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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

21:30

Reality TV check: An investigation of ‘4 Days to Save...

This Matters ·

2022/09/13

Guest: Kevin Donovan, Chief Investigative Reporter Reality television is a genre that has taken over the airwaves with all kinds of dating series and extreme competitions. Some find the genre shallow. But in one recent attempt, a producer gathered altruistic entrepreneurs to tackle some of the world’s biggest problems, like racism and poverty. However, it turns out the television show had a problem with reality. It didn’t really exist as discussed, leaving many contestants feeling confused and

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21:28

Pierre Poilievre: What’s next for the new...

This Matters ·

2022/09/12

Guest: Stephanie Levitz, politics reporter Pierre Poilievre is the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. The front-runner for much of the leadership campaign, he won a decisive victory over his rivals and is now poised to shape the Conservative party. That has raised concern from critics who say that not only are some of his ideas very classically conservative, some court conspiracy theories. We can only find out more as Poilievre has the top job, the responsibilities that come

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20:48

Saskatchewan aftermath: How the community is trying...

This Matters ·

2022/09/09

Guest: Omar Mosleh, staff reporter The stabbing rampage in the James Smith Cree Nation has left that community reeling. The fatalities, injuries and subsequent manhunt for suspects left a trail of trauma and many questions unanswered. An entire community has to pick up the pieces, heal and move on, and ensure something like this never happens again. Toronto Star staff reporter Omar Mosleh joins “This Matters” from Saskatchewan. This episode was produced by Brian Bradley, Paulo Marques and Raju

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16:09

Vision Zero: Are the city’s safer street policies...

This Matters ·

2022/09/08

Guest: Lex Harvey, transportation reporter With a number of recent traffic-related collisions resulting in fatalities and kids on the sidewalks with classes back in session, road safety is back under the microscope. While the City of Toronto has Vision Zero, an initiative to reduce traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries on city streets, many road safety advocates feel the measures are not strong enough and much more could be done to make the city’s streets safer. This episode was produced

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17:58

Gaming the system: How casino-style gaming machines...

This Matters ·

2022/09/07

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

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22:34

The overrepresentation of Black people when Peel...

This Matters ·

2022/09/06

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

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19:36

The bivalent vaccine and the COVID way forward

This Matters ·

2022/09/02

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

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20:23

How Bill 7 could change health care in the province

This Matters ·

2022/09/01

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

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20:54

Allegations of abuse within Canada’s temporary...

This Matters ·

2022/08/31

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

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23:10

What you need to know about Toronto’s upcoming...

This Matters ·

2022/08/30

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

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26:27

Death threats for doing your job: Journalists discuss...

This Matters ·

2022/08/29

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

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21:35

Grey Matters: LaFlamme exit ignites conversation on...

This Matters ·

2022/08/26

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

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18:56

What you need to know about sustainable aviation fuels

This Matters ·

2022/08/25

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

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20:08

The Mayor of Peterborough’s f-bombs and the challenge...

This Matters ·

2022/08/24

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

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22:15

How did misinformation feed the myth that COVID...

This Matters ·

2022/08/23

Guest: Alex Boyd, Toronto Star journalist While there are many reasons including equity and access issues that can prevent someone from getting a vaccine, some have chosen not to because of the myth that COVID-19 vaccines have led to hundreds of deaths in Canada and abroad. If billions of vaccine doses have been administered around the world, how did some people end up taking the view a vaccine could kill them and data proved it? How did misinformation that COVID-19 vaccines are killing people take

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22:39

Ontario to disabled teen: lose funding or independence

This Matters ·

2022/08/22

Guests: Rob Hickey and Erin Sheldon, parents of Maggie Hickey The government has given the Hickey family an awful choice. Maggie Hickey has Angelman syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes significant physical and intellectual disabilities. While she is non-verbal and developmentally delayed, she is a happy 19-year-old woman with a group behind her supporting her needs. The arrangement is called a Microboard, a group of individuals including her parents, personal support workers and others who all

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18:03

Quebec’s Bill 21 and its latest controversy

This Matters ·

2022/08/19

Guest: Allan Woods, a Montreal-based reporter for The Star Quebec’s controversial Bill 21 has been law for three years now, and what’s known as the secularism law continues to cause controversies. The most recent one centres on a well known writer and his offence of a picture of an international student on a school’s website. As Quebec prepares to enter another provincial election, Bill 21 is sure to come up again as court challenges to the law loom in the future. This episode was produced by Alexis

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19:07

Ontario’s not-so-strong mayor plan

This Matters ·

2022/08/18

Guest: David Rider, City Hall Bureau Chief Ontario has brought in new legislation to give “strong-mayor” powers to the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa. As it turns out, there are some strings attached. “Strong-mayor” powers generally are supposed to help a mayor cut through red tape and push their agenda through, but now it is clear mayoral powers will be tied to provincial priorities and it’s unknown how those will be decided. Many experts feel that while this will make the mayor stronger in council,

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25:58

Why the cost and use of temp agency nurses is...

This Matters ·

2022/08/17

Guests: Star reporters Jennifer Yang and Sara Mojtehedzadeh, as well as Anna Seto, a hospital nurse who joined a temp agency during the pandemic A Star investigation has revealed that the use and costs associated with using nurse supplied by temp agencies is skyrocketing. Some hospitals have said the costs have grown over 500 per cent, and some agencies may be taking advantage by increasing their rates. Nurses are also choosing to go to work for them because agencies pay more and offer a better

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17:21

Back to school and what to expect

This Matters ·

2022/08/16

Guest: Kristin Rushowy, Queen’s Park reporter As children prepare to return to classrooms in the fall, the Ontario government seems to be pushing for some kind of pre-pandemic “normal.” Mask mandates have been lifted, there’s a push to bring back extracurricular activities and a new “catch-up” plan has been announced to help kids bounce back from COVID related disruptions. The Star’s Kris Rushowy joins “This Matters” to explain what the back to school season will look like. This episode was produced

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1,105 results

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