Guelph Politicast

GUELPH POLITICAST #336 – Story Time

We’ve talked about a lot of heavy stuff on the podcast this year - the pandemic, sexual violence, trans healthcare, mental health and reconciliation all to name a few. So before we take a summer break* it felt like we needed a safe space, somewhere serene where we can get back to nature and just talk like two people. In other words, we just need someone to tell us a story.
This week's guest is Jay Wilson who's an actor, puppeteer, elocutionist, vaudevillian, writer, producer, and director. You or a friend may have been on one of his Jaywalking tours, a storytelling series where Jay almost literally takes you on a walk through Guelph’s history. Wilson had a long and varied career in live theatre before he retired and started Jaywalking in 2019, and becoming one of Guelph's premier storytellers. Even the pandemic couldn't keep Jaywalking down!
On this podcast, Wilson will talk about how he got into storytelling, and how he crafts his set list depending on the crowd. He will also discuss what makes a good story and what makes a bad story, and Wilson will talk about how the pandemic affected the storytelling business, and his preference for performing in-person. Wilson will tell a couple of stories; something for the parents with “Strickland’s Storm”, and something for the kids with “Francis O’Feline”.  
Let’s set the scene: This podcast was recorded live at Riverside Park, which is the first time in two years that an episode of this show was recorded with two people in the same space. The choice of location is very particular because the enabling garden inside Riverside Park is often a stage for storytelling with Tea ‘n’ Tales, and Wilson has often performed there. Tea ‘n’ Tales is coming back to the garden on September 2, and Wilson will be there, so this week’s podcast might best be seen as a kind of warm-up act.
So let's get into story time on this week's Guelph Politicast!
To learn more about Jaywalking, or to book a private show for your event, you can visit Jay’s website here. It’s not too late to still get on the waitlist of the “Gwelf Early Days” performances for the Guelph Public Library on August 16.
*Programming Note: Guelph Politicast will return with new episodes on Wednesday August 31.
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 4, 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 #259 - August 3, 2022 (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On)

This week on End Credits, we're searching for meaning. It's a big, complicated world out there, and it's sometimes hard to make sense the craziest in it, so why not let a little shell show us the way? Marcel the Shell With Shoes On will try and fill us with hope and charm this week, and along the way, we will also talk about some of our favourite flicks from the year so far.
This Wednesday, August 3, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss:
So Far So Good. The year 2022 is now more than half over, so we've got to ask the question: Have we seen anything good? When September arrives, so does the busy festival and awards season, so in the interest of not missing anything good in the first part of the year, we will open the show by looking back at some of our '22 favourites; from an anthology by the maker of Drive My Car to another trip to Gotham City with a new caped crusader!
REVIEW: Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (2022). About 10 years ago, Dean Fleischer Camp made a viral video about a one-inch shell named Marcel just going about his life. Camp and his collaborator, then-wife Jenny Slate, decided to give Marcel the feature-length treatment, and seven years later we get Marcel the Shell With Shoes On. This charming and hilarious mockumentary about a shell's search for his lost shell family has been getting positive reviews for its voice work, humour, and warm outlook on life, but how do we feel about it?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #335 - The Year at Council So Far...

What kind of year has it been at Guelph city council? A busy one. Things have been pretty much nonstop at city hall so far as council business was concerned, which makes sense because this is an election year, and there was a lot of business to finish. In these very consequential seven months of 2022, what were the highlights and lowlights of the work around the horseshoe? What happened, how did it happen, and why?
These are the questions we deal with on this week's podcast as we recap hours and hours of council business in about 60 minutes. Remember the Clair-Maltby Secondary Plan? That was finally passed earlier this year. Ban on single-use plastics? Yup, that happened this year too, and it starts on New Year's Day 2023. The Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw review? Well, it's not done, but it's pretty close to being done!
This will also be known as the year that council took a step back to business as usual. In March, council returned to in-person meetings with some councillors appearing in the chambers, and others beaming in on the big screen. One month later, council meetings were open again to members of the public and while many people welcomed that opportunity it seems like hybrid meetings are here to stay. How hybrid? We'll find out.
Those are sort of the top line things that happened this year at council, the really noticeable stuff. There were a lot of planning meetings with a lot of new units, and not a lot of people were openly happy about this trend. There was also a lot of discussion about homelessness issues, some pretty big issues around inflationary pressures, and heritage was still very much a thing on a lot of files. There's lots to cover and not much time to cover it in, so let's go!
We will now review the last seven months at city council on this week's Guelph Politicast!
The next meeting of city council is September’s planning meeting on Monday September 12 at 6:30 om, and then there’s a special meeting on Wednesday September 14 at 6 pm. Then there’s are no more meetings because of the October 24 election and the last meeting of the term will be on November 1 at 6 pm.You can see all the meeting recaps 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 #387 - July 28, 2022

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we’re thinking about summer vacation.* Before we take a couple of weeks off though, we’ve got a few news items to discuss and an interview to do. In the first half of the show, we will catch up with the battle for Ukraine, and the battle against conspiracy believers right here at home. In the second half, a discussion about healthcare issues with someone who’s in the business.
This Thursday, July 28, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Raising Ukraine. It’s been a while since we talked about it, but the Russian war in Ukraine is still going, and it’s now been going on for nearly six months now. This week, the European Union has tried again to reduce their dependence on Russian oil, and while there was a new agreement to allow grain shipments from the region again, Russia bombed areas around the ports in Odesa and Mykolaiv. We will talk about the latest.
The Lich of It. Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich is once again free on bail even though she violated the conditions when she was free on bail the first time. Her fellow Freedomer Pat King is also out on bail now, finally free from jail after five straight months behind bars. On Sunday, a Freedom Convoy live-streamer draped an American flag on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Sorry, we’re not done with the Convoy yet…
For Better or Nurse. You may have heard about staffing issues in Ontario’s hospitals. You may have also seen the line-up of ambulances up and down Delhi Street waiting to offload patients at the hospital. But do you know how the hospital’s nursing staff is feeling being overworked in these tough times? This week, Ontario Nurses Association elected president Cathryn Hoy will join us to talk about the pressures on nurses and the changes they need.
*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 #258 - July 27, 2022 (Nope)

This week on End Credits, we're looking up. He raise our eyes to the skies, but failing that, we will raise them to the big screen again as we go back to theatres for the latest movie from horror maestro Jordan Peele. Yes, we're reviewing Nope, Peele's third movie, and speaking of third movies we'll hit IMDb to look at how other directors tackled their number threes.
This Wednesday, July 27, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
Big Threes. This week we're reviewing the third movie from Jordan Peele, and that got us thinking about other third movies. By the time a director gets to their third movie, they're either on a course for long-term creative success or that they've maybe found a groove that points to where their career is going in the future. This week, we will look at famous threes, from a Quebec filmmaker's take on a real-life tragedy to a little seen doc from the director of Shaft.
REVIEW: Nope (2022). Another Jordan Peele mystery box? Yes, please! In Nope, Peele takes us to a California horse ranch where two siblings are trying to keep the family business going. The serenity of the ranch though is interrupted by something in the skies, something not of this world, and something that everyone in the area wants a piece of in order to achieve fame and/or glory. Peele, maker of other elevated horror head-scratchers like Get Out and Us now takes us to another close encounter, but does the director still have it for his biggest movie yet?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #334 - Moving the Needle Downtown

When you think about helping Guelph’s most vulnerable downtown, you think of Chalmers. They’ve been doing it for decades, and they’ve continued to do it though good economic times and bad. While the politicians look for policy and funding remedies, the good people at Chalmers are on the frontlines of the issue every day, so how do they see issues of poverty, homelessness, and mental health as they currently stand downtown?
What do you think about when you hear the words “Downtown Guelph”? Is it the picture of a thriving historic district with lots of shopping and restaurants, or is it a cesspool filled with desperate people panhandling, doing drugs and sleeping on benches? There are no easy solutions to the problems downtown is facing, and there are huge gaps being filled by several individual service agencies. 
This week we're joined by the head of one of those agencies: Vicki Olatundun, the executive director of the Chalmers Community Service Centre. Olatundun grew up in England, studied law in Nigeria, and worked for various social services in Winnipeg where she launched a gym and an eye care clinic for people affected by homelessness there. She arrived at Chalmers in the middle of the COVID crisis in January 2021, and it’s hard to think of someone better qualified to talk about our present situation here in Guelph.
Olatundun will talk about the current state of downtown and inside Chalmers, and why we need to keep in mind that the people they help are still loved by somebody. She will also talk about currents needs, and the type of assistance Chalmers needs right now in the form of donations and volunteer efforts. And finally, Olatundun will discuss what assistance service organizations need from the government, and why we need to address people’s economic needs before they becomes a crisis. 
Let's talk about moving the needle on downtown's issues in this week's Guelph Politicast!
If you want to learn more about all the services offered by Chalmers, and how you can help out, go to their website, or looking them up @chalmerscentre on Facebook and Twitter. If you have donations from Chalmers and want to know when and how to drop them off, call them at 519-822-8778 for directions.
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 #386 - July 21, 2022

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're thinking charitably. The Pope is coming, so we're going to put away our sinful ways and talk about his visit, plus the pressing need to take desperate action on housing in Canada. In the back half of the show, we will talk about the local effects of the housing crisis, and other matters, with the head of Guelph's city council, none other than Mayor Cam Guthrie!
This Thursday, July 21, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Pope Goes the World. Next week, Pope Francis arrives in Canada for what he's calling a "Penitential Pilgrimage", a chance for himself, the Church and Canada's Indigenous community to find solace for the disastrous history of residential schools. But what happens after the Pope's visit? An apology from the Catholic Church has been long-demanded, but it's a pretty easy checkmark, so what comes next on reconciliation?
Housing of Cards. The combined housing and homeless crisis, plus the accompanying mental health and addictions crises, have created a lot of news lately, but not much in the way of solutions. Progress on developing social housing has been fairly positive, but the market itself is exorbitantly priced and creating difficulty for people who might otherwise be able to afford a home. How hard is it to get everyone housed?
Term Limits. Guelph City Council rose for summer vacation, and with a couple of exceptions, council is largely in recess until after the municipal election on October 24. So what better time to bring on Guelph's mayor, Cam Guthrie, to talk about this consequential term of council, plus the contentious debate at this week's meeting about acting on homelessness and mental health, plus the rising friction about the rate of development in town?
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #257 - July 20, 2022 (Thor: Love & Thunder)

This week on End Credits we summon the lightening! We're back, and so is the God of Thunder for our first deep dive into a Marvel movie in literally years. Yes, we're reviewing Thor: Love and Thunder on this week's show, and since we're going back into the Marvel Universe, we'll spend the first part of our show talking about our thoughts about the MCU's future.
This Wednesday, July 20, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
Matters of the Universe. By the end of the year, we will have reached 30 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, plus over 10 Disney+ series, and there will be more to come in 2023. Is the franchise becoming over-saturated? Is it lacking focus? Is there too much inter-connectedness? Not enough? And what characters do they introduce next, and how should they be worked into the universe? This week, we'll offer our notes for the MCU (not that they asked for our advice).
REVIEW: Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). The Space Viking returns! In the 29th Marvel Cinematic Universe film, OG Avenger Thor returns to fight a truly frightening villain, and confront his post-Endgame fate in the universal pecking order. Adding some complication to this adventure is The Mighty Thor! Natalie Portman returns to the franchise with new thunder god powers as New Zealand's favourite son, Taika Waititi, takes us on another cosmic trip with laughs and pathos. But can this movie stand up to Waititi's last Thor, Ragnarok?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #333 - The View from Brampton

On Monday, Patrick Brown announced that he would be running for re-election as the Mayor of Brampton. It was a no-brainer because it seemed pretty unlikely that he's going to get back in the Conservative leadership race, but it’s far from certain that Brown has the political juice to even get his old (current) job back. This week, we look at Brown’s controversies through the eyes of someone that knows them best.
If you don’t follow Brampton City Hall closely, Brown had a great story going until his July 5 ouster from the Conservative leadership race, but the ones watching Brampton City Hall have been noting a different Patrick Brown. It's a Brown with legal issues, who broke pandemic restrictions, who has City staff support his extracurricular political activities and hands out posh contracts to friends that get specious results.
One of those watchers is San Grewal, who is the founder and publisher of The Pointer, an independent media outlet covering news and politics out of Brampton and Mississauga. By sheer coincidence, The Pointer was launched the same year that Brown was first elected as mayor, and it’s goal is to do a deep dive on issues and policy at city hall and they've been fairly successful. So did the national media miss the more important story about Brown by not covering his record at Brampton’s City Hall?
Grewal certainly thinks so, and he’s going to talk about all that and more on this week’s podcast along with why he started The Pointer, and why it’s mission is different from a lot of the usual coverage of municipal governments, especially in Peel Region. He will also talk about how the Brampton's rapid growth is having an effect on its politics, the role that the city’s diverse communities play in who gets elected mayor, and why he was hoping that Brown would run for re-election. 
So let's talk about the ones that watch Brampton city hall on this week's Guelph Politicast!
You can stay up-to-date with local political news from Brampton and Mississauga at The Pointer, and you can follow San Grewal on social media 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.