Guest: Matthew Van Dongen, transportation reporter at The Hamilton Spectator

Light rail transit has long been considered a cheaper public transit option, especially when compared to building subways, but many projects are skyrocketing in costs. In Toronto, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT has been bogged down in all kinds of problems and, as we have learned, its problems are not isolated. Other transit development projects in Hamilton and Waterloo are bogged down with their own issues as they continue to get more expensive to build.

This episode was produced by Paulo Marques, Brian Bradley and Raju Mudhar.

Guest: Nicholas Keung, immigration reporter

While Canada is in the process of welcoming nearly 1.5 million permanent residents by the end of 2025, Statistics Canada data raises the question whether the country is doing an equally good job of keeping them here. A conservative estimate of 15 to 20 per cent of immigrants leave the country within 10 years. As many new Canadians struggle with systemic barriers, finding the right jobs and the increasingly-high cost of living, how many will make the difficult decision to give up on their Canadian dream and leave for greener pastures? How do we retain them in a country striving to grow its population and economy?

This episode was produced by Saba Eitizaz and Paulo Marques.

Guests: Toronto Star City Hall Bureau Chief David Rider, and reporters Alyshah Hasham and Ben Spurr, join guest host Edward Keenan

One week before election day, undecided Toronto voters are wrestling with the choice of who to vote for as the city’s next mayor. To help, we’ve assembled the reporters of the Toronto Star’s city hall bureau, who have been covering the campaign. Together they go over the latest poll results that show Olivia Chow with a more commanding lead than ever and tackle questions from readers on provincial relations, public space, budget issues, who gets to keep their job while they run, who gets coverage and other issues.

This episode was produced by Ed Keenan and Paulo Marques.

Guests: Denise Balkissoon, Ontario Bureau Chief for The Narwhal, speaks with guest host Edward Keenan

In the final weeks of the mayoral election campaign, journalist Denise Balkissoon wrote a piece for The Local looking at the environmental platforms of the major mayoral candidates and mostly found them wanting. She joins Edward Keenan to walk through the promises and approaches of front-runners including Olivia Chow, Mark Saunders, Josh Matlow and Mitzie Hunter, and talks about a sense of resignation not just about the issue but about quality of life in Toronto.

This episode was produced by Ed Keenan and Sean Pattendon.

Guest: Edith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletier

When Edith Lemay and Sebastien Pelletier learned three of their four children have a genetic disorder and will lose their sight, they turned their devastation into an opportunity and found joy in travel around the world. They have travelled everywhere from Zambia and Tanzania to Mongolia and Nepal, exploring and finding new experiences to help their kids build a visual memory. They join “This Matters” to share their journey and the life lessons they have made along the way, all through the eyes their children.

This episode was produced by Paulo Marques, Sean Pattendon and Brian Bradley.

Audio sources: Edith Lemay

Guests: The Toronto Star All-Star Opinionator Panel, featuring columnists Emma Teitel, Shawn Micallef, Matt Elliott and guest host Edward Keenan

With less than two weeks to go before the election, candidates are making their closing pitches to voters and in this campaign, a surprising number of those involve claims to be the only candidate to beat Olivia Chow. Our Toronto Star All-Star Opinionator Panel talks about some of claims and assesses their credibility, including a comical trip into Mark Saunders’ website FAQ. The panel also discusses the potential for surprises, which losing candidate might still come out ahead in the long run and a range of other ballot-box issues.

This episode was produced by Ed Keenan and Sean Pattendon.

Guest: Sherwin Modeste, executive director of Pride Toronto

Toronto’s Pride festival is up against some financial challenges this year. Organizers say rising costs of necessary security and policing, paired with quadrupled insurance premiums, have resulted in desperate calls to three levels of government for help and the possibility of cutting back on programming. While Trudeau’s government delivered Pride Toronto a reprieve of about $250,000 from a $1.5 million Canada-wide grant, executive director Sherwin Modeste says the organization remains very tight. He joins “This Matters” to talk about the challenge and why their events must not scale back in an era of rising hate.

This episode was produced by Paulo Marques and Brian Bradley.

Audio Sources: Canadian Press

Guest: Tony Doob, professor emeritus, University of Toronto Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies

News that Paul Bernardo, one of Canada’s most notorious killers, has been moved from a maximum security penitentiary to a medium-security institution touched a raw nerve that hasn’t healed three decades after his crimes. How could one believed to be so evil have his experience in incarceration softened? Why was the reason shrouded in secrecy? Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is undergoing a review of their decision but, as a criminologist tells us, Canadian law does not say we should hold our worst offenders indefinitely in maximum security because they are notorious to us.

This episode was produced by Paulo Marques and Brian Bradley.

Audio Sources: CHCH News, CPAC

Guests: The Toronto Star All-Star Opinionator Panel, featuring columnists Emma Teitel, Shawn Micallef, Matt Elliott and guest host Edward Keenan

Signs are blooming on lawns across the city. The advanced polls are open, which can only mean that the election is nearing. With just over two and a half weeks left before the city goes to the polls, it’s time to reconvene our Toronto Star All Star Opinionator panel.

This episode was produced by Ed Keenan and Crawford Blair.

Guest: Patrick O’Rourke, editor-in-chief of MobileSyrup.com

Apple has launched what it hopes is it’s next game changing computing device. The Vision Pro is a headset the company calls an augmented reality platform, that it says may change change the way people interact with the digital world. The device has long been rumoured to be coming from the company, and while it very expensive, Apple believes this is an important step toward its vision of computing’s future.

This episode was produced by Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Audio Sources: Apple