TUNE INTO THE TOWN: MIKE LAYTON NOT SEEKING RE-ELECTION IN OCTOBER

Marissa Lennox is filling in for Libby Znaimer today. She is joined by Karen Stintz, CEO of Variety Village, Toronto City Councillor Mike Layton of Ward 11 University-Rosedale and former Mayor David Crombie.

This week: we start off by asking Mike Layton about his decision not to seek re-election in October. He becomes one of seven City councillors making the same decision. Then, we ask the panel about a complaint filed with the integrity commissioner against Mayor John Tory. Adam Chaleff who describes himself as a "progressive urbanist" filed the complaint saying: "I believe that MayorJohn Tory contravened the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act when he voted on and spoke about ending the Lake Shore Blvd. ActiveTO closure. Meanwhile, Premier Doug Ford has relisted his Etobicoke home for $400 K less. So, what does this say about the weakening housing market? And, a four year old child has died after being struck by a GO train in Mississauga on Tuesday evening. Our panel reacts to the latest news.

LTC COVID-19 TRACKER PROJECT PAUSED

Marissa Lennox is now joined by Dr. Samir Sinha, a geriatric specialist and research director of the Long-Term Care COVID-19 Tracker Project.

The National Institute on Ageing will no longer be operating its long-term care COVID-19 tracker project despite a seventh COVID-19 wave that has seen a surge of outbreaks across LTC and retirement homes. The reason? It's because provincial/territorial governments and public health authorities are no longer providing consistent and timely data on COVID in long-term care homes. So, why is this a failure on the government's part? And, who would use this tool to guide our pandemic response? Dr. Samir Sinha weighs in on the latest.

RESTAURANT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THIS SUMMER

Marissa Lennox is now joined by Rita DeMontis, Senior National Lifestyle and Food Editor for the Toronto Sun.

It's summertime, which means you and your friends and family are likely wanting to hit up restaurants to enjoy the good weather and outdoor fun! So, we've brought on a food critic who gives us recommendations for some great Toronto food establishments. We also talk about TIFF coming to town which is a time when restaurants get to really show off their menus to big crowds from all over. And, Rita weighs in on some of the ways COVID-19 has changed the culinary industry.

ONTARIO FARMERS FACE TARIFFS ON THEIR FERTILIZER

Marissa Lennox is joined by Ryan Koeslag, Executive Director of Ontario Bean Growers , Peggy Brekveld, President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture, and then engineer Chris Grossman.

Today: It's been tough for farmers during the COVID-19 pandemic as it is. But, now, as Ottawa continues efforts to punish Russia for its war on Ukraine, Ontario farmers are saying that they along with consumers are the ones being punished. As of March, a tariff was put on fertilizer coming in from Russia as an example. And, Koeslag and other farmer groups are calling on Canada to reconsider such measures. Meanwhile, engineer Chris Grossman  discusses a made-in-Canada technology solution to help farmers reduce nitrous oxide and maintain usage of fertilizer to deliver the same output.

THE STATE OF THE HOUSING MARKET

Marissa Lennox is now joined by Steve Jelenic, Toronto Real Estate Agent with Chestnut Park Real Estate.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has relisted his Etobicoke home for $400 k less as the real estate market continues to weaken. It is now going for $2,800,888. Meanwhile, a  report from this month from Strata, a Toronto-based real estate platform, reveals that cancelled listings for condos across the GTA have increased by 643 percent. Steve weighs in on the latest news.

ROGERS-SHAW MERGER BEING DELAYED

Marissa Lennox is now joined by Technology analyst and journalist based in London, Ontario.

As Ottawa continues to investigate the network outage at Rogers and execs at the telecom giant face questions from the House of Commons industries committee, the company delayed its deadline to finalize a merger with competitor Shaw until the end of the year. Meanwhile, the company is saying that it will spend as much as $150-million on compensation to its customers and is promising to invest billions towards strengthening the resiliency of its networks. But, is all of this enough? Carmi weighs in on the latest news.

RECOVERING POLITICIANS PANEL: THE POPE'S APOLOGY

Marissa is filling in for Libby Znaimer this week. She 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 Glenn De Baeremaeker,  a former Scarborough City Councillor, and Deputy Mayor for Scarborough.

This week: Stephen Harper officially endorses Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre. Also on the agenda: former Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath announces that she is running for Mayor of Hamilton-where she was born and raised. Meanwhile, Pope Francis, during his visit to Canada, said: ""I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples". The historic apology was given in front of thousands of Indigenous peoples, which included many residential school survivors, who congregated on Maskwacis in Alberta yesterday. Finally, Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri among other execs of the telecom giant testified in front of the House of Commons industry committee over the outage that left millions of Canadians without communication for over 15 hours earlier this month. At one point, Staffieri said that Canadians have "alternative and choice" when it comes to the marketplace. Liberal MP Nathanial Erskine Smith responded with: "you are saying that with a straight face?"

PEARSON RANKED WORLD'S WORST AIRPORT FOR FLIGHT DELAYS

Marissa is filling in for Libby Znaimer this week. She is joined by Martin Firestone, President, Travel Secure Inc. and John Gradek, a faculty lecturer at McGill University in Montreal and a former executive with Air Canada.

This week: A new report from a flight tracking website has just ranked Pearson as the world's worst airport when it comes to flight delays. Ottawa also brought back randomized COVID-19 testing for air travelers this summer as the country grapples with a seventh wave. We also ask our experts about the ArriveCan app's ongoing problems (even after a glitch fix) and the problem obtaining Nexus these days.

Marissa Lennox is filling in for Libby Znaimer today. She 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: According to the ministry of long-term care, there are still 90  homes without air conditioning  in all resident rooms. Last year, the province passed legislation that would make it mandatory for nursing homes to supply air conditioning to all resident rooms by this year. In other news, a central Toronto hospital-Toronto Western Hospital (which is part of the UHN)- came close to shutting down its ER department this weekend due to staffing shortages. Our panel weighs in on the latest.

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THE POPE VISITS CANADA

Marissa Lennox is now joined by Dr. Veldon Coburn, professor of Aboriginal Studies at the University of Ottawa.

Today: The Pope arrived in Canada this Sunday for a six-day trip where he will focus on reconciliation efforts with Indigenous communities.

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ROGERS HEARINGS IN HOUSE OF COMMONS TODAY

Marissa Lennox is joined by Ben Klass, Telecom researcher and phd candidate at Carleton University

The House of Commons industry committee will be having two hearings today involving Rogers officials. The hearings will pertain to the 15 hour service outage that took place earlier this month and affected millions of Canadians. Those involved in testifying today include Rogers executives, industries minister François-Philippe Champagne and members of the CRTC. So, what can we expect from that?

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:

- The Recovering Politicians; Charles Sousa, Lisa Raitt, and Howard Hampton; on the current state of the Federal Conservatives

- Gil Penalosa in studio to discuss why he's decided to run for mayor of Toronto

- Mike Layton and James Pasternak debate the necessity for "strong mayor" powers in Toronto

- Dr. Blair Feltmate and Dr. Samantha Green with safety tips to consider during a heat wave

- 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 John Wright, David Cravit, and Bill VanGorder on word of a private members bill that aims to criminalize neglect in long-term care

- Aleem Kanji and Christina Mitas react to Patrick Brown admitting that he is now officially out of the contest for the Federal Conservative leadership race.

- Dr. Rose Zacharias and Dr. Alisa Naiman discuss the problems surrounding primary care

- Sgt. Kerry Schmidt with a reminder that you still need to renew your license plate

- And the best calls of the week!

Listeners call in to discuss the topic of cats on leashes and the Premier Doug Ford's desire to implement "strong mayor" powers for the mayors of both Toronto and Ottawa.

Libby Znaimer is joined by Lauren O'Neil, Senior News Editor of BlogTO,  David Crombie, Former Mayor of Toronto and Toronto City Councillor Brad Bradford for Ward 19 Beaches-East York.

This week: Premier Doug Ford is considering giving the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa "strong mayor" powers that would give them greater authority over financial matters and appointments. So, what would be the implications of that?

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THE STATE OF  INFLATION IN CANADA

Libby Znaimer is joined byBenjamin Tal, Chief Economist for CIBC.

Inflation in Canada has reached a 39-year-high at 8.1 percent last month according to Statistics Canada. And, food costs went up by 8.8 percent. Benjamin explains what our economy is currently going through.

THE RISING COST OF FOOD

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Rose Reisman, nutritionist, author and owner of Rose Reisman Catering.

As discussed earlier, food costs have gone up by 8.8 percent, which means consumers will see higher food prices at the grocery stores and when eating out at restaurants. Rose weighs in on the situation and gives ideas for healthy recipes to make this season that are affordable!

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

Libby Znaimer is joined by Gil Penalosa, a well-known Urbanist who is running for Mayor of Toronto.

John Tory has a new competitor in the race for Mayor. Gil Penalosa, 65, announced his candidacy for mayor of Toronto last week. He is, at this moment, the most significant challenger to John Tory.He is an urbanist who is known, respected and consulted around the world. He is the founder of 8 80 Cities, a non-profit that advocates  for public spaces accessible to all. He is a major champion of parks.

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DOUG FORD CONSIDERING STRONG POWERS FOR MAYORS

Libby Znaimer is joined by Councillor Mike Layton, Ward 11 University-Rosedale, andCouncillor James Pasternak, Ward 6 York Centre.

Premier Doug Ford is planning to give both the Mayors of Toronto and Ottawa "strong-mayor" powers that would give them more authority over financial matters and appointments. Meanwhile, Toronto City Hall is debating whether cats should be leashed when outdoors. Two of our City councillors discuss the latest.

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TORONTONIANS AFFECTED BY HEAT WAVES

Libby Znaimer is now joined by Dr. Samantha Green, a family physician at St. Michael's Hospital and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto and Dr. Blair Feltmate, Professor & Head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo.

Since the summer began, Torontonians have been faced with multiple heat waves. Other parts of the world are facing even worse conditions. Yesterday, for example, the UK broke its own record for highest temperature ever recorded. It's national weather forecaster recorded it at 40.3 degrees Celcius! So, how does extreme heat like this occur? And, what can you do to protect yourself from such weather and to avoid getting heat stroke? Our guests explain.

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 Glenn De Baeremaeker,  a former Scarborough City Councillor, and Deputy Mayor for Scarborough.

Today: Libby and the panel dig deeper into the state of the federal Conservative party and the apparent divide within it. And, how does Canada look on the world stage for exempting a return of a turbine from Canada's sanction program against Russia?

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THE PROBLEMS PLAGUING PRIMARY CARE IN ONTARIO

Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Rose Zacharias, President of the Ontario Medical Association and Dr. Alisa Naiman, Family Physician and Founder and Medical Director of The Medical Station in Toronto.

Today: we take a deep dive into the issues plaguing primary care in the province. Among those problems is that there is a shortage of family physicians. And, those that have been working through the pandemic have been facing burnout, increased overhead costs and inadequate pay. Libby and the doctors weigh in on this very concerning healthcare crisis.

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