Guelph Politicast

Guelph Politicast #4.8 - "Fireside Chat" with Phil Allt and James Gordon

October 27 marked a bold new venture for the City of Guelph with the
election of seven new councillors and a brand new mayor. But campaigns
are one thing, how does our city council, new and old members alike,
intend to work together? That's one of many questions I put to Ward 2
Councillor-Elect James Gordon and Ward 3 Councillor-Elect Phil Allt when
we met recently for a series I'm calling "Fireside Chats," the first of
which forms the basis for this latest entry in the Guelph Politicast.The
purpose of the "Fireside Chat," though it's not by an actual fire, is
to just have a friendly conversation with a couple of incoming city
counicllors. Allt and Gordon were willing and knowing guinea pigs for
the process, which was not about getting them to outline their immediate
and long-term goals as councillors, but to have a more laid back
discussion about the campaign, getting adjusted to their new roles and
the weight of expectations as they move forward into the start of their
first term. We also, briefly, discuss the possibility of a city council
band.Here's the latest episode of the Guelph Politicast with James Gordon and Phil AlltAllt and Gordon will be sworn in with the rest of city council at the beginning of the 2014-2018 term on December 1. The theme music for Guelph Politicast is provided by Crazy Pills and their song "Break It Down" courtesy of Free Music Archive.The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes here.Stay tuned for future editions of the Guelph Politicast.

Guelph Politicast #4.7 - Dave Regos, Producer of DIVIDE IN CONCORD

We are no strangers to water issues here in Guelph. Whether it's our
system of water use monitoring, or the ongoing battle between local
conservationists and a certain bottling plant south of the city, Guelph
has been at the forefront of the debate in the ways we use, protect, and
replenish the world's most valuable resource: drinking water. At the
intersection of municipal politics and water protection is a new
documentary called Divide in Concord, which chronicles one
woman's quest to ban single-serve, non-reusable bottles of water in her
hometown Concord, Mass. That struggle is coming to Guelph this weekend
when Divide in Concord screens at the Guelph Film Festival.In
2012, Jean Hill tried for the third time to pass a town-wide ban on
bottled water, a measure that would be the first of its kind in the
United States if passed. Of course, Concord itself is slightly more
well-known for being the hometown of the American Revolution, the place
where it got underway in 1776 with the "shot heard 'round the world." Divide in Concord tackles
both sides of the debate, but it's mostly about Hill, who at 84 years
old proves that it's never too late to get involved and get active
politically. But is she able to convince enough people in her town that
the future is plastic bottle-less? You'll have to watch the movie to
see.In this new episode of the Guelph Politicast, I talk to Dave Regos, who produced Divide in Concord and
supported director Kris Kaczor through the making of this self-funded
documentary. In the course of our conversation we discussed the making
of the film, trying to find balance in a point of view documentary, and
whether or not one person can still make a difference in our cynical day
and age.Here's the Guelph Politicast with Divide in Concord producer Dave Regos: Plot Synopsis for the film: Divide in Concord is a feature-length documentary that follows the entertaining tale of banning bottled water in small town America. In 1775, Concord patriots fired the infamous 'shot heard round
the world' that began a Revolution and defined a nation. Now a local
eighty-four year-old woman has waged another seemingly unwinnable
battle. For three years Jean Hill has been trying to rid the town of
single-serve plastic bottles of water. Complete with strong opposition
from local merchants and the bottled water industry, Jean is once again
leading the controversial crusade. Bio for Dave Regos:David
Regos has been working on documentaries for the last sixteen years. As a
teenager he made his first short film about a devastating freakish
hailstorm that hit Sydney, Australia in 1998. After graduating from
Berkeley, California he directed and produced a feature-length
documentary about the quirky world of artistic roller-skating. The film
screened in New York, San Francisco, Sydney, and Melbourne. He is also
currently producing a documentary about magicians active during World
War II. David currently resides between Sydney and NY.Divide in Concord is playing at the Guelph Film Festival on Saturday at 7 pm at the MacDonald Stewart Art Centre. See the festival schedule for the full list of documentaries, and the dates and times of their screening.Learn more about Divide in Concord at the film's website.   The theme music for Guelph Politicast is provided by Crazy Pills and their song "Break It Down" courtesy of Free Music Archive.The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes here.Stay tuned for future editions of the Guelph Politicast. 

Guelph Politicast #4.6 - Councillor Cam Guthrie

He's was the first one in on January 2, and the momentum has been at
his back for the 10 months that followed, and now, for Cam Guthrie, it
all comes down to what happens on Election Day. The Ward 4 Councillor
and insurance broker has been the presumed frontrunner in the race,
holding a steady lead in both support and enthusiasm over the incumbent
Mayor Karen Farbridge. But as they say, the only poll that matters is
the one on Election Day, and the question remains, in such a close race
can the upstart Guthrie get our the vote and take over the city's top
spot from the three-term Farbridge? Guthrie is banking on yes with his
"A Better Guelph" plan.In our conversation, Guthrie
and I talked about several planks of his platform including zero-based
budgeting, improvements to transit and various measurements of
transparency that he would like to implement at City Hall. We also touch
in his personal politics, and these very negative last few weeks of the
campaign and what we'd like to see post-election day in terms of
getting back to a place of civility. In addition, like with all the
mayoral candidates, I asked Guthrie what his first year as mayor would
look like if he should win, and if there was any issue he thought should
have got more attention in this campaign. Near the end, I also touch on
a small matter of personal concern regarding a certain CFL team that
was based out of Alumni Stadium last year...Here's the Politicast interview with Cam Guthrie. You can learn more about Cam Guthrie's platform at his website. The theme music for Guelph Politicast is now provided by Crazy Pills and their song "Break It Down" courtesy of Free Music Archive.The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes here.Don't forget to vote (if you haven't already) in the the 2014 Guelph Municipal Election on October 27. The
Guelph Politicast will continue with new episodes after the election
with interview with newsmakers and people of interest in, from, and
concerning Guelph. Stay tuned...

Guelph Politicast #4.5 - Mayor Karen Farbridge

The returning champion of the Guelph mayor's race in 2014 is Karen
Farbridge, who's spent all but three years of the last two decades on
city council. First elected as one of Ward 1's councillors in 1994, she
served two terms before running to be mayor in 2000. She lost three
years later to Kate Quarrie but was welcomed back to the top job just
one term later, serving as mayor for the last eight years. Those eight
years have not been without controversy, but Farbridge still has her
supporters and the Mayor herself seems ready to make this race not a
referendum about her past, but a proposal for the future.In my
interview with the current (and future?) mayor we cover a wide variety
of topics. We touch upon the contentious subjects of Urbacon and the
transit lockout. We talk about the "Guelph Factor" and trying to reclaim
it, but we also talked about whether or not there was some truth it as
well. We talked about the environment and green construction, why
Farbridge wanted to run for a forth term and what she thinks her legacy
as Mayor of Guelph will be.Here's the Politicast interview with Mayor Karen Farbridge.You can learn more about Karen Farbridge's campaign by going to her website here.The theme music for Guelph Politicast is now provided by Crazy Pills and their song "Break It Down" courtesy of Free Music Archive.The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes here.Stay tuned for from episodes of the Guelph Politicast as we count down to the 2014 Municipal Election on October 27.

Guelph Politicast #4.4 - Joseph St. Denis, Mayoral Candidate

Can a shoeless man become Mayor of Guelph? Joseph St. Denis is betting he can. St. Denis
entered the race this past spring with a goal of shaking up the status
quo. Regular politicians aren't good enough to represent us, he argues,
and the poor voter turnout in the 2010 election reflects that. Maybe its
not the quality of politics, he proposes, but the content of our
politicians. He may not be as polished, he may not have a platform, and
he may not have a pair of shoes, but that doesn't mean that St. Denis
isn't in it to win it. "Shoeless" Joseph (he is
not, as he says in the podcast "Shoeless Joe") is running for mayor not
as a politician, but as a philosopher. Believing that people are sick of
politicians, he thinks a philosopher is more welcome in the race. His
platform? Forget about it! "I don't really have one," he says in his
campaign literature. "I hate platforms. Platforms are, by definition,
just things used to raise stuff above other stuff. Platforms are for oil
rigs and politicians. I am a simple computer technician and
workingclass philosopher. Politicians need platforms to raise themselves
above the people; philosophers understand that they are never above the
people. Well, except for maybe Frederich Nietzsche." St.
Denis' campaign includes the handing out of campaign literature in both
hard copy and DVD. He's not going to talk at you about taxes and
Urbacon, but rather he wants to suggest that the change we seek begins
with the system. Our democracy is sick, he thinks, we need new blood and
new ideas to get into the system and shake things up, take power out of
the hands of career politicians and give it to people that want to
address real concerns. It's either optimistic or naive, but darned if
St. Denis isn't able to sell it.Here's the Politicast interview with Joseph St. Denis. You can learn more about Joseph St. Denis' campaign e-mailing him at joe@datamatrixpc.com,
or by calling him at 519-824-5660. You can also keep your eye open for
him while you're out and about downtown, where he'll be handing out
campaign literature. The theme music for Guelph Politicast is now provided by Crazy Pills and their song "Break It Down" courtesy of Free Music Archive.The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes here.Stay tuned for from episodes of the Guelph Politicast as we count down to the 2014 Municipal Election on October 27.

Guelph Politicast #4.3 - Andrew Donovan, Mayoral Candidate

Andrew Donovan has the distinction of being the youngest person in
the Guelph Mayoral race, and although others in the race may certainly
seem that way in terms of platform, he's also the race's only avowed
libertarian. Entering the race late in August, Donovan, who graduated
from the University of Guelph just this past spring, aimed to shed some
light on issues other than the ones getting the most air this campaign,
which is mostly tied to Urbacon and whether or not Guelph is overspent,
and overtaxed. Of course, that's not to say that Donovan is of
the opinion that we're not overspent or overtaxed. As a libertarian, he
feels that the less government, the better. But like a lot of
candidates, he's pushing for something more than a simple lash and burn
approach to budgeting, and is looking at something more considered than
how and where and when Guelph decides to spend money. He also talks
about privatization, re-organization, and most importantly, listening.
It was a very interesting discussion, and it covered a lot of different
areas, proving that one doesn't need to have a lengthy life experience
to have fascinating ideas about how the city should run. Here's the Guelph Politicast with Andrew Donovan.You can learn more about Andrew Donovan's campaign here.The theme music for Guelph Politicast is now provided by Crazy Pills and their song "Break It Down" courtesy of Free Music Archive.The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes here.Stay tuned for from episodes of the Guelph Politicast as we count down to the 2014 Municipal Election on October 27.

Guelph Politicast #4.2 - Jason Blokhuis, Mayoral Candidate

Jason Blokhuis came into the Guelph Mayor's race hoping to shake
things up, and break open what sometimes feels like a two man (so to
speak) race. The University of Waterloo prof thinks that the choice in
this election need not come down to one between the status quo of Karen
Farbridge versus the populist appeal of Councillor Cam Guthrie. Instead,
he wants to make an appeal for smarter government, a point of view that
says maybe we can be the progressive city we know and love while still
being shrewd and prudent with how we spend our tax money. A
controversial opinion to be sure.In our discussion, Blokhuis
talks about why top down, Guelph isn't the caring community that
Farbridge wants to create while its people are already an example of it,
and why the much-discussed "Guelph Factor" can be seen as both a good
and a bad thing for the Royal City. He also takes credit for pushing
both Farbridge and Guthrie into releasing their platforms and talks
about why the city needs a good debate on the issues facing Guelph and
not a rehash of who did what and who's going to do things different from
others.Here's the Guelph Politicast with Jason Blokhuis.The theme music for Guelph Politicast is now provided by Crazy Pills and their song "Break It Down" courtesy of Free Music Archive.The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes here.Stay tuned for from episodes of the Guelph Politicast as we count down to the 2014 Municipal Election on October 27.

Guelph Politicast #4.1 - John Legere, Mayoral Candidate

The election season officially gets underway on Guelph Politico today
with the launch of season four of the Guelph Politicast. This season
will deal with the 2014 Municipal Election, and will predominately focus
on interviews with the candidates running for Mayor of Guelph. At bat
first is John Legere, a local businessman and family man who was one of
the first ones in the race this past January. Legere's main issue is the
promotion of transparency in government, and creating what he calls a
"a truly representative government," and he's launched a grassroots
campaign to test the waters for his idea.Legere is a
first time candidate, who admits that going into the political waters is
scary, but he's very much enjoying bringing his ideas about fostering
greater citizen involvement in local politics, and he hopes that people
recognize the pluses over the polish when it comes to electing their
mayor. In conversation with Legere, we talked about fostering more
interaction, how his ideas will be put into practice, how city hall
should deal with the fallout of the transit lockout, and the ways at
which government is a positive force in our lives.Listen the new episode of Guelph Politicast below.   John Legere's website is mayority.ca if you want to learn more. The theme music for Guelph Politicast is now provided by Crazy Pills and their song "Break It Down" courtesy of Free Music Archive.The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes here. Stay tuned for from episodes of the Guelph Politicast as we count down to the 2014 Municipal Election on October 27.

Guelph Politicast #3.5 - Anthony MacDonald, Progressive Conservative

"It's the economy, stupid." That was once of the three messages that
Democratic strategist James Carville created for Bill Clinton's 1992
Presidential Campaign, and it worked. "It's the economy, stupid," might
as well be on Anthony MacDonald's campaign signs because if there's a
four word message from our interview, I think that is it. According to
the Progressive Conservative candidate, and I quote, "there's nothing
more important than the economy." The question is though, will Guelph
think that MacDonald is the right man for the job and send him to
Queen's Park as its Member of Provincial Parliament?Professionally,
MacDonald is a horse owner, trainer and driver, and it was in that
capacity he entered politics. After speaking out at numerous events
about the cuts to funding of the horse racing industry in 2012,
MacDonald was approached by the PCs to run in Guelph, and as he told me
in the podcast, it took them a while to win him over and convince him to
run.Economy talk took up the lion's share of our
conversation, but from the perspective of the PCs' One Million Jobs plan
and their desire to cut corporate taxes. We also talked about PC leader
Tim Hudak and the popularity gap he faces, and why maybe that doesn't
matter in the grand scheme of things. (Interesting side note: the
interview was recorded this past Tuesday, shortly before the televised
leader's debate.)You can stream the episode here, or download it from the source here. The theme music for Guelph Politicast is "Volksing Ferretismico" by Goto80 and the Uwe Schenk Band from Silent Movie Pianos 1 - Action and Marches.And as with previous podcasts featuring provincial election
candidates, there's a video segment. Find out what representing Guelph
at Queen's Park means to Anthony MacDonald here.The music used in the "What does it mean to you to represent the
people of Guelph at Queen's Park?" video segment is "Good to Go" by
Josh Woodward from The Simple Life Pt 2 available on freemusicarchive.org.For more information on Guelph candidates, or to learn how and where to vote, go to Elections Ontario's website wemakevotingeasy.ca.Election Day is June 12, so please - GO VOTE!

Guelph Politicast #3.4 - Juanita Burnett, Communist Party

Both the national and provincial Communist Party have made their
presence known in Guelph the last several years, and why not? It's only
fitting because the party, the second oldest registered political party
in the country, was started right here in Guelph in 1921. For the last
several years, Drew Garvie has carried the Communist flag - as it were -
in the Royal City, but with Garvie moving on to Toronto, the local
Communist Party has turned to Junita Burnett to speak for the working
class in the 2014 Provincial Election.Burnett is an
employee of the University of Guelph, working as a library technician,
and she credits education and its treatment under the Mike Harris
Progressive Conservative government as the reason she got into politics.
Although she's not as practiced with campaigning as Garvie, and who
wouldn't be after four elections, she's no less passionate about issues
concerning workers, the poor, and the disenfranchised. When we talked
last week, Burnett was fresh off her first two debates and was still
getting her feet wet, so to speak, as far as campaign's concerned, which
was refreshing if only because sometimes, even interviewing local
candidates, they know exactly what they want to say and how to say it.Over
the course of our interview, Burnett talked about the Communist Party
axum "people's needs before corporate greed" and how the party intends
to level that playing field. She also talked about how Tim Hudak's plan
to cut 100,000 public service workers will affect people like her who
are employed as frontline public sector employees, and more personally
she talks about her initial experience as a candidate and why she may
need to run a second time to get out the kinks.You can stream the episode here, or download it from the source here.The theme music for Guelph Politicast is "Volksing Ferretismico" by Goto80 and the Uwe Schenk Band from Silent Movie Pianos 1 - Action and Marches.And
as with previous podcasts featuring provincial election candidates,
there's a video segment. Find out what representing Guelph at Queen's
Park means to Juanita Burnett here.The music used in the "What does it mean to you to represent the
people of Guelph at Queen's Park?" video segment is "Good to Go" by
Josh Woodward from The Simple Life Pt 2 available on freemusicarchive.org.For more information on Guelph candidates, go to Elections Ontario's website wemakevotingeasy.ca.