Bright conversations can be sparked by many things such as cartoons and no one does better editorial cartoons than Hamilton's own Graeme MacKay. With conversations about the upcoming eclipse, the boundaries an editorial cartoonist must follow (and when they can/should be pushed), when body modification enters the realm of mental illness, April Fools' products made by companies that actually sound pretty decent and more on the docket for today, you might be getting a sneak preview at one of Graem...
Apr 06, 2024•1 hr 6 min
Why are we seeing places like Niagara Falls declaring an emergency ahead of this Monday's solar eclipse? Is buying extra food and water really something that we need to do? How bad could it be? Guest: Nomi Claire Lazar, Full Professor in Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa and author of the book “States of Emergency in Liberal Democracies” - This weekend, the Argylls, Signallers and other military occupations in Hamilton will be holding a recruitment drive in addition to...
Apr 05, 2024•38 min
We speak with Burlington’s mayor about a huge new development being proposed by the GO station in Aldershot that would include housing, a university campus, commercial space and a 5,000-seat arena. Guest: Marianne Meed Ward, Mayor of Burlington - Coles has announced that it'll be closing it's store in Jackson Square marking the loss of one of the original tenants. Is Jackson Square still a viable business location? Guest: Marvin Ryder, Professor with the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster U...
Apr 04, 2024•44 min
The continued fallout of Mayor Horwath's plan to use strong mayor powers, and the latest on the encampment in front of city hall. Guest: John Best, Publisher of The Bay Observer - Canada's productivity seems to be so low it's an emergency. How do we measure productivity, what's driving this drop and is there anything we can do to fix it? Guest: Moshe Lander, Senior Economics Lecturer with Concordia University - 'SCTV' alumnus Joe Flaherty passed away yesterday at the age of 82. Guest: Bill Briou...
Apr 03, 2024•47 min
The province says it's prepared to force the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board to sell its Sir John A. Macdonald property. How has this been received by the HWDSB? Guest: Todd White, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board Trustee for Wards 5 & 10 - It would appear that for as divided as Canada appears to be nowadays there's still something many can agree on, opposing the Carbon Tax. Guest: Kate Harrison, Vice Chair of Summa Strategies - The Blue Jays are set to start their season a ...
Mar 22, 2024•42 min
How important is it for our politicians to actually meet with protesters? What does it say when they do? This and more is happening in Hamilton so who better to talk to than the Bay Observer's John Best? Guest: John Best, Publisher of The Bay Observer - Parliament seems to be spending lots of time arguing about stuff in other countries and what they should be doing though we haven't thought much about what our reaction would be if other countries started demanding things change here. What if oth...
Mar 21, 2024•44 min
A push by developers is being made to the Ontario Land Tribunal to bring some new buildings to Glanbrook. Who makes the final decision on this kind of thing? The City? The Land Tribunal? Guest: Mark Tadeson, Councillor for Ward 11 Glanbrook - Things went sideways fast as experts ran a hypothetical election with some disruption thanks to deepfakes. How might deepfakes cause our elections to go down like never before? Guest: Carmi Levy, Technology analyst & journalist - Electric vehicles are s...
Mar 20, 2024•39 min
Changes to Main Street and the LRT are controversial, but an op-ed by our guest challenge that notion. GUEST: Léa Ravensbergen. Assistant professor in the School of Earth, Environment and Society at McMaster University Who lies the most on their resume? Turns out, higher degree earners do it more. Why? GUEST: Dr. Nita Chhinzer, Associate Professor of Leadership & Organizational Management with the University of Guelph A trend with hockey teams starting good and then get bad once they make th...
Mar 19, 2024•58 min
The Brightest Conversation in Hamilton Radio excels at showcasing the brilliant people of humanity. You would truly be hard pressed to find someone more intelligent than today's guest as none other than CHML's own Shiona Thompson joins the show. She and Scott cover the literacy of college students, who the highest earning celebrity in Hollywood was last year, the encampment/protest in front of Hamilton City Hall, eating a Big Mac every day, people looking to change jobs and more. Guest: Shiona T...
Mar 16, 2024•1 hr 4 min
Did you know that there are fake toonies circulating in our area? You might even have one without knowing it! How can we identify these fake coins and why would someone even bother making them? Guest: Brent Mackie, Coin Collector & Counterfeit Currency Expert
Mar 15, 2024•11 min
Did you know that there are fake toonies circulating in our area? You might even have one without knowing it! How can we identify these fake coins and why would someone even bother making them? Guest: Brent Mackie, Coin Collector & counterfeit currency expert - Some lawyers are arguing that a ruling from the Supreme Court regarding sexual assault myths puts an unfair bias against defendants. Guest: Jeff Manishen, Criminal Lawyer, Ross & McBride; Former Crown Attorney - From the bee invas...
Mar 15, 2024•41 min
Mar 14, 2024•11 min
Following the ransomware attack that hit the City of Hamilton, paramedics are saying that they haven't been paid overtime. Guest: Mario Posteraro, President , OPSEU Local 256 - The 110th Grey Cup brought about $73.5 million in total economic impact according to a report. Guest: Neil Lumsden, MPP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek and Minister of Tourism, Culture & Sport - The fallout from Kate Middleton's photoshop situation seems to be getting out of hand. Is this something that even really mat...
Mar 14, 2024•41 min
As Hamilton continues to deal with its ransomware attack, it's also seeing one of its councillors get investigated following a complaint from the Ontario Civilian Police Commission. Guest: John Best, Publisher, The Bay Observer - The Ottawa public school board is looking to include students who don't have passing grades to still take part in graduation ceremonies. Is this something that other school boards will consider or could we see it rescinded just as fast as it was brought up? Guest: Dr. P...
Mar 13, 2024•47 min
Senior Bank Executives are saying we've averted a recession in Canada. If true, that'd be amazing! But is it? GUEST: Eric Kam, Professor of Economics with Toronto Metropolitan University Arizona Coyotes have a rink that can hold ~4600 people. Excited to see Joey Votto join the Blue Jays. And Don has a special announcement! GUEST: Don Robertson, Owner of the Dundas Real McCoys
Mar 12, 2024•48 min
This week's edition of The Brightest Conversation in Hamilton Radio features the City's response to the ransomware attack, if it's beneficial to have a city council who's evenly split on certain topics, the amazing comedians who've come out of Hamilton, people's desire to visit downtown and more. Guest: Jason Farr, Host of Hammer Down with Jay & Mike and former Hamilton City Councillor
Mar 09, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Does the early release of Selvey’s killer make a mockery of the Youth Criminal Justice Act? Is this an adequate punishment? Is there an appetite in either the legal community or government to change the Youth Criminal Justice Act? Guest: Jaime Stephenson, Criminal Defence Lawyer - How do you enforce Canada's Online Harms Act without stifling free speech? Can you? Guest: Andrew Furgiuele, Criminal Defence Lawyer with Furgiuele Law - The Academy Awards were once must-see TV but that doesn't appear...
Mar 08, 2024•52 min
The City of Hamilton has been rather tight-lipped in regards to the ransomware attack it's been hit with. In addition to this attack, a brazen daylight shooting also occurred near one of the city's busiest intersections leaving one man dead. How do these reflect the state of things in Hamilton? Guest: John Best, Publisher, The Bay Observer - McMaster Innovation Park is making a major partnership in an effort to promote and accelerate innovation into deep tech and commercialization. Guest: Leyla ...
Mar 07, 2024•57 min
Hamilton's housing market doesn't have much diversity when it comes to price. Where have the homes under $500,000 gone? Guest: Greg Martino, Vice President and Chief Valuation and Standards Officer for the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation - A hefty percentage of federal bureaucrats take home a six-figure salary each year. With 110,000 making that kind of money, do we have any chance of paying down the deficit? Will Franco Terrazzano ever be able to come on the show for a good reason? Un...
Mar 06, 2024•39 min
A very friendly (and good looking) guest makes his return to the show as Scott welcomes back Mike Fortune to talk about the Enhanced Games, essentially banning books from the classroom, how our personal hygiene has changed pre and post-pandemic, Hamilton's "cybersecurity incident" and the priorities our school board trustees should have. All this and more is coming up on this week's edition of The Brightest Conversation in Hamilton Radio. Guest: Mike Fortune, Host, The Hamilton Network, Cable 14...
Mar 02, 2024•1 hr 2 min
"Too early" to assess impact of of cybersecurity breach, City of Hamilton says. Guest: Robert Falzon, Head of Engineering for Check Point Research Canada. City of Hamilton lands $1.5 million from the feds for a winter homelessness strategy. Tom Cooper, Director, Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction. Please Note: Today's show was cut short due to the death of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney....
Mar 01, 2024•27 min
Municipal housing is on the front burner with the debate over a Stoney Creek parking lot taking centre stage. Guest: John Best, Publisher, The Bay Observer - Canadian historians are more lost than they realize according to a professor of Canadian history at Trent University. Why? How? What can be done about it? Guest: Christopher Dummitt, Professor, Canadian History, Trent University - Google appears to be playing catch-up, a state they're not used to, in the AI race. This comes both overall in ...
Feb 28, 2024•46 min
Lynx Air is ceasing operations. What does that mean for Hamilton Airport? Guest: Marvin Ryder, Professor with the DeGroote School of Business and McMaster University Doug Ford continues to defend his plan to appoint "like-minded judges" in Ontario. Guest: Jeff Manishen, Criminal Lawyer, Ross & McBride, Former Crown Attorney A very special moment in sports turned 47 years old on February 25th. What was it? Find out alongside Don Robertson! GUEST: Don Robertson, Owner of the Dundas Real McCoys...
Feb 27, 2024•1 hr 2 min
This week, none other than Pete Dyakowski joins The Brightest Conversation in Hamilton Radio to chat about hot tubs, improving your sleep, possibly running for mayor, Pete's time competing on Jeopardy!, the key to being awesome at karaoke and more. Guest: Peter Dyakowski, former CFL offensive linesman, Jeopardy! contestant, Colour Commentator for McMaster Marauders football team & much, much more
Feb 24, 2024•1 hr 11 min
The plan to use a parking lot in Stoney Creek as a location for housing has been shot down. Why? Guest: John-Paul Danko, Councillor, Ward 8, City of Hamilton - If, according to economists, the cost of mortgages are a contributing factor to high inflation, why aren't we seeing interest rate cuts? Guest: David Macdonald, Senior Economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Though the Toronto Maple Leafs have gone for an unbelievable amount of time without a Stanley Cup, that doesn't necessa...
Feb 23, 2024•49 min
Is the goal to make Hamilton's downtown unfriendly to cars and driving? It seems more and more like it each day. Guest: John Best, Publisher, The Bay Observer - What's with the intense antisemitism that's been unleashed following the Oct. 7 attack in Israel by Hamas? A Global News investigation seeks to find out. Guest: Jeff Semple, Senior Correspondent for Global National - There has been a lot of movement at the Ticats with players coming and going but are they in any better of a position for ...
Feb 22, 2024•46 min
What is McMaster's Innovation Park and why is there a lawsuit underway with regards to the firing of its CEO and alleged financial mismanagement? Guest: Dave Carter, Executive Director of Innovation Factory - What is open banking how could it change the way you bank? Should you adopt it? How do Canadians view their banking establishment? Guest: Dr. Ian Lee, Associate Professor with the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University - Could we someday look back on our current relationship with ...
Feb 21, 2024•41 min
With The Brightest Conversation in Hamilton Radio comes the assurance that you're going to get stimulating conversation from the best guests and today's guest is certainly among the best. With topics including things like the future of journalism as we know it, Connie's involvement with Interval House of Hamilton, the resurgence of the typewriter, some of the best (or potentially worst) ways to commemorate Valentine's Day and more on the docket for today, you know there's going to be serious and...
Feb 17, 2024•1 hr 4 min
Hamilton City Council has voted to approve its budget. Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath joins Scott to talk more about this means for Hamiltonians. Guest: Andrea Horwath, Mayor, City of Hamilton - Is Hamilton's approved budget something that's good for residents? Is the 5.79% increase still too much? Guest: Vito Sgro, Former mayoral candidate and political insider - A new survey has found that Canadians have a growing sense of anxiety over the economy and their finances in addition to a general dis...
Feb 16, 2024•42 min
Hamilton's storm water fee controversy has a new voice entering the fray in the form of MPP Donna Skelly. What does she have to say? Guest: Donna Skelly, MPP, Flamborough-Glanbrook - Bankruptcy is on the rise, and it's rising fast, but one of the top locations for this is Canada. Why? Guest: Dr. Eric Kam, Professor of Economics with Toronto Metropolitan University - The Enhanced Games is a sporting event that's being touted as being the 'Olympics on steroids' which in this case is quite literal ...
Feb 15, 2024•38 min