Today on Free For All Friday: listeners reacted to the Ontario election that kicked off this week and to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threat.

TUNE INTO THE TOWN: OLIVIA CHOW'S PROPOSED PROPERTY TAX HIKE

Libby Znaimer is joined by Karen Stintz, a Conservative Party of Canada for Eglinton-Lawrence, Jon Burnside, City Councillor for Ward 16 (Don Valley East), and Taylor Scollon, Co-Founder of The Peak.

Today: we take a closer look at a "centrist" political advocacy group called "A Better City (ABC) Toronto" that has emerged recently and that is focused on municipal political issues like housing, traffic congestion, and property tax. Meanwhile, we get reaction from our panel on the provincial election currently underway.

PARENTS DO HAVE A FAVOURITE CHILD ACCORDING TO THIS STUDY  

Libby Znaimer is joined by Registered Psychologists Dr. Oren Amitay and Sara Dimerman.

There's a new study published by the American Psychological Association that suggests that parents do have a favourite when it comes to their children. We bring on two psychologists to unpack the complexity of that conversation.

PLANNING TRIPS ABROAD AMID HIGHER COST OF TRAVEL 

Libby Znaimer is joined by Barry Choi, a personal finance expert.

With the ongoing travel season, it's important to be on top of travel strategies that make going abroad a little easier on the wallet.  According to Barry, there's a few things to be mindful of including booking your flights well in advance and being flexible about your dates of travel.

THE MEDICAL RECORD:  REACTION TO RFK JR.'S CONFIRMATION HEARING TODAY 

Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Malcolm Moore, Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Dr. Fahad Razak, General Internist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto and Canada Research Chair in Healthcare Data and Analytics at the University of Toronto, and Dr. Alisa Naiman, a family doctor practicing comprehensive primary care in Toronto.

Our panel reacts to the Ford government's announcement this week in which they discussed $1.4 billion in new funding towards primary care as part of the goal of connecting every Ontario resident with a family doctor or primary care team within 4 years. So, does the money provided go far enough to address the problems? Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation hearing for health secretary with the Trump administration begins today. Our panel reacts to the latest.

DAVID PETERSON REACTS TO PREMIER DOUG FORD'S ELECTION CALL

Libby Znaimer is joined by David Peterson, a former Ontario Liberal Premier.

Mr. Peterson reacts to Premier Doug Ford's election call and reflects back to 1990 when he called an early election and ended up losing to Bob Rae and the NDP. 

MARIT STILES TALKS ABOUT HER ELECTION CAMPAIGN 

Libby Znaimer is joined by Marit Stiles, leader of the Ontario NDP.

This morning, Marit Stiles announced her election campaign. She discusses whether her party is ready to challenge the Ford government's majority government.

RECOVERING POLITICIANS PANEL: THE FORD GOVERNMENT'S UPCOMING ELECTION

Libby Znaimer is joined by George Smitherman, Former Liberal MPP for Toronto Centre and Health Minister and Deputy Premier, Lisa Raitt, a former Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, and Gurratan Singh, Vice President at Crestview Strategy and a former NDP MPP for Brampton East.

This is the first time we get a reaction from our Recovering Politicians about the news of Premier Ford confirming his plans to call an election this Wednesday. On yesterday's Fight Back, veteran pollster John Wright made the interesting observation that there really isn't a clear ballot box question yet for this election. Our panel reacts to the latest.

MORE REACTION TO THE FORD GOVERNMENT'S SPENDING PLAN TOWARDS PRIMARY CARE

Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Dominik Nowak, President of the Ontario Medical Association.

Dr. Nowak reacts to the Ford government's announcement this week of $1.8 billion towards primary care and what other areas need to be improved in this file.

THE EXTENT OF OLDER CANADIANS LIVING AT THE POVERTY LEVEL

Libby Znaimer is joined by Rudy Buttignol, President of CARP.

Libby and Rudy discuss what a new report by The National Institute on Ageing shows about poverty among older Canadians.

ZOOMER SQUAD: IT IS ELECTION SEASON IN ONTARIO  

Libby Znaimer is joined by Anthony Quinn, Chief Operating Officer of CARP, Bill VanGorder, Advocacy and Education Officer at CARP and John Wright, a veteran pollster.

We get reaction from the Zoomer Squad about Ontario Premier Doug Ford's confirmation that he will be calling an election this Wednesday.

THE LATEST ON THE FEDERAL LIBERAL LEADERSHIP RACE   

Libby Znaimer is joined by Bob Richardson, a Public Affairs Consultant and Will Stewart, a Conservative Strategist and Senior Vice President with Enterprise Canada.

We talk about the latest developments of the federal Liberal leadership race and Mark Carney.

80 YEARS SINCE LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ

Libby Znaimer is joined by Dara Solomon, Executive Director of the Toronto Holocaust Museum and Nate Leipciger, a survivor of Auschwitz as well as an educator and author.

It's the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz--the Nazi death camp in Poland where 1.1 million Jewish people were systematically murdered during the Holocaust. And, as the years go on, the number of survivors continues to dwindle. Nate shares his story with us and talks about the rise of antisemitism.

Today on Free For All Friday: listeners reacted to the news of Ontario Premier Doug Ford officially confirming that he'll be calling an election next week.

TUNE INTO THE TOWN:  COULD CITY WORKERS GO ON STRIKE IN THE NEAR FUTURE? 

Libby Znaimer is joined by Jon Burnside, City Councillor for Ward 16 Don Valley East, James Pasternak, Councillor for Ward 6 York Centre and Taylor Scollon, Co-Founder of The Peak.

Our panel weighs in on reports about Premier Doug Ford potentially calling an election as early as next week and what the impact on Toronto would be if city workers end up going on strike over the issue of wages.

COULD TORONTO SEE A BYLAW TO PROTECT THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN THE NEAR FUTURE?

Libby Znaimer is joined by Councillor Brad Bradford of Ward 19 Beaches-East York.

Councillor Brad Bradford wrote an op-ed in the National Post in which he points to "a lack of leadership at the highest level" when it comes to addressing the rise of antisemitism and attacks on the Jewish community in Toronto since October 7th.

ARE MORE AND MORE ZOOMERS FUNDING TRAVEL FOR THEIR KIDS?

Libby Znaimer is joined by Natalie Preddie, a Travel Writer and Janet Radley with St. Clair Travel Agency in Toronto.

We talk about some of the latest travel trends for 2025 based on a report by Booking.com including older relatives paying for younger generations’ vacations.

THE MEDICAL RECORD:  THIS IS HOW MANY CANADIANS RELY ON THE INTERNET FOR HEALTHCARE INFORMATION

Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Malcolm Moore, Medical Oncologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Dr. Fahad Razak, General Internist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto and Canada Research Chair in Healthcare Data and Analytics at the University of Toronto, and Dr. Alisa Naiman, a family doctor practicing comprehensive primary care in Toronto.

According to a new survey by Abacus Data and commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association, over a third of Canadians have gone online to look up medical advice. And, we talk about the staggering images out of Walkerton, Ontario that showed people lining up in the cold hoping to get a spot on the patient list of a doctor who is opening a new family practice there.

THE IMPACT OF COLD WEATHER ON CARS

Libby Znaimer is joined by Nadia Matos, Manager of External Communications with CAA South Central Ontario.

What kind of an impact does the very cold weather have on our vehicle's heating capability and battery longevity? Nadia explains.

WHAT ARE THE MOST RELIABLE CARS OF THE YEAR?

Libby Znaimer today is now joined by Jil McIntosh, an auto writer who writes for Driving.ca among other publications and Shari Prymak, Director of Car Help Canada.

What are the most and least reliable cars currently in the market? Our guests weigh in.

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ZOOMER SQUAD:  WHAT OPTIONS DO LOW INCOME SENIORS HAVE FOR PROPERTY TAX RELIEF?   

Libby Znaimer is joined by Anthony Quinn, Chief Operating Officer of CARP, Rudy Buttignol, President of CARP and John Mykytyshyn, conservative strategist and President of Bradgate Research Group.

Our panel discusses what property tax relief options are available to low-income seniors in Toronto and what their requirements are.

THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASEFIRE

Libby Znaimer is joined by Martin Himmel, an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in Tel Aviv whose latest film is "The Forgotten Expulsion: Jews From Arab Lands", Jon Allen, a former Canadian Ambassador of Canada to Israel (From 2006 to 2010) and a current Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at UofT, and Professor Gabriel Ben Dor, who teaches National Security and Political Science at the University of Haifa and was formerly the head of the university's program for national security studies. 

Israel has exchanged 90 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for three Israeli hostages as part of a first stage of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.  Our guests in Israel describe the mood of the country lately. 

PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP'S INAUGURATION TODAY 

Libby Znaimer is joined by Bob Richardson, a public affairs consultant who is currently at the Canadian embassy in Washington, DC followed by Brad Polumbo, a conservative commentator and Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of BASEDPolitics, and Matthew Wilson, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southern Methodist University.

It's inauguration day for President Donald Trump and, according to reporting from the New York Times, his administration will not be introducing tariffs during his first day in office but he does have plenty of executive orders he is reportedly planning to sign in the first hours of his presidency.