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PODCAST

This Matters

The world is changing every day. Now, more than ever, these questions matter. What’s happening? And why should you care? This Matters, a daily news podcast from the Toronto Star, aims to answer those questions, on important stories and ideas, every day, Monday to Friday. Hosts Saba Eitizaz and Ed Keenan talk to their fellow journalists, experts and newsmakers about the social, cultural, political and economic stories that shape your life.

news documentary

All Episodes

17:34

How not to get digitally duped this election

This Matters ·

2025/04/21

Guest: Toronto Star reporter Alex Boyd As Canada heads toward a federal election, the online information landscape is getting messier, more manipulated, and harder to recognize in real time. From repurposed Facebook groups to shady digital operations selling conspiracy-laced content and merch, these tactics are designed to grab attention and slowly shift public opinion. We talk about the strange case of the local buy and sell group in Hamilton, that morphed, almost overnight, into a far-right

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20:28

Two years later Canada's biggest gold heist is still...

This Matters ·

2025/04/17

Guest: Toronto Star crime reporter Peter Edwards It’s like a Netflix show in real life. A truck driving off with $24 million in gold and cash, stolen from a hangar outside Pearson International Airport in a crime so smooth it left everyone stunned. Now, two years later the investigation trail spreads across four countries from Canada to the U.S. to Dubai and India. Some of the suspects have fled and it doesn’t like they’re coming back. Neither is the gold. On its two-year anniversary we unpack

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29:59

A screening room of our own

This Matters ·

2025/04/15

Guests: Jack Blum and Sharon Corder, co-founders of National Canadian Film Day Over the past few months, the president of the United States has done more to solidify a sense of Canadian identity than anyone in the past few decades.Suddenly Canadians are examining grocery labels to see what’s made here, looking at their investment portfolios to see if their dollars are working here, and an entire election has turned into a celebration of Canadian patriotism. But perhaps nowhere has U.S. domination

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29:45

We can, sort of, bring back the woolly mammoth. But...

This Matters ·

2025/04/11

Guest: Kate Allen, Toronto Star climate change reporter When the movie Jurassic Park was made in 1993, the technology at the heart of its plot — bringing ancient giant animals back from extinction — was in the same category as time travel and warp drives: science fiction. This week it seems it may be closer to being just plain science. After a company named Colossal Biosciences stunned the world by announcing it had overseen the birth of three dire wolves, a species of oversized white wolf known to

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22:49

Is Canada's immigration dream broken?

This Matters ·

2025/04/07

Guest: Toronto Star senior immigration reporter Nicholas Keung For years, Canada’s immigration system was held up as a glowing model on the global stage. But what was once seen as a solution— to labour shortages, economic slowdown and an aging population—is now being blamed for everything from the housing crisis to collapsing healthcare. In today’s episode, we try to wade through the numbers, the policies and the politics behind a dramatic shift in how Canadians view immigration and how it went from

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29:59

‘Torturing us as payback’: How Ontario jail guards...

This Matters ·

2025/04/04

Guest: Brendan Kennedy, investigative reporter at The Star On Dec. 20, 2023 a guard was assaulted by an inmate at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, Ontario. The inmate was then immediately removed from the facility. Two days later, jail guards in full riot gear carried out a violent, mass strip search of 192 inmates – none of whom were involved in the initial incident -- in a coordinated, collective punishment that spanned 48 hours. A judge has called it a gross display of power, something

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19:13

A Liberal candidate's controversial comments, an...

This Matters ·

2025/04/02

Guest: Toronto Star reporter Raisa Patel Liberal candidate Paul Chiang's remarks suggesting a political opponent could be handed over to Chinese authorities for a bounty has fuelled outrage, an RCMP probe and a political firestorm for the Liberals ahead of an election. Initially Liberal leader Mark Carney was seen as supporting him held back from dropping Chiang as a candidate Markham-Unionville. As backlash grew, and pressure mounted, it was Chiang who ultimately stepped down himself. This episode

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21:12

Why Canada must brace for U.S. interference in the...

This Matters ·

2025/03/31

Guest: Toronto Star reporter Allan Woods Donald Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney just had their first call since Carney took office, and by all accounts, it was productive. But also, the fact that this call is making headlines is just another sign of how much Trump and the U.S. will loom over Canada’s upcoming election. From Trump’s political influence and the spread of disinformation to the idea (his own) that his presidency actually helped keep the Liberals in power; this election is shaping

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37:29

Grandpa, what did you do in the trade war?

This Matters ·

2025/03/28

Guest: Ken Greenberg, urban designer and co-founder of Elbows Up Toronto “This is not a trade war,” Charlie Angus said to a packed crowd at a church this week, “it’s an attack on who we are as people.” A lot of Canadians have been feeling that recently, as U.S. President Donald Trump not only imposes tariffs on us, but talks about taking our country over. The response in the public is like something few of us have seen, a swelling patriotism. But a lot of us have also been feeling a sense that while

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32:12

A life spent undercover with terrorists trying to...

This Matters ·

2025/03/27

Guest: Michelle Shephard, former Toronto Star reporter and co-author of “Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America’s Nazis” Scott Payne spent his career deep undercover in the drug trade, criminal networks and among racist terrorists — and despite some harrowing close calls that saw him stripped naked and almost exposed, he lived to tell the tale. The woman he told it to — former Star reporter Michelle Shephard, who co-wrote a new book with Payne — sits down with This Matters to

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19:40

Why a retired college president’s $1M payout is...

This Matters ·

2025/03/25

Guest: Toronto Star journalist Janet Hurley Ontario’s colleges and universities are facing a financial crisis. Millions in deficits, staff layoffs, and program cuts have become the norm. In the midst of all this, at George Brown College, one expense is fuelling controversy. A former president receiving over a million dollars in retirement payouts while the college suspends programs and tightens its budget. It has renewed a bigger conversation about administrative growth, executive compensation,

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26:23

In conversation with Amira Elghawaby on the rise of...

This Matters ·

2025/03/21

Guest: Amira Elghawaby,Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia Islamophobia and hate is on the rise in Canada. Political rhetoric is growing more divisive. Statistics show a surge in reported hate crimes against visible minorities. And in the middle of it all is Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. Since taking on the role, she has faced relentless pushback and personal attacks. In early March, her office has released a new guide on tackling

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38:51

They have a league of their own, should they play in it?

This Matters ·

2025/03/20

Guest: Toronto Star columnist Dave Feschuck Between the professional hockey leagues, a new professional soccer league and the new franchise in the professional basketball league, women’s sports is flourishing in Toronto. Girls sports too — especially hockey, where enrolment of young girls is single-handedly driving growth in the sport. Today’s girls, at the elite level, face future prospects their grandmothers could only have dreamed of, but that also means they face a choice: should they continue

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24:04

“These guys just looked at the crowd and opened fire”

This Matters ·

2025/03/14

Guest: Toronto Star reporter Abby O'Brien On Friday, March 7 — opening night at the Piper Arms pub in the historic Old Scott House building in Scarborough — three assailants with guns opened fire on a crowd indiscriminately, shooting seven people and injuring 12. What’s certain at this point, is that it was a horrifying scene and that, as a police investigator said, “it’s simply incredible nobody was killed.” As the city reels and speculation about motives swirl, firm information beyond that is

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06:59

Why are so many patients filing complaints about...

This Matters ·

2025/03/13

Guest: Toronto Star reporter Kenyon Wallace Ontario’s ER crisis is pushing patients to the brink. A recent report by the Ontario Patient Ombudsman reveals a record-breaking 4429 patient complaints—the highest since the office was created. Almost 20 percent of the complaints were about emergency room experiences, highlighting growing concerns about patient care in hospital emergency departments. In this short edition of This Matters, we unpack what you need to know. This episode was produced by

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17:44

A new refuge for unaccompanied minor asylum seekers...

This Matters ·

2025/03/12

Guest: Toronto Star Senior Immigration Reporter Nicholas Keung Every year, unaccompanied minors seek refuge in Canada, from war, violence and worse. But when they get here, they face a new struggle; trying to find safety, shelter and support. With no dedicated housing or settlement services, many end up in a possibly unsafe adult shelter system, emergency hotels, or even on the streets. Now Toronto is opening its first ever shelter designed specifically for young asylum seekers who arrive alone.

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27:07

Mark Carney won the Liberal leadership. Next up?...

This Matters ·

2025/03/10

Mark Carney, the former Bank of Canada governor, trounced the competition Sunday winning the Liberal leadership with nearly 86 per cent support. Carney will become prime minister in the days ahead. He will appoint a new cabinet. And is widely expected to call a federal election campaign next week. In this bonus episode of “It’s Political,” the Toronto Star’s national columnist Susan Delacourt joins Althia Raj to discuss Sunday’s leadership event, from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s speech to

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46:54

What Trump wants in waging a trade war against us

This Matters ·

2025/03/05

Guest: Toronto Star Ottawa Bureau Chief Tonda MacCharles Canadians have been bracing themselves for a potential trade war for over a month, and on Tuesday U.S. President Donald Trump actually launched it, imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports. And that appears just to be the beginning. The Star’s Tonda MaCharles talks us through the immediate aftermath, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “remarkable” speech, Canada’s retaliatory tariffs and the logic behind them, responses from

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36:58

Ford wins! But did everyone kind of lose?

This Matters ·

2025/02/28

Guest: Toronto Star Queen’s Park Bureau Chief Robert Benzie On the one hand, Doug Ford won a third straight majority (the first such feat by a premier in Ontario since the 1950s). On the other hand, he doesn’t seem happy about it, because he wanted more seats. The Star’s Robert Benzie explains why, and looks at the similar dark cloud/silver lining result faced by other parties (and shares former premier David Peterson’s observation about why winning too big is as much a curse as a blessing). He

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19:56

The Ontario Election: Has housing become not just...

This Matters ·

2025/02/25

Guest: Toronto Star affordable housing reporter Victoria Gibson Ontario is racing towards a snap election on Feb.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 our 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?

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1,092 results

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