This Matters

Guest: Toronto Star reporter Alex Boyd 

 As Canada heads toward a federal election, the online information landscape is getting messier, more manipulated, and harder to recognize in real time. From repurposed Facebook groups to shady digital operations selling conspiracy-laced content and merch, these tactics are designed to grab attention and slowly shift public opinion. We talk about the strange case of the local buy and sell gro...

Guest: Toronto Star crime reporter Peter Edwards 

It’s like a Netflix show in real life. A truck driving off with $24 million in gold and cash, stolen from a hangar outside Pearson International Airport in a crime so smooth it left everyone stunned. Now, two years later the investigation trail spreads across four countries from Canada to the U.S. to Dubai and India. Some of the suspects have fled and it doesn’t like they’re coming ...

Guests: Jack Blum and Sharon Corder, co-founders of National Canadian Film Day

Over the past few months, the president of the United States has done more to solidify a sense of Canadian identity than anyone in the past few decades.Suddenly Canadians are examining grocery labels to see what’s made here, looking at their investment portfol...

Guest: Kate Allen, Toronto Star climate change reporter

When the movie Jurassic Park was made in 1993, the technology at the heart of its plot — bringing ancient giant animals back from extinction — was in the same category as time travel and warp drives: science fiction. This week it seems it may be closer to being just plain science.

Guest: Toronto Star senior immigration reporter Nicholas Keung

For years, Canada’s immigration system was held up as a glowing model on the global stage. But what was once seen as a solution— to labour shortages, economic slowdown and an aging population—is now being blamed for everything from the housing crisis to collapsing healthcare. In today’s episode, we try to wade through the numbers, the policies and the politics behind a ...

Guest: Brendan Kennedy, investigative reporter at The Star

On Dec. 20, 2023 a guard was assaulted by an inmate at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, Ontario. The inmate was then immediately removed from the facility. Two days later, jail guards in full riot gear carried out a violent, mass strip search of 192 inmates – none of whom were involved in the initial incident -- in a coordinated, collective punishment that spanned...

Guest: Toronto Star reporter Raisa Patel 

Liberal candidate Paul Chiang's remarks suggesting a political opponent could be handed over to Chinese authorities for a bounty has fuelled outrage, an RCMP probe and a political firestorm for the Liberals ahead of an election. Initially Liberal leader Mark Carney was seen as supporting him held back from dropping Chiang as a candidate Markham-Unionville. As backlash grew, and pressure mou...

Guest: Toronto Star reporter Allan Woods 

Donald Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney just had their first call since Carney took office, and by all accounts, it was productive. But also, the fact that this call is making headlines is just another sign of how much Trump and the U.S. will loom over Canada’s upcoming election. From Trump’s political influence and the spread of disinformation to the idea (his own)  that his presidency...

Guest: Ken Greenberg, urban designer and co-founder of Elbows Up Toronto

“This is not a trade war,” Charlie Angus said to a packed crowd at a church this week, “it’s an attack on who we are as people.” A lot of Canadians have been feeling that recently, as U.S. President Donald Trump not only impo...

Guest: Michelle Shephard, former Toronto Star reporter and co-author of “Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America’s Nazis”

Scott Payne spent his career deep undercover in the drug trade, criminal networks and among racist terrorists — and despite some harrowing close calls that saw him stripped naked and almost exposed, he lived to tell the tale.

The woman he told it to — former Star reporter Michelle Shephard...

Guest: Toronto Star journalist Janet Hurley 

Ontario’s colleges and universities are facing a financial crisis. Millions in deficits, staff layoffs, and program cuts have become the norm. In the midst of all this, at George Brown College, one expense is fuelling controversy. A former president receiving over a million dollars in retirement payouts while the college suspends programs and tightens its budget. It has renewed a bigger ...

Guest: Amira Elghawaby,Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia 

Islamophobia and hate is on the rise in Canada. Political rhetoric is growing more divisive. Statistics show a surge in reported hate crimes against visible minorities. And in the middle of it all is Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. Since taking on the role, she has faced relentless pushback and personal attacks. In...

Guest: Toronto Star columnist Dave Feschuck

Between the professional hockey leagues, a new profe...

Guest: Toronto Star reporter Abby O'Brien

On Friday, March 7 — opening night at the Piper Arms pub in the historic Old Scott House building in Scarborough — three assailants with guns opened fire on a crowd indiscriminately, shooting seven people and injuring 12. What’s certain at this point, is that it was a horrifying scene and that, as a police investigator said, “it’s simply incredible nobody was killed.”

As the city reels and ...

Guest: Toronto Star reporter Kenyon Wallace 

Ontario’s ER crisis is pushing patients to the brink. A recent report by the Ontario Patient Ombudsman reveals a record-breaking 4429 patient complaints—the highest since the office was created. Almost 20 percent of the complaints were about emergency room experiences, highlighting growing concerns about patient care in hospital emergency departments. In this short edition of This Matter...

Guest: Toronto Star Senior Immigration Reporter Nicholas Keung 

Every year, unaccompanied minors seek refuge in Canada, from war, violence and worse. But when they get here, they face a new struggle; trying to find safety, shelter and support. With no dedicated housing or settlement services, many end up in a possibly unsafe adult shelter system, emergency hotels, or even on the stree...

Mark Carney, the former Bank of Canada governor, trounced the competition Sunday winning the Liberal leadership with nearly 86 per cent support. Carney will become prime minister in the days ahead. He will appoint a new c...

Guest: Toronto Star Ottawa Bureau Chief Tonda MacCharles

Canadians have been bracing themselves for a potential trade war for over a month, and on Tuesday U.S. President Donald Trump actually launched it, imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports. And that appears just to be the beginning. 

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