Guelph Politicast

Open Sources Guelph #393 - September 22, 2022

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we continue our journey on the election trail with another trip around the ward map. It's been a long September (nor December like the Counting Crows song), but we've collected another quintet of candidates for this new episode of the show including a couple of people running Ward 2, a visitor from the west end, and a couple of runners from wards south of the river.
This Thursday, September 22, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
The Running Men and Women, Part 4. The municipal election is on Monday October 24, and we’re spending the weeks from now till Election Day bringing you the voices of the people running to be a part of the next city council, and, starting in October, the people who want to be mayor. So this week, we will hear from five more of the brave souls who want to be a part of local government, and, depending on where you live, they all want to get your vote. Here’s who we’re talking to this week:
Rodrigo Goller, Ward 2
Hersham Genidy, Ward 5
Carly Klassen, Ward 2
Chetna Robinson, Ward 6
Justin Van Deale, Ward 4
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #264 - September 21, 2022 (Confess, Fletch)

This week on End Credits, we're going to take it easy. It's the first day of fall, and after the hustle and bustle of summer we can use something low key. The movie we're reviewing for this episode is so low key that you might not have noticed that it was even being released. We're talking about Confess, Fletch and some of the most exciting movies from *that* festival.
This Wednesday, September 21, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
TIFF Competition. The Toronto International Film Festival has wrapped for another year, and the winner of this year's audience choice prize was a first time TIFF filmmaker called Steven Spielberg, who's new film, The Fabelmans, was the toast of the festival. Does that make us want to see it more? Maybe. Before the review, we're going to talk about the movies we're excited about coming out of TIFF, from a doc about a robot to a cancelled movie about a clown.
REVIEW: Confess, Fletch (2022). Gregory McDonald's series of books about a misanthropic former reporter constantly stumbling into mystery was the subject of one successful movie starring Chevy Chase and one unsuccessful sequel. Now it's Jon Hamm's turn to slip into Fletch's reluctantly worn shoes as he embarks on a seedy trip into the art world to find stolen paintings, a missing tycoon, and the murderer of a young woman found in his Boston rental. Did we mention that Fletch is also a suspect? How's Fletch going to get out of this one, and do we care?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #340 - The Post-Pandemic Plastic Problem

Have you ever stopped to think about all the waste generated in the last 30 months since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic? How many masks, gloves, wipes, syringes and containers we’ve thrown away? It's an interesting question, and some scientists are trying to get answers about all this extra garbage we’ve created and the effect it’s having on our environment.
Even back in the earliest days of the pandemic, there was concern about how much more waste was going to be created in the name of keeping people safe. For instance, the Solid Waste Association of North America said that there was a 20 per cent increase in the amount of waste collected in U.S. cities between March and April 2020. Local universities were even doing research into ways to reuse plastic PPE.
Meanwhile, a University of Guelph researcher was part of a team keeping an eye on the extent of the problem. U of G Associate Professor of Integrative Biology Shoshanah Jacobs and Dalhousie University PhD Student in Resource and Environmental Studies Justine Ammendolia co-wrote a study on how, in the course of five weeks in spring 2020, they found 1,300 PPE pieces discarded across an area in Toronto about the equivalent size of 50 football fields. So this is a real problem, right?
It is, and Jacobs and Ammendolia appear on this week's podcast to talk about the findings of their research, how much plastic waste created during the pandemic there might be, and how the pandemic has affected the overall efforts to reduce plastic waste. They will also talk about the effects of PPE waste on animal populations, the longer term effects of plastic waste on animals and humans, and how we can balance public health protection and protecting the environment from PPE pollution.
So let's talk about the plastic pandemic (so to speak) on this week's Guelph Politicast!
The study around issues of pandemic plastic and waste continues, but you can read the piece Jacobs and Ammendolia  co-authored called “The PPE used throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is getting tangled up in wildlife” at The Conversation. You can also follow them on social media @shoshanahjacobs and @JustineAmmendo1.
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 #392 - September 15, 2022

This week on Open Sources Guelph we're still on the campaign trail. In fact, we're pretty much living there. We come to you again with dispatches from across the city, mostly from the even number wards. We've got two incumbents and three challengers and two of the five guests this week are going head-to-head. The rest? They're going to work hard to use their 10 minutes to tell why they're worthy or your vote.
This Thursday, September 15, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
The Running Men and Women, Part 3. The municipal election is on Monday October 24, and we’re spending the weeks from now till Election Day bringing you the voices of the people running to be a part of the next city council, and, starting in October, the people who want to be mayor. So this week, we will hear from five more of the brave souls who want to be a part of local government, and, depending on where you live, they all want to get your vote. Here’s who we’re talking to this week:
Mark MacKinnon, Ward 6
Morgan Dandie, Ward 2
Adrian Salvatore, Ward 4
Ken Yee Chew, Ward 6
Leanne Caron, Ward 5
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #263 - September 14, 2022 (Glorious)

This week on End Credits it's about to get spooky. Yes, we're about half-a-month early when it comes to the official start of Halloween season, but we're jumping the proverbial gun with a little end of summer tribute to horror and scary things. We're talking about some of our favourite (recent) scary movies, and then we will see if Glorious is worthy of that list.
This Wednesday, September 14, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
Scared So Good. In the last 10 years, the horror genre has gone from something enjoyed by a small but very dedicated group of film fanatics to one of the most well received genres that constantly delivers both in quality and box office. To begin this week's show, we're going to count off a few of our favourite horror movies from the last 10 years. If it was made good and scary between 2013 and today, we just might talk about it.
REVIEW: Glorious (2022). So you're heading down the highway, you're getting tired, and you need a pit stop. You pull into some out of the way truck stop in order to use the bathroom, and - BOOM! - you're confronted by an non-corporeal god-like entity that enlists you in a game to determine the fate of all humanity. Those Lovecraftian vibes are apparent in Glorious, a new horror film streaming on Shudder starring True Blood's Ryan Kwanten and Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons, but are those good vibrations or bad vibrations? This review will tell.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #339 - Too Beautiful to Fail

For 20 years, the fate of the old Ontario Reformatory Lands have been a matter of some question, and the answer to that question is complicated by the tangled web of ownership. As successive governments have worked to untangle that web, all that residents and history buffs have been able to do is plan, advocate and educate, but what happens now that we’re so close to revealing the final fate of the OR Lands?
In 1909, Provincial Secretary for Ontario William Hanna began a progressive program for prison reform in Ontario, and the Ontario Reformatory in Guelph was perhaps the finest example of his idealism. There is a certain irony in one of the most beautiful places in Guelph being a prison site, but that’s only because the inmates of the time made it so; from the prison building to the landscaping and the man-made lake.
But the OR closed in 2002, all the inmates were moved to other accommodations, and aside from the occasional film or TV production, the OR lands have largely been reclaimed by the people. It’s a great place that you can almost never stop exploring, but it’s about to change in very big ways with almost 600 acres sold to Fusion Homes and a Heritage District study currently underway. What's next for the Ontario Reformatory Lands, and whose vision will be better represented?
On this week's podcast we're joined by Alex Smith, who is on the board of directors of the Yorklands Green Hub, to talk about the goals of the Hub, and the reasons he's involved. He will also talk about the ownership of the property, and whether all the stakeholders are on the same page in terms of the efforts to preserve the OR Lands’ heritage value. And finally, he will talk about encouraging public access to the lands right now, and whether or not they're getting the right amount of attention this election.
So let's go back to the OR Lands, maybe for the first time, on this week's Guelph Politicast!
You can learn more about the Yorklands Green Hub at their website. The Hub will be holding a Tree Festival on the OR lands on Saturday September 24 from 1 to 3 pm and you can find that information at the YGH website. For something more formal, there will be an in-person open house about the Heritage Conservation District (HCD) Study on Thursday September 29 at 6:30 pm at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #234. The City also collecting your feedback on the review until October 13.
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 #391 - September 8, 2022

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're heading back to the campaign trail, which is essentially where we're living for the next several weeks. So we've lined up another quintet of municipal election candidates; five down and a great many more to go. So join us once again as we put politically active people in the spotlight and ask them to tell us - and you - why they want to be a city councillor working out of 1 Carden Street.
This Thursday, September 8, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
The Running Men and Women, Part 2. The municipal election is on Monday October 24, and we’re spending the weeks from now till Election Day bringing you the voices of the people running to be a part of the next city council, and, starting in October, the people who want to be mayor. So this week, we will hear from five more of the brave souls who want to be a part of local government, and, depending on where you live, they all want to get your vote. Here’s who we’re talking to this week:
Linda Busuttil, Ward 4
Chidi Nwene, Ward 1
Raymond Sartor, Ward 2
Hitesh Jagad, Ward 4
Phil Allt, Ward 3
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #262 - September 7, 2022 (Official Competition)

This week on End Credits, we're all about the movies. Seriously though, when are we not about the movies? But this week, we're reviewing a movie that's about movies, a good old fashioned comedy about the absurdities of the film business. On this show, we're reviewing the satire Official Competition, and we're also talking about some of the movies that never happened.
This Wednesday, September 7, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss:
The Never Wases. The movie business can be hard and fickle, and for every movie that does somehow make it to the light of the movie screen, there are tons of movies that were never meant to be. Before this week's review, we're going to scour all the lost scripts, urban legends, and crazy production rumours to talk about the greatest movies never made, from an action star's turn as a famous poet, to a famous ghost's tropical adventure.
REVIEW: Official Competition (2022). From Toronto to Venice, film festival season is upon us. It's the time of the year that we start getting all the important movies, even if they're just self-important. In this spirit, we're introduced to the three main characters of Official Competition: A movie star trying to be taken seriously, a serious actor trying to find some mainstream acclaim, the avant garde director that's brought them both together to adapt a popular novel and feed the ego of a rich producer. It's a Hollywood story ripe for satire, so just how ripe is it?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #338 - The Quest for Healthy Young Minds

Young people across the country are heading back to school this week, and there’s going to be a lot of pressure; pressure to get back to normal, pressure to catch up on lessons after pandemic hiccups, pressure to succeed in a world full of uncertainty… It’s no wonder that four out of five local young people between the ages of 12 and 26 say they’re in need of mental health assistance.
The Grove has quickly emerged as an authoritative voice for advocacy and support in the growing realm of youth mental health. According to the Grove, as of June 2022, the demand for child psychology services has increased 96 per cent, the need for counselling and treatment services has increased 146 per cent, and family support has increased 56 per cent since the start of the pandemic.
You can’t really ignore those numbers, right? Our young people are still living in a pandemic world, there’s also issues of equity from economic concerns to social justice, and there’s the pending existential crisis of climate change, which is definitely going to change their world. Clearly, young people across our region need a hand, and sometimes it’s not a clinical hand, but that’s where the Grove comes in. They're trying to catch mental health crises before they become full blown emergencies.
With all that in mind, Cyndy Moffat Forsyth, the executive director of the Grove youth wellness hub, joins us to talk about the outreach the Grove is doing right now, how they’re trying to make mental health an important issue in this election with the #GetReal campaign, and what she hopes to get out of the youth mental health forum next week. She will also talk about the growth of the Grove, their track record for success, and how people of all ages can help out with the Grove and its initiatives.
So let's dig into the concerns around youth mental health on this week's Guelph Politicast!
You can learn more about the Grove at its website. The Grove will also be taking part in the Youth Mental Health Forum on Tuesday September 13 at 8 am at the Frank Hasenfratz Centre of Excellence in Manufacturing and you can buy tickets at Eventbrite, and you can learn more about the #GetReal campaign 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 #390 - September 1, 2022

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we start September with a countdown to another Election Day. For the next several weeks, we will be highlighting the people running for office locally, which is good news for you, the listener, because you're going to hear less from Adam and Scotty. Joking aside, there are some serious questions this election, and we hope to get some serious answers starting... Right. Now.
This Thursday, September 1, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
The Running Men and Women, Part 1. The municipal election is on Monday October 24, and we're going to spend the weeks from now till Election Day bringing you the voices of the people running to be a part of the next city council, and, starting in October, the people who want to be mayor. So this week, we will hear from five of the brave souls who want to be a part of local government, and, depending on where you live, they all want to get your vote. Here's who we're talking to this week:
Dan Gibson, Ward 1
Kevin Bowman, Ward 3
Denese Renaud, Ward 5
Erin Caton, Ward 1
Dominique O'Rourke, Ward 6
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.