AANCHAL VASH came to Canada at 17 with her twin brother, carrying the dream of an older brother who passed away before he could come. After her twin brother passed away, she says she saw a gap in how people recognize and respond to declining mental health, and decided to fill it.

Aanchal Vash started Reach Out Together, which began with free monthly Mental Health First Aid workshops. She is certified in Mental Health First Aid through the Mental Health Commission of Canada and says she has written five books.

She explains:
◼ What she did right away as a newcomer to find counselling and community
◼ The signs of declining mental health she says she didn’t recognize in her twin brother
◼ What a mental health first aider does, and why she says the first step is to build connection rather than push someone toward therapy
◼ The equation she says she repeated in her head the day police came to her door
◼ Organizing a funeral and wrapping up an estate at 24
◼ Her first program, which had zero attendees, and why she kept going
◼ Why she says getting stuck in a war zone in Dubai led her to start a support circle for Canadians abroad
◼ Why she sees mental health as a continuum, and a morning check-in on a scale of one to 10

📍 FOLLOW AANCHAL:
Website: https://voteforaanchal.ca/
Reach Out Together: https://reachouttogether.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aanchalvash/

📍 FOLLOW JORDANA:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanagoldlist/
Website: https://www.jhgcriminallaw.com/

Toronto has spent billions on shelters and harm reduction, so why is the drug crisis getting worse? Ward 13 candidate Daniel Tate and criminal lawyer Jordana Goldlist debate it.

DANIEL TATE is the executive director of IntegrityTO, a Toronto non-profit whose social accounts document addiction, homelessness and disorder on the city's streets. He is running for city councillor in Ward 13 Toronto Centre in the October 26, 2026 municipal election. In early 2024 he co-organized a petition against renaming Yonge-Dundas Square to Sankofa Square that he says drew 35,000 signatures, and in March 2026 Toronto's Integrity Commissioner found that Councillor Chris Moise breached council's Code of Conduct in comments directed at Tate.

Before politics, Tate spent about 15 years in technology and software engineering and wrote two books on Toronto concert history: The Flyer Vault: 150 Years of Toronto Concert History, co-written with York University musicologist Rob Bowman with a foreword by Rush's Geddy Lee, and a commissioned history of Scotiabank Arena for its 25th anniversary.

He shares:

◼ Why he says Toronto paid $3.2 billion to Toronto Shelter and Support Services in four years with no public numbers on how many people get clean, housed or reunited with family

◼ Why he blames decriminalization and harm reduction for open drug use on the TTC, and Jordana's pushback that jail offers no rehab, counselling or trauma therapy

◼ Jordana's explanation, as a criminal defence lawyer, of why simple drug possession largely stopped being prosecuted at the start of COVID

◼ Who he believes should qualify for involuntary treatment after Premier Doug Ford said he is open to it, and how a 72-hour hold like California's 5150 could work

◼ The rehab gap Jordana sees in her practice: waitlists of up to two years and private beds at about $1,000 a day

◼ Why he wants separate shelters for people who use drugs and people who don't, and his plans for affordable housing and small business

Jordana pushes back where she disagrees. This episode is not an endorsement of any candidate.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, ConnexOntario offers free, confidential support 24/7 at 1-866-531-2600. In crisis, call or text 9-8-8.



📍 FOLLOW JORDANA:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanagoldlist/
Website: https://www.jhgcriminallaw.com/

📍 FOLLOW DANIEL:
IntegrityTO: https://integrityto.ca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/integrity_to/?hl=en
Campaign: https://votetate.ca/

QUINTON JACOBS grew up in subsidized housing in Scarborough, raised by a single mom, and was suspended and nearly expelled as a teenager. Today, he works full time in the nuclear industry while running two community initiatives that cook thousands of meals a year and have taken him running across South Africa with a community of strangers who became family.

Quinton Jacobs is the founder of Ubuntu, a Toronto not-for-profit that cooks and delivers hundreds of meals a month to organizations across the city, runs a major holiday initiative with over 200 volunteers, and recently launched Pathways, a youth mentorship program that has taken him into schools and a youth detention center in Ajax. He is also the founder of Escape, a global running community whose relay races have taken friends from Toronto to New York, Chicago, Boston, Paris, and across South Africa, a journey now told in Escape the Documentary, currently touring film festivals. By day, he works in the nuclear fuel industry, a career that started almost by accident.

He explains:
◼ How Ubuntu started with him and one friend committing to cook 300 meals in his home kitchen, and clogging his sink for two weeks in the process
◼ Why he believes writing a check isn't enough, and how bringing volunteers into the kitchen and on deliveries changes the way they see their own city
◼ What it was like becoming a single dad to three kids during his divorce, and how he worked through the guilt that came with it
◼ How a group of running friends turned "let's run from Toronto to New York" into international relay races across three continents
◼ Why running across South Africa and finishing with a 5K alongside kids in a township became one of the highlights of the entire project
◼ What Ubuntu actually means, and how the philosophy behind it is reshaping how his volunteers see their role in the community



📍 FOLLOW JORDANA:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanagoldlist/
Website: https://www.jhgcriminallaw.com/

📍 FOLLOW QUINTON:
Website: https://ubuntu.family/