On Point With Alex Pierson

Here we are dealing with new allegation’s in the latest chapter of the Hockey Canada saga. A woman alleges she was sexually assaulted in London, Ont. in March, 2018 by two men, one a Western University hockey player and the second a minor-league pro player, and she alleges she was discouraged by London police from pressing charges in both cases. This is not connected to the sexual assault allegations in London from June, 2018 involving eight former Canadian Hockey League players, that blew this case open. But this latest woman went to police, wanted charges laid, and told TSN she was told it was too much work and they couldn't guarantee her privacy if the person is acquitted. We spoke with Laurie Hepburn, Executive Director of the Halton Women’s Place, about why many women are hesitant to come forward and report sexual assault to police. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An international report finds that Toronto has the highest housing bubble risk in the entire world, but is it true? Just how far gone are we on the housing market and how did we get here? Tim Hudak, CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Association, joined Alex to discuss this and what he predicts will be the future of housing in Toronto. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the past eight years a bold, world-class artist has been using Canada’s largest city as his canvas. Using ultra-low taxes, municipal bureaucracy and political stagnation as his primary artistic tools, John Tory has embarked on a conceptual undertaking of unprecedented scope and scale. AusterityTO is a series of public art installations which explore the values and desires of Toronto’s residents. Each sculpture was painstakingly crafted by the artist as a meditation on the nature of public services, decay and austerity. James McLeod, Co-Creator of a satirical public art project dubbed The Austerity TO Project, joined us and asked if Torontonians can say they are satisfied with how this city has been run over the last 8 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're still waiting on more details to come from the investigation into the deaths of two police officers in Innisfil. The SIU is investigating the incident that occurred and while it might take some time, those in the policing community are reeling from the loss of, now, four police officers within a month. Here to talk to Alex about the grief being felt by officers and how they're supporting those who need it, is Jon Reid, President of the Toronto Police Association. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time to dig into all things Ottawa, and Internal Department of Public Safety reports confirm there was no evidence of violence by Freedom Convoy supporters outside Parliament. One report, issued the very day that Cabinet invoked the Emergencies Act, said the protest was small, peaceful and had little impact on federal operations. But that night it was designated a national security threat. As always to discuss this, is none other than Tom Korski, Managing Editor of Blacklock's Reporter, who noted there was no evidence of guns on Parliament Hill for the three-weeks of the convoy protests. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Right now you can walk into any Cabela's location and purchase an SKS rifle for the sum of about $550 and use it to hunt with. While you need a gun license to own one, the gun itself doesn't need to be registered. This is the model of gun that used to kill two police officers in Innisfil late Monday night after they responded to a disturbance call in the late evening hours. Tony Bernardo is the Executive of the Canadian Shooting Association and says that this gun is like the Honda Civic of the gun world, and to get rid of them, would be a major challenge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the quiet election. The one we don't hear much about. But yet, municipal elections are a big deal when it comes to your everyday cost of living. Potholes, transit, parking fees, and much more are never seen as the hot button issue. But just because it isn't sexy to talk about, doesn't mean it isn't important, and doesn't affect your wallet. Kat Eschner is TVO's Affordability Reporter, and joined Alex to talk all about how these are the things people in Toronto should be paying attention to right now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wait times for breast cancer treatment in Ontario, including surgeries, are currently longer than provincial guidelines. This is leading to less patients getting the care they need and getting testing to ensure that they're not getting any sicker than they might already be. During the pandemic, the Ontario Medical Association states that there were 400,000 fewer mammograms performed, leading to patients not knowing of any potential cancer. Kimberly Carson, CEO of Breast Cancer Canada, joined Alex to talk about these numbers and the effect it can have on Ontario women's health. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toronto's Ukrainian community is responding to the missile attacks that have shaken Ukraine over the past few days. Marc Shwec, with the Toronto Branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, led a protest outside the Russian Consulate in Toronto last night. Marc joined us and said we, the West, are funding the war... and we need to do more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Dave Perry is a former police officer and 640 Toronto’s Security Analyst. He joins Alex Pierson to talk about a deadly shootout that left two South Simcoe police officers dead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been a very drama filled past few days as the war in Ukraine continues to go on. Between a bridge in Crimea being bombed, to parts of Kyiv's city center being shelled, it's leaving casualties all across the board. Christian Leuprecht, Professor at Royal Military College of Canada and Queen's University, and also an expert on security and defence, joined Alex to talk about the latest developments coming out of the war torn nation, and what Russia could do next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do we have a two tiered justice system? The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in September that the criminal records of Indigenous persons can be excluded from their trials to preserve fairness. But who is this all fair to? Alex is joined by Ari Goldkind, a Criminal Lawyer, who says that without question, we have a two tiered system and while it's not compulsory to follow the ruling, it does open a lot of doors for discretion and scrutiny. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an election that doesn't seem like an election, there is a debate planned for Tuesday but there's a whole whopping two candidates taking part in it. The topic: affordable housing. Will John Tory be there? No. So what's going on with this 'sleepy election' and what should voters be taking note about? Joining us to talk about the municipal election and how it's panning out so far, is Ben Spurr, Toronto Star’s City Hall Reporter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is that time of the week where we check in with Managing Editor over at Blacklock's Reporter, Tom Korski, where he and his team dig up all the juicy details into all things Ottawa. It's the story that keeps on giving as the House of Commons Committee on Immigration has called an urgent meeting next week to discuss allegations that the department and former minister misled a federal judge during a trademark infringement case... an allegation former immigration minister Marco Mendicino has categorically denied. So who's to blame in trying to pull a fast one on a federal judge? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two Canadian tech companies are saying that the infamous ArriveCAN app should not have come with a $54 Million price tag. Sheetal Jaitly, Founder of TribalScale, says that it would cost under $1 Million to design and run the app and that the government should be looking to the tech companies with their hands up, willing to help. Sheetal joined Alex to talk about this hackathon, and the brutal cost of this fabled app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once a week we're joined by Jon Reid, President of the Toronto Police Association, to talk about all things policing and crime in the GTA. Today, Jon talks about how a Hamilton man was tased and arrested by police while in the midst of a seizure says police shouldn’t have been sent to a medical call. Also, a Toronto Police officer was allegedly targeted by a driver. Investigators say they believe the motorist “deliberately” drove at officers in a Scarborough parking lot, striking one and forcing an emergency run to a nearby hospital. That and more with Jon Reid. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What? There's an election? But I know nothing about my riding or the people running in it. That's the general consensus amongst Torontonians as advance polls opened on Friday for the municipal election almost no one really knows about. But there's a way you can find out about who's in your riding and what they stand for. We spoke with Nick Hune-Brown, Senior Editor for The Local Magazine, about his magazine’s candidate tracker map; he said the democratic process doesn’t seem to be working. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Biden announced all Americans convicted federally for small possession of marijuana will be pardoned. 6,500 people will benefit. A lot of this is politics because most pot convictions happen at state level. Biden says this move will make it easier for people to get employment, housing, and education…but we’ve had legal pot here for yr… and out of the 10 k Canadians who were told they’d be able to get pardoned through a federal parole program only 570 have done it. We spoke with Dr. Samantha McAleese, a Carleton University researcher looking at the impact of the pardon system on people with criminal records. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Global News analysis of 50 of Poilievre’s most recent YouTube videos showed that they included a tag — hidden from viewers, but not from the videos’ publisher — used by a misogynistic online movement. The tag helps promote Poilievre’s videos among those circles, and signals to YouTube what users might be interested in the Conservative leader’s messaging. Joining Alex to talk about it is Alex Boutilier, Senior National Reporter for Global News and author of the article posted to globalnews.ca. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re coming up on the Thanksgiving long weekend, and food banks are always looking for donations to help offset the high demand around the holiday. Neil Hetherington, CEO of the Daily Bread Food Bank, joined us and said food banks are experiencing the worst time in their history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices