Fight Back With Libby Znaimer

RECOVERING POLITICIANS: FUTURE OF TORONTO POLICE AFTER UMAR ZAMEER TRIAL ENDS WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FORCE Tasha Kheiriddin filled in for Libby Znaimer today. She was joined by George Smitherman, former Ontario Liberal Cabinet Minister, Cheri DiNovo, former Ontario NDP MPP and Andrea Mandel-Campbell, former Conservative candidate in Don Valley West. The panel discussed all things politics! From Umar Zameer's lawyer calling out politicians and policemen for "demonizing" his client, to Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles' attempt to reverse the ban of keffiyeh at Queen's Park failing to pass a unanimous vote. Tasha also touched on the multi-billion dollar deal with Honda to assemble electric vehicles in Ontario. HEALTH EXPERTS EXPRESS DISAPPOINTMENT ABOUT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S DECISION TO END FUNDING FOR HIV SELF-TESTING KITS  Tasha Kheiriddin was joined by Khaled Salam, Executive Director, AIDS Committee of Ottawa, and Dr. Sean B. Rourke, PhD, Scientist with MAP Centre of Urban Health Solutions at St. Micha

ZOOMER SQUAD: TORONTO TO PROVIDE FREE DENTAL CARE SERVICE TO CITY-OPERATED LTC HOME RESIDENTS   Tasha Kheiriddin filled in for Libby Znaimer today. She was joined by Bill VanGorder, Chief Advocacy and Education Officer at CARP, Anthony Quinn, Chief Community & Benefits Officer at CARP and Lorne Bozinoff, President at Forum Research. The panel discussed Mayor Olivia Chow's announcement on the free mobile dental care program for the more than 2,600 residents of the 10 long-term care homes operated by the City of Toronto and more. TORONTO CONDUCTED THE CITY’S THIRD POTHOLE BLITZ OF THE YEAR OVER THE WEEKEND Tasha Kheiriddin was joined by Barbara Gray, General Manager of Transportation Services and Teresa Di Felice, Assistant Vice President, Government and Community Relations for CAA SCO. Kheiriddin and guests talk about the third pothole blitz conducted by the city of Toronto. Gray revealed the city will soon add "Patch Masters" to their equipment inventory. The patch is described online to be an all

Today on Free For All Friday: listeners called in to talk about the trial of Umar Zameer, lack of care in LTC homes and much more.  

TUNE INTO THE TOWN: TORONTO’S SHARE OF THE FEDERAL BUDGET It’s a busy week at Toronto City Hall as Mayor Olivia Chow and councillors react to what was in and not in the federal Liberal budget delivered on Tuesday. And the mayor and councillors today and yesterday have also been taking care of city business which includes the debacle around the rollout of the vacant home tax and how to improve it. Jane Brown is filling in for Libby Znaimer today. She is joined by Karen Stintz, CEO of Variety Village, Alex Blumenstein, Co-Founder of The Peak and David Crombie, a former Toronto Mayor. PREMIER DOUG FORD CALLS TO REVERSE THE BAN ON KEFFIYEHS AT QUEEN'S PARK A call by all of Ontario’s party leaders, including Premier Doug Ford to reverse a ban on wearing a keffiyeh in the legislature has failed to pass in a unanimous vote this morning. The speaker, Ted Arnott, who originally imposed the ban acknowledged the request to have the ban reversed and when it was put to a unanimous vote, he said he could hear some

THE MEDICAL RECORD: CANCER SCREENING GUIDELINES  Libby Znaimer today is joined by Dr. Malcolm Moore, Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Dr. Fahad Razak, Canada Research Chair in Data Informed Healthcare Improvement at the University of Toronto, and Dr. Alisa Naiman, Family Physician and Founder and Medical Director of The Medical Station in Toronto. It’s Wednesday, time to talk about your health. We’ll begin with the latest cancer screening controversy: a federally appointed body called The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health issues the guidelines that another group of medical experts are now calling dangerous and outdated.   REACTION TO THE FEDERAL BUDGET RELEASED IN OTTAWA THIS WEEK Libby Znaimer today is joined by Taylor Scollon, Co-Founder of The Peak, Muhammad Ali, Liberal Strategist and Senior Consultant at Crestview Strategy in Ottawa, John Mykytyshyn, Conservative Activist, Political Consultant and President of Bradgate Research Group. Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and

RECOVERING POLITICIANS PANEL: A LOOK AHEAD TO THE FEDERAL BUDGET Jane Brown is filling in for Libby Znaimer today. She is joined by Lisa Raitt, Former Deputy Leader of Conservative Party of Canada, Cheri DiNovo, Former Ontario NDP MPP, and John Milloy, Former Ontario Liberal MPP who served as a cabinet minister under the Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne governments. Today, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivers the federal budget to Canadians. STAFFING SHORTAGES IN LONG-TERM CARE  Jane Brown is joined by Dr. Vivian Stamatopolous, a professor at Ontario Tech University who conducts research on long-term care issues and is an advocate for residents. What we know about staffing shortages in long-term care and how that may be impacting the province's ability to meet the required number of hours of hands-on care for residents. A MEMORIAL RIDE FOR CYCLIST KILLED IN TORONTO Jane Brown is joined by Albert Koehl, cycling and pedestrian advocate and an environmental lawyer

THE ZOOMER SQUAD:  CAN FOREIGN-TRAINED NURSES SOLVE OUR NURSING SHORTAGES? Libby Znaimer is joined by Rudy Buttignol, President of CARP, Peter Muggeridge, Senior Editor of Zoomer Magazine, and Lorne Bozinoff, President, Forum Research Group. Today: the panel discussed what you need to know about the carbon rebate, the challenges that foreign-trained nurses face when it comes to practicing here in Canada and more. ISRAEL'S RESPONSE TO IRAN'S DRONE ATTACK OVER THE WEEKEND Libby Znaimer is now joined by Dr. Amos Guiora, Professor of Law at the University of Utah and a former Legal advisor to the IDF in Gaza, Martin Himmel, Award-Winning Investigative Documentary Filmmaker, and Vivian Bercovici, a former Ambassador of Canada to Israel. Over the weekend, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel. In turn, Israel alongside a coalition of countries managed to intercept 99 per cent of the fire marking an unprecedented shift in the conflict between the two countries. IT'S NATIONAL VOLUNTEER W

Today on Free For All Friday: listeners called in about the state of homelessness in Toronto, litter on our highways and the federal carbon tax. 

TUNE INTO THE TOWN:  WHO'S PAYING FOR THE THERME SPA AT ONTARIO PLACE? Libby Znaimer is joined by Alex Blumenstein, Co-Founder of The Peak, Karen Stintz, CEO of Variety Village, and David Crombie, former Mayor of Toronto. Earlier in the week on Fight Back, Toronto Police Association President Jon Reid told Libby that the union has called on Mayor Olivia Chow to condemn a letter signed by some City councillors who expressed concern over a Pro-Palestinian protest in which some demonstrators were arrested for breaking the law. Since his appearance on the show, the Mayor has said she has no plans to condemn that group of councillors. So, how do you feel about this? And, Vaughan in collaboration with York Regional Police are working to crack down on illegal car rallies. PRIME MINISTER TRUDEAU TESTIFIES OVER FOREIGN INTERFERENCE Libby Znaimer is now joined by Bob Richardson, Senior Council, National Public Relations and Phil Gurski,  President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting and a former CSIS

THE MEDICAL RECORD: GUIDELINES FOR ATRIAL FIBRILLATION HAVE BEEN UPDATED Libby Znaimer today is joined by Dr. Malcolm Moore, Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Dr. Fahad Razak, Canada Research Chair in Data Informed Healthcare Improvement at the University of Toronto, and Dr. Alisa Naiman, Family Physician and Founder and Medical Director of The Medical Station in Toronto. There have been a number of cases of bird flu among dairy cows in the US and the concern is that there could be spread of the virus into the human population. We ask our doctors if this is something we should be worried about here in Canada. Meanwhile, various medical authorities in the US including The American College of Cardiology and The American College of Chest physicians have introduced an updated guideline for atrial fibrillation. VACCINES FOR PNEUMONIA & OTHER TYPES OF PNEUMOCOCCAL DISEASE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Libby Znaimer is now joined by Dr. Jia Hu is a family physician from Calgary who is also an

RECOVERING POLITICIANS PANEL:OTTAWA'S SPENDING ON NATIONAL DEFENCE Libby Znaimer is joined by George Smitherman, a former Ontario Liberal Deputy Premier and Health Minister, Cheri Di Novo, former Ontario NDP MPP, Janet Ecker, Former Ontario PC MPP and finance minister. This week: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced billions of dollars in national defence spending, Premier Doug Ford wants paper bags at LCBO stores to come back and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre shows his support for Toronto's Jewish community. CRIME STOPPERS AND TPS LAUNCH HATE CRIMES AWARENESS CAMPAIGN Libby Znaimer is now joined by Mark Cousins, Vice Chair of Toronto Crime Stoppers. Mark discusses the launch of the Hate Crime Awareness Campaign alongside the Toronto Police Service. According to Robert Johnson, TPS Deputy Chief, "of the reported hate crimes in 2024 over half are anti-semitic and last month was the highest number of antisemitic occurrences for the past 3 years BRAMPTON MAYOR PATRICK BROWN ON AUTO-THEFT Libby Z

THE ZOOMER SQUAD: MORE ON THE VACANT PROPERTY TAX DEBACLE Libby Znaimer is joined by Bill VanGorder, Chief Advocacy and Education Officer of CARP, Anthony Quinn, Chief Community Officer of CARP and Lorne Bozinoff, President, Forum Research Group. Today they discuss how thousands of Toronto homeowners have filed complaints with the City over the vacant property tax, and go over their own plans in regards to today's much-anticipated solar eclipse. TPA AND TORONTO POLICE ANGRY ABOUT SIGNED LETTER ON PROTESTS Libby Znaimer is joined first by Jon Reid, President of the Toronto Police Association, followed by Councillor Paula Fletcher, Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth. We get reactions from both on a signed letter regarding recent pro-Palestinian protests that saw a number of demonstrators get arrested for breaking the law.

Today on Free For All Friday: Plenty of our listeners have complaints about how the City of Toronto is handling the Vacant Property Tax. Tune in to find out why!

TUNE INTO THE TOWN:  A FREEZE ON THE "RAIN TAX" AND THE FUTURE OF TDSB ADULT CLASSES Libby Znaimer is joined by Alex Blumenstein, Co-Founder of The Peak, Karen Stintz, CEO of Variety Village, and David Crombie, former Mayor of Toronto. This week: The City has put a freeze on its “rain tax”, also known as a stormwater charge. And, why is the TDSB suing social media companies like Tik Tok? SO...WHAT EXACTLY IS A SOLAR ECLIPSE? AND THE IMPORTANCE OF EYE PROTECTION WHEN WATCHING ONE Libby Znaimer is now joined by Rupinder Brar, Senior Teaching Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Ontario Tech University, and Dr. Philip Hooper, president of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society. The day until the Solar Eclipse--Monday April 8th--is quickly approaching. Niagara Region declared a state of emergency with the expectation that as many as a million people could congregate to watch it. That's a lot of people. So...what exactly is a Solar Eclipse and why is it so rare? Also, what measures should you be taking to

THE BIG SYSTEM OUTAGE AT THE UHN If you have an appointment today at any of the University Health Network hospitals, you have likely been made to wait even longer than usual due to a system outage caused by the spring storm. Then on the program, the ability of artificial intelligence to detect tumor cells could be key to more accurate bone cancer prognoses. Jane Brown is joined by Dr. Malcolm Moore, a Medical Oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Dr. Fahad Razak, Canada Research Chair in Data Informed Healthcare Improvement at the University of Toronto, and Dr. Jamie Spiegelman, is an Internal medicine and critical care physician at Humber River Hospital. AN ONTARIO/QUEBEC AUTO THEFT CRACKDOWN SHOWS PROMISING RESULTS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THIS KIND OF CRIME Everyone is talking about auto theft especially if your insurance rates have gone up because you drive a car that is on the list of most stolen vehicles. And, of course you’re talking about it, if you actually have had your vehicle stolen, p

RECOVERING POLITICIANS PANEL: IS OTTAWA'S FOOD PROGRAM JUST ANOTHER GREAT IDEA WITH A LACK OF A PLAN? Libby Znaimer is joined by George Smitherman, a former Ontario Liberal Deputy Premier and minister of health, Lisa Raitt, a former deputy leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, and Cheri Di Novo, a former Ontario NDP MPP. This week: the Trudeau Liberals announced their plan to spend $1 billion towards a national school food program. And it is National Caregivers Day. TORONTO POLICE ASSOCIATION ON PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTS Libby Znaimer is now joined by Jon Reid, President of the Toronto Police Association. Today: Jon talks about the kinds of challenges that Toronto Police face when it comes to responding to Pro-Palestinian protests, and the measures they have in place to enforce the law should protesters break those laws. Last Saturday, Toronto Police arrested a number of demonstrators. Jon also responds to criticism that the force is not doing enough to make the local Jewish community feel safe.

THE ZOOMER SQUAD: THE CARBON TAX GOES UP TODAY Libby Znaimer is joined by Rudy Buttignol,  President of CARP and Anthony Quinn, Chief Community Officer of CARP, and John Wright, Executive Vice President of Maru Public Opinion. Today: our Zoomer Squad reacts to the Ford government's plan to put $2 billion into homecare as per their latest budget. And, the federal carbon tax goes up today. How will that impact the pocket books of Canadians? WHO MADE THE SUNSHINE LIST + HIGHLY PAID CANADIAN MPS Libby Znaimer is now joined by Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Franco weighs in on the latest Sunshine List out of Ontario--which now includes more than 300,000 people! Franco also reacts to the news that starting today, PM Trudeau is giving federal MPs a big raise making them the second highest paid elected officials behind their U.S. counterparts. SOLAR ECLIPSE STATE OF EMERGENCY Libby Znaimer is now joined by Jim Diodati, Mayor of Niagara Falls in Ontario, and Natalie

Today on Free For All Friday: listeners debated whether Donald Trump becoming U.S President once again would be a good thing...and things got heated.

TUNE INTO THE TOWN: TORONTONIAN SUFFERS LIFE ALTERING INJURY FROM DOG ATTACK Libby Znaimer is joined by Taylor Scollon, Co-Founder of The Peak, Councillor James Pasternak, Ward 6 York Centre, and Councillor Paula Fletcher, Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth. Today's topics include: the city's garbage collection, dog attacks, and reaction to the provincial budget and how it may impact Toronto. MARIT STILES REACTS TO FORD GOVERNMENT'S BUDGET Libby Znaimer is joined by Marit Stiles, leader of the Ontario NDP to discuss the $2B for home care recently revealed in the provincial budget. GROWING PETITION CALLS ON LOBLAW TO REPEAL RECEIPT SCANNING POLICY Now we turn to the hugely profitable grocery chain that Canadians love to hate: of course Libby is talking about Loblaw and specifically their pilot project introducing receipt scanners in self-checkout areas where shoppers will be locked in if they don’t have that receipt. Now a growing petition organized by Leadnow is calling for that policy to be abolished.

THE MEDICAL RECORD:  ONTARIO'S HEALTHCARE FUNDING PLANS Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Alisa Naiman, Family Physician and Founder and Medical Director of The Medical Station in Toronto, Dr. Malcolm Moore, Medical Oncologist with the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Dr. Amol Verma, a staff physician in General Internal Medicine at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. This week: the province released its budget. Our panel assesses what funding it includes for the healthcare system and give the Ford government a grade on their plans. THE BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE: SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTIONS AND BRIDGE SAFETY Libby Znaimer is now joined by Jim Bookbinder, a Professor in the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo and Rob Handfield, Bank of America Professor of Supply Chain Management at North Carolina State University. The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed this week after a cargo ship collided right into it. As many as 6 people are presumed dead and many questions rem