Guelph Politicast

End Credits #293 - April 19, 2023 (Renfield)

This week on End Credits, we want to suck... [turns page] Your blood! Who doesn't love a good vampire movie, especially when the story ais centred around the greatest and most famous vampire of all time. So on this episode, we're going to talk about Dracula's latest in the horror-comedy Renfield, and also talk about some of Dracula's greatest hits!
This Wednesday, April 19, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
Too Many Draculas! There are two characters that have been in more movies than any other, one is Sherlock Holmes and the other is Count Dracula. Yet another Dracula is the [co-] star of this week's film, but to begin with we're going to countdown some of the other Draculas. From the classic portrayal in 1931, to an even more classic portrayal from the silent era, and then more recent efforts with actors of every sort, we'll count off (heh) the best Draculas.
REVIEW: Renfield (2023). Being Dracula is easy, but being the guy that lures Dracula's victims to a blood curdling doom and then cleaning up the mess is hard. This is the premise of Renfield, in which Nicholas Hoult plays the long put-upon minion of the dark prince, while Nicolas Cage plays the most famous vampire of all-time. Transplanted from Europe to New Orleans, and time-shifted from the Victoria Age to modern day, does this horror-comedy raise Dracula from the pop culture grave or is it merely just the walking dead?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #369 - What’s the Deal with OPA 80?

This has been an exceptionally busy week for the City of Guelph's planning department. As the staff were getting for the final approval of the new Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw this week - the first update in nearly 30 years, remember - the Government of Ontario dropped their decision on Official Plan Amendment #80, the latest version of Guelph's Official Plan. It never rains, but it pours!
Cities, towns and villages all over Ontario were required to file updates to their Official Plan before last year's municipal elections, and Guelph was one them. But because the Ontario government had an election last summer, it's created a kind of backlog at the ministry, so even though Guelph passed OPA80 last summer, we only just got the provincial approval last week.
In all there were 18 changes, and none of them can be appealed because the last word goes to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The most controversial part of the decision was that the skyline of Downtown Guelph can now max out at 23 storeys, which has provoked a lot of doom and gloom scenarios in the news and on social media, but that's an oversimplification. Today, we're going to dig a bit deeper. 
To help us, we're joined by the City of Guelph’s General Manager of Planning and Building Services Krista Walkey and the City’s Manager of Policy Planning and Urban Design Melissa Aldunate. They're going to talk about the impact of the changes on various other pieces of Guelph planning business and the complexity of planning downtown beyond the maximum building height. They'll also discuss why Guelph has limited options around major transit stations, and why you don’t need to worry about Guelph growing beyond its borders in the immediate future.
So let's get the 4-1-1 on OPA #80 on this week's Guelph Politicast!
You can see the decision on OPA80 from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing here, and you can see the staff memo on the decision that was provided in a council information report here.
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 #421 - April 13, 2023

his week on Open Sources Guelph, we make the perfect call... to cover some recent news! Speaking of calls, we will talk about ruining your election chances with a last minute ethics investigation, and, in more serious news, we will talk about the struggle to get someone to make the call to protect women in the Winnipeg area. Closer to home, we will talk to one of our city councillors about Guelph stuff including new rec centres and big zoning changes coming soon.
This Thursday, April 13, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Call Me By Your Blame. Danielle Smith won the leadership of the UCP, and the premiership of Alberta, by courting people you supported the "Freedom Convoy", but did she take returning that support too far? Now facing an ethics investigation for talking to a street preacher charged for being at the Coutts border blockade prior to his trial, Smith is just days from an election call with a blatant reminder of her affinities. Does Smith stand a chance on Election Day next month?
Like Garbage. The Brady Road landfill re-opened this week after a brief closure following the discovery of Linda Mary Beardy's remains. The 33-year-old Indigenous woman from the Lake St. Martin community is the fifth Indigenous woman to be found dead in a landfill in the Winnipeg area in the last several months, and though foul play is not suspected in this case, the other four women seem to be victims of the same killer. Have we given up on protecting Indigenous women?
The Six is In. There's been a lot going on at Guelph City Council lately, and a lot of it's been around Ward 6. This week, we're joined by Ward 6's senior councillor Dominique O'Rourke who will talk about some of those details like how it's finally full speed ahead on the South End Community Centre, and some of her concerns around next week's passage of the updated Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw. Plus, since it's spring, we will touch on the eternal concerns about speed bumps on Downey Road.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #292 - April 12, 2023 (Air)

This week on End Credits, we're going to play ball with sports politics! We head out to the theatre for a good old-fashioned adult drama about business dealing and inter-personal dynamics with Air. And since that movie is sports adjacent, we will let ourselves get sports adjacent by talking about some of our favourite sports movies (with caveats).
This Wednesday, April 12, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss:
Sporty Vice. Sports movies are almost always a winner with the general audience, and even if they're bad, they're still pretty good. Now Air isn't quite a sports movie, but it takes place around a sport, so for the first part of this week's show we are going to talk about the best sports movies but with a twist! We're going to talk about the best true-to-life sports movie (narrative or documentary), the best underdog sports movie, and the best movie about a fake sport.
REVIEW: Air (2023). Believe it or not, there was once a time when Nike was not the pre-eminent name in basketball shoes, and there was a time when Michael Jordan was only the number three NBA draft pick. Nike needed Jordan, but how where they able to overcome the odds to win over the future man often called the Greatest of All Time? That's the story of Ben Affleck's latest movie starring his good friend Matt Damon as the man who bet it all on Jordan and won sports merchandising in the process. But can a movie audience thrill to this story about good branding?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #368 - The Realtor’s View of the Housing Crisis

When we’re talking about the housing crisis we frequently talk to activists or government representatives. This is understandable, but there are a lot of pieces to the housing puzzle and we don’t lean on all of them equally, and in so much as we want to vilify the people who take part in the open housing market that so many of us are priced out of, we still need them if we’re going to have a hope in developing solutions to the crisis.
So where do realtors fit in? Where do they see themselves in developing solutions to this housing crisis? Do they even think about it at all? Well, one realtor definitely does, and she even wrote about it on her website. Kelly Caldwell confesses that she’s not an expert in municipal politics, but she put together an eight-point plan that even got the mayor talking about some of her ideas.
And some of Caldwell's ideas might surprise you: Fund housing assistance programs, increase wages and introduce universal basic income (UBI), increase protections for renters, allow for something call community land trusts, and initiate reforms of the real estate industry itself. Interesting thoughts, but more broadly speaking, what is the responsibility of people working in the market to help solve the housing crisis? What is the responsibility of realtors specifically?
Caldwell joins us on this pod to explore these and other questions. She will talk about why she wanted to start writing about the housing crisis, and what role she sees people working in real estate playing to help solve the problem. She will also talk about whether her industry is equipped to deal with a system in crisis, and why wanting your investment in housing to pay off is about more than just greed. Plus, Caldwell will offer her advice for home buyers and sellers alike in this market, even if they don’t want to hear it.
So let's get another view of the housing crisis on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!
You can find Kelly Caldwell at her website, and you can also find her blog posts there including her latest one called simply “NIMBY in Guelph”.  You can also find her contact information there if you wish to engage her services as a realtor, and you can also find her on social media @RealtorKellyCaldwell on Facebook and @kcaldwell on Twitter.
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 #420 - April 5, 2023

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we witness something completely rare and unexpected in our natural world: Accountability. We join, well, everyone in the political world right now by looking to New York City where a certain Florida man had to go to court. Back here in Canada, we were dealing with the fall out of other, more serious crimes, but the back half of the show will be reserved for money matters as Guelph's MP will tell us why he likes the Federal Budget beyond the obvious.
This Thursday, April 5, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Do the Indict Thing. The beginning of the end? Maybe. For the first time in his life, it seems that Donald Trump's criminality and corruption has caught up with him and it resulted in his indictment in a Manhattan court room Tuesday on 34 different felony counts tied to his scheme to allegedly use campaign funds to cover-up extra marital affairs. After that, Trump went back to Mar-a-Lago for a victory lap (?), but how much trouble is the former president really in, and has justice finally found him?
The Report. Last week, the Mass Casualty Commission into the murder of nearly two dozen people in Nova Scotia delivered their report, and the sword predictably fell on the RCMP and the many mistakes they made over the 14 hours the event unfolded in 2020. It also said that domestic partner violence in Canada is an epidemic, and addressing those issues should be considered more than a police matter. Will anyone end up taking these recommendations to heart?
Budget Politics. Last week, Minster of Finance Chrystia Freeland announced the 2023 Federal Budget, which offered some help with affordability, plus expanded health and dental care spending and money to support the development of clean technologies. What does this mean for the average Guelphite? This week, we're joined by Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield who will discuss how the budget will support work at the University of Guelph, Canada's competitiveness on hydrogen and other new fuels, and the limits of Federal support to fight the housing crisis.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #291 - April 5, 2023 (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves)

This week on End Credits we roll a natural 20. Do you know what that means? Then you're probably very acquainted with the subject matter that our movie this week is based on. We ventured back out to the theatre to see the new fantasy movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, and we're also going to talk other, different fantasy movies too.
This Wednesday, April 5, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
Practically Magic. Fantasy movies. They sound simple enough, but they're hard to pull off, and the genre is about more than some guys with a sword, a damsel in distress, and a man in a pointy hat casting spells. You can't put every fantasy movie in the same box, so we will line-up some of the boxes and open then in the first part of this show to talk about all kinds of fantasy movies, some set in magic kingdoms and some set in our own modern world.
REVIEW: Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (2023). There was once an attempt to make the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons into a movie franchise and it did not go well. So we're now doing take two, and if the reviews already posted are to be believed, it seems like they got it right this time. Shall we believe the hype? You may as this week we look at the dawn of another movie franchise, ably made by "The Johns" - Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley - and starring Chris Pine leading a motley crew of well-meaning mystics and fighters across a fantasy land.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #367 - The Pickleball Revolution Begins

Pickleball is huge. Don't believe it? Consider this line from a recent CNN Business story: “The number of people playing pickleball [in the U.S.] grew by 159 per cent over three years to 8.9 million in 2022.” Here in Canada, a survey by Pickleball Canada last year showed that eight per cent of Canadian households have one pickleball player who plays the game at least once a month. This is a growing trend too.
That's why members of the Pickleball Guelph Association delegated to the budget confirmation meeting in January. Their concern is having too many members and not enough space, plus there's no dedicated pickleball courts in Guelph. The game's being played on tennis and badminton courts, which are different games with their own rules and regulations despite the fact that they’re all games with rackets and nets.
But more than the personal enjoyment of local pickleball players, groups like the PGA are making pickleball the centre of a plan to draw tourism to the region by hosting tournaments. There’s no doubt that pickleball is a growing sport, and that it has more room to grow since it's unisex, all-ages and family-friendly, but is pickleball the next big thing, or are we sitting on a pickleball bubble? To get a better handle on these, and other questions, we go to the source...
This week, we're joined by PGA members Rick Thompson, Ryan Thompson and Susan McDaid who will tell us pickleball’s origin story, how each of them found their way to the sport and why they combined their efforts with others to form the Pickleball Guelph Association. They will also talk about co-ordinating with other pickleball groups across Canada, and how advocacy is a double-edged sword in terms of encouraging more people to get into a game that’s struggling to manage the numbers it already has.
So let's talk about the pickleball revolution on this week's Guelph Politicast!
The PGA’s next intro to pickleball session is sold out, but you can email the PGA at info [at] pickleballguelph.com to learn how you might be able to get involved. Indoor pickleball games hosted by the PGA are played Saturday nights and they’re adding a new night on Tuesday starting on April 11. You can learn more about pickleball in Guelph by going to the PGA'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 #419 - March 30, 2023

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're thinking about life in the capital. There's always a lot of controversy up in Ottawa, and for the last couple of weeks that controversy's been all about Chinese government election interference. But good news! Joe Biden came to town to save the news cycle with some life-affirming North American camaraderie. For the interview this week, we're pleased to talk to someone who pays more attention to federal and provincial budgets than we do.
This Thursday, March 30, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Dong Turn? Since last we talked about this issue, former-Governor General David Johnston was named the rapporteur on alleged Chinese election interference, and Liberal MP Han Dong has resigned from the party after a Global News report that alleged he gave advise to Chinese diplomats on the detainment of the Two Michaels, which Dong has denied. He's now suing Global News for what he calls "false reporting" by the way. We'll talk about where the scandal sits now.
One to Joe On. U.S. President Joe Biden made his way to Ottawa for his first official visit to Canada since becoming the head of the American government. There was substance, like a new agreement on controlling the flow of immigrants at Roxham Road, and there was some style like the moment in the House of Commons when Biden burned politicians that won't prioritize gender parity in their cabinet. So what are the takeaways from Joe's 27-hour tour de force in this nation's capital?
Squeeze Play. It's been a busy budget week. At Queen's Park last week, the Ontario government revealed its budget and then on Tuesday the federal government revealed theirs. So many details, so much money, and so little time to cover it all, so we called in a stringer. This week, we're joined by Dr. Paul Kershaw, the founder, lead researcher and executive chair of Generation Squeeze. He's going to tell us about what the budgets mean for young people, and others in Canada looking some government relief in an expensive world.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #290 - March 29, 2023 (Scream VI)

This week on End Credits, we catch up with old friends, and newer old friends. We had to wait a whole year, but we finally get a new entry in the retooled Scream franchise, which means we're heading to New York (via Montreal) for Scream VI. And sticking to the horror realm, we're going to play a game and dive deep into horror's golden age in the 1980s.
This Wednesday, March 29, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
The 1980s Horror Movie Draft. The Scream franchise began as a kind of satire of slasher films, which came to prominence in the 1980s in what was probably the greatest film era of horror movies until very recently. But which horror movies from the 80s are draft worthy? To start this week's show, we're going to play another draft, and choose the best horror flicks in categories like "Franchise", "Fantasy", and "Creature Feature".
REVIEW: Scream VI (2023). It took eight movies for Jason to make to his way to New York City, but Ghost Face has done it in six! The latest entry in the Scream franchise sees the new characters introduced in last year's re-quel head to the Big Apple as a way to prevent their lives from becoming another horror movie, but Ghost Face has moved to New York too and he's still interested in making the Carpenter Sisters the stars of another franchise entry. Were the directing team of Radio Silence able to capture again the magic of Scream?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.