

On The Ledge
Story Studio Network, Dave Trafford and iContact Productions
The Ledge, n: slang for the legislature. Mostly used by members of the legislative press gallery. On the Ledge posts weekly when the Ontario Legislature is sitting. But there have been times when we've had to "recall" the Ledge for an emergency session to address pressing matters of Ontario politics when Queen's Park isn't sitting!Our OTL team includes former Ontario Premier, Kathleen Wynne, former Progressive Conservative Leader, (and Wynne's erstwhile parliamentary sparring partner), Tim Hudak, Queen's Park broadcast commentator Keith Leslie, John Wright, our veteran pollster and co-founding host, and Dave Trafford, Chief Executive Producer at Story Studio Network.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 10, 2023 • 38min
Will the Ontario Liberals re-invent the One-Member-One-Vote leadership election?
The OTL gang is assembled! Keith Leslie at CHCH-TV, John Wright SVP Maru Public Opinion, and SSN Chief Executive Producer Dave Trafford are around the table. Sabrina Nanji, Publisher and Editor of the Queen’s Park Observer, has taken the day off from the podcast.In this episode:A post mortem on the Ontario Liberal Party's Annual General Meeting.We re-litigate the benefits of a Wieghted One Member One Vote process to choose the next party leader.The Financial Accountability Officer says the Ford government is underfunding healthcare by more than $46 billion over two years.Meantime, a private company is setting up surgical shop in ORs at The Ottawa Hospital.AND, Premier Ford's former Chief of Staff is promoting formber Toronto police chief Mark Saunders as a candidate to succeed John Tory as mayor of Toronto.

Mar 3, 2023 • 38min
Can Bonnie Crombie save the Ontario Liberal Party?
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie's potential leadership in the Ontario Liberal Party is discussed. One-member-one-vote vs. delegated convention, upcoming AGM details, and Premier's inaction on municipal election rules are debated. John Wright even jokes about running for Mayor of Toronto.

Feb 24, 2023 • 37min
Are the Ontario Liberals circling the wagons or circling the bowl?
The OTL gang is assembled! Keith Leslie at CHCH-TV, John Wright SVP Maru Public Opinion, Sabrina Nanji, Publisher and Editor of the Queen’s Park Observer and SSN Chief Executive Producer Dave Trafford are around the table.The New Democrats seem to think they'll get a different answer from the Integrity Commissioner to the same complaint about the Ford family "stag and doe".Meanwhile, the Minister of Health has NO answers, NO guarantees that privately operated surgery clinics will poach medical staff from hospitals.The Liberals would like you to think they're circling the wagons in anticipation of the as-yet-unannounced leaderhip race. But the party's circling the bowl.

Feb 17, 2023 • 31min
How much does the John Tory Bombshell at the Clamshell upset the Ford agenda at Queen's Park?
We're BACK!The OTL gang is assembled! Keith Leslie at CHCH-TV, John Wright SVP Maru Public Opinion, Sabrina Nanji, Publisher and Editor of the Queen’s Park Observer and SSN Chief Executive Producer Dave Trafford are around the table.In this episode:John Tory steps away from the Mayor's Office in Toronto. What does that political hand grenade do to the Ford agenda at Queen's Park as the Ontario Legislature gets back to business next week?

Dec 9, 2022 • 35min
Does Doug Ford really want to pick a fight with Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie?
The OTL gang is assembled! Keith Leslie at CHCH-TV, John Wright SVP Maru Public Opinion, Sabrina Nanji, Publisher and Editor of the Queen’s Park Observer and SSN Chief Executive Producer Dave Trafford are around the table.In this episode:Premier Doug Ford tells Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie to stop whining and be a good partner! (At least he didn’t tell her to stick to her knitting).Ford goes off on a rant over Crombie’s opposition to Queen’s Park’s plan to eliminate Developer Charges as a means of incentivizing developers to build more housing.Crombie wants to know how municipalities are going to cover the added costs of new infrastructure if the DCs disappear.Ford doesn’t have an answer.John Wright says the Ford government has taken a turn towards autocracy and that’s good news for the Liberals.OTL will be taking a break over the Christmas recess. We’ll be back around the table in the New Year!BTW, if you enjoy On the Ledge, you’ll probably enjoy our daily SSN podcast - NOW and NEXT with Dave Trafford and Erin Trafford.Support Now and Next! For $10 a month, you can subscribe to our Exclusive Supercast feed for access to Now and Next EXTRA with Dave Trafford on Saturdays and Sundays - including the full length interviews featured on The Daily Brief, early access to Now & Next episodes, AMAs and our message board.You’re just a few clicks away. Start here: nowandnext.supercast.com

Dec 2, 2022 • 39min
Ontario's Auditor General is the Auditor Gotcha!
OTL SHOW NOTESThe OTL gang is assembled! Keith Leslie at CHCH-TV, John Wright SVP Maru Public Opinion, Sabrina Nanji, Publisher and Editor of the Queen’s Park Observer and SSN Chief Executive Producer Dave Trafford are around the table.In this episode:Why do we even listen to Bonnie Lysyk? Sure, the annual Auditor General’s report makes for great headlines. So, what?John Wright says the AG report is nothing better than clickbait.Toronto Star Investigative reporter Kevin Donovan has had more effect on holding governments accountable than all of Lysyk’s annual reports combined!Doug Ford says he won’t use the Notwithstanding Clause to overrule a court decision striking down Bill 124. (He also said he wouldn’t touch the Greenbelt.)And, what does it say about the NDP when they’re on the verge of acclaiming the Official Leader of the Opposition? BTW, if you enjoy On the Ledge, you’ll probably enjoy our daily SSN podcast - NOW and NEXT with Dave Trafford and Erin Trafford.Support Now and Next! For $10 a month, you can subscribe to our Exclusive Supercast feed for access to Now and Next EXTRA with Dave Trafford on Saturdays and Sundays - including the full length interviews featured on The Daily Brief, early access to Now & Next episodes, AMAs and our message board.You’re just a few clicks away. Start here: www.nowandnext.supercast.com

Nov 25, 2022 • 29min
Umm...Where's Doug Ford? Anyone?
The OTL gang is assembled! Keith Leslie at CHCH-TV, John Wright SVP Maru Public Opinion, Sabrina Nanji, Publisher and Editor of the Queen’s Park Observer and SSN Chief Executive Producer Dave Trafford are around the table.In this episode:Ontario’s premier has been AWOL this past week, skipping out on Question Period, failing to attend the Order of Ontario ceremony and ghosted Ottawa’s newly elected Mayor Mark Suttcliffe.Could the average Ontarian pick the Health Minister out of a line-up? Sylvia Jones is proving to be a complete failure while the hospital and healthcare system is in crisis. Jones has the nerve to suggest this second term government inherited this mess.And the hits just keep coming. The Auditor’s Report, as Sabrina notes, the Annual Government Phonebook of Fail is set for release in the next couple of weeks.BTW, if you enjoy On the Ledge, you’ll probably enjoy our daily SSN podcast - NOW and NEXT with Dave Trafford and Erin Trafford.Support Now and Next! For $10 a month, you can subscribe to our Exclusive Supercast feed for access to Now and Next EXTRA with Dave Trafford on Saturdays and Sundays - including the full length interviews featured on The Daily Brief, early access to Now & Next episodes, AMAs and our message board.You’re just a few clicks away. Start here: nowandnext.supercast.com

Nov 21, 2022 • 37min
Ontario's Health Minister has the nerve to tell us everything's under control?
The OTL gang is assembled! Keith Leslie at CHCH-TV, John Wright SVP Maru Public Opinion, Sabrina Nanji, Publisher and Editor of the Queen’s Park Observer and SSN Chief Executive Producer Dave Trafford are around the table.In this episode:CUPE and the province go down to the wire hammering out a contract for support workers.If Ford Nation is all about taking care of the Children, where are they on the overwhelmed paediatric wards?The Health Minister has the gall to think we'll believe she had a plan all along to deal with the pressures.And the Children and Social Services Minister is too busy to talk to us about the latest report from the Daily Bread Food Bank suggesting we are in in a deep food security crisis.BTW, if you enjoy On the Ledge, you’ll probably enjoy our daily SSN podcast - NOW and NEXT with Dave Trafford and Erin Trafford.Support Now and Next! For $10 a month, you can subscribe to our Exclusive Supercast feed for access to Now and Next EXTRA with Dave Trafford on Saturdays and Sundays - including the full length interviews featured on The Daily Brief, early access to Now & Next episodes, AMAs and our message board.You’re just a few clicks away. Start here: nowandnext.supercast.com

Nov 11, 2022 • 23min
Taking a break from politics to Remember
The OTL gang is assembled! Keith Leslie at CHCH-TV, John Wright SVP Maru Public Opinion, Sabrina Nanji, Publisher and Editor of the Queen’s Park Observer and SSN Chief Executive Producer Dave Trafford are around the table.In this episode:It’s Remembrance Day in Canada - November 11th.We take time to reflect on the service and sacrifice of our military and their families.AND, we are featuring an archived presentation of Embedded in Kandahar - a radio documentary Dave Trafford produced with the late Christie Blatchford. The show is based on Christie’s Governor General Award winning book, Fifteen Days: Stories of Bravery, Friendship, Life and Death from Inside the New Canadian Army.It’s posted in our SSN anchor show Now and Next.You can LISTEN HERE https://now-and-next.sounder.fm/episode/special-embedded-in-kandaharBTW, if you enjoy On the Ledge, you’ll probably enjoy our daily SSN podcast - NOW and NEXT with Dave Trafford and Erin Trafford.Support Now and Next! For $10 a month, you can subscribe to our Exclusive Supercast feed for access to Now and Next EXTRA with Dave Trafford on Saturdays and Sundays - including the full length interviews featured on The Daily Brief, early access to Now & Next episodes, AMAs and our message board.You’re just a few clicks away. Start here: nowandnext.supercast.com

Nov 4, 2022 • 37min
CUPE's illegal strike responds to illegal legislation at Queen's Park
The OTL gang is assembled! Keith Leslie at CHCH-TV, John Wright SVP Maru Public Opinion, Sabrina Nanji, Publisher and Editor of the Queen’s Park Observer and SSN Chief Executive Producer Dave Trafford are around the table.In this episode:Ford Nation may have won the battle, forcing a contract on education workers but what kind of war has begun?Has Ontario's use of the Notwithstanding Clause pushed Canada towards a constitutional crisis?This is the third time the Ford government has used the Notwithstanding clause to push legislation. In this case, it’s clearly contrary to the Charter.What’s the next step? More strikes? A general strike? The feds invoking the Disallowance clause. BTW, if you enjoy On the Ledge, you’ll probably enjoy our daily SSN podcast - NOW and NEXT with Dave Trafford and Erin Trafford.Support Now and Next! For $10 a month, you can subscribe to our Exclusive Supercast feed for access to Now and Next EXTRA with Dave Trafford on Saturdays and Sundays - including the full length interviews featured on The Daily Brief, early access to Now & Next episodes, AMAs and our message board.You’re just a few clicks away. Start here: nowandnext.supercast.com