The 905er Podcast

On this episode of The 905 Round-Up: Roland and Joel look at the long journey to raise the #prideflag at #HCDSB schools, and the perils of live-tweeting 5-hour long board meetings. Then Roland reviews the leaked proposals from the Housing Affordability Task Force as reported on by TVO.  Could this be the progressive policy to transform Ontario's housing market?  Will the Ford government follow sui...

As the Omicron variant continues to paralyze the 905 and all of Ontario, we asked epidemiologist Dr Todd Coleman what we should be doing to live with COVID-19 as we enter the third year of this pandemic. Todd Coleman received his PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics in 2014 from the University of Western Ontario. After his PhD studies, I worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Ryerson University, then...

For this episode of The 905 Round-Up, Roland and Joel look at a story from Durham on the far side of the region and ask why didn't the local media cover it better?  And on that note, why doesn't the local media in the 905 do a better job of covering the issues and stories that make an impact on the region.  Well, thank goodness there is the 905er! Following up on that story, we look at a story fro...

Download episode One of the biggest stories we have covered since this podcast began was last year's decision by Halton Catholic School Board over a motion brought that, if passed, would have seen the Pride flag fly over Halton's Catholic Schools during Pride month, along with a variety of other measures to demonstrate and support acceptance of LGBTQIA+ students in HCDSB schools. The motion, broug...

Roland and Joel are back at it! Our first episode of 2022, has our intrepid hosts looking down the barrel of another lockdown and shutting of schools to mark the start of the year.  At this point it's clear our provincial government in Ontario is winging this pandemic from wave to wave, with parents, students and the economy considered collateral damage.  What are we all to do going forward with P...

Here it is!  Our last episode of #2021! Joel and Roland look back on the year that was and select our top three stories that we'll be keeping an eye on in #2022. We look at the HCDSB Pride Flag debate, the impact the Federal election will have on this year's provincial election in Ontario and of course the story of Burlington Taxi's closure in Burlington! You can listen to those episodes by clicki...

This is our Penultimate episode before the holidays.  So we wanted this to be a good news story. Back in January, we did an episode on Peel Region's struggles with COVID-19.  At that time Peel was an epicentre of the pandemic struggling to get a handle on the situation. Today, the region is the top spot in Canada for Vaccination rates.  A big factor in that turnaround was the mobilization of vario...

We look at what we learned from our explosive interview with Scott Wallace of Burlington Taxi.  Where is the outrage from Burlington City Council towards the failure of staff to follow through on its directive? Then Joel and Roland look at a recent poll of Ontario political leadership that shows a big uphill battle for Ontario Liberal Party Leader, Steven Del Duca as well for Ontario NDP Leader An...

On November 26th Burlington Taxi, which began operation 53 years ago, shut down for good, leaving many local services and the residents who depended on them without any immediate replacement means of transportation. In the days that followed, it became apparent that there were more factors at work than just the inability of the company to remain profitable. A key element appeared to be the failure...

In this episode of The 905 Round-Up, Joel and Roland take a look at Peel region.  Specifically, the fact that while Mississauga is getting massive funding for a badly needed hospital.  To the tune of $3 billion.  While its neighbour to the north is getting nothing.  This isn't the first time Brampton has called for more attention to its health care system.  And it isn't the first time they've been...

It is a tumultuous time in Hamilton, with major stories concerning the city's present and future cropping up every week. Events such as the recent violence associated with the clearing of the homeless living in J. C. Beemer Park, the successful Stop Sprawl HamONT campaign to persuade council to vote against urban expansion, and the ongoing saga of the behaviour of some of the most longstanding cou...

Over the weekend saw violence erupt in J.C. Beemer park in Hamilton over the tent encampments there.  Protesters from Hamilton Encampment Support Network clashed with police.  The details are being investigated by the province's SIU.  However, the episode has brought to the forefront the issue of affordable housing in the city.  Joel and Roland discuss the interconnection of the various issues tha...

Today's episode goes to the heart of the planning and development debate in the 905. The new council elected in Burlington in 2018 has undoubtedly achieved significant change to Burlington’s downtown planning framework, and extracted major concessions from the province--at least, it has on paper. Previously, the presence of Burlington’s provincially designated Urban Growth Centre and a Metrolinx M...

This week saw a major victory for the grassroots organizers to protect the remaining rural area of Hamilton from development.  Hamilton City Council voted not to expand it's Urban Boundary.  This came after a sustained grassroots pressure from groups such as Stop Sprawl Ham ONT organized and campaigned to stop the expansion.  Joel and Roland look at what this victory will mean for the city as it's...

Something all parents are all too aware of is the price of daycare.  Not just in #the905 but across the province.  In some cases, the cost is comparable to a second mortgage on a family's expenses. Finally, the federal government is getting a plan in place across the country to help bring the cost of daycare down to $10 per day.  However, to date, only New Brunswick and Ontario have yet to sign.  ...

Today Joel and Roland look over the Minister of Municipal Affairs finally moving the Urban Growth Centre.  Spoiler it's a gift that's actually not a gift.  The devil is in the details and it appears that Burlington is probably not getting what it actually wants.  The fact is the development in this province under this government progresses no matter what. We then look at Hamilton City Council's de...

This month the Ontario government announced it would be raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour.  A reversal of the decision to cancel the minimum wage increase when they came into power four years ago.⁠⁠As the Ontario economy recovers from COVID-19 the question of why now, and whether or not this is too little too late permeates the discussion.  Some who are saying this doesn't go far enough are...

Today Roland and Joel discuss the recent report by the Hamilton Integrity Commissioner on Councillor Terry Whitehead's conduct.  Spoiler alert...it's not a favourable one.  Both our hosts discuss the antics that go on at City Hall and what ought to be done to hold bad municipal politicians to account. And in keeping with the Hamilton theme, the folks at Stop Sprawl Ham ONT have shaken up the debat...

Something we take for granted in the 905, is how unique a setting our own backyard can be.  It can be a terrific backdrop to our imagination and whisk us away on adventures.  One local Burlington author has done exactly that. Doug Cockell is a local author who has written a trilogy of supernatural mysteries, all taking place in the Niagara Escarpment. His novels: Requiem for Thursday, Requiem for...

Burlington is in a pickle.  Recently the Ontario Land Tribunal ruled in favour of developers at Lakeshore and Pearl to increase their height to 29 stories.  Over the objection of council and citizens.  This sparked a public statement from the Mayor.  Joel and Roland analyze the situation that the city is in and what options they really have. Then it appears that the Halton Catholic School Board ca...

In recent days Doug Ford and the PC government have been doubling down on their intention to build Highway 413, an additional radial highway planned to run almost entirely through Green Belt lands from Halton at the 407 and Winston Churchill, between Brampton and Caledon, joining Highway 400 a few kilometres north of Canada's Wonderland. Irene Ford joins us from the grassroots Stop the 413 group t...

Coming off our episode this week with Stop Sprawl Ham ONT, Roland looks at using bike share and cycling as an innovative tool to help curb sprawl in 905 communities. Afterwards, Joel questions if the current Ontario government is giving up on getting vaccines in the arms of the remaining 20% of the population to be inoculated, as it appears all masking and vaccine mandates will be lifted in the ne...

If you've been following Hamilton municipal politics recently, then no doubt you are aware of the contentious debate over whether or not the city should expand its urban boundary. The small sliver of land of viable farmland that exists between the developed part of Hamilton and the border of the greenbelt is the current battleground for developers in the 905.  The current city council is in vigoro...

On this episode of the 905 Round Up we are focusing on politics. This past weekend, Ontario Liberal Party leader Steven Del Duca made a bold proclamation.  Declaring that ranked ballots would be returning not just as an option for Ontario municipalities, but will be the way we elect our provincial legislature going forward.  As well the Basic Income pilot project that the Progressive Conservatives...

Cities are made up of more than just buildings and roads.  It's the people and the entrepreneurs that live and work in them that come together to create something unique.  Each city has its own quality that makes it what it is.  Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver...all of them have a distinct image in your mind.  Part of what makes each city its own is the arts and culture that the city creates. We want...