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
Talking Transit: a ‘Union Station to the east’ and Metrolinx’s power moves
Ben Spurr, The Star’s Transportation Reporter, and Robert Benzie, Queen’s Park bureau chief, bring us up to speed on four huge transit projects, including a potential new massive transit hub near Tor…
Why Canada’s new gun bill upsets both sides of the gun control debate
Bill C-21, the controversial gun control proposal, is set for another debate next week in Canadian Parliament. The proposal, which came after the tragedy of the Nova Scotia shooting, includes a contr…
‘It was a choice’: Bruce Arthur on how Ontario is mismanaging COVID’s third wave
Another lockdown, another stay-at-home order in Ontario. The third wave is hitting the province hard as COVID variants spread, the vaccination rollout buckles and a paid sick leave program remains a …
School’s out for COVID! School’s out for... whenever
With the April Break just days away, many schools in Ontario have shifted to remote learning in the face of rising case counts from the variants of concern which are spreading rapidly. Schools have n…
Behind the mask, a COVID story
The mask has become a symbol of all we’ve been through in the age of the pandemic. Amy Dempsey traced the trajectory of Toronto’s “mask life” and joins “This Matters” to talk about how a piece of clo…
Developing Highway 413: Who benefits?
Guest: Steve Buist, investigative reporter and feature writer at The Star
The Ontario government has resurrected plans to build Highway 413, a new road that runs from Vaughan to Halton Hills. There a…
The fight over sick pay in Ontario (Rebroadcast from March 12, 2021)
This is a rebroadcast from March 12, 2021.
Public health officials, city mayors and small businesses have called for it: paid sick leave. It has been cited as a factor that’s been proven to slow the …
Opening Day: Blue Jay Jordan Romano, MLB.com’s Alyson Footer and Kim’s Convenience’s Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (simulcast of Deep Left Field baseball podcast)
It’s April 1 and Major League Baseball — and spring — has officially started. We’re bringing you a special episode today, simulcasting the launch of Deep Left Field, a new baseball podcast from the T…
How the ‘model minority’ myth fuels anti-Asian racism and white supremacy
A reckoning of anti-Asian racism and violence has been ongoing in the wake of the shooting in Atlanta that left eight people dead, along with the thousands of reports of anti-Asian incidents during t…
Explaining Canada’s new medical assistance in dying law
After several extended deadlines, Canada has a new medical assistance in dying (MAID) law that will broaden who will be able to make end-of-life decisions. That said, some of the most controversial a…
Team Canada leader Marnie McBean on preparing for the Tokyo Olympics
The Olympics are one of the world’s most complex international events to stage, even in a “normal” year. How will that be done safely during a pandemic? One year after the historic postponement of th…
Canada’s vaccine rollout vs. the world’s, and whether vaccinating Canadians by summer is a long shot
Canada’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign started on the same day as the U.S. back in December, but four months later, our results lag far behind not only our neighbours to the south but at least 30 oth…
Vaccine politics and how shots in the arm will change our government
Vaccine supply and rollout are top issues in Canada right now and the hope is that as more Canadians get their shots in the arm, life will start to return to normal even in our politics. The pandemic…
COVID-19 vaccines and children: Why they must wait
As our senior citizens are booking and lining up to get their vaccinations, many grandparents can’t wait until they hug their grandchildren sometime soon. While vaccine priority is aimed at our most …
Talking with friends and family about vaccine hesitancy
AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer have become the new buzz words of our generation and may be the top contenders for conversation at awkward family dinners. COVID-19 vaccines might be saving us but the…
The “best” vaccine? What efficacy numbers mean and why they can be misleading
Millions of Canadians want to know — of the four COVID-19 vaccines approved by Health Canada — which one is the best one? Numbers and statistics are flying around and it’s fair to have a lot of other…
Vaccine passports: Necessity or false sense of security? Freedom or inequality?
Guest: Alex Boyd, Star Reporter based in Calgary, who has been focusing on vaccines.
As more and more vaccines get into arms in Canada, the thorny issues of how to denote people’s vaccination status …
15 years worth of data shows most SIU charges against police get dropped. Why?
Guest: Wendy Gillis, Toronto Star’s crime reporter
In Ontario, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) investigates cases of assault, serious injury and death, when a police officer is involved in the …
COVID long-haulers look for answers to medical problems, a year later
As many look to the vaccines as the light at the end of COVID-19 long, dark tunnel, the many people who have been suffering long-haul symptoms are still looking for answers and treatment for their me…
You asked, we answer: tackling taxes after a pandemic year
With a difficult year, new rules and a looming deadline, sorting out the paperwork and details for one’s income tax can be stressful for many. It is even more so when filing for a pandemic year that …