The Craig Needles Podcast

An unbelievable pair of lawsuits has been filed by London Health Sciences Centre.

They allege several former executives and co-conspirators aligned to steal tens of millions of dollars via faulty contracts and a corrupt bidding process. Meantime, they say former CEO Jackie Schleifer-Taylor - among others - was altered to the scheme multiple times and did nothing to stop it.

The hospital is hoping to collect $60-milion dollars, acco...

Craig is back from vacation and rather than getting back at it by talking about scandal, he wanted to focus on London organizations trying to help the community.

First, Lisa McIntosh, the interim executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters London and Area joins the podcast to talk about what their organization does, the importance they have in the lives of kids in the community and why they need an influx of volunteers.

Then, BG...

Craig is joined by a panel of former city councillor Cheryl Miller along with political insiders Ryan Gauss and Scott Collyer.

They breakdown the way London's council is structured. Should it be fulltime? Should we elect a Deputy Mayor in a city-wide election? Cheryl may have some Board of Control takes to share.

Then, the province is taking over another four school boards in Ontario, is it time to just end the trustee system? Loca...

On another 30+ degree day in London, Craig wondered - is this just going to be what the month of June is like from now on?

Nobel Prize winning climatologist Dr. Gordon McBean from Western University and the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction joined Craig on the podcast to talk about where our climate is going, what policy makers should be doing and some of the less obvious problems caused by climate change.

The Craig Needles...

Is the London Police open air drug strategy working?

They - once again - are showing off a report saying that it is. Craig and the panel break it down on this week's Friday Round Table, as he's joined by Ward 8 councillor Steve Lehman, former federal NDP candidate Shawna Lewkowitz and London Cares Executive Director Chris Moss.

Later on, the panel breaks down the City of London putting those portable toilets back in Watson Park and...

The London tax increase seems like it'll get under 5% - a win for council or will there be fallout for services?

Craig is joined in the studio by London Home Builder's Association CEO Jared Zaifman and organizational consultant to breakdown that story, plus turning city-owned parking lots into housing and some concerning job trends on this edition of the Friday Round Table.

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Ward 4 councillor Susan Stevenson is back in the news - this time because of a motion perceived by some to have questioned the integrity of some local social service providers.

Stevenson says that is not the case, and joined Craig on the podcast to explain why she wanted to see some agreements the city completed with Unity Project, London Cares and Atlohsa.

Why did Stevenson want to see these contracts? Why does she think the backl...

The Ford government's highly controversial Bill 5 was the big Ontario political story this week, so Craig is joined by advocate Frances Moore, former Green Party candidate Carol Dyck and first time round tabler Sara Mai Chitty to break it all down.

Why is the bill so controversial? Why are Indigenous communities, especially, so concerned by it? And what could the political impacts be?

Then, Craig and the panel look at the potential...

Seven years of legal twists and turns could soon come to an end for former NHLers Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote.

The final legal arguments in the Hockey Canada sexual assault case are being presented next week.

Craig is joined by defense lawyer Alison Craig on the podcast to talk about the case, the various bizarre legal happenings surrounding it and what the outcome might be.

The Craig N...

The fallout continues at the Thames Valley District School Board, as another executive has resigned in the wake of major financial scandal.

What's next for the board? Will we ever have trustees again? How did this happen?

Craig is joined by a panel of former Thames Centre Deputy Mayor Kelly Elliott, organizational consultant and activist Mojdeh Azad (formerly Mojdeh Cox) and former council candidate Jeremy McCall to try and answer ...

The TVDSB audit is out, and the results are bad.

Unauthorized promotions, random COVID payouts, questionable executive decisions - all that and more on the list of things that shouldn't have happened at the school board.

Craig's question: Why are some people letting the trustees off the hook here? Shouldn't they be accountable for the actions of now former Education Director Mark Fisher?  Could there be criminal charges here? And c...

We know where that $60-million surplus the City of London has is going - sort of.

Some councillors may still try to see some of the cash get to community groups. Should it?

Meantime, London politicians and police are extolling the virtues of month one of their open air drug use crackdown. Is it actually working?

Also, week one of the new Carney government. Do the missteps on the housing file show they're going to have a rough time?

Former London City Councillor and Thames Valley District School Board Trustee Cheryl Miller joins Craig to talk about the future of the board now that trustees have essentially been fired by the province.

How did this happen? Did the province make the right choice? Those questions and more, plus Cheryl shares thoughts on council compensation and the budget surplus debate.

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

It's been another whirlwind news week in London.

Councillors anonymously sniping at each other (via survey), London transit busses are late (surprise) and we still don't really know what's happening with the Thames Valley District School Board after the province essentially turfed the trustees.

London Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis joined Craig on the podcast to talk about these issues and more.

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A huge announcement from Canadian Mental Health Association Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services - as they're creating 115 new highly supportive housing apartments thanks to a big investment from the Health and Homelessness Fund for Change.

The units won't be online until fall 2026 (in SoHo) and winter 2027 (on Huron Street) but Mayor Josh Morgan says the announcement is a huge step in battling the homelessness crisis...