The Craig Needles Podcast

Episode 201: Peggy Sattler on cabinet shuffle, Greenbelt ’review’

Steve Clark has done what the opposition demanded and resigned from his position as Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs.

So, what's next for the Greenbelt scandal?

London West MPP Peggy Sattler shares her thoughts on this episode of the podcast.

Episode 200: Friday Round Table with Cheryl Miller, Jessie Rodger and Ali Chahbar

On the 200th episode of the show, Craig welcomes former London city councillor Cheryl Miller, ANOVA executive director Jessie Rodger, and lawyer Ali Chahbar join Craig on this week's Friday Round Table.

They breakdown the latest in the greenbelt scandal, discuss how housing shortages are impacting the federal Liberal polling numbers and look at the latest with London's Health and Homelessness plans.

Episode 199: As the Greenbelt scandal turns

As the Ford government says they're considering removing development permissions from some of the land in the greenbelt they had already authorized - because the land owner tried to sell it. Is there any reason to push forward with any of the greenbelt development?

Diane-Laure Arjaliès, an associate professor at the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western joins Craig to share her thoughts on why the greenbelt development needs to be stopped. Then Craig analyzes what the political fall out of the latest happenings might be.

Episode 198: Friday Round Table with Shawn Lewis, Elizabeth Peloza and Mojdeh Cox

On this week's Friday Round Table, Craig is joined by London Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis, the city's budget chair Elizabeth Peloza and activist Mojdeh Cox.

They talk about the AMO meetings in London, whether Ryan Amato's resignation will change the channel on the Greenbelt story, and if the federal Liberals would be better off without Justin Trudeau as leader.

Episode 197: How do we fix the housing crisis?

Economist Mike Moffatt of PLACE Centre @ the Smart Prosperity Institute joins Craig to talk about his new report looking at a hot topic in politics at all levels: We're in a housing crisis, so who has to fix it?

Ontario needs 1.5 million homes in the next decade, how do we get there?

Episode 196: Student housing shortages impacting London

Craig stopped in at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in London to talk about student housing with London's Ward 6 Councillor Sam Trosow. They talk about the impact the shortage has on students and the community and what post-secondary institutions, cities, the province and the feds can do about the issue.

Episode 195: Friday Round Table with Shobhita Sharma, Scott Collyer and A.J. Wray

On this week's Friday Round Table, Craig is joined in the studio by political insiders Shobhita Sharma and Scott Collyer as well as PhD candidate A.J. Wray to talk about the big stories of the week.

They talk about the conversations coming up at the AMO meeting in London, people who are homeless being sent to the city and fireworks.

Episode 194: The National Housing Accord

What is the National Housing Accord?

Dr. Mike Moffatt, an economist and a founding director of PLACE Centre at the Smart Prosperity Institute joins the podcast to explain why Canada needs to build two million new affordable and market rental units by 2030.

He also goes over their ten key recommendations on what policy makers should be doing next.

Episode 193: Friday Round Table with Kelly Elliott, Shawna Lewkowitz and Jeremy McCall

On this week's Friday Round table, Craig is joined by former Thames Centre Deputy Mayor Kelly Elliott, NDP candidate Shawna Lewkowitz and former city council candidate Jeremy McCall.

They talk about the Auditor General's damning report on the Ford government's Greenbelt fiasco. Will this stick to the Premier long term? Will he be forced to remove Steve Clark from cabinet?

They also look at a motion before city council asking the province and other municipalities about sending people who are homeless to London against their will.

Episode 192: What does damning Greenbelt report mean for Ford?

A new report from Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk says the Ford government's plans to develop the Greenbelt were hastily done and favoured certain Ford-favoured developments.

The developers involved saw the value of their land shoot up by at least $8-billion, Lysyk said.

Will these insider deals hurt Ford politically? Are they counting on Ontario voters to not care?

Craig talked to Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner about the report and then shares his thoughts on what's next.