The falls as seen the Doug Ford government defend itself from scandal after scandal. Elected board trustees are being replaced with hand-selected Tory loyalist supervisors, who are being promised $350,000 a year. The Skilled Development Fund is being turned into a transfer of tax dollars to whoever donated the most to the Ontario PC's coffers. Recently, $75 million was spent on an ad campaign that ended up derailing the Tariff talks.

This week saw a major victory for the grassroots organizers to protect the remaining rural area of Hamilton from development.  Hamilton City Council voted not to expand it's Urban Boundary.  This came after a sustained grassroots pressure from groups such as Stop Sprawl Ham ONT organized and campaigned to stop the expansion.  Joel and Roland look at what this victory will mean for the city as it's undergoing a grassroots empowerment movement, and they ponder if this is a sign of a shift in culture from council.

Vaccine Passports are finally being unveiled in Ontario.  However, after being requested by public health for the summer, the rollout has been typical of the Ontario PC government.  It’s messy and uncoordinated.  However, they are here now and what does that mean for avoiding a possible fourth lockdown in the 905?  And is it about time for the vaccinated to stand their ground and say enough is enough with anti-vax and anti-mask protestors?

You've probably had enough election coverage, but if you can't resist reliving it all again, here it is in glorious technicolour. All three an a half hours!  We had fun, and we hope viewers did too. We really appreciated the conversation.

This summer, saw climate change creep back into the headlines, stealing attention away from COVID-19.  And for good reason. This year saw a record-breaking heatwave sweep the west coast, resulting in a town burning to the ground. Climate change is killing people. And yet, it seems barely been a point of debate in this election. In keeping with our effort to focus on the issues that are important to the 905 we invited Keith Brooks from…

We have to admit, we've slipped up with adding all our most recent episodes to the Patreon feed. Hopefully, all or patrons already know that our episodes are always updated on Tuesday and Thursday via our main podcast feed. You can subscribe by searching for 'The 905er' through any podcast app, or by manually adding the following link to your subscriptions:

Over the last few weeks, observers of Burlington city politics have  noticed a growing rift in council.  So much that when Joan Little of the  Spectator commented on it in one of her columns, the Mayor decided a  rebuttal was in order.  What is going on in Burlington City Hall?  Joel  and Roland discuss what we know and what it means.

Three Hamilton apartment buildings have seen major outbreaks of Covid-19 in recent weeks, all of the more transmissible UK-origin variant. The worst instance was in Rebecca Towers, where well over 100 cases have been identified. These outbreaks immediately seemed to highlight Covid-19’s gift for seeking out the more vulnerable members of our communities. But did it also highlight the failure of multiple levels of government to protect those who – after long term care residents and front-line health workers were vaccinated – were in most urgent need of vaccination, and least able to obtain it?

While Joel and Roland were recording this podcast, twice, due to technical problems, news was emerging of what appears to be a third lockdown starting this Easter Weekend. Our intrepid hosts give their reactions to the latest reports - which were yet to be confirmed at the time of recording. A provincial policy of confusing grey areas seems to be sending us all back into grey zones.

Want to show your fandom of the podcast?  We have car window clings for you.  Show everyone around your parking space how much you love The 905er! Add your address to your profile so we can mail you your decal ASAP! Thanks from Roland and Joel!

Earlier this summer, we presented an episode on the Sound of Music festival. The free music festival is held each Father's Day weekend in downtown Burlington. The event has attracted big names in the past, like The Trews and The Arkells, to grace their stages. However, since COVID, the costs have risen steadily, and sponsorships have not kept pace. The festival is in dire straits, with 2025 possibly being the last unless a new model is discovered.

The embattled Marineland, a Niagara Falls theme park, made news again this month. As we discussed in our previous episode on the matter, Marineland is nearing the end of its existence. Brought down by animal welfare scandals and changing perceptions of animal attraction parks. Currently, the park is closed, no longer generating revenue, and, according to its remaining shareholders, it is unable to pay its bills.

Here we are with part two of our series examining school board reforms. The Ford Government is keen on eliminating trustees from Ontario school boards. As of the recording of this episode, Minister of Education Paul Calandra has removed elected trustees from four school boards in the province. Appointing a supervisor to oversee decision-making at the board level. In our previous episode, we had Nokha Dakroub explain why she thought trustees ought to be appointed rather than elected in the province.

The Ontario government has been busy over the last few weeks. Many wheels are in motion, including traffic cameras being forcefully removed from municipalities, as well as another brewing scandal involving the Skills Development Fund. However, there is one that we wanted to focus on for the next two episodes, and that is the question of the removal of school board trustees from multiple boards in Ontario.

Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, two major figures of the 2022 "Freedom Convoy," have been handed conditional sentences and spared further jail time.