Guelph Politicast

GUELPH POLITICAST #344 - Here We Go Again...?

You may have heard that there may be a teachers’ strike coming. Another disruption to the learning of Ontario’s students is the last thing anyone - from parents to government to the teachers themselves - wants. Having said that though, it does feel like we’re on a path to inevitable job action as teachers' demand more resources and Queen's Park demands moderation. Is there a middle ground?
As it stands now, only around 55,000 education workers represented by CUPE including custodians, early childhood educators and admin staff will be in a legal strike position on November 3, but that doesn’t mean they *will* strike. It’s worth noting that in 2019, CUPE and the government reached a deal at the last minute before the strike, so could history repeat itself, but no one knows what’s going to happen.
In late-2019 and early-2020, there were a series of one-day walkouts by teachers, and they were having an effect, but then we got hit by COVID-19 and it poured a bucket of cold water on any job action. By the end of March 2020, all the teachers’ unions had a new agreement, but even with that unfinished business, it's probably safe to say that teachers' concerns have changed markedly since the pandemic. Will finding common ground be easier or harder this time around?
Speaking locally, we're joined on this week's podcast by Jennifer Hesch, the Vice-President and Chief Negotiator of the Upper Grand Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO), and David Del Duca, the Vice-President (Secondary) from the Wellington Unit of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA).
Hesch and Del Duca will tell us what the CUPE no board report means for local schools, and what it means for the negotiations with other unions. They will also talk about the issues that the unions are negotiating for, why compensation is fundamental, and why safety is such an important consideration whether it’s COVID-19 or threats of violence. And finally, we will discuss the search for positive signs from the government, and whether they feel hopeful about these current negotiations.
So let's talk about the local view on education in this week's Guelph Politicast!
You can keep up-to-date with the latest developments from the OECTA at their website, and you can get in touch with the local unit through their website here. For the ETFO, you can access the main union website here, and you can reach out to the local office through their own website here. Stay tuned for developments as they occur.
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 #396 - October 13, 2022

This week on Open Sources Guelph, the municipal election coverage continues, except this week we take it literally to the next level. Kicking off our slate of mayoral candidate interviews, we've got two of the political newcomers who are staking their claim for Guelph's highest political office. In the first half we've got a professor and in the second half we've got a private eye. Who will mayor best? You tell us on October 24 (and after next week's show)!
This Thursday, October 13, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Grill Bill. A lot of politicians say they're not a politician, but William Albabish is one of the three mayoral candidates who really has no previous experience running in a Guelph election. Albabish is a professor at the University of Guelph-Humber, but he's now seeking political office on an outsider ticket. Can he do it? Scotty will talk to Albabish about being the scholastic face of the local mayor's race, why he's focused on infrastructure, and why he decided to run a sign-less campaign?
John of the Spread. If you're a security conscious voter, perhaps a mayor with a background as a security consultant and private investigator might be of interest. Our second mayoral candidate on this week's show is John Edward Krusky, who traces his family back to the earliest days of Guelph, and he now wants to see us through to the city's 200th birthday. Adam will ask Krusky about his new political interest, how we reduce taxes per his platform, and balancing growth and the environment.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #267 - October 12, 2022 (Don’t Worry Darling)

This week on End Credits, the world is not what it appears to be. Don't worry (darling), we're not talking about politics - that's the other show - we're talking about the movies. For the review this week, we've got a movie that everyone knows everything about, except the mystery at the centre, and we're also talking about movies where the secret is the thing.
This Wednesday, October 12, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
They Made Us Watch Them. There's a mystery at the heart of the movie we're reviewing this week. Not just a mystery, but a conspiracy. The basis for a lot of good movies is that nefarious forces are trying to make people say or do things to cover up the fact that world isn't what they say it is, and so to begin this week's show, we'll talk about great conspiracy movies; from the ultimate story about authoritarian rule to a 60s classic about a secret assassin.
REVIEW: Don't Worry Darling (2022). So much was said about this movie before it was released, and almost none of it was about the movie itself. Did the director and the star get along? Was the director too focused on her new boyfriend, the male lead? Why did Olivia Wilde make Jordan Peterson cry? You would think that with all this crazy gossip talk, the movie it was attached to isn't that interesting, so while discussing Don't Worry Darling, the latest from director Wilde and stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, we'll focus on the film and not the follies.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #343 - The Race We Don’t Talk About (Much)

School board elections don’t normally get a lot of attention, and that’s exactly how some people like it, but what happens when parents organize and start advocating for the kind of school board they want? Will that have a visible impact on the chronically, and criminally, underlooked school board elections? One group of Halton Region parents certainly hope so.
You have have seen the news last summer when the Halton Catholic District School Board voted against flying the Pride flag. The motion to approve flying of the flag was the initiative of a Grade 12 student at Oakville's St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Secondary School, and she had the backing of 18,000 people who signed a petition supporting it. This was not a secular versus Catholic issue, but that's how it ended up phrased at the board.
On top of that, far-right groups like Campaign Life Coalition and Parents As First Educator were trying to influence the school board when the motion came up again in January. From candidates making ludicrous claims about schools putting litter boxes in classrooms for kids identifying as cast to local candidates supporting white replacement theory, can a political advocacy group make any kind of difference in a political realm where so few people pay attention? 
Allison Kolch, who is one of the organizers of a political action group called Halton Parents for Change, has made that her project, and she will talk to us this week about how she's doing it. Kolch will talk about the especially problematic trustees, the friction between secular education and denominational rights, and what the young people themselves think of their trustee representatives. She will also discuss the issues of importance this election, and whether the group has had any impact on the campaign trail. 
So let's talk about politics on the school board in this edition of the Guelph Politicast!
You can learn more about Halton Parents For Change at their website, and you can find links there to some of the issues and articles that we’re talking about on this podcast. In terms of our own school board elections, early voting continues this weekend, and you can find all the information on how and when at vote.guelph.ca. You can also see school board candidate questionnaires on Guelph Politico.
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 the Halton Catholic District School Board.

Open Sources Guelph #395 - October 6 2022

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're still talking to council candidates. For the last five weeks, we've gone up and down and around the Guelph electoral map to bring you some of the voices belonging to people who are running to form the next city council. Some of them you know, some of them you didn't know, and for our final slate, we're bringing you four people who've definitely never been interviewed by OSG before!
This Thursday, October 6, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
The Running Men and Women, Part 6. Yes, yes, it's October now, but like the Boxing Day sales that go on well into January, we've decided to extend our council candidate interviews one more week! Election Day is still Monday October 24, but the early voting starts this Thanksgiving weekend, so here is one last chance to hear from a quartet of people running to be a part of the next city council before we start breaking out the mayoral candidates for next week's show. It's make-or-break time in our local election.
Craig DiSero, Ward 6
Luc Cousineau, Ward 3
Elia Morrison, Ward 2
Sam Elmslie, Ward 3
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

Open Sources 2022 Council Candidate Interviews By the Wards - Ward 6

For the last six weeks, the team at Open Sources Guelph has been chasing the nearly 40 candidates running for Guelph city council, and we caught almost 75 per cent of them. Presented here for the first time, we've organized all the interviews we've done according to the wards, and as we go into the first weekend of early voting, consider these special editions of the show as essential tools in decided who to vote for.
This Saturday, October 8, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
The Running Men and Women. The municipal election is on Monday October 24, and we’ve spent the last several weeks bringing you the voices of the people running to be a part of the next city council, from the new developments in the south end, to the ancient core of Guelph in Ward 2; from all parts west of the Hanlon in Ward 4 to all parts east of Victoria in the new Ward 1. And yeah, we're also got people from Ward 3 and Ward 5 too. Click 'play' on the special episode that most directly applies to you below.
Ward 6: Ken Yee Chew, Craig DiSero, Mark MacKinnon, Dominique O'Rourke, and Chetna Robinson.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

Open Sources 2022 Council Candidate Interviews By the Wards - Ward 5

For the last six weeks, the team at Open Sources Guelph has been chasing the nearly 40 candidates running for Guelph city council, and we caught almost 75 per cent of them. Presented here for the first time, we've organized all the interviews we've done according to the wards, and as we go into the first weekend of early voting, consider these special editions of the show as essential tools in decided who to vote for.
This Saturday, October 8, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
The Running Men and Women. The municipal election is on Monday October 24, and we’ve spent the last several weeks bringing you the voices of the people running to be a part of the next city council, from the new developments in the south end, to the ancient core of Guelph in Ward 2; from all parts west of the Hanlon in Ward 4 to all parts east of Victoria in the new Ward 1. And yeah, we're also got people from Ward 3 and Ward 5 too. Click 'play' on the special episode that most directly applies to you below.
Ward 5: Leanne Caron, Cathy Downer, Hesham Genidy, and Denese Renaud.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

Open Sources 2022 Council Candidate Interviews By the Wards - Ward 4

For the last six weeks, the team at Open Sources Guelph has been chasing the nearly 40 candidates running for Guelph city council, and we caught almost 75 per cent of them. Presented here for the first time, we've organized all the interviews we've done according to the wards, and as we go into the first weekend of early voting, consider these special editions of the show as essential tools in decided who to vote for.
This Saturday, October 8, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
The Running Men and Women. The municipal election is on Monday October 24, and we’ve spent the last several weeks bringing you the voices of the people running to be a part of the next city council, from the new developments in the south end, to the ancient core of Guelph in Ward 2; from all parts west of the Hanlon in Ward 4 to all parts east of Victoria in the new Ward 1. And yeah, we're also got people from Ward 3 and Ward 5 too. Click 'play' on the special episode that most directly applies to you below.
Ward 4: Linda Busuttil, Hitesh Jagad, Adrian Salvatore, and Justin Van Deale.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

Open Sources 2022 Council Candidate Interviews By the Wards - Ward 3

For the last six weeks, the team at Open Sources Guelph has been chasing the nearly 40 candidates running for Guelph city council, and we caught almost 75 per cent of them. Presented here for the first time, we've organized all the interviews we've done according to the wards, and as we go into the first weekend of early voting, consider these special editions of the show as essential tools in decided who to vote for.
This Saturday, October 8, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
The Running Men and Women. The municipal election is on Monday October 24, and we’ve spent the last several weeks bringing you the voices of the people running to be a part of the next city council, from the new developments in the south end, to the ancient core of Guelph in Ward 2; from all parts west of the Hanlon in Ward 4 to all parts east of Victoria in the new Ward 1. And yeah, we're also got people from Ward 3 and Ward 5 too. Click 'play' on the special episode that most directly applies to you below.
Ward 3: Phil Allt, John Bertrand, Kevin Bowman, Luc Cousineau, Sam Elmslie, Dallas Green, and Michele Richardson.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

Open Sources 2022 Council Candidate Interviews By the Wards - Ward 2

For the last six weeks, the team at Open Sources Guelph has been chasing the nearly 40 candidates running for Guelph city council, and we caught almost 75 per cent of them. Presented here for the first time, we've organized all the interviews we've done according to the wards, and as we go into the first weekend of early voting, consider these special editions of the show as essential tools in decided who to vote for.
This Saturday, October 8, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
The Running Men and Women. The municipal election is on Monday October 24, and we’ve spent the last several weeks bringing you the voices of the people running to be a part of the next city council, from the new developments in the south end, to the ancient core of Guelph in Ward 2; from all parts west of the Hanlon in Ward 4 to all parts east of Victoria in the new Ward 1. And yeah, we're also got people from Ward 3 and Ward 5 too. Click 'play' on the special episode that most directly applies to you below.
Ward 2: Morgan Dandie, Rodrigo Goller, Carly Klassen, Elia Morrison, and Raymond Sartor.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.