Guelph Politicast

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.

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.