The Civic Square with Rory Nisan

Eric Lombardi is all but in the race for Liberal leader. His passion for industrial policy and building a future for Ontario shines through in this final full episode before my municipal election campaign kicks off.

MP and Parliamentary Secretary for Housing and Infrastructure Jennifer McKelvie talks about her path to city hall and then Parliament Hill, how the feds are addressing housing and homelessness, and what she doesn't miss about municipal politics. Recorded in January.

My friend and fellow politico Darcy Oberding flips the script and interviews me on the state of politics from Burlington to the province, the feds and even internationally. This episode was recorded in February.

Nate Erskine-Smith is not yet officially running for leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, but he has outlined a path through Scarborough. We talk about his plans for the province, how he intends to win, and how a Premier Erskine-Smith would work with municipalities. We also give one of his more memorable emails a quick edit. This episode was produced by Burlington365 and hosted by WorkWell Studios in Burlington.

What does it take to run for office? In my first solo episode, I share my story and provide some practical advice for all the would-be candidates out there, and the people who care about changing their communities.

Member of Provincial Parliament Rob Cerjanec is the new MPP for Ajax, the only riding won by the Liberals in the 905 last year. He tells us why the 905 matters and shares his story of being raised by a single mom in North York.

Peter Paz, Senior Director of Public and Government Relations with Alto tells us how Alto is delivering on the promise of high speed rail in Canada. He tells us what the real max speed will be and how the project's economics work.

Toronto Transit Commission Chair and first-term city councillor Jamaal Myers shares why he thinks there's a bright future for the TTC and why the racoon should be the TTC's mascot. He also shares how he came up in politics and why he walked away from a lucrative legal career in the banking sector.

I am joined by Shoaib Ahmed, Founder of Scooty, a Canadian e-scooter company that is active in Brampton, Barrie and Markham, and which recently began a pilot in my hometown of Burlington. Shoaib breaks down the business climate around city halls and talks about how he navigated local public policy to get to where he is today. He also previews some exciting integration with Presto Cards.

Rob Spanier knows how to make retail awesome. He started his career working on projects like Blue Mountain and Whistler, and founded the Spanier Group to deliver ground-oriented retail that combines with placemaking to build places people want to be (and shop). Rob gives the straight goods on the goods: what works and what doesn't, and when and how municipalities can enable complete retail districts.

Snip-Snap Snip-Snap: Rowena Santos, City and Regional Councillor for Brampton and Peel breaks down the Premier's promise to ban the cameras his own government approved, and blame municipalities for having the gall to follow provincial regulations. We brought a speed gun just because they're fun.

Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath tells me how she manages the hurly burly of Hamilton local politics, the answer to the homelessness crisis, and her vision for the city in 15 years.

Toronto City Councillor Josh Matlow studied improv acting before making it to city hall, and most recently ran in the by-election for mayor. We talk about the Rob Ford era, lessons in campaigning on a large scale, and about homelessness and the Premier.

Brad Bradford, second term councillor at the City of Toronto, has emerged as an outspoken critic of Mayor Olivia Chow. He rides his bike to work while opposing bike lanes in some parts of the city. We delve deep into his mindset and where is passions lie as one of the strongest voices at City Hall. And we talk about the (in)famous Patty King video.

I speak to Steve Paikin about how he became the honest broker of Ontario journalism, what he's learned about great politicians, and why the Ticats are the best team in North American professional sports.

Frank Domenic has 120k followers on TikTok for his political content, which he has been posting on social media for over 10 years. He tells us his secrets to posting viral content and provides advice to local change-makers on being effective online. Oh and he's also a Burlington resident with strong opinions on the local food scene.

I speak with Karina Gould about what she learned from her leadership campaign, how to be effective when lobbying on MPs, squaring off against the US President and how she looks at her career so far.

In this inaugural episode of The Civic Square, Rory Nisan, Deputy Mayor (Environment) in Burlington interviews Sameera Ali, Town and Regional Councillor from Milton on crime, snowplowing and being a trailblazing Muslim woman councillor. Co-produced with Burlington365 in the WorkWell Studio.