The Best of The Simi Sara Show - Bad Santa, the final day of the fall session at the BC Legislature, & more...

Chapter 1

It’s @MikeSmythNews’s 🔥 question of the day:

A mall Santa in Penticton has been fired, because of photos on social media showing him in costume swigging from a flask, and reaching for a woman's breasts.

Should he have been fired?

See the photos here: https://globalnews.ca/news/6227282/bad-santa-okanagan-pictures-facebook/

Y: rebel without a Claus

N: he’s sleigh-in’ it

Chapter 2

It’s the final day of the fall session at the B.C. Legislature. What did our MLAs get done?

As the sittings for 2019 come to a close, what progress have MLAs made on some of the key files affecting our province? 

Guests:  Maclean Kay, Editor-in-Chief, The Orca

& Shannon Waters, Head reporter for British Columbia Today & National Content Manager for Queen’s Park Today

Chapter 3

How the Tri-Cities plans to licence ride hailing drivers

The Tri-Cities of Metro Vancouver - Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, and Coquitlam - are moving towards creating a single inter-municipal business license for ride hailing services operating within their unified sub-region.

Port Coquitlam City Council approved their support for the interim measure of an inter-municipal business license for ride hailing across all three municipalities, until a single regional business license is created.

Guest: Richard Stewart, Coquitlam Mayor

Chapter 4

How the Tri-Cities plans to licence ride hailing drivers

The Tri-Cities of Metro Vancouver - Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, and Coquitlam - are moving towards creating a single inter-municipal business license for ride hailing services operating within their unified sub-region.

Port Coquitlam City Council approved their support for the interim measure of an inter-municipal business license for ride hailing across all three municipalities, until a single regional business license is created.

Guest: Richard Stewart, Coquitlam Mayor

Chapter 5

Science With Simi: Canadian pre-schoolers are getting more screen time than they ought to be

New research suggests Canadian pre-schoolers spend more time on screens than children their age ought to be.

Guest: Sheri Madigan, Associate Professor of Child Psychology at the University of Calgary

Chapter 6

Ride hailing drivers should be employees, not contractors: United Food and Commercial Workers Union

The United Food and Commercial Workers union is asking the Labour Relations Board of BC to rule that ride hailing drivers are employees, and not independent contractors.

Guest: Kim Novak, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union 1518 branch

Chapter 7

Bad Santa: Okanagan mall Santa fired for posting inappropriate pictures online

An Okanagan mall Santa is getting a lump of coal this Christmas, after being fired for some questionable photos online. 

69-year-old Gary Haupt was set to be Santa at the Cherry Lane Shopping Centre in Penticton for his second year, starting Saturday. 

But he says he was let go for sharing on social media what the mall considered to be inappropriate photos.

They show him appearing to take a drink from a flask, and reaching for a woman's breasts.

He says the pictures were staged with the women's permission, and they were taken in good fun. 

Guest: Susan Mesco, Founder and director of the Professional Santa Claus School in Denver, Colorado

Chapter 8

Here’s how a 65 million year old dinosaur ended up in a Victoria museum

A Victoria museum is now home to a triceratops that lived 65 million years ago.

How did it get there, and how can you go to see it? Kathryn Abbott, Communications Manager for Dino Lab, explains.

Guest:  Kathryn Abbott, Communications Manager, Dino Lab

Chapter 9

Local grocery store owner says he’s dealing with as many as eight incidents of theft per day

The owner of the IGA on the corner of Robson and Richards in Vancouver says crime is getting out of control. A recent video from taken inside the grocery store shows a violent confrontation between a man and a loss prevention officer. The video shows the man allegedly attempting to steal something from the cash register. When the loss prevention officer approaches, the man punches him in the face. 

Global News reporter Jordan Armstrong spoke with David Sullivan, the owner of the IGA on Robson Street in Vancouver who says that he is not surprised by the video because recently  his staff has reported catching 4-8 people PER DAY stealing merchandise.

Chapter 1

It’s @MikeSmythNews’s 🔥 question of the day:

A mall Santa in Penticton has been fired, because of photos on social media showing him in costume swigging from a flask, and reaching for a woman's breasts.

Should he have been fired?

See the photos here: https://globalnews.ca/news/6227282/bad-santa-okanagan-pictures-facebook/

Y: rebel without a Claus
N: he’s sleigh-in’ it

Chapter 2

It’s the final day of the fall session at the B.C. Legislature. What did our MLAs get done?

As the sittings for 2019 come to a close, what progress have MLAs made on some of the key files affecting our province? 

Guests:  Maclean Kay, Editor-in-Chief, The Orca

& Shannon Waters, Head reporter for British Columbia Today & National Content Manager for Queen’s Park Today

Chapter 3

How the Tri-Cities plans to licence ride hailing drivers

The Tri-Cities of Metro Vancouver - Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, and Coquitlam - are moving towards creating a single inter-municipal business license for ride hailing services operating within their unified sub-region.

Port Coquitlam City Council approved their support for the interim measure of an inter-municipal business license for ride hailing across all three municipalities, until a single regional business license is created.

Guest: Richard Stewart, Coquitlam Mayor

Chapter 4

How the Tri-Cities plans to licence ride hailing drivers

The Tri-Cities of Metro Vancouver - Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, and Coquitlam - are moving towards creating a single inter-municipal business license for ride hailing services operating within their unified sub-region.

Port Coquitlam City Council approved their support for the interim measure of an inter-municipal business license for ride hailing across all three municipalities, until a single regional business license is created.

Guest: Richard Stewart, Coquitlam Mayor

Chapter 5

Science With Simi: Canadian pre-schoolers are getting more screen time than they ought to be

New research suggests Canadian pre-schoolers spend more time on screens than children their age ought to be.

Guest: Sheri Madigan, Associate Professor of Child Psychology at the University of Calgary

Chapter 6

Ride hailing drivers should be employees, not contractors: United Food and Commercial Workers Union

The United Food and Commercial Workers union is asking the Labour Relations Board of BC to rule that ride hailing drivers are employees, and not independent contractors.

Guest: Kim Novak, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union 1518 branch

Chapter 7

Bad Santa: Okanagan mall Santa fired for posting inappropriate pictures online

An Okanagan mall Santa is getting a lump of coal this Christmas, after being fired for some questionable photos online. 

69-year-old Gary Haupt was set to be Santa at the Cherry Lane Shopping Centre in Penticton for his second year, starting Saturday. 

But he says he was let go for sharing on social media what the mall considered to be inappropriate photos.

They show him appearing to take a drink from a flask, and reaching for a woman's breasts.

He says the pictures were staged with the women's permission, and they were taken in good fun. 

Guest: Susan Mesco, Founder and director of the Professional Santa Claus School in Denver, Colorado

Chapter 8

Here’s how a 65 million year old dinosaur ended up in a Victoria museum

A Victoria museum is now home to a triceratops that lived 65 million years ago.

How did it get there, and how can you go to see it? Kathryn Abbott, Communications Manager for Dino Lab, explains.

Guest:  Kathryn Abbott, Communications Manager, Dino Lab

Chapter 9

Local grocery store owner says he’s dealing with as many as eight incidents of theft per day

The owner of the IGA on the corner of Robson and Richards in Vancouver says crime is getting out of control. A recent video from taken inside the grocery store shows a violent confrontation between a man and a loss prevention officer. The video shows the man allegedly attempting to steal something from the cash register. When the loss prevention officer approaches, the man punches him in the face. 

Global News reporter Jordan Armstrong spoke with David Sullivan, the owner of the IGA on Robson Street in Vancouver who says that he is not surprised by the video because recently  his staff has reported catching 4-8 people PER DAY stealing merchandise.