ZOOMER SQUAD: A LOOK AHEAD TO THE THRONE SPEECH

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

In the news: It’s Monday! Time for our Zoomer Squad, and a rare summer sitting of the legislature. The throne speech will be read tomorrow and it’s happening amid the staffing crisis in our hospitals, especially in emergency wards. On the lighter side, the National Post has a big takeout declaring that 80 is the new 60. The Zoomer Squad doesn't think of that age as terribly old.

PHARMACISTS WANT TO PRESCRIBE DRUGS SOONER

Libby Znaimer is joined by Justin Bates, CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association.

Can pharmacists help take the pressure off our overburdened health system? We know the answer is yes and the province is set to start allowing them to assess and prescribe medications for certain minor ailments beginning in January of 2023 including things like pink eye, urinary tract infections, and allergic rashes. Now pharmacists are calling on the government to expand the list of medications that can be prescribed and  to move the date up.

CANADA'S SEVERE BLOOD SHORTAGE AND MASK WEARING.

Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Barry Pakes, medical officer of health for York Region.

There aren’t many mask mandates left and the remaining one seem to be coming off. This morning we learned that schoolchildren won’t be required to mask up in the fall. And here’s a concerning thing: Canadian Blood Services removed its mask mandate last month which prompted a backlash that had a lot of donors canceling their appointments and we are now in the midst of a critical blood shortage.

The Sunday edition of the Best of Fight Back, from the week that was, with Jane Brown

Interviews with:

- Dr. Kevin Smith, Dr. Doris Grinspun, and Helen Winter on staff shortages facing Ontario hospitals

- Rocco Rossi on the state of the labour market

- Tune into the Town with Karent Stintz, Lauren O’Neil, and David Crombie on the drama at Brampton City Hall

- Michael Diamond and Janet Ecker recap the federal conservative leadership race

- And the best calls of the week!

The Saturday edition of the Best of Fight Back, from the week that was, with Jane Brown

Interviews with:

- The Zoomer Squad with Peter Muggeridge, Bill VanGorder, and David Coletto on the the growing unhappiness with Justin Trudeau

- Dr. Samantha Taylor explains what "greedflation" is

- The Recovering Politicians, with Charles Sousa, Lisa Raitt, and Cheri DiNovo discuss what's going on with Ontario's Minister of Health

- Dr. Janice Stein and Phil Gurski break down the news that Al Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had been killed in a U.S. drone strike

- And the best calls of the week!

Today on Free For All Friday: listeners called in to weigh in on Ontario's healthcare crisis that has seen hospitals have to scale back their operations due to severe staffing shortages. Meanwhile, we heard calls about our increasingly politically divided society and we got an update from the GTAA's CEO about the situation at Pearson Airport.

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

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

Today: we start things off by placing a magnifying glass on the ongoing shenanigans in Brampton. The city's former integrity commissioner, Muneeza Sheikh, is suing Brampton and the city councillors who voted to fire her for $20M arguing that her firing was part of a conspiracy by some councillors who were not happy over previous or ongoing ethics investigations into them. It's a lawsuit that happens to have the support of the current Mayor Patrick Brown. Meanwhile, in a presser earlier this week, Brown alleged that municipal funds were used as "hush payments" in a city councillor's sexual harassment lawsuit. Here in Toronto, an integrity complaint was filed against Mayor John Tory arguing that his ties to Rogers is a conflict of interest. Finally, Toronto was just ranked the hardest city to navigate. What's up with that?

THE CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP DEBATE: A RECAP

Libby Znaimer is joined byMichael Diamond, Principal of Upstream Strategy Group and Janet Ecker, Former Ontario PC MPP.

Yesterday, the third and final debate of the Conservative leadership race took place. All were in attendance except for the perceived front-runner Pierre Poilievre and Leslyn Lewis. What kind of an impact will their absence have on the overall race or even their own campaigns? Both Leslyn and Pierre were fined $50,000 for being no-shows.

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UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO REQUIRING STUDENTS IN RESIDENCE TO HAVE THREE SHOTS

Libby Znaimer is  now joined by Dr. Fahad Razak, the Scientific Director of the COVID-19 Science Advisory Table.

Frontline healthcare workers have been under an unprecedented level of stress according to the scientific director of Ontario's COVID-19 science advisory table this is not just about the COVID pandemic, this is about entering the pandemic with one of the lowest amounts of capacity for acute care of any comparably wealthy country. Libby and Dr. Razak also discuss the University of Toronto’s decision to require students to at least be triple vaccinated. Will this help boost uptake among young adults as we grapple with a seventh COVID-19 wave?

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

Libby Znaimer is joined, first, by Dr. Kevin Smith, President and CEO of the University Health Network followed by Dr. Doris Grinspun, CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) and Helen Winter, a registered Nurse working in the emergency department of a downtown Toronto hospital.

Ontario hospitals are grappling with a staffing shortage issue and it's so bad that several of them have had to close their ER departments. According to the Ontario Nurses Association, more than 20 hospitals have had to close so far. Many of the staff shortages involve nurses and there are cases where nurses are being asked to pick up extra shifts, handle a very high patient load and are often asked to work outside their specialty. Helen Winter describes that many are leaving the profession due to burnout. She tells us that she has had to cut back on her hours and that nurses have a significant repertoire of skills that can be transferred to other higher paying jobs outside of the hospital. Today, our healthcare experts weigh in on the latest crisis plaguing our health care system.

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THE RISE OF ANTISEMITISM AND ISLAMAPHOBIA IN CANADA 

Libby Znaimer is joined by Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, Director of Policy at the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre and Canadian Senator Salma Ataullahjan.

According to Statistics Canada, Canada's Jewish community faces the most amount hate crimes compared to other religious groups after seeing a 47 percent increase in police reported antisemitic crimes (487 cases reported) in 2021. Jaime weighs in on the latest data and whether Ottawa is doing enough to address the problem especially in the months following the highly publicized national summit against antisemitism that took place in July of 2021. And, the Senator weighs in on the ongoing threat of Islamophobia and attacks of hatred on the Muslim community.

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THE STATE OF THE LABOUR MARKET

Libby Znaimer is joined by Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

All of us are feeling the pinch of high inflation which recently hit 8.9%. Will salaries keep up? The average annual increase of seven major union wage settlements in March and April was 3.1%. That’s almost double the average pace of pay increases between March 2020 and January 2022. The Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents 120,000 workers or about a third of federal employees, is demanding a pay increase of 4.5% per year. The union representing education workers has just called for 11%. Rocco weighs in on the latest regarding the labour market.

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

Libby Znaimer is joined by Charles Sousa, The former minister of finance for Ontario and MPP for Mississauga South, Lisa Raitt, Former Deputy Leader of Conservative Party of Canada, and Cheri DiNovo,  former Ontario NDP MPP

The next federal conservative leadership debate takes place tomorrow but not many of the leadership candidates are participating in this one including perceived front runner Pierre Poilievre and also Leslyn Lewis. Another interesting development we are seeing is that a lot of the membership sign ups to the party are coming from the province of Quebec. Will this help Jean Charest? We also talk about the ongoing nursing shortage at Ontario hospitals. The concern grows as several Ontario hospitals have had to scale back their operations over staffing shortages. Finally, where is Ontario's new Health Minister Sylvia Jones? She's been criticized for not being seen or heard since being sworn in, especially at a time when the province grapples with a bad seventh wave of COVID-19 and hospitals are struggling to address staffing issues.

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THE U.S. TAKES OUT TOP AL QAEDA LEADER: WHAT THIS MEANS

Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Janice Stein, Founding Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, and Phil Gurski, President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting and a  former senior strategic terrorism analyst at CSIS.

Yesterday, in a televised speech, U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed that an American drone strike killed Al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Why this is important: al-Zawahiri was a key planner alongside Osama Bin Laden of the 9/11 attacks, and became Al Qaeda's leader after Bin Laden's death in 2011. Biden said: "For decades, he was the mastermind of attacks against Americans...Justice has been delivered". So, what exactly does the death of this terrorist mean for Al Qaeda moving forward and how does this change the fight against terrorism in the middle east? Meanwhile, U.S. Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, has headed to Taiwan to meet with its leaders. Will this move provoke China?

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

The Sunday edition of the Best of Fight Back, from the week that was, with Jane Brown

Interviews with:

- Tune into the Town, with David Crombie, Karen Stintz, and outgoing Toronto city councillor Mike Layton, who talked about why he is not running for re-election

- Ryan Koeslag, Peggy Brekveld, and Chris Grossman on struggles that farmers are facing with a tariff on fertilizer

- Steve Jelenic on the cooling of the housing market

- Martin Firestone and John Gradek on Pearson being ranked as the worst airport for delays

- And the best calls of the week!

The Saturday edition of the Best of Fight Back, from the week that was, with Jane Brown

Interviews with:

- Dr. Veldon Coburn reacts to the Pope's visit to Canada

- The Zoomer Squad, with Peter Muggeridge, David Cravit, and Bill VanGorder, respond to reports that many long-term care facilities are still without air conditioning

- Ben Klass breaks down the fallout that Rogers is facing at the hearings that are getting underway

- The Recovering Politicians, with Charles Sousa, Lisa Raitt, and Howard Hampton, debate the importance of Stephen Harper's endorsement of Pierre Poilievre

- And the best calls of the week!

Today on Free For All Friday, listeners called in with their feelings on the Pope's apology tour, the Rogers-Shaw merger, and the challengers farmers are facing.

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