290 episodes

The 905er is a news, politics and discussion podcast for the GTHA region focusing on the region outside central Toronto where 4 million people live, but where news coverage and discussion hardly exists. Presented by Roland Tanner and Joel MacLeod, long-time activists, volunteers and sometimes even wannabe-politicians, we aim to provide a lively weekly podcast featuring interviews with people in the news, round-table discussions, analysis and more. It aims to be intelligent, though-provoking, lively and entertaining.

The 905er Podcast The 905er

    • News
    • 5.0 • 1 Rating

The 905er is a news, politics and discussion podcast for the GTHA region focusing on the region outside central Toronto where 4 million people live, but where news coverage and discussion hardly exists. Presented by Roland Tanner and Joel MacLeod, long-time activists, volunteers and sometimes even wannabe-politicians, we aim to provide a lively weekly podcast featuring interviews with people in the news, round-table discussions, analysis and more. It aims to be intelligent, though-provoking, lively and entertaining.

    Mayor Liz Roy Asks Where's Whitby's Hospital?

    Mayor Liz Roy Asks Where's Whitby's Hospital?

    For years, the Doug Ford government has promised Whitby a new hospital. As the region continues to grow it is becoming apparent that the status quo in terms of its health care will not do. In a notoriously safe PC riding like Whitby and Durham, it seems like they would be a shoo-in for a brand spanking new hospital, just like Doug promised. So where is it? Why hasn't the Doug Ford PC's started the process of fulfilling their promise to the people of Durham Region?
    In a notoriously safe conservative part of the province like Durham and Whitby, it shocked us to hear about Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy's campaign to put public pressure on the Ontario PC party to own up to their promise. Why did she have to start a PR push last month to ask the province to spend only $3 million to start the process of development for a badly needed hospital? To answer those questions and learn more about how dire the situation is in Whitby's healthcare system, we invited her to the podcast.
    It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.
    You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!
    Or, why not buy us a coffee?
    Nicholas Paul: sound editing.
    The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 43 min
    Scott Radley on Hamilton's Looming Gridlock

    Scott Radley on Hamilton's Looming Gridlock

    A few weeks ago, Hamilton City Council voted to redesign its major street running into its downtown core.
    The new plan is to essentially divide Main St, a one-way six-lane wide boulevard running through the middle of its downtown into a two-way street, despite concerns from city staff that this would create a problem with traffic, leading to congestion. Their concern is that this move will limit the ability to travel down and through the downtown. Is this a pointless and ultimately futile move on the part of Hamilton City Council? Or is this a brave decision to take steps to transform a decaying downtown into a vibrant pedestrian and people-friendly place to live, work and play?
    One person who is highly critical of Hamilton City Council's decision is Hamilton Spectator columnist Scott Radley. His opinion piece criticizing the council's decision caught our eye and so we invited him to share his opinion in-depth and see if we were wrong in our approval of the city council's decision. What happened was a great conversation with two sides of the topic on how best to revitalize and improve one of Canada's most important cities. Did either side win? Not sure, but some great ideas hopefully popped out for you to listen to. This is how these debates are supposed to go, isn't it?
    Scott's Column in The Spec
    It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.
    You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!
    Or, why not buy us a coffee?
    Nicholas Paul: sound editing.
    The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 50 min
    Paolo De Buono on Catholic Education in Ontario

    Paolo De Buono on Catholic Education in Ontario

    Coming off our previous episode, we wanted to examine the state of Catholic education in Ontario. Sparked by the recent York Catholic school board controversy, along with the stories of Catholic school boards fighting against raising the Pride flag, we were wondering about its future in Ontario. What is the support for Catholic education, and does it have a purpose in today's multicultural and diverse mosaic in Ontario?
    To dive into this topic we reached out to Paolo De Buono. Paolo is a former Catholic school teacher in Ontario as well as a lawyer, who has been highly critical of the institution in recent years. Citing its curriculum encourages homo and transphobia, and that in a modern diverse society such as Ontario and Canada, it is outdated and harmful. He is also behind the website Stop the Catholic Harm.
    He joins us today.
    https://stopthecatholicharm.ca/
    It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.
    You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!
    Or, why not buy us a coffee?
    Nicholas Paul: sound editing.
    The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 57 min
    905 Round Up - York Catholic Sex Ed and Higher Education Woes

    905 Round Up - York Catholic Sex Ed and Higher Education Woes

    A few things in the world of public education cropped up on our radar this week.
    In the York Catholic District School Board, the Our Lady of the Lake Academy, saw students upset at what they viewed as an inappropriate presentation from a right-wing anti-abortion organization. The Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethics gave a presentation in the school auditorium, as reported by City News contained graphic depictions of aborted fetuses and upset many students and teachers with its content. In light of its history with the PRIDE flag debate, we were pondering what was happening at YCDSB. How was this permitted to happen? And is this a symptom of a larger issue in Catholic education across the 905 and Ontario?
    After the break, we look up to higher education and another new potential scandal emerging from the Doug Ford government. Despite being elected on a promise to stop cash-for-access fundraisers, it seems the Ford government can't help itself. As reported by The Trillium, this time it's Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop who is in the hot seat. This time seemingly encouraging donations from Presidents and Executive Directors of private colleges. The same private colleges which have encouraged a spike in foreign students in Ontario, to fill seats in what are essentially degree mills. Little credentials are being offered but big bucks are being taken in from foreign students. It is coming to light that these executives of the private colleges have been donating to the Minister and the Ontario PC party for some time now. What does this mean for higher education? Especially when their funding problems are coming to light due to the inaction of the Ontario PC government.
    The Story from City News on YCDSB
    The Story from The Trillium on Min Jill Dunlops Private College Fundraisers
    It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.
    You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!
    Or, why not buy us a coffee?
    Nicholas Paul: sound editing.
    The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 51 min
    How to Fix Political Culture in Ontario?

    How to Fix Political Culture in Ontario?

    The Doug Ford government is looking to protect political staffers in Ontario's city halls. As reported by The Spec on February 21, 2024, Minister of Municipal Affairs Paul Calandra will be tabling legislation that would see Mayors and Councillors thrown out of office for workplace harassment. Ontario Liberal MPP Stephen Blais had similar legislation defeated by the Ford Government, at the time Min Calandra cited that the voter should be the one with the final say to remove an elected official from office. So what brought about this 180 degree reversal?
    Activists for better workplace protections in political settings have put pressure on the government to reverse their reversal. Our question is, does this go far enough? What about Queen's Park? Exactly how does the political workplace differ from an everyday workplace?
    We thought it would be prudent to dive into this topic. To that end we invited to the podcast Jennifer Olchowy a former federal Conservative staffer, and Prof. Julie MacFarlane of the website:
    https://www.cantbuymysilence.com/
    A group advocating for the end of Non-Disclosure Agreements in workplaces.
    The Spec: https://www.thespec.com/politics/provincial/ford-government-says-law-to-punish-local-politicians-who-harass-staff-coming-soon/article_79feb4c5-dd4f-5c2a-9049-f55c32497add.html#tncms-source=hamilton-region
    It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.
    You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!
    Or, why not buy us a coffee?
    Nicholas Paul: sound editing.
    The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 45 min
    Lorraine Sommerfeld Returns

    Lorraine Sommerfeld Returns

    Lorraine Sommerfeld, author of the long-running Motherlode column in the Hamilton Spectator and multi-award-winning journalist at Driving.ca returns to discuss her new novel "A Face at the Window", before taking the time to dive into what on earth is going on with the recent driving-related announcements from the provincial government.
    "A Face at the Window" by Lorraine Sommerfeld is published by Winding Road Stories and is available from your local independent bookstore, as well as from Chapters, Indigo and Amazon.
    It takes money and time to do this podcast. We love doing what we do, but please consider supporting us if you can so we can keep improving, and keep paying the bills.
    You can become a monthly or yearly patron on our website at 905er.ca. We didn’t like sharing your generosity with that other ‘patron’ website, so we created our patron system. Become a patron, get member benefits and our eternal gratitude, and know that you’re not mainly funding some crummy web company in the US. Win-win!
    Or, why not buy us a coffee?
    Nicholas Paul: sound editing.
    The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 40 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
1 Rating

1 Rating

Mxsandy12 ,

Great pod!

Really enjoy this show!!!

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