The 905er Podcast

It's the end of summer and Ontario and the 905 are returning to work and school.

We thought it prudent to take a moment and look back on the summer that was. This summer, Doug Ford faced the first LCBO strike ever, suddenly shut down safe consumption sites across the province based on his gut feeling, and lost his Education Minister at the last minute just before the start of the school year. Normally this would be the cause for alarm and stress in the Ontario PC government. At least that's what probably should be happening if...

We are back from vacation folks!

After some needed time off Roland and Joel are back to talk shop and of course the first you do when getting back to work is...cleaning out the ol' email inbox. In the process, we discovered an interesting email from a San Francisco start-up Optiwatt.

Optiwatt is partnering with The Atmospheric Fund here in Ontario to offer an app that can lead to cheaper rates to charge electric vehicles in the 905. As the push for electrification of the auto industry intensifies, saving money on our energy...

A day late, but hopefully not a dollar short. Joel is away, and for technical reasons the upload is a little later than usual, but hopefully you'll forgive us.

Standing in for Joel, we have a return visit from Ajay Sharma, professor in the political science department at the University of Guelph, and a contributor to the Toronto Star on recent political events in Mississauga.

We take a look at a couple of stories. First, the decision of the Canadian Tax court to unexpectedly and apparently unilaterally close its doors in Hamilton, citing...

The news moves fast and people are moving on from the flooding in the 905 last week. However, those affected by the intense rainfalls still struggle to make themselves whole again.

Joel's neighbourhood was one of the most intensely impacted by flooding, and thus he attended a neighbourhood meeting with his city councillor to discuss what came next. What he took away from the meeting is that ten years ago, the province, region and city response to this level of damage was monumentally different. All levels of government seemingly mobilized to help put people together and supposedly...

Last week the 905 saw flooding that overwhelmed many parts of its respective cities. Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga and Toronto saw an estimated $3.1 billion in damage to infrastructure and homes.

This isn't an isolated incident either. In the last few years, the region and Canada have seen an increase in the frequency and severity of storms and conditions affecting our communities. The fact is that this is exactly what scientists predicted would happen as a result of climate change. As we emit greater quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, our weather and climate will become more and...

It looks like this is going to be a dry summer for Ontarians.

Just as schools let out, the government's talks with LCBO Unionized employees broke down. All LCBO retail locations are closed for the summer, leaving only grocery and convenience stores available for Ontarios to purchase wine or beer. For the union, this is to ensure that LCBO locations retain the sale of ready-to-drink cocktails from private retailers.

The Doug Ford, Ontario PC Government isn't backing down. They are doubling down on moving ahead with greater privatization in the sale of alcohol...

The proposed Highway 413 is the Doug Ford government's landmark project. It has been promised for years by the Ontario PC, despite facing court battles and criticism from grassroots organizations and environmentalists. It has been heavily criticized for its effectiveness and the environmental impact it could have on habitats and farmland. Yet despite all this opposition, the project is still being pushed forward at the highest levels of the Ontario government.

So with the pressure to move forward, one would think a plan and budget had been formulated for the project. Thanks to reporting by Emma McIntosh...

Last week, Premier Ford visited Burlington's small business community. The purpose of which, of course, was to find clout with the small businesses. In the lead-up to a potential election? Who knows.

During the visit, however, Premier Ford was asked about Hamilton's LRT project, and when it would begin construction. Ford reiterated his government's support for the project, but the question remains...when will it start being built? For almost 6 years now, the LRT has been just a promise on paper. No tenders have been issued for work and ground has yet to be broken on...

We planned on finishing our coverage of the Mississauga Mayor's By-Election with our episode last week. However, something crossed our path that we couldn't ignore.

A column appeared in the Toronto Star, titled Good luck, Mississauga. With your new mayor, you’re going to need it. The column was written by Ajay Sharma, a university political science lecturer specializing in municipal governance. His column outlined many of the problems involved with the system we have for electing municipal politicians, and that the system itself does not reward change. A link to the column is below.

When Bonnie Crombie stepped down as Mayor of Mississauga to be the Ontario Liberal Party leader, it triggered a by-election to replace her in the city's top seat.

Twenty people put their names in the ring to run for Mississauga Mayor. Of those twenty, four rose to the top as contenders for the job. Dipika Damerla, Alvin Tedjo, Steve Dasko and Carolyn Parrish. A close four-way race emerged, with polls showing Carolyn Parrish maintaining a lead while Dipika Damerla and Alvin Tedjo bit away at her support bit by bit. However, at the end of election...