Podcasts about Toronto Transit Commission

Jamaal Myers, Ward 23 Councillor and TTC Chair, joins Greg to talk about the Toronto Transit Commission board's unanimous decision to rename Dundas Station to TMU Station Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Keep Canada Weird Jordan and Aaron Airport explore the weird and offbeat Canadian news stories from the past week. In this episode your hosts discuss; the worst political ads of the 2025 Canadian election golfers brawling in Kelowna Should the Toronto Transit Commission be romantic? a wedding at the Dorchester jail Series Links Keep Canada Weird Series: https://www.nighttimepodcast.com/keep-canada-weird Send a voice memo: https://www.nighttimepodcast.com/contact Join the Keep Canada Weird Discussion Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/keepcanadaweird Provide feedback and comments on the episode: nighttimepodcast.com/contact Subscribe to the show: nighttimepodcast.com/subscribe Contact: Website: https://www.nighttimepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NightTimePod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimepod Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/nighttimepodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Keep Canada Weird Jordan and Aaron Airport explore the weird and offbeat Canadian news stories from the past week. In this episode your hosts discuss; the worst political ads of the 2025 Canadian election golfers brawling in Kelowna Should the Toronto Transit Commission be romantic? a wedding at the Dorchester jail Series Links Keep Canada Weird Series: https://www.nighttimepodcast.com/keep-canada-weird Send a voice memo: https://www.nighttimepodcast.com/contact Join the Keep Canada Weird Discussion Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/keepcanadaweird Provide feedback and comments on the episode: nighttimepodcast.com/contact Subscribe to the show: nighttimepodcast.com/subscribe Contact: Website: https://www.nighttimepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NightTimePod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimepod Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/nighttimepodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

​Nick Sweetman​ is one of Toronto's most prominent graffiti artists. Last February I was walking down Lansdowne Avenue in Toronto with my friend ​Michael Bungay Stanier​, who was our guest back in ​Chapter 48​, and as we strolled under a giant bridge I saw a giant ... well, it looked like a photo! But it wasn't a photo. It was a massive spray-painted image of a ​Hooded Merganser​, and at the very bottom corner was a signature that said "Nick Sweetman." Looks like a photo, right? Look at that eye! That bill! But I discovered there's this Toronto mural artist named Nick Sweetman and turns out I've seen the guy's stuff all over the place. He paints ​pollinators​, ​birds​, ​insects​, and ​animals​ of all kinds... He painted a ​whale shark​ I've ridden by on my bike for years without knowing it was him! Squint and you'll see the 'Sweetman' underneath its cavernous mouth. So I decided to reach out to Nick Sweetman and ask him about doing a unique partnership with me and 3 Books. He was game! We found a 750 square foot brutalist bare concrete wall behind a subway station in Toronto begging to be beautified. And now 11 months later I am very proud to present... After I spent six months getting approvals from the Toronto Transit Commission (shoutout to Cameron Penman, David Nagler, Kerry-Ann Campbell, and Councillor Dianne Saxxe!), Nick started painting the wall behind ​Dupont Station​ on September 17th, 2024 (my birthday!) and finished it up on November 1st. What resulted is honestly the most beautiful piece of public art I have ever seen. I know I'm birdy biased but Nick's beauty, his eye, his senses—they just know no bounds. He doesn't use stencils! He's not tracing anything! The guy is literally just looking at a dirty, bare, curved 750-square-foot wall and, NO BIGGIE painting 16 HYPERREALISTIC LOCAL BIRDS ON IT! Over the six weeks of painting I pulled out my recorder many times, Nick's friend and fellow graffiti artist Blaze Wiradharma (​@blazeworks​) pulled up with his video gear, and then genius editor Scott Baker (​@adjacentp​) rolled in to edit our first-ever 3 Books audio-video documentary experience. Listen! Watch! Be amazed by the wonder of Nick Sweetman! We explore questions like: Why did Nick leave the wine drinking art gallery world for dirty street corners? What do people who have owe to people who don't? How do we see the crustaceans in our parking lot? And ... do we still have a shared reality? We talk about mural painting, graffiti, street art, what it means to live in a world where humans overtake everything and, of course, Nick's 3 most formative books. We even get a live splice of Leslie teasing out his third book in real-time which is pretty special! I highly recommend you WATCH this chapter if you can as we put so much heart and soul into making Nick's masterpiece come to breathtaking visual life. But, of course, as we flip the page to Chapter 144, you can always just listen in on Apple or Spotify, too.

Today on The Social, the Toronto Transit Commission says it will start deploying plainclothes fare inspectors.  And, is a daytime dance party really a party?  Then, what's behind the “Utah hair” hairstyle trend?  Plus, from Kamala to Chappell Roan, the words and phrases people struggled to get right in 2024.  And, an elderly woman wonders if she should stop sleeping naked in case she dies in her sleep?

In this episode of the “How I Lead Change” podcast, Shakira Naraine, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)'s Chief People Officer, shares her strategy for leading change by focusing on workforce stability, employee engagement, and strong union partnerships. Her people-first approach has improved organizational communication and cooperation, supporting smoother labor negotiations and a unified culture. She advises leaders to pursue big visions through small, consistent steps, with a focus on listening and clear communication.With over 20 years of HR leadership, Shakira's expertise lies in labor relations, and managing major government transformation initiatives. She trained public servants across Canada in Strategic Leadership and HR management at the Canada School of Public Service for thirteen years. Shakira believes that a healthy workplace, strong labor-management relations, continuous learning, and effective HR practices are essential for long-term organizational success. www.pragilis.com

Today's podcast comes from Canada as I'm on a short North American trip, and  our discussion is focused how technology is set to – perhaps is already – transforming the delivery and operation of public transport. In particular, we ask what lessons can be learnt from around the world – specifically from Toronto - by welcoming Kirsten Watson, Vice President of Government Relations and Transit Market Sector Leader at AECOM to the podcast todayKirsten is former Deputy CEO at Toronto Transit Commission and has just been chairing a fascinating series of conversations about the future of infrastructure at the Transforming Infrastructure Performance Summit in Toronto. This is the latest in a series of global summits hosted by infrastructure software business Bentley System, which, over the last couple of years I have had the pleasure of assisting in the delivery.So why Toronto? Well, of course the need for investment in infrastructure is a global challenge as we attempt to drive economies through the provision of better, more effective, lower carbon energy sources, housing, healthcare, water supplies and transport. Toronto - and Ontario Province in which is sits - understands this well and has ambitious plans, led by Infrastructure Ontario, to invest over $185 billion Canadian dollars in the next 10 years to build new roads, transit and hospitals as using public cash through the Canadian Infrastructure Bank and the new Ontario Infrastructure Bank to support further private capital.A pressing issue not least given the impact of a changing climate and the fact that the population of the Greater Toronto area is expected to grow by 2.5 million by 2041.From the outset, Ontario has set out its ambition to harness the use of new technologies to both help deliver this ambitious agenda on time and on budget, but also to improve and transform the operation and maintenance of assets through the use of data digital twins and an array of artificial intelligence tools. It is a bold plan and one that perhaps the world might learn from – and, indeed, it must be said, Toronto is equally keen to learn from others. So let's hear more. ResourcesToronto's infrastructure plans Ontario Infrastructure Transforming Infrastructure Performance Summit TorontoCanadian Infrastructure BankAECOM TorontoBentley Systems TIP hubThe Future of Infrastructure Group Canada

How can organizations build an agile, diverse workforce in the age of AI and automation? This episode tackles that pressing question with Shakira Naraine, Chief People Officer of the Toronto Transit Commission. Shakira delves into practical strategies for implementing successful remote work policies, leveraging AI to enhance workforce capabilities, and fostering genuine inclusivity in government organizations. She shares real-world examples from the TTC's initiatives, including their innovative mentorship program and AI-assisted recruitment process. Tune in to discover how modern leaders are balancing technological advancement with human-centered policies to create adaptable, equitable workplaces. Shakira Naraine, Chief People Officer, Toronto Transit Commission For more great insights head to www.PublicSectorNetwork.co  

This is Bucket List Travel, a special series within the podcast Dr. Mary Travelbest Guide. This is Carolyn Ray, CEO and editor of JourneyWoman, a women's solo travel publication based in Toronto. I'm going to share some tips and advice about my hometown with you. I'm actually a sixth-generation Torontonian, and my daughter is a seventh-generation Torontonian.     So this is my hometown, and I can tell you, if you're looking for an exciting, vibrant city, Toronto is it. We are, you might be surprised, the fourth largest city in North America, and very easy to get to from just about anywhere in the world. Toronto is a great getaway for those living in Canada and a steal for women coming from other countries because of our Canadian dollar. So you'll find a lot of value coming here for your money,    I want to share with you a bit about how to get to Toronto, which may surprise you. Of course, you may know about Toronto Pearson Airport, our international airport, but we also have a smaller island airport called the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which is right downtown. So if you can get a flight into Toronto Island, that's much easier.    But if you are flying into Toronto, Pearson, we have a wonderful train called the UP Express, which will get you downtown in about 25 minutes. If you are arriving at Union Station, you can get right on our subway system, the TTC, the Toronto Transit Commission. And it's very, very easy to get around on the TTC. It's a U-shaped route that goes north, just kind of starts at Union Station, and goes up both ways. And then there's an east, west route across the city at Bloor Street, which is B, L, O, O, R, we're building some more subways. You'll notice that when you're in town, and because of that, I just want to speak to a little bit about safety on the subways. Toronto is a very large city, and I just want to encourage you to be very aware. I know everyone thinks Canadians are very nice, but I also just want to remind you to be very self-aware when you're on the subways and on public transit.   For things to do in Toronto, my number one experience would be to go to Toronto Island. It's very easy to get there on a ferry, and you can take a ferry over for the day. You can ride a bike, enjoy the beaches, or even get on a boat.   If you are looking for a place to stay, there are many different kinds of hotels in Toronto, but I will say one of my favorites is the Fairmont Royal York, which is right across from Union Station. But I also like some of our boutique hotels, the Gladstone, the Drake, the Broadview Hotel. These are very lovely, locally owned hotels, creative, artsy, with really great rooftop restaurants and great views.   I'll end with some tips on places to eat that you may not know about. I really love Spanish food, so I wanted to recommend Madrina y tapas and Patria. Patria is on King West, which is a very popular place to go for bars and restaurants. The Distillery District is one of our historic areas in Toronto, it's a wonderful place to walk around and spend the day. And Madrina y tapas is one of my favorite restaurants there. There's also Yorkville, which is on at Bloor and Yonge Street. Kasa Moto is a Japanese restaurant that I would suggest there. And a secret you may not have heard of, this one is called Scaramouche, and it's a little bit farther north, but you can get wonderful views of the entire city. It's actually in a condominium, and you can see all of Toronto at night. It's lovely. And for those of us who like vegetarian food, it's Planta. There are two Planta locations in Toronto, maybe more now, great vegetarian menu. And of course, I must mention the St Lawrence Market, which has all, you know, all of the fresh food you could ever want. But also in the basement Manotas, which is a Spanish takeaway restaurant, and then also Busters, which is at the back of the St Lawrence Market, where you can get some wonderful seafood.   Whatever you're doing in Toronto, I hope you have a great time. There's so much to do. There's so much to see, and I look forward to seeing you there. And if there's more information need about Toronto, please visit JourneyWoman.com. We've got lots of articles about the city.  Thank you, Carolyn Ray and Journey Woman for this excellent episode. I love that you shared about Toronto on this one!  Connect with Dr. Travelbest 5 Steps to Solo Travel website Dr. Mary Travelbest X Dr. Mary Travelbest Facebook Page Dr. Mary Travelbest Facebook Group Dr. Mary Travelbest Instagram Dr. Mary Travelbest Podcast Dr. Travelbest on TikTok Dr.Travelbest onYouTube In the news  

The man who ran the three largest transit systems in three continents… Andy Byford a.k.a. ‘Train Daddy's' list of jobs is quite extraordinary. He's been Operations Director of Rail Corp in New South Wales, Australia; CEO of the Toronto Transit Commission; CEO of New York Mass Transit Authority; and of course Commissioner for Transport at Transport for London in the UK. There have been some massive highs – getting Crossrail finished and opening the Elizabeth Line, sorting out the Toronto Transit Commission, which he inherited in a real state and turned it round into North America's best transit authority. But there have been some real challenges as well… not least his final year in New York. In this interview, Andy talks openly and honestly about all stages of his career, right through to his current role where he is responsible for the high speed rail programmes at Amtrak. What really comes across is his passion and determination for getting the basics right, for leading from the front, and for backing his people whatever the role, however large the organisation, and whatever attacks they are facing. It's a truly inspirational story. Green Signals: Website - http://www.greensignals.org YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@GreenSignals Newsletter - http://www.greensignals.org/#mailing-list Follow: X (Twitter) - https://twitter.com/greensignallers LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-signals-productions-ltd Instagram - https://instagram.com/greensignallers Credits: Presenters - Nigel Harris (@railnigel on X) & Richard Bowker CBE (@SRichardBowker). General Manager: Stef Foster (@stefatrail)

In this episode: summer job outlook, union updates, the new pay transparency reporting tool in British Columbia, listing of top cities in Canada with the best worklife balance and other topics . Stay with us to get the latest HR updates.Follow us on: X @cadHRnews; LinkedIn @ Canada HR News Podcast. . In May, employment in Canada inched up by 27,000. Meanwhile, the labour force grew by 50,000 and the unemployment rate went up to 6.2% | Summer Sunshine Fails to Reach the Labour Market in May - The Conference Board of Canada Bargaining updates from the Toronto Transit Commission  and Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation | Bargaining Updates (ttc.ca), Negotiations to Resume Wednesday for Provincial Collective Bargaining Agreement - Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (stf.sk.ca)  A new, online reporting tool has been created to support B.C. employers with an efficient way to prepare pay transparency reports | B.C. introduces pay transparency reporting tool | BC Gov News Ontario supports new micro-credential programs to help students train for in-demand jobs | Ontario Supporting More Industry-Focused Training Programs | Ontario Newsroom WorkSafeBC is urging employers to plan for the health and safety risks that come with extreme heat and exposure to wildfire smoke | WorkSafeBC advises employers to plan ahead to protect workers from extreme heat and wildfire smoke | WorkSafeBC ADP Canada monthly Happiness@Work Index  reveals workers are feeling less happy in May than last month | Latest ADP News | ADP Canada Media Centre | News and Resources Six Quebec municipalities are among Canada's top 10 locations for work-life balance | Canada's Best Cities for Work/Life Balance (point2homes.com) 

This week, we're pumped to have communications veteran Brad Ross join the pod. Brad was the communications face of the Toronto Transit Commission for a decade and then the Chief Communications Officer for the City of Toronto. He's recently started his own communications business and he joined us this week to chop up stories including MLSE's security snafu, Shane Gillis hosting SNL, the NHLer cut by the Arizona Coyotes following a troubling social media post, Google's woke AI platform, a workplace podcaster who got into hot water and more. 

Later this month, commuters in the GTHA will see fare integration that allows riders to transfer seamlessly among TTC, GO Transit, and other transit agencies. It's just one of the transit stories that Lex Harvey is following for the Toronto Star, where she is a transportation reporter.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's episode, I chat with Candace DiCresce, the Senior Director of Safety & Accessibility at Rogers Communications, where she leads a talented team that is driven by a passion for supporting employee safety and well-being.  Candace has over 25 years of experience in occupational health and safety, wellness and well-being, working in consulting with Deloitte, industry at MDS, and the public sector with the Toronto Transit Commission.  Her broad view afforded some incredible insights as we discussed her experiences at Rogers, where her team led the strategic integration of safety, disability management, mental health, wellness, accessibility and accommodation into a holistic function that protects and enriches employee physical and mental well-being.  The walls between work and life have crumbled down. And professionals like Candace ensure what remains is a workplace we all can be proud of. Candace DiCresceCandace DiCresce is the Senior Director of Safety & Accessibility at Rogers Communications, where she leads a talented team that is driven by a passion for supporting our employees' safety and well-being at work and throughout their lives, and for removing barriers.  Candace has over 25 years of experience in safety, well-being, environmental and sustainability problem-solving, working in consulting, industry, and the public sector including at Deloitte, MDS (a global life sciences company), and the Toronto Transit Commission.  At Rogers, she drove strategic integration of safety, disability management, mental health, wellness, accessibility and accommodation into a holistic function that protects and enriches employee physical and mental well-being. She is honoured to serve on the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety's Council of Governors. In 2018, she was recognized as an Innovator in Workplace Mental Health by DiversityCan Magazine. Candace holds a B.A.Sc. in civil engineering from the University of Toronto, is a proud professional engineer, and is the grateful mother to two weird and wonderful teens. LinkedIn  Thinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. We tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture. And if you enjoy the work we're doing here, consider giving us a 5-star rating, leaving a comment & subscribing. It ensures you get updated whenever we release new content & really helps amplify our message.LinkedInWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMattMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Dhaksayan Shanmuganayagam (@dhaksayan.s) is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the Toronto Transit Commission (@takethettc).He joins Ara on this week's episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss watching "Law & Order" with his family nurtured his love for the legal industry, using the approach of thinking of yourself as a product to progress in his career, teaching himself how to program and code (developing computer games as a hobby and selling it to his friends), the importance of delivering on time and maintaining a good reputation, being raised in a risk-averse family, the power of continually investing in yourself, and so much more.Follow Dhaksayan:- Instagram (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhaksayan-shanmuganayagam-415b3a1a/) Timestamps00:19 - Ara mispronounces another name while introducing Dhaksayan Shanmuganayagam01:04 - Dhaksayan speaks on how his formative years developed his interest in technology04:49 - Doing three internships with the TTC; why he was drawn to working there07:56 - Dhaksayan's advice to excel in your career; thinking of yourself as a product11:16 - Does he regret anything; sacrificing time12:22 - His day-to-day responsibilities as a CIO14:14 - How he developed his people management skills; an eye-opening experience16:09 - Using TikTok and other mediums as learning resources17:04 - Driving innovation as a publicly funded organization18:38 - Dhaksayan's opinion on the future of education and how it will impact hiring21:09 - His favourite projects while working at the TTC for the past 15 years23:03 - Misconceptions his friends/family have about the work he does23:54 - Where he sees himself in the next three years25:45 - His thoughts on ChatGPT and AI in general27:05 - Advice he would give his 16-year-old self28:49 - Preparing his son for the future world29:53 - The personal legacy he wants to be remembered for by his friends/family31:01 - Does Dhaksayan feel connected to the tamil community?32:37 - Creator Confessions35:04 - The Wrap UpIntro MusicProduced And Mixed By:- The Tamil Creator- YanchanWritten By:- Aravinthan Ehamparam- Yanchan Rajmohan     Support the show

Pride Month – or Pride Season, as the government of Canada now calls it – has begun, meaning corporate logos have been cloaked in rainbows and the the Toronto Transit Commission has even replaced its subway chime with a “2SLGBTQQIA choir.” True North's Andrew Lawton says much of these proclamations amount to little more than virtue signalling. Also, what does Danielle Smith's win mean for Albertans and Canadians? Kris Sims from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation joins to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lauren Foote's life has always included involvement with persons with disabilities. She was born into a family including a tetraplegic father, and other close family members with disabilities, and, as she discovered in college she also possessed a mental health disability. She will tell us all about this as she describes her life and tells her stories. She decided to take on a goal of seeking justice and inclusion for persons with disabilities in Canada as she went through college and she has stayed true to her desire to serve. You will learn how she has become involved in projects and jobs around urban planning and policy. She will discuss some of the committee work she does today and she will tell us stories of success she has had in helping to change how people in Canada view and interact with the population of individuals with all kinds of disabilities. About the Guest: As a lifelong disability rights advocate, Lauren Foote always knew that she wanted to work toward creating more equitable and inclusive spaces for people with disabilities. Growing up with a mental health disability, a tetraplegic father, and other close family members with disabilities allowed Lauren to experience accessibility barriers first-hand. Through her personal, academic, and professional experience in the realm of disability justice, she realized that these accessibility barriers were a result of decades of ignorance and oversight in community planning and infrastructure development. Lauren has since made it her life goal to mitigate access barriers by incorporating the rights of people with disabilities into urban planning and policy. Lauren proudly serves on the Advisory Committee for Accessible Transit (ACAT) at the Toronto Transit Commission and the ACAT Service Planning and Design Review subcommittees. In these roles, she offers expertise as a consultant to internal and external stakeholders about regional diversity, accessibility, and inclusion. Lauren has also collaborated with organizations including Ontario's Ministry of Transportation, Metrolinx, the Disability Foundation, the University of Toronto, Simon Fraser University, BCMOS, DIGA, and the David Suzuki Foundation to strategize methods to remove systemic barriers to access for people with disabilities. Through various roles in the accessibility planning realm, she has led forums, guest lectured, and constructed numerous reports on creating equitable and inclusive spaces. A majority of her work analyzes flood events and accessibility barriers, ableism within current legislation and policy, and transportation access and equity. In addition to her roles in accessibility planning, Lauren is working toward achieving her MSc in Planning at the University of Toronto, which she will complete this March 2023! Her thesis, Countering Ableism in Flood Resilient Infrastructure, allows people to reimagine public places as accessible and inclusive spaces for the entire community to enjoy. Lauren is dedicated to creating inclusive and equitable communities and she is so grateful that she has already had the opportunity to make meaningful change by increasing access for people with disabilities through her work. She plans to continue in the field of accessibility planning so that she can contribute toward bettering the community. Links for Lauren: Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-foote-5187ab1b9/ About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes Michael Hingson 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson 01:20 Well, greetings and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. Today we are going to speak with Lauren Foote. Lauren is a lifelong disability rights advocate. And I think that's going to be interesting and relevant to talk about. She's been very involved in urban planning and a bunch of stuff. technical term. They're up in Canada. Lauren, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Thanks for being here. Lauren Foote 01:47 Thank you so much for having me, Michael. I'm so excited to be a part of your podcast. Michael Hingson 01:51 Well, we're glad to have you. Why don't we start by you telling me a little bit just about you growing up how things started and just a little about you as a as a younger Lauren? Lauren Foote 02:03 Sure. So I'm from to Austin. It's a small suburb outside of Vancouver, Canada. My father's touch diplegic I have a mental health disability. And I have other close family members with disabilities as well. So Disability Justice has always been a large part of my life. And I've always been active in the disability advocacy community, even from a young age like you were saying so. Michael Hingson 02:26 So when you say tetraplegia what does that mean? Exactly? Lauren Foote 02:30 Yeah. So it's a it's paralyzed from the neck down. So people might be familiar with paraplegic quadriplegic, or quadriplegic, quadriplegic and tetraplegia can be used semi interchangeably. But But my dad has a injury and his spine quite high up. And that affects the movement from his neck down. So because of that he has the touch of paychecks definition. Michael Hingson 02:54 Got it got. Yeah, well, and you, you said you have a mental health disability. Tell me about that, if you would, Lauren Foote 03:00 yeah. So I have pretty severe anxiety and OCD. A couple other things going on. But I'm really grateful that I have a good, a good support system, and I receive good medication for that. And I'm really open about it, because I think quite a few people actually have hidden disabilities. And the more you talk about it, the more people feel comfortable opening up about that, and it's just really important to me to create spaces where people feel welcome and included and accepted and, and having a mental health disability is quite a silent battle sometimes. So I tried to be open about it and welcoming it and make sure that people don't have to face barriers or discrimination because of that. Michael Hingson 03:45 Well, I can appreciate that. But doesn't chocolate help everything? Lauren Foote 03:50 Yeah, chocolate of course. Yeah. Michael Hingson 03:54 My wife was a was more of a milk chocolate fan. I more flexible. Of course, we both also liked white chocolate, which is you can't complain about that either. But chocolate is always good. Lauren Foote 04:05 Especially that peppermint bark chocolate you get there we go. Now Michael Hingson 04:09 we're talking. And they tend to only do that at Christmas time. So we have a Costco near here. And I at Christmas went in and bought several boxes of the Kirkland peppermint bark and one Ghiradelli. And so far, since we bought them near the beginning of December, I've gone through one box, they will last most of the year. It's sort of like, Girl Scout cookies, Thin Mints, you know, they have to be parsed out just to play safe. Lauren Foote 04:37 although admittedly, I buy a lot of them so they can be parsed out. Got a stack up, stock up in advance, you know? Michael Hingson 04:44 Yeah, I usually I usually buy at least a case of Thin Mints at a time. Lauren Foote 04:48 Absolutely. That's the way to do it. Michael Hingson 04:50 It is so when you went to school did you know at that time you had a disability of some sort or how to All that work out, Lauren Foote 05:01 um, I sort of had an inkling since I was young, but during my undergraduate years is when I officially got diagnosed with my disabilities. And I think it was really just, I was working a bunch of jobs, full time studying and everything was kind of like, I could almost coast by without without trying to bring too much attention to my disability beforehand. But then eventually, I realized I can't do this, I need to talk to someone. And finally being able to get the proper help I needed, really made such an impact in my life and being able to get on the right medication. And it actually helped inspire me to start some protocols for my undergraduate school where I came into different classes and taught about accessibility resources. And I helped people go to get the proper counseling they needed and, and teach them about all the options that were there for them that they might not know about, which I didn't know about at the beginning. And it's really fulfilling actually to see people get the help they need, and then just shine from that. Michael Hingson 06:02 How did your parents react to all that? Lauren Foote 06:05 Oh, they're I mean, my family. My family is a very disability positive community. So I mean, my dad was his physical health disability. And then I have other family members with disabilities as well. So they're very supportive. And I'm very honestly lucky to have them. And my dad introduced me to the disability community from a young age. So So I felt very welcomed. And I think that's one of the beautiful things about disability communities is they're always so focused on inclusion and equity. And it's such a great place to be people are just so so awesome. Michael Hingson 06:37 Why did you decide though, that you wanted to take on the role of being an advocate and really pushing for change, rather than just saying, Alright, so I'm a person with a disability, I'm gonna go off and do my own thing. But I don't need to be an advocate. Lauren Foote 06:50 I think I was a healthy dose of frustration with the way Planning and Community communities are organized today. Especially going around town with family members and myself. During we would always face barriers to access and transportation, especially public transportation systems, we would go, I live in the Pacific Northwest, which experiences a lot of climate change related hazards like floods, and a lot of California does, too. And I believe you're in California now. So this is something you would probably resonate with fires, and all of that. And people with disabilities that their needs aren't really accounted for in planning, evacuations and planning areas to be more resilient. So people with disabilities often get left behind, especially in flooding events. A good organization, called Rooted in Rights did a documentary on Hurricane Katrina and the people's disabilities who are left behind and that, and I just realized that these barriers don't have to be there. They're put there through there through systemic and institutional barriers that were in place by planning, core planning and poor policy practices that have evolved over time to exclude people. But if we just go back and start mitigating some of those barriers, everyone will have the ability to be included and, and cared for and welcome in society. Michael Hingson 08:13 So where did you go to college? Lauren Foote 08:16 Well, I did my undergraduate at Simon Fraser University, it's, it's out west and BC. On a mountain, actually, there's bears which I like to tell people as a fun fact. And right now, I'm just completing my master's degree in urban planning at the University of Toronto. And here, I do a lot of work on disability rights and incorporating their needs into planning. Michael Hingson 08:40 What was your undergraduate major, Lauren Foote 08:41 it was in. So bio geophysical sciences, that is the technical name, but under the field of physical geography, and that was the reason I was still interested in those climate hazards I was bringing up earlier, and I was understanding the processes behind why they happen. And then I and then through my work with the disability Foundation, where I was working on more of a community based level and accessibility planning to incorporate the needs of people with disabilities into planning in the community, I realized there's not really like sure, we talked about climate change. And I'm reading all these climate change policies and reading all these environmental policies. I'm reading about how to plan resilient communities, and the needs of people with disabilities aren't being thought of at all, which is a huge issue. Because if they're not even thought of that, how are we going to create resilient communities that include people with disabilities? So that's kind of where I was trying to I was bridging that interest between environment, environmental sustainability, but also community resiliency for people with disabilities. And through my work, I kind of picked up transportation as well, but particularly public transportation as a sustainable way of moving across cities and connecting people to spaces and places and incorporating the needs of people with disabilities into that as well. Michael Hingson 09:56 Well, delving into that a little bit. Why do you think it is Since that people tend to just not pay attention or leave people with disabilities behind. Lauren Foote 10:08 Yeah, so, um, I guess not pay attention. I feel that might not be the I wouldn't say I necessarily think that but I think there's just, if you don't have a disability or you don't know somebody who has a disability, you don't experience it on a day to day basis, or you have any reason to even think about it, it's not that they don't care. It's just, it's not something they personally experienced. So they might not notice the nuances of needs that people with disabilities have. And then it gets overlooked. And a lot of plant planning in North America was very colonial, segregated, ableist. And a lot of the policies we have in place are from that period of time where people with disabilities were, and still are an afterthought, although it's getting better. And I think a lot of it comes down to education. And I was talking to, I won't name names, but I was talking to a CEO of a housing development company here in Toronto. And we were talking about building affordable housing in the community, and he was buying up land parcels to do this. And he genuinely thought, all you needed to create accessible housing was adding a ramp on the bot on the floor. And that was it, there was nothing that needed to be done inside. There's no other barriers that needs to be considered. And he genuinely thought that and I was honestly shocked, like, this is the CEO of an affordable housing company. It's quite a large company, actually, in Toronto. And I just couldn't believe the lack of knowledge there. But on the bright side, he was very willing to learn, and he was very receptive to my feedback. And he incorporated some of my insights into his analysis, which was awesome. So I think it really shows that it's not that people don't care, it's just that they might not be aware of the barriers that are there. So it's important to learn what they are, so you can mitigate them. Michael Hingson 12:03 The other part about it is that when you're building a house from the ground up, pretty much to deal with physical issues. As a as a starting point, doesn't really cost a lot unless you're going to a two story or three story house where you have to have the extra cost of an elevator, but to build in wider doors, to build in lower counters, to not have steps and make the whole grounds accessible, really doesn't cost because you built it into the design. And we've built several homes. And the reality is the only time we ever really had an extra cost. Well, we had to one, the first home that we designed was a manufactured home, and we worked with the home manufacturer, and it cost us $500 Because they had to go get a different HUD design approved. And so 500 bucks in the scheme of things. The other one was in New Jersey where we had a home that had to be a two story home. So we did have to put an elevator in but other than the elevator, there were no additional costs when you do it upfront. And it is such a huge thing if you have to go back and do it after the fact. Lauren Foote 13:18 Exactly. And there's so many cost analysis that show that it costs like exactly like you're saying the same price, sometimes cheaper, sometimes a tiny bit more, but plus or minus a few dollars here and there Overall, it's a very similar cost. And also, it opens up the market to a whole new population two, I mean, 25 24% of people in Ontario identifies as a person with a disability. So having accessibility and housing only increases the the places where people can can live. So Michael Hingson 13:48 sure. And the problem is, of course, with all the homes that are already built, you run into all the difficulties of having to go back and do it later. But that's why it's important with new homes affordable and otherwise, that accessibility be built into the process because in reality, it's not just going to help people who happen to have some sort of physical disability and we can look at other things as well. But it's also an aging population who are going to have to take advantage of those things. Lauren Foote 14:22 Exactly, exactly. And it helps make more equitable and inclusive communities to and any at least in Ontario, the government subsidizes companies that retrofit buildings to make them accessible. I'm not sure about the legislation in California, but they're in place. Yeah, no, they don't. Okay, that's. That's unfortunate. Hopefully one day then you do have ADA. So that's good. Well, Michael Hingson 14:49 yeah, but there are other things about the ADEA for example, unless you're doing a major remodel, you don't have to go back and, and put in anything to necessarily make something accessible. and you're not going to get funding to do that, at least the way the structure is set up right now. So those do tend to be issues that we have to contend with. And again, that's why it's important upfront that when you're building new housing, that you really put in all the stuff to make the the home the unit accessible and usable by everyone. Absolutely, I completely agree. How do we change the conversation, because there's another part of the conversation, let's take it away from Housing, and Urban Planning, and take it to the job market where you go into a company. And let's take blindness because in a sense, it should be simpler to deal with. So we'll just use that for the moment. Somebody applies for a job. And they need to have a screen reader to be able to hear what's going on the computer, or they need to have Braille signs on restrooms that aren't necessarily there already. And the people who are running the company, or you got a coffee machine, that's touchscreen, and how do you make that usable? But the people who run the company go, Well, I can't afford to pay money to make any of those things accommodating to you. We just don't have the money to do that. And how do we change that conversation when in reality, it ought to be part of the cost of doing business to be inclusive for all. Lauren Foote 16:35 Absolutely. I mean, again, I'm not sure about California, but that is outright discrimination here in Iowa. It is yeah. Okay. So same idea. And one of the interesting things, at least through my experience, because I've I've dealt with this, especially given your screen reader example. This past summer, I was working with the Ministry of Transportation, and all the onboarding documents for new hires were not screen reader compatible for some reason. So I would go in and make them all screen reader compatible. And they had no concern with this. But one of the things that helped the that the Minister of Transportation, at least, was having a separate branch specifically focused for accessibility. And I think that's a really good idea. And I think, and I'm on the advisory committee for accessible transit at the Transportation Commission, for Toronto, and a bunch of different initiatives in in the city of these were those accessibility committees. And having people who have disabilities or have experienced working with disabilities come in and provide their expertise, I think is so key, and can really help solve some of these problems. So if somebody went to a company was in a company and said, I need Braille signage, and the company was saying, No, that's when I would take it a step further, ideally, they would have some sort of accessibility committee that could reach out to which I know many places in Canada have. I'm not sure how it works in the United States, but many jurisdictions and municipalities in Canada have accessibility committees or boards, who deal with these types of concerns and can help them get further legal aid and advice for this discrimination. But also just bringing it up ahead of time and saying, Hey, actually, I'm not sure if you knew, but this would this here, if I if you could put Braille here I'd been helped me understand this. I've had a lot of conversations like that with people in planning. And just by explaining to them, a lot of times, they say nine times out of 10, they make the change right away. Because they're just not aware like this, there's a lack of awareness of these barriers that people face really Michael Hingson 18:47 well. There are a lot of lacks of awareness. But let's take another example websites, you go to a company that's got a website, and people need to interact with it, the company goes off and gets an estimate, oh, it's going to cost 10 $20,000 to get a programmer or programmers hired to come and make that website accessible and inclusive. How do you deal with that? Lauren Foote 19:13 Well, in that case, I would, first you explained the benefits, right, like what I mentioned earlier, there's a quarter of Ontarians have some sort of disability might not be blindness, it might not be the need for a screen reader, but they there are some sort of disability. numbers fluctuate depending on the region globally, it's about 15% of people have disabilities. So if by making your website compatible for screen readers, you're really opening up a whole new audience to seeing whatever your product is, or whatever your company is selling or what they do. And that's only beneficial because you're widening the scope of people who can interact with and and be a part of your company. But aside from them saying no, again, that is a human rights issue. We have Have A an act in Ontario called the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act that actually requires these types of websites to be accessible for people with disabilities by 2025, it was put in place in 2005, that the act. So a lot of companies now are hiring people to update these websites. And our provincial government does have some subsidies to do this as well. So So pointing at the attention to the subsidies that are available would be useful. Also, Michael Hingson 20:29 a lot of places don't tend to have the subsidies. And I'm sure that even the subsidies are limited. And depending on the website, it can be a pretty complex website. And so companies, hiccup, spending 20,000, or $30,000, or whatever the case happens to be to go in and make the website accessible for what they view as a small number of people. It doesn't change the fact of what you said, but it still is an issue for them. Because they're going I can't afford to pay that money. Yeah, and and the question is, how do we get around that kind of situation? Because it is something that we are all confronted by law, I mean, look at it this way, we know that about 98% of all websites aren't accessible and usable. And yes, a lot of that has to do with education, a lot of it has to do with the fact that people need to be made more aware of the value of doing it, they need to be made aware of the fact that in reality, there are studies that show that if you make your website inclusive, and people come and use your website, they're going to come back time and time again, because it's going to be hard to go elsewhere. But most businesses are not large, and can't afford to hire a programmer. So how do they do that? And some of them build up pretty strong resistance to going off and making that change, because I just can't afford to do that. Lauren Foote 21:58 Yeah, and I think that's where subsidies are come into play here. And that's something that I'm really grateful that we have in Ontario, so they can help the small businesses that have those financial barriers. Again, I do find it hard to have. I feel like it's a human rights issue. So it's Oh, it is a human rights issue. So to me, it's it's just something that needs to be done and saying it costs money isn't a really valid excuse to discriminate against people. And, Michael Hingson 22:27 of course, that is of course, your view. However, if you personally has to spend money. Yeah, I agree with you. But But that is, that is the issue. Yeah. Lauren Foote 22:38 And I think that's why having it in legislation and policy is key. And that's something I'm working towards doing. Because then you can say, well, it's required. And this is discrimination at the end of the day. And if they're going to be uncooperative, at least you can have the legislation to back you in that. Michael Hingson 22:54 Yeah, it's it's a long process to enact some of those is difficult. I can't resist bringing up the fact that I work for a company called accessibe. And I don't know whether you've looked at the house. Yes. And so part of the answer can be, hey, if it only costs you $500, to make your website inclusive, because you have under 1000 pages, and a lot of the accessibility issues can be addressed by something like accessibility, why not do that? But the answer ultimately, really, is it's education. And it's getting people to understand what you said that is, you're going to lose about 25% of your business, if you don't deal with making access happen, because people will go off and look for other websites that are more inclusive. And the fact is that if you do the job, and you make the website available, and you demonstrate and using it with the other parts of the company, like I said, Braille signage, which is which is not overly complicated, but other kinds of things like accessible coffee machines, since we tend to have coffee machines in our companies now for employees, and finding ways to make all those things work. If you make that step happen, where you create that kind of inclusion, you will find that you have more loyal employees who are going to stick with you and not jump ship nearly as fast as other people. Lauren Foote 24:23 Absolutely. And I think that's something that's really important to drive home to people who are more money minded about the about it, who maybe care less about the human rights aspect and more about the dollars because at the end of the day, like you said, you are increasing access to your website and you will have those loyal customers now who who can ask navigate your website properly and to who trust the website. Michael Hingson 24:46 What kind of resistance is do you see? And so far as dealing with accessibility, whether it's in companies or homes or or whatever What kind of really strong resistance Do you tend to see on a regular basis? Lauren Foote 25:04 I say on a regular basis, I wouldn't know I don't know, if there's one particular thing I have a lot of, I come up to face the heritage at Planning Act a lot, because this act, I kid you not will there will value the character of the building. So like whatever makes gives it its heritage value over the right to access a building for people with disabilities. And that's I think the heritage act is something that I find conflicts with disability rights the most. And the heritage act is just it's kind of as it sounds, it's about preserving buildings because of their inherent heritage value, maybe it's a 40 year old building or a 50 year old building, they don't have to be that old. But these buildings were kind of made in a time where accessibility really was an afterthought. And they're not generally that accessible to people with disabilities. And there's been cases in Toronto and elsewhere, where people have bought homes, their own home, it was not a heritage building, and then a disgruntled neighbor found out they were going to renovate it, or an or a few disgruntled neighbors found out they're going to renovate it. And then they moved to give the building heritage status and thus prevented them from performing the alterations. However, recently, there's been a lot of outcry. And a lot of coverage in the media and the news because of this. So if there's, a lot of these decisions have been reversed, and people are able to then do the accessibility modifications they need whoever it's just such a clear sign that there's so much work that needs to be done still and, and how frustrating for people who just wanted to renovate their home to have to go through all of this, just to be able to say no, I need to access this, this home. But public spaces as well, too. There's there's some legislative buildings in Ontario, where we had to fight to put in a ramp because they're worried it would, you know, infringe on the character of the building. Although more recently, I have noticed a trend, definitely that people are siding with the accessibility side of things over the heritage side of things. And I am seeing a general trend towards less of these cases happening. So that's something I'm pleased about. But also, even when we're talking about just general. So like in my role on the Advisory Committee for accessible transit, the Toronto Transit Commission, we do a lot of on site audits in person audits of things. And before we do these audits, we'll go we'll go through the designs, with the whoever's implementing a transit line, we'll talk about all the possibilities and how to make it accessible. And it's a very long process. And finally, when it starts being implemented, we go on site and do these audits. And sometimes, it's just not how it's, for example, there recently, I was looking at an LRT station, which is a light rail station for public transit. And two people who were on the audit with me were blind, and the tactile edging, which for listeners who might not be familiar with this, it's bumps on the ground that indicate whether you're going to go onto a busy road, or there's gonna be a great change, or there might be hazardous materials coming up. They were flush with the ground. So they were not detectable by the two peoples walking canes, and they just walked right onto the road. And that's just an example of some of the nuances that you capture on in person audits that you don't really, so you would think in theory that it's accessible, there's the tactile edging there. I mean, among a bunch of other things they did not just talk to alleging, but it actually wasn't. So really being in there on person helps, helps clarify things too. And that's somewhere where I face some issues sometimes too. I mean, you can't make a place 100% accessible. That's not the point. It's about creating a place that's as accessible and as inclusive as possible. So So yeah, definitely lots of little nuances and little struggles along the way but but that's you know, the part of what it is to fight for disability rights and disability justice and I'm happy to do it. Michael Hingson 29:12 Well, the the other side of truncated domes or tactile edges is people in wheelchairs hate them because that bounces them around like cobblestones. My wife hated them. And I understand that also, from my perspective, as a blind person using a cane and or using a guide dog. The surfaces aren't all that wide and it's if you're walking at any kind of speed, you could go right over it and totally miss them. Exactly. Yeah. And so the reality is I still think it comes back down to people doing a better job of using a cane to to know where they are, but I appreciate especially Sacramento California is a great place for this where a lot of curbs are not curbs at the corner. intersections of the corners, they go flush right down to the street. And yeah, they are very difficult to tell, you can if you're really paying attention because the sidewalk is composed of different material than the street, if you happen to use a cane where you can notice that, and but at the same time, it is an issue that that needs to be addressed. And I don't know what the ultimate solution to that happens to be, or really should be. But I'm not sure that the the the tactile or truncated domes, really are the ultimate solution. Because if they're only like 18 inches, and you take a step, that's more than 18 inches, you could go right over him. And the problem is, so I think it's something else that has to be looked at. But you bring up an interesting point with the heritage homes thing. When we moved to New Jersey, in 1996, they were just preparing to modify the train station where we lived in Westfield, New Jersey, the way you got on the train, the way you got on the train before that was there are steps built into the side of the train car and you went up these like 18 inch steps, and you went up three of them and you're in the car. Well, everyone started to recognize with the Americans with Disabilities Act, you've got to have a sidewalk that's raised so that people can go right across, which which is fine, except people in the town started to protest and yell saying, we don't want that because that means we've got to go back or around and go up a ramp or up steps. And if we're running to catch a train, we might miss it. Because we'll miss being able to go up those steps, we got to take this slightly longer route. And we don't want that. Why don't they just hire people to be there to lift at every train station to lift people in wheelchairs on trains, which was ridiculous. That's crazy. And it took it was a major fight. So the problem is, there's a lack of awareness, but there's also a lack of sensitivity and a lack of understanding that you can say these things. And you can say how inconvenient it is? Why don't you just plan on getting into the train to 15 seconds earlier or 2030 seconds earlier? And it means that more people can ride the train? And the reality is they finally Well, New Jersey Transit pushed it through and got it all addressed. And I never heard of anybody having a problem getting on the train. So of course, you know, yeah, that's the other the other side of it. My favorite example, though, of all this is looking at a place like in Virginia Colonial Williamsburg and Williamsburg is the original capital of Virginia, it goes back to the 1700s Revolutionary War. And they did not want to change buildings in Williamsburg, like the governor's house or the state house to put ramps in because it would have destroyed the integrity of the building from a standpoint of what it looked like and so on. Right. And I appreciate that. So we were there once my wife and I, and we said we wanted to go up into the state house, but it was up several steps. How do we get in? Well, it was a manual chair. I could have tipped her back. But we were talking about it and this guy comes up who was a guard, okay. And he said, Oh, let me show you. He said stay right here. There was a little flagstone patio right in front of the steps going up into the building. He said, so just stay here. He walks away. We're standing on the flagstone path or patio. Suddenly the patio raises up and slides across. Lauren Foote 33:51 He didn't even tell you. Okay, that'd be startling. Well, Michael Hingson 33:55 the point was that they had created a way to get people in the building that in no way interfered with the integrity of the historic value of the building. It was really cool. Lauren Foote 34:08 Yeah, I think that's a really cool example of ways that you can there's there's no excuse not to have accessibility in, in heritage buildings, there's always a way to make it happen. And we couldn't get Michael Hingson 34:19 to upper floors. There was no easy way to do that. And, and we had a discussion with him and some other people about that. And they said we are constantly trying to figure out a way without destroying the building to figure out how to get to upper levels, and they'll figure it out one of these days, but they hadn't by the last time we were there. Lauren Foote 34:37 I'm sure they will. Yeah. And another thing is they allowed modern day plumbing in all of these buildings, which involves removing some of the elements of buildings and maybe quote unquote, compromising the character the the heritage of the building to put in plumbing, so don't really see if they're using that to justify plumbing then how then how come they won't be able to put an accessibility modifications to To me, it's also a necessity. Michael Hingson 35:01 I'm not sure that they did any of that at the buildings in Colonial Williamsburg. Lauren Foote 35:05 Yeah, that sounds like a different case. Michael Hingson 35:06 That's yeah, that's an unusual case. But I think for what you're talking about, absolutely, in general. That's perfectly true. Exactly. Yeah. But Williamsburg was a little bit of an exception, and understandably so. But even so, they worked to make it possible to get into the buildings and do things and the restaurants were accessible and, and other things they had created ways to get in. So it was a lot of fun to go there and see the creativity. Yeah, it is, it is a problem. Because the attitude isn't just a lack of education, there is true resistance to change, there's a resistance to inclusion, and it is something that we do need to deal with. Lauren Foote 35:48 Exactly. And, and like, I mean, you've said, and I've said, Education definitely helps people who have that resistance to change, because a lot of times it comes from a lack of a lack of understanding and compassion for what other people are going through and experience. And then when they can be told or described to or given examples of, of how this adjustment will help people, and how people are prevented from seeing things currently, or going places currently, and how a small modification will make a big difference in people's lives. Generally, people come around, it's a longer process than I, I would like but it's definitely possible. And it has and it happens. Michael Hingson 36:31 Well, amen mentioned in Jersey Transit, tell me a little bit about accessibility when it comes to public transportation and so on. And some of the challenges or things that you've seen, and how are we moving toward getting that to be addressed in a lot of different ways? Lauren Foote 36:47 Well, I guess, if I take a step back, and I'm sure a lot of people are familiar with this, it's similar across North America, systemic and institutional ableism, which is the discrimination towards people with disabilities with exists within almost all public transportation systems in North America today, I presume many other regions of the world as well, but I'm not well versed in other areas. And what I mean by that is public transportation has historically been designed and constructed in a way that has created unnecessary barriers for people with disabilities, like we mentioned. And it's therefore excluded people from with disabilities from the right to access space in the community, and public transportation is key, it gets people from space to space, it helps people get to work, it helps people get to appointments to see friends. And I should note that this access is is not just pertaining to the disability community, this access issue also pertains to racialized communities, lowing income communities and other vulnerable communities as well, just to point out, and it can be traced back to these poor planning practices I was talking about where there's segregation and exclusion of the quote, unquote, other. And a good I guess, a good example of this, that North Americans might be familiar with his redlining. And it's these practices where they were quite racist practices where they separated white communities and black communities and, and there's a lot of ableism involved in in practices like this as well, although it's more nuanced and less talked about. Anyways. So what I do today works towards removing these systemic institutional barriers that have kind of worked their way into all facets of public transportation in North America, but I focused on a Canadian context. And recently, I was working with the Ministry of Transportation where I worked to create accessible rail for people. I've also worked in operations planning and service design with Metrolinx, to look at ridership with the pandemic, and people with disabilities, and communicate that with external stakeholders. And my work right now, which I'm so proud of on that advisory committee, which I've mentioned, for accessible transit, really allows us to help, we're actually we also retrofit old stations to make them accessible, and plan new stations to make them accessible for people with disabilities. And I feel like it's this role where I can really make a difference in the community. It's really fulfilling to be able to be like this station didn't used to be accessible, but now it is, and now more people can have access to places they need to go, you know what I mean? Michael Hingson 39:24 So what kinds of things do you do to get a station to be accessible? Lauren Foote 39:29 Oh, it's, well, first of all, I guess if it's a if it's an old station, and we're retrofitting it, so if we're like re constructing it to make it accessible, we we do some site visits of the old station, we talk with designers of the station, we talk with project managers, we see what could be done what I'm not an engineer, so what can be constructed. What, there's so many discussions that happen. A lot of the stations that are older are way too narrow and don't have elevator access. and don't have any indication where the drop off is, I know you're not a fan of tactile edge, or maybe not a fans too strong, but it's something we use a lot here and I there's miss my dad's in a wheelchair too. Michael Hingson 40:10 And he has an AR use. And they are used here too. Lauren Foote 40:13 Yeah. And he has to pop a wheelie over those tactile leggings. So so I definitely know what you mean. But it's definitely something that helps, especially in subway stations, in my opinion, because we just have those like abrupt drop off. So having much wider indications that a drop off is coming is useful. Although by all means not the only or the best way to do so. But it is affordable on a tight budget and semi semi decent. But anyway, so Michael Hingson 40:43 if a person is using their cane well, and they have a long cane, in the accepted practice, although not among some professionals in the field is you shouldn't have a cane that comes up under your chin. So you have about a three step warning. And even without the tactile bumps, you would be able to have enough of a warning of a drop off to be able to deal with it. But I'm not you know, I'm we're not going to debate that it's Yeah, around. But But what other, tell me other kinds of things that you would do to make a station accessible, safe where a person who's blind? Lauren Foote 41:20 Yeah, so one of the things we do, for example, for talking about people who are blind, or not necessarily buying but other disabilities as well, like mobility related disabilities, there's a big issue with coupler gaps, which are that space between two carts on a subway. So if you know how each car kind of connects, and there's like a big gap there, people kept falling into them or confusing them for entranceways, which makes sense, because the way they're shaped, kind of give off the impression that you could walk into there. But it's actually in between, it's onto the tracks. So we designed these little flap things that come up and prevent people from doing that. So it's small little additions. That's just something I worked on recently, which is why I brought it up. And it's something that that was useful to the blind community just because we're looking at cases of people walking into the tracks or even people tripping and falling or you getting pushed in your own rushing for the door. And then another thing I was looking at was we had some billiards out because like you mentioned about the tactile edging, you said people should notice it. But people weren't noticing it enough. So we had to pry Oh, yes, Michael Hingson 42:32 yeah, that's that's definitely an issue. Lauren Foote 42:36 And there was this concern about if there was an emergency, and only some doors could open, at least what the trains were working with, or the subway station cars were working with, there's only one of the doors is truly fully accessible out at about five to one per cart, which is again, another issue, but that's the way it is for now. And there was concern that Oh, what if it doesn't if it stops in an emergency and this accessible door is half covered by these billiards? So then we made them bendable and flexible. And, and we got out there a few of my my friends who use wheelchairs or trying to wheel over them, and it was too big. So they had to read redesigned them to make them thinner. And and then we're concerned about potentially guide dogs not knowing whether to go over it. There wasn't there was just someone who was with me who had a guide dog who raise that concern. And then eventually, it's a lot of trial and error. And you come and you find the solution. So we ended up doing the flexible ones, not the not the non flexible ones. And they are a little thinner, and they have warning signs. And I guess we'll see if that helps people more than the tactile. But yeah, and again, it's it's we're gonna have to review that. And then try something new. If it doesn't work, a lot of it is is trial and error. And a lot of it's nuanced, because everyone has unique disabilities, and everyone has unique needs because of their unique disabilities. So that's why more voices is important, bringing more opinions to the table. Michael Hingson 43:59 Well, so here's another question. Yeah. To do it this way. Where's the responsibility of the consumer in all this, for example, I submit bappy having been using guide dog since I was 14, and been mobile my whole life and using a cane for most of my life. Where is my responsibility in being able to deal with some of those things like you mentioned, the subway car, space between the cars, the connectors, and so on. If I'm using a cane properly, I would detect that we're not dealing with an entrance to a car because I would feel the drop off rather than the than the cane, finding that there's a car there to step into. And likewise, again dealing with the drop offs, if there weren't tactile edgings my cane will find it far enough in advance to Allow me to stop or alter my course. So where, where is my responsibility as a consumer and all of that? Lauren Foote 45:10 I think the same can be said for people who do not have disabilities is, if everyone used everything, the best case, in a best case, weigh, then we'd have a lot less safety measures in place because it wouldn't be necessary. And that doesn't just apply to people with disabilities. But unfortunately, that's not the case. And things happen. And like I said, people get pushed when people are busy in almost all subway stations, not just the ones in here in Toronto, and people get pushed into these spaces when there's this rush. And there's certain certain sins instances that can't be avoided. So it's about maximizing the safety possible. And in this case, oh, sorry, yes. Michael Hingson 45:48 Which is not to say consumers don't have a responsibility. But by the same tokens, what at what token, what it is saying is that consumers should use all of their tools, but at the same time, you can't rely on that. Lauren Foote 46:05 Exactly. And like what, like I said, in the emergency situation, evacuation is an issue too. And that's not necessarily the consumer, but that's definitely not the consumers responsibility, they just need to get out. Because there was an emergency that unexpected something happened. And, and, and yes, everyone should be trying to be as safe as possible in transit systems, whether you have a disability or not. But in reality, things happen. People are distracted, it's busy. People are confused. They might be new to the area, and not familiar might be the first time on transit. So there's a lot of specific circumstances that come into play. So which brings Michael Hingson 46:42 up another question, again, dealing with blindness. What you haven't discussed is information access. So for example, I go into a station. Yes. How do I know what train is coming? Yes. You know, those kinds of things. What? And I'm not saying you don't in any way, but I'm I'm curious, what do you do to retrofit stations to deal with those kinds of things? Lauren Foote 47:08 We actually do quite a bit in that way. And one of the main issues of the new station I audited last month was the air conditioning was too loud for anybody to hear. Instructions. And it was really funny actually, because I don't know if people who aren't from Canada might not know but I'm not sure that conversion to Fahrenheit, but it gets to 40 degrees Celsius, which is extremely Oh, summer. And people think of it is very, it gets cold here too. Don't get me right. It's cold right now. I wish I was in California right now. But I'm, I'm here unfortunately, in cold winter, but it gets really hot. Michael Hingson 47:44 This morning. It got down to minus five Celsius here. Lauren Foote 47:48 Oh, that's pretty chilly. For California. Michael Hingson 47:51 I live up on what's called the high desert. So we have about 20 850 feet up so we we had a little bit chill, and it hasn't gotten all that warm yet today. But anyway, it's better Lauren Foote 48:03 than here. I'd take that over the weather. Oh, Michael Hingson 48:05 I know. I hear you. Lauren Foote 48:07 But yeah, definitely still cold. I'm surprised I yeah, I guess when I think of California, I think of like, LA and the warm beaches. So naive, I suppose. Michael Hingson 48:17 Just keep in mind when you're at one of those warm beaches during the winter, you can drive two hours and be up in snow country and go ski. Lauren Foote 48:24 Wow. Yeah, I'd love to visit in the winter sometime. It'd be so nice. But yes, back to Audible indicators. The air conditioning, which goes which has to be on in the summer was was way too loud. And people couldn't use. People couldn't hear this. Tell the voice telling you where you were, what station you're at or how far you had to go. And, and that was a huge issue, of course. So we're working on fixing that. And this was a new station. And it was just embarrassing, because not for the for the designers because they worked so hard to make sure that they had all these proper sounds in place and signals in place and audible signals in place. And then the air conditioning of all things was too loud and people couldn't hear it. But they are working to fix that. And we do have that in place. We do have Braille signs, we put places, they used to be more in the older stations, which is something we're working on in retrofitting old stations. We also have a program, at least here and I know it's very similar in other areas as well, where people who are new to transit for free can sign up for a program where someone accompanies them for the first few times to make sure that they're familiar with their route and know where to go. And that's free of cost. And I think it's really beneficial to people, especially people who have invisible disabilities, especially even like anxiety or they might have autism or something. Those are those are some major clients who use who use that service, that free service and I think that's helpful too. And having attendance there to help this is really important too. But of course there's so much work that needs to be done and like I said I just pointed About a big issue that we found last month. So it's definitely never ending. Michael Hingson 50:04 What's what's happening in terms of using some of the newer technologies working toward having the ability to use indoor navigation apps and things like that? Is anything being done in Canada with that, in so far as all that goes in that regard? Lauren Foote 50:23 Yes, but it is kind of in its infancy here, there's a lot of talk. And there's some meetings about how we can do that, and what what would be involved and how we can make sure it's accessible for people. I recently did an audit. And my thesis is in, in incorporating accessibility into flood resilient infrastructure in Toronto, and I was doing an audit of a green quarter, which is a trail basically a pathway with shrubbery and trees and grass and parks, and all of that think of green space in an urban area, kind of, but a long linear path. Anyways, I digress. And this is where I sparked the conversation about about having this technology and how it be so useful for people because the GPS, GPS doesn't really extend onto these trails. And it'd be very, very useful for people, I was walking with someone who was blind, and they said, that would really help them. And then QR codes are being added to a lot of things here. That's something that's being done, and it continues to be done, but but needs to still be done more. So there's some Michael Hingson 51:28 things, there's a lot of work being done, though, on indoor navigation that Yeah, it's interesting, might really be helpful, I'd love to talk with you about that offline, and maybe help you make some contacts that would help with that. But there are actually solutions that can help in moving around indoor spaces, and it can be outdoor spaces as well, that are not nearly as complex to make happen. As you might think. There's a lot of development going into all of that. And the other service for blind people that immediately comes to mind as a service you may or may not be familiar with called IRA. Are you familiar with Ira? Yes, I'm familiar with Ira, a IRA. And the reality is that it is a service that one has to pay for. But if the government would make stations, for example, or pull City's Ira access locations, then there's an immediate access by any person who needs more visual information to be able to get access to that stuff. Lauren Foote 52:35 Yeah, that's a great idea. And I would love to continue this conversation with you offline, too, because I know you're very well versed in this in this area, and your your insights would be so meaningful. Michael Hingson 52:45 Well, we could we could certainly talk about that. And would love to tell me more about your thesis and the things that are going on with it. Lauren Foote 52:52 Yeah, so it's all I can think about right now, actually, because I'm excited to be graduate. I'll be finishing in March. So it's coming up. I'm not done my thesis, I'm almost there. But yeah, so I'll be presenting it in March. And basically, I'm looking at Green corridors, which I said, are these interlinked green spaces, often with pathways, typically, in urban areas. And they are really important because they reduce urban flooding, increased biodiversity act as carbon sinks, so they take carbon out of the atmosphere, they reduce flooding, and they increase social and physical health and well being so they help humans as well. And it's just super interesting to me, because it combines my passion for environmental sustainability, and disability justice, and also active transportation, because moving through these corridors is a form of active transportation. And what I'm doing is and like I like I'm sure you can tell I'm a big fan of in person audits because they just capture things that can't be captured online or in a discussion even though those are valuable too. But I'm doing in person audits of these green corridors in Toronto with people with disabilities. I'm lucky I got some funding for it. So I'm able to hire people with disabilities to do these audits with me. And so far, I've received such valuable insight and feedback every me know that oh, and I think I've done nine or 10 audits so far. And I make for a few more. And the interesting thing is, like you said, with housing, like the very small, okay, maybe not small, but the cost would be very similar to doing to increase accessibility in these spaces. And a lot of things we find in terms of barriers is, is like I mentioned, a lack of QR codes on signage or lack of Braille on signage, a lack of lighting, which may be a little more expensive, but but not crazy in terms of in terms of these projects. And then certain things like there's 100 garden beds free to the public, but none of them are raised so people with wheelchairs can't go under intend to them if they want to. I Um, and there are a lot of things, some of the grid, some of the crosswalks don't have any audible indicator when the light changes. So it's they're relatively small things to change, which is actually really nice because when when I'm because I'm working with municipalities and not municipalities have project planners and people who are organizing these green corridors and designing these green corridors to discuss what can be changed and how they can make it more accessible. And it's a lot better to pitch more affordable things to companies, because they're a lot more on board with them when it's it's a low cost barrier, especially when, when they're on tight budgets. A lot of these are city projects that don't don't have huge budgets. So having these small, these small, very adjustments can make such a big difference in people's lives and create such an equitable and inclusive space. And the thing is it with environmental planning, it's, at least from a sustainability point of view, not less. So in general, it's relatively new in the planning realm, and it's gaining a lot of traction. And the issue we're seeing here is very similar to what I was talking about with transportation is, is all these it's what we're trying to fix and transportation is all these segregation and exclusionary approaches are kind of being reintroduced in environmental planning. These green spaces are being put in affluent communities, they're being put in predominantly white communities, they're being implemented without considering the needs of vulnerable people, like people with disabilities are not to say that people with disabilities are far more but systemically they face barriers that they shouldn't have to. And then that sense, it creates vulnerabilities that they shouldn't have to face, and cultural, cultural barriers as well. And, and so what's really cool is that this research, it aims to stop this cyclic exclusionary planning approach that aims to reimagine these spaces to create a more equitable place where people can enjoy it and aims to stop this cycle of exclusion of different groups. So it's really it's really cool. It's really fulfilling. And I think because it's kind of a new area of, of planning it, there's a lot of potential for it to be done in a adjust way. So it's nice to be able to have, and I've had a lot of positive feedback with the project managers I've been talking to. And they're all very keen to listen and to create things in a more equitable manner. So so I'm really fortunate in the sense that I've received possible positive feedback, and that I've had such great help from from other people with disabilities in the community too. Michael Hingson 57:37 Well, the things like Audible traffic signals are, of course, pretty expensive. And that would be yes, it needs to be used somewhat judiciously. And not every street needs to have an audible traffic signal. And you pointed it out, all the audible signal does is tells you that the lights change doesn't tell you that it's safe to go exactly and and I've seen way too many audible traffic signals in places where all you're doing is walking across the street, there's no complex intersection is just for curbs. And people still want to have audible traffic signals. And the fact of the matter is, it isn't going to make you more safe. If you're listening for traffic. And again, there are those people who can't. So there, there are other issues there. But the reality is when you've got a complex intersection like or a roundabout, roundabouts are a little different. But when you've got several streets coming into an intersection, that gets to be more fun. Lauren Foote 58:37 Yeah, imagine so. And the person I was talking with was was a blind person who did this audit with me. And for them, they found it really important. So So for people who might be more skilled at listening to traffic, like you or other people, it might not be as much of a as much of a need, but for some people, they find it necessary. And also, like I said, it doesn't necessarily tell you the direction, which is another interesting problem. It would be useful if it actually repeated or like stated where to go. But but it doesn't. But regardless, yeah, that would be something that would be less of a I guess they're in terms of recommendations. There's like, sooner nearer term recommendations, and then like, would be nice in the future recommendations. And that would be nice in the future recommendations. And then smaller things like raised garden beds, all you have to do is build a bed that someone can wheel under 100 beds. Yeah, it's simple. So so it's yeah, there's quite a nuance there. And honestly, and I guess I did bring up a more expensive one, but there are quite a few. Michael Hingson 59:38 Just a valid one to talk about as well. So last question, because we're going to have to run but tell me, what are you going to do once you get your master's degree? You graduate. So what are you going to do after you go off and graduate? Are you just going to go on and become a professional student and go get a PhD? Lauren Foote 59:58 We'll see about that. So, right now I'm just in finished master's degree mode. Yes, good for you. And I'm very excited about it. And I'm so grateful that I've been able to have this opportunity because it's really allowed me to help make the community more equitable. And it helped make places more inclusive for everyone, not just people with disabilities. And I find if always find it fulfilling to create equitable and inclusive communities. And I'm extremely passionate about disability justice. And I know that I'll be very happy in a role that allows me to create inclusive and barrier free communities. I'm only I'm only 25 years old. So I'm very happy that I've had this opportunity to achieve all this progress in the disability community so far

“If you are presented with an opportunity, you never know where that path is going to take you”. For many, the prospect of changing jobs can be filled with the uncertainty of not knowing whether or not you are a right fit for the role. Surrounding yourself with good mentors that recognize your uniqueness and potential, can help you gain confidence in who you are. Joanna Kervin is the Vice President of External Approvals and Implementation at Crosslinx Transit Solutions. Joanna's career spans a unique series of career moves from engineering consulting to City of Toronto Planning, to Toronto Transit Commission (subway) to construction with Crosslinx Transit Solutions, after graduating from the University of Waterloo with a civil engineering degree. Her experience gives her a unique insight into the needs and challenges of both private and public sectors, experience that has supported her success in negotiating solutions to complex issues affecting a wide range of stakeholders and governmental authorities. In this episode, Joanna shares the key decisions and mentors along the way that led her to change paths in her career, women and leadership in a male dominated sector, tips for gaining confidence in who you are, and more!ChaptersCrosslinx / Career beginnings 01.25Changing career paths 03:20The importance of good mentorship in recognizing your potential 4:20Changing career paths (cont.) 13:50Women and leadership in a male dominated sector 15:46TIps for gaining confidence in who you are 20:17Advice for women on leadership style 28:56Struggles / Adversity 32:17Advice 41:48What's next for Joanna 42:41Connect with Joanna - https://ca.linkedin.com/in/joanna-kervin…Hosted by Hilda Gan - ca.linkedin.com/in/hildagan Visit us at - peoplebrightconsulting.comFollow usLinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/company/pplbrightTwitter - twitter.com/pplbright Facebook - www.facebook.com/pplbrightInstagram - www.instagram.com/pplbright/ Hilda Gan is a sought-after expert on effective HR strategies, work culture enhancement, and employee engagement. Unique among HR consultants, Hilda combines over 25 years of HR expertise with business acumen and business owner experience.People Bright Consulting is an award-winning HR Management Consulting firm that helps leaders of companies build the foundations for successful hiring, healthy and inclusive work culture, and engaged staff. It starts with listening to our clients and finding pragmatic customized business solutions to HR problems.

Recent reports of attacks on the provincial capital's transit system has workers and passengers concerned about safety. The city has reacted with increased police presence, more security, and outreach workers, but will these measures resolve the violence? To discuss what's happening and what more can be done, we welcome: Toronto Star transportation reporter Lex Harvey; Diana Chan McNally, harm reduction case manager from All Saints Toronto; and John Di Nino, president of ATU Canada.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode takes us to the city of Toronto, Ontario More specifically it take us onto the many trains, buses and street cars that rumble their way around it. The TTC, or the Toronto Transit Commission, is the public transit system that services Toronto's diverse population. Using a mix of subways, buses, and street cars the TTC is Canada's largest public transit system. With nearly 2 million riders a day, the TTC serves as the setting for many of life's events; babies born onboard, the first moments of countless love stories, and of course there is murder… and that's what we will be discussing. In this episode of Nighttime, I'll be joined by Canadian Crime video creator Madelayne Klein to discuss four stories of random, unprovoked Murder on the Toronto Transit System. Episode Links: Madelayne Klein: https://linktr.ee/madelayneklein Send a voicememo to the show: nighttimepodcast.com/contact Subscribe to the show: premium feed: https://www.patreon.com/Nighttimepodcast apple podcasts: https://applepodcasts.com/nighttime Musical Theme: Noir Toyko by Monty Datta Social Links: Website: https://www.nighttimepodcast.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/NightTimePod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NightTimePod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimepod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While the rate of electrical fatalities is trending downwards, electrical injuries as a whole are not as rare as we'd hope. From the underground electrical economy to DIYers taking on home renovations, electrical safety accidents have increased over the last two years. Josie Erzetic, President and CEO of the Electrical Safety Authority, told us how her organization is working to combat these issues and protect consumers from dangerous acts. Listen to our chat during this thinkenergy Summer Recharge.  Do you work in a construction related industry? Call or email (ESA.communications@esasafe.com) the ESA to learn about their spring startup sessions. They are happy to send somebody out to educate your workers about the potential hazards around powerline contact.  Related links: Grounded in Ontario Podcast: www.ESAsafe.com/podcast Josie Erzetic, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josie-erzetic-0bb58010/ Electrical Safety Authority: https://esasafe.com/compliance/what-you-need-to-know/ --- To subscribe using Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinkenergy/id1465129405 To subscribe using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wFz7rdR8Gq3f2WOafjxpl To subscribe on Libsyn: http://thinkenergy.libsyn.com/ --- Subscribe so you don't miss a video: https://www.youtube.com/user/hydroottawalimited Check out our cool pics on https://www.instagram.com/hydroottawa More to Learn on https://www.facebook.com/HydroOttawa Keep up with the Tweets at https://twitter.com/thinkenergypod   Dan Seguin  00:06 This is thinkenergy. The podcast that helps you better understand the fast changing world of energy through conversations with game changers, industry leaders and influencers. So join me, Dan Seguin, and my co-host, Rebecca Schwartz, as we explore both traditional and unconventional facets of the energy industry.  Hey everyone, welcome to the summer rewind edition of the thinkenergy podcast. While we recharge our batteries during these lazy hazy days of summer, we're bringing back some blasts from our podcast past. We'll be reintroducing some of our most popular interviews that garnered a lot of attention and interest. There's been a lot of talk about the future electrification of energy on the path to net zero. The episodes we've selected are very future focused with themes around green innovation, renewable energy, and our impact on the environment. So I hope you enjoy the summer rewind edition of today's episode. In the meantime, have a happy summer. And we'll be back on August 15th to kick off another exciting season. Cheers. Dan Seguin  00:50 Hey, everyone, welcome back. This is the ThinkEnergy podcast. And in today's episode, we'll be talking about safety in this increasingly, electric world. I'm dancing.   Rebecca Schwartz  01:02 And I'm Rebecca Schwartz.   Dan Seguin  01:04 Electricity is everywhere. It has become a necessary part of our lives powering the way we live, work and play. Rebecca, how much of a headache is it when the power goes out?   Rebecca Schwartz  01:19 Hmm, it's a huge headache, Dan. And let me tell you, as a social media coordinator, I know firsthand that our customers feel the pain.   Dan Seguin  01:28 Yep, I'm the same way when the power goes out, we notice but apart from those moments, it's easy to take for granted. Likewise, with it being such a critical resource that already has many safeguards in place, it's easy to forget just how dangerous it is   Rebecca Schwartz  01:45 so true. And well, most of us have likely experienced an electric shock of some kind. Hopefully, for most people, just a small Static Shock, you know, from walking across your carpet with socks on and touching the closest victim in proximity to you. But I digress. static shocks like these are of little consequence. However, when it comes to the electric current running through our homes, businesses and communities via wires and powerlines incidents involving electric shock are anything but amusing.   Dan Seguin  02:15 Unfortunately, the sobering reality is that electrical injuries are not as rare as you and I or the Electrical Safety Authority would like. According to the Ontario electrical safety report, there have been a 135 electrical related fatalities in the past 10 years. 52 of those deaths were a result of electrocution, or the effects of an electrical burn, and 83 were a result of electrical fires. The silver lining is that the rate of electrical fatalities is actually trending down. fatalities have dropped 13% Compared to the previous 10 year period.   Rebecca Schwartz  02:59 And the organization behind this downwards trend is the Electrical Safety Authority. They serve to regulate and promote electrical safety in Ontario, improve safety for the well being of all Ontarians and ultimately to reduce electrical injuries and fatalities to zero.   Dan Seguin  03:16 So Rebecca, here's today's big question. How has the electrical safety authorities strategically evolved, its approach to safety in this modern and increasingly electric world? Special guest, Josie Erzetic, Chief regulatory officer and General Counsel for the Electrical Safety Authority is here with us today to help ground us with a greater understanding of the dangers behind electricity, and how we can protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our colleagues from injury. Hey Josie, Welcome to the show. Perhaps you can start us off by telling us more about your organization, your role as a regulator, and what fuels your passion for working there?   Josie Erzetic  04:12 Thanks so much, Daniel. I'm really happy to be on the show. So Thanks for inviting me. I guess what I'd start off with is just talking about ESA's mission, and that is to promote electrical safety across Ontario. So in fact, our vision is an Ontario where people can live work and play safe from electrical harm. So we're talking about electrical safety at home, as well as in the workplace. So how do you do that? We basically have carriage four regulations in the province. So the first one being the one people probably associate most which with us, which is the Ontario Electrical Safety Code. The second one is that we license all of the LEC's and ME's, that's master electricians and licensed electrical contractors in the province. Thirdly, we regulate electrical product safety. And finally, we regulate the safety of all licensed distribution companies in the province. And that would be, for example, Ottawa Hydro. So we regulate safety in that regard as well. And we're constantly just scanning the market for new areas that we perceive present an electrical safety risk to consumers to Ontarians. And we promote education, electrical safety education. So what what fuels my passion you asked? It's basically that safety and consumer protection mandate, I find it very, very meaningful work to do this. So that's what gets me up in the mornings. And I'm really fortunate to just work with a really, really great group of people.   Rebecca Schwartz  06:01 with safety and risk mitigation top of mind how the accidents increased or decreased in the last five to 10 years. And how do you measure this?   Josie Erzetic  06:10 it's a really good question. And I'm very happy to report that over the last 10 years, overall, the state of electrical safety in Ontario has improved. There's been a 42% reduction in critical injuries that result as a result of electrical incidents, and there's been a 30% reduction in electrical fires. Overall, as well over the past decade, there's been an 11% decrease in electrical related fatalities. When it comes to power lines, specifically, there has been an 8% decrease in the last 10 years in power line related fatalities. So how do we know this? we track all the data. So we look very carefully at electrical fatalities, as well as critical injuries. And we really sort of hone in on where they're coming from. So I'll give you an example. For example, dump truck drivers a number of years ago, we recognized that there were a lot of electrical contact with power lines as the result of dump truck drivers keeping the box on their truck in an elevated position. So as a result of that we really focused in on that problem and started to do a lot of work with that industry. So what did we do? we created a whole campaign around, look up, look out. So we posted these types of signs all around construction areas, we posted power line safety posters. We delivered safety talks to industry associations to students to construction workers. And we worked in partnership with the IHSA, which is the infrastructure Health and Safety Association. And we also translated some of our safety materials into other languages, including French, Portuguese, Punjabi, to make sure that people understood the message. And as a result of it, what's happened is that the number of powerline contacts from that industry has decreased by 28%, when you compare five year periods. So having said all that, there's still a lot of work to be done. And we're again tracking data to look at where we might see other risk areas so that we can really focus in on those.   Dan Seguin  08:53 Now let's move on from data to reports. I know you recently released an annual safety report. What is that telling you?   Josie Erzetic  09:01 So our annual safety report is called the Ontario electrical safety report or OESR. It's the only document of this kind in Canada. And what it really does is help us identify emerging risk areas. So this this last month, we released our 20th edition. And what it's telling us on the homeowner side certainly is we've seen an increase in power line contacts reported from the public. So this is not what I was referring to earlier in terms of fatalities per se, but it's just an increase in the numbers of contacts, which of course could lead to serious injury or fatality, so we want to really think about data like this and try to send our safety message to the public. So where are we seeing contact? we're seeing it in areas like tree trimming or cutting. We're seeing it in things like kite flying or home improvement. work. For example, if you think about it, you're working around your home, you're moving around a ladder, let's say, to clean your eavestroughs, anything like that. And we're potentially seeing power line contact as a result, yard renovations. So we noticed that, especially during this pandemic period, where people are doing a lot of their own renovation work, there's a potential there for power line contact. So what we've done is we're shifting a lot of our campaigns online, and we're sending out messages like stop, look and live, we find that people are going online, when they're thinking about doing renovations when they're hiring contractors to help with some of those renovations. So we want to send out those messages that make sure you're aware of powerlines, you're aware of what you're doing, and that you stay far enough away. Another example is pools and pool clearances or hot tubs. So in that sense, we've sent out messages saying make sure you keep yourself and your equipment, for example, pool skimmers, which can be quite long, far away from overhead power lines, and our recommendation is at least three meters away. So that's on the homeowner side. And if we want to switch it now to the work side, on the occupational side, I point to the fall of 2019. Were in the span of about 24 hours, we were notified tragically of two critical injuries and two deaths as a result of powerline contact. And those were four separate incidents. So one was a crane construction worker. The second one was arborists that were it was a team of two arborists that were involved in tree trimming. The third one involved a TTC worker. So that's the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto. And, and the fourth one was a drill operator. So this was a really tragic day where you had a number of incidents just occurring in very close temporal proximity. But it was also a catalyst for us to think about redesigning our power line campaign. And so what we're doing as a result is we have campaigns twice annually so that we make sure it's at the start of construction season, as well as in the fall months. We're also working closely with the Ministry of Labor to understand all of the circumstances behind those incidents. And we also work with our industry partners to make sure that we educate workers who are at high risk, and I mentioned arborist as an example. So we want to again focus in on those occupations that we think are at high risk of powerline contact. We've also observed a rise in incidents involving young workers. And as a result, we have specialists who go to the colleges to ensure that students young workers involved in things like heavy machinery operation in the arborist industry, get the information about the potential hazard around power line contact, so to ensure that they're well educated on that. And we also encourage any companies. So anyone who is listening to this podcast, who you know works in a construction related area, if you want to give us a call about our spring startup sessions, we're happy to send somebody out to educate your workers about the potential hazards around powerline contact. And you can do this by just emailing us at ESA.communications@esasafe.com. And we'd be happy to do a spring startup session for folks.   Rebecca Schwartz  14:11 Thanks, Josie. We'll make sure to include that in our show notes. So we read that the Electrical Safety Authority is striving to be a modern risk based electrical safety regulator for Ontarians. What exactly does that mean?   Josie Erzetic  14:25 Yeah, it's a great question. And I often think about that, myself, what does it mean to be to be a modern regulator, so it can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but I'll sort of give you the key elements of it for us. So it really, it means to us to use something that we call risk based oversight. It means leveraging technology and really fostering the capabilities of our people. So when we say risk based oversight, as you can imagine, trying to be a safety regulator. The complex world we live in today in a in a province, as populous as the province of Ontario is a difficult task, you can't be everywhere all at once. So we use risk base to really prioritize and focus on the highest risk electrical installations, we actually have an algorithm that helps us understand which installations are the high risk ones, and we prioritize those and have a whole system for prioritization. So we're basically putting the most time in the highest risk areas. Along those lines were also through. And we did this through the COVID period, we're really piloting the use of what we call remote inspections. So that in other words, rather than an inspector attending at each installation, there's the possibility for a licensed electrical contractor to send in photos or videos. And we put job aids around that and given instruction to the industry about what we're looking for. So again, so low risk installation, and in the inspectors discretion, they can accept photos or videos, which you can imagine, makes it more efficient for us doing our job. And it's also, you know, potentially an efficiency value to the contractor as well to submit photos rather than having somebody attend in person. So that's another thing where we're moving forward as a modern regulator, I'd say, in terms of leveraging technology, we've really moved digital, I think, as have a lot of companies at this time. So example, where we used to have all our master exams happening in person, they can now happen virtually. So we have a system where we can do virtual proctoring of exams, so you can do your exam online, we can do online training, which is either synchronous or asynchronous, which is which is terrific for folks. If it's synchronous, then you might have an instructor with you asynchronous, you're watching videos, or you're going through PowerPoint on on your own time. So it's, it's leveraging technology for us, but also for the folks that we service. And another big thing we've done is our plan review group, which looks at electrical drawings, for complex electrical installations. So say, for example, for a car manufacturer or a large industry, rather than having these clients submit hard copies of complicated electrical plans, they can now do so digitally through our electronic plan review portal. So that's something again, that's very good for clients and good for efficiency purposes. For us, we also have a new scheduling tool that provides customers better notice of when an inspector is going to arrive, which is again, a real win from a from an efficiency standpoint, and we're now launching a project that would allow master electricians and licensed electrical contractors to submit documents online, so time saving there. And the last area I'd say is focusing on fostering new skills. So where our employees need to augment skills or develop new skills, we're very supportive of continuing education and, and skills broadening. And we're also looking at where do we have gaps? Where is technology? Or is our sector evolving, and we need to ensure we're evolving with it. So an example I give you there is what we've just been talking about, which is around data analytics. So we've recognized that we need to improve our capability in that regard. And as a result, we've hired a couple of new people to help us in that regard. And we're also augmenting skills of folks that we already have working for us. I think I'd be remiss if I didn't mention diversity and inclusion. I think a lot of employers are thinking about that right now, as are we. And so we do have what we call an idea strategy, which is inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility. And I think that is a very important part of being a modern regulator. And I would say that, you know, I'm really happy to report that 80% of our executive team is now women. So I think we're making some real advances in that area, but you know, I'll be honest with you, I'd like to see more so We're continuing to work on that. So I guess that's in summary, what I really see is being a modern regulator.   Dan Seguin  20:08 That's very interesting. Thanks, Josie. Now, wondering if you could tell us about your organization's new corporate strategy at a high level? Can you walk us through the four strategic goals and why they're so important?   Josie Erzetic  20:23 Yeah. So it's, it's a very good question. And some of these goals we have maintained from previous years and others we've really expanded upon. So I would say the, the first of the four main goals is really safety. And that's one that's always been a focus of our organization. But having said that, we can all see the rapid evolution of technology in the sector. So we're really maintaining a close focus on that, and working with industry partners in that regard. So examples I give you there are things like the adoption of electric vehicles or energy storage technologies. So in the example I give you is that I'm currently sitting on a council that the Ministry of Transportation has set up around Evie adoption. So we want to participate on councils like that, that look at this one is on the electrification of the transportation sector. So that's an important part important pillar in the strategy, and an important part of what we're doing. So we do things like we anticipate new risk areas, we have something called the harm lifecycle, which really has a scanning the market, looking at potential for new technology, new harms that we should be monitoring and assessing. And then we decide, is this a high risk area that we would like to pilot a program in as an example? Is this something we should be partnering on? Like the example I just gave you with what MTO is doing? Is this something that we want to continue as a program, once we have achieved our goals in it? Is it something that we exit from so we have a whole lifecycle and how we look at risk. So I think that's an important part of the new strategy around safety. And then compliance, that's also something that we have carried over from our previous strategy. But I think, if anything, I would say we're almost amping up what we're doing in this area. So we work closely with our licensed communities, for example, the licensed electrical contractor community, and we educate the public in terms of ensuring that they hire a licensed electrical contractor, rather than, for example, going to unlicensed individuals. And we refer to that as the underground economy. So I would say that this new strategy really emphasizes the importance of getting at that underground economy or, you know, I'd like to put it as like, just let's take a bite out of that underground economy, let's reduce what's going on there. So we want to educate homeowners to not hire unlicensed individuals. And we will take enforcement action, where it's required against those people who are working illegally and not taking out licenses or permits because there are real safety and consumer protection risks around that type of work. And we've got some real active campaigns around that. For example, we have a Kijiji Blitz, where we are actively looking for people advertising services illegally on Kijiji and forcing those to come off Kijiji. Our third goal is operating with organizational agility. And I think, as a lot of companies are doing today, and as we talked about earlier, we're trying to leverage technology to make ourselves more efficient, and reduce, you know, burden for the licensees. So whether those are licensed electrical contractors, or LDCs, such as Hydro Ottawa, we're trying to reduce burden for our clients. And I think the last area is really around public accountability. We want to be seen as a publicly accountable transparent regulator So we do regular surveys of our customers to identify areas for improvement. You know, what are our strengths? But what are our weaknesses? And how can we do better? I think ESA has a culture of continuous improvement, which we're very proud of.   Rebecca Schwartz  25:18 Thanks for the reference to the underground economy, it seems like there's a black market for everything, even electrical services. Has there been a story that's stuck with you in regards to an electrical incident resulting in a serious injury that could have been prevented? Or is there a safety tip that you wish everybody knew?   Josie Erzetic  25:37 Yeah. So thank you for that question. And something that is real top of mind for me lately, is something called lichtenburg generators. So we've had a number of serious injuries and some deaths involving these devices. And my safety tip is stop using these devices. They are devices that they can either be made. So people were seeing people doing them as do it yourself projects, or they can be purchased. However, they're not a product that's either approved or certified by any certification body, and they're extremely dangerous. So we're aware of at least five fatalities and one critical injury that have taken place over the last three years. And a couple of those fatalities occurred earlier this year. And what these things are, I don't know if you've ever heard of them before, but they are used to create art. So they're like a wood burning type device. So you create it by burning designs into wood or acrylic. But they're a lot of them are homemade. And people take parts out of microwaves, for example, to put these things together. And they have a lot of accessible wiring components. So they're very unsafe to handle. And so and particularly on social media forums, we're seeing that individuals are posting videos, and they're instructing each other on how to build these devices. So right now we have a very comprehensive public safety awareness campaign to educate the public about the dangers of using Lichtenberg generators. And we're specifically targeting that sort of do it yourself, community and those who are interested in things like woodworking so what we're finding it's primarily men aged between 20 and 40, to not carry out this type of hobby and not use these types of devices. And if anyone is aware of advertising of this kind of advice, we would encourage them to call us at 1-877-esa-safe or visit us online. And and make us aware of this because we are asking, particularly YouTube to try to get these How To Videos removed. So the safety tip again, is don't use these devices. They're very dangerous.   Dan Seguin  28:20 Now your organization has a vision, a big vision to create an Ontario where people can live, work and play safe from electrical harm. During the pandemic, have there been any particular challenges or opportunities in achieving this?   Josie Erzetic  28:37 Yeah, it absolutely, because as I'm sure you both have found, people were at home. That means, among other things, a lot of on at home online shopping. So we want to make sure that people are very aware that electrical products that you're looking at, make sure they've been approved by a recognized certification body. So from both a safety awareness point of view, but also a consumer protection point of view, we want to make sure that people are buying approved products, as you both know. Online, it's so it's a global problem. You can buy products from anywhere in the world now and have them shipped directly to your house. So again, as a regulator, it's hard to be everywhere all at once. So the best thing is to have consumers aware themselves that when you're buying electrical products, you will want to ensure that it's either CSA certified UL certified, that you've got an approval mark on that product and you look for it when you're buying it on these online platforms. We share jurisdiction here with Health Canada, so I know Health Canada is all so concerned about this problem. So what we've done is we've set up a task force and we include ourselves on it, Health Canada, our own ministry, provincially, which is the ministry of government and Consumer Services. We've got manufacturers working with us distributors, consumer advocates, we've got bricks and mortar stores as part of the task force. But we also have online retailers. And we're all discussing the problem of consumer awareness, consumer protection and safety, because it's an all our interest to make sure people are safe. And we're putting resources into follow up on any reports we see, or we receive about unsafe consumer products. So we have been and we will follow up on 100% of reports we receive where somebody says, Look, I bought this thing it's unapproved, you know, I found that it sparked or there was a flash, when I tried to plug it in, we will follow up on all these things. We're also really enhancing consumer consumer awareness efforts, especially around this time of year, we're heading into holiday shopping season. And so we do have a holiday safety campaign. That's where we see a lot of people online, a lot of people looking at electrical products. So this campaign really focuses on consumer safety. And this year, in particular, we're encouraging folks who, you know, may be doing a lot of holiday decorating, they may be getting together to do this type of thing. So they're putting more emphasis on it this year, I don't know maybe more so than last year, when nobody came over. We're saying, you know, look closely at your your lights, right, your holiday lights that you're buying, make sure they're approved, make sure you use them correctly. Make sure if you have old ones that you're digging out of your basement, that there's no damage to cords, so just you know, be careful.   Rebecca Schwartz  32:04 Josie, you mentioned amateur DIY is like the dangerous Lichtenberg wood burning video on YouTube. Has there been other instances where the Electrical Safety Authority has seen an increase in electrical accidents? Or what about new areas of concern?   Josie Erzetic  32:20 Yeah, it's, it's a really, it's a good question. And again, particularly through this pandemic period, where people are looking for new hobbies, or, you know, they're at home, they're thinking about ways to renovate their house, maybe they cannot find a contractor or someone says to them, okay, it'll be months and months before somebody can get your house. So they just, they feel like, Oh, well, I could I want to do it myself. Right. So in that sense, we really remind homeowners consumers, that electricity is something that is dangerous, that you need to hire a professional to do it, there is the potential homeowners can do their own work. But in our view, it is better to hire a professional because there are safety risks inherent in the work. If homeowners are doing it themselves, then we certainly would remind them that they must take out the proper notifications with ESA, because that then has an inspector coming to their house to inspect the work. So at the very least, you want to ensure that happens. But we would say primarily, look, leave it to the professionals. So hire a licensed electrical contractor. And only a licensed electrical contracting business can be hired to do this. So when you're hiring people, we also remind folks to ask to see the accurate slash ESA license number. So that should be ever it should be on the estimates you get. It should be on their their trucks, their business cards, their ultimate invoice if you're not seeing that you could be hiring somebody that's in that underground economy that we talked about earlier. So be very careful about who you're hiring. And in this regard, obviously, ESA puts out a lot of its own information. But we also now are partnering with the Mike Holmes group. And you'll probably remember Mike Holmes He's done a lot of work on television. He does a lot of work also through social media. So he has a very large following. And so as a result, we're able to amplify the message by working with that group with Mike Holmes and his family to really get out that message that this is something maybe you don't want to take on on your own because of the safety risks. So certainly, both Mike his son, Mike Jr, and Sherry have posted both on YouTube as well as their other social channels about the importance when you're thinking about renovating to hire a licensed electrical contractor, and also the importance of ensuring you ensuring that you have ESA inspect the work. So you want to make sure at the end of the job, you get an ESA certificate of acceptance when the job's complete. So you know, it's done right. The other thing we've been noticing recently, and we've really made an effort to get the word out on this, so maybe I'll mention it here on this podcast as well, is the difference between a licensed electrical contractor, a master electrician, or what we call a C of Q, Certificate of Qualification holder, a certified electrician. Sometimes people think, oh, this person is an electrician, I'll just hire them directly know, who you need to hire is a licensed electrical contractor, because they are a business. And they were required by us to have $2 million in liability insurance, as well as the WSIB insurance coverage. So how this works is the licensed electrical contractor employs Master electricians who are responsible for overseeing the work of certified electricians, so you don't hire those folks directly. You hire the LEC, and it's important for consumer protection, because that way, if there's an injury, God forbid, or something happens in your home, then there is insurance that covers that. And the homeowner, him or herself is not responsible. So we're really working to increase awareness on the differences between the licensed electrical contracting businesses, which are who you hire, versus the master electricians or the certified electricians. I think that's very important.   Rebecca Schwartz  37:17 Great tips Josie and gotta love Mike Holmes, perhaps now a little bit more broadly, pandemic times or not what are some of the biggest challenges and opportunities that are facing the Electrical Safety Authority right now in general?   Josie Erzetic  37:32 I think I I go back to the underground economy and underground work that we we talked about earlier. So and I think we mentioned that it's just it's such a big problem, not just for our sector. But overall, I think, Rebecca, that you mentioned that you can, you know, almost buy anything in the underground market now. So you really, I think Statistics Canada estimates the underground economy is over $16 billion. That's with a B in Ontario alone. So it's just it's a big problem. And we as I said, I'd like to start a new slogan, like, let's take a bite out of the underground economy, like we really need to ensure with something like electricity, there are such safety and consumer protection issues, that this is not something you want to fool around with and leave to someone who's non licensed and not take out proper permits in this area. There's just too much at risk both with your personal safety and the safety of your home. There could be a fire that results from this. So what are we doing to really tackle this i and Daniel, I think you mentioned it earlier too. It's the Kijiji work so we're actually working a lot of people go online to find contractors. We are online and looking at those ads on Kijiji, and we will send notification to advertisers who we think are unlicensed businesses offering these types of services. If we don't get a voluntary response to take down that ad, Kijiji will forcibly remove it so big shout out to Kijiji for working with us and taking those ads down. And and if we still get repeat offenders, you wouldn't believe this people will come back and advertise again. We're prosecuting them. So we now have 20 charges pending before courts. So I would say that number one consumers do not hire unlicensed people. Be careful about who you're hiring online. We're out there we're working on it, but be careful as to see those licenses people who are doing this work illegally. I would say we are working hard to pull your ads off. Do not do this come into the licensed community. If you want to do this work, then get a license and do it properly. or we will also be looking to prosecute. So we this is important. The other thing we noticed with a high level of EV adoption, we undertook an EV charger Blitz. So we noticed that some EV charging systems that you put in your home in order to charge your vehicle were being done by unlicensed individuals and being done without permits. So we had our inspectors go out and inspect and alert both homeowners because sometimes homeowners don't know that was put in improperly and alert us to where we saw, charters being put in without permits are being put in by unlicensed contractors. And as a result, we've noticed this the period that we were looking at it this year, compared to last year, we've had almost a doubling of the amount of notifications that were taken out. So it makes a big difference when people know that we're out there. We're inspecting these things, and we expect them to be done properly and safety. And we also have an anonymous online reporting tool. So I would even say to your listeners, if you think there could be unlicensed activity going on somewhere, please let us know about it. So you can go online, you will, it's anonymous, but we do appreciate details. So we can do the follow up and investigate, you go to esasafe.com. And we found that this has been a very effective tool since we launched it in April 2020. To get reports, and I will tell people that we do follow up on 100% of the leads we get about unlicensed activity.   Dan Seguin  41:47 Okay, we've covered challenges and opportunities. What about the rise of digital communication? Has it changed your organization's ability to communicate safety messaging?   Josie Erzetic  41:59 Yeah, I'd say it, it really, really has. And we've shifted a lot of our educational campaigns on to social media, because as we alluded to earlier, we do find that is where people are looking, for example, to hire contractors, they're looking for ideas, say on renovation, you know, people will follow certain interior designers, they they will follow renovators on things like Instagram, or they'll follow them on Twitter. So we're leveraging platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google, Google, YouTube, all of those, because we find that that's where people are going now. But we also find there are potential dangers lurking there as well. And so we really have to monitor and be on top of those. So I'll give you an example of something that was a tic toc challenge that that we were made aware of in early 2020. And this was a challenge where that was issued over tick tock and it was basically about plugging in a phone charger. And then using either was a penny or a nickel or something to drag across the exposed prongs. And it results in in smoke and sparks and but it can also result in fire. So it this is obviously a really dangerous activity. So we became aware of it on social media. And then we use social as well as traditional media in order to educate, you know, basically parents and kids who were doing this, that this was unsafe, and they shouldn't be doing it. And we that was a very successful campaign. And we had more than 15 million views on that. And so we're very, very grateful. And, and we actually we won some awards for what we were able to do with with social media just in terms of identifying a risk and then educating people that they shouldn't be carrying engaging in this activity. And and I guess I should say to that we're also we're leveraging some new new opportunities, like a podcast like what you guys are doing here, which I applaud you for, by the way, we're trying to do the same thing.   Rebecca Schwartz  44:21 Now Josie, our listeners have made it this far. And now they want to know some ways that they can keep their electrical safety knowledge up to date. How can they do that?   Josie Erzetic  44:30 Yeah. So one way to do it is exactly what the two of you are doing with your podcast. We have our own podcast and it's really focused on electrical safety. So it's called Grounded in Ontario, and you can find it on our website at ESAsafe.com/podcast, but you can also go to typical platforms where you'd find podcasts like Apple podcasts or Spotify and located there. So we have new episodes coming out basically monthly. And we talk about things like what we've talked about here and more. So we've had an episode on pools and hot tubs and safety issues relating to that those EV supply equipment. So electrical vehicle chargers, which we also alluded to here, we also talk about arc fault and ground fault circuit interrupters. And we have a new episode that's just coming out on the underground economy, which we've also talked about. So that's a great place to get information. Also, our website has a lot of information and talks about things like do it yourself, renovations, talks about holiday safety talks about home and work safety. So I would, you know, recommend listeners go there. And I'd also always encourage people that if there are safety concerns, or you want to report activity, please go to our website, or please call us and I can give you the number, it's 1-877-372-7233. So we'd love to hear from people.   Dan Seguin  46:12 Okay, as it relates to your podcast Grounded in Ontario, I'll make sure that we post a link in our show notes, well Josie How about you close us off with some rapid fire questions? Are you ready?   Josie Erzetic  46:26 I'm ready.   Dan Seguin  46:27 Okay. What is your favorite word?   Josie Erzetic  46:30 I have to say I, I you know, obviously top of mind for me. workwise is safety. But just one of my favorite things to think about is also chocolate.   Dan Seguin  46:40 Now, what is one thing you can't live without?   Josie Erzetic  46:45 Chocolate?   Dan Seguin  46:45 What is something that challenges you   Josie Erzetic  46:48 with Rebecca, my love of chocolate? Because then I have to make sure that I you know, keep exercising or something?   Dan Seguin  46:55 If you could have one superpower, what would it be?   Josie Erzetic  47:00 I think the superpower question is always a really is a really great one. And I always I like picking flying for this one. Because then I figure it makes the commuting easier. And it would just be would it be great to just zip to your cottage fast or you know, zip to Europe or something. Especially these times where you know, travel is so difficult.   Dan Seguin  47:22 Josie This is my favorite one here. If you could turn back time and talk to your 18 year old self. What would you tell her?   Josie Erzetic  47:29 Okay, this one, this one I am going to answer very seriously, I would say something that I say to my my kids now who are 19 and 16. And that is believe in yourself. Believe in yourself believe in what you can do. You know, trust, trust yourself. So that that I think is very important for young people to remember.   Dan Seguin  47:53 And lastly, what do you currently find most interesting in this sector?   Josie Erzetic  47:59 Um, so I would say it's it's the pace of change. I just think our sector the energy sector is just fascinating. Right now we've talked about things like electrification of transportation, and the speed of the adoption there. We think of things like energy storage, the growth of renewables, I think of distribute, you know, distributed energy resources. I think it's fascinating. We're all concerned about climate change. So we're thinking about how we can reduce our carbon footprint, what, what role does energy play in that? What What will it look like 2030 4050 years from now where we might have entire communities that are doing things like net metering, we might have, you know, renewable generation, within a smaller community, or just you'll have solar panels on your roof, you'll have an energy storage system in your basement, you'll have an Eevee charging outside. So I think that is fascinating. I think energy is so fundamental to how we live and maybe how we'll deal with fundamental global issues like the climate crisis. And so ESA is part of that. I think it's so exciting, because you need to have all of that working safely. So the role we play is fascinating. So that's what I just find hugely fascinating and challenging about our sector.   Rebecca Schwartz  49:25 Well, Josie, we reached the end of another episode of The think energy podcast. Thanks so much for joining Dan and I today. We hope you had fun.   Josie Erzetic  49:33 I had a great time with you guys. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it.   Rebecca Schwartz  49:38 I sure hope you enjoyed this episode of The ThinkEnergy podcast. If so please head over to our iTunes SUBSCRIBE And leave us a review.   Dan Seguin  49:46 Now For show notes and bonus content visit hydroottawa.com/thinkenergy. Also, be sure to tell your friends and colleagues about us. Thank you for listening.

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Unfortunately, electrical injuries are not as rare as one would hope. But the rate of electrical fatalities is actually trending down thanks to the efforts of the Electrical Safety Authority. Today's big question: How has the Electrical Safety Authority strategically evolved its approach to safety in this modern, and increasingly electric world? Special guest, Josie Erzetic, Chief Regulatory Officer & General Counsel for the Electrical Safety Authority, is here with us today to help ground us with a greater understanding of the dangers behind electricity and how we can protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our colleagues from injury. --- Do you work in a construction related industry? Call or email (ESA.communications@esasafe.com) the ESA to learn about their spring startup sessions. They are happy to send somebody out to educate your workers about the potential hazards around powerline contact.  Related Content & Links:  Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josie-erzetic-0bb58010/ Grounded in Ontario Podcast: www.ESAsafe.com/podcast --- Transcript:  Dan Seguin  00:50 Hey, everyone, welcome back. This is the ThinkEnergy podcast. And in today's episode, we'll be talking about safety in this increasingly, electric world. I'm dancing.   Rebecca Schwartz  01:02 And I'm Rebecca Schwartz.   Dan Seguin  01:04 Electricity is everywhere. It has become a necessary part of our lives powering the way we live, work and play. Rebecca, how much of a headache is it when the power goes out?   Rebecca Schwartz  01:19 Hmm, it's a huge headache, Dan. And let me tell you, as a social media coordinator, I know firsthand that our customers feel the pain.   Dan Seguin  01:28 Yep, I'm the same way when the power goes out, we notice but apart from those moments, it's easy to take for granted. Likewise, with it being such a critical resource that already has many safeguards in place, it's easy to forget just how dangerous it is   Rebecca Schwartz  01:45 so true. And well, most of us have likely experienced an electric shock of some kind. Hopefully, for most people, just a small Static Shock, you know, from walking across your carpet with socks on and touching the closest victim in proximity to you. But I digress. static shocks like these are of little consequence. However, when it comes to the electric current running through our homes, businesses and communities via wires and powerlines incidents involving electric shock are anything but amusing.   Dan Seguin  02:15 Unfortunately, the sobering reality is that electrical injuries are not as rare as you and I or the Electrical Safety Authority would like. According to the Ontario electrical safety report, there have been a 135 electrical related fatalities in the past 10 years. 52 of those deaths were a result of electrocution, or the effects of an electrical burn, and 83 were a result of electrical fires. The silver lining is that the rate of electrical fatalities is actually trending down. fatalities have dropped 13% Compared to the previous 10 year period.   Rebecca Schwartz  02:59 And the organization behind this downwards trend is the Electrical Safety Authority. They serve to regulate and promote electrical safety in Ontario, improve safety for the well being of all Ontarians and ultimately to reduce electrical injuries and fatalities to zero.   Dan Seguin  03:16 So Rebecca, here's today's big question. How has the electrical safety authorities strategically evolved, its approach to safety in this modern and increasingly electric world? Special guest, Josie Erzetic, Chief regulatory officer and General Counsel for the Electrical Safety Authority is here with us today to help ground us with a greater understanding of the dangers behind electricity, and how we can protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our colleagues from injury. Hey Josie, Welcome to the show. Perhaps you can start us off by telling us more about your organization, your role as a regulator, and what fuels your passion for working there?   Josie Erzetic  04:12 Thanks so much, Daniel. I'm really happy to be on the show. So Thanks for inviting me. I guess what I'd start off with is just talking about ESA's mission, and that is to promote electrical safety across Ontario. So in fact, our vision is an Ontario where people can live work and play safe from electrical harm. So we're talking about electrical safety at home, as well as in the workplace. So how do you do that? We basically have carriage four regulations in the province. So the first one being the one people probably associate most which with us, which is the Ontario Electrical Safety Code. The second one is that we license all of the LEC's and ME's, that's master electricians and licensed electrical contractors in the province. Thirdly, we regulate electrical product safety. And finally, we regulate the safety of all licensed distribution companies in the province. And that would be, for example, Ottawa Hydro. So we regulate safety in that regard as well. And we're constantly just scanning the market for new areas that we perceive present an electrical safety risk to consumers to Ontarians. And we promote education, electrical safety education. So what what fuels my passion you asked? It's basically that safety and consumer protection mandate, I find it very, very meaningful work to do this. So that's what gets me up in the mornings. And I'm really fortunate to just work with a really, really great group of people.   Rebecca Schwartz  06:01 with safety and risk mitigation top of mind how the accidents increased or decreased in the last five to 10 years. And how do you measure this?   Josie Erzetic  06:10 it's a really good question. And I'm very happy to report that over the last 10 years, overall, the state of electrical safety in Ontario has improved. There's been a 42% reduction in critical injuries that result as a result of electrical incidents, and there's been a 30% reduction in electrical fires. Overall, as well over the past decade, there's been an 11% decrease in electrical related fatalities. When it comes to power lines, specifically, there has been an 8% decrease in the last 10 years in power line related fatalities. So how do we know this? we track all the data. So we look very carefully at electrical fatalities, as well as critical injuries. And we really sort of hone in on where they're coming from. So I'll give you an example. For example, dump truck drivers a number of years ago, we recognized that there were a lot of electrical contact with power lines as the result of dump truck drivers keeping the box on their truck in an elevated position. So as a result of that we really focused in on that problem and started to do a lot of work with that industry. So what did we do? we created a whole campaign around, look up, look out. So we posted these types of signs all around construction areas, we posted power line safety posters. We delivered safety talks to industry associations to students to construction workers. And we worked in partnership with the IHSA, which is the infrastructure Health and Safety Association. And we also translated some of our safety materials into other languages, including French, Portuguese, Punjabi, to make sure that people understood the message. And as a result of it, what's happened is that the number of powerline contacts from that industry has decreased by 28%, when you compare five year periods. So having said all that, there's still a lot of work to be done. And we're again tracking data to look at where we might see other risk areas so that we can really focus in on those.   Dan Seguin  08:53 Now let's move on from data to reports. I know you recently released an annual safety report. What is that telling you?   Josie Erzetic  09:01 So our annual safety report is called the Ontario electrical safety report or OESR. It's the only document of this kind in Canada. And what it really does is help us identify emerging risk areas. So this this last month, we released our 20th edition. And what it's telling us on the homeowner side certainly is we've seen an increase in power line contacts reported from the public. So this is not what I was referring to earlier in terms of fatalities per se, but it's just an increase in the numbers of contacts, which of course could lead to serious injury or fatality, so we want to really think about data like this and try to send our safety message to the public. So where are we seeing contact? we're seeing it in areas like tree trimming or cutting. We're seeing it in things like kite flying or home improvement. work. For example, if you think about it, you're working around your home, you're moving around a ladder, let's say, to clean your eavestroughs, anything like that. And we're potentially seeing power line contact as a result, yard renovations. So we noticed that, especially during this pandemic period, where people are doing a lot of their own renovation work, there's a potential there for power line contact. So what we've done is we're shifting a lot of our campaigns online, and we're sending out messages like stop, look and live, we find that people are going online, when they're thinking about doing renovations when they're hiring contractors to help with some of those renovations. So we want to send out those messages that make sure you're aware of powerlines, you're aware of what you're doing, and that you stay far enough away. Another example is pools and pool clearances or hot tubs. So in that sense, we've sent out messages saying make sure you keep yourself and your equipment, for example, pool skimmers, which can be quite long, far away from overhead power lines, and our recommendation is at least three meters away. So that's on the homeowner side. And if we want to switch it now to the work side, on the occupational side, I point to the fall of 2019. Were in the span of about 24 hours, we were notified tragically of two critical injuries and two deaths as a result of powerline contact. And those were four separate incidents. So one was a crane construction worker. The second one was arborists that were it was a team of two arborists that were involved in tree trimming. The third one involved a TTC worker. So that's the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto. And, and the fourth one was a drill operator. So this was a really tragic day where you had a number of incidents just occurring in very close temporal proximity. But it was also a catalyst for us to think about redesigning our power line campaign. And so what we're doing as a result is we have campaigns twice annually so that we make sure it's at the start of construction season, as well as in the fall months. We're also working closely with the Ministry of Labor to understand all of the circumstances behind those incidents. And we also work with our industry partners to make sure that we educate workers who are at high risk, and I mentioned arborist as an example. So we want to again focus in on those occupations that we think are at high risk of powerline contact. We've also observed a rise in incidents involving young workers. And as a result, we have specialists who go to the colleges to ensure that students young workers involved in things like heavy machinery operation in the arborist industry, get the information about the potential hazard around power line contact, so to ensure that they're well educated on that. And we also encourage any companies. So anyone who is listening to this podcast, who you know works in a construction related area, if you want to give us a call about our spring startup sessions, we're happy to send somebody out to educate your workers about the potential hazards around powerline contact. And you can do this by just emailing us at ESA.communications@esasafe.com. And we'd be happy to do a spring startup session for folks.   Rebecca Schwartz  14:11 Thanks, Josie. We'll make sure to include that in our show notes. So we read that the Electrical Safety Authority is striving to be a modern risk based electrical safety regulator for Ontarians. What exactly does that mean?   Josie Erzetic  14:25 Yeah, it's a great question. And I often think about that, myself, what does it mean to be to be a modern regulator, so it can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but I'll sort of give you the key elements of it for us. So it really, it means to us to use something that we call risk based oversight. It means leveraging technology and really fostering the capabilities of our people. So when we say risk based oversight, as you can imagine, trying to be a safety regulator. The complex world we live in today in a in a province, as populous as the province of Ontario is a difficult task, you can't be everywhere all at once. So we use risk base to really prioritize and focus on the highest risk electrical installations, we actually have an algorithm that helps us understand which installations are the high risk ones, and we prioritize those and have a whole system for prioritization. So we're basically putting the most time in the highest risk areas. Along those lines were also through. And we did this through the COVID period, we're really piloting the use of what we call remote inspections. So that in other words, rather than an inspector attending at each installation, there's the possibility for a licensed electrical contractor to send in photos or videos. And we put job aids around that and given instruction to the industry about what we're looking for. So again, so low risk installation, and in the inspectors discretion, they can accept photos or videos, which you can imagine, makes it more efficient for us doing our job. And it's also, you know, potentially an efficiency value to the contractor as well to submit photos rather than having somebody attend in person. So that's another thing where we're moving forward as a modern regulator, I'd say, in terms of leveraging technology, we've really moved digital, I think, as have a lot of companies at this time. So example, where we used to have all our master exams happening in person, they can now happen virtually. So we have a system where we can do virtual proctoring of exams, so you can do your exam online, we can do online training, which is either synchronous or asynchronous, which is which is terrific for folks. If it's synchronous, then you might have an instructor with you asynchronous, you're watching videos, or you're going through PowerPoint on on your own time. So it's, it's leveraging technology for us, but also for the folks that we service. And another big thing we've done is our plan review group, which looks at electrical drawings, for complex electrical installations. So say, for example, for a car manufacturer or a large industry, rather than having these clients submit hard copies of complicated electrical plans, they can now do so digitally through our electronic plan review portal. So that's something again, that's very good for clients and good for efficiency purposes. For us, we also have a new scheduling tool that provides customers better notice of when an inspector is going to arrive, which is again, a real win from a from an efficiency standpoint, and we're now launching a project that would allow master electricians and licensed electrical contractors to submit documents online, so time saving there. And the last area I'd say is focusing on fostering new skills. So where our employees need to augment skills or develop new skills, we're very supportive of continuing education and, and skills broadening. And we're also looking at where do we have gaps? Where is technology? Or is our sector evolving, and we need to ensure we're evolving with it. So an example I give you there is what we've just been talking about, which is around data analytics. So we've recognized that we need to improve our capability in that regard. And as a result, we've hired a couple of new people to help us in that regard. And we're also augmenting skills of folks that we already have working for us. I think I'd be remiss if I didn't mention diversity and inclusion. I think a lot of employers are thinking about that right now, as are we. And so we do have what we call an idea strategy, which is inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility. And I think that is a very important part of being a modern regulator. And I would say that, you know, I'm really happy to report that 80% of our executive team is now women. So I think we're making some real advances in that area, but you know, I'll be honest with you, I'd like to see more so We're continuing to work on that. So I guess that's in summary, what I really see is being a modern regulator.   Dan Seguin  20:08 That's very interesting. Thanks, Josie. Now, wondering if you could tell us about your organization's new corporate strategy at a high level? Can you walk us through the four strategic goals and why they're so important?   Josie Erzetic  20:23 Yeah. So it's, it's a very good question. And some of these goals we have maintained from previous years and others we've really expanded upon. So I would say the, the first of the four main goals is really safety. And that's one that's always been a focus of our organization. But having said that, we can all see the rapid evolution of technology in the sector. So we're really maintaining a close focus on that, and working with industry partners in that regard. So examples I give you there are things like the adoption of electric vehicles or energy storage technologies. So in the example I give you is that I'm currently sitting on a council that the Ministry of Transportation has set up around Evie adoption. So we want to participate on councils like that, that look at this one is on the electrification of the transportation sector. So that's an important part important pillar in the strategy, and an important part of what we're doing. So we do things like we anticipate new risk areas, we have something called the harm lifecycle, which really has a scanning the market, looking at potential for new technology, new harms that we should be monitoring and assessing. And then we decide, is this a high risk area that we would like to pilot a program in as an example? Is this something we should be partnering on? Like the example I just gave you with what MTO is doing? Is this something that we want to continue as a program, once we have achieved our goals in it? Is it something that we exit from so we have a whole lifecycle and how we look at risk. So I think that's an important part of the new strategy around safety. And then compliance, that's also something that we have carried over from our previous strategy. But I think, if anything, I would say we're almost amping up what we're doing in this area. So we work closely with our licensed communities, for example, the licensed electrical contractor community, and we educate the public in terms of ensuring that they hire a licensed electrical contractor, rather than, for example, going to unlicensed individuals. And we refer to that as the underground economy. So I would say that this new strategy really emphasizes the importance of getting at that underground economy or, you know, I'd like to put it as like, just let's take a bite out of that underground economy, let's reduce what's going on there. So we want to educate homeowners to not hire unlicensed individuals. And we will take enforcement action, where it's required against those people who are working illegally and not taking out licenses or permits because there are real safety and consumer protection risks around that type of work. And we've got some real active campaigns around that. For example, we have a Kijiji Blitz, where we are actively looking for people advertising services illegally on Kijiji and forcing those to come off Kijiji. Our third goal is operating with organizational agility. And I think, as a lot of companies are doing today, and as we talked about earlier, we're trying to leverage technology to make ourselves more efficient, and reduce, you know, burden for the licensees. So whether those are licensed electrical contractors, or LDCs, such as Hydro Ottawa, we're trying to reduce burden for our clients. And I think the last area is really around public accountability. We want to be seen as a publicly accountable transparent regulator So we do regular surveys of our customers to identify areas for improvement. You know, what are our strengths? But what are our weaknesses? And how can we do better? I think ESA has a culture of continuous improvement, which we're very proud of.   Rebecca Schwartz  25:18 Thanks for the reference to the underground economy, it seems like there's a black market for everything, even electrical services. Has there been a story that's stuck with you in regards to an electrical incident resulting in a serious injury that could have been prevented? Or is there a safety tip that you wish everybody knew?   Josie Erzetic  25:37 Yeah. So thank you for that question. And something that is real top of mind for me lately, is something called lichtenburg generators. So we've had a number of serious injuries and some deaths involving these devices. And my safety tip is stop using these devices. They are devices that they can either be made. So people were seeing people doing them as do it yourself projects, or they can be purchased. However, they're not a product that's either approved or certified by any certification body, and they're extremely dangerous. So we're aware of at least five fatalities and one critical injury that have taken place over the last three years. And a couple of those fatalities occurred earlier this year. And what these things are, I don't know if you've ever heard of them before, but they are used to create art. So they're like a wood burning type device. So you create it by burning designs into wood or acrylic. But they're a lot of them are homemade. And people take parts out of microwaves, for example, to put these things together. And they have a lot of accessible wiring components. So they're very unsafe to handle. And so and particularly on social media forums, we're seeing that individuals are posting videos, and they're instructing each other on how to build these devices. So right now we have a very comprehensive public safety awareness campaign to educate the public about the dangers of using Lichtenberg generators. And we're specifically targeting that sort of do it yourself, community and those who are interested in things like woodworking so what we're finding it's primarily men aged between 20 and 40, to not carry out this type of hobby and not use these types of devices. And if anyone is aware of advertising of this kind of advice, we would encourage them to call us at 1-877-esa-safe or visit us online. And and make us aware of this because we are asking, particularly YouTube to try to get these How To Videos removed. So the safety tip again, is don't use these devices. They're very dangerous.   Dan Seguin  28:20 Now your organization has a vision, a big vision to create an Ontario where people can live, work and play safe from electrical harm. During the pandemic, have there been any particular challenges or opportunities in achieving this?   Josie Erzetic  28:37 Yeah, it absolutely, because as I'm sure you both have found, people were at home. That means, among other things, a lot of on at home online shopping. So we want to make sure that people are very aware that electrical products that you're looking at, make sure they've been approved by a recognized certification body. So from both a safety awareness point of view, but also a consumer protection point of view, we want to make sure that people are buying approved products, as you both know. Online, it's so it's a global problem. You can buy products from anywhere in the world now and have them shipped directly to your house. So again, as a regulator, it's hard to be everywhere all at once. So the best thing is to have consumers aware themselves that when you're buying electrical products, you will want to ensure that it's either CSA certified UL certified, that you've got an approval mark on that product and you look for it when you're buying it on these online platforms. We share jurisdiction here with Health Canada, so I know Health Canada is all so concerned about this problem. So what we've done is we've set up a task force and we include ourselves on it, Health Canada, our own ministry, provincially, which is the ministry of government and Consumer Services. We've got manufacturers working with us distributors, consumer advocates, we've got bricks and mortar stores as part of the task force. But we also have online retailers. And we're all discussing the problem of consumer awareness, consumer protection and safety, because it's an all our interest to make sure people are safe. And we're putting resources into follow up on any reports we see, or we receive about unsafe consumer products. So we have been and we will follow up on 100% of reports we receive where somebody says, Look, I bought this thing it's unapproved, you know, I found that it sparked or there was a flash, when I tried to plug it in, we will follow up on all these things. We're also really enhancing consumer consumer awareness efforts, especially around this time of year, we're heading into holiday shopping season. And so we do have a holiday safety campaign. That's where we see a lot of people online, a lot of people looking at electrical products. So this campaign really focuses on consumer safety. And this year, in particular, we're encouraging folks who, you know, may be doing a lot of holiday decorating, they may be getting together to do this type of thing. So they're putting more emphasis on it this year, I don't know maybe more so than last year, when nobody came over. We're saying, you know, look closely at your your lights, right, your holiday lights that you're buying, make sure they're approved, make sure you use them correctly. Make sure if you have old ones that you're digging out of your basement, that there's no damage to cords, so just you know, be careful.   Rebecca Schwartz  32:04 Josie, you mentioned amateur DIY is like the dangerous Lichtenberg wood burning video on YouTube. Has there been other instances where the Electrical Safety Authority has seen an increase in electrical accidents? Or what about new areas of concern?   Josie Erzetic  32:20 Yeah, it's, it's a really, it's a good question. And again, particularly through this pandemic period, where people are looking for new hobbies, or, you know, they're at home, they're thinking about ways to renovate their house, maybe they cannot find a contractor or someone says to them, okay, it'll be months and months before somebody can get your house. So they just, they feel like, Oh, well, I could I want to do it myself. Right. So in that sense, we really remind homeowners consumers, that electricity is something that is dangerous, that you need to hire a professional to do it, there is the potential homeowners can do their own work. But in our view, it is better to hire a professional because there are safety risks inherent in the work. If homeowners are doing it themselves, then we certainly would remind them that they must take out the proper notifications with ESA, because that then has an inspector coming to their house to inspect the work. So at the very least, you want to ensure that happens. But we would say primarily, look, leave it to the professionals. So hire a licensed electrical contractor. And only a licensed electrical contracting business can be hired to do this. So when you're hiring people, we also remind folks to ask to see the accurate slash ESA license number. So that should be ever it should be on the estimates you get. It should be on their their trucks, their business cards, their ultimate invoice if you're not seeing that you could be hiring somebody that's in that underground economy that we talked about earlier. So be very careful about who you're hiring. And in this regard, obviously, ESA puts out a lot of its own information. But we also now are partnering with the Mike Holmes group. And you'll probably remember Mike Holmes He's done a lot of work on television. He does a lot of work also through social media. So he has a very large following. And so as a result, we're able to amplify the message by working with that group with Mike Holmes and his family to really get out that message that this is something maybe you don't want to take on on your own because of the safety risks. So certainly, both Mike his son, Mike Jr, and Sherry have posted both on YouTube as well as their other social channels about the importance when you're thinking about renovating to hire a licensed electrical contractor, and also the importance of ensuring you ensuring that you have ESA inspect the work. So you want to make sure at the end of the job, you get an ESA certificate of acceptance when the job's complete. So you know, it's done right. The other thing we've been noticing recently, and we've really made an effort to get the word out on this, so maybe I'll mention it here on this podcast as well, is the difference between a licensed electrical contractor, a master electrician, or what we call a C of Q, Certificate of Qualification holder, a certified electrician. Sometimes people think, oh, this person is an electrician, I'll just hire them directly know, who you need to hire is a licensed electrical contractor, because they are a business. And they were required by us to have $2 million in liability insurance, as well as the WSIB insurance coverage. So how this works is the licensed electrical contractor employs Master electricians who are responsible for overseeing the work of certified electricians, so you don't hire those folks directly. You hire the LEC, and it's important for consumer protection, because that way, if there's an injury, God forbid, or something happens in your home, then there is insurance that covers that. And the homeowner, him or herself is not responsible. So we're really working to increase awareness on the differences between the licensed electrical contracting businesses, which are who you hire, versus the master electricians or the certified electricians. I think that's very important.   Rebecca Schwartz  37:17 Great tips Josie and gotta love Mike Holmes, perhaps now a little bit more broadly, pandemic times or not what are some of the biggest challenges and opportunities that are facing the Electrical Safety Authority right now in general?   Josie Erzetic  37:32 I think I I go back to the underground economy and underground work that we we talked about earlier. So and I think we mentioned that it's just it's such a big problem, not just for our sector. But overall, I think, Rebecca, that you mentioned that you can, you know, almost buy anything in the underground market now. So you really, I think Statistics Canada estimates the underground economy is over $16 billion. That's with a B in Ontario alone. So it's just it's a big problem. And we as I said, I'd like to start a new slogan, like, let's take a bite out of the underground economy, like we really need to ensure with something like electricity, there are such safety and consumer protection issues, that this is not something you want to fool around with and leave to someone who's non licensed and not take out proper permits in this area. There's just too much at risk both with your personal safety and the safety of your home. There could be a fire that results from this. So what are we doing to really tackle this i and Daniel, I think you mentioned it earlier too. It's the Kijiji work so we're actually working a lot of people go online to find contractors. We are online and looking at those ads on Kijiji, and we will send notification to advertisers who we think are unlicensed businesses offering these types of services. If we don't get a voluntary response to take down that ad, Kijiji will forcibly remove it so big shout out to Kijiji for working with us and taking those ads down. And and if we still get repeat offenders, you wouldn't believe this people will come back and advertise again. We're prosecuting them. So we now have 20 charges pending before courts. So I would say that number one consumers do not hire unlicensed people. Be careful about who you're hiring online. We're out there we're working on it, but be careful as to see those licenses people who are doing this work illegally. I would say we are working hard to pull your ads off. Do not do this come into the licensed community. If you want to do this work, then get a license and do it properly. or we will also be looking to prosecute. So we this is important. The other thing we noticed with a high level of EV adoption, we undertook an EV charger Blitz. So we noticed that some EV charging systems that you put in your home in order to charge your vehicle were being done by unlicensed individuals and being done without permits. So we had our inspectors go out and inspect and alert both homeowners because sometimes homeowners don't know that was put in improperly and alert us to where we saw, charters being put in without permits are being put in by unlicensed contractors. And as a result, we've noticed this the period that we were looking at it this year, compared to last year, we've had almost a doubling of the amount of notifications that were taken out. So it makes a big difference when people know that we're out there. We're inspecting these things, and we expect them to be done properly and safety. And we also have an anonymous online reporting tool. So I would even say to your listeners, if you think there could be unlicensed activity going on somewhere, please let us know about it. So you can go online, you will, it's anonymous, but we do appreciate details. So we can do the follow up and investigate, you go to esasafe.com. And we found that this has been a very effective tool since we launched it in April 2020. To get reports, and I will tell people that we do follow up on 100% of the leads we get about unlicensed activity.   Dan Seguin  41:47 Okay, we've covered challenges and opportunities. What about the rise of digital communication? Has it changed your organization's ability to communicate safety messaging?   Josie Erzetic  41:59 Yeah, I'd say it, it really, really has. And we've shifted a lot of our educational campaigns on to social media, because as we alluded to earlier, we do find that is where people are looking, for example, to hire contractors, they're looking for ideas, say on renovation, you know, people will follow certain interior designers, they they will follow renovators on things like Instagram, or they'll follow them on Twitter. So we're leveraging platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google, Google, YouTube, all of those, because we find that that's where people are going now. But we also find there are potential dangers lurking there as well. And so we really have to monitor and be on top of those. So I'll give you an example of something that was a tic toc challenge that that we were made aware of in early 2020. And this was a challenge where that was issued over tick tock and it was basically about plugging in a phone charger. And then using either was a penny or a nickel or something to drag across the exposed prongs. And it results in in smoke and sparks and but it can also result in fire. So it this is obviously a really dangerous activity. So we became aware of it on social media. And then we use social as well as traditional media in order to educate, you know, basically parents and kids who were doing this, that this was unsafe, and they shouldn't be doing it. And we that was a very successful campaign. And we had more than 15 million views on that. And so we're very, very grateful. And, and we actually we won some awards for what we were able to do with with social media just in terms of identifying a risk and then educating people that they shouldn't be carrying engaging in this activity. And and I guess I should say to that we're also we're leveraging some new new opportunities, like a podcast like what you guys are doing here, which I applaud you for, by the way, we're trying to do the same thing.   Rebecca Schwartz  44:21 Now Josie, our listeners have made it this far. And now they want to know some ways that they can keep their electrical safety knowledge up to date. How can they do that?   Josie Erzetic  44:30 Yeah. So one way to do it is exactly what the two of you are doing with your podcast. We have our own podcast and it's really focused on electrical safety. So it's called Grounded in Ontario, and you can find it on our website at ESAsafe.com/podcast, but you can also go to typical platforms where you'd find podcasts like Apple podcasts or Spotify and located there. So we have new episodes coming out basically monthly. And we talk about things like what we've talked about here and more. So we've had an episode on pools and hot tubs and safety issues relating to that those EV supply equipment. So electrical vehicle chargers, which we also alluded to here, we also talk about arc fault and ground fault circuit interrupters. And we have a new episode that's just coming out on the underground economy, which we've also talked about. So that's a great place to get information. Also, our website has a lot of information and talks about things like do it yourself, renovations, talks about holiday safety talks about home and work safety. So I would, you know, recommend listeners go there. And I'd also always encourage people that if there are safety concerns, or you want to report activity, please go to our website, or please call us and I can give you the number, it's 1-877-372-7233. So we'd love to hear from people.   Dan Seguin  46:12 Okay, as it relates to your podcast Grounded in Ontario, I'll make sure that we post a link in our show notes, well Josie How about you close us off with some rapid fire questions? Are you ready?   Josie Erzetic  46:26 I'm ready.   Dan Seguin  46:27 Okay. What is your favorite word?   Josie Erzetic  46:30 I have to say I, I you know, obviously top of mind for me. workwise is safety. But just one of my favorite things to think about is also chocolate.   Dan Seguin  46:40 Now, what is one thing you can't live without?   Josie Erzetic  46:45 Chocolate?   Dan Seguin  46:45 What is something that challenges you   Josie Erzetic  46:48 with Rebecca, my love of chocolate? Because then I have to make sure that I you know, keep exercising or something?   Dan Seguin  46:55 If you could have one superpower, what would it be?   Josie Erzetic  47:00 I think the superpower question is always a really is a really great one. And I always I like picking flying for this one. Because then I figure it makes the commuting easier. And it would just be would it be great to just zip to your cottage fast or you know, zip to Europe or something. Especially these times where you know, travel is so difficult.   Dan Seguin  47:22 Josie This is my favorite one here. If you could turn back time and talk to your 18 year old self. What would you tell her?   Josie Erzetic  47:29 Okay, this one, this one I am going to answer very seriously, I would say something that I say to my my kids now who are 19 and 16. And that is believe in yourself. Believe in yourself believe in what you can do. You know, trust, trust yourself. So that that I think is very important for young people to remember.   Dan Seguin  47:53 And lastly, what do you currently find most interesting in this sector?   Josie Erzetic  47:59 Um, so I would say it's it's the pace of change. I just think our sector the energy sector is just fascinating. Right now we've talked about things like electrification of transportation, and the speed of the adoption there. We think of things like energy storage, the growth of renewables, I think of distribute, you know, distributed energy resources. I think it's fascinating. We're all concerned about climate change. So we're thinking about how we can reduce our carbon footprint, what, what role does energy play in that? What What will it look like 2030 4050 years from now where we might have entire communities that are doing things like net metering, we might have, you know, renewable generation, within a smaller community, or just you'll have solar panels on your roof, you'll have an energy storage system in your basement, you'll have an Eevee charging outside. So I think that is fascinating. I think energy is so fundamental to how we live and maybe how we'll deal with fundamental global issues like the climate crisis. And so ESA is part of that. I think it's so exciting, because you need to have all of that working safely. So the role we play is fascinating. So that's what I just find hugely fascinating and challenging about our sector.   Rebecca Schwartz  49:25 Well, Josie, we reached the end of another episode of The think energy podcast. Thanks so much for joining Dan and I today. We hope you had fun.   Josie Erzetic  49:33 I had a great time with you guys. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it.   Rebecca Schwartz  49:38 I sure hope you enjoyed this episode of The ThinkEnergy podcast. If so please head over to our iTunes SUBSCRIBE And leave us a review.   Dan Seguin  49:46 Now For show notes and bonus content visit hydroottawa.com/thinkenergy. Also, be sure to tell your friends and colleagues about us. Thank you for listening

In today's podcast we cover four crucial cyber and technology topics, including:  1. FBI warns of ransomware operator adding DDoS to attacks     2. Toronto Transit Commission victim of ransomware attack  3. Medical services in Canadian province deeply impacted alleged cyberattack  4. Black Shadow hacks Israeli hosting service, leaks personal data on victims  I'd love feedback, feel free to send your comments and feedback to  | cyberandtechwithmike@gmail.com

This episode was absolutely fun to work on, because my guest is Stuart Green, spokesperson for Toronto Transit Commission, the company that runs TTC services. We talk about the past, present and future of transit in Toronto.

An interview with Farida Zaman, author-illustrator of I Want to Be: A Gutsy Girl's ABC, and illustrator of more than a dozen picture books and early readers. Hear about her love of fractured fairy tales, her dedication to creating a signature style, and her own experience of being a gutsy girl when she chose a life in the arts. 20 minutes. All ages. A full interview transcript is available at CabinTales.ca. Show Notes [0:00] Intro [1:10] Interview with Farida Zaman FZ: I illustrate and write now. I used to only illustrate. … my debut author-illustrator project with Second Story Press came out in spring 2020 called I Want to Be: A Gutsy Girl's ABC. CA: … Do you have projects that you're writing and illustrating both right now? FZ: Yes. … I'm illustrating a picture book written by my daughter, Layla Ahmad. …And I'm … finished a manuscript that I'm fleshing into a book dummy. …   [2:10] CA: …Do you work on more than one book at a time? FZ: Very much so. … I also do educational work … schoolbooks and book covers …. I used to do much more editorial and design and advertising…. I'm working on a collection of jigsaw puzzles … I wear a couple of different hats.   [2:50] CA: …. Is there a place where you get your best ideas from? FZ: My best ideas come from what I see around me. I take a lot of notes. …. I like trying out new things. … So my audience will see something different in my work. But I try and keep my look as unique as possible.   [3:40] CA: Are there some favorite projects? FZ: …Years ago I did a … on Moghul emperors, and the author was Rina Singh. [The book is The Foolish Men of Agra.] And it was really really exciting to research the history of these people. I'm drawn to textures, textiles, and cultures…it kind of gave me the opportunity to study and to decorate the book. …   [4:15] CA: Have you ever based a story or illustration on your own childhood? FZ: … Emotions perhaps. The Gutsy Girl came out from a place of shooting for the stars. …That was always my goal growing up. … My parents originally wanted me to study something way more academic. … I wanted to show the family thatyou can make a living doing what you love. …   [5:30] CA: …Have you ever been inspired by another artist's work? FZ: … Jane Ray -- she's a British writer -- she's always inspired me. …She has a great knack of retellings … her work just looks like tapestry to me. …   [6:30] CA: Have you illustrated fairy tales or classic myths or anything like that yourself? FZ: … Jack and the Beanstalk…. It's sort of like a fractured fairy tale…. It can be really exciting that way.   [6:55] CA: Have you ever written or illustrated anything spooky, scary? FZ: I've done things about anxiety…. Like monsters … versus a little girl. … But nothing really kind of out of the box scary….   [7:15] CA: Do you do school visits? FZ: I do. I illustrated up book on yoga…by Kathy Beliveau. … that was a very fun book to work with students … The art component is really fun, drawing your favorite pose.   [8:00] CA: … What would your journal look like? Like, is it messy? Is it organized? FZ: … I'd like to be the person that shows it on Instagram page by page and it looks so delicious and beautiful. Not my sketchbook. … I have a sketchbook for picture book ideas, where I do storyboarding, …stick figures and …notes. I think that's really important. …When you get stuck with the words, it really helps that you can draw because then you see where the gap might be and how melds together ….   [9:30] CA: Do you have any recommendations to young artists or young writers for getting or keeping or organizing ideas? FZ: I think keeping a sketchbook is crucial. … Find inspiration in where you are and, you know, what you like to do also.   [9:50] CA:... Are you a planner? Or do you just see what you're going to come up with? FZ: … I'm not a planner. I do things spontaneously. … And then I start tweaking. … When you plan too much, you can lose certain components of the story. …It's really interesting to look at the older version of a story that may be becoming a book… It's so exciting when you see that happen.   [11:30] CA: Do you have any favorite plot twists… or surprises? FZ: I like a good giggle. … something different, something that changes something old to something new.   [12:15] CA: Do you have any techniques for making an interesting middle? FZ: The pacing of the story is so important. …. Sometimes we tend to come to a climax a little sooner in the book…. It's like a jigsaw puzzle … And sometimes the clicking takes a long longer than you think it might. … It really helps if there's some kind of twist in the middle … It is important to look at the story in different ways….   [13:45] CA: …Do you have a favorite first line…? FZ: I like a direct beginning and something that takes you straight into the story. …introduce your character. … who is it and what does she want? …. I like going straight to the point.   [14:30] CA: Nice. Do you have a favourite … ending? FZ: For picture books, I think circular stories work the best… For a child, it's a nice warm cozy feeling.   [15:05] CA: Do you have a favorite POV to write from? FZ: A child's point of view. I tend to work … in present tense… I find that kids relate to that. It's happening when they're listening to it. …   [15:30] CA: And what scared you as a kid? FZ: The dark. As a kid, I was a very anxious child …. People are more open to talking about it now. … In the past, people like myself growing up, it wasn't easily dealt with….   [16:30] CA: Did you tell stories around the campfire as a kid? FZ: … Later on maybe, as a teenager…. But not as a child. CA: You don't like scary stories. FZ: Not particularly. …. I think monster stories are really cute, but I like friendly characters. I'm not into developing mean personalities. CA: Do you have a favorite sweet monster or funny monster? FZ: I love Cookie Monster. I love Grover. Sesame Street. I like that kind of monster. … Maurice Sendak's monsters. The classic. CA: Yes, he said he based those on his relatives who ruined every Sunday dinner. FZ: I can relate to that.   [17:30] CA: Do you collect anything? FZ: I love collecting things. I collect bowls. … I collect toys. … that are little retro. … I love collecting children's picture books. … CA:I think it's a shame that so many people never touch a picture book once their kid's over 5. …   [18:10] CA: What would you say is the hardest thing about illustrating or writing a good book? FZ: I think word count can be quite challenging. …How do you make that work within 500 words or, tops, 700 words? How do you make it really interesting and stylized and rich, visually?   [18:45] CA: … What do you do to prepare to make a setting? … FZ: … I'll go online and look at furniture and … what she should wear, her neighborhood….. I think layouts are really important. … And the perspective …. To create drama, I think it's really important. And creating a sense of contrast. Big and small. I think you can do that in your illustrations and you can do it in your words as well.   [20:05] CA: Do you have any favorite fictional characters? FZ: … The Big Red Lollipop. … by Rukhsana Khan. It's illustrated by Sophie Blackall. It's a lovely book. Personality really shines through. …. The eyes just tell you a story…   [20:50] CA: Do you have any exercises you would recommend for developing the character? FZ: I think it's important to know what your style is… have a sketchbook filled with sketches of realistic, and then pare it down to something more simple. … it's good to have different styles, but there should be a limit to it. Otherwise people will never know you. …   [22:00] CA: That's great. … Thanks so much. …   [22:15] Farida Zaman introduces herself FZ: Hi. I'm Farida Zaman. I'm an author and an illustrator. I illustrate picture books. And I'm writing picture books as well now. I've been doing this for the past three decades now, and I just love what I do. In my early years, I used to do a lot of editorial work as well, and I used to print and design. In between writing and illustrating, I also run workshops and art classes, too, for mainly adults.   [23:00] Find out more about Farida Zaman You can hear more creative writing advice from Farida Zaman on Cabin Tales Special Episode X: “Picture a Story.” You can find out more about Farida Zaman and her books from her website at FaridaZaman.com.   [23:45] Thanks and coming up on the podcast I'll be back next week with leftovers from my interview with Kate Inglis, author for all ages. Thanks for listening. Credits Music on the podcast is from “Stories of the Old Mansion” by Akashic Records, provided by Jamendo (Standard license for online use). Host: Catherine Austen writes books for children, short stories for adults, and reports for corporate clients. Visit her at www.catherineausten.com. Guest Author: Farida Zaman is a Toronto-based illustrator, author, and educator known for her upbeat, sophisticated, and whimsical style. She has worked with clients including the Latin Grammy Awards, The New York Times, UNICEF, London Underground, Toronto Transit Commission and many more. Farida has illustrated more than a dozen picture books. Her first authored and illustrated picture book – I Want to Be: A Gutsy Girl's ABC – was published in 2020. She is currently an instructor at Toronto's Avenue Road Art School, where she runs art workshops and illustration classes for adults and children. Find her online at www.FaridaZaman.com, on Twitter @fzamanart, and on Instagram @fzamanart.  

Before the pandemic, the Toronto Transit Commission was actively looking for ways to grow its ridership. Now, after taking a hit in numbers during the pandemic, it's important to think about ways to recover, as we slowly vaccinate the city. TTC Commissioner and Councillor Shelley Carroll speaks about a study she proposed to look at changing rider concerns, as well as the impact of ride-hailing services like Uber. University of Toronto Professor Akawsi Owusu-Bempah talks about a study he co-authored, commissioned by the TTC, which shows Black and Indigenous people are disproportionately represented in interactions with fare enforcement and special constables, and what the service needs to do about it. And, in celebration of Spacing's latest Public Health Issue, we talk to senior editor John Lorinc about his story "Valuable Crap," all about using sewage to detect community COVID-19 outbreaks.

COVID-19 provokes all sorts of questions. Can I see my grandchildren after the first dose? How does the first vaccine shot affect risk of severe COVID? When will vaccinations push down ICU admissions? Every week Medcan’s Medical Advisory Services team of expert physicians get together to discuss trending topics. They develop advice to share with their corporate clients, which include some of the world’s biggest brands. The docs are witty, and the meetings entertaining, but more to the point they feature up-to-the-minute guidance of the sort that we’re all craving. So we recorded one of their sessions and cut it into an episode.   Featured in this episode is Medcan chief medical officer Dr. Peter Nord, clinical director of travel medicine Dr. Aisha Khatib, senior medical consultant Dr. Matthew Burnstein, associate medical director Dr. Jason Abrams and Dr. Alain Sotto, who, in addition to his role at Medcan, is also the occupational medical consultant for the Toronto Transit Commission. To enlist the services of Medcan’s Medical Advisory Services, email corporatesales@medcan.com. INSIGHTS It’s not yet known how likely a partly or even fully vaccinated person is to transmit the coronavirus, says Dr. Aisha Khatib. “So we really still need to maintain those public health measures to help decrease the risk of entering into a bigger fourth or even fifth wave down the road. Plus, Dr. Nord says, no vaccine is 100% effective. “We're assuming that there is a reduced transmission with vaccination, but we don't know that for sure.” In other words, some risk will remain that even the fully vaccinated can transmit the virus. (5:00) The variants of concern continue to live up to their name. According to Dr. Alain Sotto, case fatality rates have tripled among 20-29 year olds for those in Brazil infected by the P.1 variant, from 0.04% to 0.13%. Dr. Nord points out that an outbreak of P.1 is ongoing in British Columbia and that, while the vaccine does appear to be protective against current variants, some risk does exist for future variants to require additional vaccination measures. (7:25) Speaking about VIPIT, or the Vaccine-Induced Prothrombotic Immune Thrombocytopenia associated with the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, Dr. Jason Abrams puts the relative dangers in perspective. Risk of blood clots is higher for those taking the oral contraceptive pill, or those who smoke, compared to the blood clot risk from the AstraZeneca vaccine, Dr. Abrams says. “Frankly a lot of people are not getting the AstraZeneca vaccine—they are waiting,” agrees Dr. Nord. “And what people have to understand is that there’s risk associated with that as well.” (9:30) Rapid antigen tests like the Abbott Panbio, which provide results in about 15 minutes based on a nasal swab, should be one of the mainstays of preventing outbreaks at workplaces, says Dr. Alain Sotto. The test protocol also provokes questions from the curious. People are wondering: Will those who have been vaccinated produce a positive result on a rapid antigen tests? The answer, Dr. Sotto says, is no. Later, Dr. Khatib says that rapid antigen tests will detect cases that are too early in their infection cycle to be symptomatic. In fact, she argues that screening with the tests may have prevented the Amazon warehouse outbreak. (13:15, 16:50) More clarification about what you can change after you get your first dose: According to Dr. Sotto, the first dose provides about 80% efficacy in the real world. Dr. Nord clarifies: About 80% of the people given their first doses did not receive any symptoms of COVID-19 infection. But unfortunately, Dr. Burnstein says, the first shot does not change your behaviour. Internally, the first dose makes people feel less anxious about getting infected, because they are more protected than they were before. But externally they shouldn’t change their behaviour at all. (23:00) Dr. Khatib serves in a COVID-19 testing centre and has personally encountered people who have tested positive for the virus after they received both the first and second doses of the vaccine. They’ve tended to have no symptoms, or very mild symptoms. “But the question is, are they going to be at risk to pass that on to the next person?” Dr. Khatib asks, with the implication that transmission after vaccination is possible. (28:25)    How long are we protected against COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated? Dr. Abrams says that researchers don’t actually know how long the immunity lasts yet. “The results so far based on studies are encouraging,” says Dr. Abrams, “that there is protection of at least several months.” Which raises the question: Are we going to need booster shots to maintain immunity against COVID-19 at some point in the months or years after we’ve been fully vaccinated? Dr. Khatib believes the likelihood is high. The COVID booster could even be an annual thing, like the flu shot. (29:20) LINKS Referenced in this episode is this CMAJ article about rapid antigen testing by Dr. Isaac Bogoch and others, which argues for the mass deployment of the point-of-care tests as a public health strategy to minimize COVID outbreak risk. Here’s information about Medcan’s rapid antigen testing service.  A news report about the outbreak in the Amazon warehouse mentioned in the episode. Additive to the rapid antigen testing content in this episode is Joshua Gans’ essay, “What does vaccination mean for rapid screening?” The Takeaway is the YouTube video series that features Medcan docs providing guidance on trending medical topics. This one provides Dr. Nord’s advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine, and whether to get it. Link.

I discuss the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and it's benefits for the blind and disabled, and speak about the paratransit system offered by the TTC, called Wheel-Trans.

The Empire Club of Canada Presents: Rick Leary – Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission with One Year Later: Making the TTC a Diverse and Inclusive Organization In 2020, the TTC took a hard look at many of its anti-racism practices that were in place then – both in how it dealt with its customers as well as the treatment of their own employees from underrepresented groups. Diversity and inclusion had become top priorities for the CEO and the TTC moved to become a leader in the industry on confronting existing issues and making meaningful changes to address them. In December of 2020, the TTC launched a 10 Point Action Plan to attract a more diverse workforce – started with women and then moved to attract others from underrepresented groups. As the TTC created a more diverse and inclusive workforce, the 10 Point Action Plan also served to benefit the TTC's diverse customer base. Moderator: Leslie Woo, Chief Executive Officer, CivicAction Speaker: Rick Leary, Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission *The content presented is free of charge but please note that the Empire Club of Canada retains copyright. Neither the speeches themselves nor any part of their content may be used for any purpose other than personal interest or research without the explicit permission of the Empire Club of Canada.* *Views and Opinions Expressed Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the speakers or panelists are those of the speakers or panelists and do not necessarily reflect or represent the official views and opinions, policy or position held by The Empire Club of Canada.*

This week I spoke with Doug and Mindy Ashwood who are originally from Ontario but now live on Prince Edward Island. Doug and Mindy worked for years driving buses in Ontario and are now retired from the Toronto Transit Commission. Doug and Mindy are great storytellers who will keep you hooked throughout the podcast. From getting stuck in sand for days in Mexico to how to keep the mosquitoes out of your bus at night. Facebook

Interviews with five Canadian illustrators about creating narratives in words and pictures. Featuring guest author-illustrators Peggy Collins, Katherine Battersby, Farida Zaman, Christine Tripp, and Chris Jones. All ages. A full transcript of this episode is available at CabinTales.ca.   Show Notes: [0:00] Intro [2:15] Commentary on how picture books are made   Interviews about creating alone vs with another writer [5:15] Chris Jones on rewarding collaborations [7:40] Peggy Collins on responsibility [9:20] Katherine Battersby on unexpected freedom [11:45] Christine Tripp on having fun [13:10] Farida Zaman on having control   [15:00] Developing characters in images [16:10] Peggy Collins loves designing characters [17:45] Chris Jones develops his characters in action [19:45] Christine Tripp has her characters in her head [21:20] Farida Zaman steps inside her characters [22:30] Katherine Battersby traps characters on paper   [24:10] Commentary on the Fear of Drawing     [27:40] Interviews about traditional and digital art. [28:20] Christine Tripp likes the safety of digital art [29:20] Farida Zaman misses her pencils [30:40] Katherine Battersby finds freedom in digital imagery [32:25] Peggy Collins is happier with her tech [34:15] Chris Jones refines his sketches digitally   [36:20] Illustrators' advice to young writers and artists [36:30] Katherine Battersby: Read, play, be yourself [37:50] Peggy Collins: Your stories matter [38:50] Farida Zaman: Everyone has a story [40:10] Christine Tripp: Don't be in a rush [41:20] Chris Jones: Don't get discouraged   [42:25] Story prompt: Picture a Halloween tale   [43:40] Thanks and coming up on the podcast Next week it's Episode XX: “The Halloween Special,” featuring spooky stories and weird tales from student writers, with no interviews at all. Thanks for listening.   Music on the podcast is from “Stories of the Old Mansion” by Akashic Records, provided by Jamendo (Standard license for online use).  Host: Catherine Austen writes books for children, short stories for adults, and reports for corporate clients. Visit her at www.catherineausten.com. Art: The B&W image for this episode is from a wood engraving by Émile Bayard from Le général Dourakine, written by Sophie comtesse de Ségur, 1882. Guest Authors:       Katherine Battersby is the critically acclaimed author and illustrator of ten picture books, including Perfect Pigeons and the popular Squish Rabbit series. Her books have received glowing reviews in The New York Times, starred Kirkus reviews, and have been named CBC Children's Choice books. Her debut graphic novel series, Cranky Chicken, will be published in 2021. She is regularly booked to speak in schools, libraries and at festivals and she is a passionate advocate for literacy and the arts. Katherine currently divides her time between Brisbane, Australia, and Ottawa, Canada, with her husband, daughter, and their mischievous puppy. Find her online at www.KatherineBattersby.com, on Twitter @KathBatt, on Facebook at @KatherineBattersbyAuthor, on Instagram  @katherinebattersby/.       Peggy Collins is a mother, a storyteller, an artist, a teacher, and a lover of books, technology, and learning. She lives in Ontario, where she teaches concept art and character design development. She is the illustrator and author-illustrator of more than a dozen picture books. Find her online at www.PeggysIllustration.com, on Twitter @peggysbooks, on Facebook @ thelittlesproject, on Instagram @peggysillustration.         Chris Jones is an illustrator with a passion for visual storytelling. He illustrates for picture books, graphic novels, magazines and educational materials. Chris has illustrated over 20 books for young readers, including Scholastic's Take Me Out to The Ice Rink, and This is The Rink Where Jack Plays. When not illustrating for clients, Chris spends his time writing and illustrating his own comic and picture book projects. Find Chris online at: www.mrjonesey.com; Instagram @mrjonesey; Twitter @mrJonesey         Christine Tripp has worked in animation, magazine and newspaper Illustration, gag cartooning, and comic strips, but eventually she found her real passion… illustrating children's books. Over the past 20 years, she has illustrated over 50 books for publishers such as Scholastic USA, Scholastic Canada, and Pearson Canada. Chris considers herself fortunate to have a career that allows her to do exactly what she has loved to do since she was a child: draw! She lives in Stittsville, Ontario, with her husband and their dogs, Kevin and Bob. Their 4 children and 9 grandchildren are her greatest source of pride and joy.         Farida Zaman is a Toronto-based illustrator, author, and educator known for her upbeat, sophisticated, and whimsical style. She has worked with clients including the Latin Grammy Awards, The New York Times, UNICEF, London Underground, Toronto Transit Commission and many more. Farida has illustrated more than a dozen picture books. Her first authored and illustrated picture book – I Want to Be: A Gutsy Girl's ABC – was published in 2020. She is currently an instructor at Toronto's Avenue Road Art School, where she runs art workshops and illustration classes for adults and children. Find her online at www.FaridaZaman.com, on Twitter @fzamanart, and on Instagram @fzamanart.

“I had huge empathy for front line employees. I always have. But it also really influenced my management philosophy because very occasionally when the top brass visited Regents Park and…or on occasion they’d stop and say hello to you. And then you’d feel 10 foot tall. That always resonated with me. It’s seared into my psyche. So now if you ever follow me around in transport on any of the jobs I’ve done or watch me walk through a subway station or out on the streets I will not walk past one of my colleagues without stopping to acknowledge them. “ Andy Byford, Commissioner of Transport for London, joins Transit Unplugged from his home base in London, where he originally began his transit career as a graduate trainee. A lot has happened since then. Andy has worked around the world and dedicated his professional life to being a public servant improving the lives of transit riders and employees. Returning home thirty-one years after he embarked on his transit industry journey, Andy Byford is the Head of Transport for London, taking on perhaps his biggest role to date. After recent tenures in New York and Toronto, where he accomplished a number of things he speaks of with pride, like the Toronto Transit Commission being named APTA’s Transit System of the Year in 2017 and progressing Fast Forward: The Plan to Modernize New York City Transit which captured the imagination of New Yorkers. He joins Transit Unplugged to talk about the highlights, his management philosophies, and his outlook on Covid-19 and the recovery process. Remember to check out transitunplugged.com to learn from top transit professionals and stay updated on all the latest industry trends.

This week, Proxy takes the College on a field trip through the development of the Toronto Transit Commission! Show Notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12dHJSqrl6I6B7kUzKqlW9e8TPhIa5ngYujKkmCeqzEo/edit?usp=sharing

Regi was with the Indian Railways for almost 26 years. He started of as a fireman on steam locos and is now a Transit Operator with the Toronto Transit Commission.This podcast is purely driven by my interest in trains and when I asked Regi to be my guest on WIT CAST, he readily agreed. With almost 33 years of experience as an engineer, he piloted steam engines, electric locos, and diesel locos! When most of us play around with toy trains, he actually piloted them from the driver's seat. Now, how awesome is that! Regi recalled how it was to pilot the trains at night, and his encounters with train robbers! Scary stuff. He had also some quaint incidents how village folk with assemble at small stations enroute for hot water from the engine!If you thought steam engines and diesel locos were fascinating for kids, think again. He recalled a story of how a business man would wait at the station during peak hour, just to watch trains whizz past. This is something I would do to and I accept any ridicule that may come my way!Trains are part of our culture. If I was asked do you want a ride on the space shuttle or in the cabin of a loco, the answer would be......no prizes for guessing that one. Support this podcastSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/witcast?fan_landing=true)

Thanks to Ajeev Bhatia, Manager of Policy / Community Connections at Centre for Connected Communities and Gillian Mason, a consultant and urban planner working with Connected Communities,  for talking to us about the amazing work underway at East Scarborough Works.    In this conversation, Ajeev and Gillian describe the unique opportunity we have now to build on what we know from poverty reduction and community development to strengthen neighbourhoods and draw on the assets of our communities in the recovery.   In the East Scarborough Works project large institutions like the University of Toronto and the Toronto Transit Commission, trade unions like LIUNA, employment services, skills development programs are all connected with a clear line of sight to connect job seekers with job needs and support new workers with wayfinding and drawing on neighbourhood assets.   Ajeev and Gillian explain the community development approach the project has taken and the critical role of an intermediary in a community ecosystem.  Connected Communities calls this the community backbone organization, which understands all of the different groups in a community from grassroots organizations to large institutions and their motivations and challenges, and works to develop a system level pathway.    An intermediary like East Scarborough Works operates at both an individual and macro level to connect and support all of the players in a community ecosystem. This work has also helped grow empathy among the players in the system.  ‘Weavers’ such as the people at East Scarborough works who are nurturing relationships and understanding will be important in the new economy.    We hope this critical connective tissue in communities can attract investment and support from government and philanthropy in the new recovery.     Resources:  Ajeev Bhatia:   LinkedIn  Twitter    Gillian Mason:  LinkedIn  Twitter  Web    Learn more about the  East Scarborough Works project here  Learn about the  Connected Community Approach  Access  resources and tools about the Connected Community Approach   Centre for Connected Communities   . Find out more about our work at Social Impact Advisors: https://socialimpactadvisors.ca .  

In this session of the TechConnex CIO Peer Group, we will be speaking with Anthony Iannucci, CIO for the City of Richmond Hill. Anthony will be discussing his career and journey with the TTC and his current position as CIO for the City of Richmond Hill. We will also discuss the action items Anthony and his team have faced during the Covid-19 crisis. Anthony Iannucci has spent over 30 years creating success for organizations in transformation and continuous improvement through the development of business strategy and alignment with information technology solutions. After a long career with North America's third largest transit organization the Toronto Transit Commission aligning business and technology for success Anthony is currently leveraging his passion for developing and mentoring teams in leading the City of Richmond Hill through the delivery of a strategic transformation in Information Technology. Facilitated by: Ray Gilbert & Jamal Shah of Causal Effects

A TTC insider talks about the fuckery going on in the City.

Episode 360 of Mic’d Up Toronto. Topics include: -Pipeline protest: The anti-pipeline protests taking place throughout Canada are causing a ton of commotion. We discuss the impact of these protests and whether or not something needs to be done. Should the government intervene and if so, what should they do? -Undercover: Fare evasion continues to be a massive issue for the Toronto Transit Commission and they are losing a significant amount of money as a result. In order to combat this issue, the TTC will be using more undercover fare inspectors to try and catch people in the act. Will this prove to be an effective measure or will it be exploited? -#Reclinegate: We settle the much heated debate once and for all. Should you be able to recline your seat on an airplane? -All this plus so much more! Credit for intro music: Fireworks by Jahzzar From the free music archive CC - BY – SA

Listen to our guest, Karen, talk about her journey as an elected official dealing with a contentious issue concerning the future vision for the city. Despite the battles, her hope and positivity that governments can change is inspiring. She suggests that if politicians take the bold steps needed to build a better future, they will translate that hope into opportunity no matter what political path is taken.

Brad Ross is the Chief Communications Officer for the City of Toronto. But many in the GTA will know him as the face of the Toronto Transit Commission for most of the past decade. Our conversation hit on a lot of different topics, including journalism, crisis management, communications best practices, the Toronto Maple Leafs, his new classic car purchase and much more.

Many believe that public relations and marketing can be two different but complementary practices, but merging the two together builds a better brand. Communicators must use their power of story and persuasion across all channels to see brand reputation management as a brand building thruster. On the other hand, marketers must put a greater emphasis and sensibility into risk managing their campaigns and decisions. During his time at the Toronto Transit Commission, Brad Ross not only managed the organization's reputation, but played an integral role in growing the brand and earning the trust of its customers. Tune in to hear Brad's insights into reputation management during his days at the TTC and how transparency remains a key element in communications.

Solicited by a cycle bandit in a bawdy back alley, I brood over the realities of the urban bike ride. I talk about racial bias in the Toronto Transit Commission, getting stuck as an actor in a lousy play and the beautiful sound of the wind through the trees. JR* the Podcast RSS

Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. This week’s news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com ELEVATOR PROJECT DELAYS AT TTC STATION SPARK FRUSTRATION Completion of a three-story disabled-access elevator at the Toronto Transit Commission’s (TTC) Dupont Station has missed three target dates — the first in late 2017 — leaving disabled-rights activists frustrated and disappointed, the CBC reports. Work is 54% complete on the Dupont Station Easier Access Project, launched in 2014. Located at a busy intersection in The Annex neighborhood, the job involves challenges such as fitting new elevators into an older structure, preserving the subway station’s trademark murals and minimizing impact on utilities. TTC says the financially troubled elevator installer is to blame for the delays and has barred it from bidding on future projects. The commission is working with the company’s insurer to determine a new completion date, which will be “sometime in 2020 at the earliest.” Image credit: T. Hutama for wikipedia To read the full transcript of today's podcast, visit: elevatorworld.com/news Subscribe to the Podcast: iTune s│Google Play|SoundCloud│Stitcher│TuneIn

On this week's episode the guys rag on Ravi about his fashion selection this week (00:53). The gang also discuss the news that Seth Rogan will not only be the new voice of Translink but also the voice of the Toronto Transit Commission (02:18). Ravi weighs in on who he thinks should be doing the Transit announcements (04:00). Ryan Reynolds and his new stoner remake of Home Alone (05:15) Home Alone 1 vs. Home Alone 2? (05:40). The guys also discuss people who look like Guess Who? characters (06:50). Has Your Webcam been recording you jacking off? The guys discuss the latest online scam that's been sweeping the city (09:35). RCMP drug sniffing dogs are being let go due to the legalization of marijuana (11:40). "Statistically speaking" (13:33). Beta 5 now serves ice cream for dogs! (18:06). Vancouver has broken another record! (19:22). Finally the guys discuss their favorite summer activities (22:22).

The phone rings. On the other end, an investigative reporter. What do you do? Well, turns out that decision might just be one of the most important you make. Brad Ross, Executive Director of Corporate and Customer Communications for the Toronto Transit Commission and Kevin Donovan, Chief Investigative Reporter at the Toronto Star, join host Sophie Nadeau, Edelman Canada's National Media Lead, to talk through just how to approach talking to journalists.If you'd like to continue the conversation, find us on Twitter. Brad Ross is at @bradTTC, Kevin Donovan is at @_kevindonovan and Sophie Nadeau is @sophienadeau. Thanks for listening.

The Empire Club of Canada Presents: Andy Byford, Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Transit Commission On Reflections: The Ten Big Calls of My TTC Career Andy Byford was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Transit Commission in March, 2012. As such, he leads the largest transit agency in Canada, and the third largest in North America, carrying over 540 million riders on an annual basis. Mr. Byford initially joined the TTC as Chief Operating Officer in November, 2011 and was responsible for the delivery of safe, punctual, reliable bus, streetcar, SRT, subway and Wheel-Trans services. From 2009 to 2011, as Chief Operating Officer of Rail Corporation, Sydney, Australia, Mr. Byford delivered service to a million customers a day on Australia's largest transit network. From 2003 to 2009, he held the positions of Operations Director and Operations and Safety Director with Southern Railway and South Eastern Trains Limited, UK. During his tenure with London Underground from 1989 to 2003, he held a variety of managerial positions including Group Station Manager, Kings Cross and General Manager – Customer Service for three of the busiest subway lines. Mr. Byford is a graduate of the University of Leicester from which he was awarded a B.A. joint honours degree in French and German. He also holds a Diploma in Transport from the University of London. Mr. Byford is from Plymouth in the United Kingdom. A member of the Institute of Railway Operators, he is married and lives in Toronto. Speaker: Andy Byford, Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Transit Commission *The content presented is free of charge but please note that the Empire Club of Canada retains copyright. Neither the speeches themselves nor any part of their content may be used for any purpose other than personal interest or research without the explicit permission of the Empire Club of Canada.* *Views and Opinions Expressed Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the speakers or panelists are those of the speakers or panelists and do not necessarily reflect or represent the official views and opinions, policy or position held by The Empire Club of Canada.*

The Toronto Transit Commission was named the Outstanding Public Transportation System for 2017 by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). We at Crew Roundtable are beside ourselves in disbelief, just like the loyal listener that suggested this topic. Join us as we dive into the seedy underbelly of the ttc, identify the body that gave out this “award”, and have a rocking good time back from summer break.All this and more in another fantastic episode of “Crew Roundtable”!Subscribers get the latest and greatest episodes automatically! Subscribe on iTunes,Google Play, and wherever fine podcasts are distributed. We are also available on YouTube for listening at your desktop and working around pesky office firewalls.Please SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE using the links below:Subscribe in ItunesLike our page on FacebookFollow on TwitterWe love doing the show for you, we hope you love listening, and we appreciate you sharing with your friends - THANKS!Tweet #AskTheCrew

“We’re dealing with a triple whammy…aging infrastructure, ever greater customer numbers on a finite budget.” Andy Byford, CEO of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), has had quite the transit journey – having held transit jobs in London, Sydney, and now Toronto. In this episode, he discusses the different governance style of the TTC and how a top-to-bottom modernization and a five-year plan led to TTC winning APTA’s Transit System of the Year award.  If you want to know more about TTC you can check out their website www.ttc.ca. Remember to check out transitunplugged.com/ to learn from top transit professionals and stay up to date to catch all the latest episodes.

Today kicked off the 10th year of the Toronto Transit Commission's "Stuff The Bus" campaign! It's always great to have our friends at the TTC be a part of Derringer in the Morning! The guys also talk about the propsed toll for using the DVP and Gardiner here in Toronto. We heard of the sad passing of Florence Henderson, who was Carol Brady of The Brady Bunch. You've got the Grey Cup to look forward to this weekend and hopefully you'll get some time to do some Black Friday shopping! Definitely Derringer for Friday, Nov. 25th, 2016. For more Derringer click here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Howard Scott Cole received a notice from the Toronto Transit Commission, informing him that his home (and others in his area) may be expropriated to make way for the Scarborough Subway extension. Cole believes that the TTC wants to take his property so that they can sell it to developers and profit from it.

The Empire Club of Canada Presents: Andy Byford, CEO, Toronto Transit Commission With Hitting the Finish Line – The Last 600 Days of Our 5 Year Plan to Modernize the TTC ‎ Andy Byford was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Transit Commission in March, 2012. As such, he leads the largest transit agency in Canada, and the third largest in North America, carrying over 540 million riders on an annual basis. Mr. Byford initially joined the TTC as Chief Operating Officer in November, 2011 and was responsible for the delivery of safe, punctual, reliable bus, streetcar, SRT, subway and Wheel Trans services. From 2009 to 2011, as Chief Operating Officer of Rail Corporation, Sydney, Australia, Mr. Byford delivered service to a million customers a day on Australia's largest transit network. From 2003 to 2009, he held the positions of Operations Director and Operations and Safety Director with Southern Railway and South Eastern Trains Limited, UK. During his tenure with London Underground from 1989 to 2003, he held a variety of managerial positions including Group Station Manager, Kings Cross and General Manager - Customer Service for three of the busiest subway lines. Mr. Byford is a graduate of the University of Leicester from which he was awarded a B.A. joint honours degree in French and German. He also holds a Diploma in Transport from the University of London. Mr. Byford is from Plymouth in the United Kingdom. A member of the Institute of Railway Operators, he is married and lives in Toronto. Speaker: Andy Byford, CEO, Toronto Transit Commission *The content presented is free of charge but please note that the Empire Club of Canada retains copyright. Neither the speeches themselves nor any part of their content may be used for any purpose other than personal interest or research without the explicit permission of the Empire Club of Canada.* *Views and Opinions Expressed Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the speakers or panelists are those of the speakers or panelists and do not necessarily reflect or represent the official views and opinions, policy or position held by The Empire Club of Canada.*

The Empire Club of Canada Presents: Andy Byford, Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission on Next Steps: TTC's 5 Year Plan Andy Byford was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Transit Commission in March, 2012. He is responsible for the day to day operations of the largest transit agency in Canada, and the third largest in North America, carrying over 500 million riders on an annual basis. Andy joined the TTC as Chief Operating Officer in November, 2011 and was responsible for the delivery of safe, punctual, reliable bus, streetcar, subway and Wheel Trans services. From 2009 to 2011, as Chief Operating Officer of Rail Corporation, Sydney, Australia, Mr. Byford was responsible for delivery of service to a million customers a day on Australia's largest transit network. From 2003 to 2009, Mr. Byford held the positions of Operations Director and Operations and Safety Director with Southern Railway and South Eastern Transit Limited, UK During his tenure with London Underground from 1989 to 2003, he held a variety of managerial positions including Station Manager, Kings Cross and General Manager Customer Service for three of the busiest subway lines. Mr. Byford graduated from the University of London with a Diploma and Certificate in Transport. He holds a B.A. degree in French and German from the University of Leicester. Mr. Byford is a member of the University Club of Toronto, the Institute of Railway Operators and the Institute of Transport and Logistics. He is married and lives in Toronto. Speaker: Andy Byford, Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Transit Commission *The content presented is free of charge but please note that the Empire Club of Canada retains copyright. Neither the speeches themselves nor any part of their content may be used for any purpose other than personal interest or research without the explicit permission of the Empire Club of Canada.* *Views and Opinions Expressed Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the speakers or panelists are those of the speakers or panelists and do not necessarily reflect or represent the official views and opinions, policy or position held by The Empire Club of Canada.*

PISODE #08 - THE TTC: While yours truly often refers to himself as “Toronto Gabe” in the realm of this podcast, his co-host Ottawa Gabe carries residence elsewhere, obviously. This has not always been the case however, in that he used to live a fifteen minute drive from where this very show is recorded. Inspired by the latter Gabe’s recent visit back home, us Gabes take our turns griping about the whipping horse that is the Toronto Transit Commission.

  Podcast: 58 Minutes; MP3 Format; Free Download   In this podcast Richard Roocroft interviews Mr. Brad Ross, Director of Communications, for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) about what happened in Toronto during the electrical blackout of 2003; the dangers of coming in contact with the 3rd rail; how movies are filmed in a section of the subway that few people know about; the new street-cars that are coming next year, the LRT (Light Rail Transit) system and many other interesting topics. Mr. Ross says that the TTC is the third largest transit system in the world next to New York City and Mexico, carrying over a million and a half people each day.   Although delays are infrequent, when they do happen, the TTC has the ability to send messages to passenger's smart phones, outlining the problem, and what remedial action can be taken.   With interest in hybrid and electrical cars, the TTC has operated street-cars and electrically operated buses for decades. The power of a street-car is enough to beat almost any car. If you were standing inside a street-car while the operator decided to accelerate quickly, you would do well to hang on to the bar. These machines are very powerful and you might find yourself on the floor.   Mr. Ross says that the new hybrid buses did not work out as well as expected. This is understandable when you consider that buses are constantly accelerating and decelerating. Hybrid cars do very well if given a chance to drive at normal highway speeds. This gives the batteries a chance to charge. The new hybrid buses will have a different type of battery which is more suitable to the task. The TTC will emphasize clean diesel in the years to come.   Toronto is no different than most other cities as far as the general public is concerned. People have a love/hate relationship with their transit systems. The future for any large city is public transportation.   Richard Roocroft November 2010. The website is: http://www.rustymicrophone.com