Guelph Politicast
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Friday Aug 19, 2016
Friday Aug 19, 2016
The subtitle for this week's episode might well be "How does city
council work?" Or at least, how does something transform from being an
idea or suggestion into a new by-law or policy. Change is always
inevitable, and there's a fairly significant change coming to the way
council is conducted next month, the switch over from a standing
committee model to a Committee-of-the-Whole one. So I thought, "Why not
combine the ideas?"
On this week's Guelph Politicast, Stephen
O'Brien, the city clerk of the City of Guelph, takes us though the
process of how Committee-of-the-Whole went from something staff
considered as a way to streamline how city council does business to
becoming the actual way that city council will do business in just a few
weeks. What are the steps between idea, committee, and council
decision? What kind of research is involved? And when does a new idea
get feedback and from who?
All good questions that O'Brien
helped me figure out, and in addition that to insight into just how the
sausage gets made (so to speak), this podcast will also let you know how
Committee-of-the-Whole will be different, what changes you might expect
when it's enacted, and how council and staff will determine if the
whole of the Whole is working out for the best. If you love the minutiae
of municipal politics, you will definitely want to grab a cup of tea
and enjoy this in a place where you can lay back, relax and let yourself
drift away to a beautiful space where policy and procedure is its own
reward. (Hopefully, I didn't oversell that.)
Reminder: the first
meeting of the Committee-of-the-Whole is on Tuesday September 6, and you
can reach the clerk’s office at 519-837-5603 or clerks@guelph.ca. You can also follow the City of Guelph’s Twitter feed @cityofguelph to keep up to date with future meeting developments.
The theme music for the Guelph Politicast is from the KPM Klassics collection by Syd Dale.
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.
Stay tuned for future editions of the Guelph Politicast!
Wednesday Aug 17, 2016
Wednesday Aug 17, 2016
Many city councillors manage two careers, but usually one of those
careers takes them out of the spotlight. This is not the case with Ward 2
City Councillor James Gordon, who is a city councillor by day, and a
singer/songwriter by night. Or maybe that's reversed. Or maybe they
sometimes both take place at night. In any event, Gordon spends both
career in the spotlight, and he recently took the hot seat on an episode
of Open Sources Guelph a few weeks ago.
When Gordon appeared on
the show back at the beginning of July there was an odd confluence of
events as council headed into its last few weeks before summer break.
There was the recent move to put on extra buses to deal with complaints
about transit, there was the debate about a living wage at committee,
and Gordon's personal push to make sure Guelph's original inhabitants
are recognized at the beginning of every council meeting.
Along
with the specific issues mentioned about, we also asked Gordon about
making the transfer from activist to politician; it was a job he was
trying to get for a while after all, with two previous runs at Queen's
Park, and years forming groups like the Guelph Civic League and the
Wellington Water Watchers. And obviously, we also talked about his
latest musical foray, the self-titled Sunny Jim.
So let's catch-up with Sunny Jim from the July 7 episode of Open Sources Guelph.
You can reach James Gordon at 519-822-1260 x 2504, or by email at james.gordon@guelph.ca. You can follow his blog, his Facebook page, or his Twitter feed. You can also buy his new album, Sunny Jim, here.
You can download more podcasts off the Guelph Politicast channel on Podbean, including episodes of the Guelph Politicast, and full episodes of Open Sources Guelph.
For updates on special guests coming up on future episodes of Open Sources Guelph, you can visit the show's website here.
Of course, you can listen to every edition of Open Sources Guelph, live, Thursdays at 5 pm.
Monday Aug 15, 2016
Monday Aug 15, 2016
On this week’s episode of Open Sources Guelph we
consider a name change to the show, at least through to November: “What
Stupid Stuff Has Donald Trump Said This Week?” Obviously, that’s how
we’ll kick off the show, but we’ll try and keep the insanity of “Cheeto
Jesus” to a minimum as we look even further south to the Olympic games
in Brazil, which aren’t nearly the disaster of the Trump campaign, but
close. Then we’ll head out to Vancouver where one type of housing woe
has replaced another, before wrapping things up with the delicate
politics of Israel, and what one federal political party might have to
say about them.
This Thursday, August 11, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
1) Sophomoric Slump.
The cycle continues: Trump has a bad week, redeems himself by
demonstrating skill at reading a teleprompter, and then he says
something bat$#!% crazy to start the cycle all over again. This week,
Trump told supporters that maybe Second Amendment supporters had a way
to stop a future President Clinton from getting their guns. (Hint.
Hint.) Following a beef with a Gold Star family, an asinine answer to a
question about sexual harassment, and impetuously refusing to endorse
high-profile members of his own party, Trump really didn’t need to say
something stupid this week. Especially on a Tuesday. And Especially when
Hillary Clinton keeps talking herself into trouble over emails. We’ll
discuss the latest from the U.S. race.
2) Rio Static?
Protests against the government, long lines to get into events,
unfinished athletes’ quarters, and "dangerously high levels of sewage”
in the bay where aquatics events are being held are just a few of the
problems to be suffered through this first week of the Olympics in Rio
de Janeiro. Heck, even the McDonalds in Athletes’ Village was forced to
shutdown after being so overwhelmed, and this is McDonalds, a well-oiled
machine if there ever was one. Whether the problems are real or
imagined (a kayaker capsized by a submerged sofa?), this Olympiad may go
down in history as one of the most logistically difficult in recent
memory, which forces us to ask again: Is the Olympics really worth all
this bother, scandal and outrage?
3) Tax Decentive.
The people in the greater Vancouver area wanted the government to do
something about ever increasing housing prices, so they did. A new tax
on foreign buyers has had an immediate chilling effect on the red hot
housing market on the left coast, and perhaps more than they intended as
people in the midst of filing their papers now find themselves
subjected to thousands of dollars more in a new tax, and it’s not just
targeting those looking to purely invest their money in real estate that
are affected. People looking to make their home in Vancouver, but don’t
yet have their residency papers completed yet, have been classified as
foreign buyers even though they’re planning on staying, forcing them to
pay the extra tax as wekk. So has B.C.’s solution caused more problems
than it’s solved?
4) It’s Not Easy Being Green.
In a move that’s sure to be controversial - heck, it’s already
controversial amongst the members - the Green Party has endorsed the
addition of a caveat to support boycott, divestment and sanctions
against Israel to the party platform at the Green convention last
Sunday. Approval of the BDS was a grassroots effort that Elizabeth May
and her shadow cabinet didn’t put their weight behind, and it happened
just as Israel itself is considering ways to deport or bar the entry of
activists advocating for a boycott of Israel. The measure is sure to
pose a difficult question for the Greens as they look to the next
election: are they sacrificing long-term electoral prospects for the
short term bump from the party’s activist wing?
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.
Monday Aug 15, 2016
Monday Aug 15, 2016
Oh man, how we long to go to the circus agin... Instead this week on Open Sources Guelph we
resist the urge to talk about all those things zapping the oxygen south
of the border, to tackle some serious issues. Terror has made the news
again, but not because someone shot something up, or blew something up.
Water is in the headlines, mostly the lack of it, but also the taking of
it by big water bottling companies. Then we'll follow the tracks to
Churchill, because the train don't run there anymore. And then we'll
wrap up with trip overseas to Britain where they're still feeling the
after effects from the Brexit.
This Thursday, August 4, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
1) The Trouble with Terror.
While a certain orange-coloured candidate down south is trying to get
people worked up into a lather over terrorists hiding behind every rock,
meanwhile NDP public safety critic Randall Garrison is getting ready to
push a private members bill through the House to repeal the law once
known as Bill C-51, a piece of Conservative legislation that gave
Canada's spy agencies sweeping new powers. At almost the same time last
week, the conviction of John Nuttall and Amanda Korody were overturned
on appeal with the presiding judge saying that the RCMP entrapped them,
and provoked them into planning a Canada Day attack in Vancouver. So in
this era of heightened concern about terrorism - especially after Nice,
Orlando, San Bernadino, and Paris - is Canada now underreacting, or
toning down the original overreaction?
2) A Bottling Plant Runs Through It.
It's been a long dry summer for our region, with water use levels in
Guelph having been on red alert for over a month now. It makes you
wonder about the limits of our water resources, and whether it's a
bright move on the part of the stewards of those resources to allow
almost unilateral control over the most precious resource we have. Local
advocates are pushing hard against Nestle in particular, as the company
itself has admitted that their on the lookout for more wells to tap,
all for the low, low price of about $5 a day for millions of litres of
irreplaceable fresh water resources. Are we doing enough to protect our
water, and why does the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change
seem unresponsive to community concerns?
3) Back ‘Trax.
A controversy in northern Manitoba this week has seen the shuttering of
the Port of Churchill with the company OmniTrax unilaterally closing
down Canada's only rail-accessible deepwater Arctic port leaving
conditions in the local economy turbulent at best. Manitoba's
new Premier, Brian Pallister, has said that OmniTrax is trying to get
more money out of the provincial government, but the short term concern
is that a lot of people in Churchill are out of work and thedifficulty
in getting food and supplies to northern communities has increased. Is
this a case of the limitations of corporate welfare, and what can/should
Manitoba do now?
4) After Brexit?
Way back on June 23, a slim majority of U.K. citizens voted to break
away from the European Union, several political leaders quit their jobs
after that, including Prime Minister David Cameron, and all was well in
the land of Great Britain. Except not really. Dark economic clouds have
been forming on the horizon, and the number of anti-immigrant hate
crimes has increased. So now what? It's an excellent question that the
North American press seems to have dropped since the immediate aftermath
of the vote. So we'll check in with the post-Brexit world. What is the
economic outlook for the U.K.? Is there a chance that Britain might come
through this okay, and what are the odds it won't?
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.
Monday Aug 15, 2016
Monday Aug 15, 2016
After taking a week off, we have a lot of politics to catch up on with this week's Open Sources Guelph.
First, we'll go to Philly where history was made as the first woman to
win a major party nomination accepted with the trepidation of some in
her party. It was serious stuff, the kind of stuff that make you want to
take a trip to the circus. The Republicans threw one last week in
honour of coronating their 2016 nominee, the orange-coloured ego man.
Hopefully, this is something that will not be repeated next year when
the Federal Conservatives and NDP choose a leader here in Canada.
Speaking of circuses, the Canadian senate is hoping to go back to
relative anonymity now that its members have all been cleared of
criminal charges. It would be a crime to miss this week's episode.
This Thursday, July 28, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
1) Fun in Philly.
After the apocalyptic vision of modern America offered by Donald Trump
and the parade of disgruntled GOP politicians and C-list celebrities
called the Republican National Convention, it had to be smooth sailing
for the Dems right? Not so fast... Even before Wikileaks info-dumped
emails revealing that the DNC was in the tank for Hillary Clinton, and
way before it was revealed that Russian hackers may have been behind it,
discord was in the air. The so-called "Bernie Bros" weren't prepared to
cede the race to Secretary Clinton even though things have lined up in
her favour, and, you know, it was kind of the point of the convention.
With all the talk about disunity amongst Republicans, is the real party
of disharmony the Democrats?
2) The Carnival in Cleveland.
The Republican National Convention featured a procedural meltdown,
demands to send the Democratic nominee to prison, birtherism,
plagiarism, racism, misogyny, and a moment that saw the presumptive
nominee phone in an interview to Bill O’Reilly as coverage of the major
speeches began at his own convention. And that was just the first night!
The GOP meet up in Cleveland was just as fractious and demented as
predicted, but in the end, everything seemed to come up Trump as the now
anointed Republican Presidential nominee rallied everyone around the
fire of America's ruin and promised that he, and only he, can cancel the
apocalypse. With Trump and his running mate Gov. Mike Pence
experiencing a post convention bump in the polls must we consider the
possibility that - sigh - President Trump might be one stop closer to a
reality?
3) Business as Usual.
It seemed like only yesterday that the names Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallen
and Patrick Brazeau were akin to 'mud' in the Red Chamber of Parliament
Hill, but now free of any legal entanglements, it seems that bygones are
bygones between all the members of the upper house. Just last week,
Brazeau was back at work after being cleared of criminal charges
relating to senate fraud, and Duffy re-hired two prominent staffers who
were embroiled in the cover-up of his alleged misclaimed expenses, and
told the senate we won’t be paying back that last $17,000. So all’s well
that ends well, right? Hugh Segal even says the trio deserve an apology
for their treatment. So what’s going to happen in the Senate now that
everything is back to normal, no one had to accept any consequences, and
nobody seemed to learn any lesson?
4) Oh No They Aren’t!
Last week Tony Clement threw his hat in the ring to be the next leader
of the Federal Conservatives, a road he’s hoed twice before without
success. Still, Clement is probably the most high-profile and
well-established name that has yet to nominate himself for the
Conservative leadership race. Clement joins Michael Chong, Kellie
Leitch, Deepak Obhrai and Maxime Bernier on the ballot, but what of the
big names like Peter MacKay, Lisa Raitt, and, heaven forbid, Kevin
O’Leary? Some are saying
the all-stars are waiting out the inevitable electoral defeat to the
Liberals in 2019 before committing, and if that’s true, will that be the
excuse of some potential NDP leadership candidates? That race still has
only one declared candidate. We’ll update both races.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.
Friday Aug 12, 2016
Friday Aug 12, 2016
It's coming! Or rather, They're coming! Back to School time will soon
be upon us, and along with heading back to the books, the classes, the
seminars, the study sessions, and the seemingly never-ending stream of
projects, essays, and reports, the students of the University of Guelph
will soon be coming back... to party! That may be an
over-generalization, but it's also true that Downtown Guelph is going to
get very busy again on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. This is
where the Nightlife Task Force comes into play.
You may have heard
the term in relation to articles posted at the beginning of the school
year about the plans to manage the thousands of people who come Downtown
on the weekends, but if you're like me, you might have wondered: Who
are these people, when do they meet, and what is their reach in terms of
the decisions they make and how they impact everyone in the core, from
businesses to surrounding neighbourhoods?
So enter the
Guelph Politicast. I reached out to the City of Guelph and asked to talk
to members of the Task Force for this podcast. I was connected with
Doug Godfry, Manager, By-law Compliance and Security for the City of
Guelph, and Kathryn Hofer, Manager, Off-Campus Living at the University
of Guelph. The City and the U of G represent two of the many
stakeholders that take part in the Task Force, and they look at various
considerations and make recommendations for By-law and Guelph Police
Services to pursue when it comes to making the fall party scene fun for
the revelers, and survivable for the residents.
So let's rock 'n; roll all night thanks to the sensible planning of the Nightlife Task Force on this week's Guelph Politicast.
If
you have issues with anything that falls under the portfolio of the
Nightlife Task Force, you can get in touch with Doug Godfry at
519-837-2529, or Kathryn Hofer at 519-824-4120 extension 56276. To
learn more about the city’s noise or nuisance party policies, click here, and to learn more about Off-Campus Living at Student Life, click here.
The theme music for the Guelph Politicast is from the KPM Klassics collection by Syd Dale.
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.
Stay tuned for future editions of the Guelph Politicast!
Wednesday Aug 10, 2016
Wednesday Aug 10, 2016
What began as an experiment to get the city's politicians on the
show, has expanded into other areas. Like policing. In an effort to
expose out listeners to the myriad of voices that make a difference to
our lives in Guelph everyday, back in June we invited the police chief
onto Open Sources Guelph, which might have marked the first time the
police was intentionally invited into CFRU.
On the June 30
show, we were joined by Chief Jeff DeRuyter of the Guelph Police
Service. Chief DeRuyter has made a career of policing in Guelph,
starting as a beat cop in 1984 and working his way up the leadership of
the service until he became chief in March 2015.
With a career of
long-standing service in Guelph, Chief DeRuyter knows his town, even if
it sometimes seems like Mayberry thanks to one of the lowest crime rates
in Canada. Still, by Guelph comparisons it's been city under siege time
with cold-blooded murder and acts of shocking violence having occurred
over the last year, from a northend hotel to the General Hospital. These
are rather shocking crimes for our fairly laid back little town, and we
got DeRuyter's opinion on whether the perception of Guelph is safe is
fracturing.
We also talked to the Chief about drug abuse
downtown, repeated theft from unlocked cars, and speeding issues, along
with sunnier matters like the Special Olympics, which were held earlier
this year and were hosted by the Guelph Police Service, as well as the
serious renovations being done at Police headquarters.
So let's catch up with the Chief, and flashback to Jeff DeRuyter's appearance on Open Sources Guelph on June 30.
You can download more podcasts off the Guelph Politicast channel on Podbean, including episodes of the Guelph Politicast, and full episodes of Open Sources Guelph.
For updates on special guests coming up on future episodes of Open Sources Guelph, you can visit the show's website here.
Of course, you can listen to every edition of Open Sources Guelph, live, Thursdays at 5 pm.
Friday Aug 05, 2016
Friday Aug 05, 2016
It was a month ago today, that the City of Guelph took the water use
level down to Level 2 Red. Indeed emphasis of water use during the
Summer of 2016 is "less is more," as an unusually dry winter has lead
into an unusually dry spring and summer. Given the preciousness of
water, and the unusual scarcity of it this year, would it not be
advisable to think about just how we spend those resources?
That's
always been the message of Wellington Water Watchers, and in the midst
of a long dry summer their issues are coming into even more stark
relief. On top of that, local environmentalists are really feeling the
pinch because we seem to be surrounded by Nestle planting its flag in
various wells around our region, first in Aberfoyle, then in Hillsburgh,
and now in Elora and Middlebook. On top of that, the always contentious
water-taking contract for Nestle at Aberfoyle expired this past Sunday,
but as of today they're still filling those bottles. So what's going
on?
Given all that, I reached out to Wellington Water
Watchers for some potential explanations. Arlene Slocombe and Robert
Case are both members of the Watchers, who, while getting some traction
in fighting back against Nestle in Hillsburgh, are still trying to get
bottled water-fillers out of Aberfoyle after almost a decade. Founded in
2007, the mission of Wellington Water Watchers is being "committed to
the protection of local water and to educating the public about threats
to the watershed." If anything, their job has gotten harder in the last
nine years, not easier.
So in the midst of a hot, dry
summer, and the looming spectre that Nestle may be getting another
lucrative 10-year deal to take millions more litres of water from the
local aquafer, I got together with the two local water conservation
activists to talk about that elixir of life, which is both fragile and
plentiful, at least for people in this area, and why it seems like we're
taking it all for granted.
So let's head down to
the river, or rather at a conveniently situated coffee shop nearby, to
talk about Water with the Wellington Watchers.
Addendum:
Lindsay Davidson of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change
offered me a comment about the status of Nestle's contract, and how they
can still be pulling water from the well when their deal has expired:
Nestlé
submitted an application to renew its existing permit for the Aberfoyle
well. We are currently reviewing the application and supporting
documentation.
Under
the Ontario Water Resources Act, if an application for renewal of an
existing permit is made at least 90 days before its expiry, the permit
remains in force until the ministry makes a decision on the permit
renewal application.
The
ministry evaluates each proposed water permit application to determine
if it meets the principles of the Permit to Take Water program
including, protecting the natural functions of the ecosystem, preventing
unacceptable interference with other water users, and fair sharing and
conservation of water.
This
application will be posted on the Environmental Registry for public
review. All comments received during the comment period will be
considered before a decision is made.
To learn more about water issues in Guelph and area, you can go to the website for Wellington Water Watchers, or interact with them through social media on Facebook and Twitter. You can also go to the website, SaveOurWater.ca.
The theme music for the Guelph Politicast is from the KPM Klassics collection by Syd Dale.
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.
Stay tuned for future editions of the Guelph Politicast!
Wednesday Aug 03, 2016
Wednesday Aug 03, 2016
With council taking the month off, this is the perfect time to catch
up with your city councillors. As part of a project on Open Sources
Guelph, we're endeavouring to host every member of Guelph City Council
on the show by the end of the year. Those efforts have been catalogued
in two installments of Open Sources Guelph Beat so far. This is the
third.
On the June 16 edition of the show, Scotty Hertz
and I played host to Ward 5 City Councillor Cathy Downer. Downer
returned to city council in 2014 after an eight year break that saw her
focus on her day job as an accomplished mediator, win a Women of
Distinction Award for Public Service from the Guelph YMCA-YWCA in 2007,
and serve as Guelph's returning officer. Before that though, she
represented Ward 5 for almost over 10 years, from 1994 to 2006.
Downer
has managed to get right back into the swing of council debates like
she was there the whole time. She led the charge to persuade council to
join the province-wide effort to push the Ontario government for reform
of the Ontario Municipal Board. We asked her about that and other issues
before City Hall like the then-recent news of the shake-up in the CAO
position, infrastructure spending, and the ongoing debate around
District Energy and the Community Energy Initiative.
So let's flashback to June, and Cathy Downer's appearance on Open Sources Guelph.
You can download more podcasts off the Guelph Politicast channel on Podbean, including episodes of the Guelph Politicast, and full episodes of Open Sources Guelph.
For updates on special guests coming up on future episodes of Open Sources Guelph, you can visit the show's website here.
Of course, you can listen to every edition of Open Sources Guelph, live, Thursdays at 5 pm.
Friday Jul 29, 2016
Friday Jul 29, 2016
Oh what a year it's been for those that take the bus in the city.
First, the price of passes went up, then service was cut down to
one-hour on statutory holidays, and then the loss of peak service for
the summer seemed to throw a lot of things into chaos until city council
conceded that they had created a problem in trying to save the city
money and put on extra buses. That's a lot to talk about and I'm tired
of talking to myself about it.
That brings us to Steven
Petric. He's not employed by Guelph Transit, or the City of Guelph, but
he has been invested in improved transit in the Royal City since he was a
young age. No, literally, he was a kid. Petric has run for city council
a couple of times on a transit friendly platform, has served on the
Transit Advisory Committee, and frequently appears at City Hall when
transit issues are up for discussion. He walks the walk too, as an avid
transit user and cyclist.
So this podcast features two transit
nerds talking about what it's like taking the bus, the current state of
the transit system, communication difficulties between transit and its
riders, the ambitious realignment that the City may implement sometime
next year, and what Petric would do with transit if cost is no option.
Let's just call it a wide-ranging discussion.
So let's talk about transit on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!
You can keep up with Petric's views and his work on Vintage Guelph by going to his website, Facebook page, or by following him on Twitter.
The theme music for the Guelph Politicast is from the KPM Klassics collection by Syd Dale.
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.
Stay tuned for future editions of the Guelph Politicast!