Guelph Politicast

Open Sources Guelph #552 - January 15, 2026

This week on Open Sources Guelph, it's non-stop controversy only two weeks into the new year. From the United States, just when you thought there was nothing new to get angry about, more state-sponsored violence, and then the international situation is getting even more dicey with new drama in Iran. More locally, we've got drama right here in our own backyard concerning daytime shelter services that may or may not be coming.
This Thursday, January 15, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Renee For Good. Last week in Minneapolis, a woman named Renee Nicole Good was killed by an agent of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Why? That depends on who you ask. The killing of Good has become a flashpoint, people who've been warning about the use of ICE as Donald Trump's personal brute squad now have someone to rally around, a dead mother of three who seemed to be killed because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Has the tide turned?
Iran For Change. Over the last several weeks, small gatherings of merchants upset about the loss of value on the Rial, Iran's national currency, have became a full-blown national demonstration against the ruling regime, and they're feeling the pressure. Thousands of protestors have been maimed or killed, but as Iranians abroad now push for western intervention is there a way we can do it that doesn't repeat regime change mistakes of the past?
Gimme (Daytime) Shelter. So local controversy arose to start the year in Guelph! A new daytime shelter run by Stepping Stone and Royal City Mission approved in November was supposed to be a done deal and ready to open this week, and then there was the surprise announcement last week that that there was no deal in the end. What happened? Here to help us sort that out is Ward 5 City Councillor Cathy Downer who will talk about how we got here and where we might go next?
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #424 - January 14, 2026 (Avatar: Fire and Ash)

This week on End Credits, we're heading back to space, where no one can hear you sigh. Yup, we're going back to Pandora and all it's imaginative creatures and landscapes in James Cameron's newest, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and while we're on the subject of Cameron, we will take time out to rank all 10 of the director's movies so far, up to, but not including, the latest one!
This Wednesday, January 14, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
Ranking James Cameron. Since emerging as a talent in the 80s, there has been no one like James Cameron working in movies. Technically sophisticated, meticulous in detail and always working on the biggest possible canvas, Cameron has bet big on himself every time and has almost always beaten the odds and the house. So to begin this show, we're going to rank his 10 (official) movies from Terminator to Titanic and his two deep sea documentaries.
REVIEW: Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025). It's time to go back to Pandora. Since the last time we were on this mysterious world, the Sully clan were irreparably changed in the wake of a family tragedy and the growing war between humans and Na'vi for the planet's precious resources. Avatar: Fire and Ash though introduces us to a new tribe of Na'vi, ones that may like to buy what the human invaders are selling. In this third entry in his highly complex, and highly lucrative, franchise, is there still space for James Cameron's epic sci-fi parable or shall we call it a trilogy?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #505 – The State of the City 2025

The State of the City is a key event on the annual political calendar as it gives some insight into the mind of the mayor; what do they value, what do they consider accomplishments, and what do they see as the biggest challenges? It’s also a look inside the mind of the mayor and how they see the big picture outside the day-to-day issues and crises that come up. So let’s look inside the mayor’s head from one year ago.
In his speech, Mayor Cam Guthrie called Guelph a “city of resilience”; our challenges are many but the will of people to overcome and their willingness to embrace innovation is strong. The housing picture is rough, but Guelph is not unique in that issue, and there’s also a lot going in the city that is worth noting beyond those tough conditions. Yes, there are some good news stories in Guelph!  
In the end, the mayor said that the city is strong, and united, and was sitting on a solid foundation at the beginning of 2025 to deliver more great things in the 12 months that would follow, so let us remind ourselves where we once sat. For this week's podcast, Cam Guthrie will take the microphone to talk about the State of the City, as he saw it, around this time in 2025. 
In this flashback, you will hear Guthrie discuss Guelph’s economic big picture, the accomplishments achieved in 2024, the new positive directions he foresaw, and the opportunities and warning signs that he believed were coming for the city in 2025. As we approach the State of the City for 2026 in a couple of weeks, we pause today, as we do at this time every year, to look back at the mayor’s agenda for the year that just ended. 
So let's revisit the 2025 State of the City on this week's Guelph Politicast! 
You can revisit coverage of the State of the City last year and every year in the archives of Guelph Politico. Or, if you would rather look forward, the next State of the City event will be on Thursday February 12 at 7 am at the Delta Guelph Hotel and Conference Centre. You can get more information and buy tickets at the Guelph Chamber of Commerce’s website. 
The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify .
Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

Open Sources Guelph #551 - January 8, 2026

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we enter the new year like we left the old year: chaotically. For this first episode of the year, we will catch you up with all the news you might have missed either intentionally or on purpose during the holidays, and split into three distinct areas. We will tackle the latest drama south of the border, the travel plans of Canada's prime minister, and whatever the heck in going on with the leader of Ontario.
This Thursday, January 8, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Don-roe They Didn't! What a way to start the second year of his second term! U.S. military forces dropped into Venezuela in the dead of night, and kidnapped Nicolás Maduro and his wife and arrested them. There's no doubt that Maduro is, to borrow a phase, a bad hombre, but why him and why now? From the direction to seize Venezuela's oil wealth to renewed speculation about regime change in Cuba, we'll talk about Donald Trump's latest mad man move.
Mark Carney Vs. The World (2026 Edition). New year, more Air Miles. In this first week of 2026 Prime Minister Mark Carney went to Europe to stand with Ukraine and Greenland as they face two very different aggressors, and next week he heads to China to further the project of selling Canada to the world. Carney's globetrotting comes as his old rival Chrystia Freeland takes a job with Ukraine and new questions about ensuring Canadian sovereignty arise, so how will Carney respond?
The Doug Phone. Technically, the Ontario government will continue to be on winter break until sometime around the beginning of spring. As school board trustees wait for the other shoe to drop, as conservation authorities face a loss of autonomy, and as people continue to be concerned about the high cost of living, Doug Ford is focused on what's important: cancelling Crown Royal and protecting the use of his private phone for government business. We'll catch up with what Doug's been up to.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #423 - January 7, 2026 (Marty Supreme)

This week on End Credits, we're back with the first new episode of 2026 and what might be the best movie of 2025...? We will dig into Marty Supreme, which you can now see in a theatre near you, and we will let you know if it matches the hype, and we're also going to go into the vault and talk about another acclaimed film that has perhaps even gotten better with time.
This Wednesday, January 7, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss:
Heat at 30. Somewhere in Hollywood, Michael Mann is toiling on a sequel to what might be his masterpiece: Heat. The crime thriller was notable for many reasons, not the least of which was the first on-screen face-off between Robert De Niro and Al Pacino as career criminal Neil McCauley and LAPD Lieutenant Vincent Hanna respectively. So three decades later, how does Heat hold up and, frankly, do we even need a sequel?
REVIEW: Marty Supreme (2025). In the competitive world of table tennis in the 1950s, no one is more competitive than Marty Mauser. From director Josh Safdie, and starring the man of the moment Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme has the urgency of the Safdies past efforts like Uncut Gems, while having the underdog qualities of all great sports dramas and also being centered around a character whose own self-determination borders on reckless and self-destructive. So is Marty Supreme the movie of our times, and is Timmy finally achieved the greatness he's striving for?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm

GUELPH POLITICAST #504 – The Rest of 2025 at Council (September-December)

Guelph City Council is taking an extended holiday (but not as extended at the Ontario government), so as we wait for their inevitable return, it seems fitting to pause here at the start of the year and to look back at all the action last fall in the council chambers. Before we unlock the future we must first find the keys to the past so join us in this search for the keys...
It was a busy fall at city council on the planning side. There was a major proposal to redevelop a plaza at the corner of Gordon and Clair, and there was the rollout of the block plan for the first two phases of the Guelph Innovation District lands. The consequences of those decisions may take decades to unfold, certainly beyond the time and space of this current council (who term out this November).
In terms of policy, council looked at making it easier to build more accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, and considered five or more units as-of-right on certain low residential properties. They also strongly endorsed the creation of a renoviction bylaw and a vacant home tax in order to stop the loss of affordable housing before it happened. There was also some weird thing with parking restrictions in one section of the Ward that caused some controversy.
There were also some city building projects on the agendas. Redeveloping the area around the Macdonell Bridge took up a lot of bandwidth, especially when it comes to keeping portions of the Allan Dam, or not keeping them as the case may be. Council also looked at the final design of St. George's Square after advising staff to ratchet up that "wow factor", and as they do almost every fall, there was the passage of the budget and all the drama there.
So let's get into events at city council last fall in this week's Guelph Politicast!
The next council meeting is the January planning meeting on Tuesday January 20 at 4 pm in the council chambers at city hall. The agenda will be posted on the City of Guelph website sometime this coming Thursday. As usual, stay tuned to Guelph Politico for all the latest developments before, during and after every city council meeting!
The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify .
Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

Open Sources Guelph #550 - January 1, 2026

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we kick off 2026 by kicking out 2025. As usual on New Year's Week, we will hand out the annual awards in the four categories we mark at this time every year. We cover the good, the bad and ugly as we look at the people who made us hopeful, the people who made us weep, and the issues that keep us warm because the fire from the rage burns so bright!
This Thursday, January 1, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Worst Politician of 2024. Always an embarrassment of riches, there were a lot of nominees for the Worst Person in Politics in 2025, and that's with two of the most obvious candidates sidelined due to their status as lifetime honourees. As usual, we will kick off the awards show with the person or persons that exemplified the worst of our politics, from leaders who failed to politicians in Canada trying to copy Ugly Americanism.
Good News Story of the Year. There was good news this year? That's always the joke, isn't it? But yes, there was good news and it was not so hard to find after all. In this category we will reach for some light at the end of the tunnel, and it perhaps should be unsurprising that it involves the young people (not that fixing all out our problems should be put on their heads, of course). For this year's good news, we will look to the youth.
Dumpster Fire of the Year. Is 2025 the most dumpster or fires? Well, there was no shortage of fuel in any event. From the loss of momentum on climate action, to the return of the Trump circus to Washington D.C., to far right hooliganism there were more dumpsters on fire than ever before! (Or maybe it just felt that way.) Somehow, we managed to get that big list down to pair of fires, and they may be the worst of all.
Best Politician of 2024. If there is a worst, then there must also be a best. The nominees were not as numerous in this category, but like the Good News Story of the Year section they are there if you're willing to look for them. To wrap up the show, we will have a ray of hope about what comes next, or make that who comes next. Whether that's a Gen Zeer who's now a party leader on Canada's west coast to the (possible) next President of the United States.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #422 - December 31, 2025 (Top 5 of 2025)

This week on End Credits it's the end... of the year! As usual when we get to the end of the year, we will talk about our favourites from the last 12 months, the movies that we will always remember when we think about the ones that mattered in 2025. The gang's all here for the only New Year's Eve party that matters, at least if you're a local movie fan!
This Wednesday, December 31, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson, Tim Phillips, Peter Salmon, and Candice Lepage will discuss:
The Top 5 of 2025. We survived till '25, and it was a wild year at the movies indeed. As the industry shifts under massive changes in how people watch movies and rich pricks fight over who ends up running studios, we're focusing on what's important this New Year's Eve: Quality! As usual when it comes around to the turning of the year, we will pause and reflect about the best movies of the year, which in 2025 includes revolutionaries, bootleggers, playwrights, and Aunt Gladys!
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #503 – What’s Next ’26: The New Main Library (feat. Dan Atkins and Meg Forestell-Page)

Thirty years. That’s how long it’s taken to get the new main library this far, and it still won’t open for several more months. The ambitions of multiple library boards, library CEOs, city councils, and patrons will finally be realized this year after three decades of debate, negotiation and preparation, but at the end of this long road, can the new main library deliver on the hype and will it be the good news story downtown Guelph needs exactly when it needs it the most?
Back at the turn of the century,  the plan was to buy the old post office on upper Wyndham and renovate that. The whole project was going to cost $10.5 million for a 80,000 square foot building, and it was well on it's way to becoming reality when a more conservative mayor and council put the kibosh on all that progress and it was back to the drawing board. (If you’re interested in the full timeline, it’s an 88-page document on the Library’s website.)
More recently, the $67.1 million library project was approved in 2019 for the Baker District Redevelopment, but there was some further fiddling in the fall of 2020 that solidified the project as it exists now. Despite all the wonderful aspects of the project though there's still questions about whether it will meet all the expectations put upon it. So as we enter this pivotal year, is the library staff ready to meet the challenges that come after the building is open? 
For this first pod of the year, we're joined by two of those staff members, CEO Dan Atkins and manager of public services Meg Forestell-Page. They will talk about the progress on the new building’s construction, and the progress on planning for all the new programs that will take place there. They will also talk about the impact on the other library branches, the fate of the current main library, and how the new building will continue to serve as a community hub for the people most in need. 
So let's look forward again to the new library on this additional episode of the Guelph Politicast! 
 The new main library is scheduled to open sometime later this year in the fall. To learn more about what to expect and review the progress so far, you can go to the library’s website. and you can learn more about the entire Baker District Redevelopment at the City of Guelph’s website. If you missed it yesterday, you can still listen to the first What’s Next ‘26 podcast about the South End Community Centre. 
The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify .
Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

GUELPH POLITICAST #502 - What's Next '26: The South End Community Centre (feat. Danna Evans & Ian Scott)

 It’s the start of a new year, but more than that it’s the start of a big year for Guelph, and not just because there’s a municipal election in October. To end 2025, and to start 2026, this podcast will be airing back-to-back episodes that will mark the pending completion of two major construction projects by this time next year: Today we’re talking all about the South End Community Centre!
Drive down Clair Road West and you can see it peaking over the hills on the left hand side: The South End Community Centre. Construction began in 2023, but like most massive construction projects in Guelph it’s a story that goes back decades. A June 2014 report recommended that a nearly $60 million facility be built on lands south of Bishop MacDonell Secondary School, but it took three years to get to detailed design and it took another three years to get it ready to start construction. 
The SECC will feature twin ice pads, an aquatic centre with a lap and teaching pool, a double gymnasium, walking track and multi-purpose rooms, all connected by a central lobby covering a total of 160,000 square feet. But then there are the expectations. Guelph is presently underserviced by rec facilities, the pool at Centennial had to close early, and there’s a whole Parks and Rec Master Plan approved a few years ago banking on new opportunities at the new centre. So is city staff ready to deliver?
The people who can answer that are today's guests, the City of Guelph's general manager of culture and recreation Danna Evans, and the general manager of facilities and energy management Ian Scott. They will talk about the current state of construction, what work is left to be done and if there are any issues that might prevent it from opening on time. Plus, they will talk about staffing the centre, planning for the programming, and whether or not the South End Community Centre will have a proper name! 
So let's look forward to the South End Community Centre on this week's Guelph Politicast! 
The South End Community Centre is currently scheduled to open sometime in the fall of 2026. You can follow the progress on construction on the City of Guelph’s website here, and you learn more about the facility itself here. Come back to this feed tomorrow for a podcast about the other big construction project that will be opening in the fall of 2026, the new main library downtown.
The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify .
Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.