This is it! Our final episode for 2023!
As is usual for our year-end spectacular, and is the norm for every other news podcast and show, we wanted to focus on the year that was. What were the big stories, and how close did we get our predictions for this year? Well, as it turns out…we were pretty close. In 2022, we thought that the Greenbelt scandal would still prove to be a thorn in the side of Premier Doug Ford. Little did we realize how big of a thorn it truly was.
We talk about the fantastic reporting by the Narwhal and the grassroots activism of Environmental Defense in bringing to light the depth of the corruption and incompetence surrounding the Greenbelt scandal and the Doug Ford Progressive Conservative government at Queen’s Park. What at first looked like a bit of a faux pas by the Ford government has turned out to be one of the biggest political corruption scandals in Canadian History.
The Federal, Justin Trudeau government finally got off the sidelines and into the housing file. Many guests on this podcast, concerning that file, from Mike Moffatt to Jennifer Keesmaat and Michelle Bilak have all said that the federal government could loosen the purse strings and change the tax code to promote affordable housing to be built. Well this summer after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre jumped in the polls, it seems that it has triggered this government to get involved. Will it change the game? Time will tell, but at least movement is being made.
Lastly, we turn to a theme we returned to time and again on this podcast. The issue of trans rights in our school system. This year conspiracies of teachers forcing students to identify as trans encouraged people to protest en masse at school boards across the 905 and province. We spoke with former Premier Kathleen Wynne about the matter, as well as our first-hand coverage of the protest outside the Halton District School Board. Where was the outcry from the provincial government to set the record straight about what policy is in Ontario schools?
What does it bode for the future as more and more Ford government policies fail and they need to mobilize a base that is open to believing such conspiracies? We predict 2024!
Our past episodes this year for reference:
This Episode is brought to you by Graham Agnew of Dominion Lending
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Nicholas Paul: sound editing.
https://freepodcasttranscription.com/transcription/bce7a67e5d23a45a7ec3dcdbc52504436659a927.srt