The 905er Podcast

We recorded this episode the Friday morning after the 2025 Ontario Election.

It was an election that didn't see the dynamic at Queen's Park change all that much. Doug Ford and the Ontario PC returned with a third majority mandate, Marit Stiles and the NDP returned to the official opposition, and the Ontario Liberals returned as the third-place party.

The biggest shock of the night was the fact that Ontario Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie failed to win not just her seat in Mississauga but any seat in Peel region. A fact that flew in the face of the promise she made to Ontario Liberals when they elected her as leader. That she would be able to win the 905 region handily.

What does this failure mean for the party's future and Bonnie Crombie, and what can we expect going forward? To answer some of these questions and more, we invited Theresa Lubowitz back to the podcast. A former communications staffer for Kathleen Wynne and the Ontario Liberal Party, to give her insight on the path forward.

What is the Future of the Ontario Liberal Party?

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Nicholas Paul: sound editing.The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!

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We are into the final week of this Ontario election.

It seems that people are finally starting to check in to the fact that we are having one, and we're starting to see some change in the polls. But is it enough to change the government? What happens if nothing changes? What would happen to Bonnie Crombie or Marit Stiles's leadership? Both made promises to their members but are they going to be able to deliver this election?

We invited back to the podcast Ahmad Elbayoumi, from Policorner.ca. Ahmad has been covering the Ontario election in detail and we welcome him to talk about what's at stake for the various parties this election day. And what might come after all the ballots are counted?

Policorner.ca

It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving and paying the bills.

You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca.

Or, why not buy us a coffee?

Nicholas Paul: sound editing.The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!

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As this Ontario Election moves, the polls slowly shift away from Doug Ford's Ontario PC. Is there time for the opposition parties to capitalize on this trend? Or will the opposition once again split the vote?

That's the risk in our first-past-the-post system. Without the anti-Ford vote coalescing around one party or leader at the moment, those who want a change in government are forced to consider strategic voting. The question is, does this work? Well, one person is hoping it will.

JB Burrows of TikTok fame has created a website to help progressive voters make the best strategic vote in their riding this election. His website Smartvoting.ca aims to let voters know which party is best positioned to unseat the incumbent Ontario PC choice. Will it work? Well, we sit down and talk with him today to find out.

https://smartvoting.ca/

Our Episode on the London Municipal Ranked Ballot Election

It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing

what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep

improving and paying the bills.

You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca.

Or, why not buy us a coffee?

Nicholas Paul: sound editing.

The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!

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As the Ontario Election moves a long, we seem to drifting further and further away from the issues that were prominent in our provincial dialogue only a few months ago.

Housing, development fees, homelessness. These were the things that we were covering in previous episodes. The matters which were front and centre for many 905ers. Going so far as to potentially invoke the notwithstanding clause to deal with encampments in cities. So why isn’t this the top issue of this election?

What is it that our municipalities are looking to hear from the party leaders that will help them deal with the supposed top issue of Ontario? To talk about that we invited on to the podcast Jonathan Scott, Councillor for Bradford West-Gwillimbury. To hear from the municipal government perspective about what a provincial government ought to be doing.

It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving and paying the bills.You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca.

Or, why not buy us a coffee?

Nicholas Paul: sound editing.The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!

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It has been a whirlwind 2025, and we're only through January.

Trudeau resigned, sparking a Liberal Leadership race, and most recently, as this podcast is being recorded, President Donald Trump is imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, sparking a trade war in North America.

In the shadow of all of this, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has decided to call an election. Citing the need for a strong mandate from the Ontario people to deal with Donald Trump. Despite the fact, that he has an overwhelming majority already. There has never been a greater level of uncertainty in our provincial politics at this time.

We wanted to take a moment and get a lay of the land for what is going to be a wild 27 days in Ontario.

Sabrina Nanji of the QPObserver joins us to talk about the provincial election. Why it's happening and whether this gamble on the part of Doug Ford is going to blow up in his face? Can Bonnie Crombie and Marit Stiles take advantage of this to win government?

You can read Sabrina Nanji's fantastic work here: QPobserver.ca

It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing

what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep

improving and paying the bills.

You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca.

We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’

website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member

benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly

funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!

Or, why not buy us a coffee?

Nicholas Paul: sound editing.The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this month, the CBC broke a story detailing how Loblaws and Sobeys were overcharging customers for meat, but underweighting the amounts sold.

With the cost of living increasing this was a blow to their brand and hurt consumers where it matters most. What was most shocking perhaps about the story is how it wasn't that shocking at all. This isn't the first time Loblaws and Sobeys were caught in a price-fixing scheme. In 2018, it was discovered that they were fixing the price of bread in their favour, which led to them admitting their fault and Loblaws paying out $500 million to customers in the form of prepaid cards.

It is clear that this behaviour isn't an isolated incident. The rising price of groceries and this kind of behaviour spurred our guest today to take action. Emily Johnson is the organizer of the Loblaws boycott. We had her on previously to discuss the boycott just after she met executives with Loblaws.

We invited her back again to talk about this latest news and what powers people need to tackle this exercise in corporate greed.

The CBC Article on the Meat Pricing Scheme at Loblaws and Sobeys

CBC Article on Bread Pricing

It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving and paying the bills.

You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca.

We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!

Or, why not buy us a coffee?

Nicholas Paul: sound editing.The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!

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Whether or not we're going to an early provincial election has been hanging in the air over Ontario for a few months now. Doug Ford has been playing coy with will he won't he'll call one. However, the hints that he's keen to have been in the news recently.

His government has announced several big policy initiatives. Minister of Energy, Stephen Lecce announced that the Ontario PC government will be building more wind farms and solar projects in rural Ontario. As well as a green energy home retrofit tax credit, for windows, doors and other energy-saving upgrades. Including Solar panel installation. And most recently, Doug Ford instructed Metrolynx to invest in "GO Transit 2.0."

A lot of this should sound familiar to you. All of these projects were what Doug Ford initially ran on dismantling from then-Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne in 2018. Ford campaigned on the premise that these projects were costly to Ontario taxpayers and bad policy from the then Ontario Liberal government. So where did this 180 come from?

To discuss this reversal 6 years later, we invited back to the podcast Kathleen Wynne. We ask her about this sudden change in heart from Doug Ford and why the Ontario Liberals brought in these policies to begin with as well as what could have been had Ontario not hit pause on these projects 6 years ago.

It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing

what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep

improving and paying the bills.

You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca.

We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!

Or, why not buy us a coffee?

Nicholas Paul: sound editing.The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy New Year 2025!

We are back in the saddle for what is shaping up to be a huge year in Canada, Ontario and the 905.

As we start the new year, we found some good news to reflect on. Rents in the 905 are dropping. As more and more inventory comes onto the market the laws of supply and demand the price of rent is dropping.

After that, we look at Hamilton Wentworth District School Board's decision to hire private investigators to go after teachers they suspect are taking unjustified sick days. We ask...' who cares?' With only 11 sick days permitted, why not let adults take care of themselves? No other profession would accept this so why should teachers?

Toronto Star Article on Rents

Six Hamilton-area education stories to watch in 2025

It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving and paying the bills.

You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!

Or, why not buy us a coffee?

Nicholas Paul: sound editing.

The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coming off our previous episode with Evan Scrimshaw, the Ontario Liberals announced a major part of their housing platform. Their plan would eliminate development charges from municipalities, replace them with a provincial fund, end the Land Transfer Tax for new home buyers and bring in phased-in rent controls for renters. Is this what progressives seek to win themselves to the Ontario Liberals? And are we going to be eating our words after our previous episode? Well yes and no. We discuss why this is good and its shortcomings in actually getting housing built.

Our second story focuses on how Premier Doug Ford of all people in Canada is the one punching back at President Donald Trump. In retaliation to Trump's proposed 25% tariffs, his promise to cut off electricity to American states is the standout statement in what is shaping up to be a trying time between our two countries. Joel walks back his initial statement on social media and both of our hosts ask, is this what's needed?

Ontario Liberal Housing Plan

Doug Ford on Donald Trump

It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving and paying the bills.

You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!

Or, why not buy us a coffee?

Nicholas Paul: sound editing.

The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!

Get bonus content on Patreon

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The Ontario Liberal Party attempted something of a rebrand of their leader, Bonnie Crombie at the start of December. At their leadership dinner fundraiser, the party brought in $1.65 million for their coffers before an expected spring 2025 Ontario election. However, what made headlines was her keynote address where she broke ranks with their federal cousins and denounced the Carbon Tax, calling it a mistake and vowing not to implement one should she become Premier. This after years of the Ontario PC's branding her as a Trudeau Carbon Tax Liberal. In addition to that announcement, Bonnie Crombie also announced her support of funding police departments across the province. This is on the heels of many runaway policing budgets, as municipalities struggle to get their finances under control.

This sharp turn to the right, in search of chipping away at Doug Ford's base, has alienated many progressives in Ontario. Many of them are Ontario Liberal supporters who now feel alienated from the party. Will this rebranding of Bonnie Crombie 2.0 pay off?

To discuss this, we invited onto the podcast Evan Scrimshaw of Scrimshaw Unscripted. Evan has been openly critical of the Ontario Liberals as of late and his recent substack article has taken to task this recent strategy of the Ontario Liberals and made us question how viable their chances are of winning a majority of seats now in the 905.

Evan's Article on Scrimshaw Unscripted is here

CBC's Article on Bonnie Crombie's Leadership Dinner

It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving and paying the bills.

You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!

Or, why not buy us a coffee?

Nicholas Paul: sound editing.

The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!

Get bonus content on Patreon

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