Guelph Politicast

WELLINGTON-HALTON HILLS POLITICAST #457 - Green For the Bron-Win?! (feat. Bronwynne Wilton)

In 2022, the three major Ontario opposition parties finished very closely together in Wellington-Halton Hills with the Liberals finishing 804 votes short of the second place NDP, and 82 votes short of the third place Greens. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise then that the Green Party of Ontario sees Wellington-Halton Hills as prime target for an upset this election, but can the party be that upsetting with so much on the line?
If you follow Mike Schreiner’s campaign schedule, you will note that he’s oscillating between four different ridings: Guelph (obviously), Kitchener-Centre, Parry Sound-Muskoka, and, as you might have guessed, Wellington-Halton Hills. Whether the Green Party can win this riding will largely depend on their candidate, and in this case it’s a councillor from the literal and figurative centre of Wellington-Halton Hills.
Wilton was first elected to Centre Wellington council in 2022 after growing up in the area, going to the University of Guelph and starting her own business in Fergus. She’s one of three municipal councillors in this race, which might speak to an inherent frustration with our political system. So what happens if the Green Party makes a breakthrough here? What does it mean if the voters there reject over three decades of PC control? 
Those are just a couple of the questions that Wilton will answer on this week’s podcast. She will also talk about why she wanted to run for provincial office, why she’s running for the Green Party, and why Schreiner is so confident that the odds are in her favour. She will also talk about why the environment needs to be a bigger issue, what the Ford government’s impact on rural Ontarians has been, and whether she agrees with Schreiner's assertion that Doug Ford has not made rural Ontario a priority. 
So let's talk about going Green on this episode of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast!
You can learn more about  Bronwynne Wilton and her campaign at her campaign website or the Green Party website. We will be cranking out another episode of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast this weekend, and, as you’re waiting, keep in mind that advanced voting is on February 20 through 22 and you can find out where to go at elections.on.ca.
NOTE: You will be able to hear interviews with all of the Provincial election candidates running in Guelph every Monday on the podcast version of Open Sources Guelph, and every Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca!
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 #506 - February 13, 2025

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're not feeling the love. One day before Valentine's Day, we will dive into some of the biggest news of the day including a crazy person's plans for one of the most volatile regions on the planet. Back here at home, there's some concern about post-secondary spending, which is a provincial jurisdiction and that reminds us: We have an other election candidate to talk to!
This Thursday, February 13, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
"We'll Own It." All quiet on the western front? Hardly. While the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is holding, it hasn't been easy and there have been some new wrinkles. Specifically, it's Donald Trump's threat to seize Gaza and turn it into the "Riviera of the Middle East", which he reiterated this week in front of the King of Jordan (who couldn't get out of the White House fast enough). So should we be worried about Trump's threats, or is it just another distraction?
College-Level Economics. The new cap on international students is having an impact on Ontario's colleges with several now actively talking about deficits, job cuts and the elimination of programs. Some may blame these institutions for relying too much on the unrestricted tuition fees from students outside Canada, but this is also the result of the Ontario government's systemic underfunding over the last several years. With the election now halfway done, is it time to really talk about post-secondary finances?
Spence For Hire. The NDP are Ontario's official opposition, or, to put it another way, the government in waiting. Cameron Spence has also been waiting. He's one of millions of Ontarians who have been struggling in the current economy and have dealt with the housing crisis first hand, and now he wants to do something about it as Guelph's next MPP. We will talk to Spence about his non-political path to this election, and why Guelph should reject its current representative and take a flyer on an NDP-led legislature.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

WELLINGTON-HALTON HILLS POLITICAST #456 - A Vote for Consensus (feat. Ron Patava)

There are seven people running in Wellington-Halton Hills, but only one of them is a party leader. If you’re looking at this election and are thinking to yourself that it’s pretty messed up that the premier can just call an election 16 months early and in the midst of several intermingling crisis, and that there should be a better way, then you might be the type of voter that Ron Patava and Consensus Party is looking for.
Patava has previously been a guest on this podcast. He ran in Wellington-Halton Hills as one of a dozen Consensus candidates around Ontario, but in between then and now he has risen through the ranks to the leadership of Consensus. Not that Consensus is really focused on leadership, or course. It's meant to be a stirring call to have " a decision-making structure that involves and takes into account as broad a range of opinions as possible."
Patava learned from this 2022 campaign: It’s not enough to be about building a new system, it’s about trying to do more to promote the types of change people are looking for everyday. As you will hear in this interview, he’s got three policy ideas in addition to creating a new consensus-based government. It’s compelling and slightly outside the box thinking, but even in an open riding like Wellington-Halton Hills, can a candidate like Patava get ahead?
He’s going to talk about that, how he was elevated to the role of leader, and whether or not the last few years at Queen’s Park have proved him right when it comes to needing a new way of doing government business. He will also tells us again about how a consensus government model would work, what he can do for the riding as a one man band, and why voters should take a flyer on him in this moment where a 34-year incumbent has left the field.
So let's build consensus on this edition of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast!
You can learn more about the Consensus Party and his candidacy at their website. We will be cranking out another episode of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast this weekend, and, as you’re waiting, keep in mind that advanced voting is on February 20 through 22 and you can find out where to go at elections.on.ca.
NOTE: You will be able to hear interviews with all of the Provincial election candidates running in Guelph every Monday on the podcast version of Open Sources Guelph, and every Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca!
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, Stitcher, 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.

End Credits #378 - February 12, 2025 (Love Hurts)

This week on End Credits, we celebrate this holiday of love with a movie about fights! If you're looking for something to watch with a sweetheart, and you don't want some soapy rom-com, you can always check out Love Hurts, and we'll talk about why (not?). Our topic will accompany the star of that film who once appeared in another more famous movie!
This Wednesday, February 12, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
Goonies Never Stay 'Unemployed'! The movie we're reviewing this week features Ke Huy Quan, who was one of the young cast members of a movie called The Goonies, which turns 40 years old this year. Many of the cast members are still working in the business, and they've all starred in some very interesting and distinctive projects. To begin this week's show, we will talk about some of those other efforts since Goonies are still employable!
REVIEW: Love Hurts (2025). Ke Huy Quan was a successful actor when he was a kid, but as an adult he made a living in the industry as a fight choreographer before making a big comeback with Everything Everywhere All at Once. Quan combines both worlds in Love Hurts, a new film from 87North, makers of the John Wick films, which follows a former hit man who gets sucked back into his old life on Valentine's Day when his unrequited love (played by Ariana DeBose) returns. So Love Hurts, but does watching the movie hurt?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

WELLINGTON-HALTON HILLS POLITICAST #455 - Yes She Kent! (feat. Simone Kent)

In some respects, Wellington-Halton Hills is the riding to watch this year because, for the first time in three decades. it’s competitive. Ted Arnott announced that he would not be seeking re-election at the end of the last term, and while the PC Party would like to hold on to this one, opportunity is knocking for the other major parties. Today, Ontario's official opposition will make their case for the riding next door!
Of the four major party candidates in Wellington-Halton Hills, only one of them is not presently a politician with a municipal council. Between those four, there’s also an even split between candidates representing the urban side of the riding, and the more rural parts. Simone Kent is the from the rural side, and she's the one major party candidate who's not presently in a political office, but that's not to say that she doesn't keep busy.
Kent has a unique resume being both a dairy farmer and an education worker. She’s stayed active in organizations like Centre Wellington’s environmental committee and Jersey Ontario, a non-profit association for Jersey cow owners and breeders. Farming, education, the environment, grassroots organizing: that’s about as good as it gets for a resume for an NDP candidate, but what does Kent think of the issues, and what does she want to do as the first MPP in nearly 35 years whose not Ted Arnott?
We will get an answer to that and other questions on this week’s edition of the podcast as Kent talks about why she’s running and being the only major party candidate not already in politics. She will also talk about what an NDP-led Ontario government will do for Ontarians, and what kind of premier Marit Stiles would be. Also, she will discuss, whether Doug Ford has been ignoring Ontario’s farmers, and the issues she wants to put front and centre in these last two weeks of this very truncated campaign.
So let's dig into the NDP case on this edition of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast!
You can learn more about the Ontario NDP, their candidates, and their platform at the party's website. We will be cranking out another episode of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast this weekend, and, as you’re waiting, keep in mind that advanced voting is on February 20 through 22 and you can find out where to go at elections.on.ca.
NOTE: You will be able to hear interviews with all of the Provincial election candidates running in Guelph every Monday on the podcast version of Open Sources Guelph, and every Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca!
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, Stitcher, 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 #505 - February 5, 2025

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're trying to project calm. It was a long weekend as we waited for a certain Florida Man who was inexplicably re-elected as President of the United States to blow up our economy, and we can't even avail ourselves of healthcare because that's in a terrible position in Ontario. So, what can we do to fix this? Our guest this week has some ideas and he wants you to elect him again to put them in action!
This Thursday, February 6, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Trade in Full. It was, as Shakespeare said, a tale of sound and fury signifying nothing. After announcing on Saturday that he would impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, U.S. President Donald Trump relented on Monday afternoon after both countries, essentially, promised to do things that they were already doing. Now, we're under a 30-day reprieve and who knows what happens then, even Donald Trump. So what happens when February ends?
Sick? Oh. So there's an election right now, maybe you heard about it. There's a lot of back-and-forth on the campaign trail about what political parties want to do about healthcare, about we don't want to talk about policy, we want to talk about the extent of the problem. With hospitals under financial pressure, suffering a desperate need for more people and more facilities, and the growing spread of privatisation, we will talk about what healthcare in Ontario looks like and what it needs beyond platitudes.
Still Like Mike? Getting back to the candidates, we will start our interviews with Guelph candidates this week with a familiar face. Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner is the incumbent in Guelph having won the last elections, and it seems to be a foregone conclusion that he will win again. Still, Schreiner says he wants to fight for it, and make sure that Guelphites really want to send him back to Queen's Park, and maybe with some more Green peeps by his side(?). Schreiner will tell us how he intends to make all that happen.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #377 - February 5, 2025 (A Real Pain)

This week on End Credits, we head east, young man. As we continue our cinematic trip through this year's Oscar nominees, we stop in Poland for A Real Pain, which is now easy to stream on Disney+. Before that though, we will stop and consider the calendar. What month is this? Why it's Black History Month, and we will look at some examples of great Black film talent!   
This Wednesday, February 5, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss:
Black History Month Movies. This is our first show for February, so it seems right to spend a portion of it doing the obvious thing and that's pay tribute to Black History Month. So to begin this episode, we're going to choose two films made by two great Black filmmakers and talk about what makes them great and why you should seek them out on streaming. (Both are kind of romantic tales too for there's your Valentine's synergy too!)
REVIEW: A Real Pain (2024). Cousins David and Benji go to Poland to see the country their now-dead grandmother was born, which is the simple plot description of the new film from Jesse Eisenberg. Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin play the cousins, and now they're both nominated for Oscars for their work in this movie.- writing and acting respectively - but what about this movie they're being applauded for? This week, we will travel through Poland with the Pain boys as they get to know their grandma, and each other.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #454 - On Overthrowing "The King" (feat. Jacquie Wells)

ACORN is on the frontline of fighting the housing and affordability crises for low and moderate income people and in Ontario they’ve invested a lot of attention lately on one bad guy, Michael Klein. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he's the so-called "King of Renovictions". Last week the two sides came face-to-face, sort of, at the Landlord Tenant Board, but don't think this is the end of the fight!
On January 21st, Hamilton tenants living at 221 Melvin Avenue went to the LTB for the first of 20 such board hearings around a single respondent who’s bought apartment buildings around the Golden Horseshoe, Michael Klein. Klein’s pattern is clear: He buys a building, issues N13s, people move out of their rent controlled units, and jacks up the rent after some cosmetic change. He's even doing it here in Guelph with three buildings on Brant Avenue. 
At the heart of Klein’s scheme is a misunderstanding on the part of tenants about their rights. An N13 is meant to be used when you need to demolish the rental unit, do extensive repairs or renovations, or convert it into a non-residential use. ACORN argues that this is purposeful, it’s a strategy to take affordable housing and squeeze more profit out of it, which is why they want the LBT to consider all 20 cases as one. It's one way ACORN is taking on what might be its biggest and boldest protest yet! 
Jacquie Wells, who is one of the organizers of Waterloo Region ACORN, will join us this week to talk about who Michael Klein is, how deep the issue with renovictions in Ontario goes, and how many Michael Klein types are out there. She will also talk about the strategies Klein uses to lean on tenants to get them to leave, and the difficulties that  ACORN and other activists have experienced trying to organize against him. And finally, she will discuss what comes next in the fight against renovictions. 
So let's talk about taking down The King on this week's Guelph Politicast!
You can learn more about ACORN at their website, where you can find their 2024 Michael Kein report. You can also follow ACORN Waterloo Region on Facebook and Instagram. There’s also an article that was published on Guelph Today over the holidays that’s worth reading because it features rare commentary from Klein himself
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 #504 - January 30, 2025

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we have to shake off the winter blahs and get into election mode! Doug Ford has called a snap election in Ontario for incredibly specious reasons, and we will get into that, and we will also get into an election issue that we should be talking about with a special guest expert on the subject. In other news, the federal Liberals are still trying to find a new leader.
This Thursday, January 30, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
The Winter Soldier On. He needs a mandate. That's what Doug Ford has been saying all week and on Tuesday he visited the Lieutenant-Governor to dissolve the legislature 16 months early to hold a snap election in February. Now, instead of legislating the myriad of crises that already exists and are under his control, Ford is running to get a *mandate* to stand up against Donald Trump, which is a federal area of responsibility. At least the opposition parties have their sh*t together, right...? Are we doomed?
The Magnificent Seven Six. The slate of leadership candidates for the federal Liberal leadership is now set, and there are six people vying for the role of Justin Trudeau's successor. As it stands today, it looks like former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney has the inside track, but you can't discount Chrystia Freehand yet. Also, there may be deeper controversies afoot as Chandra Arya was left out of the race for damning and mysterious reason. We'll catch up with the Grit rehabilitation efforts.
Great Barrier Beef. Would it surprise you to learn that January 1, 2025 was the deadline to make Ontario barrier-free? It didn't surprise David Lepofsky, or anyone that works with his group, the AODA Alliance. It was the Alliance who pushed the Ontario government in 2005 to pass a bill to make Ontario a fully accessible place by now, and it's the Alliance who wants you to be aware that they failed. This week, Lepofsjy joins us to talk about why accessibility needs to be an election issue and how you can help make it one.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

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.