The Craig Needles Podcast

We had an election! Interesting stuff happened!

The Liberals won a minority - which was nearly a majority - and the Conservatives had a big night in London, while the NDP had a total disaster evening.

Craig is joined in the studio by the MP-elect for Elgin-St. Thomas-London South Andrew Lawton to talk about the results of the race, what sort of MP Andrew will be and what will be next for the Conservative Party of Canada after the l...

On this week's Friday Round Table, Craig is joined by London Abused Women's Centre Executive Director Jennifer Dunn, former council candidate Jeremy McCall and organizational consultant Mojdeh Cox.   The panel touches on the final days of the federal election and then gets into that $60-million surplus that the City of London has and where the money should go.   They also look at the Thames Valley District School Board and the prov...

One of the longest serving leaders in London's non-profit sector is stepping away.

Steve Cordes, the the executive director of Youth Opportunities Unlimited, says he'll be leaving the role in August after more than 40 years with the organization.

Craig and Steve talk about his time with Y.O.U., how the organization has grown, key success stories and more.

The Craig Needles Podcast is brought to you by Downtown London and the Covent...

An election, an explosion and the future of London's downtown.

Three big issues on this week's Friday Round Table and Craig is joined in the studio by City of London budget chair Elizabeth Peloza, former city councillor John Fyfe-Millar and CUPE Local 101 President Steve Holland to talk about them.

First, the Conservatives are talking about not believing the polls and there appears to be some infighting. Is the campaign going as po...

Craig's former colleague Andrew Lawton is back in the news - this time, after PressProgress uncovered he was involved in a Signal chat with leaders of the convoy protest that shutdown Ottawa in 2021.

He's the Conservative candidate in Elgin-St. Thomas-London South, and the story - along with others from Andrew's history in media - have been much discussed on the campaign trail.

In an effort to separate fact from fiction on these st...

The NDP has struggled to break though during this campaign - with some polling aggregators saying they may have less than ten seats in the new parliament. 

London-Fanshawe candidate Lindsay Mathyssen, who is projected to be one of those NDP MP's, joined Craig on the podcast to talk about the race, what she's hearing at the doors, how the party can break though and more.

The Craig Needles Podcast is brought to you by Downtown London...

LTC is officially in council's hands, we have a new plan for battling London's homelessness crisis (again) and the Liberals seem to be in control of the federal election.

Advocate Dr. Jeff Preston and London Home Builders Association CEO Jared Zaifman joined Craig in the studio to break it all down.

What will the future of London Transit be? Can council right the ship (or the bus?) here? Meantime, Ark Aid got (some of) their fundin...

Some councillors want to axe the London Transit Commission - at least the portion of it that involve people from the community as commissioners.

Sheryl Rooth - one of the current members of the commission, joined Craig in the studio to talk about the last week of transit talks and her hopes for the future of LTC.

Why dissolve the commission now? What could council have done differently? Can the current commissioners work with effec...

A busy week!

A city hall, they dealt with issues like disbanding the London Transit Commission, widening Wonderland Road (again?) and the ring road conversation make a return! Oh, and they may fire the integrity commissioner.

Craig breaks it all down with former city councillor Cheryl Miller, planning expert Dr. A.J. Wray and political insider Nathan Caranci.

Then, the panel tackles the federal election. Is the Liberal lead real? W...

There's been a lot of conversation and arguments about London's homelessness crisis - both at and away from city hall.

But, is there common ground between the city and service providers? How should we move forward?

 London Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis Ark Aid Street Mission Executive Director Sarah Campbell joined Craig in the studio for an in-depth conversation.

The Craig Needles Podcast is powered by Downtown London and the Covent Ga...

We're gearing up for a federal election!

Craig is joined in the studio by Anova executive Director Jessie Rodger, political insider Devin Munro and community builder Jeremy McCall.

The panel discusses the upcoming vote, how everything appears to be going the Liberal's way right now, how that might change and more.

Then, conversation about Mayor Josh Morgan's quest to get the tax hike under 5% and where the money could be found, plu...

Nate Erskine-Smith, the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, stopped by the 700 Richmond studio to chat with Craig about his (relatively) new portfolio, how the political landscape has changed in Canada, how housing will be discussed in what will undoubtedly be a Trump-focused election and why voters should give the Liberals another chance to fix this file.

The Craig Needles Podcast is powered by Downtown London and...

Well, it has been a week.

Tariff talk, meetings in Washington, a new Prime Minister and more dominate the national news. Meantime in London, the turmoil at the Thames Valley District School Board seems to be getting worse and more executives have left the board or taken a leave of absence.

Plus, London West MP Arielle Kayabaga is a cabinet minister!

Craig is joined by a panel of political insider Scott Collyer, former federal NDP c...

As the Trump tariff chaos rages on, some Canadian politicians are talking to their US counterparts about the economic damage both countries are suffering.

Alysson Storey, a councillor in Chatham-Kent and a board member for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities joined Craig on the podcast where she talked about her trip to Washington - and talks with both Republican and Democrat politicians.

The Craig Needles Podcast is brought ...

We cap off tariff week by breaking down the ever-changing news with political insider Ryan Gauss, organizational consultant and community activist Mojdeh Cox and lawyer Matthew Newton-Reid.

They tackled the latest Trump craziness, the ongoing Liberal leadership race and then the latest changes at the Thames Valley District School Board - where former education director Mark Fisher is among the latest executives to be on the outs.

T...

After an illness-induced break, Craig is back and talking tariffs.

The 25% tariff on Canadian goods entering the US has been imposed by Donald Trump - and Canada is striking back. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford have both held news conferences today, explaining their responses to the rump tariffs and reaffirming their commitment to Canada's sovereignty. 

Mahmood Nanji, Policy Fellow at Ivey Business Scho...