Guelph Politicast

GUELPH POLITICAST #534 - Housing: The Bigger Picture (feat. Ashley Schuitema and Matt Whitfield & Gaetan Heroux)

Due to circumstances beyond our control, this week's episode of the Guelph Politicast is a combination of two interviews from recent editions of Open Sources Guelph. Housing remains a big issue in this city, as we saw as recently as last night's council meeting, but housing is an Ontario-wide issue too so for this episode of the pod we will open our gaze to areas beyond our borders.
Two times now, Waterloo Region has tried to evict a homeless encampment on the site of proposed transit hub project in Kitchener, and twice an Ontario court has upheld the Charter rights of the people living there. Now, the Region and the Ontario government are trying to take things to the Court of Appeals, but will they have any greater success there? In part one, Waterloo Region Community Legal Services executive director Ashley Schuitema, who represents the residents, will tell us why she’s holding all the cards.
For years, we’ve been waiting for all levels of government to make substantial progress on getting more affordable homes built, but some advocates are now wondering if maybe working within the present system is worth their while. In part 2 we will be joined by Matt Whitfield and Gaetan Heroux, organizers of the People’s Assembly for Housing Justice, who tell us why fighting Toronto’s housing crisis may not involve getting involved in the local election this fall.
So let's look at some housing issues beyond the immediate Guelph area on this week's Guelph Politicast!
You can learn more about the Waterloo Region Community Legal Services, including updates about the fight for the Kitchener encampment on their website. You can learn more about the Parkdale Housing Justine Network on Instagram and you can learn about the Toronto Tenant Union at their website. If you would like to learn more about Guelph's own nascent tenant union will be taking part in Breezy Breakfast this Thursday at 8 am at Uptown Grill.
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 #577 - July 9, 2026

This week on Open Sources Guelph we're maximizing profit. We're just following in the fine example of Canada's governments with all the money we're putting into pipelines, and all the money were spending supporting big league soccer. We're maybe not so sure if we can make money off of dissecting incel culture, but after a thousand years, it and other regressive positions have got to be showing a profit by now, right?
This Thursday, July 9, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Don't Believe the Pipe! Just before Canada Day, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada is not going to meet it's climate change commitments, which was followed by announcements about two big new pipeline projects heading west and east from the oil sands, all in the same week as extreme weather and heatwaves here hitting parts of Canada and other places around the globe. Have we completely abandoned climate action for pure fossil fuel profit?
Cup Half Full? The FIFA World Cup has a couple of more weeks left in it, but they've played all the games scheduled for Canadian venues. So was it a success? Depends on how you mean. The early numbers from hotel stays and restaurant receipts don't show much of an impact, but on the other hand the community investments are paying off and there's been no major impact on traffic flow, transit or city life. So was hosting the World Cup money well spent in the end?
Party Like It's 999. A manifesto left behind by the suspect in a shooting last month outside the headquarters of the corporate owners of PornHub in Montreal had a certain familiarity, combining Marxist and incel ideologies in one 104-page document. While the tone is familiar in these modern times, it's also familiar to those who study gender politics in Medieval times. This week, we're joined by University of Guelph history prof. Dr. Jacqueline Murrary who will tell us why the misogyny promoted by the man-o-sphere isn't at all original.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #449 - July 8, 2026 (Carolina Caroline)

This week on End Credits we promise you fireworks! If the sparks are flying, then you can probably blame the movie we're reviewing this week, which is the new romantic crime thriller Carolina Caroline, which you can now rent on VOD, Fireworks are also for special occasions, like the 30th anniversary of 1996's biggest blockbuster hit, which we will revisit.
This Wednesday, July 8, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
Independence Day at 30! This past weekend, America celebrated the 250th anniversary of its Independence Day, but we would rather mark the 30th anniversary of the *real* Independence Day, the Roland Emmerich alien invasion movie of the same name. From the iconic special effects to the rising star power of Will Smith to the peak hotness of Jeff Goldblum, we will revisit ID4, and why it's still so totemic 30 years later!
REVIEW: Carolina Caroline (2026). Two lovers meet and then go out on the run and commit crimes together on their way to a tragic end. Been there, done that, right? Maybe. Adam Carter Rehmeier's follow up to Snack Shack follows con man Kyle Gallner and his very willing apprentice Samara Weaving as they make their way across the American South graduating from small change cons to bank heists while becoming more and more the focus of the police. So why is a movie that seems so familiar winning so many fans, and are we among them?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #533 - The Young Ones (feat. Carly Klassen & Ken Yee Chew)

Sometimes it seems like municipal politics is an older person’s game. Look around at the faces of Guelph City Council, or even Wellington County Council, and you see a lot of wrinkles and a lot of grey hairs. Now, we love our elders, and everyone should be welcome to serve in municipal governance, but as we approach the end of this term of Guelph city council, we will talk to its two youngest members about going where few people their age have gone before.
This is the last of three episodes dedicated to the first-term councillors. A lot can change in a term, and for Councillors Carly Klassen and Ken Yee Chew there have been some pretty big personal changes to match the ones they experienced on the job; Chew became a married man while Klassen became a first-time mom. With so many things that are so important personally, it doesn’t leave much room for the rapidly changing pace of municipal business.
On that account, this last term probably broke speed records. The Ontario government introduced changes to municipal oversite, funding and planning pretty much every six months, and there’s also been the increasing centralization of power. Despite the challenges they’ve encountered, and the changes in their personal lives, Klassen and Chew have both decided to re-up for the next term of council, and with a slate of young people eager to join them, what can Klassen and Chew teach us based on their experiences?
Carly Klassen and Ken Yee Chew join us on this edition of the podcast to talk about the things they wish they knew before they ran for office, the learning curve (especially with all the changes mandated by the provincial government), and the ways their personal lives have changed in the last four years. They will also discuss how they’ve balanced their commitments, what it means to be representative of young people on council, and the challenges in chasing their own agendas.
So let's talk about what the young ones have learned on this week's Guelph Politicast!
Council business continues, at least until the end of the month, and you can find the agendas on the City of Guelph’s “City Government” page here, and you can see all the ongoing coverage here on Guelph Politico. The last day to file nominations for this fall’s municipal elections is Friday August 21 when the campaign begins in earnest, and Election Day itself is Monday October 26. Learn more about who's running and important dates here.
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 #576 - July 2, 2026

This week on Open Sources Guelph, like so many people, we are not going to the fair. As Americans looks for alternative plans to celebrate their 250th birthday, we will use the occasion to create a fake awards show for someone that really, really loves fake awards. In the realm of real accomplishments though, we will talk to one of the people that wants to lead Ontario's third place political party back to the number one poll position.
This Thursday, June 25, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
The Trumpies. It's a summer holiday week, much of the news is taking some time off, so why don't we catch up with everyone's favourite political disaster and some of his latest dumpster fires. And, as a bonus, let's make an awards show out of it! As we all know, Donald Trump is retired from annual year-end awards, but what if we make up a mid-year awards show entirely in his honour? For the first, and hopefully last time, we'll hand out The Trumpies (TM)!!
Built Fairclough. Lee Fairclough was one of the first people to enter the Ontario Liberal leadership race, and was one of a handful of new Liberal MPPs to return the party to official status in last year's election. While the Liberals are holding their own in the polls, they're still struggling for an identity and struggling to build a team that will carry them back to power, so what's the prescription to the party's problems from the woman who led St. Mary's hospital in Kitchener through the COVID-19 pandemic?
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #448 - July 1, 2026 (Jackass: Best and Last)

This week on End Credits there's no holiday. While you may be enjoying the show in the midst of a midsummer holiday week, we're still cranking out content but not the way the Jackass gang is still cranking it out! We will review the final (?) entry in the franchise, Best and Last, which you can now seen in a theatre near you, plus, let's talk about Can-Con! 
This Wednesday, July 1, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
The Canada Day Canadian Movie Draft! This week's episode goes live on Canada Day, so is there a better way to celebrate our nation's 159th birthday than to gift us all with a game about Can-Con? Obviously not! We're drafting again with some unique new topics including the covers non-Canadian movies set in Canada, Canadian horror movies, low-budget or indie Canadian flicks. Plus, there's the eternal question: Cronenberg versus Eqoyan as Canada's film king?!
REVIEW: Jackass: Best and Last (2026). It's all been leading to this... Sort of. Johnny, Chris, Steve-O, Dave, Wee-Man, Danger Ehren and the whole gang are back for one last ride in Jackass: Best and Last. This fifth entry in the franchise reckons with old age, the guys can't do those same old body breaking stunts the way they used to, so instead they're doing some less traumatic stunts, reminiscing about old times and playing some never-seen-before B-sides. So are we ready to let Jackass go after one more round of genital trauma?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #532 – The Local (feat. David Deacon and Michael K. Newton)

If you’re listening to this on Wednesday, then it’s Canada Day, and you might expect that we would dig into something of national importance but with a Guelph edge. Instead, we’re going to go ultra local. There’s a neighbourhood in the City’s south end that has concerns about traffic that will be created from over 200 new units that have been long in development. At the same time, one Guelphite is saying that print is not dead!
First, in the Hart Village area east of Rickson Road in Guelph’s south end, signs have popped up along Carrington Drive, Rodgers Road, and Ryder Avenue, all trying to raise awareness about two new projects coming to the top of the hill on Lovett Lane and their possible impacts on traffic flow in the area. Some might call them NIMBY, but in an election year do these residents have the political capital to use the occasion for their issue?
Second, you may have noticed a new print media outlet around town at some of your favourite coffee shops and stores, something we used to call an alt-weekly. It’s been a good 15 years since Echo Weekly stopped publishing, but now Net Weekly hopes to fill the void by “trying to help you stay off your phone just a little bit more”. Can an alt-weekly still be a Bible for Guelph arts culture, even if its not really online and printed on regular paper? 
David Deacon of the neighbourhood group Plan the Right Access will join us in part one to tell us about all the questions on Lovett Lane, the lack of answers from city hall, and why he and his neighbours are actually excited about the project. In part two, Michael K. Newton, the founder of Net Weekly, will talk about why Guelph has been missing an alt-weekly, how he’s building an audience, and why printed paper is the best way to build it! 
So let's get local this Canada Day on the Guelph Politicast! 
You can learn more about the effort to send the Lovett Lane development back to council at their website or by visiting them on Instagram. Net Weekly releases a new edition every Thursday at locations around Guelph including The Beat Goes On, Red Brick Cafe, The Dragon, and more, plus you can find back issues here. If you have a pitch or are interested in advertising, you can send Newton an email at netweeklyguelph [at] gmail.com.
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 #575 - June 25, 2026

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're doing our homework. We've got another pair of interviews for you that will hopefully shed light on issues in the news. First up, we will talk to a verified young person about their thoughts on a matter that could be facing young people soon, and then we will talk to a lawyer who recently won their case in court even though two levels of government don't like it!
This Thursday, June 25, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Youth About Youth. Earlier this month, the federal government announced that they were going to ban social media for anyone under the age of 16, but no one who's a Member of Parliament is that young, so how do the youth feel about it? Why don't we ask one? Joining us this week is Wyatt Sharpe, an independent journalist with his own YouTube channel, which he started long before he was 17. Wyatt will tell us what he thinks about the ban and why he believes it won't work.
Appeal Plan. Two times now, Waterloo Region has tried to evict a homeless encampment on the site of proposed transit hub project in Kitchener, and twice an Ontario court has upheld the Charter rights of the people living there. Now, the Region and the Ontario government are trying to take things to the Court of Appeals, but will they have any greater success there? Waterloo Region Community Legal Services executive director Ashley Schuitema, who represents the residents, will tell us why she's holding all the cards.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits Conversations: Still Seeking Nuance in Criticism (feat. Adam Manary)

If you watch film reviews on YouTube, what do you see? There are a thousand reviews of the biggest releases and the hottest franchises, and it normally comes down to a question: Does it rock, or does it suck? Can anyone do nuance in film criticism anymore? Can nuance stand out in the noise and conflict of influencer culture? You may be surprised that the answer is yes.
On this edition of End Credits Conversations, we're joined by Adam Manary, who is a former teacher turned corporate videographer and film critic. His site, Points of Review, does long form written criticism and film festival coverage, and he does video reviews on YouTube too, but he’s doing criticism the hard way. He will talk to us about trying to stand out among the critics chasing click bait, the challenges of building your own outlet, and what makes a good film festival.
You can read Adam Manary's reviews and film festival coverage at Points of Review.
End Credits Conversations returns next month on the fourth Saturday. End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

End Credits #447 - June 24, 2026 (Disclosure Day)

This week on End Credits, we're all about disclosure. Having said that, you can probably already guess that the movie this week is a little number called Disclosure Day, an entry from a real up-and-comer named Steven Spielberg, and in other disclosures we will share some of the movies we believe have stood out so far among the 2026 releases.
This Wednesday, June 24, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss:
The Best of the Year... So Far. It's been a big year at the movies so far with some pretty predictable hits like Super Mario Galaxy Movie, to some out of nowhere game changers like Backrooms. Are these some of the best movies of the year so far? Maybe (well, probably not in the case of the former), but the movies that do make out Best of the Year so far list will have many familiar names, from a fictional Canadian band to a real survivor situation.
REVIEW: Disclosure Day (2026). Some of Steven Spielberg's biggest movies have been about aliens - Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., War of the Worlds - so it makes sense that he'd go back to that well as he goes back to blockbuster filmmaking. In Disclosure Day, a group of do-gooders are attempted to release proof that aliens are real and that the government is covering them up, but anything worth doing is going to make you the target of malicious black ops agents. Still, this is Spielberg we're talking about, so this one has to be a winner, right?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.