logo
episode-header-image
May 2021
16m 20s

How Toronto is trying to reshape mental ...

TORONTO STAR
About this episode

After a year of racial reckonings against growing police brutality and a string of deaths involving Black and other racialized people in crisis, the City of Toronto is investigating a new model for frontline, non-police response to mental health crisis calls. On today's episode of "This Matters," we discuss this radical shift in how such crisis calls are carried out in hopes that they do not become a matter of life and death. Guest: Nadine Yousif, Toronto-based Star reporter covering mental health.

If you would like to support the journalism of the Toronto Star, you can subscribe at thestar.com/subscribingmatters.

Up next
Jan 2026
Olympian Kingpin: The Hunt for Ryan Wedding
Guest: Calvi Leon, Staff Reporter In 2002, Ryan Wedding represented Canada an Olympic snowboarder. Today, the FBI describes him as a modern-day Pablo Escobar. Alleged to be the mastermind behind a massive, violent drug trafficking empire, Wedding is now the target of a global man ... Show More
21m 31s
Dec 2025
A shadowy crypto-to-cash system is surging in Canada. Star reporters went undercover to reveal how it works
Guests: Toronto Star journalists Sheila Wang and Emma McIntosh A major joint investigation involving the Toronto Star, CBC/Radio-Canada, La Presse and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has uncovered more than 100 crypto-to-cash operations running across Ca ... Show More
26m 7s
Dec 2025
Why so many skilled immigrants are leaving Canada
Guest: Ghada Alsharif, immigration and work reporter Canada's immigration system is often praised for attracting top global talent, but a new report shows the country is losing many of the highly skilled workers it says it needs most. One in five immigrants are leaving within 25 ... Show More
18m 27s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2020
Emergency
Civil unrest in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, by an officer of the Minneapolis Police Department, has forced to the surface a centuries old struggle. How can we protect and make our Black communities whole? How can we move towards a future where the police truly do "Pro ... Show More
37m 50s
Jul 2020
Reimagining the Police
As protests against police brutality continue across the country, there are calls to reform, defund, and even abolish the police. So, what does it all mean? Don talks to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka about the reforms he’s implementing in a city with a long history of tension between t ... Show More
32m 1s
Oct 2022
One Thing: Unpacking America’s Mental Health Crisis
A new survey from CNN in partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that nine out of 10 adults believe that there’s a mental health crisis in the US today. We explore what’s driving that sentiment, the possible solutions, and why an influential task force has recommended ... Show More
15m 51s
Jul 2021
If You Don't Know, Now You Know - Black Communities' Mental Health Treat-ment Crisis
Trevor investigates the major obstacles Black people face in receiving mental health services, and Roy Wood Jr. comes to Jaboukie Young-White's aid. Originally aired December 2019. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/liste ... Show More
8m 29s
Mar 2021
What if mental health workers responded to emergency calls? | Leslie Herod
When you report an emergency in the US, police, firefighters or paramedics answer the call. What if mental health professionals responded, too? Colorado State Representative Leslie Herod shares a straightforward and research-backed approach that brings heart and humanity to crimi ... Show More
9m 58s
Mar 2020
A radical program to address the domestic violence crisis
In Canada, domestic violence has reached crisis levels. But in Saint Paul, Minnesota, a radical domestic abuse intervention project is showing the way forward, and how to save countless lives. Katie Nicholson joins Jayme Poisson to explain the “Blueprint for Safety” program and h ... Show More
21m 50s
Dec 2020
Ep 269 | Scientist: STRESS from R*cism Is Killing Black People?
In today’s episode, we look at new research that alleges the stress of racism in America is so bad that it actually causes negative health outcomes for black people. Then, a U.K. media watchdog says that the British media is getting more transphobic in its reporting by discussing ... Show More
54m 15s
Jun 2020
What ‘defunding the police’ means for Indigenous people
Last Thursday, a 26-year-old Indigenous woman was killed by a New Brunswick police officer. Chantel Moore was shot five times during what was meant to be a wellness check. Her death is one of several recent incidents of police violence against Indigenous people in Canada. As the ... Show More
25m 22s
Jul 2020
Black minds matter
Black women experience substantially higher rates of mental health problems than white women. Black men experience psychosis around 10 times more often than white men. Yet white people are more than twice as likely to be receiving treatment for mental health problems.The coronavi ... Show More
31m 14s