Zoomer Week in Review

July 7 2024-Dan Hill Reflects On His Father's Legacy & Heritage Sites Lacking Safeguards In Canada The name of a Canadian human rights defender will appear on a Toronto public library after a six month renaming effort. It's another piece of Toronto that's been stripped of the Dundas name, joining Yonge Dundas Square, to be renamed Sankofa Square. This fall, the Jane Dundas branch will be named aft...

June 30 2024-Canada's Changing Population & New Biography Reflects on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Triumphs and Failures The number of Canadians 85 and older is expected to triple by the year 2073 to as many as 4.3 million. The projections released this week by Statistics Canada aso finds that the overall population could reach 63 million in half a century. Low birth rates mean migration will b...

June 23 2024-Best Before Dates & June is Migraine Awareness Month Best before dates are prompting Canadian consumers to throw away food, wasting up to $400 dollars worth of edible groceries each year. In financial terms, the value of this potentially rescuable food is an astonishing $49.5 billion. That's why there’s a new campaign called Look, Smell, Taste: Canada's Recipe for Reducing Food Waste...

June 16 2024-B.C.'s Senior Advocate Is Championing the Rights of Canada's 65 + & This Canadian Zoomer Makes Miss Universe Pageant History He’s only been Seniors Advocate for B.C. for several months but Dan Levitt has been a champion for Seniors for years and, as you’ll hear, this acclaimed international speaker, elder care leader, writer and gerontologist has returned from New York where he attend...

June 9, 2024- Cyclist raises cancer awareness at the age of 81 & Where should people spend their summer? This weekend will mark the 17th annual Princess Margaret RIDE to Conquer Cancer. More than 5,000 cyclists will ride over 200 kms over the two days, starting from the Exhibition Place in Toronto to Niagara Falls, with a pit stop in Hamilton. Last year, the ride received a contribution of $17.3 m...

June 2 2024- 80th Anniversary of D-Day & The Health Benefits of Tai Chi On D-Day, 6 June 1944, the Allies came ashore in Normandy, France when some fourteen thousand Canadians stormed Juno Beach that day, and launched a campaign that helped turn the tide of the Second World War. Both in this country and abroad, Canadians are encouraged to explore the stories of those who courageously served in thi...

May 26 2024-Canada's Truck Problem & Cancer Diagnoses in the ER Have you noticed that most of the vehicles on our roads are very big and getting bigger every season? Eight of the top 10 are now defined as trucks and some experts say they are a health and safety hazard. Libby Znaimer spoke with HEC Montréal Associate Finance Professor Amir Barnea. AND It’s bad enough to get this news from a doctor...

May 19 2024- Dr. Eileen De Villa reflects on her leadership during COVID-19 & Life after Caregiving She became a household name as one of the key leaders who guided us through the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Eileen de Villa announced she will step down as Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health at the end of the year. She spoke with Libby Znaimer about her reflections on navigating the crisis. AND Nearly 6...

May 12 2024-Anti-Israel protests are not peace protests & Liberal MP Pam Damoff describes toxicity in politics The late iconic anti war activist Jerry Rubin's son has written an article titled "This is definitely not my dad’s antiwar protest", referring to the current anti-Israel encampments at universities and elsewhere across the globe following the October 7th attacks in Israel by Hamas terrori...

May 5 2024-Sophie Grégoire Trudeau's Journey to Self-Acceptance & Jane Philpott on the Primary Care Crisis It’s not exactly a memoir - though the Prime Minister’s ex, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau talks about her struggle with an eating disorder, growing up an only child, and meeting Justin Trudeau. Her book is about her journey to self-awareness and self-acceptance. Libby talked with Sophie Grégoire Tr...

April 28 2024-Crossing the Trans Canada Trail at 50 & Preparing Your Lawn The first person to cross the Trans Canada Trail: 500 DAYS IN THE WILD, a documentary by the award-winning filmmaker Dianne Whelan who spent six years crossing the entire 24,000 kilometre Trans Canada Trail, mostly alone. She began in St. John’s Newfoundland in 2015 ending in Victoria BC in 2021 and has documented her trek a...

April 21 2024- Canadian charitable donations dropping: report & National Volunteer Week Have you ever made any charitable donations? Do you still make them? Any? Or have you stopped? Many have as Nicole Danesi at CanadaHelps explains. AND National Volunteer Week that just ended is held annually as a way to celebrate the many who give of their time to help others in the community, who possibly woul...

How a Runaway Orphan Became a Big Time Chef A new documentary-"Born Hungry"-tells the real life rags to riches tale of Sash Simpson, a runaway child from the streets of India, who was adopted into a Toronto family with 31 siblings before becoming a world-renowned chef. Libby spoke with Chef Sash Simpson about his life and why he decided that now was the time to make a movie about it. Are We Too Af...

An Elder Rights Lawyers Fight Against For-Profit Homes is the subject of new Doc "Stolen Time" Elder rights lawyer and advocate Melissa Miller is the subject of a new documentary–titled “Stolen time”-- that follows her legal battle against some of the world’s most powerful long-term care corporations. I talked with her about the film which chronicles her toughest case yet—a mass tort representing...

March 31 2024 - Religion in Canada & Ottawa’s Arms Embargo with Israel What Research Tells Us About Canadians’ Relationship with Religion It’s Easter Sunday and it’s likely that family dinners and easter egg Hunts outstripped church attendance as a way to mark the holiday. Formal religious observance has been declining for years in our country though about half the population still believe in God....

Cottage Country Prices Set to Spike in Ontario Cottage country prices are set to soar again as Zoomers look to switch family homes for country retirement living. According to a recreational property report out this week from Royal LePage, the national median single-family price forecast is set to increase by 5%, with all of Canada's provincial recreational markets seeing an increase in single-fami...

Eldercare Evolved: AI Companions & Compassion Exploring AI companions in eldercare: Meet VIV, offering conversation and compassion. We discuss the latest report from the National Institute on Ageing and the transformative role of technology, featuring Catherine Phee's experience with dementia. Is this the future? Dr. Adriana Shnall weighs in. From Actor to Icon: Zelensky's Showman Journey Dive int...

UN Report finds Hamas likely committed rape during Oct. 7th massacre: This week, the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict presented a report concluding that rape and gang rape likely occurred during the October 7 Hamas attack in Southern Israel. It also found “clear and convincing” evidence that hostages were raped while being held in Gaza and that those currently held are stil...

Older Zoomers Are Delaying Their Home Downsizing Plans: There’s been a demographic shift when it comes to Boomers downsizing from their homes. In fact, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing, Seniors are now less likely to sell their homes before the age of 85, a big change from three decades ago. Boomers are not expected to downsize in a meaningful way until mid-2040. Better health and lack of...

Homesharing program pairing Students with Seniors: An Ontario based company is making intergenerational living normal in Canada. SpacesShared is a home sharing platform that matches students with Seniors who have empty bedrooms and the company says it’s been overwhelmed by requests. With affordable housing more elusive than ever, this program is not only a win for students, but it creates some inc...

How Canadians Are Enjoying Sex: On Valentine’s day this week, Sociologist Tina Fetner released a book on Canadian sexual practices based on the first ever survey of what Canadian adults do in the bedroom and who they do it with. It’s called "Sex in Canada: The Who, Why, When, and How of Getting Down Up North". And Libby started the conversation by asking how we are different from Americans. Ageism...

The King's Cancer Diagnosis: There’s been an outpouring of sympathy and support since King Charles III revealed that he’s been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer. At the age of 75, he was finally putting his own stamp on the monarchy after ascending the throne in September 2022 following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth. Libby talked about the implications with Suzanne Boyd, Edito...

What a new report tells us about Cardiac Arrest A new report from the Heart and Stroke Foundation finds that this potentially fatal event occurring outside a hospital is far more prevalent than we thought. Cardiologist Dr. Christopher Labos tells us simple training could save lives. Are you exercising right after the age of 50?    Are you still sticking to your New year’s exercise resolution? And...

Michael Levy's brother is still being held by Hamas. He shares his story: Like so many around the world, and specifically Israel, just mention October 7th and the nightmare of that day replays in their minds many times each day. Michael Levy's brother was taken hostage by the terrorist group while attending the Nova Music Festival and his sister-in-law was murdered. He shares his story. How accura...

January 21 2024-National Non-Smoking Week & Ontario Launches New LTC Investigations Unit National Non-Smoking Week Quick quiz: What’s the leading preventable cause of disease and death in Canada? If you said tobacco then you’re right. With 46-thousand dying from it each year and National Non-Smoking Week upon us, Rob Cunningham, Senior Policy Analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society looks at how f...