Peel Region spends $55K on sole-sourced podcast on housing crisis
CBC
It's not just Toronto police who used tax dollars to sole-source a podcast.
The Region of Peel spent $55,000 for 12 podcast episodes (that's $4,583 per show) about the region's affordable housing crisis dubbed Peel Talks Housing.
The podcast features interviews with experts, advocates, community workers, Region of Peel staff and residents who have experienced housing and homelessness challenges. It's produced by Obie & Ax Inc. — the same company the Toronto Police Service paid more than $300,000 to produce its own podcast.
"Our audience has steadily grown, and the listener and guest feedback has been positive," said Stef Lach, a Peel Region spokesperson, in an email to CBC Toronto.
Lach did not immediately supply data to support that, but said that information will be brought to the regional council when it decides whether to continue the podcast.
News of the podcast comes as the housing crisis in Peel has worsened significantly over the past few years. Buying or renting a home is unaffordable for 80 per cent of Peel residents, according to the region's 10-year Housing and Homelessness Plan. The region's centralized wait list for housing ballooned by 88 per cent between 2019 and 2021, from 14,997 households to 28,227, a council report noted last year.
Videos of the podcast posted to the region's YouTube channel have received 3,349 views across 12 episodes. Audio versions are available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts, although listener counts aren't publicly displayed on those sites.
Lach said if the region does decide to renew the podcast, there will be a public competition to see who can produce it for the best price.
Documents obtained by CBC Toronto through a freedom of information request show Lesley Hudson, Peel Region's executive communications adviser, contacted former Toronto police deputy chief Shawna Coxon about the service's podcast, 24 Shades of Blue, in September of 2020.
Coxon now works for Ireland's police service, called An Garda Siochana, and serves on Obie & Ax Inc.'s board. The company said in an email she is not paid to hold that position.
In February 2022, Peel Region officials brought forward the plan to sole source the pilot, noting they will maintain editorial control over the conversations.
"While the spirit of Peel Talks Housing is free-flowing, honest conversations, the region will have oversight of each episode and when they are released," the document notes.
The podcast was publicly released later in 2022. Episode topics include women and affordable housing, housing and sex trafficking, homeless encampments, community and non-profit housing and homelessness in Peel Region, among others.
Housing advocates who CBC spoke to were generally supportive of using a podcast as a tool to contribute to the public conversation around housing and homelessness in Peel.
The Rachel Notley government's consumer carbon tax wound up becoming a weapon the UCP wielded to drum the Alberta NDP out of office. But that levy-and-repayment program, and the wide-ranging "climate leadership plan" around it, also stood as the NDP's boldest, provincial-reputation-altering move in their single-term tenure.