Guelph Politicast

GUELPH POLITICAST #167 - On Development Part II: The Official Plan

If you want to talk about development in Guelph, or any municipality in Ontario for that matter, you have to start with the Official Plan. Every decision concerning what can be built, where it can be built, how it can be built, and what services it needs stems from a 403-page, living document that you've probably never read.
The City of Guelph website describes the Official Plan as “focused on sustainability and establishes policies that have a positive effect on Guelph’s social, economic, cultural and natural environment. The Official Plan strives to maintain a high quality of life for the residents of Guelph, reduce uncertainty concerning future development, and provides a basis for the Zoning Bylaw and other land use controls.”
Specifically, that means Urban Design, like how tall buildings can be and where you can put tall buildings. It also covers methods for sustainability and mitigating climate change, managing the various transportation methods in the city, the kinds of signage that's allowed, the creation of new parkland and trails, and even the placement of public art. More than that, the Official Plan also isn't just about managing today, it's about planning Guelph for the next 20 years.
And who knows more about the Official Plan than Melissa Aldunate, the Manager of Policy Planning and Urban Design at City of Guelph? Her department is responsible for the management of the Official Plan, and the ongoing process of its updating. It's work that requires co-ordination with all the city's stakeholders, as well as staying on top of new Provincial guidelines and standards that might affect us locally. It's kind of a big deal.
So this week on the podcast, Melissa Aldunate tells us about why we even need an Official Plan, and a bit about its history: What does the plan cover, why does it covers it, and how does the Zoning Bylaw comes into play when it comes to developments and proposals brought to the monthly planning meeting? She also talks about how the Comprehensive Bylaw review might affect the ongoing work on keep the Official Plan up-to-date, what other changes might be pending, and the occasional legal intricacies that result from updating the plan.
So let's talk about planning officially on this week's Guelph Politicast!
For further reading, you can find a link to the Official Plan at the City of Guelph’s website here, and you can find out more about the Comprehensive Bylaw Review here.
The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here.
Remember that the Politicast Podbean channel is also the host for podcast versions of Open Sources Guelph. The previous Thursday’s episode of Open Sources will be posted on Mondays.

Open Sources Guelph - April 4, 2019

It's a new month, but it's business as usual in news on this week's edition of Open Sources Guelph. Most of that is thanks to Ottawa, and the never-ending scandal about that one Montreal engineering firm and the politicians trying to cover for it, but there is new news out there. In one small island in Canada, they may be flirting with an entirely new type of government, but will they seal the deal? So there's that, and we'll try and get some insight at the intersection of Federal and local with Guelph's Member of Parliament.
This Thursday, April 4 at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Lloyd Stories. It's probably a difficult time to be a backbench Liberal MP; you're not really part of the SNC-Lavalin affair, but it's what everybody wants to talk about. This week on our show, Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield finds himself in just such a position, but we find time to talk about other issues too like the implementation of the carbon tax and the recent loss of auto sector jobs. Plus, there's an election coming, and we'll talk to Longfield about what's concerning him.
The Tapes of Wrath. If the SNC-Lavalin scandal was going away, it came roaring back last Friday when Jody Wilson-Raybould released a recorded conversation with Michael Wernick, the former Clerk of the Privy Council, that counteracted some previously related statements about pressure on her to give SNC a deferred prosecution. Now Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott are both out of the Liberal caucus, and the scandal seems hotter than ever. So where does this go now?
Election with an E. While all eyes are on Alberta, and the epic showdown between Jason Kenney and Rachel Notley, history may be in the making on the other side of the country. Prince Edward Island has also called a provincial election, and there's actually a very good chance that it could end with Canada's first Green Party Premier. Peter Bevan-Baker and the Greens have led four of the last five polls, but is it a done deal for the Greens, and what does a Green government mean for Canada?
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits - April 3, 2019 (Heathers ReView)

This week on End Credits, we're going to go back... Back in time! Instead of a new movies this week, we're going to revisit an old movie. Heathers turns the big 3-0 this week, and we're going to revisit this very complex film. Plus, we're back on the Disney merger beat, we'll discuss labour issues at movie theatres, and then we'll look at another 90s remake, and the not so strange world of a filmmaker who might have lost their way.
This Wednesday, April 3, at 2 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
King of the (Disney)World. The fallout of the merger between the Walt Disney Company and 21st Century Fox continues. As the pink slips go out, people are looking at what's being lost and where the potential problems lie. James Cameron's Avatar pantheon is now under Disney, but can the King of the World fit in with the House and Mouse? And what will be lost with the closure of the Fox 2000 shingle? We'll look at these questions.
Goldmine Cleaning. A report in Variety painted a pretty bleak picture of what it's like for janitorial staff at big cinema chains in the United States. Workers making $5 an hour or less, working seven days a week and 10 hours a day is not uncommon, and to add insult to injury these people may be working under nebulous employment conditions as "subcontractors", robbing them of workers' rights. We'll talk about the details of this messed up situation.
Re-Craft. When The Craft was released in 1996, it was pretty much peak-90s. The tale of four teenage women who use witchcraft to get what they want featured Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Rachel True and the Guelph-famous Neve Campbell, and it remains a cult classic. Now, Zoe Lister-Jones has been hired to remake it, which would bring a female touch behind the camera that the original, surprisingly, didn't have. Is it a good time for a Craft remake?
The Secret Life of Pet Weirdos. Tim Burton's latest film, Dumbo, came out last weekend. It's a new entry from, in the director's own words, "Disney's pet weirdo" and it was the number one movie at the box office last weekend. Still, many film writers have noted that Dumbo's success is in spite of Burton, and not because of it. What happened to this inventive and well-loved filmmaker that he's now practically an impediment to his own success?
ReVIEW: Heathers (1989). It's been 30 years since Heathers was first released in theatres, initiating three decades of cult status for a movie that, in all likelihood, would not get made today. The tale of Veronica Sawyer, who tries to right the social wrongs at her school with a murder spree of a few of the most popular kids, is a proverbial onion of thematic material and satire that seems to get sharper with age, not duller. This week for our feature review, we'll look back at Heathers, and talk about why it may be more relevant now three decades later.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 2 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #166 - Mirali Almaula, The Ontarion

Nobody in the press likes being story, but the student press lately has very much been part of the story. The state of the media today is the story as we've seen with papers closing start-ups coming and going, and layoffs affecting the entire sector. The landscape is changing, and it's changing rapidly, and not even the student media is immune from the shift.
At the University of Guelph this week, it's The Ontarion that's been making some news of it's own as they're going down to a monthly publishing schedule, and that comes after two months of concern about how the Student Choice Initiative will effect the paper's primary source of income, student fees. Even the paper’s own unscientific poll says that only 57 per cent of undergrads will continue voluntarily giving the paper their $3.12 every semester.
It's a storied legacy that the young people now running The Ontarion are trying to protect, one that started a dozen years before there was even a University of Guelph. There are a lot of people that gave been a part of that legacy over the years, and they have their fingers crossed that it can keep going, and maybe none more so than The Ontarion's most recent Editor-in-Chief, Mirali Almaula. (Full disclosure: the host of this podcast was The Ontarion's EiC during the 2007-08 publishing year.)
This week on the podcast, Mirali Almaula will talk about her tenure at The Ontarion, and how she thinks her and her staff reacted to the changes affecting the paper. There's  also a discussion about where she thinks The Ontarion sits in the news diet of U of G students, and how recent events might have changed that. Plus, Almaula talks about what she thinks The Ontarion will look like five years from now, what she will be doing next, and what skills she’s learned that she’ll be taking with her.
So let's talk about the changing face of the student press on this week's Guelph Politicast!
The Ontarion will be back on newsstands at the end of August with its "Guelph 101" issue for new students, and it is always available online here.
The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here.
Remember that the Politicast Podbean channel is also the host for podcast versions of Open Sources Guelph. The previous Thursday’s episode of Open Sources will be posted on Mondays.

Open Sources Guelph - March 28, 2019

This week on Open Sources Guelph many of our ongoing stories lines come to a head, but it's not exactly the end of the story. We'll look at the questions that still linger even though the Mueller Report has been delivered. We'll cover the beginning of the Alberta election, which might be the end of one brief dynasty. Abroad, we'll look at the exit that didn't happen, but still might, and then a candidate in Israel's election seems to be depending on some of that foreign interference.
This Thursday, March 28 at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Mueller's Crossing. After nearly two years of waiting and investigating, the report by Special Council Robert Mueller has been delivered, and it was a total and complete vindication for President Donald Trump. No collusion! That's a load off, or it would be if that's what the report actually said, and if we had more than four lines from the report as interpreted by Trump's own attorney general in the public domain. We'll talk about what we do know about the report, and all the unanswered questions we still have.
War of the Wild Roses. The provincial election in Alberta got underway a few weeks ago, and the polls are saying that this is the beginning of the end for the Wild Rose province's brief flirtation with left-wing governance. But what is Alberta going to get in return? As UCP candidates drop out for comments at various levels of inappropriateness, leader Jason Kenney is acting more like he's running against Justin Trudeau than Rachel Notley, and is even flirting with Alberta separatism. We'll discuss the race so far.
Brexit to Eden? The United Kingdom was supposed to leave the European Union on Friday, but then no one could agree how to do it. Instead, there's now an April deadline to leave, and the constant certainty that Parliament will not solve in two weeks what they haven't solved in two years. In the meantime, the House of Commons had a series on non-binding votes on Brexit options, but those are just as likely to go to the same place as Theresa May's original deal. Will there ever be a Brexit?
Bibi fête. Over in Israel there's an election right now, and the current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is fighting to keep his job even though he's presently under indictment for bribery and other charges. In tough times, it's important to have friends in high places, which is why Donald Trump signed a proclamation ceding the Golan Heights to Israel despite the outrage of the international community, and the tradition of the U.S. President staying out of foreign elections. So dies Bibi have a chance?
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits - March 27, 2019 (Us)

This week on End Credits, it's us, and it's not us. Maybe it's both. Who can say if we are who we say we are, or if we're shadows of ourselves tethered to another reality? And if this preamble means nothing to you, then you weren't part of the record breaking audience for Us this past weekend. We'll review Jordan Peele's latest, and talk about some other movie stuff, new films in production, and new trailers. 
This Wednesday, March 27, at 2 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
In Production. If you don't see anything you like in the theatre right now, then you can just wait a year because there's some pretty cool stuff coming. Christopher Nolan is working on a new (mysterious) project, Denis Villeneuve's new version of Dune is shooting, The Three Musketeers are being dusted off for Netflix, and Bill and Ted will finally Face the Music 30 years after their original Excellent Adventure. We'll discuss these developments.
In Promotion. It was a busy week in trailers last week with studios offering a first look at a variety of high-profile projects. Your favourite toys are back for a new adventures as they try to save a spork. Quentin Tarantino offers a fascinating peak into this re-creation of 1960s Tinseltown. Fargo series creator Noah Hawley takes us into space with Natalie Portman. And the kids from Hawkins have to deal with puberty and new monsters from the Upside Down.
REVIEW: Us (2019). Jordan Peele's follow-up to Get Out has to be one of the most anticipated sophomore films in the history of cinema. Could Us possibly live up to the weight of expectation? Can it stand on its own apart from the award-winning, cultural legacy of Get Out? It turns out that it can. With Us, Peele proves that he has the innate talent to craft a deeply unsettling horror film with equal amounts of humour and terror, even if he's not trying to change the game. With a variety of influences and messages though, where do we possibly begin?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 2 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #165 - Fraud Prevention Month

March is Fraud Prevention Month. Hold you applause. If you made it without being accosted by someone trying to con you, count your blessings, but don't let your guard down! Scammers are out for your money, and your personal information, all 12 months of the year, and some people want us more prepared for that eventuality.
In all, there were 59,009 reports of fraud from Canadian consumers and businesses last year costing us approximately $97,654,160.35. That covers extortion, phishing, counterfeit merchandise, identity theft, romance fraud, and a wide variety of other schemes, and on top of that, only five per cent of fraud victims make a report. The real price of fraud is likely hundreds of millions more.
That's why the the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) wants us talking more about fraud. The CAFC is the central agency in Canada that collects information and criminal intelligence on such matters as mass marketing fraud, advance fee fraud, Internet fraud and identification theft complaints. They're not a police force, but they work with police forces across the country, including the Guelph Police Service, to raise awareness about fraud, and educate the public about how to combat it.
This week on the podcast, we're joined by Jessica Gunson, the Acting Call Centre & Intake Unit Manager of the CAFC. Gunson shares her expertise about combating fraud by phone, online, and in-person. How do scammers get your personal information? How you know you’re talking to who you think you’re talking to? Gunson has those answers and she will also talk about how much fraud is going on right now, why you can just say 'No' to anyone that’s trying to sell you something, and what your best strategy should be when dealing with people who will do or say anything to get your money.
So let's get smarter about fraud on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!
If you are the victim of fraud, CAFC  recommends that you is gather all information, report the incident to local law enforcement, and contact the Canadian Anti‐Fraud Centre toll free at 1‐888‐495‐8501 or through the Fraud Reporting System on the CAFC website. Also, report the incident to relevant financial institutions, websites, and report it to both Credit Bureaus: Equifax and TransUnion.
You can get more tips on how to prevent fraud at the Better Business Bureau, Equifax, the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services, the Ontario Securities Commission, Registered Charities, Trans Union, and, of course, the Guelph Police Service.
The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here.
Remember that the Politicast Podbean channel is also the host for podcast versions of Open Sources Guelph. The previous Thursday’s episode of Open Sources will be posted on Mondays.

Open Sources Guelph - March 21, 2019

Open Sources Guelph came on the air with a discussion of extremism back in 2015, and it's been kind of a recurring theme ever since. This week, extremism hits New Zealand and we'll talk about the implications, as well as the implications for Canada's own growing hate movements. On the lighter side, we'll also talk about the newly revealed Federal budget, and the latest follies from Queen's Park.
This Thursday, March 21 at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
We're In the Money! The Federal government unveiled their last budget before the election on Tuesday, and they did it in spite of the consternation and disgust of the Official Opposition. The contents of the budget were comparatively far less controversial as the circumstances that lead up to it. The document itself is a potpourri of offers and tax incentives for a wide variety of people from first-time home buyers, to students, to seniors, and municipal governments. We'll break down the greatest hits of the budget.
Hillier to Die On. Another week at Queen's Park brings another week of controversy. While the integrity commissioner said that no wrong doing took place in the appointment of Ron Taverner, there's still new controversy that involves firebrand MPP Randy Hillier, who says that he was tossed from caucus because he didn't like the way that his boss, Premier Doug Ford, was getting cozy with close friends and lobbyists. Oh yes, and there's all that education news too as the curriculum gets a shake-up and class sizes are increasing.
Christchurch. An Islamophobe and white supremacist walked into two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand and killed 50 people and injured dozens more. His 74-page manifesto, social media posts, and live stream of the attack itself all point to a man deeply entrenched in online racism culture, and his massacre was designed to impress and inspire like-minded people. We'll talk about the world-wide increase in terror threats from the far-right, and what role social media companies are playing in the threat.
The Hateful Rate. As we provide sympathy and support to New Zealand in an official capacity, we need to look inward to Canada's own far-right hate movement. Not just the ones we know promote hatred like Faith Goldy or the Alberta-based Yellow Vest Movement of Canada, but the ones like Andrew Scheer who had to submit condolences twice and cancel an event with a European white nationalist. Can we tackle hate abroad when we're having trouble dealing with it head on at home?
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits - March 20, 2019 (Green Book)

This week on End Credits, we court controversy. We dig into arguably the most controversial pick for Best Picture in the last 20 years, and ask if it might be too much to expect a road move to solve racism. Yup, we're reviewing Green Book, and we're talking about the last days of a movie studio, another Simpsons squabble, the trailer for *that* Disney movie, and whether or not it's okay to be okay.
This Wednesday, March 20, at 2 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Vince Masson will discuss:
The End. This week marks the end of 20th Century Fox as its own Hollywood studio, and the beginning of its time as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Walt Disney Corporation. While a lot of the focus has been on what will happen to your favourite franchises, there could be as many as 10,000 people out of a job, and fewer movies being made in a given year with Disney controlling nearly half of the market. We'll consider the bigger implications of this change.
Stark Raving Bad. The Simpsons executive producer Al Jean took the bold step of pulling one of his most signature episodes of the series from syndication, the one that guest-starred Michael Jackson. In the wake of the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, Jean said he suspected that the episode might have been used by Jackson to lure some of his alleged victims though he has no proof. But really, how much of Jackson's legacy can be erased from pop culture?
Oh Kay, Captain, My Captain. Captain Marvel is a box office smash, but many critics have noted that they're not as bowled over by the film as they would like it to be. It's entertaining enough, sure, but it doesn't exactly re-invent the wheel. This prompts the question: Is it okay that Captain Marvel is just okay? Many cultural commentators hope so because the demand for perfection has been holding female-led films back. We'll talk about this new debate.
Arabian Blights. Disney has created something of a cottage industry doing live-action versions of their big animated hits, but they may have met their match in Aladdin. While at first there was concern that the film wouldn't be culturally sensitive enough, now the concern is whether the movie looks too impossibly silly to overcome. From Will Smith's not-so-blue Genie, to a less-than-threatening looking Jafar, we'll look at all the way we're concerned with Aladdin.
REVIEW: Green Book (2018). It was the Academy Award winner for Best Picture this year, and it's been the subject of a great deal of controversy because of it. The inspired-by-true-events tale of Dr. Donald Shirley, and his 1962 tour through the South while being driven by Tony Lip, a low level enforcer for the New York mob, certainly seemed to be a crowd-pleaser, and it has three Oscars, but are people judging the movie for what it is, or what it isn't?  We'll bring a critical eye to Green Book and consider if the blowback has been overblown.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 2 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #164 - The Rookies (OSG Interviews)

Today, students and community groups on campuses across Ontario will go on strike to protest the Ontario government's Student Choice Initiative, which could defund in part, or entirely, a lot of different campus clubs, services, and yes, media. One such impacted group would be CFRU, the community radio station that operates out of the University of Guelph.
This is relevant to the Guelph Politicast because CFRU is where the show is recorded every week. It's also relevant because the Politicast's sister show, Open Sources Guelph, is broadcast every week on CFRU. OSG is more or less the only venue where local politicians - from the mayor, to city councillors, to MPs, and MPPs - are interviewed in long format. These conversations are not just about sound bites, but a wider, more in-depth opportunity to talk to newsmakers about the issues.
So this week on the podcast, two examples of this rarefied art form in the local media landscape are submitted for your listening delight. Specifically, this week you'll hear from "the Rookies", Ward 6 City Councillor Dominique O'Rourke and Ward 2 City Councillor Rodrigo Goller.
Dominique O'Rourke appeared on Open Sources Guelph back before she was sworn in on November 8. From the OSG website:
"Council won’t get sworn in till December, but we’re getting ahead of the game when it comes to having members of the new council in studio! This week, we’ll welcome new Ward 6 City Councillor-Elect Dominique O’Rourke for her first live Open Sources interview as a member of the horseshoe. We’ll talk with O’Rourke about her decisive election victory, how she’s been preparing to take up her role as a city councillor, and what she expects some of her first initiatives will be. Do you have a question for the incoming councillor? We’ll ask those too!"
Rodrigo Goller then appeared on the show on December 20, shortly after the first few meetings of this new term. Again, from the OSG website:
"Guelph City Council has only been back in session for two weeks, but what a two weeks it’s been! From a massive development in the west end, to the approval of cannabis retail locations, to an underpass trail beneath the Speedvale Bridge, there’s been a lot of big calls, and some bigger calls are yet to come. That’s a lot for a rookie councillor to handle, but this week, we’ll check in with Ward 2 Councillor Rodrigo Goller to see how he’s handling it. We’ll talk to Goller about how he’s handling the learning curve, what he thinks of the council experience so far, and what we should expect coming up in the new year."
So let's catch-up with the Rookies on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!
Remember: you can listen to each new episode of Open Sources Guelph Thursdays at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca. Or, you can listen to the podcast version on the Guelph Politcast channel every Monday.
The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here.
Remember that the Politicast Podbean channel is also the host for podcast versions of Open Sources Guelph. The previous Thursday’s episode of Open Sources will be posted on Mondays.