Guests: Leena Usman, Pino Buffone and Kris Rushowy In what could be a landmark lawsuit in Canada, at least five major Ontario school boards are taking some of the largest social media companies to court over their platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, alleging they have been designed in a way that’s almost “rewiring” the way children behave. The allegations have yet to be proven in court, and there is no set date for when they will be heard, but they are now joining a wave of U.S....

Guest: Salman Rushdie, author It has been almost two years since celebrated author Salman Rushdie was attacked on a stage in Erie, New York as he was about to deliver a lecture. In an assault that lasted 27 seconds, a knife went through his right eye and optical nerve, while wounds to his tongue, neck and hand left him a changed man. Salman shares details of the attack — and his recovery — in his new memoir, “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.” As interviews for the book are in...

Guest: Anuradha Dugal, Vice President Community Initiatives at the Canadian Women's Foundation Equal Pay Day is recognized internationally as a day of action, calling on stakeholders to advance women’s economic activity. It symbolizes how much longer women have had to work to catch up to what their male colleagues have earned in the previous year. Showing that women in Canada have worked nearly 16 months to earn what men make in 12. The needle hasn't budged on gender pay inequity in almost...

Guest: Olivia Chow, mayor News over the last couple of weeks around city hall has been heavy on tax worries and mix-ups — thousands of bills sent out for vacant home taxes for occupied properties and concerns about a proposed stormwater fee. Mayor Olivia Chow explains what she thinks went wrong and how she plans to fix it (and “start from scratch” on the vacant home system). She also discusses her plan to deal with the growing number of homeless encampments in parks that have spread around...

Thousands of property owners across the city got bills this week for vacant home taxes applying to homes they live in. Today, hosts Ed Keenan and Emma Teitel try to understand the comprehensive fiasco in the implementation of the policy. They also talk about the much-feared “rain tax” that will now go back for further study, about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s attempts to announce his way out of his problems and what to do about dangerous dogs in Toronto. Plus, it is IIHF World Women’s...

Guest: Nicholas Keung, immigration reporter  The federal government is scaling back on the number of temporary residents and foreign workers in Canada while trying to boost access to permanent residence for those already here. Earlier, similar curbing measures were introduced for international students as well. While the government is framing these new, more restrictive immigration measures as a solution to a burgeoning housing and affordability crisis and to rein in population growth, there...

Guests: Sheila Wang and Morgan Sevareid-Bocknek, investigative reporters They're called ”lunch hour facelifts,” cosmetic touch-ups without the surgery. But if you are rethinking your lunch plans, you might want to think again. A recent Star investigation found a lot of these procedures are not as advertised. Across Canada, spas and medical clinics are offering the popular medical procedure marketed as a safe, minimally invasive treatment. But as service providers compete for customers on...

Guest: Toronto Star climate reporter Kate Allen Canada is the leader in maple syrup production and Quebec’s maple syrup producers maintain a strategic reserve stockpile that in recent years held over 100 million pounds of the sweet stuff, but levels have this year dwindled to less than 7 million pounds. Star reporter Kate Allen wrote a feature on this topic and explains how the explanation has something (surprisingly) to do with the pandemic, something (interestingly) to do with successful...

Guest: Richard Warnica, staff reporter The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore was a massive component of the port city's entire transportation network, and in a matter of moments this week, it collapsed after being struck by a container ship. The Star’s Richard Warnica reports from the scene, explaining his reflections on standing next to the bridge that used to be there and just isn’t any more, and the massive wreckage of the ship. It’s an event that has massive implications for the city...

Guest: Noor Javed, staff reporter When Bonnie Crombie was elected leader of the Ontario Liberals, she left the mayor’s chair in Mississauga vacant. That means that for the first time since the 1970s, no one is certain who will lead the city next. An election with real choice comes at an interesting time for a municipality that, fifty years after it was created, has grown into a big city and a big economy, one that the Star’s Noor Javed explains is wrestling with questions of what it should...

Guest: Brendan Kennedy, investigative reporter  The evidence is overwhelming and it’s the government’s own research. Getting any education while incarcerated reduces the rate of recidivism by as much as 30 per cent. It’s more than double that for inmates who get a post-secondary education. Government officials confirm that at least some education beyond the high school level is key to a successful reintegration into society. Yet taking university or college courses inside Canadian prisons...

This Matters is pleased to publish episodes of the Toronto Star's podcast, "Road Trip: Electric Avenues," every Saturday. This week, we are proud to share the final episode in the series: When we started this podcast, we really wanted to visit each step of the EV production process to show a complete picture of the supply chain, but in the end, we couldn’t seal the deal. First off, the cam and cathode production isn’t coming to Ontario. Right now, it’s all being built in Bécancour, Quebec....

After The Star revealed many details of Toronto’s secret contract with FIFA for hosting the World Cup, the preparations led off the city council meeting this week. We talk about what we’ve learned and what we still don’t know. Council also passed a resolution to turn surface parking lots into housing, which led to yet another episode of War on the Car rhetoric. Plus, were protests targeting a city councillor this week out of line? What would you like to hear on Toronto Star podcasts? Let us...

Guest: Susan Delacourt, politics columnist Former prime minister Brian Mulroney died late last month, and through this week as he’s lain in state, columnist Susan Delacourt has watched the long lines of dignitaries and functionaries who’ve come to greet his family and pay their respects. Delacourt walks us through her own memories and reflections from covering Mulroney’s years in office, including the infamous “roll the dice” interview that some people think sunk the Meech Lake accord and...

This Matters is pleased to publish episodes of the Toronto Star's podcast, "Road Trip: Electric Avenues," every Saturday. The next episode will be available next week here, or already in the Road Trip feed. This week, we are proud to share episode five: While China dominates the EV supply chain today, the ranking — put out by Bloomberg — really looks at the future and singles out Canada for having better environmental and labour standards, as well as a robust automotive sector and vast...

Guest: Megan Ogilvie, health reporter  A global surge in measles has made its way to Canada, where there’s been almost twice as many cases just three months into this year than in all of 2023. Just in Ontario, as of Wednesday, public health officials have confirmed eight measles cases. Last year, there were seven cases in total for the entire year. Cases have now also been confirmed in Quebec, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. What does this mean for us and what do we need to know about...

Toronto Star national columnist Susan Delacourt recently had her X account (the platform formerly known as Twitter) hacked. It compromised her entire digital life, from her sensitive emails to her banking information, even her phone number and home address. The hacker tried to blackmail her and appeared to be targeting her for her work as a journalist. While the "fake Susan" continues to be active on X, it's the real Susan that had to leave. This is the story of a hacking, what happens when...

This Matters is pleased to publish episodes of the Toronto Star's podcast, "Road Trip: Electric Avenues," every Saturday. The next episode will be available next week here, or already in the Road Trip feed. This week, we are proud to share episode four:  Steel is one of the biggest emitters of carbon in the world. Currently, steelmaking is responsible for seven to nine percent of total global emissions. That’s about 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon — or four times more than all the emissions...

Earlier this year, it seemed like the dream of a WNBA team in Toronto had died, but recent news revives the possibility, even if it won’t come until at least 2026. Speaking of sports in 2026, there’s more news about Toronto’s agreement to co-host the FIFA World Cup, and more to discuss about how costs are going to be shared. Ed wrote about a transportation miracle on King Street, and Emma discusses why a long-dormant disease should unite federal politicians. Plus, Toronto’s great Professional...

Guests: Tracy Moore of Cityline and Meredith Shaw of Breakfast Television Fat. Flattering. Big boned. Curvy. March 8 is International Women’s Day and to mark it we’re breaking down the negative ways we talk about women’s bodies. Most women are familiar with body shaming — none more so than women in the public eye. Meredith Shaw and Tracy Moore join us to talk about their own self-acceptance journeys, how they handle nasty viewer comments and whether they wish they could stop talking about it...

This Matters is pleased to publish episodes of the Toronto Star's podcast, "Road Trip: Electric Avenues," every Saturday. The next episode will be available next week here, or already in the Road Trip feed. Ontario is virtually unique in the world. Thanks to plentiful natural resources, clean energy and a large automotive sector, it has every stage in the EV supply chain right here at home. In theory, the province could mine the metals, make the batteries, produce the steel and assemble the...

Guest: Dr. Tara Kiran, national lead for OurCare, scientist at the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto A nationwide health-care crisis has led a group of medical researchers to criss-cross the country to hear how Canadians would fix primary care, the front door of the health system. It’s called the OurCare project, the largest initiative of this kind, and through it medical researchers have surveyed close to 10,000 people from across...

This Matters is pleased to publish the first episode of the Toronto Star, TVO and IJB collaborative podcast, The Ultimate Choice. The podcast follows the journey of Michael and his wife, Ann. Michael, housebound by pain and incurable disease, sees his choice for a medically assisted death (MAID) as a powerful solution to his suffering. The series explores Michael's motivations and how his decision affects his family, friends, and longtime doctor. Hosted by Toronto Star investigative reporter...

This Matters is pleased to publish episodes of the Toronto Star's podcast, Road Trip: Electric Avenues, every Saturday. The next episode will be available next week here, or already in the Road Trip feed.  In episode 2, we visit a cobalt refinery in Cobalt, Ont. that’s running on renewable power and doubling as a battery recycling plant. Electra Battery Materials bought the plant in 2018 and five years on, they’ve got the first cobalt refinery in North America, the only alternative for EV...

The first episode of "Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent" aired this week, and we agree the city not only looked like itself, but looked beautiful too. But beautiful or not, this is still a very expensive place to live, and a new report shows it’s dragging down quality of life across the board. Does the Chow/Ford announcement this week offer any hope of change? Meanwhile, we discuss Emma's column about Pierre Poilievre’s pathetic porno politics. Plus, clarifying some comments on the...