On Point With Alex Pierson

After many shutdowns and closures, the World Cup offers bars and restaurants an opportunity to regain some of that lost profit by opening their doors for games that happen very early in the mornings. But will the city push for it? Rocco Mastrangelo Jr., Owner of the popular College Street soccer bar, Café Diplomatico, said the World Cup is a huge part of their business, and pushing back the hours when bars can serve alcohol would help boost sales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are the kids really alright? New survey reveals nearly 60% of Canadians think children are worse off today than a year ago. Between education loss and poor healthcare, the kids just simply aren't alright. Sara Austin, Founder and CEO of Children First Canada, joined us to talk about a new survey that reveals nearly 60% of Canadians think children are worse off today than a year ago. Sara said kids are speaking up but is anyone listening? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We need a new strategy to deal with China and the infiltration they've made into Canada's politicians. We already heard that CSIS had told the prime minister that China had dealings in the 2019 federal election and with the G20 currently going on, will there be a new strategy tabled on how we deal with the issue? Charles Burton is a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and a Former Counsellor at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, and spoke with Alex about it all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Durham Regional Police officers were called to a home in Oshawa on Saturday where they found a 38-year-old man and his eight-year-old daughter dead. Police are calling this a a murder-suicide without any outstanding suspects. According to the latest statistics, one woman is killed every six days as an act of violence against women in Canada. Sandra McCormack is the Executive Director of The Denise House in Durham, and joined Alex to talk about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We spoke with Tom Korski, Managing Editor of Blacklock’s Reporter, about how CSIS Director, David Vigneault, said “at no time” posed a threat to Canada’s security, and that were no signs of foreign interference. He advised cabinet that invoking the Emergencies Act could further inflame extreme antigovernmental rhetoric. To invoke this act there has to be a threat to national security. CSIS clearly said there wasn’t. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's not just the cost of gas or groceries that's having Canadians feeling strapped for cash. It's also the cost of food and necessities for pets that's making Canadians make the decision between keeping food on the table, or keeping the pet at home. Pet adoptions skyrocketed during the pandemic so that everyone could feel some sense of connection, but now animal shelters are either close to, or at capacity for surrenders. Phil Nichols is the Chief Operating Officer at the Toronto Humane Society, and chatted with Alex about the need for support for the shelters, and individuals who own pets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Turning people away, not getting tests done in time, or just long waits in general. That's the state of our hospital system right now, and it's not getting any better. Dr. Alan Drummond is a Rural Emergency Physician at Great War Memorial Hospital in Perth, Ontario, and authored a feature for Maclean's about just how bad the system is. He joined Alex to talk about it, and where we're headed now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been ten years since Sammy Yatim was shot and killed on a streetcar by a Toronto police officer while having a mental health crisis. After all this time, we finally will get a coroner's inquest into what happened with the case. Will Sammy's family finally get retribution or will things come up cold? To talk about it, we spoke with Joseph Neuberger, a Criminal Lawyer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Tory is about to begin his final term as Mayor of Toronto, and the question is already being asked as to who would possibly replace him when the term ends. Ben Spurr is the Toronto Star's City Hall Reporter, and joined Alex to talk about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years, we've been having the debate on whether or not masks actually work to prevent flu like illnesses. Dr. Chris Millburn is an Emergency Room and Family Doctor, who was removed as the Head of Emergency Medicine (Eastern Division), for voicing concerns and publicly questioning some of Nova Scotia's decision making regarding Covid-19. He joined us to talk about the lack of proper evidence to support that masks are effective, and shared the issues that come with wearing even medical grade masks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex is joined by Dr. Neil Rau, an Infectious Disease Consultant, to help make sense of what’s going on in our hospitals. Dr. Rau says it’s not COVID cases that’s causing kids to go to hospital, but RSV. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"We had to keep under cover. Meanwhile there were other soldiers who had caught the bullet and they were either lying dead or they were wounded. So it was a pretty rough landing." That's what 98 year old veteran, Jim Parks, said when he recounted the day he and the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, who he was enlisted with, stormed Juno Beach on D-Day in 1944. Jim is about to be featured in an upcoming documentary, and joined Alex to talk about his experiences and what he hopes people get out of his service and story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years, CSIS has been sounding the alarm on interference from other nations, namely China, on politicians and elections in Canada. For a long time, the Trudeau government has been sitting on these memos and is only now seemingly acting on it. But we've already been infiltrated in this country. So what does this mean? Dan Stanton is a Former Manager of Operations at CSIS and is now the Director of the National Security Program at the University of Ottawa, and joined Alex to talk about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toronto needs a commitment for more funding from senior levels of government by the end of the month to avoid “an unprecedented and inflationary property tax increase” and extreme severe service and program cuts, Mayor John Tory says. We spoke with David Rider, Toronto Star’s City Hall Bureau Chief, about Mayor John Tory calling on the province and federal government for more funding in order to avoid property tax hikes and service cuts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1,100 people before the courts on firearm charges currently free on bail instead of sitting in jail. The situation is said to be worse in Peel, York and Halton. The Toronto Police and Durham Regional Police have announced the firearm bail dashboard, an “inter-agency collaboration to share firearm bail compliance data in real time.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lots of news about the failures in our healthcare system. Including a new report from Second Street dot org that found at least 2.9 million Canadians are waiting for surgery, scans and specialist appointments.. Colin Craig, President of Second Street dot org, joined us and said the federal and provincial governments both bear the blame for these catastrophic failures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

54%, a bare majority of Canadians are confident in the federal government. According to Elections Canada which commissioned internal polling“to gauge the general public’s opinion on various electoral issues.” “on the question of changes to make voting easier or fairer for all Canadians,” 21 percent, disagreed. 21 percent, said “voting is prone to fraud” in Canada. 66 percent, said they do not think the government cares much what people like them think,” said the Elections Canada report . The survey also found public cynicism was so widespread a significant minority of Canadians believed in conspiracy theories. Tom Korski, Managing Editor of Blacklock's Reporter, joined us with the details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Tuesday, provincial leaders held a meeting with federal leaders to discuss funding for the health sector. But both sides walked away without a deal being reached. With how poorly run our health system is right now, how hard is it now without a deal to get better healthcare? Dr. Alika LaFontaine is the President of the Canadian Medical Association, and spoke to Alex about the details and how it can affect those in the healthcare industry, and their patients. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tech giant, Meta, announced major layoffs on Wednesday with over 11,000 job cuts. And naturally, Toronto’s tech sector is concerned. We’re a tech city. Sunil Sharma, Managing Director of Techstars Toronto, joined us and explained why we’re seeing these job cuts and whether or not this is a long term solution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The kids still aren't alright and their education is constantly being slammed by either pandemic shutdowns or labour strikes that disrupt learning further. With the Ford government offering up to $200 per kid for private lessons, is that actually enough? Can that money be better utilized elsewhere? Kat Eschner is TVO's Affordability Reporter and joined Alex to talk about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices