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.
- Update frequency
- every 3 days
- Average duration
- 22 minutes
- Episodes
- 1077
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
The clear-as-mud messaging on vaccines and how to fix it
To many doctors across Canada, the latest statement from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) left a lot to be desired. NACI’s guidance on mRNA vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna) being “pre…
Bill C-10 is not coming for your cat videos. Or is it?
The Canadian government is mired in controversy over Bill C-10, an attempt to modernize regulation of streaming services and social media companies. Facing backlash, the government has promised to am…
Alberta’s COVID crisis, explained
Alberta’s COVID case numbers per capita are the worst in Canada and higher than almost every U.S. state. The test positivity rate in the province has reached 12 per cent. While Alberta Premier Jason …
Tracking the variants of concern in the third wave
Guest: Ashleigh Tuite, infectious disease epidemiologist, mathematic modeller and assistant professor at the University of Toronto
Ontario’s third wave is being fuelled by variants of concern (VOC), …
How Toronto is trying to reshape mental health response for those in crisis
After a year of racial reckonings against growing police brutality and a string of deaths involving Black and other racialized people in crisis, the City of Toronto is investigating a new model for f…
Prepping finances for a post-pandemic world, from emergency funds to spending savings
The pandemic lead to one of Canada’s worst economic years on record. Millions of Canadians have lost their jobs and been put in dire financial circumstances. An emergency fund may seem like a solutio…
How we failed Peel Region during a pandemic
Peel region is a gateway to Ontario and a manufacturing hub. The region also has one of the highest COVID case rates in the country. Freelance journalist Fatima Syed joins “This Matters” to trace the…
How ‘hero pay’ came, went and is pushing business to be more responsible
Guest: Rosa Saba, business reporter for the Toronto Star
The big three of Canada’s grocers: Loblaw, Metro and Empire created “hero pay” for cashiers, shelf stockers and other essential working staff …
Doug Ford, paid sick days and what’s next
Guest: Robert Benzie, Toronto Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief
Paid sick days has arguably been the number one political issue that has continually dogged Premier Doug Ford’s provincial government th…
Why many in Canada’s First Nations still don’t have clean drinking water
It’s 2021 and many people in Canada’s First Nations still do not have clean drinking water. The startling fact is laid bare in “Clean Water, Broken Promises,” an extensive report from Concordia Unive…
Our partner SCOREGolf speaks with Canadian Brooke Henderson after her LPGA LA Open win
Toronto Star partner SCOREGolf's new podcast Next Round's on Me sat down with LPGA LA Open champion Brooke Henderson. Subscribe to their podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Adam Stanley is joine…
COVID, cops and carding: Did the province put racialized people at risk?
Guests: Natasha Calvinho, criminal defence lawyer, and Toronto Star reporters Alyshah Hasham and Jim Rankin
“This Matters” takes a look at the Ontario government’s confusing flip-flop messaging on po…
Is scientific and medical advice leading Ontario’s COVID response?
Guests: Kenyon Wallace and May Warren, Toronto Star reporters
The Ontario Science Advisory Table has given scientific data, modelling projections and recommendations to the Ontario government since t…
One on one with Dr. Homer Tien, the new head of Ontario’s vaccine task force
Today we speak with Dr. Homer Tien, the new head of Ontario’s vaccine task force. This is the first time Dr. Tien is talking about vaccines for the province on Ontario since he assumed the lead of th…
ICUs on the brink: Can Ontario’s hospitals cope during the third wave?
Healthcare professionals have been sounding the alarm about over-crowded Intensive Care Units and hospitals as Ontario is gripped by the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fuelled by the more virul…
Waiting on vaccines: How Canada and the U.S.’s rollouts shape the ‘third wave’
The systemic failures of Toronto Police and missing persons cases
A serial killer who preyed on men for almost a decade. A daughter whose body was found by her mother 100 feet from where she went missing. A woman whose remains could have been identified sooner. The…
Booking a shot isn’t simple. The frustration and inequality of Ontario’s vaccine rollout
The Ontario government says vaccine focus and eligibility have expanded to high risk postal codes where they say are residents who are essential workers, low-income and/or racialized, but many who ne…
How Ontario is (and isn’t) vaccinating essential workers
The Ontario government has turned its vaccine focus towards the hardest hit neighbourhoods and essential workers. It is a critical move to slow the spread of COVID-19, yet there is little clarity on …
How Amazon is remaking the modern workforce
It’s Amazon’s world and we are all just living in it. The pandemic has helped the company grow even bigger and more powerful, but at what cost? The spotlight has revealed work practices, treatment of…