The Agenda with Steve Paikin (Audio)

Multiple school boards across the province are in the red and students are seeing the effects in staffing, program and supply cutbacks. The Ministry of Education recently reported that 21 boards are reporting in-year deficits of $200 million. The Agenda looks at why these boards are in the shape they're in.

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With Donald Trump poised to return to the presidency, what will this mean for the war in Ukraine? Will Canada and other western nations step up?

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Research by Brock University has found that disruptive behaviours in students has increased in Ontario classrooms since the return of in-person learning following the pandemic. The Agenda invites one of the researchers behind this study and a long-time Ontario educator to discuss what is causing rampant student incivility.

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What is the greatest piece of music ever written? If you said Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, you'll get no argument here. But how to describe a documentary about the Ninth which includes Russia's immoral war against Ukraine, Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel a year ago, and the cartoonist who created Charlie Brown? Complicated? You bet. Here are the director, writer, and narrator Larry Weinstein; and one of the producers Liam Romalis.

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A new report from the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project argues Canada's food system is being undermined by monopoly. And while grocery stores have become an easy target for consumer anger over the cost of food, this report says consolidation has occurred at all levels of the supply chain. The Agenda looks at the implications of the report.

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Almost every province has an identity. Whether you're an Albertan, a Quebecer, or a Newfoundlander, identifying with your province comes a lot easier for some. But what about here in Ontario? How often do you hear anyone refer to themselves as an "Ontarian"? Joining Jeyan Jeganathan to discuss whether there is such a thing as an Ontario identity are, Gord Knowles, Councillor for the town of Atikokan and the Director of Economic Development for Destination Northern Ontario; Andrew Parkin, Executive Director of the Environics Institute; Helen Chimirri-Russell, CEO of Ontario Heritage Trust; George Carothers, Senior Director of Ideas and Insights at the Institute for Canadian Citizenship; and Amanda Simard, former MPP for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell.

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If you add up the number of professional sports franchises in North America -- that's men and women's pro hockey and basketball, baseball, soccer, the NFL, and CFL -- you'll find we have 180 teams. The person who signs the cheques is called "the owner" for all except one of those teams. Ever since he bought Canadian football's Hamilton Tiger-Cats two decades ago, Bob Young has insisted on being called the "caretaker" and he joins Steve Paikin to discuss that journey.

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Ontario's minimum wage rose to $17.20 from $16.55 on October 1, an increase of almost 4 percent based on the province's consumer price index. But advocates argue that the wage is still too low in places with a higher cost of living. There's even a movement to introduce a living wage, one that is indexed to local costs. Minimum wage workers in Toronto and Hamilton for example would be paid more per hour than those in Sudbury or Thunder Bay. But business owners say that they can't be expected to bear the sole cost of increasing wages. Some say that the government has a bigger role to play in helping low-wage workers improve their skills to graduate better paying jobs. So, what is the best way to support Ontario's low-wage workers?

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As tipping creeps into more and more of our transactions, some restaurants have bucked the trend and ended the practice all together. It means higher prices on the menus and more costs for the restaurants' owners, but they say it is a better and more fair way to treat their employees. How are these eateries faring in a time when the industry is already struggling with rising costs, labour shortages and shifting consumer habits?

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In an era of growing geopolitical tensions paralleled by deepening digitalization of economies and societies, has technology become the new battleground in the geopolitical quest for power? Host Steve Paikin asks: George Takach (author, "Cold War 2.0: Artificial Intelligence in the New Battle Between China, Russia and America"), Rachel Ziemba (Center for a New American Security), and Bessma Momani (University of Waterloo).

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