NOW and NEXT

Today on NOW and NEXT:

Former Harper cabinet minister, Lisa Raitt joins us to discuss the latest leaked top-scret documents that suggest MP Michael Chong was being targeted by Chinese intelligence agencies here in Canada and in China. Chong is demanding to know why he wasn't told about the potential threats.

Raitt says the Trudeau government is losing all credibility on this file.

Also:
To use a Dana Bash expression, will the Donald Trump Townhall on CNN be anything more than a "Shit Show"?

And Canada's international economic clout is in freefall at a time when we need to be building back better as we emerge from the pandemic. Raitt co-Chairs the Coalition for a Better Future and the group's latest report says labour productivity, an uncertain climate transition, risks around fiscal sustainability and a lack of global competitiveness are challenges for the Canadian economy.

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Today on NOW and NEXT:

The legendary singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot passed away May 1, 2023 at the age of 84. Veteran, award-winning broadcast journalist Barb DiGiulio joins the show to talk about Lightfoot's extraordinary career and catalogue of music.

Lightfoot appeared at a Hugh's Room gathering in 2016 to celebrate what would have been Stompin' Tom Connor's 80 birthday. He tells a great story of his encounter with Stompin' Tom and plays a song he thinks Tom would have liked.

You can check it out here. It's 13 minutes well spent.

ALSO:

• The Leafs win the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 19 years and kick off Round Two at home to the Florida Panthers.
• Barb spent Monday going back and forth with the bank because her credit card was compromised!
• Enough with the bag bans already. Shouldn't it be part of a retailer's service to provide you with some vessel to carry your goods in?
• And we weigh in on "Bare Minimum Mondays".

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Today on NOW and NEXT:

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario is banning the use of paper bags claiming it will "save trees".

Not really.

Aside from the fact that harvested trees are replaced, stopping the production of paper bags doesn’t necessarily save trees or the environment.
Paper is made from parts of trees that aren’t usable, ie, the scrub branches, sawdust etc. The trees are still harvested for lumber but now what do you do with the leftover scraps?
Most of it gets burned. And that just pumps carbon back into atmosphere. If you leave it to rot, same result - carbon gets released.

There are a number of forestry scientists who say we aren’t harvesting ENOUGH timber and we run the risk of our Boreal Forest being the largest carbon emitter in Canada. If we don’t cut it down and use it effectively, it will either die and rot or become infested and is likely tinder for forest fires.

Banning LCBO bags doesn't “save trees”. Producing, using and recycling LCBO bags does more to save the atmosphere.

ALSO:
It's Feed Drop Thursday. And we feature the first show we produced at Story Studio Network. The NEXT NORMAL launched July 6, 2021.

In this episode we explore how our experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic have sharpened or changed our sense of meaning – the meaning of words, the meaning of rituals, the meaning of relationships and values.





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Today on NOW and NEXT:

We're joined by Juno Award winner singer=songwriter Melanie Doane who is the Executive Director and Founder of the Doane Music School.

This week, they released their latest "class project", a recording of "Ooh Child" featuring 150 Doane Music School students playing ukuleles and singing with the great Molly Johnson!

Check out the song here

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Today on NOW and NEXT:

It doesn't erase the indignity of the Game 7 collapse at the hands of the Boston Bruin 4 years and a night ago, but the Leafs can, at least put that bit of infamy in the rearview mirror after roaring back from a 4-1 deficit in the third period with 10 minutes to go and beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 in OT.

The only thing that would have made it better is if it were the series winning game. Still gotta win one more and....well....I'll leave it there.

ALSO:

Joe Biden's taking a run at a second term. He's made it official. He wants four more years in the White House. And it's looking like Donald Trump will be his opponent. It might have the excitement of Ali v Fraser for the political geeks but it's going to be a no holds barred campaign of outrage, fear and threats. What does that spell for the US?

And David Schultz from Hamiline University in Minnesota weighs in on the state of the US Supreme Court. There's no stopping Clarence Thomas who has his own version of "cheques" and balances.



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Today on NOW and NEXT:

Former TTC Chair Josh Colle, current SVP at EY weighs on how to tackle ridership woes, confidence in the system and real worries about public safety.

The Toronto Transit Commission decided to cut services to dozens of routes to meet budget pressures. But where was the innovative, creative thinking? Why are we still running forty foot buses on suburban routes that are empty? When are we going to adopt the "ride share" model on under used routes? What happened to the double fare express routes?

The TTC can make a long list of improvements that dont' cost a lot and don't need a long list of approvals.

But that will require a culture shift. We need to see more TTC leaders in public and on the platforms. That starts with CEO Rick Leary and Chair Jon Burnside.

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Today on NOW and NEXT:

Happy SSNiversary to us!

Story Studio Network CEO and Co-founder Erin Trafford joins the show to talk about the fun we're having and her plans to reposition journalism and evolve SSN from a major market podcast production house to a new media company.

It was two years ago today, I sent my “Got time for a quick call” text to Erin. I already had four clients locked and loaded for a cool Roundtable series but was a bit shocked at how easily they agreed to this new branded podcast idea.

So, I did what all smart Dads would do. I reached out to my smartest daughter to test the concept.

And BIG BANG! SSN happened in the course of a 90 minute phone call

It was Erin, me, four brilliant “founding” creators/producers, Sarah Thorne, Dave Hardy, Lisa Taylor, Ujwal Arkalgud launching The NEXT NORMAL.And we pulled it all together with the exceptional Jaime Nickerson supporting us off the side of her desk:)

So, here we are 24 COVID months later. We’ve soared from one show in the “network” and 2.5 FTEs to a couple of dozen shows and a wonderfully talented team who make us better every day.

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Today on NOW and NEXT:

What the hell was that?? The Toronto Maple Leafs have known who they were playing in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the New Year, yet they still weren't prepared to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. To call it an embarrassing showing is a gross understatement.

It was disastrous. And it falls squarely on Head Coach Sheldon Keefe. He had one job heading into the post season and that was to ensure his elite players were READY. They weren't and show no signs of being so.

ALSO:
The Ford government makes it all official: the Ontario Science Centre will be moving from Don Mills to the Ontario Place site as part of a complete renovation and overhaul of the property. But, the Premier and his ministers are more than a little vague on what kind of agreement Ontarians have struck with Therme Canada and the $650 million subsidy the "spa" will be getting from the province to set up shop on the western end of the island.

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Today on NOW and NEXT:

The housing crisis is worse than its ever been. Food insecurity is worse than it was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Poverty in Toronto has become normalized through governments' inability, or worse, indifference, to take action.

Daily Bread Food Bank CEO, Neil Hetherington says the old faithful economic indicators just dont add up. Unemployment rates are low. That should be good news until you consider a third of all food bank users in Toronto have a full time job. They are among those who made 270,000 visits to a local food bank in March of this year.

And there is no indication, from any level of government that there is any plan to stem this rising tide.

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Today on NOW and NEXT:

Comms and Strategy expert Lindsay Broadhead joins us for a wide ranging conversation about the gap between the "promising" economic indicators and the growing demand and pressure on food banks and homeless shelters.

From the race for the Mayor's Chair in Toronto, (43 candidates and counting), will Olivia Chow jump in, to the need to get our act together in Toronto if we're going to impress the world when the World Cup comes to town in 2026.

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