Guest: Christine Dobby is business reporter at the Star

Ontario’s bingo halls are looking at lot like casinos with rows of modern gaming machines. The question is, are they slot machines? Because if they are, they may be in violation of provincial law that prohibits slot machines in bingo halls. Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation says the machines follow the law. Business reporter Christine Dobby investigates.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Matthew Hearn and Raju Mudhar

Guest: Jason Miller, crime reporter

Peel police used force on Black people 3.2 times more often than their share of the population, a report on 2021 police data has shown. With only minimal improvement from 2020, the results are not a surprise to both police and the community. The police service has faced criticism after a series of high-profile killings of racialized men in crisis and questions about over-policing of certain communities, de-escalation strategies and whether the police should be front-line responders to mental health emergencies. If the service has launched anti-racism initiatives to address these concerns, why has the data remained significantly unchanged? The Star’s Jason Miller, a crime reporter covering the Peel region, joins “This Matters” to discuss the recent report and what it means for the community.

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

Guest: Alex Boyd, reporter

Health Canada has authorized a new type of COVID shot from Moderna. It is a bivalent vaccine which means it is essentially two vaccines in one, in this case targeting the original virus and the Omicron variant BA.1. The new vaccines are arriving in Canada just ahead of a predicted COVID surge this fall. Toronto Star reporter Alex Boyd tells us more about bivalent vaccines and what this means for the future in a world where the virus isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

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

Guest: Robert Benzie, Queen's Park Bureau chief for The Star

Bill 7, also known as the “More Beds, Better Care” act is now law, and gives the government and medical authorities more power to potentially move patients from hospitals to long term care facilities that may not prefer to go too. The government says it is a necessary move as Flu season and an expected Fall COVID surge. Critics fear that beyond trampling patients rights, it’s just the beginning of more privatization of the province’s health care system.

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

Audio Sources in this episode: CPAC and CHCH News.

Guest: Syed Hussan, the executive director of Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

Crowded bunkhouses. Rat-infested food. Verbal abuse and threats of termination. These are among the allegations made by Jamaican migrant workers on two farms hours from Canada’s biggest city. The allegations were made earlier this month in an open letter to Jamaica’s Ministry of Labour. They are unproven, but critics say they are not surprising. The Star reached out to the two farms named in the letter, who both dispute the allegations. Our guest, Syed Hussan, Executive Director of Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, says the problem is larger than a few employers. He joins “This Matters” to discuss the allegations and the changes he says should be made to Canada’s seasonal agricultural worker program.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Saba Eitizaz and Sean Pattendon

Audio Sources: CBC and Global News

Guest: David Rider, City Hall Bureau Chief

Municipal elections are coming soon across the province with campaigns just about to get underway. While Toronto Mayor John Tory seems to be safely heading toward a third term, there are plenty of interesting and competitive races for councillor seats in many wards. Here’s what you need to know at the outset of the campaign.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Matthew Hearn and Raju Mudhar

Audio Sources: Global News, CityNews

The following episode contains graphic language and references to sexual and racial violence. Listener discretion is advised.

Guests: Erica Ifill, The Hill Times columnist, and Rachel Gilmore, Global News reporter

The past two weeks have seen a peak in the wave of hate washing over Canada fuelled by political polarization, divisions over masks and vaccines, and a growing far-right movement. It resulted in what appears to be systematic and organized digital hate campaigns against mostly women and journalists who are Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) across Toronto, Ottawa and Edmonton. Journalists have been sent a torrent of racist, homophobic, misogynistic and violent abuse via email, with threats and content so disturbing police have been contacted and conversations with stakeholders in play to assure their safety. Journalists Erica Ifill and Rachel Gilmore join host Saba Eitizaz for a difficult conversation with about where it all started and what it’s like to be the target of hate. The shared pain and trauma might be personal, but the implications of what’s going on could impact an entire nation. The following episode contains graphic language and references to sexual and racial violence. Listener discretion is advised.

This episode was produced by Saba Eitizaz, Brian Bradley and Sean Pattendon

Guest: Amanda Watson, senior lecturer and sociologist at Simon Fraser University

It’s been two weeks since journalist Lisa LaFlamme announced she’d been let go from her job as chief news anchor and senior editor at CTV National News. The decision came two years before LaFlamme’s contract was up and despite the fact she presided over one of Canada’s most watched newscasts. The network said a “business decision” and “changing viewer habits” inspired the action, but many aren’t buying it. We take a look at how LaFlamme’s dismissal has sparked a national conversation on sexism and age discrimination in the media and other workplaces.

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

Audio Sources: CTV News, Twitter

Guest: Marco Oved, climate change reporter.

The air travel industry is betting big on sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) to drastically cut the amount of airplane emissions over the next few decades. It is a solution that will work with existing aircraft, but there are plenty of questions including the supply and the cost. Is the industry latching on to a solution that sounds good in order to avoid some of the really difficult questions? Some believe the only way for the airline industry to really reduce emissions is to radically reduce the number of flights.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Matthew Hearn and Raju Mudhar.

Guest: Diane Therrien, mayor of Peterborough

It was a tweet read across the country that got her city trending on Twitter. Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien called a group of QAnon-linked demonstrators who came to her city imbeciles and with a few uncensored expletives, told them to leave. Response to Therrien’s tweet has been varied. Some credit her for taking a strong stance against conspiracy theorists causing a ruckus, others say it was overly crass and offensive. But Therrien’s tweet is not a flippant comment. It was a culmination of years of trying to manage a government through a polarizing pandemic, a testament of burn out in municipal government, and a little bit of personal exhaustion in a job she says has not always been enjoyable. Therrien joins “This Matters” to discuss what was ultimately behind her tweet and why she’s deciding to leave politics, at least for now. As a warning to listeners, this conversation includes profane language.

This episode was produced by Alexis Green, Brian Bradley and Paulo Marques