Guest: Toronto Star health reporter Megan Ogilvie

Ontario is racing towards a snap election on February 27 and for a lot of voters, two issues loom well above the rest: housing and healthcare. Both are at breaking point and both are dominating party platforms. As part of the Star's pre-election coverage, we’re delving into these issues. Where do things really stand, are any of the candidates offering actual solutions, and what should you, the voters, be thinking about as you head to the polls? 

Today’s episode will focus on healthcare. With overflowing ERs, health-care worker burn-out and more than two million people without a family doctor, Ontario’s healthcare has been in trouble for years. Can anyone bring it back on track? 

Audio sources: Global News, CTV, CBC, Youtube

This episode was produced by Paulo Marques and Saba Eitizaz 

Guests: Toronto Star Queen’s Park Bureau Chief Robert Benzie and Queen’s Park reporter Rob Ferguson

On Valentine’s Day, and then again on Family Day, the provincial leaders engaged in this Ontario campaign’s two debates. Rob and Rob from our Queen’s Park bureau recap why they may be the most substantial events of the campaign so far, allowing viewers to dig into many of the issues that define life in the province.

They also discuss whether they heard any “kill shots” or “knock-out punches” from the podiums — and what the best lines and most noteworthy exchanges were. And then they discuss what’s happened since: the polls, the fight between the Liberals and the NDP to poach each other’s voters, and Doug Ford’s preparations for a second trip out of the country during the campaign.

PLUS: The crudely confrontational challenge that Bonnie Crombie issued to Doug Ford on Wednesday

This episode was produced by Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Ed Keenan and Sean Pattendon.

Guest: Toronto Star Queen’s Park Bureau Chief Robert Benzie

During an election campaign, it’s unusual for a premier to take his campaign to stops in foreign countries — but these are unusual times, and this is an unusual Ontario election. The Star’s Robert Benzie joined Doug Ford and Canada’s other premier’s on their visit to a snowy Washington, D.C. this week and tells us who they met with, what they are hoping to accomplish, and the prospects for success in getting their message through when the entire U.S. government is in Trump-inspired chaos. Benzie also unpacks what this might mean for the Ontario election race, and why Ford might prefer to be seen in the U.S. — where approximately none of his voters live — rather than knock on doors here at home. PLUS: What does talk of Canada as the 51st state have in common with a dead cat?

This episode was produced by Ed Keenan and Sean Pattendon.

Guest: Toronto Star City Hall Bureau Chief Ben Spurr

The city, we often hear, is a “creature of the province,” and as such almost all city hall business hangs on the indulgence of the premier. So for Toronto, the stakes in the provincial election would seem to be high. It’s not hard to think of specific examples of issues that could turn based on the results, from bike lanes to Ontario Place to safe injection sites, to the ongoing negotiations about the “new deal” financial plan. Even more broadly, the current premier has taken an activist, micro-managing approach to Toronto, and central policies like housing and transit depend on provincial funding.

City Hall Bureau Chief Ben Spurr and host Edward Keenan discuss a range of things that could change for Toronto based on this election, and about why you don’t hear much in the way of specific talk about the Toronto angle from the leaders in debates.  

PLUS: Why Mayor Olivia Chow has been quiet about the campaign, and is unlikely to endorse anyone.

This episode was produced by Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Paolo Marques and Ed Keenan.

Guests: Toronto Star Queen’s Park Bureau Chief Robert Benzie and Queen’s Park reporter Rob Ferguson

Doug Ford looked strong in announcing retaliatory measures planned in response to threatened tariffs from Donald Trump, but then after that threat was put on pause, comments he made privately about celebrating the U.S. president’s victory became a problem, and even a potential turning point in the election. Our Queen’s Park team explains what’s happened and what it all could mean, and also discusses the role the opposition leaders hope health care policy will play in the election, the emergence of highways as a major issue for two of the parties, and what the polls tell us midway through the campaign.

PLUS: Why a winter campaign has campaigns shouting “drill baby drill.”

This episode was produced by Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Sean Pattendon, Paolo Marques and Ed Keenan.

Guest: Toronto Star Queen’s Park Bureau Chief Robert Benzie

After months of speculation, Premier Doug Ford finally called an election, sending voters to the polls more than a year ahead of schedule. Robert Benzie discusses Ford’s stated rationale for the campaign, and also unpacks the reasons behind the months of groundwork that prepared for this early election. Tax rebate cheques are hitting mailboxes, beer is on sale in corner stores, and the results of the Greenbelt police investigation are still likely months away.

On Ford’s side, the polls and electoral conditions seem favourable now. On the other side, on key issues of housing, health care and transit, it’s hard for him to make the argument he’s “gotten it done.” Here’s what the Toronto Star team has seen during the first week of the campaign.

PLUS: The potential rewards and substantial risks of making Trump a central figure in the campaign.  

This episode was produced by Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Paolo Marques and Ed Keenan.

Commentator: Robert Benzie

It's likely Doug Ford will call a snap election nearly a year and a half before the province is due. Queen's Park Bureau Chief Robert Benzie gives a brief analysis and explains why now is an ideal time for Ford to call this election: what's at stake, what issues are most pressing, what his opposition thinks, and what is the historical precedence in Ontario for snap elections.

Guests: Richard Warnica and Alex Ballingall

On Monday, we saw the result of an unprecedented political comeback as Donald Trump was officially sworn in as President of the United States – again. His second run comes four years after being voted out of office, and being impeached for attempting to overturn that result.

Senior Opinion writer Richard Warnica and Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief Alex Ballingall attend the inauguration and chat about what they saw: the major difference between the 2017 event and this one; what it signals that Trump expressed his return to power as similar to a prophet’s work; the pardons & proclamations he made on day one; and why Elon’s ‘Nazi salute’ should be of no surprise.

PLUS: What’s the single most important thing progressives in both the USA & Canada can do right now?

Guest: Toronto Star Editor-in-chief Nicole MacIntyre talks about the genesis of the “Toronto the Better” series which looks for ways to improve life in the city in ways big and small

This is the time of year for winter blahs, and it arrives amid what seems to be a years-long Toronto blues, in which Star Editor-in-chief Nicole MacIntyre admits she’s felt in danger of “falling out of love” with the city. But it’s also the time of year for resolutions, and so the Star has launched the “Toronto the Better” series which looks for ways to improve life in the city in ways big and small, from institutional fixes to self-help hacks. MacIntyre talks about the genesis of the idea, including the role her own recreational softball team played in inspiring parts of it, and talks about the things that can make us happy—things we can do ourselves and things the city can do for us—and breaks apart what being happy even means. Host Edward Keenan and MacIntyre discuss how the personal and the institutional combine and conflict to add up to a life worth living in the city. And we hear about the year-long plan to explore those topics in the Star. PLUS: Revisiting the first time Keenan and MacIntryre met in a conversation on the waterfront, a conversation directly relevant to this new initiative.

It’s been a historic week in Ottawa. On Friday, Jan. 10, members of the Star’s Ottawa bureau sat for a discussion about how we got to the point where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decided he must step down as leader of the federal Liberal party and PM, and exactly where the Liberals must go from here.

Join the Star's Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief, Alex Ballingall, Ottawa Bureau Reporter, Ryan Tumilty, and moderator Robert Benzie, Queen's Park Bureau Chief.