Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Mike Schreiner: Toronto Mike'd #1025

Episode Date: March 31, 2022

In this 1025th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike is joined by Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner as they discuss what brought him to Canada, his dual citizenship, his move to politics, being elected MPP for Guelph, Highway 413, his mental health platform, ending Tarion, decriminalizing drug use, passing Ontario's first ever green law, the jams he loves and more. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and RYOBI Tools.

Welcome to episode 1025 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home

and your business. Palma Pasta Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Ridley Funeral Home Pillars of the community since 1921.

Canna Cabana. The lowest prices on cannabis. Guaranteed. Over 100 stores across the country. Learn more at cannacabana.com. And Ryobi. Join the cordless revolution with Ryobi's 18-volt OnePlus system. There are 260 tools in the system, and it's available at Home Depot. Joining me this week, the leader of the Green Party of Ontario, Mike Schreiner. Guelph Mike, welcome to Toronto Mike. Hey Toronto Mike, it's a pleasure to be joining you. Where do we find you today? Are you in Guelph or are you in Toronto? Whereabouts are you today? Yeah, I'm in my office at Queen's Park today. So it's going to be a long day in the house.

We have a night sitting, so I'll be here late tonight. Well, it's windy out there. I just got in from a bike ride and I almost blew off my bike like it's incredibly windy out there right now so if you're going for a stroll just be careful don't carry one of those umbrellas you'll end up like Mary Poppins I think. Yeah well thanks for the warning because when I have long days at Queen's Park like this I like to go for for a nice walk. So I will go out being prepared for the wind. Now, let me just address the FOTMs before we get into it. I'm looking forward to getting to know you better, Mike. But FOTMs, no, for many, many years, I had like a no active politician rule on this podcast.

And last summer, Stephen Del Duca dropped by and I decided, hey, you know, this is my rule. I'm going to change it. And on that episode, you know, when Stephen earned his FOTM stripes, I said that I would happily speak with Doug, Andrea or Mike. And here we are. So thanks for making some time for me today. Yeah, my pleasure. And I'll try not to be too political. How's that? Well, we'll see. I do want to ask you about some political things, but I also want to get into your life and who you are. And I'd like to start maybe by sharing the fun fact with listeners that you're a dual citizen. You were born and raised in the USA. Yeah, I've spent a little about half my life in the US and a little more than half my life here

in Canada. I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere in rural western Kansas. And I moved to Toronto initially for love in the mid-1990s and started a business shortly after moving here on a farm right outside of Guelph and just, I guess, fell in love with Ontario, Canada, and decided this is where I wanted to spend the rest of my life. You know, many a great Canadian was at some point an American who moved here for love, like love, I feel. There's so many stories like that. But Andrea Martin, I think, moved to this city and made some tremendous comedy

because she moved here for love. Like this is not an uncommon story. Well, you know what? Ontario is a great place to live. And if you ever get a chance, Toronto Mike, come to Guelph and visit Guelph, Mike, someday because I think Guelph's just a great community to live in and such a

wonderful beautiful province I take my daughter canoeing every summer we've been doing it for about a decade now and you know I just love the lakes and rivers here in Ontario it's a fantastic place to get out and discover well let me shout out FOTM Ian Service who lives in Guelph and also fun fact for you is last night uh i drove to waterloo to pick up my son uh he wanted to come home and do some studying here uh he's around the corner here now so i was you know pretty darn close to guelph last night that's i could have thrown a stone and hit you there so yeah absolutely so love brings you to Canada. This is, I guess, the mid-90s. You moved to Toronto.

And at some point, you did finally become a Canadian citizen, which gives you the dual citizenship status. Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, I started a couple of businesses here, a nonprofit organization. Both my children are born here. I'm actually became a citizen before they were both born but we'll just say you know it made sense for me to be a dual citizen because my life is here and you know I intend to spend the rest of my life here.

So when did you decide like what year was it when you decided you're going to enter politics? When did you decide, like what year was it when you decided you're going to enter politics? Yeah, you know, it's interesting you say that because I've always been interested in politics ever since I was a kid. And I, in some ways, thought I would have started being involved in politics in my 20s, but I became a bit disillusioned with mainstream politics, just the role of big money in politics. I felt like politics wasn't really answering the big questions that I was concerned about, one in particular being addressing the climate crisis, which I would argue we're still not addressing it sufficiently. And so I thought, you know what, maybe my political role is to make a difference in the world doing other things. So I started one of

Ontario's first local organic food businesses, just on a farm right outside of Guelph. And then a few years later started an organic food production business in Guelph, and then was a part of starting a nonprofit organization to build local sustainable food systems, connecting local farmers to particularly institutional buyers. So like the University of Toronto, for example, but restaurants, retail stores, things like that. And so I sort of engaged in politics in that way by building local sustainable food systems. But I recognize that there were certain limitations to what I could accomplish doing that. But I recognize that there were certain limitations to what I could accomplish doing that. And so in 2007, I started volunteering for the Green Party.

I actually helped write their 2007 election platform. And I was attracted to the Green Party because I felt like it was offering the most innovative and bold solutions around addressing the climate and environmental crisis, addressing social justice issues, particularly rising levels of incoming equality and just racial inequality. And then finally, the party's always had a strong platform around strengthening our democracy, particularly through proportional representation. And so I felt like the Greens were the party that reflected my values. And so that's why I started volunteering for the Green Party. And certainly it's not the easy road to getting elected, I'll tell you that. But it's certainly been the right road for me. In fact, aren't you the first Ontario Green Party member to be elected as MPP? That's right. I'm the first Green MPP in Ontario history and the first member elected from a fourth party in the Ontario legislature since the mid-1940s.

I'm proud to say that we now have, you know, Mike from Guelph as the first Green MPP from Ontario. And now in the last federal election, we have Mike from Kitchener as the first green member of parliament from Ontario. So we now have two elected greens in Ontario, one at the provincial and one at the federal level. Now, you know, I have a question, actually. This is interesting, I think, because you mentioned some of the work you were doing before you entered politics. And it sounds like you were, you know, a green economy hero. Okay. I don't even know if you know where I'm going with this yet,

but I produce a podcast for Diane Sachs. It's called Green Economy. Yeah, so you don't even know we're connected this way. And this is not how you got on the show, I should point out for listeners. But I've been doing this for a couple of years now. I produce a podcast for Diane Sachs called Green Economy Heroes. And Diane interviews exactly that, green economy heroes, people who are making a living with a business that is green, friendly to the environment in several ways. And Diane is amazing, like the way she conducts these interviews,

because she's so tough. Like I've had people I thought would be great fits and they do the pre-interview with Diane and they don't get to the recording stage because Diane is so tough and she's got to have some measurable ROI. It can't just be a loss leader business that's good for the industry. This has to be generating revenue from a business that's good for the, this has to be generating revenue from a business that's good for mother earth. And I just wanted to shout out green economy heroes. Cause it sounds like if we had this podcast before you entered politics, you could have passed the test and been on this podcast of Diane Sacks. Well, I mean, first of all, I love Diane Sacks. Like she's, I mean,

obviously she's now the deputy leader of the Ontario Green Party, but my relationship with Diane goes far beyond her involvement in the Ontario Green Party. Deeply admire her work as both one of the top environmental lawyers in the world, but also as a former environment commissioner of Ontario. And I'm hoping I would make the cut for her podcast. You know, I'll tell you, my organic food business, we were in business for about 25 years. I wasn't the only person running the business during that whole time. I pretty much extricated myself for the most part from the business about 15 years in or so.

But my business partner carried it on for many years and we sold it just a few years ago. And I can tell you, I didn't get rich running the business, but you don't stay in business for 25 years if you're not doing something right. Right, and it's not always about getting rich. It's about if you can provide for your family and have a comfortable living and there's a benefit to our planet, then that's a win. Like it's not always about becoming rich.

Oh, absolutely. And it really wasn't why I started the business, to be honest with you. I started it because I wanted to make our planet a better place. I wanted to make healthy, local, organic food more accessible to people. I wanted to address just the economic vitality and vibrancy of family farms to ensure that you know, we have profitable, sustainable farms. And you know, if I could make a living and feed my own family with good, healthy local food, I've considered as a success. And Diane didn't even know this, but actually Diane was a customer of my business for many years. She told me why. She's like, oh yeah, I used to get, I used to, I still get this thing called a wow box. I've been getting it forever. And I'm like, oh yeah, I'm, I'm the guy who invented the wow box. So, you know,

terrible. We have a connection that goes back a long ways and neither one of us knew we had that connection amazing amazing you know and you're you only moved here in the mid 90s so you're forgiven for not knowing this but Diane's father Morty Shulman was a big deal in this neck of the woods like not

only a media star on city TV but in terms of you know not a politician and you know um uh yeah and and a public servant as well like um so morty shulman uh no longer with us but uh somebody i love to chat with diane about that's for sure that's for sure yeah no absolutely and uh you know i i i've had an opportunity to follow a bit of his career as an MPP. And I know Diane certainly follows in his footsteps in that regard. And, you know, I don't want to do too much politicking. I know that's not the purpose of this podcast, but oh my goodness, what an amazing voice she would be at Queen's Park. Also, let's not bury the lead here because she'd be upset with me if I didn't mention she's running in this next provincial election.

So Diane Sachs is running to be an MPP. So before we leave the Diane Sachs segment of this chat here, you mentioned she was the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. Doug Ford eliminated that role in 2019. Is it fair to say that if you became Premier of this province, would you bring back that role? Oh, absolutely. We would bring back the Environment Commissioner role. I mean, I think we need

an independent environmental watchdog in Ontario. I mean, especially given the current government's just atrocious track record on environmental protections, climate action, etc. And, you know, essentially silencing Diane's voice or just the voice of the commissioner, period, I think has been bad for Ontario. And I think it would be the ultimate irony to sit back that environment commissioner that Doug Ford fired to have Diane be the MPP. She's running in University Rosedale. I guess that would be sweet justice as far as I'm concerned.

Revenge is a dish best served cold, I think is what we say here. Okay, so you enter politics, you mentioned, and then you're with the Green Party of Ontario, but you become leader in 2009. And, you know, since you became leader in 2009, and what is it, 2018, you were elected, right, as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. But the Green Party of Ontario has undergone some tremendous growth in terms of like membership, right? And in public recognition, I mean, here you are in Toronto, Mike, I'm not even 100% certain as I speak to

you right now, who the previous leader was of the Green Party of Ontario. That's the truth there. Well, Frank DeYoung was the leader for 16 years prior to me and did a fantastic job. And so I certainly want to give him credit for helping, you know, get the party started and build the party. And I certainly wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for people like Frank. But when I took over as leader of the party, I really saw it as sort of an entrepreneurial endeavor. So as I said, you know, I helped start a couple businesses, and I've helped start in a very active way, one nonprofit organization. And I've also been a part of the board of a number of other sort of startup nonprofits as well.

And so, you know, I, you could say I'm a bit of a serial entrepreneur in that regard. And so I would say taking on leader of the Green Party, I really approached it as an entrepreneur and how we could build this party, build a grassroots movement to build the kind of Ontario we want. An Ontario that really leaves a livable future for ourselves and my two daughters and, you know, the next seven generations. And so I really approached it from that perspective. And so, you know, we always, I always knew that, you know, having a principled vision, rooted in green values, communicated in a clear, inspiring way, and in a way that engages and mobilizes people, I call it people power, would build the capacity we need to grow the party. And that's exactly what we've done. And so,

to grow the party. And that's exactly what we've done. And so, you know, 10 years later, well, nine years after becoming leader, you know, we elected our first green MPP. And, you know, I was proud and honored to be that person took a lot of hard work to get there. And since I've been elected, you know, we've just really taken the party to another level, I think having a presence in the legislatures made a huge difference. And, you know, we've had record fundraising years every year over the last four years, year on year. We have more volunteers than we've ever had. We have an amazing slate of candidates, obviously highlighted by, you know, somebody like Diane Sachs, but Matt Richter up in Parry, Salma Skoka, and a number of other strong candidates across the province.

And we have the biggest staff we've ever had. And so I think, you know, taking that entrepreneurial approach to really provide a service for our community, our province, and to deliver a clear message that people could really rally behind. And, you know, obviously the donations help as well in building that capacity. I think we're well positioned going into the next provincial election and I'm really excited about it. So when I was preparing my notes, you know, cause there's some things that mean a lot to me personally,

I want to ask you about. And, uh, but then I also did go to the official site. So I went to your, uh, you know, where you control the messaging and then there's this line. So I just need you to explain this to me because I just copied and pasted from your site. It says, he passed, this is regarding you, Mike, he passed Ontario's first ever green law, which protects electric vehicle drivers while introducing other bills to conserve drinking water, get big money out of politics and remove routine sick notes. So can you, what is the first ever green law that you passed? Can you just give me a little detail there?

Yeah, so I passed legislation and I did it as a co-sponsored private member's bill with a member of the Conservative Caucus, which shows you my ability to work across party lines. I mean, at the time we passed that bill, I was being highly critical of the government's dismantling of climate action plans, you know, ripping up renewable energy contracts, pulling out electric charging stations out of parking lots.

I mean, they were doing so many things that I thought was so against the green agenda. But when I had an opportunity to make life better for electric vehicle drivers, I was willing to work across party lines to make that happen. And so now, if you park in an electric charging space, and you're not charging your car, it's illegal, and you're subject to a fine. And can I tell you, do I have time to tell a quick story about this? Well, I have all the time in the world, Mike. It's up to you. So I drive an electric vehicle myself and I travel obviously between Guelph and Toronto a fair amount and I'm on my way home to Guelph after passing the bill and there's a spot I stop in and charge oftentimes and it's free charging actually, which is kind of nice in this particular spot, though, I certainly don't mind paying to charge because it's not that expensive.

But I took the last charging space, and a gentleman pulled in right behind me. And there was a non electric vehicle parked in the parking space right next to mine blocking the charger. And so the gentleman was quite upset. If this is a family podcast, I'm not going to use some of the language he used. And he ended up, I could hear him calling mall security and screaming them to tow this vehicle. And he was really agitated. And I went over and just calmly said, sir, don't worry. I'll take care of this for you. And he looked at me like, what are you talking about? Like, what are you going to do? I got ball security coming. We're going to get this car the heck out of here. And I said, sir, don't worry. I've just passed legislation that makes that illegal.

And this isn't going to happen in the future. And he looked at me, he's like, who the heck are you? And what are you talking about? And I'm like, well, I'm the MPP for Guelph and the leader of the Ontario Green Party. And I just passed a bill that makes this illegal. So you don't have to worry about this in the future. And he looked at me and he's like, I don't really know who you are, but if you pass that bill, you've got my vote. You just never know how you can make a difference in people's lives. And see the things you can do when you're at Queen's Park as a member of provincial

parliament versus not having that seat. lives. See the things you can do when you're at Queen's Park as a member of provincial parliament versus, you know, not having that seat. Like it's just, it's a game changer, right? This is huge. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And I'm also proud to say I was part of passing the first bill in the history of Ontario that was co-sponsored by all four political parties here. A symbolic bill, but really important symbolic bill, declaring the month of August, Emancipation Month. Many of you probably know emancipation, the ending of slavery in the British Empire, happened on August 1st, 1834.

And so we declared the month of August, Emancipation Month, in Ontario, and a real opportunity to reflect on the month of August, Emancipation Month in Ontario, and a real opportunity to, you know, reflect on the history of slavery in the British colonies, and just the legacy of systemic racism that exists because of that, and, you know, what we can do to address it. And I was proud to say I was the one who spearheaded the effort to get all four parties to co-sponsor the bill, and it passed unanimously in the legislature. And it shows that you can get things done, even in the increasingly hyper-partisan political world that we live in,

in a way that brings people together. So Mike, I want to dive into your mental health platform. But before I do that, I have questions from listeners who, you know, sent in questions when I tweeted that you were dropping by. So I want to make sure I get to those now and then we'll get to your mental health platform. I want to dive into that. But Jason Paris, I know Jason, he works at the CBC. Shout out to Jason Paris. Get him to reiterate that the party will end separate school funding, full stop. Yeah, Mike. So, you know, it's an interesting issue. And I would say the timing for that's not right right now. And I'll tell you why. Students in this province have experienced so much disruption, the two years of the pandemic with online and, you know, in class, the online or not,

and then a year prior to the pandemic with the job actions that were happening because of the Ford government's efforts to increase class sizes and bring in mandatory online learning. And my gosh, the last two years, I hope, have put an end to any notion that we would have any kind of mandatory online learning. I just don't think we need any notion that we would have any kind of mandatory online learning. I just don't think we need any more disruption in our school system right now. And I can tell you the majority of Ontarians support moving to a single school system with French and English public. And so politically, it's a winner for us. But I've always put people before politics. And right now, I think we have to put students first.

And I don't think we need that kind of disruption in our education system right now. But it's certainly something I think we should have a conversation about moving forward. Freedom 55, which is the handle this gentleman uses on a gentleman. I think I think it's a you know what? I assume gender because I just assume everyone's my gender. That's awful. But freedom 55 gender unknown. Uh, please ask Mike about his platform regarding, uh, supporting people with cognitive disabilities. Yeah, we absolutely need to increase funding and support for people with disabilities, uh, especially developmental disabilities.

And so, you know, one of the things I've been really advocating for hard in the legislature over the last six months or so is doubling the rates for people on Ontario Disability Support Program in particular. People with disabilities are forced to live on $1,100 a month. So just think about that for a second. I mean, my gosh, can you even find a couch, let alone an apartment that you can rent for $1,100 in Toronto or even in Guelph, you know, where you would think rents would be lower. They're going through the roof in Guelph as well. And then imagine having to put food on the table, you know, buy clothes, meet other expenses, pay the bills. It's essentially legislative poverty.

And so I've been calling for doubling ODSP rates, which would at least bring people with disabilities up to the low income cutoff level. So people can live, just live a life that is not in such deep, deep poverty. And I think that we as Ontarians, we're good people. We're caring people. We want to build caring, inclusive communities. And those communities need to include people with disabilities. And we need to make sure they're treated with the respect and dignity they deserve you mentioned how expensive it is to live in this province you alluded to it there so there's i got a couple of comments about uh tarian oh yeah but firstly i'll just read what xp man says uh xp man wrote in to say uh i don't know much about mike schreiner by

the way xp man will listen to this episode and know more about you but uh I don't know much about Mike Schreiner. By the way, XP-Man will listen to this episode and know more about you. But I don't know much about Mike Schreiner, but what I do know is he is one of the good guys fighting for new house buyers along with the NDP. That was XP-Man's comment.

But Barbara tweeted at me, it's good that Mike included end-Tarian monopoly. This is a hashtag she's using, her group, in the green platform. So a couple of parts here, but we'll start with this. Could you explain to the listeners of this program why you're

ending Tarion? And tell us maybe those who don't know, because I know because I had Peter Sherman on this program and this was a topic that came up and it was a little moment about Tarion, but please tell the listeners, what is Tarion, and why are you ending it? Yeah, so Tarion is kind of a quasi-government-supported corporation that has a monopoly when it comes to the guarantee of new home construction. So when you purchase a new home, it's backed by tearing if there's any problems with it.

There's been so many documented cases of people who, new home buyers, who have had significant problems with their home. In some some cases, like, you know, black mold in the home, you know, what, you know, a new home, like, you know, almost unheard of, or, or shoddy construction that's led to, you know, flooding of their basements and just really significant expenses. And the Tarion is supposed to provide the warranty. So those homeowners are like reimbursed and covered for it. So it's like if you bought a product and you need to return and get your money back or have it fixed and replaced. Well, Tarion has just an atrocious history of denying warranty claims and not backing them up stringing people along um for years

without compensation and just imagine how devastating that is is because for most people buying a house is the most significant financial purchase they'll they'll make in their lifetime and to have a warranty system that just doesn't work is horrible for so many families. And so Justice Cunningham did a review of Tarion and recommended that we eliminate the Tarion monopoly and move to a system like you have in British Columbia, for example, where you have a variety of regulated warranty providers. And that system has worked so much better for consumer protection. And very, thank you for that. And Barbara had a- I hope that was a good explanation because a lot of people probably have no idea when

you say Tarion, they have no idea what you're talking about. No, but I got it. So I wasn't 100%. I read a question, might be from barbara actually there's a you know there's that hardcore group that's all over this uh and and i was educated after my peter sherman conversation because he was on the board and he was removed and there was a whole thing and it came up anyway that's when i suddenly was educated and i realized wow like i think the average ontarian does not know what terry on is i would argue. Yeah. But just imagine, so, you know,

like just think of how much a new house costs. I mean, geez, you know, you're talking almost a million dollars in today's unaffordable housing market. At least. So you stretch yourself so far to be able to afford that home and then have it not built properly and have the government monopoly warranty system not back the house up and support you as a consumer, just how devastating that is for people. And you can understand why there's so many angry folks out there who've gone through that experience. Absolutely. But here's a good part too. I find this an interesting question. So

this is regarding the name of your party. And it was named before you got there. So I'll read it, actually, and then I'll throw my two cents in there. But the name Green Party seems to some voters limiting. Tell us how Greens would govern differently in economy, housing, or health care. And that's the end of that question, which I'm hoping you'll address. But I do totally get this because it really feels like the Green Party just on the surface, and I've been educated lately to learn much more than that. It really feels like for climate change, this is your party, but there's all these other things. And, you know, Barbara mentioned

economy, housing and healthcare as a few that are not, you know, related to, you know, the climate crisis. What say you about this name? Do you think it turns off some voters because they feel it's a, I don't want to call it a one trick pony, but it's primarily focused on climate crisis? Yeah, you know, I've had moments where I've thought, well, maybe that's the case. But, you know, the bottom line is that there's a green movement around the world and there are green parties in most countries around the world. And so the Ontario Greens were part of, you know, an international green movement that shares values and have put forward values based parties. and have put forward values-based parties. And, you know, we've seen Greens in government in a number of countries,

Germany probably being the one most pronounced. And, you know, I think it's important for us to have a party in Canada and in Ontario and in all the provinces across the country that reflects the values of the international green movement. And it certainly hasn't been a deterrent for electing greens across the country. I mean, my gosh, the PEI greens are the official opposition in a minority government. The New Brunswick greens have a caucus in a minority government. The BC Greens for a while held the balance of power in a minority government in British Columbia. And then obviously, you know, we have our first green seat here in Ontario. And I think what separates the Greens from other parties, and one of the reasons I think you've seen a growth

and in many respects an unexpected growth in Greens getting elected across the country is our commitment to doing politics differently. I know earlier in our conversation I talked about my ability to work across party lines to get things done, to put people first. And that's something that Greens across the country and around the world have shown an ability to do. And I think that is critically important in a world where you're starting to see, you know, a rise in toxic partisan politics. I mean, you really see it in the US, but you're seeing it more and more in Canada as well. And, and, you know, greens are working against that. Yes, the climate crisis is an environmental crisis, because I would say,

you know, not only facing a climate crisis, I mean, we're, we're running out of farmland, we're paving over our wetlands, like the ecosystems that sustain life are literally under threat right now. And so I think it's vital to have a party that centers that, like literally the livability of our planet, humans' ability to live on this planet, civilization to be able to survive, to have that at the center and the core of what the party is all about. But that has significant

implications for our economy, our health, our quality of life, housing, affordability, etc. And so I would argue that the most, you know, if you want to have a successful economy in today's world, you should be investing in the new climate economy. Most global capital investment is going into things like renewable energy generation, electrification of our transportation system, green buildings. I mean, those are all critical components of a climate economy. And the Ontario Greens have a real plan for Ontario to be a leader in that climate economy. If you look at housing affordability, I mean, the Toronto Star called our housing affordability plan a masterclass plan. So many people across the political spectrum have really complimented our plan as the most visionary plan for addressing the housing crisis.

And I think part of that is because it's a plan that's not driven by ideology. It's driven by evidence, best practices, and solutions. And we show ways in which we can engage the private sector and the market economy in helping address the housing affordability crisis, but also the vital role of the public sector in government funding support for things like co-ops and non-profit housing and social housing and addressing the housing crisis as well. And some parties here at Queen's Park feel like the market solves everything and others feel the public sector solves everything. And we're a party that's really about what does the evidence tell us? What are the best practices tell us? And I think people really appreciate that approach to policymaking and that approach to politics because it's not driven by partisanship.

It's not driven by ego. It's not driven by the drive for power. It's about what's good for people. How do we improve lives? What's the evidence and best practices telling us is the best solution to addressing this particular challenge? You mentioned earlier there that you have this ability to speak to all parties and across the aisle, as they say. And I'm wondering, what is your relationship like with Doug Ford? Well, I dreamed I saw the knights in armor Coming, saying something about a queen There were peasants singing And drummers drumming

And the archers split the tree There was a fanfare blowing to the sun that was floating on the breeze Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 1970s

Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 1970s We'll get back to my conversation with Guelph Mike in just a moment. I want to thank Great Lakes Brewery. Brewed right here in southern Etobicoke. You can find Great Lakes in LCBOs across this fine province.

Palma Pasta. They're in Oakville and Mississauga. Go to palmapasta.com. The best lasagna this side of Italy. I guarantee. Speaking of guarantees, Canna Cabana will not be undersold on cannabis or cannabis accessories.

Find one near you. My boy was telling me the Waterloo location is awfully popular with the Laurier and University of Waterloo crowd. And if you want to find out why, go to canacabana.com, check one out. StickerU.com. They're here in Liberty Village,

but you can access StickerU.com anywhere you have an internet connection. Get your stickers and decals and everything you need. Green Party of Ontario. Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of this community since 1921. Brad Jones has his own podcast. I'm proud to produce.

It's called Life's Undertaking. I strongly recommend it. And last but not least, Ryobi. The Ryobi 18-volt, one-plus high-capacity, lithium-plus battery provides four times more run time,

four times longer-lasting charge, and 20% lighter weight than NiCad batteries. Pick it up at Home Depot. All 260 tools work with the same battery and charger. My wife loves it. Now back to my conversation with Mike Schreiner. All in a dream, all in a dream, the loading had begun. Flying Mother Nature's silver seat to a new home in the sun.

sun flying mother nature's silver seat to a new home Yeah, you know, so with the premier in particular, you know, it's, you know, I wouldn't say it's

a buddy relationship in any way. I've been pretty critical of the government's really systematic dismantling of climate action in the province. I could go on for probably five minutes outlining all the environmental protections this government has dismantled. The first sign was when they realized that Diane Sachs was, you know, documenting and letting them know all of this. And then they said, okay, that position's gone because we don't want to hear this. That was your first sign that. Yeah, exactly. It's like,

okay, we're going to do all these horrible things. And then when the independent officer of the legislature, who's going to document all of this, when they realized that person might, you know, let the public know about it, they fired, they fired the person and eliminated the position. So absolutely. So, you know, that's been tough. You know, obviously, you know, I respect the office, but I strongly disagree with the direction that the current government is taking Ontario. And quite frankly, I've, you know, I don't want to get overly partisan,

because I know it's not the kind of podcast this is, but I've been deeply disappointed in both the Liberal and the NDPs, especially recently. I'm the only MPP in the entire legislature that voted against Doug Ford's motion supporting pipelines, and in particular, Line 5, which is an outdated pipeline that threatens the Great Lakes. I'm the only MPP at Queen's Park who voted against Ford's bill to remove license plate sticker fees, which takes $1.1 billion out of public coffers,

$1.1 billion out of public coffers, which quite frankly, you know, should be spent on, on, you know, better, better healthcare and better public services to improve people's lives. And so, you know, I think it's so important. We're the only party that's put forward a plan to, a real plan to address the climate crisis in a way that, you know, meets our international obligations and does it in a way that ensures that we have a strong economy and that we're a leader in the new climate economy. And so I think it's just so vital to have a party like the Green Party, who can stand up on principle, has the courage to be the only vote in the legislature. And by gosh, I'm hoping, you know, Diane Sachs and Matt Richter and a few others will be voting with me, you know, in a few months. But just to really stand up on principle and to really put what's good for people ahead of partisan party politics.

I just caught a glimpse of the clock so i'm gonna burn here because i gotta get some more i want to cover here quick but uh this is me now i submitted this question to my own show but okay so this is about highway 413 okay uh do i have the right number i know it's i'm saying the number As I hear myself say it out loud, I'm like, that is right, 413. Okay. Yes. So, please, on my ride, I live in Toronto, and I went to Waterloo last night, as I mentioned, and then back. And I'm driving on the 401, and it's like they're doubling the width of this 401 for a portion there.

I'm seeing the construction to my left as I head west. And then I'm remembering the 4413 are we going to say 413 or 413 I should what either either you know what we're just going to say uh no to highway 413 well here can you explain 413 and then we don't have to worry about this uh unnecessary expensive but can you succinctly I know this is a big challenge because i want to get to the mental health platform right next after this but uh people think people a lot of people think that more lanes means improved congestion like this is the thought oh i want more lanes i'll get there faster the congestion will be less are you able to in a sentence or two, explain why experts say that's not how it works, like that adding more lanes to highways does not improve congestion?

Well, I'll just say if adding more lanes to highways improved congestion, we wouldn't have any congestion in Toronto. But obviously, it doesn't work. There's something called induced demand. We've had 75 years of history to show us that when you build more highways, when you widen existing highways, it just encourages more people to drive and it supercharges sprawl development, which is why more people need to drive. And quite frankly, the Ford government right now is saying that's how we can address the housing affordability crisis. Well, essentially the premier is then saying is the only way you can find an affordable home is to have to commute hours to get to work in order to find that home.

There is a better way forward. Let's build connected, livable, affordable communities instead. Now, I want to speak about this. And the reason I want to speak about this, because again, I mentioned I was on your website. So gpo.ca. Do I have the on your website. So gpo.ca. Do I have the right address? Yeah, gpo.ca. And then you can actually go to gpo.ca

slash mental health and read more about the mental health platform. One item, and I'm going to let you speak to this. You don't have all the time in the world, but that's your own deadline, not mine, Mike. So it's up to you. But I want to speak because forever I've been arguing we need to decriminalize drug use.

Like, I mean, they were going to have a safe, something was going on in my neighborhood, actually, like safe injection site. And I'm like, we need more of these. We need to decriminalize drug use. We need to like shift this from like, you know, you're arrested to you need better health care. But you speak to this.

Maybe run down what you would do to improve health care, mental health care in Ontario. Yeah, well, first, Mike, I just want to say I'm proud that the Ontario Greens were the first political party in Ontario history to put forward a standalone mental health strategy. And one of the cornerstones of that strategy is expanding mental health services to be included under OHIP or more of them to be included under OHIP with a basic premise that mental health is health, and we should fund it as part of our healthcare system.

Am I allowed to interrupt? I know you're on a roll here, and we'll get right back to that. But quickly, because you just said that and I know I'm going to run out of time here in a minute. Dental care, dental care. And what do you call it when you need your eye care? What's that called? Eye care?

Can I call it eye care? Why not? I'm just a commenter here. I never understood why this wasn't in OHIP. I don't understand why we don't offer universal dental care as and pharma care yeah i completely agree with you like that's why i'm excited that it looks like this new agreement at the federal level between the liberals and the ndp hopefully is going to actually bring

in universal dental care because i've never been owners understand why dental care i care pharma care isn't included as part of our publicly funded health care system. Likewise, I don't understand why mental health care is not included under OEHIP as well. And so we've outlined an investment strategy and we've shown how to fund it, by the way, reversing Doug Ford's plan to cancel those license plate fees. That would be enough to fund our mental health or most of our mental health program. Wow. And when it comes to addictions, let's start treating addictions, not as a criminal justice issue, but as a healthcare issue. It's the right thing to do. It's the decent thing to do. And

quite frankly, if you look at other jurisdictions, particularly Portugal, it's the most effective way to address the drug poisoning crisis that we're facing in our province right now. We're losing far too many people who are dying because of drug poisoning and opioid overdoses. And one of the barriers for people calling for help is they're afraid of criminal prosecution. And so let's treat this as a public health issue. Let's get people the healthcare services they need. One of the biggest ones is housing. And so our housing strategy is connected to our mental health strategy with a commitment

to building 60,000 permanent supportive housing spaces with wraparound mental health addictions and other support so we can stabilize people's lives. And when you stabilize their lives, it saves so much money when it comes to policing costs, healthcare costs, social service costs, etc. And another component of this approach is we're calling for a three-digit crisis line where somebody who's facing mental health crisis or an addiction crisis can call a mental health line, not a police line. So mental health care providers will respond instead of police responding.

Again, we've looked at other jurisdictions, particularly the CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon, that have had much better outcomes for those individuals in crisis, but for society as a whole. And this gets back to what I talked about earlier is evidence-based, non-ideological solutions that work based on best practices that we see here in Ontario and around the world. Thank you so much. Thank you. Now I'm going to shout out somebody you know and a good friend of mine. I produce his podcast as well and we become good buds, but I want to shout out Ralph Ben-Murgy. Can I do that? What do you think of Ralph?

I felt he got kind of screwed over with his Friday night show. This might actually be before you got actually around the time you got here. Maybe that was maybe the same time. Yeah, no, I've, I've, you know, I've, I've enjoyed Ralph as an entertainer, as a comedian, as a radio host. And now, by the way, an advisor to the Green Party. I think it's okay for me to say that. Well, you know what? I didn't know. That's why I just wanted to shout him out and see if you'd say that.

But Ralph, we know Ralph is listening. And I know he's a big fan of your party. Yeah, well, you know what? I think, again, it's just another indication of, you know, the Ontario Greens' ability to attract people from, you know, the Ontario Greens ability to attract people from, you know, who have been actively involved in other parties, to be a part of this people-powered movement, to deliver real solutions to a lot of the old challenges we face in the province. I've really been saying to people, like, let's imagine the Ontario we want. And then let's build through

the Green Party, let's build the kind of leadership we need to deliver that kind of Ontario. And we're attracting, you know, so many talented, committed, passionate people to be a part of that movement. And Ralph is certainly one of them. Now, I shouted out Diane Sacks's podcast, which is called the green economy heroes. And I want to shout out Ralph Ben-Murgy's fine podcast, not that kind of rabbi. It's very good. And yeah,

it is good. So I don't know, trying to Mike, like, do you have any, anybody else that I'm connected to? Well, if you had another hour,

we'd find out, but here I'll wrap with this. Ralph, of course, recently could be heard on jazz FM. He's a huge fan of jazz. What's your go-to genre of music? I would love to imagine when Mike is listening to some jams, what's he listening to? Yeah, you know, folk music is my favorite. I'm a huge Pete Seeger fan. Yeah, you know, folk music is my favorite. I'm a huge Pete Seeger fan. Utah Phillips is another one I listened to a lot. And, and actually, I, I saw Pete Seeger, one of his last concerts was in Toronto. And he's Roman. So I had the just privilege of being there because I, I knew it

might be one of the last times I'd ever be able to see Pete Seeger live. Also being a farm kid from rural western Kansas, I'm a big fan of Outlaw Country. And the first concert I ever went to was a Johnny Cash concert when I think I was about five years old. But I have a variety of tastes. I like a lot of R&B. So there's a musician in Guelph, Joni Narita. I'm a huge fan of her music if you want to check it out. And so, you know, my kids mostly cringe at my music tastes. But you know what? I'm opening to listening about anything, actually. How old are your kids? Yeah, so my oldest is 22. My youngest is 17.

And, you know, being a dad, I have to say, is one of the best jobs a person could ever have. You know, it has its moments, as any parent knows. But, you know, I'm really proud of both of my kids. but you know I'm really I'm really proud of both of my kids and and they both you know I I assume that neither one of them would ever want to come close to politics and there have been many times over the years that they roll their eyes at you know some of my you know sayings that I say repeat in my speeches or you know they cringe at some of the events they would have to go to with me you know in different communities and what have you but if they've grown older some of the events they would have to go to with me, you know, in different communities and what have you. But if they've grown older, both of them have been very interested in politics. And both of them especially are interested in climate justice and have been

very active in that regard. And I'm really proud of them. Well, I can relate to you on the parenting front because I have also have a 17 year old and I have a 20 year old. Well, I can relate to you on the parenting front because I also have a 17-year-old and I have a 20-year-old. So we're almost on the same page. So my 22-year-old didn't sleep for about four and a half years. And so that explains the longer gap that I have between my two kids. Well, I could beat you because I mentioned the 17-year-old, but I also have a six-year-old and almost eight-year-old. He's seven and almost eight he's

eight next week all right to wrap up uh i'm gonna pitch one idea i've had and you can tell me it's a ridiculous dumb idea but i have had this idea and then i'm going to uh ask you a question from out for change which will give you an opportunity to kind of close here the way that you probably would love to close but my idea is what if we gave every citizen of this province over every citizen of the province, maybe over the age of five or something, who makes fewer than

X dollars, so you can put a little caveat like this. And I haven't fleshed this out yet, so this is very early stages. We give them all a bicycle. Everyone gets a bike. Everyone gets a bike. Yeah, I'd go for that. I think everyone should have access to a bike. It's a fantastic way to get around. It's great exercise. And as a matter of fact, our climate plan, if you even want to upgrade to an electric bike,

which I know is a bit more expensive, we'll provide you with a thousand dollar rebate on your e-bike. Diane Sacks has an electric bike because her most recent episode was a guy with the e-bikes. And I got to hear the whole story. So, but she's got a hill to climb there. Okay. So thank you for not telling me that was a terrible idea. I just think that like, it's good for your health. So this helps our healthcare system.

It keeps you healthy. It's good for your wallet. So you can spend that money on other more important things. And of course it's good for the environment and it's good for the congestion issues. It's good everywhere. Everybody should ride a bike everywhere. Don Cherry can call me a left-wing pinko. That's okay. I just think everyone should bike everywhere. So the final question for you, Mike, before we say goodbye, because I know we had a hard stop here. It's from Out4Change. And if Out4Change is your burner account, tell me now, I need honesty here.

But Out4Change says, ask, it's not you. Okay, ask Mike how a listener can get involved to help increase the success of the Green Party other than making a contribution. Tell us, Mike. Yeah, well, I would say, you know, we have an election on June 2nd and we have many of our candidates in place,

but one of the best ways that you can help the Green Party is in one of those writings where we don't have a candidate, step up and be a candidate. I tell everyone that we need politicians from all walks of life. We need a diverse city of voices here at Queen's Park. And if you're passionate and committed, and you care about your community, and you want to serve your community, which I would say are the highest qualities that we look for in a green candidate, step up and run. And if you don't want to be a candidate, or there's already one in your community, then volunteer for a campaign. Going out and knocking on doors, making phone calls, putting up signs.

I know at first sounds a little intimidating, but it's actually a heck of a lot of fun to be able to talk about with your neighbors about the things that you care about. What are the issues you're passionate about? Why you would like to see more Greens elected to the provincial legislature? Huge opportunities. And, you know, I would say, obviously, we need money to run campaigns. But I would say what we need more than money is people power. And I always say to everyone, you know, the Green Party, we run on people power. And it's really a lot of dedicated, passionate, committed people who want to serve their community, who want to make sure we have a livable future. So I would say go to gpo.ca. We have a space in which you can sign up to volunteer and get active in your community. And if partisan politics isn't the thing for you,

there are so many citizen organizations out there that are doing fantastic work in communities across Ontario. And I think one of the most important issues right now that a lot of citizens are organizing around are stop the sprawl citizen groups. So there's citizen groups popping up all over Ontario to fight back against Doug Ford's sprawl agenda, which will just make the climate crisis worse, make life less affordable, pave over the farmland that feeds us and the wetlands that clean our drinking water and protect us from flooding. So if partisan politics isn't your thing, like get involved in one of these citizen groups that are all over Ontario fighting to make our communities better places to live. Mike, you've earned your FOTM stripes.

Thanks for doing this, buddy. Hey, Toronto Mike, it's always a pleasure. And the next time you have to go to Waterloo, make a stop in Guelph and I'll show you around. It's a beautiful, beautiful community. Lots of fantastic trails, two rivers that flow through the community and a number of fantastic small businesses that I can go out and maybe treat you to a coffee or an adult beverage. And that brings us to the end of our 1025th show.

You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Guelph Mike, he's at Mike Schreiner. I'll spell Schreiner for you. It is S-C-H-R-E-I-N-E-R. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U. Ridley Funeral Home, they're at Ridley FH.

Canna Cabana are at Canna Cabana underscore. And Ryobi are on Instagram at Ryobi underscore Canada. See you all next week. Well, I want to take a streetcar downtown Read Andrew Miller and wander around And drink some Guin goodness from a tin Cause my UI check has just come in Ah, where you been?

Because everything is kind of rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold But the snow wants me today And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is rosy and green Well, you've been under my skin for more than eight years It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears.

And I don't know what the future can hold or will do for me and you. But I'm a much better man for having known you. Oh, you know that's true Because everything is coming up Rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow Wants me today And your smile is fine

And it's just like mine And it won't go away Because everything is rosy and gray well I've been told that there's a sucker born every day but I wonder who yeah I

wonder who maybe the one who doesn't realize there's a thousand shades of gray. Cause I know that's true, yes I do. I know it's true, yeah. I know it's true. How about you?

Oh, they're picking up trash and they're putting down roads. And they're brokering stocks, the class struggle explodes And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can Maybe I'm not and maybe I am But who gives a damn because Everything is coming up rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms me today And your smile is fine, it's just like mine

And it won't go away Because everything is rosy and gray Well, I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in places I better not name And I've seen the sun go down on Sacré-Cœur

But I like it much better going down on you Yeah, you know that's true Because everything is coming up Rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow Warms us today

And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is rosy now Everything is rosy and Everything is rosy and gray Thank you.