Guelph Politicast

End Credits #261 - August 31, 2022 (Prey)

This week on End Credits, we're back! We barely made it out our summer camp excursion, but it's right out of the frying pan and into the fire considering the first movie back is about a monster from space. So this week we're reviewing the new movie Prey on Disney+, and to take our nerves down a notch, we're going to talk about some of the different movies coming this fall.
This Wednesday, August 31, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
Better Call Fall. It may be the last week of (unofficial) summer, but this week, we're already looking ahead to the fall. Traditionally, it's a time when movie studios and streamers start rolling out the award-ready movies, but fall brings a lot of different movies to our various screens, from blockbusters to the art house and everything in-between. We will look ahead to some our most anticipated picks, from a murder mystery to two different films about the same puppet.
REVIEW: Prey (2022). The setting is 1719 in the Great Plains of North America, and Comanche warriors hunt to feed the tribe and protect it from area predators like bears and mountain lions. Enter a very different kind of hunter. One from the sky. Prey is the fifth movie in the Predator series (seventh if you count the Alien Vs Predator films), but it does something entirely different by focusing on one Comanche woman who has to outwit, outplay and outlast the Predator in an 18th century battle of wills. So is Prey an answer to our prayers for a good Predator movie?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #337 - An Election Preview!

While there will be council business to discuss in a couple of weeks, the main thrust of local political issues lately can be summed up in one word: “Election.” The municipal election takes place here, and in municipalities across Ontario, on October 24. Nominations closed nearly two weeks ago, so the ballots are set, and all that’s left is the vetting, which begins with this week’s episode of this podcast.
This episode doesn’t really need a lot of set-up as we're just just going to go over the ballot and talk about who’s running in each of the wards and then who’s running for mayor. Guelph is at a crossroads.  We're rapidly approaching 150,000 people and we've been directed by the Province to grow to over 200,000 by the halfway point of the century. The challenges are substantial, and the solutions are difficult to find. 
Into this political climate are 40 candidates running for the 12 council seats and six people looking to be the new mayor. Three of the four councillors retiring this term have been on council for 12 years or more, and while that may be a loss of institutional knowledge, it does open council up to new ideas and new experiences. Frankly, if you’re interested in local politics and the future of Guelph, then this might be a good moment to get involved.
You can consider this an election primer: Who is running, who has an interesting story to tell, and who has an inside track to be a part of the next council? Graeme McNaughton, the city hall reporter for the Guelph Mercury Tribune, will joins us to go down the ballot from Ward 1 through Ward 6, and then look at the mayor’s race to see if any of the five challengers have any hope to unseat Mayor Cam Guthrie.
So let's consider the odds on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!
You can follow Graeme McNaughton's election coverage and other city news at the Guelph Mercury Tribune website. You can obvious go to Guelph Politico for my election coverage, including the candidate questionnaires, and we’re airing short interviews with all the council candidates starting this Thursday on Open Sources Guelph. Finally, for all official election information, including important dates, go to the City of Guelph’s election 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 #389 - August 25, 2022

This week on Open Sources Guelph things get extreme. What's more extreme than war? On Wednesday, it was the six-month anniversary of the start of Russia's war in Ukraine, how's that going? Closer to home though, trans people are almost fighting a war of their own and we will talk about one victim from London. And finally, our guest chased the not-Queen of Canada out of Peterborough on her scooter and she'll talk about it.
This Thursday, August 25, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Deep Six Months. Ukraine Independence Day is this week, and so is the six-month mark of Russia's invasion of the county. For both these reasons, plus the mysterious death of the daughter of a key Putin ally, the expectation is that the Russians will launch a vicious attack on Ukrainian targets. Who would have guess back in February the war would have gone this long, but where's it going now?
Some Like It SWAT. It was just a normal Saturday morning when there was knock at the door belonging to Clara Sorrenti and her fiancé. Sorrenti, a transwoman who is the Twitch streamer known as Keffals, had been swatted by anti-trans bigots, and they're not done yet, but it does raise a few questions: How did London Police miss the clues that a death threat against city councillors was fake, and what's next for Keffals?
The Fake Queen and I. A couple of weekends ago, the so-called Queen of Canada rolled into Peterborough with her official RV and her entourage to help some local followers arrest members of the Peterborough Police Service, and then turn them over to military custody. It did not go as planned. This week, we're joined by Toronto lawyer and Romana Didulo chronicler Caryma Sa'd, who has been following the not-Queen for a while (but not like that), including her recent appearance in Peterborough.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #REPEAT - August 24, 2022

This week on End Credits, we're on vacation. For the next two weeks, actually. We're getting back to nature, you see. We found this charming little summer camp in New Jersey with a sterling name. Sure, there's some local legend about a boogeyman living in the woods, but what are the odds any of that stuff is true? Now where did I leave my hockey mask?
Camping Out! There's a legend around here. A movie review show on community radio buried, but not dead. A curse on CFRU, a silly curse. End Credits' curse. They say the show died in the pandemic (along with theatrical presentation), but it keeps coming back. Few have seen it and lived. Some have even tried to stop it... No one can. People forget it's down there, waiting... for the end of their annual August break. We'll see you in a couple of weeks after a much needed summer vacation, so for the time being, enjoy some End Credits' classics!
*Programming Note: End Credits will return with new episodes on Wednesday August 31.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #Repeat - Wheatley’s Still There

A year ago this coming Friday, the people of Wheatley, Ontario, part of the municipality of Chatham-Kent in the south west corner of the province, were just sitting there minding their own business around diner time when - BOOM! - two downtown buildings blew up. It feels like we don't talk enough about how a small town in Ontario exploded last summer, so for our second of two repeats, let's talk about it again.
Last summer, the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry installed gas monitor's in downtown Wheatley after residents had repeated smelled the unmistakable scent of hydrogen sulphide gas. The monitors went off on the afternoon of August 26, and 90 minutes later two buildings were destroyed, several more were damaged, and 100 people living in the area around the core were evacuated.
Life in Wheatley has slowly gotten back to normal. Clean up work at the site is done and it was a process that took a very long time because work crews had to avoid setting off a spark. Three old natural gas wells, which are believed to have been the source of the gas that caused the explosion, are nearly all capped and a pressure relief well has now been installed, but the events of last summer are still affecting some residents, and one of them is my sister, Stephanie Charbonneau.
Last December, I interviewed Stephanie for an episode of the podcast, and we will re-visit that conversation this week. We talked about what happened before, during and after August 26, and we also talked about the information void, and whether the Wheatley disaster got enough attention. We also discussed how residents had to be proactive to stay informed about when they might be able to go home, and for the record, while Stephanie does finally have access to her house, she and her family still can't live there due to the damage and the fact that they weren't able to winterize their home.
So let's go back to Wheatley on this repeat edition of the Guelph Politicast!
If you want to see the latest information about what's going on in Wheatley, at least in terms of how the government is working to prevent another gas leak, check out this August 11 article from the CBC, plus this July 20 article and this August 9 article from Chatham-Kent News Today.
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.
Photo courtesy of Ellwood Shreve from the Chatham Daily News

Open Sources Guelph #388 - August 18, 2022

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're back! After enjoying some bee-free time outdoors, we're back in our respective bunkers and ready to get down to business as unusual. To wit, Ontario's premier had some bee troubles to go with all the other troubles he's bee'n facing lately, which are nothing compared to the troubles facing a certain Florida man. What else? How about a talk with a doctor *and* a politician?
This Thursday, August 18, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Bee Positive. At least he could laugh about it. Yes, last Friday a bee flew into Premier Doug Ford's mouth, but solving the challenges facing Ontario right now is a bit more difficult, especially when some of the government's solutions get a less than warm reception when mentioned to Ontario's mayors at the AMO conference this week. We'll talk about the buzz around the provincial government. (Sorry.)
Mar-a-Law & Order. Last week, FBI agents went to a Florida resort, but they weren't interested in a vacation. The search warrant executed on Mar-a-Logo, the permanent home of former U.S. President Donald Trump, was one of a number of legal developments that affected Trump and his associates in the last two weeks, so we will break down the latest news, and the concerning fallout from his followers.
Doctor Change. Before we went on break, we interviewed a nurse, so for our first show back we're going to interview a doctor! Liberal MPP for Don Valley East, Dr. Adil Shamji will join us this week to talk about Ontario's healthcare crisis while wearing his two hats, one as a politician and the other as an emergency physician and the medical director of 11 different homeless shelters in Toronto. He'll talk about his experience, and what changes he thinks we need to make to improve our healthcare system.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #REPEAT - August 17, 2022

This week on End Credits, we're on vacation. For the next two weeks, actually. We're getting back to nature, you see. We found this charming little summer camp in New Jersey with a sterling name. Sure, there's some local legend about a boogeyman living in the woods, but what are the odds any of that stuff is true? Now where did I leave my hockey mask?
Camping Out! There's a legend around here. A movie review show on community radio buried, but not dead. A curse on CFRU, a silly curse. End Credits' curse. They say the show died in the pandemic (along with theatrical presentation), but it keeps coming back. Few have seen it and lived. Some have even tried to stop it... No one can. People forget it's down there, waiting... for the end of their annual August break. We'll see you in a couple of weeks after a much needed summer vacation, so for the time being, enjoy some End Credits' classics!
*Programming Note: End Credits will return with new episodes on Wednesday August 31.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #Repeat - Hey, Remember the Freedom Convoy?

The "official" end of the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa was Wednesday February 23, but it was a long road to get there, and it wasn't really the end. Although the COVID-19 mandates that sparked the convoy have long since lifted, the anger and disinformation generated by the movement are still with us, and so is the fallout the Federal government's call to use the Emergencies Act. Let's look back at how it started...
On this week's first of two repeat episodes of the podcast, we revisit the February 9 episode with Kurt Phillips. He's been hunting Nazis online since before it was cool as the founder and former lead writer for Anti-Racism Canada and as one of the current board members of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network. This conversation took place shortly after the convoy arrived in Ottawa at the end of January.
Of course, the convoy is still making news. Last week, the Toronto Star published a report about how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet were told about a "potential breakthrough" with the convoy the night before the Emergencies Act was invoked. Sounds bad, but you only need to look at last weekend's events in Peterborough where followers of the so-called “Queen of Canada” Romana Didulo were arrested in the course of trying to do a citizen's arrest on the local police.
For now though, let's flashback to February when Phillips joined us to offer his analysis of what happened in Ottawa. He talked about how we got here, some of the marquee players in the movement, and how you can tell the grifters from the true believers. He also discussed how he thought the convoy was going to end, where the movement is going next, and whether the mainstream media is up to the task of understanding what the convoy is really about and who’s driving it (pun intended).
So let's revisit the halcyon days of the Freedom Convoy on this week's repeat of the Guelph Politicast!
You can follow Kurt Phillips @ARCCollective on Twitter to get coverage of Canada's far right from his unique perspective. You can also see insight and analysis from the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, and another good resource is Friend of the Politicast Dan Collen, and you can find his reporting @SpinelessL 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 #REPEAT - August 11, 2022

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we’re saying ‘goodbye’. Wait! No, you did not miss the sudden cancellation of our show. Your dedicated local newsies are still very much in the game, but like many games there’s a half-time, and we’ve entered ours. For the next couple of weeks, we’re going into the OSG archives with some our recent insights and interviews. Soon, we shall return with so much newness, you won’t know what hit you!
Vacation Days. In case it wasn’t clear in the previous paragraph, we’re hitting snooze on producing new shows these next two weeks. When we come back in the latter half of August, we’ll have a new sitting of the Ontario Legislature to cover, a new session on Parliament Hill, a midterm election in the United States, an ongoing war in Ukraine, a myriad of international issues, the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, and, obviously, a municipal election campaign. See you in two weeks!!!
*Programming Note: Open Sources Guelph will return with new episodes on Thursday August 18.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #260 - August 10, 2022 (Trainwreck/X)

This week on End Credits, we're doing one last show before a summer vacation*. Yes, it's summer, and that means it's a time for rock concerts and road trips, and by sheer coincidence, that's what this week's show is about. In a rare double review, we will talk about the new Netflix doc about Woodstock '99 and the best homage to Texas Chainsaw Massacre you'll ever see!
This Wednesday, August 10, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
REVIEW: Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 (2022). In July 1999, the organizer behind the original Woodstock had the brilliant idea to do it all again for the festival's 30th anniversary. Contrary to the lofty ambitions set out though, the '99 redux was not remembered for peace, love and togetherness. It's more like the exact opposite. A new three-part documentary on Netflix tackles what went wrong at Woodstock '99 with behind the scenes insights from many of the festival's acts and organizers. We'll talk about whether it succeeds as an explainer.
REVIEW: X (2022). In 1974, Tobe Hooper took a bunch of unknown actors out into the middle of no where Texas to film one of the most seminal horror movies of all time on a nearly non-existent budget. Ti West's X is chasing the long half-century influence of the Hooper classic, but its also doing something very different. Again, we follow a van full of young people through the back roads of Texas where a horrible fate awaits them. It's not your typical horror movie, but it's firmly baked in a lot of old favourites but does X catch us with all its twists and turns?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.
*Programming Note: End Credits will return with new episodes on Wednesday August 31.