The 905er Podcast

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...

It's a good old-fashioned 905 Round Up!

The Ontario government is on break now until October. However, Doug Ford shuffled his cabinet before he let out the Ontario Legislature. It's not anything incredibly noteworthy in our opinion. However, one raised our attention, and we thought threw fuel on the rumours from last week of an early election in Ontario.

Stephen Lecce is out of the Ministry of Education and into the Ministry of Energy. With such little time left until the actual scheduled election, that doesn't leave a lot of time to execute an...

Rumours are circulating in Queen's Park of Doug Ford's interest in an early election for Ontario. Polls show he is riding high, possibly earning another majority for the Ontario PC party. He just won two by-elections in Milton and Lambton Kent Middlesex. He is moving ahead on the construction of the new Highway 413 in the 905 and is currently announcing beer in corner stores by year's end. All in all it's been a good year so far for Doug Ford and the Ontario PC Party.

So is it no wonder that the Premier has been reluctant to...

A couple of stories caught our eye the previous week.

In Newmarket, the town council heard pushback from the community over a proposed 9-story condo project, over concerns that a Tim Horton's drive-thru down the road could face increased times at the window. In Oakville, the Town Council received a harsh letter from Federal Liberal Housing Minister Sean Fraser threatening to withdraw their Housing Accelerator money due to its refusal to grant higher density in the city around Sheridan College.

Are we facing a pushback against the needs of density and development in...

Times are tough these days. It's getting harder and harder to make ends meet. Rent, mortgage, and gas are increasing, outpacing real wages and salaries for the average Canadian. Most noticeable to Canadians coast to coast is the price of food. It's harder and harder to stretch your dollar when feeding your family these days after stepping foot in a supermarket.

Politicians like Pierre Poilievre like to espouse that it is taxation that has caused the increase in prices. Justin Trudeau on the other hand is saying he's keeping an eye on grocery stores about the...