Open Sources Guelph #473 - June 13, 2024

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we won't say that democracy doesn't work, but it certainly seems to be malfunctioning. We will look to our friends in the EU who seem to be increasingly embracing authoritarianism, but things aren't too rosy on our own shores where a beleaguered Indigenous community here in Ontario has to take the government to court to get action. For the interview this week - and don't hate us - we're talking about landlord issues with a landlord.

This Thursday, June 13, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

All the Far-Right Moves. Elections for the European Union parliament took place last weekend, and while the EPP majority held, there were significant gains for far-right parties, which prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to call a snap election in France for the end of the month. More broadly, the election results were seen as another lurch towards a new western autocracy driven by anti-immigrant sentiment and economic malaise. How concerned should we be?

Narrows Pursuit. For decades, the Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek First Nation - more commonly known as Grassy Narrows - has suffered from the ill-health effects of mercury contamination. In fact, 90 per cent of the people living there are feeling the effects. Now, the people of Grassy Narrows are taking the federal and provincial governments to court for failing to protect their treaty rights and the decision will surely shake up nation-to-nation relations here in Canada. We'll dig into that.

Going SOLO. It turns out that everyone's fed up with the Landlord Tenant Board. A new group called SOLO, Small Ownership Landlords of Ontario, want changes to the board because systemic backlogs and delays are making it harder for them to get rid of problem tenants in a time when the housing crisis is putting pressures on all ends of the housing spectrum, including the small landlords. Board member Kevin Costain will talk to us about the changes that SOLO wants the provincial government to follow-up on.

Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.