Guelph Politicast

End Credits #376 - January 29, 2025 (Nightbitch)

This week on End Credits, we get wild! We will shine a light on a movie that seems to have missed most people's radar and it's all about embracing your inner animal, and other stuff. We're going to talk about Nightbitch, which you can stream now on Disney+ of all places, and we're also going to hit the metaphorical slopes out west and chat about a famous film festival.
This Wednesday, January 22, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
Sundance Hall of Fame. It's the biggest independent film festival in the world, which may be an oxymoron, but there's now doubt that for nearly 50 years, the Sundance Film Festival in Party City, Utah has been very important in finding and promoting major new films and filmmakers. With the 2025 festival now underway, we will talk about some of the all-time Sundance films across three different categories, and why they're so synonymous with the festival.
REVIEW: Nightbitch (2024). What if a stay-at-home mother became so frustrated with her domesticity that she turned into a dog at night? This is the ludicrous premise of Nightbitch, the novel-turned-film that premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last fall and yada, yada, yada, now you can stream it on Disney+. The film does have a silly premise, but it's trying to get at something real with Amy Adams playing a harried Mother trying to reckon with her life as a mom and her life as woman. We'll talk about why you shouldn't sleep on Nightbitch.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #453 – The Changing Food Bank (feat. Carolyn McLeod-McCarthy)

It’s hard to think of any aid agency busier these days than the Guelph Food Bank these days, and to prove it, they went to city council last November during budget delegation night to ask for help. It might come as a surprise to learn that the Food Bank has never received any government funding, but it's proof that food insecurity is now outside their control, and it’s the reason for changes that they’ve started to undertake.
According to Feed Ontario, over one million people accessed a food bank in Ontario between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, which is an increase of 25 per cent over the year before and an 86 per cent increase since 2019-2020, the last year before the pandemic. To put that in context, one out of every 16 people in Ontario have been to a food bank lately, and if you think Guelph has escaped this deluge you would be wrong.
That’s why the Guelph Food Bank went to city council last fall. With 4,000 individuals using the Food Bank each month, which is more than double since before the pandemic,  the Food Bank needs government help for the first time. Its main location at 100 Crimea Street will now serve as a kind of distribution centre from where the food will flow to 10 satellite locations around the city. The Food Bank is adapting, and while they can’t do it alone, they do have a plan
Carolyn McLeod-McCarthy, Managing Director of the Guelph Food Bank, will join us this week to talk about that plan, and the pressures that they’ve been dealing with over the last few years that are unique to them. She will also talk about working with food pantries, co-ordinating with all local groups to fight food insecurity and going to city council to ask for financial help for the first time. And finally, she will talk about what the fight against food insecurity might look like in a few years. 
So let's dig into the changes at the Food Bank on this week's Guelph Politicast!
To learn more about the Guelph Food Bank, what services they provide, how you can volunteer, or how you can donate, you can visit the Food Bank website. You can also call the Food Bank at 519-767-1380 during their office hours, which is Monday through Friday 9 am to 5 pm. You can also follow them on the socials @guelphfoodback on Facebook and Instagram.
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.

Open Sources Guelph #503 - January 23, 2025

This week on Open Sources Guelph we're trying to avoid talking about You-Know-Who, but it's so very hard! Instead, we will talk around him by looking at at the Liberals who want to match wits with the new regime in Washington and their first major geopolitical challenge in the Middle East. In the interview, we're going to talk to one of the people that wants to be a part of the next government no matter who leads it!
This Thursday, January 23, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
The Libs of This Rock. It looks like the line-up of candidates for the Liberal leadership race is set, and while former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney seems to be the proverbial frontrunner, there's a fairly diverse line-up in the offing including Chrystia Freehand, Karina Gould, Jaime Battiste, and Chandra Arya. Still, do any of these contenders have what it takes to not only lead the Liberals, but lead them to something that isn't a complete decimation in the next federal election?
Ceasefire. After nearly 500 days, the guns have finally stopped in Gaza. A ceasefire is now in effect in the region and a plan is in place for Hamas to release all the remaining hostages that have been in their custody since October 7, 2023. Still, it's not clear sailing from here as there's some doubt about the Israeli government's commitment to long-term peace and now all eyes are on the West Bank where violence is still a daily occurrence. Is there any real reason for hope that we're at the end of the war?
The Doctor Is In! It seems like the 2025 federal election is on pause until the Liberal Party sorts out its issues, but that doesn't mean the other parties are taking it easy. This week, we will be joined by Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik, a local physician who is now making the jump to politics as the Federal Green candidate for Guelph. Zajdlik will tell us why she wants to be MP, why she wants to fight for better environmental stewardship and why she thinks the Greens can overcome the long odds this election!
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #375 - January 22, 2025 (The Last Showgirl)

This week on End Credits there's a blast from the past and a sign of the times. Our movie today is a timeless story about someone who feels like the world has passed them by, and it features someone you might have forgotten. We will be checking out Pamela Anderson's return in The Last Showgirl and we will be saying goodbye to a real cinematic original! 
This Wednesday, January 22, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
David Lynch. Last week came the bad news that David Lynch passed away, a director so iconoclastic that an entire enigmatic style was named after him. You can't describe what makes a film "Lynchian" but you know it when you see it, and you've definitely seen it whether you know it or not. So to begin this week, we will say a very fond farewell to Lynch by talking about some of his finest works, at least of the feature film variety.
REVIEW: The Last Showgirl (2024). Oscar hopeful Pamela Anderson?! This is the movie that may actually make it happen. Anderson was an icon of the 90s thanks to her starring role in Baywatch and her status as a sex symbol, but you haven't heard from her lately. That all has changed with The Last Showgirl, a movie by a Coppola no less (Francis Ford's granddaughter Gia), which follows the last days of an old fashioned nude revue in Las Vegas and the lost souls who perform it every night. Might The Last Showgirl usher in Anderson, the Oscar nominee?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #452 – New Year, New CAO (feat. Tara Baker)

The CAO position is the highest ranking official in local government that doesn’t have the job title of either mayor or city councillor, and it’s the only staff position at city hall that’s hired by a committee made up of the mayor and councillors. So yes, it’s a pretty important job, and it’s not like there’s any shortage of issues or needs for the new woman in charge as she enters her first full year in charge.
It was about this time last year that Scott Stewart announced that he would be retiring by the summer. Stewart had been the CAO for five years, and they were probably the most challenging five years any CAO has experienced in the history of Guelph. (Well, so far.) He got a lot done, but there also ended up being a lot of work for Tara Baker to do once she picked up the baton in mid-September. Fortunately, she had something of a head start. 
Before becoming the CAO, Baker had spent 13 years at Guelph city hall, including the last eight as the City Treasurer and the General Manager of Finance. If the emphasis is to be put on affordability now, as it was with the last budget she worked on as Treasurer, it puts even more pressure on Baker as she's managing all the spinning plates in her new office. On this edition of the podcast, she will tell us what comes next. 
Yes, Baker joins us this week to talk about why she wanted to be the CAO, why she thinks she stood out from the other applicants and the changing role of the CAO position after the introduction of Strong Mayor Powers. She will also talk about the search for a new City Treasurer, and the greater emphasis on affordability when it comes to City business. Also, she will discuss the changes she’s making to the job, and what she wants her legacy to be when it becomes her turn to retire from the role.
So let's get the 4-1-1 on the new CAO on this week's Guelph Politicast!
You can see Baker's plan for goals and objectives for the coming year as part of the council agenda package for the January 28 meeting here, and you can just learn more generally about the CAO office here. And speaking of podcasts, you can check out Baker’s appearance on Breezy Breakfast from last October and you can find that pod on whatever platform you listen to his one on.
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.

Open Sources Guelph #502 - January 16, 2025

This week on Open Sources Guelph we're going to party with our friends. While the party doesn't stop at Mar-a-Lago, it's a very different story here in Canada and everywhere else as people await the return of You-Know-Who with something resembling dread, and all while online folks are feigning surprise again that tech billionaires are putting themselves first. Back here at home, we've got south end business to discuss with a city councillor!
This Thursday, January 16, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
It: Part Two. There's still a couple of days before Donald Trump assumes the Office of the U.S. President, and he's already become everyone's obsession. Here in Canada, premiers have been trying different tactics to get Trump to take back tariff threats and they don't seem to be working, and no one is 100 per cent sure how seriously to take all those "51st state" threats. Meanwhile, Trump's murderer's row of clowns and sycophants have begun their confirmation hearings, so are we ready for Trump 2.0?
Mark His Words. Last week, Facebook creator and boss Mark Zuckerberg announced that he was taking away content moderation on the forum because it was "too political". But everyone saw through Zuckerberg's talking points: He was capitulating to the popular right-wing theory that facts have a left-wing bias. And yet, Zuck's decision comes at the exact wrong moment as conspiracies and lies and feeding the misinformation flames around those devastating California wild fires. Can we fight back against the tech bros?
Something to Chew On. Guelph City Council was back to work this week, and they heard a report about advocacy to upper levels of government, both of which might be having an election this year sometime. It's going to be difficult to get help that cities need when political parties are jockying for power, but that's just one of the things on Ken Yee Chew's plate in 2025. The Ward 6 city councillor will join us to talk about what he's working in '25, dealing with all the politics and all the stuff going on in the city's south end.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #374 - January 15, 2025 (A Complete Unknown)

This week on End Credits, we're getting excited about awards season! For the movie this week we've got a sure to be Oscar contender in the form of a musical bio-pic about one of the titans of popular music. Will it win? We don't know, obviously, but we're going to talk about the odds as the movie industry gets ready for its fanciest night of the year!
This Wednesday, January 15, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss:
On Golden Idols. This weekend, the nominations for the 97th Academy Awards will be announced it what might be one of the wildest and surprising Oscar races in years. To get a sense of who might be in and who might be out, we will analyse the winners and losers of the Golden Globes last week. Is The Brutalist the greatest movie you haven't see yet? Is Adrian the new Timmy, or is Timmy the new Adrian? We'll cover all that and more!
REVIEW: A Complete Unknown (2024). Bob Dylan. Have you heard of him? It's nearly impossible to think of someone from popular music in the last 60 years that's had a longer and more varied influence than Dylan, and in the new film A Complete Unknown, one of the most consequential portions of his life is chronicled. Timothée Chalamet meets the toughest challenge of his career as Dylan and the film comes from Walk the Line filmmaker James Mangold, so there are a lot of expectations for his one, but can the Unknown be known, or even enjoyed?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #451 – The State of the City 2024

The 2025 State of the City is coming up soon - Thursday February 6 to be precise - and as we always do at this time of year, we’re going to roll the audio from the previous year’s State of the City as a refresher course. The goal is to remember where we were at the time, where the mayor wanted to take us, and where we ended up now before Mayor Cam Guthrie starts looking to the future again!
Do you really need to listen to this to be reminded of the most salient point of last year’s State of the City address? Here’s the most relevant quote: “When cities are faced with strong issues, it requires a strong team to tackle them. However, to set the tone and the pace, you need a strong mayor. Therefore, effective today, I am announcing that I will use the Strong Mayor powers throughout the rest of this term.”
That was the moment Guthrie changed the game, and it came as a really big surprise to his council colleagues, many of whom were sitting front row or centre at the speech. Beforehand, the mayor gave away no hints that he was going to drop this bomb despite years of reticence, if not opposition, to the existence of such powers, but that was the headline coming out of the State of the City in 2024. Was that the end of the story though?
Of course it’s not, and on this week’s edition of the podcast you will hear the whole speech, including a Q&A afterwards, where Guthrie saluted outgoing CAO Scott Stewart, talked about the success securing Housing Accelerator Funding, and promoted the then-theoretical Public Spaces Use Bylaw. He also announced the formation of the Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee, and gave out the annual volunteer awards.
So let's flashback to last year's State of the City on this week's Guelph Politicast!
The 2025 State of the City will take place on Thursday February 6 at 7 am at the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre hosted by the Guelph Chamber of Commerce. Learn more by clicking here. There will, of course, be full coverage on Guelph Politico when it happens.
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.

Open Sources Guelph #501 - January 9, 2025

This week on Open Sources Guelph we violate our New Year's Resolution to have less drama! Canada's prime minister apparently had other ideas though by kicking off the week, and the year, with a big announcement that we have to cover. In other news, Pickering city council is making news in all the ways you never do, and for our interview this week, we'll return focus to Ottawa by talking to someone who works there.
This Thursday, January 9, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Tru-Done. It wasn't surprising, but it was still kind of a shock. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came back from Christmas vacation and announced that he's finally read the writing on the wall. He's done. He won't be Liberal leader or PM once the party holds a leadership race. Parliament is prorogued until March 24. Critics were less than magnanimous in the aftermath, but it seems like everyone's got what they've wanted: Trudeau is gone! So what happens next?
Nit-Pickering. Unless you're super keyed into local Pickering politics, you probably don't know who Lisa Robinson is. She's a city councillor there and has made herself a darling of alt-right figures like Kevin J. Johnson, so much so that she's been sanctioned four times for 15 different breaches of the municipal code of conduct. Now, other members of council and City staff are receiving death threats which is forcing all council meetings to be held online. What's happening in Pickering, and how can we make sure it doesn't happen here in Guelph?
Longfield Distance. By now you're thinking: What does Lloyd Longfield have to say about what's going on? Great question, and that's what we're gong to talk to him about in his latest appearance on Open Sources. Longfield has already said that this term will be his last in the House of Commons, but is he packed up and ready to go, or is he still holding out hope that he can finish some more work before election time? Also, what is he looking for in a new Liberal leader, and what are the stakes now for his successor looking to keep Guelph's 32-year Liberal streak alive?
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #373 - January 8, 2025 (Nosferatu)

This week on End Credits, we're back! Technically, we didn't go anywhere because we kept cranking out new episodes over the Christmas break, but now we're really back, and we're ready to tackle the latest movies of 2025... with one of the leftovers from last year. Get ready to be afraid of the dark with Nosferatu, and we will also tackle other films with bite! 
This Wednesday, January 8, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
Films that Suck! Vampires: you know them, you love them! Vampires have a long cinematic history, and the granddaddy of all vampires, Count Dracula, has been one of the most adapted characters in the history of cinema and literature. So before diving into the latest vampire flick to grace the silver screen (not to mention Dracula rip-off), we will talk about some of our favourite vampire movies that suck... your blood.
REVIEW: Nosferatu (2024). In 1922, a German director ripped off a popular English novel by the author Bram Stoker and made one of the most influential movies ever. Now, 102 years later, director Robert Eggers has remade Nosferatu for the third time in a lavish adaptation that hits all of the filmmaker's famous notes from his hits like The Witch and The Lighthouse. Also, Nosferatu as been a surprising Christmas hit, and one with a lot of potential for Oscar buzz too, so we will head into the dark to see if this new vampire movie has bite!
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.