Jane Brown is filling in for Karen Stintz, CEO of Variety Village, Lauren O'Neil, Senior News Editor of BlogTO, David Crombie, former mayor of Toronto.

In the news: the spat between thousands of CUPE education workers and the Ford government continues with the union threatening a strike this Friday if a deal over wages is not established by then. This, despite new legislation implemented by the province to prevent that from happening and hefty fines that will be given to those who walk off the job. Meanwhile,  the City of Toronto has put out a survey and wants to know what the general public thinks regarding their CafeTO program and how it might be improved for future years. Finally, has pedestrian traffic on our downtown streets reached pre-pandemic levels? Our panel reacts to the latest.

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A LOOK AHEAD TO OTTAWA'S BUDGET

Jane Brown  is now joined by John Mykytyshyn, Conservative strategist and political consultant and president of Bradgate Research Group as well as Tom Parkin, an NDP commentator.

Today at 4 pm Eastern, Deputy PM and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be delivering Ottawa's budget. So, what can we expect from that? Our strategists weigh in.

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LOBLAW MADE HIGH PROFITS AMID INFLATION

Jane Brown  is now joined by Ellen Roseman, Consumer Advocate and journalist.

According to a new report from the Agri food analytics lab at Dalhousie University, three top grocery retailers made higher profits this year amid inflation compared to their average performances over the past five years. Loblaw actually made more profits than each of the past five years individually. Last month, the company faced backlash over its announcement that it would freeze prices for over 1,500 no name products (its own brand) from many consumers who deemed it a publicity stunt. Ellen has the latest and talks about "greedflation".

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