Elections can be won or lost in the 905. What do voters there care about?

Many Canadian elections can be won or lost in the 905, the area that encircles Toronto and has more ridings than some provinces. As part of The Current’s election series, Crossroads: Coast to Coast with Canadian Voters, Matt Galloway travels across this influential region to hear what matters most to voters.

In Oshawa, the automotive industry that once generated so much wealth is under fresh threat from U.S. tariffs. Galloway talks to local union president Jeff Gray, as well as people at either end of their careers: students graduating into an uncertain economy, and retired workers who say they won’t take Trump’s tariffs lying down. Further west we visit a warehouse in Mississauga, where tariffs are already affecting the billions in imports and exports that travel through the city every day.

Then, a diverse range of immigrant communities make up the 905, with political debates playing out across different cultures — and the local media they consume. We discuss the conversations these communities are having with Yudhvir Jaswal of Y Media, one of the biggest media outlets for South Asians in Canada, and Andrea Chun, host of the Chinese-language radio show A1 Newsbeat.

And at the Rainbow Restaurant in Oshawa, Galloway sits down with four voters of different political stripes who all say they’re questioning their traditional loyalties in what they see as a high-stakes election.

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Some of the topics we’ve covered recently, include: the results of the Canadian Federal election — a minority Liberal government — and Canada’s new Prime Minister-elect Mark Carney. Also, Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative party, who lost his seat in the Ottawa riding of Carleton but also boosted Conservative popular vote share. Meanwhile, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who also lost his seat, has resigned following historically low results for his party, which lost official party status in the House. Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet kept his seat in Beloeil–Chambly, but lost about a third of its seats. Elizabeth May’s Green Party held on to her seat but she also lost her co-leader Jonathan Pedneault.

Also on our radar: Heather McPherson, the NDP’s re-elected MP for Edmonton Strathcona, who some observers are saying could be the NDP’s next leader. What Conservatives are thinking now about their leader Pierre Poilievre and the path forward for their party. And how Liberal Leader Mark Carney will govern for all Canadians in a politically divided country facing threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.

We’re still keeping an eye on: annexation and “51st state” threats, tariffs impacting Canadian jobs, especially farmers, truckers, auto workers, energy sector workers, construction workers and steel and aluminum workers; raising the cost of living, inflation, and unemployment in Canada; straining cross-border relationships, including the historic friendship between Windsor and Detroit. We also discuss “Team Canada,” interprovincial trade, and the rise of “elbows up” Canadian patriotism; Canadian sovereignty and backlash to ‘51st state’ threats; on the world stage, including our relationship with China, Ukraine, India; security and our status in the Five Eyes spy network, NATO and NORAD, and shifting global alliances in general.

Other recent topics include: Filipino community reeling after Lapu Lapu street festival killings; “Grey divorce” and the rise of separation in late life; Canadians’ top vacation spots; migrants affected by Trump’s deportation push; the death of Pope Francis; landmark antitrust trials against Meta and Google; the sexual assault trial of five ex-world junior hockey players; the liquidation of Hudson’s Bay; the surge in measles cases, hair loss drug finasteride, extremist network 764, protests against Elon Musk and Tesla; Starlink and the rural internet; the turmoil around Israel and Gaza’s ceasefire; more adults with ADHD, Blue Ghost on the moon, genetically modified pig organs; aging well, wellness, dementia and long term care, as well as cancer and “commonsense oncology,” Greenland and Arctic sovereignty, cuts to USAID; Canada’s critical minerals; inflation; mortgages; opioids and Fentanyl, parenting, Canada’s best vacation spots, teens ditching social media; crypto power brokers in the White House; NASA’s new telescope and the making of a 3D map of the universe.

The Current is produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada — and has recently recorded live shows about the Canadian election in Surrey and Burnaby BC. And shows to come in Oshawa and the 905, Red Deer, Alberta, Quebec City and Halifax.

• No. of episodes: 224
• Latest episode: 2025-05-16
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