This Matters

Guest:  Jason Miller, Toronto Star crime reporter On Aug.16, eight-year-old JahVai Roy was shot and killed in his North York apartment when a bullet pierced his bedroom window. A teenager has since been charged, and Toronto police are looking for two more teen suspects. But for JahVai's family, the trauma didn't end that night. They're now displaced, grieving, and navigating a system with few real...

Guests:  Star reporters Amy Dempsey Raven and Megan Ogilvie A new Ontario law was meant to protect vulnerable children in care, but it may be deepening the very crisis it set out to solve. The province has expanded police background checks for people working or volunteering in the child welfare system. But under the new rules, it is not just criminal records that show up. Any documented interactio...

This year marks TIFF's 50th anniversary. The festival has done many things over the years - it's been a bellwether for industry talent along with changing how movies are made and marketed. It's also really helped shape the identity of this city. Today we speak with two veterans who have been covering TIFF for decades. Peter Howell, long-time Toronto Star film critic remembers his first time coveri...

Guest: Manuela Vega, Toronto Star housing reporter A new study has found that financial landlords are filing eviction applications at much higher rates than other types of landlords in Toronto, especially after acquiring new buildings. In one case, more than half the tenants in a building received an eviction notice in a single year. Experts say this reflects a wider business strategy and it's res...

Guests: Star reporters Raisa Patel and Josh Rubin Prime Minister Mark Carney is pulling back on Canada's trade fight with the U.S., dropping retaliatory tariffs on goods covered under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) even as Donald Trump escalates with new penalties on Canadian steel, aluminum, and hundreds of manufactured products. It's a sharp turn from Carney's "elbows up" camp...

Guest:  Kris Rushowy, Toronto Star reporter It's back-to-school season and Ontario universities are packed like never before. A record number of more than 84,000 first-year students are starting this fall. But even with record enrolment, schools are facing an $80 million shortfall. For years, international students have been the financial safety net, paying up to six times the tuition of Ontario s...

Listen here or subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. If you would like to support the journalism of the Toronto Star, you can at thestar.com/subscribe. Guest:  Nathan Bawaan, Toronto Star reporter Youth unemployment in Toronto is at its highest level in decades outside of the pandemic and it's not just a tough job market. A new report reveals that...

Guest: Kevin Jiang, Toronto Star reporter  Nearly one in five Canadians who had COVID—more than more than 3 million people—went on to develop long COVID, also called post COVID 19 Condition (PCC). Symptoms can include fatigue, brain fog, breathing problems and heart damage, sometimes lasting for years. In Ontario there is still no coordinated plan for care. Funding for specialized clinics has disa...

Guest:  Andy Takagi, Toronto Star transportation reporter  Premier Ford says he's pitching an unprecedented plan to tackle one of the GTA's biggest headaches; gridlock on Highway 401, the busiest road in North America. His vision is a single three-level tunnel running under the highway, which could stretch from Brampton to Scarborough. He outlined the concept at an unrelated press conference this...

Guest:  Dr. David Barber, Chair OMA's General and Family Practice Two million people in Ontario do not have access to a family physician, and that number is expected to more than double by 2026. At the same time, many doctors are stepping away from comprehensive care, citing burnout, bureaucracy, and financial strain. In this episode, Dr. David Barber shares what is happening inside the system thr...

Gu est:  Star Queen's Park Bureau Chief, Robert Benzie Last week, Canada's premiers wrapped up their annual Council of the Federation meeting in Ontario's cottage country, against the backdrop of serious political and economic pressure. With Trump's threat of tariffs on August 1 looming large, and Prime Minister Mark Carney facing his first major leadership test, the summit was framed as a show of...

Guest:  Toronto Star court reporter Jacques Gallant All five former members of Canada's 2018 World Junior hockey team accused of sexual assault have been found not guilty, ending one of the most closely watched trials in Canadian sports.   The case centred on a woman known publicly only as "E.M." due to a publication ban. Her allegations against the players shook the sport, triggered years of scru...

Guest:  Toronto Star reporter Abby O'Brien A bike ride to the local pool. A perfect dive off the board. A backyard trampoline showdown with the kids next door. Childhood can be full of fun but also dangers. Parents often think about the obvious dangers, like unsupervised swimming or biking without a helmet. But some of the biggest hazards may surprise you. We spoke with Toronto's top pediatric eme...

Guest : Morgan Sevareid-Bocknek, investigative reporter Imagine you want a biological kid and you need the help of a fertility clinic. But then imagine they implant the wrong embryo inside of you. Or half the wrong embryo - right egg but wrong sperm. Or the child is a race you weren't expecting. These scenarios and more have happened at Ontario fertility clinics, which remain under regulated. That...

Guests:  Toronto Star reporters Isabel Teotonio and Kristin Rushowy With the summer break, Ontario is wrapping up the first full school year under new cellphone restrictions. Last September, the Ford government introduced restrictions  on personal mobile devices in schools, with boards required to update their own policies and ban social media sites, such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, from ne...

GUEST:  Star climate change reporter Kate Allen Toronto just sweltered its way through one of the most intense heatwaves on record. Many Torontonians seeking relief from the heat were met with disappointment and locked doors at more than a dozen public pools as they ended up being closed because of heat safety protocols for the lifeguards. What followed was a political showdown between Mayor Olivi...

Guest: Star climate change reporter Marco Chown Oved Wildfire season started early this year, with states of emergency declared in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and intense fire activity across Alberta. But while much of the national attention has focused on the west, Ontario is quietly facing a growing crisis of its own. One of the largest fires in the province's north—recently described by official...

Guests:  Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada Sharon Kozicki and Star Business Reporter Ana Pereira Recently, the Bank of Canada announced their latest interest rate decision, holding it at 2.75% - its second pause after seven consecutive cuts. In attempting to explain this decision, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said, 'The Canadian economy is softer but not sharply weaker.' And what does...

Guests:  Star Reporters Nicholas Keung and Mark Ramzy  Introduced last week by the federal government—the Strong Borders Act seeks to overhaul how refugee claims are processed, expand powers for border and intelligence officials, and tighten enforcement—all framed as a response to sprawling asylum backlogs and escalating pressure from the U.S. and Donald Trump, including concerns about fentanyl tr...

This Matters is pleased to share a new podcast from the Toronto Star, TVO Podcasts, the Investigative Journalism Bureau and Piz Gloria Productions, Arachnid: Hunting the Web's Darkest Secrets.  What if the worst thing that ever happened to you plays out countless times on anonymous computer screens all over the world? Every day, tens of millions of images of child sexual abuse circulate on global...

Guest:  Karon Liu, Toronto Star food reporter When one Toronto restaurant introduced a $25 cauliflower dish more than 10 years ago, it caused a bit of a stir at its eye-popping price. When Star reporter Karon Liu recently noticed the price of the same dish was now $41, it sent him to look at the steeply rising cost of meals out. It's a trend driven by food inflation, wage inflation, rent inflation...

Guest:  Queen's Park Bureau Chief Robert Benzie Ontario just dropped its biggest budget ever — $232.5 billion — and looming over every dollar of it is the shadow of Donald Trump, his tariffs, and an uncertain economic future. This year's budget also includes a new $5 billion "Protect Ontario" fund to shield businesses and jobs from the escalating trade war with the U.S. But behind the big numbers...

Guest:  Star National Columnist Susan Delacourt  Prime Minister Mark Carney has unveiled his first cabinet. On Tuesday, ministers were sworn in at Rideau Hall to a trimmed down and reorganized cabinet, with 28 full members and 10 second-tier members, known as secretaries of state. Carney's campaign promise was bold change and a post-Trudeau pivot.  Now that the lineup is out, the question is how m...

Guest:  Ottawa Bureau Chief Tonda MacCharles  Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to Washington this week was his first face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump since being elected to office. A lot hangs in the balance, at a time when Canada's relationship with its largest trading partner is being put to the test. While Carney made headlines with some bold statements and viral moments...

Guests:  Star reporters Nicholas Keung and Ghada Alsharif During the pandemic, they were called essential. Migrant workers who packed our meat, picked our produce, and kept grocery shelves stocked. In return, many were offered a pathway to permanent residency through a federal pilot program. Now, that door has quietly closed. The Agri-Food Immigration Pilot is being phased out by the federal gover...