Guests: Brendan Kennedy and Morgan Bocknek, investigative reporters, and Leah Mosier-Farquharson, TMU student

A string of sexual assaults and security incidents on the Toronto Metropolitan University campus have left many students and faculty members worrying for their safety and deeply critical of the school’s response. After two women were assaulted at Kerr Hall last year, some students were so frustrated by a lack of information from the administration that they formed their own security network on social media. We talk to Star investigative reporters Morgan Bocknek and Brendan Kennedy about what happened and TMU student Leah Mosier-Farquharson about the impacts on campus.

A Toronto Metropolitan University official said the campus is safe and TMU has increased security in the building where two people were attacked.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Paulo Marques and Saba Eitizaz.

Guest: Matthew Van Dongen, The Hamilton Spectator

The City of Hamilton has found that nearly 400 million litres of sanitary sewage from 61 homes has leaked into Hamilton Harbour, an industrial area, over a 26 year period. It is a messy situation, but one that was only found after attention was called underground in 2019 when a Hamilton Spectator investigation revealed that 24-billion-litres of sewage had leaked into Chedoke Creek, a recreational area frequented by area residents, over four a year period. The city knew about that problem, but kept the find private and did nothing to stop it. Matthew Van Dongen, a transit and environment reporter at The Spectator, joins “This Matters” to share details about efforts to inspect, clean up and have more transparency at Hamilton’s City Hall.

This episode was produced by Brian Bradley, Crawford Blair and JP Fozo.

Audio sources: CHCH News

Guest: Dhriti Gupta, staff reporter

There were more than one million visits to food banks across Canada in 2022, according to Food Banks Canada. It is the highest number on record. In addition to this surge in demand, food banks are grappling with rising food costs. One of them is the Allan Gardens Food Bank in Toronto, which has seen an almost 50 per cent increase in individuals served in just a year. Through the lens of this food bank, we try to understand the larger problem of food insecurity and what needs to happen next.

This episode was produced by Brian Bradley, Paulo Marques and Saba Eitizaz.

Guest: Dr. Fahad Razak, internist at St Michael’s Hospital

The XBB.1.5, known by the nickname “Kraken,” is the latest COVID-19 subvariant of concern. Found to be highly transmissible, health experts are already seeing surges in other parts of the world like Europe and the United States, where there are higher case counts and hospitalizations. The same effect is likely to happen here. Dr. Fahad Razak, an internist at St Michael’s Hospital and a professor at the University of Toronto who served as the head of the province’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, joins “This Matters” to share what we know.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Audio sources: BBC, PBS, Euronews

Guest: Nicholas Keung, immigration reporter

Canada needs more immigrants to help fill labour shortages, yet so many people who come here find roadblocks and issues in pursuing work in their chosen fields. It has been a recognized problem for decades, but it persists. There has been some change for the better, including better information for prospective newcomers, but skilled immigrants still face challenges.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Guest: Megan Ogilvie, health reporter

Faced with a triple-demic including flu, RSV and COVID-19, children have been hit by wave after wave of illness and filled up the pediatric hospitals across the province. It was a situation some doctors said could have been a catastrophe. By working together in an unprecedented way, moving children wherever beds were available, this is the story of how the health care system dealt with the surge of sick kids and avoided the worst of outcomes.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Guest: Rob Ferguson, Queen’s Park bureau

The Ontario government has unveiled their plan to deal with surgical backlogs in the province by moving some procedures to private clinics. Critics fear this move will pull staff away from hospitals, and say this is moving the province toward more privatized, two-tiered health care that will cause further issues to the existing public system.

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

Audio sources: Global News

Guests: Betsy Powell and Alyshah Hasham, staff reporters

Mass surveillance is everywhere and adding to the use of video in police investigations and in-court cases. The head of the Toronto Police Service’s Homicide squad credits cameras and video for helping push their solve rate above 80 per cent, but what is the price of that safety? What are the legal and ethical concerns about video becoming so prominent in our judicial system? What if the images don’t tell the whole story?

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Paulo Marques and Raju Mudhar.

Audio sources: CBC and Global News.

Guest: Ed Keenan, city columnist

A few months ago, Toronto Mayor John Tory was asking other levels of government to help cover $2 billion in budget shortfalls and yet, the mayor has now announced more money for police, transit safety and more. What changed? Not much. While the city is raising property taxes and making some cuts, there is a huge budget hole that will need to be dealt with eventually.

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

Audio sources: Breakfast Television, CP24

Guest: Gábor Lukács, president of Air Passenger Rights

The airline industry’s meltdown over the holidays has the House of Commons transportation committee convening an emergency meeting to grill company executives about exactly what went wrong. While Canada has adopted a passenger bill of rights, critics say it has not been effective. Gábor Lukács, president of Air Passenger Rights, an independent consumer advocacy group for air travellers, joins “This Matters” to share what you need to know if you experience air travel chaos.

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