Guelph Politicast

GUELPH POLITICAST #388 – Book Sale: The Next Chapter

It’s one week till the Big Book Sale, the annual event that the Friends of the Guelph Public Library was created to administer over 15 years ago. It was a fundraising project launched to show that Guelph had an appetite for a new main library building, and after years of banking all the funds raised, the endgame is finally in sight nearly 20 years later. So what happens when the Friends have achieved their goal?
The first book sale was in Old Quebec Street in 2007, almost 20,000 books were sold and it made around $10,000. That's not a bad haul for any fundraiser, but the act itself was as much a statement of intent: a new downtown main library building was going to get built. That was 16 years ago, a bit longer than the Friends might have hoped, but the sale itself grew. By 2019, the last year the sale was held before a two-year pandemic hiatus, $127,000 was raised
A lot's changed in the last few years. Ground was finally broken in the Baker District Redevelopment site back in June, and on Monday, the Friends issued a comically large novelty cheque to Guelph Library staff for $1 million. It probably won’t be the last cheque because the sale's still going but then what happens? What is the role of the Friends of the Guelph Public Library when their 20 year mission is achieved in 2026 when the new downtown main library opens its doors?
That is one of the questions that Anne MacKay, who is an at-large member of the board for the Friends, will have to answer on this week’s podcast. She will give us a brief recap of the Friends’ history, and will talk about the logistics of this year’s sale including why the date was changed from October to September, and what kind of volunteer help they still need. Also, MacKay will discuss why she wanted to be a Friend, and what the Book Sale’s success tells her about Guelph's thirst for literacy and education.
So let's talk about the future of the Friends on this week's Guelph Politicast!
The Big Book Sale will take place from Wednesday September 20 to Sunday September 24 at this year’s sale location at 69 Huron Street. Wednesday is early bird night, which means it will cost you $10 to enter, but the other days are free to enter. To see times, and to get more information about the Book Sale, go to the Friends of the Guelph Public Library website. While you’re there, sign up for the newsletter and learn how to volunteer. 
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, Google, 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 #440 - September 7, 2023

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're not back at school but we're still looking for an education. With this episode, we're trying to get smarter about Greenbelt-gate, which had a number of big developments in the last several days, and a new mass protest based on conspiracy theories that has us worried. For the interview this week, we go to Ward 3 where one of the councillors from Guelph's north end will talk about the fall sitting of the horseshoe at City Hall.
This Thursday, September 7, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Are You Afraid of the Clark? Things seem to fall apart pretty quickly for Steve Clark, now the former Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. But despite the damning indictment of the integrity commissioner, and the (delayed) resignation of Clark, Premier Doug Ford has affirmed that his government's decision to sell portions of the Greenbelt stands and will now be reviewed, not withdrawn. How much more punishment can the government take on this file?
The Divides of March. This year, there's been something of an alarming uptick in the number of protests, vandalism and death threats against LGBTQ groups, drag time store hour events, and other places that encourage inclusiveness. Now, it seems like the people driving these incidents are combining their efforts into something called the "1 Million March 4 Children", which will take place on September 20 across Canada. Should we be concerned that we're looking at a new Freedom Convoy?
Fallt Preview. It's not just young people getting back to a routine this week, our city council is getting back to business as usual with a very busy fall slate of meetings that will get really real next week with a meeting entirely dedicated to the housing crisis and social service delivery gaps. This week, we're joined by Ward 3 Councillor Phil Allt who's going to tell us what to expect as council tackles planning matters, the multi-year budget, and the struggle to achieve Indigenous reconciliation, and that just covers the first few weeks of September.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #311 - September 6, 2023 (You Are So Not Inviting to My Bat Mitzvah)

This week on End Credits, we become adults! That's the whole point of a Bat Mitzvah, and that's the whole point of the new Netflix coming-of-age comedy You Are So Not Inviting to My Bat Mitzvah, which has a fun local connection. Speaking of making connections, we will talk about some of the movies we're looking forward to seeing over the next few months.
This Wednesday, September 6, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss:
Fall Movie Preview. As September dawns and festival season begins, we look forward to lots and lots of consequential movies. But wait, there are still strikes going on which means that our well planned fall movie release schedule might get interrupted; we're already lost Dune Part 2!! It's okay though, because there's still a lot of cool stuff that hasn't been moved to 2024 (yet?) and we're going to talk about some of those picks from historical epics to indie darlings!
REVIEW: You Are So Not Inviting to My Bat Mitzvah (2023). Last summer, Guelph was in the middle of Sand-man Fever! Adam Sandler kept turning up at Guelph establishments as he was shooting a movie in nearby Elora, and this is that movie. You Are So Not Inviting to My Bat Mitzvah is not you're typical Sandler fare, but it is a Sandler family affair. It's an adaptation of a YA novel about two young women who's friendship falls apart just as they're about to become adults in the eyes of God. So was this movie funny enough in the eyes of these two reviewers?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #387 – Trade Kraft

This year, Guelph Public Library CEO Steve Kraft is celebrating 40 years as a dedicated employee of the Guelph Library, rising through the proverbial ranks - or is that stacks - from the counter in the children’s library to the chief executive’s office. As Kraft’s library career in Guelph turns 40, the system he runs is turning 150, and as the Guelph Public Library marks its sesquicentennial in 2023 it’s in the middle of very big transitional period.
On June 20, something impossible happened in downtown Guelph: ground was broken on the new main library building. Kraft brought a special prop for the occasion, a shovel owned by WIlliam Tytler when he planted a tree on the grounds of the library to mark his 50 years as a member of the library board in 1931. It was symbolic of Guelph truism that Kraft and Tytler have in common: Those involved in the Guelph Library tend to stay involved. 
Kraft will be leaning on that kind of community commitment for the next few years because there’s still a lot of organizing that needs to be done between now and when the new library opens in 2026. There’s some serious fundraising to do, decisions about new programming to offer and hiring people to bring those programs to life. Also, the library is feeling the issue of homelessness as the building serves as a kind of sanctuary for those with no where else to go.
That's a lot for a library CEO to take on, but we're going to try and cover it all through the lens of Kraft's four decades of experience. He will talk about his career, why he wanted to become a librarian in the first place, and how technology has changed what a library is all about. He will also talk about the Library's future, from the new building to all the branches, plus he will discuss the demand for library programs, and if there’s anything libraries can’t do.
So let's talk about 40 tears behind the stacks on this week's Guelph Politicast!
You can learn more about the Guelph Public Library, its programming and locations at its website, or by connecting with them on social media @GuelphLibrary on Facebook, Twitter and Pintrest or at @GuelphPublicLibrary on Instagram and YouTube. The next meeting of the Guelph Public Library Board is Monday September 25 at 6 pm.
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, Google, 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 #439 - August 31, 2023

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're getting you ready for Labour Day! No, not the holiday weekend widely considered the last break of the summer, we mean the "fight the power" version where you get out on the streets and fight for workers' rights. We've got work on the mind with labour negotiations for Ontario's teachers, and we've got fighting on the mind with the latest from Ukraine. In terms of a labour fight, we've got someone who's a picket line right now.
This Thursday, August 31, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Bold School. Kids across Ontario go back to school next week, but... For how long?! Well, that's more of a pressing question for elementary, Catholic school and French-language school students because members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation reached a deal with the Ministry of Education to enter arbitration, which was kind of a coup for Stephen Lecce, but left the other unions out in the cold. What does labour look like at Ontario's schools this fall?
Cloak and Wagner. Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian private army called the Wagner Group, was killed on a flight outside Moscow last week almost two months to the day he gave up his apparent coup attempt on the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin. Why Prigozhin quit when it looked like he had the momentum is still a mystery, and speaking of a lack of momentum, what happened to the Ukrainian counteroffensive that was supposed to be so effective? We'll have an update.
TVOn Strike! They're not the first workers to go on strike this year, they're not even the first group to go on strike in the last month, but the workers of TVO, Ontario's public broadcaster, have been on the picket line for nearly two weeks now. What do they want? A long delayed pay raise and an end to contract labour that's creating instability in the work force would be a good start. This week, we're joined by Canadian Media Guild president Annick Forest about the stakes of the strike for TVO workers and the stakes more broadly for journalists and public broadcasting in Canada.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #310 - August 30, 2023 (They Cloned Tyronne)

This week on End Credits, we're back! After taking our annual summer vacation! We're refreshed and reinvested just in time for the fall movie season, but since we're not there yet we will have to settle for a summer release. This week, we're reviewing the new sci-fi comedy mystery on Netflix, The Cloned Tyrone, and on the occasion of his 25th birthday, we're re-visiting Blade.
This Wednesday, August 30, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
Blade of Glory. In August 1998, New Line Cinema released an action movie based on a Marvel Comics character that almost no one outside of regular shoppers at the comic book store had ever heard of. Not only did Blade become a success in it's own right, but it established a new tone and style for comic book-based movies, a refreshingly serious one. Now, 25 years later, we will look back at Blade and how the Daywalker might have changed things forever.
REVIEW: They Cloned Tyrone (2023). It's just another day in the Glen. Fontaine goes about his day like any other drug dealer, shaking down late payments and (literally) running over the competition, but then something weird happens... Where the story goes from there might be too good to spoil, so let's just say that it involves secret labs, government conspiracies, systemic racism, and lots and lots of clones! John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, and Jamie Foxx are caught in a trap, they can't walk out, but is it too much for us, or is it just right?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #386 - Alan’s Box (A Labour Day Special)

This weekend is Labour Day, and boy is there labour activity these days. From the Canadian Media Guild workers at TVO to employees at Toronto area Metro grocery stores to municipal workers in Cochrane Ontario, it's been non-stop labour action in 2023. Our podcast this week isn't about any of those strikes, but it is about someone who held deeply the cause of advancing workers rights.
Go down to Goldie Mill Park, the unofficial home and rally point for local labour here in Guelph, and you may stumble upon a little red box in the ground. It says “Guelph Soap Co. Crystal Soap Chips” on the side, but this is Alan's Soapbox. Alan Pickersgill was a millwright by vocation, but he was an activist at heart. He cranked out columns for the newspaper and stuck a finger in the eye of the establishment. He even ran for office a couple of times. He passed away in 2021.
Alan left a big mark in Guelph, so it’s weird that this public memorial is a small red and silver box named after a fake soap company, but that’s the point. In ye olden days, one used a soapbox, a sturdy wood box used to transport dry good like soap, to give themselves a stage to speak on. Hyde Park in London still has its "Speakers’ Corner" soapbox every Sunday after 150 years, so maybe we can do the same thing here in Guelph now with Alan's Soapbox.
That's one idea for Alan’s Soapbox, and we're joined this week by two of the people that helped make it happen: Janice Folk-Dawson, executive vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, and Juanita Burnett, local labour activist and sometime Communist candidate. They’re going to tell us about how the Soapbox project came together, what made Goldie Mill Park a good location, and obviously, we will talk about the current state of labour in Guelph and beyond.
So let's talk about Alan's Box on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!
Alan’s Soapbox can be found at Goldie Mill Park by the river, and the bottom of London Road. There doesn’t seem to be any plans to hold the annual Labour Day Picnic in Riverside Park, but if you’re looking for a labour-related activity for your Labour Day, your best bet is to check out the events page of the Canadian Labour Congress’ website.
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, Google, 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 #438 - August 24, 2023

This weekend on Open Sources Guelph, we go from one mess to another. We will look at the political fight to make progress on fighting climate change, and then we will look at the fight to hold Donald Trump to account as he's arrested again in an entirely different jurisdiction. And finally, for the interview this week, we will talk to a person that's fighting the good fight on the drug poisoning crisis on our community ahead of a very special occasion.
This Thursday, August 24, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Crisis Management. It's been a rough summer, at least it has been if you've been even a little concerned about the climate crisis. From wild fires, to unbearable heat, to a hurricane flooding L.A. last weekend, the signs are all around us. So why is Alberta Premier Danielle Smith shutting down efforts to move to renewable energy, and why is Pierre Poilievre doing a coast-to-coast tour about cancelling the carbon tax? At least the federal Liberals want to get to net zero by 2035, but do they have any juice left to do it?
Go Fourth Old Man. While we were on our summer vacation, the Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis indicted former-President Donald Trump and 18 others for their alleged criminal conspiracy to steal the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. As Trump turns himself in for the fourth time, the rest of his competitors in the Republican presidential nomination race gathered for their first debate, which will almost certainly not do anything to de-throne Trump as the frontrunner. Will they ever learn?
Streets of Dire. August 31 marks Drug Poisoning Awareness Day, which used to be known as Overdose Awareness Day and the name change shows just how concerning the poisoning of the drug supply has become to those on the frontlines of the addiction crisis. This week, we will be joined by Jean Hopkins, who is the new manager of the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy. She's going to tell us about how the drug poisoning crisis is affecting us locally, how the community is fighting to turn the tide, and what support local advocates need to ensure the safety of people using substances.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #REPEAT - August 23, 2023

This week on End Credits, and next week (or last week depending on when you read this), we're on summer vacation. Are we watching movies over these two weeks off? Probably, but we're not reviewing them for you. While we're out getting some sun and enjoying the beach, you get a couple of reruns. Grab a drink, feel the waves, and we'll see you in a couple of weeks!
Summer's Off. It's no easy thing to take a vacation from your high-powered and stressful job. Maybe the whole thing falls apart while you're away; maybe the whole thing falls apart because you're away. And what about that vacation? You've got to pack up your stuff and your family, cram into a car for hours, and when you arrive at your destination, the beach house is a shack, the landlord is rude, and it's all you can do to summon the courage to challenge him in a boat race aboard a pirate-themed schooner! It's summer vacation!! Deal with it.
*Programming Note: End Credits will return with new episodes on Wednesday August 30.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #Repeat - The Ongoing Paramedic Stress

It happened again on the August long weekend. Offload delays at the Guelph General Hospital created some long line-ups for ambulances, and a couple of days before that there was another Code Red. The story has been repeating itself for over a year now, too many ambulances lined up at the hospital and not enough available in the community, but how do the paramedics themselves feel about the pressure they're under?
Earlier this year, we were joined by Nick Di Ruzza, who was the president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 231. This is the union that represents the paramedic workers for Guelph and Wellington County, and they've been under a lot of the same pressures that all other medical workers have been under these last three years. As reported, paramedics have done 9,400 hours of overtime in the last year.
So the burnout is real, but there are other pressures on the service beyond the hours. A joint meeting of the Guelph and Wellington councils back in June, covered how many paramedic stations across the region where not meeting the needs of the service, especially the ones out in the county. So while there's pressure on paramedics to do the job, we're also falling short in our support of paramedics when they get back to the station.
Back in February though, we talked to Di Ruzza about what a day in the life of a paramedic looks like, and the Paramedics Services’ success despite their challenges. He will tell us about the human resources issues his local is trying to overcome, and how paramedics approach standards of care beyond answering emergency calls. Later, he will discuss the problems around doing advocacy on behalf of paramedics, support from management and what the community can all do to help.
So let's hear again the paramedic perspective on this week's repeat of the Guelph Politicast!
You can follow OPSEU Local 231 on Twitter. Guelph Wellington Paramedic Services Chief Stephen Dewar has been delivering a monthly report about the demands on the service at the Wellington County Social Services Committee Meeting, and the next one’s in March. To learn more about our local paramedic service, you can find them under the “Living” section of the City of Guelph website or on Twitter.
All new episodes of the Guelph Politicast return next week!
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, Google, 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.