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PODCAST

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered conversations that matter

Village Media Inc.

In cities and towns across Ontario — and at Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill — our journalists work for you. Their mission is to dig for answers and tell you what they find. This new podcast from Village Media — ‘Closer Look’ — is all about the stories we tell. Every weeknight, hosts Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith go beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

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All Episodes

39:49

Dalton McGuinty has a book full of advice for every...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/22

Send us a text Whatever your opinion of Dalton McGuinty, this much is difficult to dispute: the man knows a thing or two about leadership. He was Ontario’s Liberal leader for 16 years, including a full decade as Premier (2003 to 2013). And long before that, McGuinty grew up as one of the eldest in a house of 10 children. He learned at a young age some of the most important virtues of leadership, including patience, compromise and teamwork. Now 70 and long retired from public life, McGuint...

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21:22

Why communities everywhere are banning candy tossing...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/21

Send us a text We cover a lot of different issues on this podcast: some extremely serious, some much lighter. Today’s topic can fall on either end of the spectrum, depending on your viewpoint. Should candy tossing be outlawed at community parades? There was a time, not long ago, when local parades were a literal rain shower of candy chucked from floats. But after a few tragic accidents — including the 2018 death of a four-year-old girl during a Christmas parade in Nova Scotia — many organiz...

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22:04

Cloned meat could be coming to a grocery store near...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/20

Send us a text Would you buy a steak or pork chop that came from a cloned animal? In the new year, you might end up doing just that — without even knowing it. Health Canada has introduced new regulations that will remove cloned meat from the agency’s “novel foods” category, which means meat from cloned animals won’t need to be labelled. The move raises a whole lot of juicy questions. Is cloned meat safe to eat? Shouldn’t producers be forced to tell us what we’re eating? Do we even nee...

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25:06

Why we’re asking you to help fund our investigative...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/19

Send us a text If you follow Ontario politics, you’ve no doubt heard of the Skills Development Fund (SDF). One of the Ford government’s signature initiatives, the multi-billion-dollar program doles out taxpayer dollars to companies and organizations that provide training programs and other support for workers. Premier Doug Ford has called it “the best investment we’ve ever done in the province.” But the Skills Development Fund has been at the centre of a political firestorm during the...

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21:53

How fraudsters cashed in on the legacy of a beloved...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/18

Send us a text Spanning many years, the scheme grew into one of the largest art frauds in Canadian history: thousands of fakes bearing the forged signature of renowned Indigenous painter Norval Morrisseau. When police first revealed the fruits of Project Totton back in 2023, eight suspects were arrested and more than 1,000 alleged ripoffs were seized. At the time, investigators believed the total fraud surpassed $100 million. In a Barrie courtroom last week, the final suspect learned ...

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23:10

50-year mortgage? Don’t bank on Trump’s big idea...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/15

Send us a text U.S. President Donald Trump is floating a controversial idea to help more Americans achieve home ownership: 50-year mortgages. On the front end, such loans would lower people’s monthly payments by stretching out the principal over a much longer period. But in the end, the interest payments would be way higher — more than double the amount forked over during a typical 30-year mortgage. North of the border, Trump’s proposal raises the obvious question: Should Canada consider al...

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41:01

This Ontario man says ChatGPT sent him spiralling...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/14

Send us a text Leery of AI chatbots? This podcast episode definitely won’t dispel your fears. OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, has been slapped with multiple lawsuits alleging the wildly popular chatbot has a glaring dark side: it plunges users into AI-fuelled delusions, mental health crises, and even suicide. One of the plaintiffs is a Canadian: Allan Brooks of Cobourg, Ont., who claims ChatGPT convinced him he’d created a novel mathematical theory that could hack sophisticated en...

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23:37

Another day, another record-breaking fentanyl bust

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/13

Send us a text It’s true what they say: records are meant to be broken. Over the summer, the Ontario Provincial Police announced the largest fentanyl seizure in the force’s history: 38 kg, or more than 380,000 street doses of the lethal drug. The massive bust was the result of Project Golden, a multi-jurisdictional investigation that spanned 11 months and multiple communities. Today, the force announced an even bigger bust: 46 kg of fentanyl taken off the streets in Windsor, all part of an ...

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30:40

Why Canada got publicly shamed for having so many...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/12

Send us a text It’s definitely not something to be proud of. This week, Canada was officially stripped of its “measles elimination status” by the Pan American Health Organization — marking the first time in 27 years that our country was deemed not to be free of the highly contagious disease. Public health experts were hardly surprised by the announcement. For more than a year now, an outbreak of the virus has spread to several provinces, including Ontario, leading to more than 5,000 confirm...

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28:24

Money questions? The Wealthy Barber still has all the...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/11

Send us a text Ironically enough, David Chilton did something he would never advise a client to do: he cashed out his RRSPs early to help fund his dream. In his case, the dream was to write a book: The Wealthy Barber. Thankfully for him, the risk paid off — countless times over. Released 36 years ago, The Wealthy Barber helped a generation of readers understand money management and sound investing strategies. At last count, the personal-finance guide has sold more than 2.1 million copies. &...

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19:09

Is a Hwy. 401 tunnel even possible? The answer will...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/08

Send us a text Premier Doug Ford has made no secret of his dream to build a massive tunnel underneath Highway 401. But is the idea even possible? We’re about to find out — at a hefty cost to taxpayers. The province confirmed this week it has awarded a $9.1-million contract to WSP Canada Inc. to conduct a detailed feasibility study. "Our government is making significant progress on the transformational project to build a tunnel under Highway 401 that will get people and goods moving across the...

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23:05

This is what Mark Carney’s budget means for you

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/07

Send us a text The Carney government tabled its first-ever budget this week — and like the recent federal election, the spectre of Donald Trump looms large over the entire thing. Although the U.S. President’s name doesn’t actually appear anywhere in the 493-page document, the budget lays out the Liberal government’s detailed plan to defend Canada from America’s ramped-up trade aggressions. The key figure is $78.3 billion — the total projected deficit for 2025-2026 — with targeted spending o...

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32:30

In the fight against dementia, this will be a...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/06

Send us a text Last week, Health Canada gave the green light to a long-awaited drug that slows the progression of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Lecanemab is the first approved medication that targets the buildup of amyloid plaque in the brain, believed to be an underlying cause of Alzheimer's. For patients and their loved ones across the country, the approval could not have come fast enough. According to the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada, there are close to 800,000 people in the country ...

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34:16

Should cigarette-style warning labels be mandatory on...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/05

Send us a text Should alcohol bottles contain cancer warning labels? That controversial question was at the heart of a recent Senate debate over Bill S-202, which, if passed, would require liquor packaging in Canada to feature cigarette-style warnings. The Canadian Cancer Society says consuming approximately three drinks per day could double the risk of developing cancer of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and esophagus, and increase the risk of colorectal and breast cancer by one-and-a-half time...

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20:54

AI is going to steal your job — or set you up for a...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/04

Send us a text Last week, Amazon announced the elimination of 14,000 jobs worldwide as the retail giant ramps up spending on artificial intelligence. "Some may ask why we're reducing roles when the company is performing well," wrote Beth Galetti, a senior vice-president at the company. "What we need to remember is that the world is changing quickly. This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we've seen since the Internet, and it's enabling companies to innovate much f...

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22:06

OK Blue Jays, let’s…get this done and start celebrating

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/11/01

Send us a text Will this be the night? The Toronto Blue Jays are one win away from their first World Series title in more than three decades, and they’re hosting Game 6 Friday night at Rogers Centre. Win, and they’re the champs. Lose, and it will all come down to Game 7 Saturday night. Whatever happens, this has already been a World Series for the ages — a politically charged match-up that featured two international superstars, an 18-inning marathon, and some heartwarming side stories. Join...

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15:16

What’s next for Canada Post? We’re starting to find out

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/10/30

Send us a text “Canadians have changed the way they use the postal service, and we must change with them.” That was the message this week from Canada Post CEO Doug Ettinger, after dozens of managers were laid off as part of an ongoing overhaul at the Crown corporation — which has racked up massive annual losses since 2018 and needed a $1-billion federal loan earlier this year just to stay afloat. “We need to ensure our costs better align to our financial realities, which means our organizat...

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18:55

Who is Pete Hoekstra, the Trump diplomat furious with...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/10/29

Send us a text Doug Ford’s anti-tariff commercial has stopped airing on U.S. networks, but the controversial ad is still getting plenty of attention. According to multiple reports published today, Donald Trump’s Ambassador to Canada was so furious over the ad that he angrily confronted Ontario’s representative to Washington at a Monday event. Pete Hoekstra reportedly dropped some f-bombs while scolding David Paterson. The Globe and Mail reported that the ambassador was overheard saying Cana...

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12:58

Deadline looms for grocery stores to start accepting...

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/10/28

Send us a text Have you tried returning any empties lately? It’s not as easy as it used to be. Nearly 100 Beer Stores have permanently shut down since the Ford government expanded alcohol sales to corner stores and grocery stores, and more are expected to close in the coming months. But here’s the problem: although all grocery stores with a license to sell liquor will be required to accept empty bottles and cans as of Jan. 1, only a small percentage have actually started collecting. And as ...

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23:21

Not just snowbirds — all Canadians travelling to U.S....

Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered... ·

2025/10/27

Send us a text Last week, we told you about a new rule impacting Canadian snowbirds: if you plan to stay in the U.S. for more than 30 days, prepare to be photographed and fingerprinted at the border. This week, another new rule that impacts all U.S.-bound travellers — not just snowbirds: the American government has announced plans to photograph every foreign visitor when they enter and exit the country by all modes of transport. The regulation is set to take effect on Dec. 26, and will like...

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213 results

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