Last week, Premier Ford visited Burlington’s small business community. The purpose of which, of course, was to find clout with the small businesses. In the lead-up to a potential election? Who knows.

During the visit, however, Premier Ford was asked about Hamilton’s LRT project, and when it would begin construction. Ford reiterated his government’s support for the project, but the question remains…when will it start being built? For almost 6 years now, the LRT has been just a promise on paper. No tenders have been issued for work and ground has yet to be broken on King St. Yet Ford re-committed to the building of Hamilton’s LRT. The catch though, is this comes in light of the government’s failure to sufficiently fund the Ontario Science Centre, forcing it to close due to the risk of collapse. In June, a heat wave raised concerns about sufficient air-conditioning in Ontario schools and the Ford government refusing to commit the necessary money to ensure schools are suitable for children. Our point is that this government is tepid on actually spending money, even on items that some would deem crucial. So why would they want to spend money on Hamilton’s LRT?

After our break, we face facts that Conservativism is on the rise in North America. We recorded this episode the day after the disastrous debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the United States. Trump is going to be a real contender to become president. Here in Canada, we appear to be eager to select Pierre Poilievre as Prime Minister of Canada. And in Ontario, Doug Ford is riding high in the polls. Why is it, that we appear to be giving conservative right-wing authoritarian parties the keys to democracy for the foreseeable future? We have some theories, have a listen.

The CHCH News Clip that we reference in the episode is here.

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Nicholas Paul: sound editing.

The Quadrafonics: fantastic opening and closing tunes!