Editorial Board Podcast: Catholic Church vs. Ontario government

Welcome to the Toronto Star editorial board’s weekly podcast. The board is responsible for the editorials that appear every day in the Star, and every day we have a lively discussion on what to write about, and what to say. The podcast gives us a chance to share some of those debates with Star readers.

Today we’ll be talking about a heated face-off between the government of Ontario and the leadership of the Catholic Church. And we’ll ask the question – what’s up with Toronto’s increasingly invisible mayor, Rob Ford?

Editorial page editor Andrew Phillips is joined by editorial board members Kerry Gillespie and Leslie Papp.

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The dangers of climbing Mount Everest

Welcome to the Toronto Star editorial board’s weekly podcast. The board is responsible for the editorials that appear every day in the Star, and every day we have a lively discussion on what to write about, and what to say. The podcast gives us a chance to share some of those debates with Star readers.

Today we’ll be talking about two of this week’s big stories – the growing unrest in Quebec, and the death of a Toronto woman on her way down from the summit of Mount Everest. Editorial page editor Andrew Phillips is joined by editorial board members Gordon Barthos, Kerry Gillespie and Leslie Papp, and oped page editor Fred Edwards.

 

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Ontario's showdown with doctors; student protests in Quebec

Today we’ll be talking about a couple of hot button issues in Ontario and Quebec – a fight between doctors and the province of Ontario, and the much more heated fight between radical students and the government in Quebec. Editorial page editor Andrew Phillips is joined by editorial board members Gordon Barthos and Kerry Gillespie.

Why are Ontario's doctors so upset?
Ontario is embroiled in a clash with its doctors over the fees charged for medical services. Doctors are upset about the government's decision to cut back those fees but also about what they call the high-handed way in which the changes are being made. Doctors make a lot of money, so it's hard to see that they will win any popularity contests. But at the same time, the government isn't making the same demands of hospital directors, teachers and civil servants, so you can see how doctors are getting the short end of the equity stick.

Student protests in Quebec
The fight between the Quebec government and students over tuition fees is spiraling out of control. Some of the student protesters see this as a symbol of a much bigger social fight, along the lines of last year's Occupy movement. Where do they go from here?

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A casino on Toronto's waterfront is not a promising idea

Today we’ll be talking about a couple of hot button issues in Ontario and Toronto – whether a casino should be built in downtown Toronto, and what to do with the city’s main drag – Yonge St.

Gambling on the waterfront
Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) head Paul Godfrey visited the Star editorial board recently to make the pitch for a casino on Toronto's waterfront. The pitch is pretty slick and includes plans for a whole entertainment complex, with shops and restaurants, as well as the casino itself. There's no doubt that casinos have a social cost, but statistics suggest that most Ontarians want gambling in some form or another. But the other issue is what kind of structure we'd end up with on Toronto's prime real estate, because the track record for casinos in North America is not promising.

Closing down part of Yonge St.
There's a proposal before city council to restrict traffic on a downtown stretch of Yonge St., to make it more walkable. Are we too preoccupied with driving in Toronto, at the expense of pedestrians and cyclists? Anyway, making Yonge St. one-way could actually make it easier to get around by car.

Editorial page editor Andrew Phillips is joined by editorial board members Gordon Barthos, Kerry Gillespie and Leslie Papp.

 

Listen now

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More on these subjects:

Casinos

• Toronto is unlikely to profit from a waterfront casino
• Polls: Narrow majority favours casino
• Olive: Why a Toronto casino is a crapshoot on the waterfront

Yonge St.

• Public works chair suggests one-way traffic on Yonge and Bay
• Toronto businesses hope to ‘Celebrate Yonge’ by turning famous street over to pedestrians
• Yonge St. first went car-free in the 1970s

Harper's majority record after one year

Today we’ll be talking about the Harper government’s record one year after it won its majority, and we’ll debate a hot topic in Toronto – what to do with the elephants at the zoo.

Conservative majority, one year later
It’s a mixed bag for the Harper government, one year after it won a majority. A few unpopular moves have left the Tories and NDP in a dead heat in recent polls, including free-spending cabinet ministers and sudden changes to old-age security. But there’s no federal election imminent, so should the Conservatives be concerned?

The elephant in the room
The three elephants at the Toronto Zoo are caught in a fight between the zoo and city council. Council arguably should have left the issue alone and allowed its experts at the zoo decide where to move the elephants, instead of wading into the debate in favour of moving the pachyderms to a PAWS facility. But now that we’ve gone so far down that path, is there any alternative?

Editorial page editor Andrew Phillips is joined by editorial board members Gordon Barthos and Leslie Papp.

Listen now

Download the MP3