lecturer of Economics at Concordia University in Montreal, and Steve Jelenic, a Toronto Real Estate Agent with Chestnut Park Real Estate.

This week: the Bank of Canada increased the interest rate to 4.5 per cent as part of its ongoing plan to tackle high inflation. So, how does this impact the real estate market?

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Marissa is filling in for Libby Znaimer today. She 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 MPP for Parkdale-High Park.

Today: we get reaction from our panel on a multibillion dollar healthcare deal that could soon be on the horizon between Ottawa and the provinces and territories. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is asking the Privy Council Clerk to look into how the government funded the ArriveCan app And, we look into another controversy which is that during Justin Trudeau's time in government, the federal government awarded consulting firm McKinsey with $100 million in contracts.

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HOW A TRAVELER'S LUGGAGE ENDED UP IN THE HANDS OF CHARITY

Marissa Lennox is now joined by Nakita Rees, a resident of Cambridge.

Imagine taking a return flight home to Canada from your honeymoon only to find out that your luggage is not there and that it was allegedly given to a charity by a third party luggage handler hired by Air Canada. That's exactly what happened to Nakita and her husband when they returned to Pearson International airport from a connecting flight from Montreal on Sept. 10 from a vacation in Greece. Her baggage was there but her husband's had disappeared. The good news is that the luggage has finally been returned to them, but it took four months for that to happen. Rees joins the story to share what happened and the back and forth she had with Air Canada before ultimately resolving the situation.

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Marissa Lennox 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,

We learned late last week that Ottawa is close to striking a 10 year healthcare deal with the provinces and territories that would help address the issues of overcrowding hospitals, the shortage of nurses and physicians,  long wait times in ER, the backlog in medical procedures and other challenges that the healthcare sector is experiencing. Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says a deal could be made within weeks. The provinces have been asking Ottawa to cover 35 per cent of the cost of healthcare compared to the current 22 per cent of funding being made but the federal health minister did not disclose if they would indeed agree to this. Meanwhile, a study by the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), found that patients were not making visits to the ER department of hospitals as a substitute to in person visits to their family doctors during the first year of the pandemic. The conclusion was made after the OMA looked at the records of 7,936 family physicians and family health organizations between April 2020 and March 2021. Finally, do you feel as though the City of Toronto has become an unsafe place to live? Late last week, a woman, in her 70s or 80s was walking on a downtown street when she was pushed to the ground by a man in a seemingly unprovoked attack. She died in the incident. We've also heard of attacks on women on the TTC and what about that latest attack on the TTC operator who was shot at with a BB gun? Our panel has the latest.

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CANADIAN COURT ORDERS THE REPATRIATION OF CANADIANS DETAINED IN SYRIA

Marissa Lennox is now joined by Ari Goldkind, a criminal defence lawyer and Brian Lilley, a political columnist for the Toronto Sun who writes about federal and Ontario politics.

In the news: A Canadian federal court judge has ruled that four Canadian men detained in Syrian camps are entitled to be helped by Ottawa to return home to this country. One of those men is Jack Letts, also known as Jihadi Jack, who is British-born and had links to the terrorist group ISIS. And, lawyer Lawrence Greenspon successfully reached an agreement with the government to bring back 6 Canadian women and 13 children from Syria. So, even though the justice system has ruled that these individuals can be brought back, should we really let that happen from both a moral and national security perspective?

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Today on Free For All Friday: listeners weighed in on the Ford government expanding surgeries in private care clinics, as well as two separate investigations looking into his government's Greenbelt housing plans.

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Libby Znaimer is joined by David Crombie, Former Mayor of Toronto, Karen Stintz, CEO of Variety Village and Lauren O'Neil, Senior News Editor of BlogTO.

Today: Toronto Mayor John Tory has announced that the City alongside funding partners like Metrolinx will provide $5.4 million to local businesses. And, a number of city councillors are supporting the idea of a commercial parking levy to deal with the city’s budget crunch.  Both Ontario’s Integrity commissioner and Auditor Generals are doing separate investigations into the Ford government’s Greenbelt plans. The question remains: did the Premier and housing minister tip off any developers? And, federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is calling out the big grocery retailers for skyrocketing prices of their products.

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THE GREENBELT INVESTIGATIONS: REACTION FROM THE NDP 

Libby Znaimer is joined by Peter Tabuns, Interim Leader of the Ontario NDP.

This week, both the province's integrity commissioner and the auditor general have announced that they are doing their own respective investigations into the Ford government's Greenbelt plans. Both the Premier and housing minister have denied tipping off developers as it pertains to the Greenbelt. Tabuns weighs in on the latest.

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FOOD INFLATION REMAINS HIGH DESPITE EFFORTS TO COMBAT IT 

Libby Znaimer is now joined by David Macdonald, Senior Economist of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

We all know that food inflation is rampant and outpacing overall inflation. And, there is a big debate about whether the large grocers are taking advantage and profiting excessively. After all, some of them have been reporting record profits. The likes of Loblaw Companies and Sobey’s deny this vigorously - not everyone believes them. David has studied where that money is going.

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