The province’s Auditor General has released her report on the Ontario government‘s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and it doesn't cast things in a positive light.

Guest: Sabrina Nanji, reporter with Queen’s Park Today

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According to Statcan, the majority of Canadians in the provinces reported having confidence in the police in 2019. What does that mean when we hear from so many people who are calling for change and sharing their own concerns over systemic racism? 

Guest: Dr. Gregory R. Brown, Adjunct Research Professor, Department of Sociology & Anthropology, Department of Law & Legal Studies, Carleton University

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A press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau heard him announce that many other countries will be receiving COVID-19 vaccines before Canada due to the fact that Canada doesn't make vaccines anymore. If that's the case, it's following in the footsteps of many other industries we've essentially outsourced to other countries. Why is this and will we ever see the day that Canada regains some semblance of self-sufficiency?

Guest: Ian Lee, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University

Dozens of demonstrators are camping out in front of Hamilton city hall, calling on the city to defund police and reallocate funds toward housing. Advocates with a group called the “Defund the Police Hamilton Coalition” set up speakers and tents in the forecourt on Monday afternoon, issuing a list of demands during a series of speeches. 

Those demands include calling on Hamilton police to immediately reduce their budget by 50 per cent, and for their 2020 budget surplus of $567,875 to be reallocated toward “free permanent housing” in Hamilton. 

Last night, one of the organizers was charged under COVID-19 bylaws. 

Guest: Rowa, one of the organizers of Defund HPS, currently outside City Hall

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Is cutting 50% of police budget in order to divest funds feasible? 

Guest: Christian Leuprecht, Professor at the Royal Military College and Queen’s University

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How can we keep our small businesses open in regions that are in red zones, or even in lockdown? Is there a way to strike a balance between the big box stores and small businesses?

Guest: Julie Kwiecinski, CFIB Director of Provincial Affair for Ontario

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Today, a “Free Meng” event is being hosted by a group of left-wing organizations, including the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute, the Canadian Peace Congress and the Hamilton Coalition to Stop War. Speakers include NDP MP Niki Ashton and Green MP Paul Manly.

There is no mention anywhere in the publicity material of Michael Kovrig or Michael Spavor, the two Canadians who were detained by Chinese authorities nine days after Meng was arrested in Vancouver.

Guest: John Ivison, Columnist, National Post

Ontario reported 1,589 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, a new single-day record of cases to date, bringing the provincial total to 105,501. Monday’s case count marks the largest single-day increase in cases, ahead of 1,588 recorded on Saturday — the previous largest single-day high. On Sunday, 1,534 new cases were recorded. The record-breaking case count comes on the day that Toronto and Peel Region move into lockdown. 

Guest: Ahmad Firas Khalid, medical doctor and health policy expert

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Now some good news. There is another vaccine on the horizon! AstraZeneca said Monday that late-stage trials showed its coronavirus vaccine was up to 90 per cent effective, giving public health officials hope they may soon have access to a vaccine that is cheaper and easier to distribute than some of its rivals. 

The results are based on interim analysis of trials in the U.K. and Brazil of a vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca. No hospitalizations or severe cases of COVID-19 were reported in those receiving the vaccine. 

Guest: Brian Dixon, Professor at University of Waterloo and teaches their immunology class in the Department of Biology. He is currently researching COVID antibody testing methods and can speak to the immune response to viruses and the development of vaccines and serological tests

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We keep hearing the Government of Ontario being accused of giving the public “mixed messaging” about the COVID-19 pandemic. Does the messaging confuse you? Is the messaging really that mixed? 

Guest: Randall Denley, columnist for the Ottawa Citizen and the National Post