Scott Thompson Show

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: City of Hamilton employees are no longer required to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19. City council voted 9-4 to scrap the vaccine policy for staff at a meeting Friday morning. Esther Pauls was one of the 9, and joins Scott to explain her position and celebrate the win. The CDC has dropped COVID-19 recommendations like social distancing, quarantining and screening. On Wednesday, the public works committee unanimously signed off on a plan to designate sections of both Main and King streets as “community safety zones.” Nrinder Nann joins Scott for that. It is all coming up on the Hamilton Today Podcast. Guests: Sarah Soteroff, PR Manager for Too Good To Go. Michael Veall, Professor Economics at McMaster University, Academic Director, Statistics Canada Research Data Centre. Duff Conacher, Co-Founder of Democracy Watch. Thane Rosenbaum, Distinguished University Professor, Touro College; Director of the Forum on Life, Culture and Society (NYU); Legal Analys

The organization that's offered programs for Hamilton children living in low-income settings for 30 years is just days away from unveiling a new outdoor space in the city centre. Phase one of a three to five-year major revitalization project at CityKidz on Burlington Street East will now give the non-profit outdoor spaces for youth to play and take part in programs outside.

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: The Summer of ‘22 looks to be the first in a long line of “let’s have some fun” times, post pandemic. Canada’s Wonderland is not only open, but also working on bigger and better attractions. Scott is excited to speak with Grace Peacock from Canada’s Wonderland about what the next steps in roller coaster tech will look like. Employers want employees to come back to the office, and employees would rather save the extra gas and food money. At the same time, downtown cores are eroding, both according to Leger 360 poll. Andrew Enns fills Scott in on the details. Finally confirmed, the decomposed body found in Hamilton this week was Gord Lewis, victimized by his son. Graham Rockingham, formerly of the Spectator, joins Scott in an emotional and reverent memorial. Dr. Eric Kam joins Scott to discuss whether inflation has plateaued in Canada or not. It is all coming up on the Hamilton Today Podcast. Guests: Paul Delaney. Professor of Astronomy, York University. Andrew En

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: Today’s top story is the speech from the throne of Doug Ford, Scott has questions about the budget and promises from Queen’s Park. Colin D’Mello, reporting from Queen’s Park, joins Scott for discussion on that. The Federal Conservative party leadership race has hit a bump; former PM Stephen Harper endorsed Pierre Poilievre and his polling has suffered as a result. Nik Nanos of Nanos research joins Scott to talk about the data they have collected. Shock waves spread across America in response to the news that the FBI had searched the private Florida residence of Donald Trump in an “unprecedented” move that prompted threats of retaliation from the former U.S. president and his allies. How does this guy remain popular with his supporters? Scott speaks with Reggie Cecchini, Global News Washington about that. Carmi Levy hops on to chat about how the RCMP has deployed spyware to access the encrypted communications of targets as far back as 2002, a senior Mountie said

An executive with a Hamilton agency tracking the local labour market says employee retention will be key in maintaining current record low unemployment numbers seen in recent months across the city.

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: The top stories of this Monday are two entertainment world tragedies: Hamilton’s 3rd homicide of the year seems to be Gord Lewis of Teenage Head. The band confirmed Lewis’ death on social media and Hamilton police have arrested key suspect Johnathan Lewis, Gord’s son. As well Grease and Xanada star Olivia Newton John passed away. Scott reflects on the impact Teenage Head had on music in Canada with Alan Cross, Scott also checks up on Douglas Arrowsmith, producer of the Teenage Head documentary for his immediate response. That documentary featured an interview Scott did with the band in 2019, which Scott plays in several parts across the show. The Ontario legislature is also back in session and Scott is itching to know what is on the docket, like how the dental care program will be paid for. For that, Scott speaks with Peter Graefe. Hamilton’s employment rate is higher than average in Canada, Workforce Planning Hamilton has some comments on that with Khadija Hami

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: Have you ever heard of an app called Swimply? It allows users to rent out their pools to others, and is the apparent cause of undue traffic congestion, says Hamilton’s Ward 10 Councilor Maria Pearson. She joins Scott to speak about her plan to crack down on these rentals. Realtors in Hamilton and Burlington noticed a massive cooling of sales last month as part of the market correction. Lou Piriano speaks with Scott about the effects this has on local realtors. Many Canadians are looking to “delete” themselves online and tech journalist Carmi Levy is here to give you some tips on how to manage your privacy on the internet. Gas prices dropped, but don’t fill up just yet says Dan McTeague, Canadians for Affordable Energy, who breaks down the why and the “how much.” The situation in Taiwan grows tenser with China flexing its military might. Phil Gurski, a former CSIS analyst, touches on this in his conversation with Scott. It is all coming up on the Hamilton Today P

GUEST: Lou Piriano, President of the Realtor Association of Hamilton/Burlington. 

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: Top news of the day, one of the people behind the 9/11 attacks, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was killed in a US military drone strike leaving al-Qaeda without their leader. Elliot Tepper joins Scott to analyze the implications of where this will leave Afghanistan. Tiger Woods turned down a lucrative deal to join the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series. PR expert Elissa Freeman speaks to the fallout of this. The Pope’s tour of Canada has wrapped with no shortage of its own controversies. The Pope did not acknowledge the suffering caused by the residential schooling systems as “genocide” until he was already flying out of Canada. To tackle this and other repercussions of the “Pilgrimage of Penance,” Scott speaks with Dr. Christopher Alcantara. Back in the Hammer, there is overwhelming support to create a street festival along King Street East from Gage to Gore parks. Jason Farr, Ward 2 Councilor, speaks about how he imagines the event going down next year. It is all coming up on t

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: The summer is in full swing and you know what that means: the Festival of Friends kicks off in Gage Park tomorrow for three days music, crafts, and food trucks! Hamilton’s own Monster Truck are performing, as well as Serena Ryder, Snotty Nose Rez Kids and more. Robert Rakoczy, general manager of the Festival, joins Scott for a preview. As we get more revelations about Hockey Canada, their slush fund and the numerous sexual abuse settlements that they have paid out –Scott asks ‘what needs to change in the organization, and what needs to change in the culture of Hockey?’ Scott speaks with Ian Kennedy, writer for The Hockey News. Tensions are growing over Taiwan and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke once again with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Elliot Tepper joins Scott once again to contextualize the international politics at play. The Pope during his visits and apologies has not pinned the blame for residential schooling abuse on the church itself, dodging direct b

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: Scott has returned to Canada and he has some travel stories to share with you! After so much talking to people who went through Pearson about their horror stories, Scott speaks first-hand about how inefficiently Canadian airports are run and apparently it's a laughing stock abroad. Picking up the local news, Scott has a preview of the Fringe Festival in Hamilton with a former Come From Away cast member, and writer/star in a show at Fringe, Eliza-Jane Scott. The big news from yesterday was of course Andrea Horwath announcing her candidacy for Hamilton Mayor. Scott speaks with former Mayor Larry Di Ianni, PoliSci professor Peter Graefe, and rival candidate Keanin Loomis about this and more in the Hammer. The Pope has finally apologized for the Catholic Church’s involvement in Canada’s residential schooling system, and Scott speaks with Settler Scholar Liam Midzain-Gobin, and Native Studies Instructor Dr. Patti Doyle-Bedwell about how this may help the reconciliat

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Ted Michaels: Ted joins us for one more go around the show clock. Ted called it; more stories have come out regarding Hockey Canada. There is a lot that needs to change – and now a statement from the organization has laid out a plan for fixing things. However, there is a lot of skepticism about whether we can trust them at this point. Pam Hrick, executive director of the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund joins Ted for more on this troubling news. Monkeypox declared a Global Health Emergency by the WHO. However, that does not mean we are all in for another COVID-like situation. This is a familiar disease to epidemiologists, and it transmits in different ways. Thomas Tenkate gives Ted the “what are we in for?” chat. Pope Francis has issued a public apology for the role that the Catholic Church played in Canada's residential school system during his visit to the former site of the Ermineskin Indian Residential School in Maskwacis, Alta. Ken Coates, specialist on Canada’s Ab

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Ted Michaels: Now it’s Friday and Ted is in love… with the show! The James Webb space telescope recently captured an image of the furthest galaxy ever observed by humanity… showing us something for the distant, distant past of our universe. The telescope continues to provide us with astounding pictures but it already has taken some irreparable damage! Dan McTeague has tweeted out some good news for those of you who can wait until the weekend to refuel your automobiles! He joins to the show to explain why you won't want to wait too long though. Steve Bannon has been found guilty on two charges of contempt of Congress. More stories have come out regarding Hockey Canada. There is a lot that needs to change – some are saying that one big thing is, we need better bystander intervention training. Poilievre's campaign could face a $50,000 fine for him not taking part in the upcoming third debate. The government of Ontario has announced that its paid sick days programs is being extend

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Ted Michaels: Happy Thursday, Ted is looking forward to some relief from the heat today as the heat warning continues to rip through the Hammer. Looking ahead to Fringe Festival, Ted speaks with Carlyn Rhamey who has a show this year called DISCOCAB which runs from the 28th-30th at the Fringe. Along the way Ted inquires about her ADHD and the #ADHDProject. Ted also speaks with a McMaster University researcher about a new tool for fighting COVID-19. Wrist-worn health devices can be combined with machine learning to detect COVID-19 infections as early as two days before symptoms appear, McMaster researcher David Conen and a team of experts from across Europe have determined. Last Friday we heard from Matthew Ravida who, over the weekend, walked in Dundas Driving Park — for 24 hours continuously to raise awareness about the emotional toll and trauma caused by fatal overdoses. Ted catches up with Matthew post-walk. Just weeks after the major Rogers network outage, the Chief Techno