STRATEGY PANEL: PREMIER DOUG FORD’S APPROVAL RATING AT AN ALL-TIME LOW: POLL

Libby Znaimer is joined by  Karen Stintz, CEO of Variety Village, John Capobianco, Senior Vice President & Senior Partner, FleishmanHillard HighRoad,  and Charles Sousa, the former Minister of Finance for Ontario and MPP for Mississauga South.

According to a new Angus Reid poll, Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s approval rating has dropped to an all-time low for his government’s pandemic response, and our strategists assess whether the damage is significant enough to really hurt him on election day of June 2. To put it in perspective, back in May of 2020, Ford had an approval rating of 69%. That has now dropped to 30%.

Meanwhile, another pre-election setback for Ford’s government is the rather abrupt resignation of high profile cabinet minister Rod Phillips who has been overseeing the LTC file for some months now. In a statement he released last week, he said that the reasoning behind his decision to leave is to return to the private sector.

Today, the province is reporting at least 7,086 new COVID-19 cases, 580 in the ICU and 41,183 people hospitalized.

DRUGS IN SHORT SUPPLY AT ONTARIO HOSPITALS AND HEALTH CANADA APPROVES PFIZER ORAL DRUG TREATMENT FOR COVID-19

Libby Znaimer is joined by Rita Dhami, a hospital pharmacist in Infectious Diseases and the President of the Ontario Branch of Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists and Jen Belcher, Vice President, strategic initiatives and member relations of the Ontario Pharmacists Association.

In the news: yesterday, Health Canada approved Paxlovid, Pfizer’s oral treatment for COVID-19 which is a drug that can be taken at home. So, how effective will this drug be at reducing the burden on our health care system?

Meanwhile, many Ontario hospitals have had to resort to rationing their drug supply to treat COVID-19 patients. At least one hospital that we know of, Scarborough Health Network, has had to implement a lottery system for its patients as it grapples with a strain in supply.

OPP’S SGT KERRY SCHMIDT GIVES US AN UPDATE ON THE HIGHWAYS IN THE AFTERMATH OF THIS WEEK’S SNOWSTORM

Libby Znaimer is joined by Sgt. Kerry Schmidt, OPP Highway Safety Division.

Sgt. Schmidt gives Libby an update on highway traffic in the GTA in the aftermath of yesterday’s major snow storm and he weighs in on what is safe and dangerous driving behaviour in this kind of weather.