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INSIDE THE VILLAGE: Teens are going to learn some skills to pay the bills (finally)

This week on the podcast: Meet the money expert who just happened to bump into Doug Ford at a furniture store — then convinced him to make financial literacy mandatory for all high schoolers

Welcome back to Inside the Village, a one-of-a-kind podcast where all news is local — and no topic is off-limits.

On this week's episode: Teaching teens about money.

Last month, the Ford government announced that financial literacy will now be a mandatory piece of Ontario's Grade 10 curriculum. If students don't achieve 70 per cent or higher in the class, they won't graduate.

Nobody was happier about the headlines than Saijal Patel, a financial expert based in Waterdown. Why? Because she was the person who pitched the idea to the province — during a completely random encounter with Premier Doug Ford at a furniture store.

Patel joins us on the podcast to explain how it all went down — and why it's more important than ever to be teaching teenagers about managing money, from creating a household budget to protecting themselves against financial fraud.

Week to week, our podcast is pretty decent. But this particular episode is money.

Also on the show: A huge honour for one of our journalists.

Hosted by Scott Sexsmith and Michael Friscolanti, the Editor-in-Chief of Village Media, Inside the Village is a news and current affairs podcast that provides a weekly window into some of the best local journalism from across our chain of Ontario newsrooms. Produced by Derek Turner, the program also explores bigger-picture issues that impact people across the province.

Every episode can be found HERE. If you prefer the audio version, it is available wherever you find your favourite podcasts.

Have something to say? You can reach us at [email protected].

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