Join us for an interview with Austin Wild to chat about how Teaching Assistants can be an incredibly useful resource to university students.

Join us for an interview with Danika Lochhead to discuss the Mayor’s Arts Awards Ceremony and learn about news updates from the City of Kingston.

In this segment of The Scoop, Jessica Somersall sits down with members of the Queen’s Chess Team who will be participating in the Canadian University Chess Championship from January 16-17. Also, Joel Sindle sits down with members of Queen’s Players to discuss their event this weekend as well.

In this episode of the Scoop, we chat with Dr. Bill James (Emeritus Professor, School of Religion, Queen’s University).  He shares details about the Little Free Library network on Facebook he loosely coordinates, the development of Little Free Pantries and now a Little Free Sled Library installed just off the Third Avenue Park in Kingston, Ontario.  Tune in and learn more about this lovely community building initiative and some more about the folks who helped make it happen.

In this exclusive episode of the Scoop airing at 8 PM EST on CFRC 101. 9 FM January 8th 2020, five distinguished Queen’s University Professors join us for a roundtable discussion.  Drs. Paul Gardner and Christian Leuprecht (Political Studies) Amarnath Amarasingam (Political Studies and Religion), and both Noah Weisbord and Queen’s National Scholar Ashwini Vasanthakuma (Law) joined us virtually to discuss events unfolding in Washington DC related to pro-Trump supporters storming into the Capitol building on January 6th, how the demonstration became violent, how the event contrasts with Black Lives Matter movements that occurred in Summer 2020 and the problem of policing in addition to questions about definitions of domestic terrorism and sedition, what impact this watershed moment will have for Joseph Biden’s presidency, and finally, what may lie ahead for Trump and his supporters.  Fascinating discussion with esteemed experts, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

January 7th 2021

Provincial health officials Drs. David Williams and Dirk Huyer spoke from Queen’s Park today.  They have announced that schools will not reopen on January 11th 2020 as planned prior to the December 26th province-wide lockdown. The province will defer reopening in person classes for an additional two weeks in Southern Ontario.  Virtual classes will remain in effect.  Williams noted during question period that in spite of the lockdown, cases across the provinces are still on the rise.

On Thursday, Ontario reported 3,519 new coronavirus cases and 89 more deaths.    York, Peel and Toronto currently make up 54% of cases, a drop from percentages in the 70s, indicating that coronavirus cases in areas outside of these centres are now on the rise.  Williams further stated that as a result of the rise, health units and hospitals across the province are experiencing capacity strain.

Williams also stated northern Ontario numbers have also gone up and thus northern health units will remain in lockdown until the 23rd of January.  He also stated that there are also 6 known cases of the UK variant of the coronavirus in the province.

Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health asks parents to monitor their child(ren) for symptoms of COVID-19 before they return to school and if they develop symptoms, parents should take their children to be tested. View a full list of symptoms: http://ow.ly/jcyk50D0z7s    Kingston reports 13 new cases on January 7th with a total of 56 active cases.  During the lockdown, KFL&A public health reminds residents that restrictions on indoor gatherings remain in effect.  Household members should not visit people outside of their home or allow non-essential visitors in their home at this time.

At the national level, the Federal Government announced on January 6th that effective midnight Eastern Standard time on January 7th 2021, air travellers 5 years of age or older are now required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 molecular test result conducted within 72 hours of departure to the airline prior to boarding international flights bound for Canada, regardless of citizenship. See the news release for air travellers. Everyone entering Canada must follow mandatory isolation or quarantine requirements for 14 days. Not respecting the mandatory requirements is a serious offence with consequences and penalties.

Dr. Christian Leuprecht, Professor of Political Studies at Queen’s University and Professor in Leadership, in the Department of Political Science and Economics at the Royal Military College, an expert in security and defence, political demography, and comparative federalism and multilevel governance joins us in this special episode broadcasting 6 PM January 6th and 11:30 AM January 7th on CFRC 101.9 FM.

Dr. Leuprecht joins us to discuss pro-Trump supporters storming the Capitol today in Washington DC, why they are there and what implications there may be for Biden’s administration, domestic and international policy moving forward as well as the strength of the social contract overall.

 In a scheduled announcement on December 21st 2020 at 1:24 PM, Ontario Premiere Doug Ford stated that his government would implement a province-wide shutdown effective 12:01 AM December 26th 2020.  The announcement came as Ontario reported 2123 new cases of COVID 19 and the release of new projections on intensive care unit capacity and the potential failure to keep up with an influx of patients if further restrictions are not enacted.  The premiere also announced the province’s plan to curtail cases through testing of air travelers including the 63,000 weekly passengers through Pearson Airport according to the Premiere. 

Ford indicated that the shutdown is a temporary one-time measure and told audiences that they should leave their homes only when necessary, for example to retrieve groceries and medication, and for medical appointments. Essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies will remain open at reduced capacity while other Retailers will open only for curbside pick up and delivery only. This lockdown will be in place for 14 days in communities in Northern Ontario, and for 28 days in Southern Ontario communities.

The Premiere also said schools are not part of the problem of COVID in communities, but school closures over the winter break will be extended.  Students from Junior Kindegarten through Grade 8 will resume in class instruction on January 11th and high school students will resume remote learning also on the 11th and return to in class instruction on the 25th.

Ford also announced the launch of a new Ontario Small Business Support Grant offering eligible small businesses a minimum of $10,000 and up to $20000 to support them during the lockdown.

In the question and answer period of the conference, reporters telephoned in to ask why the province was waiting five days to initiate this provincial-wide lockdown, and not shutting down the province sooner than the 26th of December. Ford, as well as the Ontario Minister of Health, Christine Elliot, stated that they want to give stores and retailers time to “hunker down” and get ready to go into lockdown. It is not a process that businesses can get done overnight, as they have to take things such as inventory into concern to prepare the temporary closing down of their business.

Ford also responded to a query about professional hockey noting the NHL season is set to begin on January 13th with a special condensed 56-game schedule. Due to border restrictions, a special north-division was created for the seven Canadian teams that exist within the NHL for the upcoming season, but health officials from the five different provinces have yet to approve a plan for this season. Other press questions included whether players will be travelling from rink to rink within the country? Will the season stop as it did last winter for most sport franchises? Ford said that no decision has been made for the professional sport as of yet.

Ford responded to further questions about travelers entering the province and country stating that he does not want to wait for the federal government to approve COVID-19 testing for international travelers, and he wants this procedure in place immediately. Some concerns were raised particularly in relation to the international flights that have landed from Heathrow airport in London, where the UK is experiencing a new coronavirus strain, that is said to be 70% more contagious than the current strain of COVID-19 that we have been dealing with. The Trudeau government did put a halt on flights from the UK for 72 hours as 12:01am on Monday December 21st. Ford expressed that he desperately wants the international borders to be closed to reduce the transmission in our communities from people who are being tested positive with COVID-19 and who are bringing the virus into our country.

Lastly, Ford was questioned about the decision to not create a curfew for Ontarians as that has proved to shut down the vir

In this segment of The Scoop, we sit down with Linda Mussell, Queen’s University political studies expert, to talk about the rising numbers of COVID-19 in Canadian Federal prisons. In the KFLA region, 95 inmates and four staff have tested positive among at Joyceville Institution, as of Saturday, December 19 2020. Learn more about this issue and its importance to our community.

Brittany Couto, Manager-Street Health Centre and Greg Tilson, local artist, arts organizer and co-founder/composer for Kingston band, The Gertrudes join us in this special episode of The Scoop.

On December 11th 2020, The Gertrudes released a new single titled “Emergency to Emergency” in advance of their long-anticipated fourth studio release.  The single, available on bandcamp can also be purchased with proceeds going to support the Barrack St. Street Health Centre.

Couto and Tilson chat with us about Street Health services, gaps in access to health care and risks faced by vulnerable community members, and how people can access Street Health’s many services.  We also chat about The Gertrudes’ bewitchingly catchy new single Emergency to Emergency packed with telephonic vocals and garage rock bassline hooks laden with of all manner of exquisite instrumentals in what feels like a harmonized departure and evolution from their earlier work including their softer folksier summer release, Forced Eviction.

Couto and Tilson also chat about the benefits of creative collaboration between non-profit community organizations and artists and arts organizers more generally.  They also shed light on their thoughts about combating stigma in our community and ways we can build an accessible, inclusive community to be enjoyed by all of its members.