Guelph Politicast

This week on Open Sources Guelph we're bringing the election in for a landing. It's been a very busy couple of months covering this campaign and with this episode we safely cross the finish line. We will talk to one more person who wants to be the next Mayor of Guelph in the first half of the show, and then in the second half we will have part one of a two-part interview with the person who's still the mayor. At least for a couple more weeks anyway.
This Thursday, October 22, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Big League Chew. Although he was only just elected as a city councillor in 2022, Ken Yee Chew has decided that now is his time to bring new leadership and energy to city hall by becoming the next mayor. As we count down the last couple of days till election day, Chew will join us to talk about some of the new ways he wants to organize city hall, and how a greater focus on financial reporting at the City of Guelph is the best way to get to those affordability goals.
Wham, Bam, Thank You Cam! As Guelph awaits the election of a new mayor, the current mayor is counting down to his last day in office. For 12 years Mayor Cam Guthrie has led the Royal City through all manner of issues including a couple of existential crises including a global pandemic along the way. In this first part of his last interview as mayor, Guthrie will tell us about the hard lessons learned, the things he wishes he could have done differently, and what he's planning next outside of politics.
***Programming Note: We will be live to air on Monday October 26 starting at 8 pm to cover all the returns from Guelph and other parts of the province. 
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

By the time this podcast drops, there's just over 48 hours until voting opens on Election Day. Already, nearly 10,000 people in Guelph have cast their ballot but there are over 100,000 eligible voters in the Royal City, and surely some of them haven't made up their minds yet. It's unlikely that there are many undecideds among the Breezy Breakfast crowd, but they still had questions about what this election means, and what's coming in the days after.
I went to Breezy Breakfast at Uptown Grill this past Thursday to talk to the regulars and irregulars at the weekly gathering, including a couple of council candidates, and answer their election questions. What are the potential mayors going to do with Strong Mayor Powers? Why has it been so hard to get reliable information this campaign? Has the selection of potential council candidates been somewhat disappointing? We will tackle all of that and more over the next hour! 
So let's talk about what kind of election it's been with the Breezy's on this last edition of the Guelph Politicast before the election! 
Breezy Breakfast happens every Thursday at 8 am at Uptown Grill. You can get all election information including polling locations on Monday October 26 at the City of Guelph website here. You can watch the videos of these and other interviews on the Guelph Politico YouTube channel @PoliticoOnVideo, and you can now check out candidate questionnaires on the Guelph Politico website.
Reminder: You will be able to follow results and analysis live on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca on Monday starting at 8 pm.
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.

This week on End Credits, we're posting through it. We will once again dive into the swampy morass of social media and moneyed interests run amok with the new based-on-a-true-story legal thriller The Social Reckoning in a theatre near you. We also dive into the director of The Social Reckoning, and he's accomplished screenwriting career. 
This Wednesday, October 21, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
The Sorkin Scenes. Aaron Sorkin is one of the most celebrated and accomplished screenwriters of our time. He's written scripts for extremely popular movies like A Few Good Men and The Social Network and created highly influential series like Sports Night and The West Wing, but some scenes are still better than others, right? To start this week's show, we're going to be talking about the A-sides from Sorkin's film and TV work.
REVIEW: The Social Reckoning (2026). In 2010, David Fincher made The Social Network. Back then, social media was still in its infancy (so to speak) and the dangers were not yet fully revealed, so it makes sense to follow-up on this story 16 years later, right? The Fincher-less Social Reckoning features Mikey Madison as a Facebook whistleblower, Jeremy Allen White as a Wall Street Journal reporter looking to expose the company's sins and Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg, our villain. But does Reckoning deliver the same blow as Network all these years later?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.. 

We have come to the end of this election, at least so far as these council candidate interviews go. The final vote is on Monday, but if you're still undecided, at least in two of the six wards, maybe these two interviews will help you make a final decision. In the Politicast's last election entry, we talk to one person running in Ward 4 and another in Ward 2.
First, data analyst Ali Malik will talk about why he's focused on the digging through the budget data, why his goal is operational excellency at the City of Guelph, how he will manage the competing demands of being a councillor, whether he’s concerned his plans will amount to micromanaging.
Then we will talk to community activist Barbara Mann about the trouble with communicating this election, how she’ll balance competing needs downtown, standing out in the very competitive Ward 2 slate, and whether hate and social justice have been big enough issues in this election.
So let’s hear from the last council candidates on this week’s Guelph Politicast!
You can get all election information including polling locations on Monday October 26 at the City of Guelph website here. You can watch the videos of these and other interviews on the Guelph Politico YouTube channel @PoliticoOnVideo, and you can now check out candidate questionnaires on the Guelph Politico website. You will be able to follow results and analysis live on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca on Monday starting at 8 pm.
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.

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we've got two more people who want to be mayor. As we close in on Election Day, and as early voting continues in the city, we bring you one person that's spent a lot of time on city council these last two decades, and someone who helped make their own Guelph council. Which one should you consider voting for? Don't ask us! We report, and you decide.
This Thursday, October 15, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Caron My Wayward Son. If you're looking for experience to fill the vacancy being left by Cam Guthrie, you're probably looking at Leanne Caron. She's served as one of the Ward 5 city councillors since 2006, and now she's ready to take on the challenges facing Guelph as mayor, but in a change election, is experience the most important thing voters are looking for? Caron will answer that question and take on others about the issues facing the Royal City, and her potential solutions.
Rendezvous with Ramos. Perhaps what city hall needs is someone with a different council experience. Evaristo Ramos, Jr. is one of the founders of the Guelph Indigenous Community Council, and now the transplant from Texas wants to take the lead on the biggest council in town. Ramos will tell us why he's campaigning differently from his rivals, how he plans to tackle the biggest problems in the city, and why Guelphites need a mayor they feel like listens to them.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

As this election comes to a close, we do the nearly impossible and finish the list of candidates running in Ward 5. That's been the busiest race in this municipal election with 10 candidates in total, and they represent a wide variety of vocations, perspectives and experiences, and here, with these last ones, we meet, perhaps, two of the most unique.
First, we will chat with pharmacist and homelessness advocate Danny Lui about why council needs some on the frontline of homelessness crisis, why compassion needs to be an election issue, why poverty is an affordability issue too, and why the next council can’t lose focus on supporting arts, culture and community.
Then we will then talk to biologist and environmental activist Dylan White about he’s more progressive than the rest, why we haven’t talked about the environment enough this election, how he can talk about the environment when all people want to talk about is affordability, and what happens next with town and gown relations.
So let’s hear from two more council candidates on this week’s Guelph Politicast!
Reminder: Early voting continues this weekend at the Victoria Road Recreation Centre, the Evergreen Seniors Centre, Shelldale Family Gateway, West End Community Centre, University Centre and Arkell Road Bible Chapel from 10 am to 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday.
To learn more about important election dates, and to see the list of candidates running in all the races, go to the City of Guelph website here. You can watch the videos of these and other interviews on the Guelph Politico YouTube channel @PoliticoOnVideo, and you can now check out candidate questionnaires on the Guelph Politico 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.

This week on End Credits, you know how this looks, right? On this show, we're going to dig into the movie for the moment, which is about a 20-year-old TV show and starring one our most versatile actors. Yes, it's time for Primetime, and along with that one, we will go back in time for another audacious movie that is also based on a true story! 
This Wednesday, October 14, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
Marie Antoinette at 20! For her third film, Sofia Coppola told the story of the last Queen of France, a woman made famous by her avarice and spending, and her dismissal of the concerns of France's poor with an anachronistic catchphrase. Marie Antoinette wasn't a big hit when it came out in 2006, but it's one of those movies that people have come around to in the last two decades. So as Marie Antoinette turns 20, we will talk about what we missed the first time.
REVIEW: Primetime (2026). In the aughts, there was a show called To Catch a Predator, where journalist Chris Hansen confronted potential pedophiles lured to idyllic suburban settings through online chats and IMs. The phenomenon has been captured in the new film from Lance Oppenheim and starring Robert Pattinson. In Primetime, Pattinson plays Hansen who descends into a heart of darkness as the real struggle to safeguard children meets his desire for fame, fortune and legitimacy, and in the process they might have created the film that best explains our times. But is it good?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

The 2026 municipal election is coming to a close. Can you believe it? Don't worry though because this podcast is still chugging along with new interviews with council candidates and this week, we've got a pair of guys who mean business, but on the opposite ends of town. If you haven't made up your mind yet in Ward 3 or 5, there's more for you to consider...
First, we will head back to Ward 3 and talk to former Downtown Guelph Business Association executive director Marty Williams about what it means to “protect what makes Ward 3 special”, why he’s promising to make amenities better, how Ward 3 is underappreciated for its diversity and why city hall needs to learn the difference between criticism and personal attack.
We will then take a trip down to the south end and chat with procurement and supply chain manager Shane Coulis about why he’s running on his business experience, what density means in Ward 6, why the ward might feel like it's politically adrift right now, and how he wants to improve engagement with the diverse communities in the south end.
So let’s hear from two more council candidates on this week’s Guelph Politicast!
To learn more about important election dates, and to see the list of candidates running in all the races, go to the City of Guelph website here. You can watch the videos of these and other interviews on the Guelph Politico YouTube channel @PoliticoOnVideo, and you can now check out candidate questionnaires on the Guelph Politico website.
Reminder: Early voting is underway and you can go to city hall and vote anytime between 10 am and 7 pm through Friday, and 10 am to 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday.  Early vote also expands this weekend to the Victoria Road Recreation Centre, the Evergreen Seniors Centre, Shelldale Family Gateway, West End Community Centre, University Centre and Arkell Road Bible Chapel starting Friday.  
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.

This week on Open Sources Guelph, it's mayor time! For the last several weeks we've been talking to the people that want to be a part of the next city council and now we start digging into the people that want to be the head of that council, the Mayor of Guelph. To kick things off, we're joined by two new arrivals on the political scene, one a former teacher with a very universal message and the other a businessman with some big ideas!
This Thursday, October 8, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
The Sign Guy. You may know Ryan Meunier as "The Sign Guy", taking space in the Ward with his homemade sign expressing his concerns about rapidly increasing property tax rates. Perhaps it was inevitable that he would seek an elected office, and the office he settled on was that of the mayor. In this interview, Meunier will talk about why he's fighting for common sense and the prosperity of all Guelph families, and why he's going off-brand with a sign-less campaign.
Rajee Against the Machine. Local businessman and realtor Rajee Sinha has a simple idea for tackling some of the pressing problems facing Guelph: Think outside the box. Sinha wants to bring a businessman's perspective to the mayor's office, not by looking at service cuts, but by looking for new ways to raise revenue, and in this interview, we will tell Open Sources about a few of those ideas and how he will defeat institutional gridlock to make it happen.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

If you're listening to this on Saturday it's the first day of advanced voting in this municipal election. Congratulations, you made it! But the work isn't done yet, we've still got a lot of interviews lined up for the next few weeks and on today's edition, we go back to Ward 5. In the aftermath of Homecoming, what at the expectations for these candidates now?
First up, University of Guelph business student Michael Agueci will talk about why a student wants to be a city councillor, what his classmates think about his run for office, whether he and his classmates feel welcome in Guelph especially after the fallout of Homecoming, and why he's not afraid of trying new things and failing at them.
After that, we will talk to  community organizer Xandine Arnott about building a campaign based on realism, why they are embarrassed by the last term of council, how they will make sure that they don’t loose touch with the small and low priority issues at the City, and the ways they intend to promote gentle density to create more housing in Ward 5.
So let’s hear from two more council candidates on this week’s Guelph Politicast!
To learn more about important election dates, and to see the list of candidates running in all the races, go to the City of Guelph website here. You can watch the videos of these and other interviews on the Guelph Politico YouTube channel @PoliticoOnVideo, and you can now check out candidate questionnaires on the Guelph Politico website.
Reminder: Early voting begins today (Saturday). You can cast your ballot at city hall between 10 am and 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday, or between 10 am and 7 pm Monday through Thursday.
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.