Fight Back With Libby Znaimer

Today on Free For All Friday: listeners phoned in to discuss the recent federal election debates, and to let us know who they will be voting for as the election approaches.

ONTARIO PLACE BOMBSHELL: FORD GOVERNMENT DUPED Libby Znaimer is joined by Ana Bailao, a former Toronto Deputy Mayor, City Councillor and Mayoral Candidate, Jon Burnside, City Councillor for Ward 16 (Don Valley East) and Taylor Scollon, Co-Founder of The Peak. A bombshell NYT report exposes the Ford government’s billion-dollar blunder with Therme’s Ontario Place deal—95-year lease, dubious claims, and massive subsidies. Ford now promises to “investigate.” Meanwhile, violent crime escalates in public spaces once considered safe, and Olivia Chow’s soft-on-crime approach faces heat. BEYOND THE HEADLINES: KEY MOMENTS YOU MISSED IN THE FRENCH-LANGUAGE DEBATE Libby is joined by Tasha Kheiriddin, a public affairs commentator, consultant, lawyer and occasional guest host of Fight Back. We’ve all seen the headlines from last night’s French-language debate: Mark Carney held his ground, and Pierre Poilievre didn’t stumble. But beyond the big takeaways, a few key moments flew under the radar—subtle exchanges, stra

NEW CMAJ GUIDELINES PRIORITIZE MENTAL HEALTH, PERSONALIZED CARE IN YOUTH OBESITY TREATMENT Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Fahad Razak, General Internist at Unity Health Toronto, Provincial Co-Lead General Medicine, Dr. Alisa Naiman, family doctor practicing comprehensive primary care in Toronto and Dr. Malcolm Moore, Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. The Canadian Medical Association Journal has released updated obesity treatment guidelines for youth, highlighting early intervention, mental health, and personalized care. The approach moves beyond “eat less, move more,” and includes options like GLP-1 drugs and surgery when appropriate. Meanwhile, Pfizer halts its oral semaglutide trial due to a potential liver injury case. TURBOTAX USERS HIT WITH SURPRISE CRA BILLS OVER CREDIT ERRORS Libby is joined by Laurie Reade, TurboTax Customer and David Rotfleisch, founding Canadian tax lawyer of Rotfleisch & Samulovitch. Many Canadians using TurboTax are facing unexpected tax bills after t

LIBERALS HOLD LEAD AHEAD OF KEY DEBATES Libby Znaimer is joined by the Recovering Politicians Panel with Cheri DiNovo, former Member of Provincial Parliament of Ontario, George Smitherman, former Liberal MPP for Toronto Centre, Health Minister and Deputy Premier and Janet Ecker, former Ontario PC MPP. With the election looming, the two-way race heats up. According to the latest National Tracker from Liaison Strategies, the Liberals are currently leading with 44% support, while the Conservatives trail closely behind at 39%. Meanwhile, Trump tariffs return, and Honda may shift some Alliston production to the U.S. POILIEVRE TARGETS SCAMMERS WITH NEW MEASURES AIMED AT PROTECTING SENIORS Libby is joined Macaulee Cassaday, Program Director at Cyber Seniors and Digital/Cyber Strategist Ritesh Kotak. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is making a direct appeal to Zoomers, unveiling a new set of measures aimed at cracking down on the rise of sophisticated scams—particularly those targeting seniors. But how do

FEDERAL ELECTION COUNTDOWN: TWO WEEKS REMAIN Guest host Jane Brown was joined by Anthony Quinn, CARP’s Chief Operating Officer, David Valentin, Principal at Liaison Strategies and Bob Richardson, public affairs consultant and former Liberal strategist. With the federal election just two weeks away, CARP is rallying older voters through its A Million Seniors Strong campaign. Youth engagement at the polls remains low—only 46.7% of 18–24-year-olds voted in 2021, well below the national turnout of 62.6%. PALM SUNDAY STRIKE: DOZENS KILLED IN RUSSIAN ATTACK ON SUMY Jane Brown joined Roman Waschuk, former Canadian ambassador to Ukraine and Peter Schturyn, President of the Toronto chapter of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. On Palm Sunday, Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian city of Sumy, killing at least 34 and injuring 119. The attack, one of the war’s deadliest, hit as civilians gathered to mark the holy day. Zelenskyy condemned the strike as inhuman, while Trump downplayed it, calling it a “mistake” with

Today on Free For All Friday: with the ongoing Canadian federal election campaign on everyone's mind and voting day coming up soon, listeners called in about their thoughts on Liberal leader Mark Carney versus Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre and whether this has become a two party race.

TUNE INTO THE TOWN: CONSTRUCTION IS LEADING CAUSE OF CONGESTION IN TORONTO Jane Brown is filling in for Libby Znaimer today. She is joined by Taylor Scollon, Co-Founder of The Peak, Rob Davis, a former Toronto City Councillor and Jon Burnside, City Councillor for Ward 16 (Don Valley East). The City of Toronto is pointing to construction as the leading cause of congestion in the City. Meanwhile, it looks like we're getting some compromise between the province and the City of Toronto over bike lanes. THE EXTENT TO WHICH CANADIANS ARE FALLING VICTIM TO FRAUD Jane Brown is joined by Jeff Horncastle, Client and Communications Outreach Officer at the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and Claudiu Popa, Cybersecurity Expert with Datarisk Canada and the founder of KnowledgeFlow, a cyber safety foundation. A new study by TransUnion shows some concerning stats about the extent to which Canadians are falling victim to fraud. Our experts react to the latest and provide tips and best practices for avoiding scams and fraud

THE MEDICAL RECORD: A NEW STUDY ON SHINGLES AND DEMENTIA  Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Malcolm Moore, Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and former head of BC Cancer, Dr. Fahad Razak, General Internist at St. Michael's Hospital and Canada Research Chair in Healthcare Data and Analytics at the University of Toronto and Dr. Alisa Naiman, a family doctor practicing in Toronto.  Today: our panel discusses a new study about the shingles vaccine and their link to reduced dementia risk as well as other healthcare news of the week.  THE U.S.-CHINA TARIFF WAR ESCALATES & THE IMPACT ON TECH PRODUCTS Libby Znaimer is joined by Carmi Levy, Technology Analyst and journalist and Yongjing Zhang, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa.  The U.S.-China tariff war escalates this week. Who will ultimately win here? And, what impact will tariffs have on our tech products here in Canada?  DO YOU HAVE AN OBSESSION WITH TUPPERWARE?  Libby Znaimer is joined by Rose Reisman, a n

RECOVERING POLITICIANS: THE LATEST ON THE FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN Libby Znaimer is joined by George Smitherman, former Liberal MPP for Toronto Centre, Health Minister and Deputy Premier, Cheri DiNovo, former NDP MPP and Lisa Raitt, a former Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. This week, we've reached the halfway point of Canada's federal election race. Where are the leaders on the campaign trail and what does the latest polling suggest? ISRAELI PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU'S STRATEGIC VISIT TO WASHINGTON Libby Znaimer is joined by Charles Freilich, Adjunct Associate Professor of Political Science at Columbia University and a former deputy national security adviser in Israel, and Jon Allen, a former Canadian Ambassador of Canada to Israel and a current Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at UofT. The topic of today's conversation: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington and meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump this week, where key is

ZOOMER SQUAD: THE LATEST ON THE FEDERAL ELECTION RACE  Libby Znaimer is joined by Anthony Quinn, Chief Operating Officer of CARP, Liz West, Host of The Afternoon Express on Zoomer Radio and David Valentin, Principal at Liaison Strategies. This morning, we look at the latest polling and what it says about the Conservatives versus the Liberals in this federal election race. And, what are Zoomers seeing as the key issues lately?  U.S. PRESIDENT TRUMP'S GLOBAL TARIFFS STRATEGY: WHAT'S THE END GAME?  Libby Znaimer is joined by Inu Manuk, a fellow for trade policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and an expert in international political economy. What exactly is U.S. President Donald Trump thinking with his global tariffs strategy? And, will the state of the markets sway him to change his mind about it all? THE STATE OF THE MARKETS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Libby Znaimer is joined by Allan Small, Senior Investment Advisor of the Allan Small Financial Group with IA Private Wealth and Gordon Pape, Editor a

Today on Free For All Friday: listeners called in about their thoughts regarding both Mark Carney, leader of the federal Liberals and Pierre Poilievre, leader of the federal Conservatives, and also U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. 

TUNE INTO THE TOWN: CONGESTION FROM GARDINER CONSTRUCTION & FLOODING IN TORONTO DUE TO STORM Libby Znaimer is joined by Taylor Scollon, Co-Founder of The Peak, Ana Bailao, a former Toronto City Councillor and Mayoral Candidate, and Jon Burnside, City Councillor for Ward 16 (Don Valley East). We take a closer look at the plan for Gardiner Expressway construction and we examine the aftermath of the ice storm that hit the GTA and caused road closures and flooding. Also: Toronto City Councillors voted in favour of a 25 percent salary increase. THE DAY AFTER PRESIDENT TRUMP'S "LIBERATION DAY" Libby Znaimer is joined by Lana Payne, National President for UNIFOR followed by Jesus Ballesteros, Partner in BDO's Strategy, Value Creation & Analytics practice and the National Manufacturing and Distribution Advisory Leader.  It's the day after U.S. President Donald Trump's Liberation Day announcement. How was Canada impacted?  THE LATEST ON THE FEDERAL ELECTION RACE: CONSERVATIVES DROP A FOURTH CANDIDATE Li

THE MEDICAL RECORD: THE LATEST ON THE MEASLES OUTBREAK IN ONTARIO  Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Malcolm Moore, Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and former head of BC Cancer, Dr. Fahad Razak, General Internist at St. Michael's Hospital and Canada Research Chair in Healthcare Data and Analytics at the University of Toronto and Dr. Alisa Naiman, a family doctor practicing in Toronto. We discuss the latest pertaining to the measles outbreak in Ontario, supervised injection sites in the province, the search for a new medical officer of health for Toronto and what a new study tells us about cooking oils.  NEW DOCUMENTARY "OCTOBER 8" ON THE RISE OF ANTISEMITISM Libby Znaimer is joined by Wendy Sachs, Director of the documentary film "October 8". This powerful movie takes a look at the explosion of hatred and antisemitism that took place following the attack on October 7th. AN INTERVIEW WITH TPA PRESIDENT CLAYTON CAMPBELL Libby Znaimer is joined by Clayton Campbell, President of Toronto Po

RECOVERING POLITICIANS: LIBERAL CANDIDATE PAUL CHIANG DROPS OUT OF THE RACE AFTER CONTROVERSY  Libby Znaimer is joined by George Smitherman, former Liberal MPP for Toronto Centre, Health Minister and Deputy Premier, Cheri DiNovo, former NDP MPP and Will Stewart, a Conservative Strategist and Senior Vice President with Enterprise Canada. Paul Chang, the Liberal candidate for Markham-Unionville is no longer in the race. Our panel also weighs in on the latest in the federal election race. CANADA'S BOOK INDUSTRY WANTS NO PART IN CANADA-U.S. TARIFF WAR Libby Znaimer is joined by Jack Illingworth, Executive Director of the Association of Canadian Publishers, Ben McNally, founder of Ben McNally Books and Rania Husseini, Senior Vice President, Print at Indigo. Canada's book industry wants no part in a tariff war between Canada and the U.S. and it's asked Ottawa to keep books out of any tariffs. TARIFFS ON PHARMACEUTICALS COULD LEAD TO SHORTAGE OF CANADIAN DRUGS IN U.S. Libby Znaimer is joined by Mina Tad

ZOOMER SQUAD: HAVE THE FEDERAL CONSERVATIVES LOST THE PLOT? Libby Znaimer is joined by Anthony Quinn, Chief Operating Officer of CARP, Liz West, Host of The Afternoon Express on Zoomer Radio and David Valentin, Principal at Liaison Strategies. The latest polling by Liaison strategies shows the federal Liberals continuing to lead (now by five points) against Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives. Have the Conservatives lost the plot when it comes to their messaging? One prominent Conservative strategist is saying that they need to pivot or else risk losing the election. HOW ONTARIO’S AUTO SECTOR WILL BE HURT BY PRESIDENT TRUMP’S TARIFFS Libby Znaimer is joined by Moshe Lander, Senior Lecturer of Economics at Concordia University in Montreal and Charles Bernard, Lead Economist with the Canadian Automobile Dealers' Association. This week, President Trump's 25 percent auto tariffs are expected to be implemented (set for April 3rd). So what ramifications will that have exactly on Canada's local auto sector. FEDER

Today on Free For All Friday: listeners phoned in to talk about how they will be voting in the upcoming federal election, Prime Minister Mark Carney's phone call with President Trump, and the proposed raise for city councillors.

TUNE INTO THE TOWN: ARE TORONTO CITY COUNCILLORS ABOUT TO GET A MAJOR PAY RAISE? Libby Znaimer is joined by Taylor Scollon, Co-Founder of The Peak, Ana Bailao, a former Toronto Deputy Mayor and mayoral candidate, and Rob Davis, a former Toronto City Councillor. Are Toronto City Councillors about to get a major salary increase? And we get reaction to Toronto City Council's plans for responding to the Trump administration's tariffs. FEDS PUT FREEZE ON TESLA REBATE PAYMENTS + LAUNCH INVESTIGATION Libby Znaimer is joined by Huw Williams, National Spokesperson for the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association and Daniel Breton, President and CEO of Electric Mobility Canada. Ottawa has placed a freeze on EV rebate payments to Tesla, the car company owned by Elon Musk. We take a closer look at why that happened and what it means. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING AUTO TARIFFS Libby Znaimer is joined by David Adams, President, CEO, Global Automakers of Canada followed by Brampton Mayor Patrick Br

THE MEDICAL RECORD: THE LATEST ON MEASLES OUTBREAK IN ONTARIO Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Malcolm Moore, Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and former head of BC Cancer, Dr. Fahad Razak, general internist at St. Michael's Hospital and Canada Research Chair in Healthcare Data and Analytics at the University of Toronto and Dr. Alisa Naiman, a family doctor practicing in Toronto. What is the latest on the measles outbreak in Ontario? And, south of the border, how are President Trump's policies affecting the National Institutes on Health (NIH)? Our panel looks at the latest healthcare news of the week. CONSERVATIVES MAKE PROMISES TO OLDER CANADIANS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Libby Znaimer is joined by Jason Lietaer, Conservative Strategist and President at Enterprise and John Milloy, former Ontario Liberal MPP who served as a cabinet minister under the Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne governments. Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives have made two big announcements targeting older Canadians.

RECOVERING POLITICIANS: WHERE LEADERS ARE ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL Libby Znaimer is joined by George Smitherman, former Liberal MPP for Toronto Centre, Health Minister and Deputy Premier, Cheri DiNovo, former NDP MPP and Lisa Raitt, a former Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. It's day two of the federal election campaign and the Liberals are now ahead in the polls. And, we're already hearing pledges from both the Liberals and Conservatives on bread and butter issues including tax cuts. 23ANDME FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION: WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR YOUR PRIVATE DATA? Libby Znaimer is joined by Carmi Levy, a technology journalist and Dr. Kerry Bowman, a bioethicist at the University of Toronto. The genetic testing company has filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. The burning question, of course, is what will become of the data of customers? THE CAA COMMENCES  ITS ANNUAL WORST ROADS CAMPAIGN Libby Znaimer is joined by Teresa Di Felice, Assistant Vice President, Government and Commun

ZOOMER SQUAD: THE FEDERAL ELECTION IS NOW UNDERWAY Libby Znaimer is joined by Rudy Buttignol, President of CARP, Anthony Quinn, Chief Operating Officer of CARP and Eddie Sheppard, Vice President of Insights at Abacus Data. On Sunday, Prime Minister Mark Carney triggered a snap election and Canadians will be voting at the polls on April 28. We get reaction to that and more. AN UPDATE FROM KAREN STINTZ ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL    Libby Znaimer is joined by Karen Stintz, the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for Eglinton-Lawrence. With a snap election triggered by Prime Minister Mark Carney,  Karen Stintz gives us an update from the campaign trail. Karen opened her campaign office last Tuesday with guests including Toronto-St. Paul's Conservative MP Don Stewart in attendance. So, what does she see are the big priorities for voters in this election cycle? THE LATEST ON THE FATE OF HUDSON'S BAY Libby Znaimer is joined by Bruce Winder, a retail analyst and author and Donna Smith, Director of the Scho