NOW and NEXT

Today on the Daily Brief, the On The Ledge roundtable crew discusses Kathleen Wynne's final speech in the Ontario legislature, her legacy as the MPP for Don Valley West and as premier of the province between 2013 and 2018.

You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)

Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X

And you can leave us a voice comment here!

For more information go to Dave's website.

April 7th always has a certain historic ring in these parts. It was April 7th, 1977 when my grandfather, my dad, my brother and I sat through snow showers coming in off of Lake Ontario as we prepared to watch the FIRST Toronto Blue Jays Home Opener at Exhibition Stadium on the CNE grounds. I still have the Opening Day program "Vol. 1 No. 1". It cost a buck. Half the ticket price of the left field seats we enjoyed! But this week also marks "Opening Day" for the Second Harvest team in Toronto. The food rescue champions opened a new 48 thousand square foot warehouse and HQ in Toronto's west end on Wednesday. Sad thing is, it's only going to get busier for them as more Canadians experience food insecurity.

You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)

Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X

And you can leave us a voice comment here!

For more information go to Dave's website.

I know, I know we're seeing high community transmission of the latest Omicron variant and that's just a signal that this ain't over yet - by a long shot. AND it's also a sign that we're leearning to live with the beast. I understand why some among us are "clutching their pearls", as John Moore would put it. That's become something of a reflexive reaction. On the other hand, I believe we are witnessing the resilience we have developed over the course of the past two years. We're finally at a stage in this mess when we know and understand it is highly unlikely any of us will NOT contract COVID. And we know we MUST continue our business, our education, our recreation, our entertainment even in the face of the COVID "threat". So, this edition of the Daily Brief touches on a range of issues, all under the umbrella notion of living with COVID in the COVID era. That includes getting back to in person classes, in person socializing, in person baseball games (Go JAYS!)

You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)

Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X

And you can leave us a voice comment here!

For more information go to Dave's website.

April 5th is Family Caregiver Day in Ontario. Quite frankly, if you are a family caregiver - every day is family caregiver day.  Based on our COVID experience in Long-term care homes, we know how important caregivers are to support the system. So, how will the needs of family caregivers play in Ontario's election campaign.  Today, we're joined by Daniel Nowoselski, Chair, Communications and Awareness Committee at the Ontario Caregiver Coalition.

You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)

Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X

And you can leave us a voice comment here!

For more information go to Dave's website.

Thought it was interesting to see how careful people were on social media this weekend, vetting posts to make sure they weren't being punked by April Fool's jokes. Too bad we are all that careful every day on social media! Today on the Daily Brief, it's our weekly Roundtable visit with our crew from On The Ledge - the Ontario Politics Podcast!!  

You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)

Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X

And you can leave us a voice comment here!

For more information go to Dave's website.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but we've institutionalized poverty in Canada. New research from the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary makes it clear there is a direct link between government policy and the number of food bank visits in a given year. The researchers found that a $1 increase in the minimum wage would amount to nearly 39 thousand fewer food bank visits in Toronto and almost 190 thousand fewer annual visits across Ontario. Governments should make it their business to put food banks out of business.

You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)

Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X

And you can leave us a voice comment here!

For more information go to Dave's website.

How can we afford NOT to do all we can to eliminate poverty, when pre-COVID estimates suggest poverty costs the province of Ontario $33 billion every year. In this episode of the Daily Brief, we highlight the 2030 Project. It's a podcast we produced with the Daily Bread Food Bank team in Toronto. The series is focused on the mission to reduce poverty by 50% by the year 2030.

You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)

Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X

And you can leave us a voice comment here!

For more information go to Dave's website.

If an election were held a year ago in Ontario, Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives would have had their hands full holding onto government. Now, it looks like Ford is poised to waltz into another majority government. Yes, yes. Campaigns matter and we'll get the final details on election day - June 2. But right now, the Ford brand is winning. Compare that to the existential crisis facing all three major federal parties. The NDP is politically y irrelevant thanks to the staggering lack of leadership from Jagmeet Singh. The Liberals aren't really "the Liberals" anymore. They're the Justin Trudeau party, leaning farther left than ever, essentially cutting Jagmeet's grass. And the Conservative Party of Canada is engaged in a leadership song and dance that appeals to its hard right core then "hopes" to appeal to political centrists abandoned by the traditional Liberal party. Maybe its a better thing that we won't have a federal general election for another three years. It's going to be a hit mess no matter who "leads".

You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)

Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X

And you can leave us a voice comment here!

For more information go to Dave's website.

If you're a regulare listener to the DAILY BRIEF, you will know my daughter, Erin, and I produce abroad range of branded podcasts for companies, not-for-profits, thought leaders and educators. Check out the offering at storystudionetwork.com. In this episode of the Daily Brief, we step away from the "news of the day" to let you know how you can become your own newsroom. That could include creating, producing and distributing your own brand story in your own voice. We'll get back to the headlines tomorrow. We'll talk about the struggling brands of political parties in Canada and the United States. Is it realistic to have a "big tent" party in 2022? And we'll highlight the best comments on the Will Smith v. Chris Rock incident.

You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)

Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X

And you can leave us a voice comment here!

For more information go to Dave's website.

Masks are no longer mandatory in most public space in Ontario. And a week into it, some places are either no masks or all masks. I was in a couple of auto dealerships this week and nearly NO ONE wore a mask (I did). Then earlier today, nearly EVERYONE was masked in the local grocery store. Today on the Daily Brief, we welcome the On The Ledge roundtable crew to kick around the latest in Ontario politics. From star candidates to the childcare plan, and who's the bigger spender - Justin Trudeau or Doug Ford?  

You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)

Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X

And you can leave us a voice comment here!

For more information go to Dave's website.