Guelph Politicast

End Credits #281 - January 25, 2023 (The Menu)

This week on End Credits, it's time to eat! Although our show plays at mid-afternoon every Wednesday, perhaps you might enjoy a small snack while you listen because, this week, we're going to make you hungry. Along with our review, which is about The Menu now streaming on Disney+, we will talk about some food-based movies to tease the palette. 
This Wednesday, January 25, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
More Eats. Movies centred around eating, or the business of eating, have provided so much rich fodder for numerous movies over the years that's it's almost its own subgenre. From a luscious drama about the transformative power of chocolate to the brutal history of betrayal behind the most famous fast food chain on Earth, we will look at some of our favourite movies about food and eating, and yes, there will be cannibalism!
REVIEW: The Menu (2022). Finally, a movie for foodies, about foodies! A dozen people head out to an exclusive restaurant on a secluded island for a meal they will never forget... Their last! That's what The Menu is about in a nutshell, but there are a lot of intricacies to this overlooked movie from last fall which features Ralph Fiennes as the famously eccentric chef and Anya Taylor-Joy as the mysterious dinner guest who throws a wrench into the chef's thoroughly planned out meal. The result? A meal of a movie with nourishing themes and acting!
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #358 - The State of the City, A Year Ago

Every year, the Mayor of Guelph is invited to an event called the State of the City where he or she gives a speech to the members of the Chamber of Commerce about the current issues facing Guelph and how city council plans on addressing them. It once was said that to understand the future, you have to look to the past, so what was on the mayor’s mind last year when he talked to the Chamber?
The 2022 State of the City took place on March 31, delayed from the usual late-January/early-February perch for the event due pandemic circumstances at the time. (Remember, there was another lockdown last January.) It was an election year, so Guthrie was going to be called on to set the stage for his then-undeclared re-election campaign, not to mention some advocacy and politicking that could be done in the then-upcoming provincial election too.
So how much has changed since the last State of the City? Guthrie was re-elected, and so was the Progressive Conservative government in Queen’s Park, and while COVID-19 has receded further into the background, the effects of the pandemic are still lingering. But cities have also been whammied by massive policy changes from the Province that don’t seem to address the problems and only create new headaches for municipalities like Guelph to deal with.
There’s an entire suite of issues that might make the final cut in this year’s State of the City, but on this edition of the podcast, we’re going back to 2022. Mayor Guthrie used the conceit of the then-internet phenom Wordle to lay out the City of Guelph’s priorities in five-letter word chunks, and you'll also hear from Medical Officer of Health Dr. Nicola Mercer who was honoured by Guthrie during the State of the City for her leadership during the pandemic.
So let's go back in time to last year's State of the City on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!
The 2023 State of the City hosted by the Guelph Chamber of Commerce is Thursday February 2 at 7 am at the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre on Stone Road. Tickets are $50 for members and $70 for future members. To find out more information, call the Chamber office at 519-822-8081 or go to the Chamber’s 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, 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 #410 - January 19, 2023

This week on Open Sources Guelph it's Blue Thursday, the saddest Thursday of the week. To celebrate, we're going to talk about the Code Blue in our healthcare system that Ontario's inglorious premier thinks he's solved, and then we're going to talk about some issues around Toronto's men and women in blue, the members of its police service. But it's not all depressing because we've brought in an old friend to talk about all the math city council will be doing next week!
This Thursday, January 5, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Doug's Anatomy. Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced that the Ontario government will lean on private clinics to help clear the surgery backlog, which now sits at nearly one million procedures. Of course, Ford says that you will only ever have to "pay with your OHIP card and not with your credit card", but the whole province is understandably freaked out that Ford is opening the door to two-tier healthcare. Do we have to hit 9-1-1 on this policy direction?
The Money Split. Last month, Toronto Mayor John Tory announced that he was looking at a $48 million increase to the police budget. This comes after months of Tory warning about a budget crunch from legislative changes, and it comes after years of discussion about social justice reform. It also comes at a time of several funerals for officers killed in the line of duty, so maybe "Defund the Police" isn't as politically neutral as it once was. So how do we make sense of these conflicting issues and talk straight about policing?
The Allt in Our Stars. Next week, Guelph City Council will sit down to ratify the 2023 budget, but a lot has changed since last December when the City's first multi-year budget was passed. Ward 3 Councillor Phil Allt will join us to talk about those challenges including the financial fallout of Bill 23 and Mayor Cam Guthrie's proposed levy to raise funds to combat homelessness and mental health issues. We also talk about the varying definitions of affordability and the fate of big infrastructure projects like the library.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #280 - January 18, 2023 (White Noise)

This week on End Credits we have unfinished business. The calendar says 2023, but we've still got some work leftover from 2022 as we finally get back into the regular swing of things. First, we've got to talk about that list that got so many people up in arms before the holidays, and then we're going to talk about one of the last movies to be released in 2022.
This Wednesday, January 18, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss:
The Flack List. Before the break, Sight & Sound magazine released their decennial update to the 100 Greatest Films of All Time list, and we have some notes. Now critics and directors contribute to the list, and essentially the whole thing is done by ranked choice voting, so we aim to do some direct editing by talking about the movies that should still be on the list, the movie that's yet to make the list, and the new entry that might still be there for decades to come.
REVIEW: White Noise (2022). In 1985, Don DeDillo published a book that was popular, but widely considered unfilmable. At the beginning of the pandemic, Noah Baumbach accepted the challenge and started to develop this story about a Hitler studies professor and his family whose consumerist domestic bliss is assaulted by an "Airborne Toxic Event" from a nearby train crash. It's impossible not to see the pandemic allegory in White Noise, and maybe that's the point, but has Baumbach done the impossible and made the unfilmable filmable?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #357 – The New Kids on the Block Part 2

Next week, council will have their meeting to confirm the 2023 budget, which, on the surface, seems like a relatively ordinary and straightforward procedure, but it may be a pretty big hint at the challenges that are coming for the members of city council, old and new alike. In terms of the new, and the challenges they’ve already been facing, this seems like a good time to get to know a few more of the new council players.
So we kick off the second part of a two-part recap featuring recent interviews with the new councillors with Carly Klassen of Ward 2. She will talk about standing out in the very competitive Ward 2 race in last year’s election, and her first few weeks as the sitting councillor. She also talked about the emergence of Bill 23, how that’s impacted the job description and responsibilities of being a city councillor, and the recent renaissance of root cellars in the Ward.
We’ll then talk to Ward 4 Councillor Linda Busuttil, who will chat about transitioning from the school board, improving the representation of Ward 4 at City Hall, and the ways she wants to change the job. She also talks about her thoughts around Bill 23 and its impact on council business, how the legislation doesn’t tackle the affordability issue, and how it also undermines the proverbial toolbox for city council to solve problems.
And last, but not least, we’ve got Ward 6's Ken Yee Chew who will talk about the campaign strategy that led to him upsetting the near-certain re-election of an incumbent, and the political make-up of Ward 6. From there, he talks about Bill 23 from his perspective as a councillor and as a municipal planner, and why the legislation will create as much stress among City staff as it will in the community. Also, he'll talk about his concerns about the separation of South Guelph from the rest of town in the new Federal riding maps.
So let’s talk to some our new council friends – again – on this week’s edition of the Guelph Politicast!
You can hear new interviews every week with Guelph councillors and other government newsmakers on Open Sources Guelph, Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca. Also, keep visiting Guelph Politico for all the latest coverage about all the latest city council meetings.
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 #409 - January 12, 2023

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we've got déjà vu, or should we say, "déjà coup". A lot of people have made that joke, so let's talk about the very serious issues behind that with some concerning recent undemocratic events in Brazil. We will also talk about one of Scotty's favourite issues, rich people having too much money! In the back half of the show, we're going to talk to the man who might be the most obsessively environmental person in Ontario politics not named Mike.
This Thursday, January 5, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Breakin' 2: Electric Coup-aloo. A president unbound by reality or the rule of law, backed by rich and nefarious far-right forces, calls an election fraudulent and his followers storm the capital in a shocking act of political violence on a January afternoon. Sound familiar? The setting this time was Brazil, and though Jair Bolsonaro's been in self-imposed exile in Florida, the threat to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on his behalf had a lot of echos from January 6, 2021 in Washington D.C. Are far-right insurrections now global?
All the Money in the World. Just after the start of the second work day of 2023, Canada's richest CEOs had already made as much as money as most of the workers will all year. A new report from the Canadian Centre For Policy Alternatives fanned the flames by announcing that the 100 highest paid CEOs in Canada were paid a staggering 243 times what the average Canadian worker took home last year. As moneyed sources warn us constantly about a recession, we'll talk about the real sources of inequality.
50 Tirades of Gray. The Ontario Legislature won't be in session again until after Family Day, but the adversaries of Premier Doug Ford aren't taking a break. One of those adversaries, Environmental Defense executive director Tim Gray, joins us this week to talk about his group's push to investigate the Greenbelt deal with developers, their new lawsuit defending the council approved municipal boundaries in Hamilton and other environmental fights that Gray's group is taking right to Ford's front door.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #279 - January 11, 2023 (Hollywood Stories)

This week on End Credits, we're going to talk about the movies. Of course we do that every week, but in this week's special post-holiday edition of the show (sorry, we're still on an advanced winter break) we're going to talk about the movies about the movies that came out in 2022. From one actor's fake story, to a filmmaking story, to an embellished true Hollywood story.
This Wednesday, January 11, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson, Tim Phillips, Candice Lepage, and Peter Salmon will discuss:
Chew Hollywood Stories. As we continue our break, we turn our retrospective lens this week to tales from Hollywood. First, we will consider the not so true story of Nicolas Cage's hilariously action-packed overseas adventure in the improbably named The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Next, we will go out to 1970s Texas for another film massacre with X. And finally, we will go into Hollywood's past with the highly controversial yet strangely mesmerizing Marilyn Monroe bio-pic, Blonde. Hooray for Hollywood? Maybe.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #356 – The New Kids on the Block Part 1

On Open Sources Guelph we talk to all members of city council regularly, so it seemed fitting to kick off this new council term last fall by talking first to the five new councillors. For the next couple of weeks on this podcast, we’re going to collect those initial interviews starting with the new reps from the odd number wards in Guelph as we get to know the new players at the council table.
Both Bob Bell and June Hofland, the previous Ward 1 and Ward 3 city councillors respectively, were elected in 2006 and they left some pretty big shoes to fill in terms of experience and longevity at City Hall. The new councillors for those wards, Erin Caton and Michele Richardson, join council at a time of unique challenges even before the provincial government really piled it on in the weeks between the election and the inaugural meetings of the new term.
So with that in mind, we talked to Caton last fall on Open Sources about the things that made a difference for her in the election campaign, developing working relationships with her fellow councillors and increasing representation for people with disabilities on council. She also talked about some of the initial moves she was planning for her first weeks on council and how provincial directives might interrupt the well laid plans she campaigned on.
We also talked to Richardson, who told us about how she, as the one woman running in Ward 3, was elected over several male challengers. She also talked about being thrown into the deep end with Bill 23, and whether the agenda she ran on as a candidate is in danger because of big provincial changes to council business. Also, Richardson discussed how she’ll manage her day job at Wellington County with her new duties plus she talked about some recent development news in her ward.
So let's talk to some our new council friends - again - on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!
You can hear new interviews every week with Guelph councillors and other government newsmakers on Open Sources Guelph, Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca. Also, keep visiting Guelph Politico for all the latest coverage about all the latest city council meetings.
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 #408 - January 5, 2023

This week on Open Sources Guelph we're back at work! That was a nice holiday break but the news doesn't stop, even though we do (for a time). So on this show, we're catching up with the crazy politics of the United States, which did not take a holiday break, and we will catch up with the War in Ukraine because there was no holiday break there either. For the interview this week, we will finish up our round of interviews with the new city councillors by chatting with the new guy representing Ward 6.
This Thursday, January 5, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Kevin Can Wait. As dawn arrived on January 3 for the start of the new U.S. Congress, the odds were still long that Kevin McCarthy would achieve his life's goal and become the Speaker of the House, at least on the first vote. It's a big flashing red sign that House Republicans are not ready for prime time, including a holiday scandal about a new New York Congressman who apparently ran for office on an entirely imaginary CV. We will talk about the GOP drama in this first week of the new Congress.
300 Days of Longing. The Russian war in Ukraine, at least the full invasion portion, is rapidly approaching the end of its first year. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a successful visit to the United States before the break that resulted in more military support, but Vladimir Putin has been increasing the bombardment, started calling the war a war in public, and appears to be considering the launch of another invasion through Belarus. What's coming in 2023 for the people of Ukraine?
The Man Who Chew Too Much. Before the break we were working our way through the new Guelph City Councillors, and we finally come to the end of that list. Last, but certainly not least, we're talking to Ken Yee Chew, the new councillor from Ward 6, for this week's show. Chew is one of the youngest members of the new council, and he's going to talk to us about defeating an incumbent, the challenges coming in 2023, and the potential changes to the Federal riding maps that might split off the south end from the rest of Guelph.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #278 - January 4, 2023 (Animation Domination)

This week on End Credits, we're still recovering from some holiday cheer, so we're settling into the new year as we think about the challenges and movies ahead. In the meantime, we're going to bring you some of our insights from the year that just ended, including this episode that might well be a preview for this year's Best Animated Feature Oscar. Are these three in contention?
This Wednesday, January 4, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson, Tim Phillips, Candice Lepage, and Peter Salmon will discuss:
Animation Domination. To begin the new year, we're going to revisit some of the greatest hits from the last year, and we're lining them up by themes. This week, we're going to look at how 2022 was a great year for animation with some of the best examples, and they might even be up for Oscars. On this episode we will re-cover Pixar's Canada-set Turning Red, Richard Linklater's space age Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood, and the charming stop-motion mockumentary Marcel the Shell With Shoes On. Let's have some fun to start 2023!
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.