NOW and NEXT Story Studio Network, Dave Trafford, Erin Trafford

This week on Now and Next - Story Studio Network's flagship podcast

Our comms crew assembles! Lindsay Broadhead, Brad Ross, Anne Marie Aikins and Bob Reid join Dave Trafford at the Now and Next table to go hard and deep on stories that need more than just headlines.



Calgary's water main break was predictable and preventable. But city council's wilfful ignorance created an H2O OMG crisis on the eve of the Calgary Stampede.Meanwhile, Toronto City Council wastes hard to come by tax dollars to change the name of Yonge-Dundas Square to disassociate it with Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville PC and Baron Dunira. Dundas is accused of single-handedly delaying the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.New research from Food Banks Canada suggests one in four Canadians live in poverty.Who's spying and who's lying. Accusations by Canada's intelligence overseers suggest some of our MPs cooperated with foreign agents to influence political outcomes. But it's all HUSH HUSH.Who should get fired for writing Deputry PM Chrystia Freeland's dystopia dissertation on the need for a new Capital Gains Tax. Freeland says failing to tweek the tax will lead to untold, unwanted pregnancies across the country!!BUT WAIT...there's good news.Bob just came off a grand trans Canada tour!Lindsay's looking forward to taking in a Sarah McLachlan concertBrad survived an encounter with his Auto Insurance company.AMA is flitting through Wedding SeasonAND DT got to be a Tourist in His Own Town with his Grand Daughter Piper!

This week on Now and Next:

The Russian Navy is parked mere miles off the coast of Florida. A frigate, a nuclear-powered submarine, an oil tanker and a rescue tug arrived in Havana harbour on June 12. 

RCAF veteran, retired Major General Scott Clancy - Leader, Author, Speaker, Mentor, Coach has a unique perspective on this. He served as Director of Operations for NORAD. He says the frigate "Gorshkov" is armed with cruise missiles - all conventional weapons. Russia's cruise missiles have a range of approximately 3,000 kilometers. (NOTE: Toronto is just under 2,500 from Cuba. Just saying.)

General Clancy says, "a wave of cruise missiles could come at North America, all conventional, taking out a significant amount of targets - crippling American and Canadian economic and electrical infrastructure elements. That's the real threat here."

That threat is amplified because there is no North American military mechanism that could effectively defend against cruise missiles launched off the coast of Cuba. 

But wait! No need to locate the nearest bomb shelter! (Yet).

Clancy's quick to point out the Russian exercises are meant as a message from Moscow to Washington. "We're coming straight at your (North American) homeland."

All of this happens as the G7 gathers in Italy. Among other things, the leaders will consider the need to financially support for Ukraine and ponder what the world will look like if Donald Trump ascends to the presidency for a second term in 2025.

David Schultz, professor of politcal science and a US constitutional authority at Hamline University, says the closer we get to the November election day, the more likely is appears the United States and the world will have to brace for Trump 2.0.

Either way, a Trump win or a Trump loss, Professor Schultz expects domestic turmoil, (if not political chaos), leading up to and following Inauguration Day, January 20, 2025.

This week on Now and Next:

Our Comms Crew is assembled. 

Brad Ross spent a good portion of his comms career working for the TTC. Anne Marie Aikins has just recently retired from the provincial transit overlord - Metrolinx. And Lindsay Broadhead is the former Comms Chief at the City of Toronto.

They all agree, a TTC strike would be sheer chaos for commuters but, longer term, it would be a  reputational disaster for a transit service that's already struggling to maintain any level of respect or trust in the eyes of its customers.

This week on Now and Next:

We explore Music, Recovery, and Community with musician, singer, songwriter Quisha Wint.

Quisha is "one of Toronto’s sought-after session vocalists, currently living in the GTA, Quisha is a rising star in the tight-knit music industry thanks to her bright personality and strong emotive vocal abilities."

But she's also a live organ donor. Quisha tells us her story - how she ended up donating part of her liver to save the life of a 16 year old girl.

Quisha's a board member at the Toronto Blues Society and Hugh's Room Live.

This week on Now and Next:

Our veteran comms crew is back at the table! Lindsay Broadhead, Bob Reid, Anne Marie Aikins and Brad Ross join SSN Chief Executive Producer Dave Trafford.

The series finale of The Good Doctor sparked a spirited conversation about the commoditization of cancer by big network, prime time television dramas. We've culturally normalized cancer as a means of growing audiences. But how do you do medical drama without addressing cancer?

Also:
Pierre Poilievre's call for a summer gas tax hoilday is a masterful bit of messaging but there's still 18 months or so before the next federal election. Is it too much too soon?the crew weighs in on corporate apologies and getting "out in front" of issues. RBC did it right with the announcement of the bank's CFO termination.And US VP Kamala Harris drops the F-bomb to punctuate her talk on breaking down barriers.

This week on Now and Next:

Rocco Rossi is the inaugural President and CEO of Shift 25 - a new movement "cultivate a BOLD and thriving Canada - teaching our kids "every failure is just feedback on the way to success."

And Keith Currie, President of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture joins us to talk about the challenge of balancig the need for farmland, housing, and food production in Canada.

AND..

The chorus and calls to fast track a three year road maintenance and construction project on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto are hitting a cresendo! The road work is causing extraordinary chaos for commuters, (including some local polticians). It's just hell trying to get around downtown.

Now, what's getting glossed over is the story that transit workers in Toronto could go on strike in a month or so. And, remember, we haven't had a strike in Toronto at the TTC since it was declared an essential service in 2011.

Now, I like to think I'm paying attention, but a court quietly overturned that Essential Service Order about a year ago. Transit workers can now go on strike. And if they do, we'll be entering a whole new circle of Hell!

You think commuting is screwed up now because of the Gardiner construction? Wait until there's no subway. Wait until there are no buses. Wait until there are no streetcars.

And then tell me that Doug shouldn't be using the notwithstanding clause and declare the TTC an essential service.