February 16, 2023
SHARE
Short Cuts
#859 John Tory and His Sin City
A tasting menu of scandals from Ontario’s municipal and provincial governments, with a newsroom scandal thrown in for kicks.
Jesse Brown
Host & Publisher
Aviva Lessard
Senior Producer

And Fuck the Police – legally! The Narwhal sues the RCMP. Lisa Taylor co-hosts.

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: Aviva Lessard (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor)

Guest: Lisa Taylor

Further reading: 

Sponsors: Squarespace, Freshbooks, Athletic Greens, Indochino

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

CORRECTION: This episode incorrectly termed the City of Hamilton’s media accreditation proposal a “bylaw.” Rather, it is a media accreditation policy. The Council has decided to review the proposal but meanwhile access, “to Council Chambers, Council proceedings and Council documents is not contemplated to change,” the City of Hamilton’s Director of Communications and Strategic Initiatives said to Canadaland. Grant added members of the public, “journalist or otherwise,” continue to be welcomed in Council chambers.

Also, a previous version of this episode stated, “And Doug Ford lends his support to John Tory and Chrystia Freeland lends support to John Tory.” This has been amended to reflect the latest update from Deputy Minister Chrystia Freeland, in which she claims she did not encourage former Toronto mayor John Tory to remain in his former post.

More from this series
So it looks like technically Canada is in the midst of a “technical” recession, but, technicalities aside, is a 0.2% drop in growth really that big a deal?
June 12, 2026
The Globe and Mail’s editorial board calls the initial reporting on Kamloops residential school graves a “failure of journalism.”
June 5, 2026
Carney’s big address on antisemitism didn’t amount to much. 
June 3, 2026
Danielle Smith sidesteps the courts to ask Albertans a question about a referendum on separation. 
May 29, 2026
After Israeli minister Ben-Gvir posts a video of the inhumane treatment of detained protestors, Canada joins the global condemnation of Israel’s treatment of Gaza flotilla participants, including 12 Canadians. 
May 27, 2026
CBC is pausing its production of an elaborate “prank show” led by Indigenous creators after outrage online. 
May 22, 2026
Nate Erskine-Smith lost his bid for nomination for the Ontario Liberals in Scarborough Southwest, putting his plans for leadership in question. He’s alleging serious voting irregularities, and that the Ontario Liberal establishment has it in for him. 
May 20, 2026
all podcasts arrow All Podcasts
Short Cuts