Scott Thompson Show

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: Ryan Seacrest will become the new host of ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ In a recent piece for the National Post, Sabrina Maddeaux noted that Olivia Chow may wind up pushing Toronto voters toward the right. Supercrawl organizers today unveiled the musical lineup for the 2023 free festival weekend, taking place September 8-10, 2023 along James Street North in downtown Hamilton, Ontario. Ornge is bringing a new Critical Care Land Ambulance garage base to Hamilton. It is aimed at supporting the transfer of critically ill patients around the Golden Horseshoe will be opening this fall. More questions were hurled toward Hamilton’s housing director at a very well-attended public consultation Tuesday touching on what to do an estimated 100 homeless encampments across the city. We look at the aftermath of the Wagner Group's rebellion and what is now happening with Belarus. NordStar Capital – which controls the Toronto Star and Metroland Media, including The Hamilton Spectator – is

A touchy scenario becoming more common is that People pursuing Medical Assistance in Dying are asking to donate one or more of their functioning organs upon their death to someone they know. Now an updated Canadian guideline sets out criteria under which it could be permissible to allow people choosing MAiD to gift their organs to a relative or close friend.    How will different organizations even begin to tackle this dilemma? How are ethical policies approaches when dealing with something so sensitive?   GUEST: Dr. Kerry Bowman, Bioethicist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine with the University of Toronto   In a highly anticipated study released Tuesday, the Competition Bureau said concentration in the grocery industry has increased in recent years and the largest grocers have increased the amount they make on food sales. GUEST: Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, professor of food distribution and policy, and the director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie Universit

Sweden’s bid to join the NATO military alliance will be discussed Monday at a meeting of Nordic leaders in Iceland, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in attendance. Guest: Dr. Aurel Braun, Professor of International Relations and a Senior Member of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: The leader of the Wagner mercenary group defended his short-lived insurrection in a boastful audio statement Monday, but uncertainty still swirled about his fate, as well as that of senior Russian military leaders, the impact on the war in Ukraine, and even the political future of President Vladimir Putin. In a press release, The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has announced that they are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to “back away from his plan to impose a second carbon tax this week on July 1.” Netflix has announced that it will be phasing out the $9.99 “basic” option from its price plans, taking away the cheapest subscription without ads – for Canadian audiences. ‘Play’ is the new airline connecting Canadians to Europe via Iceland. It has started flying out of Hamilton International Airport, and offers fares at a significant discount from the major carriers. We have heard this story before but, with Sunwing being absorbed into West Jet, is this just

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: To start off the show, we look at lithium mining, as well as the shift in focus toward lithium spurred on by Canada's energy transition. Parliament has risen and ended this legislative session. While we know there are several unresolved issues, we also ask, what was accomplished? Let’s take a look at the Fresh Up R&B Festival, which will be taking over Mills Hardware (95 King Street) starting at 6 p.m. tonight and will be running on Saturday and Sunday as well. Daily headliners 2019 Polaris Prize winner Haviah Mighty (recently in Hamilton for last year’s Rally with Arkells.) It seems that the Titan Submersible may have been an ill-advised, ill-fated entrepreneurial misadventure that made skirting regulations part of its business model.The families of two people killed by an Ontario man are demanding answers from the federal government after the multiple murderer was moved to a medium-security prison.As you well know, there is an ongoing housing/shelter crisis in

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: Taxpayers paid $61,000 for hotel rooms so the prime minister could attend a celebrity-studded, two-day summit in New York City, newly released documents obtained by National Post reveal. Ontario Superior Court fined the Canada Bread Company $50 million on Wednesday after it pleaded guilty to price-fixing. It is the highest price-fixing fine in Canada ever, according to the Competition Bureau of Canada. Parliament has adjourned early. Joining us to discuss this the legislative session, is Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Federal Conservatives. While the story of the small group stranded and lost in the Titan submersible has captivated people all over, there seems to be a distinct lack of empathy in some cases, for the lives of those facing a ticking clock of limited oxygen in the dark reaches of the ocean… because they are very, very rich. As Hamilton searches for its own steps toward helping ease the situation for our city’s unhoused and housed population coe

Collective Arts brewery has been a hit with craft beer drinkers from Hamilton and across the province since they first opened their doors in 2014, and the praise keeps coming: they just were voted the best brewery in Ontario in an online survey GUEST: Matt Johnston, CEO and Co-Founder of Collective Arts Today is National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada. There have been – and will be – events taking place across the city. One such event is the evening of music, art and conversation taking place at the historic Westdale theatre.    GUEST: Neal Miller, Executive Director of The Westdale   The kerfuffle over whether or not the RCMP was investigating the Prime Minister, and when they were or were not, was a whirlwind over the past two days. Now that the dust has settled, things still look like a mess. Where do we stand and what are the takeaways? GUEST: Carson Jerema, Comment Editor with the National Post   Brian Mulroney, the former Progressive Conservative prime minister from 1984 to 1993, says that Justin Tr

Fourteen years after a group of passionate sports fans in Hamilton met to discuss the future of some photos that were going to be mothballed at old Copps Coliseum, many of those same folks gathered Saturday afternoon to open the doors to the Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame. GUEST: Garry McKay, President, Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame.   Doctors and ethics experts are concerned about the potential impact of an aggressive advertising campaign being used byNovo Nordisk for their medications… Ozempic and Rybelsus Time to bring in our favourite Bioethicist… GUEST: Dr. Kerry Bowman, Bioethicist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine with the University of Toronto   U.S. President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, is expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax crimes and admit to illegally possessing a gun while a drug user, after a five-year investigation. GUEST: Jackson Proskow, Washington Bureau Chief for Global News, Global National.   Some of those same top minds — including

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: The Festival of Friends is around the corner – coming up on August 4th – and we now hae word of the iconic Gage Park festival’s lineup. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led from start to finish and cruised to victory at the Canadian Grand Prix for a second year in a row on Sunday. Chinese President Xi Jinping met with top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken in Beijing on Monday, as the two superpowers seek to put relations back on track after they were derailed by a Chinese spy balloon earlier this year. Open Streets on King Street got its first test-run on Sunday. The idea was originally instigated in the city by former Mayor Fred Eisenberger. Leaders of the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund say they’ve reached a proposed $10-billion settlement with the governments of Ontario and Canada over unpaid annuities for using their lands. At four historical sites across Hamilton, the city says it has installed signs to acknowledge the statues and monuments are "potentially probl

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: Are you ready for the Burlington Sound of Music Festival?! It kicks into full swing this weekend! A Simcoe County animal rescue agency is asking for help as adoption rates sit at an all-time low while more dogs are coming into their care. Four kilometres of a major downtown Hamilton, Ont. corridor is set to transform into a gala this weekend welcoming nothing but foot traffic and activity stations. Hamilton’s official Pride event may be delayed until August, but there are still celebrations, festivities and entertainment taking place across the city. Including this weekend’s comedy festival at the Staircase Theatre: The Uncloseted Comedy festival! This week saw the resolution of the Ottawa Senators Ownership Saga, and a familiar name to Hamiltonians has come out the winner. Michael Andlauer is going to be the new owner. It seems like an epidemic of miscommunication is taking place in the Federal government. Why are all these offices, staff and ministers not gett

Russia says it is close to severing ties with Canada. What would that look like and how would our nations be affected? Guest: Aurel Braun, Professor of International Relations and a Senior Member of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: Willowbridge Community Services – a not-for-profit operating in Hamilton, Brantford, Six Nations and beyond – is intent on instituting a 4-day work week after a test-run turned out to be a wild success. Hamilton-born, Toronto-based music historian Bob Wegner has scoured the archives over countless hours to bring audiences the definitive guide to one of Canada’s most prolific rock bands of all time, with his new book –“Max Webster: High Class”. Leger polling has looked into how Canadians feel about the government's response to crime and addiction. Concerns about the journalism industry, and the news that Mohawk College has suspended it’s journalism program after it was found to not be currently financially viable. Millard & Smich stay behind bars after their appeals for sentencing int he murder of Tim Bosma as well as the murder of Babcock were both denied. Canada missing out on NATO largest-ever air exercises in Germany because our forces are “currently committe

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: An online survey from Abacus Data found the federal Conservatives have climbed to a seven-percentage-point lead over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, up from three points one month ago. The parliamentary budget officer says Canada's exclusive contract with German auto giant Volkswagen to build an electric vehicle battery plant in southwestern Ontario will cost the federal government up to $16.3 billion over the next ten years. Burlington city council has declared intimate partner violence, and violence against women, as an epidemic. It is the day after Trump’s arraignment… what comes next? We step from the political to the legal side of things to find out about what Trump is facing and his options for dealing with it, and what the key factors are. Belarus now has Russian nuclear weapons, and President Alexander Lukashenko declared on Tuesday that he wouldn't hesitate to order their use if Belarus faced an act of aggression. There seems to be an egregiou

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: John Lennon’s voice is back from the dead, thanks to artificial intelligence and Peter Jackson, and because of this, there will be what Paul McCartney calls a “final Beatles record” with a song featuring Artificial Lennon released later this year. Erin O’Toole – the former Conservative leader and Ontario MP – used his last address to the House of Commons to issue a call to colleagues to focus on what he said should be figuring out the country's national purpose. Pat Sajak is taking one last spin on Wheel of Fortune, announcing Monday that its upcoming season will be his last as host. Sajak announced his retirement from the popular game show in a tweet. We’re shining a light on some of McMaster University’s recent achievements! We are joined by Christina Stratford, the U SPORTS Thérèse Quigley Award winner for Student-Athlete Community Service in Vancouver at the 2023 U SPORTS All-Canadian Awards Reception to discuss the community service award and her community

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: NASCAR and it’s next generation car will take over Le Mans. A new survey from Movember Canada is showing that more men are taking care of their physical health , however when it comes to mental health, they’d wait before seeking help. Elissa Freeman joins Scott today to talk about the fall out from David Johnston’s resignation. On Friday, David Johnston resigned as the special rapporteur, citing the highly partisan atmosphere. Now the opposition says they’ll work together to come up with a replacement. Tim Powers joins the conversation to share his thoughts on the David Johnston situation as well as the Conservative party’s plan in regards to mass murderers which would mandate maximum security. The former US President Donald Trump was indicted last week on 37 charges. Tomorrow he’ll be in Miami where he’ll be arraigned. He’s calling supporters to show up. According to a report from the National Bank of Canada, to buy an average home in Hamilton, you need to have

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: What is the state of the writers’ strike and is there any movement or a time frame to be glimpsed? The Globe and Mail has launched a new “Freedom of Information project.” The database of FOI requests also includes instructions on how to file Freedom of Information requests, and digs into the system and how it works. We are hearing talk of war-weariness among Russia's elites. Are we rallying behind a fallacy or is this a sign of something major to come? The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) is characterizing the initiative as “invasive technology” that threatens the privacy of Hamiltonians since there’s no evidence any consultation with the public nor Ontario’s Privacy Commissioner ever happened. Canada's unemployment rate ticked up in May for the first time in nine months, but forecasters say the Bank of Canada will have to see more softening in the economy before it takes it takes a step back from raising interest rates. Should we be surprised by news

We are hearing talk of war-weariness among Russia's elites. Is this just the West getting hopes up or rallying around something ultimately superficial, or are these signs on deeper trouble in Putin's world? With the horrific dam destruction factored in, what sort of end to this war are we looking at? Guest: Aurel Braun, Professor of International Relations and a Senior Member of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.