Guelph Politicast

GUELPH POLITICAST #318 - Telling Marlene’s Story

We don’t get a lot of movie premieres here in Guelph, so when one happens it’s kind of a big deal. Coming to the Bookshelf Cinema this Friday is Marlene, the story of self-selecting Guelphites Marlene Truscott and her husband Steven Truscott, whose life story involves one of the worst miscarriages of justice in Canadian history. Now it's a movie, and according to its director, a romance at that.
Steven Truscott was the youngest person ever to be sentenced to death in Canada, and it was for the 1959 rape and murder of 12-year-old Lynne Harper in Clinton, Ontario. Truscott himself was just 14 at the time, and though he was later remanded to life in prison, he always maintained his innocence. Truscott was paroled in 1969, and was finally acquitted by the Court of Appeal in 2007, 48 years after his conviction.
Throughout much of Truscott’s nearly 50-year journey from condemnation to exoneration, Marlene was by his side though they didn't meet until years after his conviction. Marlene ended up becoming Steven's most passionate and vocal advocate, and they got married and had a family together after he was paroled. This was a story ready made for the movies, an innocent man endures a terrible fate only to find great love in his darkest time. It was a story Wendy Hill-Tout wanted to tell.
Hill-Tout joins us on this week's podcast to talk about the making of Marlene, how she got interested in the story, and why she decided to make Marlene Truscott the point of view for telling it. We also talk about the the political and social issues around Steve Truscott’s experience, like how young Truscott was a victim of the “tough on crime” ethos, how the media played a crucial role in promoting his case, and the role sentencing a 14-year-old to hang played in ending capital punishment in Canada.
So let's talk about telling Marlene's story on this week's Guelph Politicast!
Marlene premieres Friday night at the Bookshelf Cinema with star Kristen Booth and Ryan Truscott in attendance for a post-screening Q&A. Marlene will then screen nightly at the Bookshelf from April 8 to 14. You can learn more about the work of Wendy Hill-Tout by visiting the website for her production company, Voice Pictures.
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.
Image from Marlene courtesy of Voice Pictures.

Open Sources Guelph #371 - March 31, 2022

This week on Open Sources Guelph, slap coverage will be kept to a minimum, unless, of course, the topic of a very immature social media post from the Alberta Premier comes up. Jason Kenney is among our topics of conversation this week, and we will also, obviously, talk about the latest war news from Ukraine. Closer to home, one of CFRU's city councillors will join us to talk about plans of the official variety.
This Thursday, March 31, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Ukraine Drain. We're now more than a month into the war, and there are small signs for hope. At peace talks in Turkey, the Russians said that they might drawn down their numbers in Ukraine, but that comes with a lot of skepticism from allies. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden got into trouble for flirting with regime change in Russia while going off-script in a speech, which the White House later walked back. So what's next?
You've Got Mail-in. If the upcoming leadership review for the United Conservative Party wasn't controversial enough, the announcement that their review will be done by mail-in ballot instead of in-person in Red Deer on April 9 took the controversy up to 110. Premier Jason Kenney is reportedly worried about “crazies” and “kooks" hijacking the meeting, but is he going to end up offending some of the supporters he needs?
Leanne with a Plan. On Wednesday, council met to have the planning meeting for the next Official Plan Amendment for the City of Guelph. There's a lot of pressure with all the growing pains falling on the Royal City, so providing some insight this week is Ward 5 Councillor Leanne Caron who will talk about the the battle to find the right density for Guelph, and the need to make sure open space in the city is protected.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #241 - March 30, 2022 (Nightmare Alley)

This week on End Credits we're reliving past successes. For our feature review on this week's show, we're looking at one of the biggest high-profile remakes of the last few years - almost Oscar-worthy - Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley. And before that, we will kick off the theme by looking at other good movies that are equal to, or better, than the original versions.
This Wednesday, March 30, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss:
Remake Redemptions. Yes, this week's movie review is technically a remake, but would it surprise you to learn that not all remarks are bad. Before diving into Nightmare Alley, we will consider other well-known and accomplished remakes from the world of cinema, including a monster movie, a sci-fi classic, a gangster tale, and a western. These movies might have come second (or third), but they prove that a remake can have something important to say.
REVIEW: Nightmare Alley (2021). And that brings us to this week's review, the remake of the 1947 Edmund Goulding film noir, Nightmare Alley. This time, it's Guillermo del Toro behind the camera, but the story's the same: a drifter becomes a talented mentalist only to find himself outsmarted and ruined at the height of his power. Bradley Cooper stars (and produces) leading an all-star cast in this film that received four Academy Award nominations, and though it didn't receive any, that doesn't mean who shouldn't still catch up with this finely crafted movie.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #317 - Is the End of the Pandemic*?

*You might be forgiven to think this whole COVID-19 pandemic is in the bag. It’s been a week-and-a-half since the mask mandates were repealed in Ontario and in the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health region, and like clockwork the number of COVID cases in the public, and in the hospital, are going up. You might be fed up, you might be fully vaccinated and boosted, but that doesn't mean the pandemic is over.
Since the announcement earlier this month that the mask mandates were coming to an end, the advise from all doctors and public health officials as been the same: Yes, you no longer have to wear a mask, but you should almost definitely be wearing a mask whenever you’re in an indoor public space. That's not the message being received though because there's a lot less masking going on.
We've got two guest on this week's podcast to help us make sense of this pandemic moment.
First, we're joined by Dr. Rose Zacharias, the President-Elect of the Ontario Medical Association. She will talk to us about what we should call this phase of the pandemic, and why the recent increase in new COVID cases is to be expected. She will also tell us when and why wearing a mask is still the best policy, and how best to judge your own health and safety in public indoor environments.
Second, we will talk to Dr. Jane Purvis, who is the President of the Ontario Rheumatology Association. Dr. Purvis will talk about how life has changed for people who are immunocompromised, and why masking is so important to make conditions safer for everyone, but especially people with immunity issues. Also, she will discuss the trouble with complex public health messaging, and trying to reach the people who are eligible for a fourth dose of a vaccine.
So let's talk about protecting yourself in a world without mandates on this week's Guelph Politicast!
You can learn more about the Ontario Medical Association and you can learn more about the Ontario Rheumatology Association at their websites, and you can also still get the latest case count and vaccine information in our region at out Public Health unit's website. If you have any question concerning medical advice or your own health, seek out the expertise and advice of your family physician. 
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.
Image from The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird, aka: The "Is this a pigeon?" meme courtesy of Sunrise Studios.

Open Sources Guelph #370 - March 24, 2022

This week on Open Sources Guelph, there's war, peace and optimism. The war part is obvious, it's another week of death and despair in Ukraine, and still with now end in sight. In peace news though, two major Federal parties have reached a deal to govern for the next few years if they can figure out how to make it world. Optimism? Well, we have a candidate who hopes he will be Guelph's next Member of Provincial Parliament.
This Thursday, March 24, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Russian Maul. This week, leaders from NATO countries are meeting in Brussels to talk about the war in Ukraine, where the fourth brutal week of fighting has seen Russian forces dig in around Kiev, which they're still no where close to seizing, while pretty much bombing the port city of Mariupol back to the Stone Age. All this as the world tries to guess just how serious Vladimir Putin's nuclear threats are. We'll discuss the latest.
Singh for the Moment. In a surprise move, it was announced on Tuesday that the Federal Liberals and NDP had reached a deal: Jagmeet Singh and his caucus will hold up the government until 2025, and in exchange Justin Trudeau and his team will go to bat for key New Democratic priorities. It's a shrewd move on the part of Trudeau, and a big risk for Singh, but does this have a chance of working out as planned.
Parr For the Course. Last week, the local NDP members chose their candidate for the coming provincial election, and it's James Parr. The long-time Guelphite and mechanical engineer is playing up his millennial bonafides as a young person that knows the struggles of modern young people, from coping with mental health to the challenges of buying a house. He joins us this week to talk about how he wants to fix all that.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #240 - March 23, 2022 (Windfall)

This week on End Credits, we're going to find out what people really think. In the first part of the show, we're going to talk to the director of an indie horror movie made in Wellington County and find out what scares him. For the review, we're going to get inside the heads of three people caught in a hostage situation, likely for production during COVID reasons.
This Wednesday, March 23, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
INTERVIEW: Ali Akbar Akbar Kamal, director of Godforsaken. In the new film Godforsaken, a man returns to his hometown in Wellington County for the funeral of an old friend, only to walk into a horror when the deceased crashes their own funeral. This found footage entry comes from the mind of director Ali Akbar Akbar Kamal, and he joins us this week to talk about his inspiration, his ambition, and the overwhelming number of creepy basements in Harriston.
REVIEW: Windfall (2022). In Charlie McDowell's new movie he revisits some of the same ground as his breakthrough, The One I Love. A couple shows up at their vacation home, but instead of finding doppelgängers, they find a man robbing them, and the nameless robber has a very personal reason to want to steal from this arrogant CEO and his lovely (but unhappy?) wife. Jason Segel, Lily Collins and Oscar-nominee Jesse Plemons spend 90 minutes testing themselves and the audience, but who is the real bad guy, and do any of us care in the end?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #316 - Can You Archeologically Dig It?

There’s a lot of interest in the excavation of Baker Street. Maybe it’s the ghoulish quality of uncovering remains from an old graveyard, or maybe it’s because this is all literally happening on the main street, but a lot of eyes are on this big hole being dug in the old Baker Street lot. This week, we go inside that hole with the two men holding the shovels.
Once upon a time, the newly founded Guelph settlement needed somewhere to bury their dead, and for some strange reason they chose the site of a future downtown parking lot. Jokes aside, nearly 170 years after the graveyard next to the site of the original St. George’s Anglican Church was closed, and after all the people buried there were supposed to have been moved to Woodlawn Memorial Park, we’re still finding people under Baker who never left.
The history under the parking lot entered modern public consciousness in 2005 when work on Baker Street revealed remains from some of Guelph’s earliest residents. More remains were discovered in 2010 and 2016, so dealing with the graves that remain under Baker was a necessary first step in getting the site ready for redevelopment. With work scheduled to begin again next month, the time is ripe to sit down talk about what we've learned so far. 
City of Guelph Project Manager Stephen Gazzola and Project Archaeologist with Archaeological Research Associates Limited Mike McCready join us for this week podcast to talk about all that. They will discuss what else they’ve found in the Baker lot other than remains, what they’ve learned about Guelph’s early years in the process, and how they cope when the dig reveals something they didn’t expect to find. Also, they'll talk about what work is left to be done and how they'll know if they’ve found everything.
So let's dig into Baker Street on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!
You can follow the progress of the dig on the City of Guelph’s website, and now that winter’s over, work will begin on the excavation will begin again sometime next month. You can see the latest virtual open house about the next phase of the Baker Street redevelopment right now, and leave your questions and comments, on the City’s Have Your Say site. 
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 #369 - March 17, 2022

This week on Open Sources Guelph, contrarian opinions are welcome, and they always will be. Wish we could say that was true in Russia, which is doing everything it can to convince its people that they are not in an aggressive war against Ukraine. We have to talk about that again, and we will also talk about the race to be Canada's next Federal Conservative leader, plus, a city councillor stops by for another chat.
This Thursday, March 17, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
"No War." We're now three weeks into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and things are not improving. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a desperate plea for a no-fly zone to the Canadian Parliament on Tuesday, while journalists covering the war have been killed, and the scuttlebutt now says that Vladimir Putin is giving his soldiers permission to commit crimes. Is there really no end in sight for this disastrous war?
Pierre's Routine. Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown announced his bid to lead the Conservative Party of Canada last weekend, which officially makes this Conservative leadership race bigger than the last one. Still, with Brown, Jean Charest, Leslyn Lewis and Roman Baber all in the race, it still looks like it's Pierre Poilievre's to lose, as reflected in Brown's first political attack on Monday, but does he or anyone else have a chance?
Allt-ered States. Guelph City Council has returned to (hybrid) in-person meetings, and one of the people that was actually there in-person was Ward 3 Councillor Phil Allt. This week, Allt goes virtual again to talk with us about the latest doings at Guelph City Hall, the fallout of the the council compensation debate, and whether or not certain City of Guelph capital projects are being put on pause again due to inflation.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #239 - March 16, 2022 (Turning Red)

This week on End Credits, we're growing up! Not really. In fact you could say that we're embracing the kid stuff given the fact that this week's review is fresh out of the Disney/Pixar myth-making machine. We're going to review Turning Red on Disney+, and along with that we will talk about some of our favourite coming-of-age movies that you can stream in other places.
This Wednesday, March 16, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
Growing Up is Hard to Do! No, seriously. The coming-of-age story is a universal trope in literature and film, but since we're a movie show, we're going to focus on the latter. Before diving into Turning Red, we'll talk about other movies about the pains of growing up, from tales of loss and heartbreak to drug dealing and bloodletting, and from trips out west to starting your own band at home, we will consider the perils (and rewards?) of becoming an adult.
REVIEW: Turning Red (2022). Growing up can be rough, but at least you didn't turn into a giant red panda! This is the family curse (gift?) that affects young Mei Lee in Turning Red, the new Toronto-set Pixar movie from Oscar-winner Domee Shi. The film plays into the universal, and universally painful, experience of transitioning from childhood to teenager, but it does so through the specific point of view of a Chinese-Canadian girl in the 6ix and with a lot of great humour and pathos. But seriously, how good is Pixar's latest entry in the coming of age genre?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #315 - COVID Begins

We have come to know what it’s like to live with COVID-19, even if we don't like, but almost exactly two years ago today, we were freaking out. Remember wiping down your groceries with anti-bacterial wipes? Remember the run on toilet paper? Remember when we thought we could stamp this out in two weeks? Times sure have changed, but are we really at the end of COVID considering how it began?
On this day in 2020, March 16, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health announced the region’s first case of COVID-19. The anonymously famous person was a man in his 40s who just returned from a trip to Atlanta, Georgia and then tested positive at the Headwaters Health Care Centre in Orangeville. Meanwhile, the list of shutdowns, closures and cancellations got longer and longer. 
Those were weird, wild, and crazy days. News was coming fast and furiously, and no one knew what what was going to happen next. Two years later, we’re still being affected by COVID even though we’re trying to make a case to ourselves that the pandemic is over. Meanwhile, only 14 per cent of people in low income countries have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and in South Africa, where the especially virulent Omicron variant was first detected, less than 30 per cent of people have been fully vaccinated. 
So on this edition of the podcast we are going back to where it all began. On the week of March 16, 2020 Open Sources Guelph co-host Scotty Hertz produced an hour-long daily newscast to bring people the latest news and information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, and its impact on the people of Guelph. As we listen, let's remember just how far we’ve come in the last two years. Yes, it’s felt like we’ve been spinning in place for the last 24 months, but let us also recognize the progress we’ve made.
So let's go back to beginning on this week’s Guelph Politicast. 
Looking two years later, the Government of Ontario has announced the end of mask mandates on March 21, but some people are trying to keep the mandates in place for schools Check out those details here and here. The government also has an eye to end all COVID restrictions at the end of April, but we will keep you posted with all the latest developments here 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.