This Matters

For years, you may have heard the whispers about Santa Claus. Some say he’s a big hoax, an inside job. When you look at the evidence, it may seem these skeptics have a point questioning the flying sl…

Guest: Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow

At the start of 2023, Olivia Chow was retired from politics and teaching university students but a shock to Toronto’s political system brought her back to the front p…

Today's episode features our 2023 in Toronto politics chat, including the shocking resignation of one mayor, the comeback election of another, the sinking fortunes and desperate reversals of the prem…

Guest: Matt Blackett, "Spacing" magazine founder and creative director 

"Spacing," the independent magazine about public space issues in Toronto, turns 20 years old this month — somehow surviving and…

Guest: Jacques Gallant, courts and justice reporter 

In November, a jury convicted the now disgraced fashion mogul Peter Nygard with four counts of sexual assault after five women testified disturbin…

Guest: Mahdis Habibinia, reporter

For seven years the family of Soleiman Faqiri has been searching for answers after his death in an Ontario jail. At last, a jury at a coroner’s inquest confirmed his…

Guest: Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead for the COVID-19 response at the World Health Organization

It’s been four years since the first human COVID-19 case emerged in Wuhan, China. Since then, …

Ed Keenan and Emma Teitel's Toronto politics chat considers the implications and possible motivations for the likely next stop on the premier’s policy revolving door, discusses new Ontario Liberal le…

Guest: Moira Welsh, journalist 

Canada's population is aging fast. Over the next two decades, one in four Canadians are going to be over the age of 65. As experts say our health care system isn't rea…

Guest: Robert Benzie, Queen’s Park bureau chief 

The Ontario Liberals have elected Bonnie Crombie as their new leader. She is tasked with taking down Premier Doug Ford, whose government is already la…

Guest: Emma Teitel, columnist

Columnist Emma Teitel joins again for a Toronto politics chat after an extended absence with lots of fresh news to talk about, including the election of a new councillor…

Guests: Toronto Star hockey reporter Kevin McGran, basketball reporter Doug Smith and Deputy Sports Editor Patrick Ho

Our sports department spent much of a year compiling historical information and d…

Guest: Mark Ramzy, reporter

Canada is home to thousands of diaspora communities. It’s known as the hub of multiculturalism and diversity, which is sown into the social fabric and even its legislatio…

Guests: Matt Elliott and Shawn Micallef, contributing columnists

So much has been happening in Toronto this week. As encampments are cleared, the mayor and the federal government are fighting over…

Guests: Nicholas Keung and Andy Takagi, staff reporters

For years, Canada has been a dream destination for young people around the world with a record number of international students arriving in 202…

Guest: Wendy Gillis, crime and policing reporter

Over the past nine weeks, a Canadian courtroom heard disturbing testimonies of how and why 22-year-old Nathaniel Veltman murdered three generations o…

Guest: Toronto Star reporter Kerry Gillespie

The interview today is timed to run 17 minutes and 28 seconds, the exact length of Stouffville 12-year-old Sawyer Nicholson’s world-record-breaking 5-kilo…

Guest: Sara Mojtehdzadeh, investigative reporter

Did you know that a victim of labour trafficking could be right in front of you? Hundreds are working in plain sight, changing our hotel sheets, renov…

Guest: Ghada Alsharif, business reporter

Concerns of worker exploitation, especially on farms, are escalating as Canada significantly increases its foreign workforce in order to race towards an ambit…