Shows
Lockdown TorontoClusterSchmuck Onterrible with Special Guest, MPP Tom RakocevicThe failure of Ontario's pandemic response is palpable. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has dropped the ball with what seems like reactionary and nonsensical policy measures from closing down playgrounds, to arbitrary stop and search powers given to police, to permitting Covid hotspots such as construction and warehouses to continue operating. Ontario it seems has has had enough.
Sitting member of the official opposition, Member of Provincial Parliament Tom Rakocevic (NDP - Humber River—Black Creek) returns to Lockdown Toronto for our one-year anniversary episode and helps us understand the current frustrations with Ontario's terrible leadership. ...2021-04-2359 minLockdown TorontoThe "Ugly" third wave of Covid-19 with Colin Furness PhD MPH - Lockdown Toronto Ep.15Colin Furness is an infection control epidemiologist, and has spent the bulk of his work developing tools that track the spread of infectious diseases and he currently works at the University of Toronto as an assistant professor at the faculty of information.
He joins us in this episode to speak on Covid 19, what its potential "ugly" third wave looks like, and the future of how Toronto and the world will and should deal with this disease. We go local to global in our exploration of this topic, infection spread, opening of schools, and more.
It's...2021-02-171h 12Lockdown TorontoPolitician FIRED for opposing Ontario Lockdown - MPP Roman Baber - Lockdown Toronto Ep.14On Jan 15, 2021, MPP Roman Baber (York Centre) made public a letter to his boss, Premier of Ontario Doug Ford just as Ontario was at the height of its second wave of Covid-19 cases and announced its second Provincial Emergency. Roman Baber is a member Doug Ford's progressive conservatives and argued in his letter for the exact opposite approach: end lockdown. He was fired from his party as a result, and now sits in Queen's Park as an independent.
In this episode we explore why he wrote the letter, the politics of opposing your own party and...2021-02-0353 minLockdown Toronto...And Basic Income for All - With Floyd Marinescu of UBI Works Canada - Lockdown Toronto Ep.13Floyd Marinescu is the co-founder of InfoQ and QCon - a conference on software innovation and also the CEO and activist for UBI Works Canada, an organization that encourages the support of a universal basic income (UBI) Canada.
We discuss the need for UBI, the criticisms of it, the effect of automation on Canadian jobs, and why the time is now to implement UBI during a pandemic and economic crisis.
Cited in this cast:
CEOs Case For Basic Income
https://CEOsForBasicIncome.ca/
Motion 46 on UBI in Canada, 43rd...2020-09-0352 minLockdown TorontoCovid Conspiracies & Misinfo with Aengus Bridgman - Lockdown Toronto Ep.12Aengus Bridgman is a Political Scientist and PHD Candidate at McGill University, a research fellow at the Center for the Study of Democratic Citizenship and works with the Media Ecosystem Observatory.
Aengus is also the co-author of the study "The causes and consequences of COVID-19 misperceptions: understanding the role of news and social media" and joins Lockdown Toronto to discuss its findings and futher implications and ideas regarding coronavirus, conspiracy theory in a larger context, data sharing, and the role of social media companies and governments in regulating misinformation.
It is an incredibly interesting discussion...2020-08-201h 12Lockdown Toronto$#!+ Covidiots Say - The Anti-Mask Movement w/Brian Tao - Lockdown Toronto Ep.11Brian Tao is a professional photographer and amateur documentarian of the anti-mask movement in Toronto. His videos depicting some of the anti-mask rallies have gone viral and we spend this episode discussing them, the anti-mask movement, the motivations of its participants and other forces at play.
Cited in this show:
Brian Tao's Youtube Page
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrianTao/videos
$#!+ Covidiots Say Video Series
Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax0ZWF30Wow
Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v...2020-07-241h 11Lockdown TorontoJustice Delayed is Justice Denied with Joe Killoran - Lockdown Toronto Ep.10Joe Killoran associate lawyer at Jensen Law in Kamloops British Columbia, practising criminal defense, and writes frequently for many publications including the Sun, the Star, Ottawa Citizen, Huffington Post and more with a focus on law, politics, social justice and constitutional rights.
In this episode we discuss how lock down has affected the criminal justice system, how the Courts have unilateral decision making powers over their operations, how many accused and convicted are languishing in intolerable conditions simply because of the timing of the pandemic, the concept of prison abolitionism, the lack of supports and recidivism and...2020-06-2556 minLockdown TorontoLockdown Toronto Ep.09 - Density is not to blame; Defund Police & PLAN-demic Part 2 with Matt ElliottDensity is not to blame; Defund Police & PLAN-demic Part II with Matt Elliott
Matt Elliott is a Toronto-based freelance contributing columnist for the Toronto Star, also writes for CBC Toronto, and is the author of City Hall Watcher, an independent City Hall newsletter. You can follow him on twitter @graphicmatt
In this episode we go over the ideas around Defunding the police, the effects the lockdown and the pandemic is having on the future of the city, debunk the idea that density is a multiplier variable for Covid-19 (it's poverty) discuss developer exploitation...2020-06-1158 minLockdown TorontoLockdown Toronto Ep.08 - Defunding Police and Democracy with Toronto City Councillor Shelley CarrollPolice mafia tactics? Defund the police? What is going on?
Toronto City Councillor Shelley Carroll, Ward 17 Don Valley North joins Lockdown Toronto to discuss the challenges of democratic process in the time of lockdown, including developers gaming the crisis to their advantage, technical limitations, and public engagement.
Councillor Carroll was also a long-time member of the Police Services Board and oversaw their budgeting and speaks to the concept and different models of what 'defunding police' looks like. She also discussed the nature of Toronto Police, how they have targeted her and her family in the...2020-06-1053 minLockdown TorontoLockdown Toronto Ep.07 - Richard White on the REAL Plan-demicRichard White is a Toronto historian and regular lecturer in Canadian History at the University of Toronto. He is also the author of the book, "Planning Toronto" which is a historical analysis of the city’s planning and how it contributed to Toronto becoming a functional, world-class city.
Richard and I touch on the impact public health has had on urban planning practises and attitudes in the past, what is happening in the present and what kind of urban planning changes may transpire in a post-pandemic Toronto.
Some sources discussed in this conversation:
...2020-05-2947 minLockdown TorontoLockdown Toronto Ep.06 - Janet Joy Wilson - Build 100KM of New Bike Lanes in TorontoShould we immediately build 100KM of cycling infrastructure in Toronto?
Janet Joy Wilson and her group organized over 50 groups and organizations to petition the city of Toronto to build 100KM of new cycling infrastructure in the City. Many Cities are rethinking the urban landscape and her group asked the City to take the opportunity and build alternative transportation corridors on our roads to allow cycling and other "last mile" vehicles. That could help establish a safer, healthier alternative to our traditional public transit network in this time of social distancing.
We discuss what that...2020-05-2140 minLockdown TorontoLockdown Toronto Ep.05 - Geordie Dent - Tenant Abuse, Are $Billion Investment Firms Looking to Seize Housing In This Crisis?Are $$ billion and $$$ trillion dollar investment firms gearing up to seize housing in this crisis?
Geordie Dent is the Executive Director of the Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations (FMTA) which is the foremost group representing tenant rights in Toronto.
In this incredibly interesting discussion we touch on the unique precariousness that tenants are facing due to this crisis, and the looming eviction crisis coming to Toronto.
Additionally, we discuss entities like the future of Airbnb and the fact that billion/trillion dollar investment funds are seeking to pick up whatever excess housing supply...2020-05-1857 minLockdown TorontoLockdown Toronto Ep.04 - Chris Hudspeth on the fate of Toronto's Hospitality IndustryChristopher Hudspeth is the owner and operator of Pegasus on Church and the Chair of The Village Business Improvement Area, and a letter posted to Facebook last week went viral getting picked up by many media outlets on the inadequate government assistance provided to small businesses who cannot bear to weather the storm of the current lock down alone.
Christopher walks us through the current programs, the harm of delivery apps, and a future Toronto where big-bog retail and restaurants are all that's left.
If you're looking to help encourage the government to...2020-05-1137 minLockdown TorontoLockdown Toronto Ep.03 - Emily May Rose on the fate of Toronto's artists during lock downIn 1938 when the cloud of WWII was looming close Great Britain was questioning the funding of the arts, Winston Churchill remarked:
“The arts are essential to any complete national life. The State owes it to itself to sustain and encourage them…. Ill fares the society which fails to salute the arts with the reverence and delight which are their due.”
Emily May Rose is an award-winning artist and illustrator based in Toronto and she joins the cast in this episode to speak to the fate of Toronto's Art Scene during and after...2020-05-0831 min
Lockdown TorontoLockdown Toronto Ep.02 - Dr. Warren Wang - Taiwan to Toronto; what doing it right looks like.Lockdown Toronto brings in Tiawanese Doctor, Warren Wei-Jen Wang, M.D. to speak about the early days of the pandemic in Taiwan.
Dr. Warren Wei-Jen Wang is an emergency medical specialist who has a primary care practise in Taiwan. He is a Member of the Taiwan Society of Emergency Medicine, a Member of the Taiwan Medical Association as well as running Taiwan's Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu Academy. He also divides his time between Taiwan and California where his children are currently studying.
Dr. Wang was on the ground in the earliest days of the pandemic...2020-05-0638 minLockdown TorontoLockdown Toronto Ep.01 - With guest, Ontario MPP Tom RakocevicOntario Member of Provincial Parliament Tom Rakocevic (NDP - Humber River—Black Creek) joins Lockdown Toronto for our first vodcast to give us some insight on the current crisis in Toronto and Ontario, and the perspective from Queen's Park as well as his community. We talk about the onset of the pandemic, the NDP's mainstreet plan, a proposed 50% reduction of auto insurance, the vulnerable demographics in Toronto who are uniquely affected by this crisis and more.
Launched in April 2020, Lockdown Toronto is a new vodcast/podcast series hosted by Robert Andreacchi that focuses on the experience of...2020-05-051h 04