Guelph Politicast

Open Sources Guelph #356 - December 16, 2021

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're concerned with a matter of mayors. In our interview segment this week, we will talk to Guelph's Mayor for a year-end chat, and before that we will talk about the passing of another mayor, one of Toronto's most historic and colourful. Before that, we will cover a little philosophical ground by asking if the time has come for Canada to seek a trial separation from the U.S.
This Thursday, December 16, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Yankee Doodle Cranky. Human rights advocate and Green Party leadership runner-up Dimitri Lascaris published an op-ed suggesting that the time has come to undo Canada's long-standing, multifaceted relationship with the U.S. Why? America's slide into authoritarianism, their refusal to enact democratic reforms, and they're unwillingness to pass policy in the greater public interest (like gun control). Do we agree?
Nooobody! He was the founder of a chain of furniture stores built with great advertising and a memorable tag line, he was the long-running mayor of North York, he was the first mayor of the "Mega City" Toronto, and he famously called the army to deal with a snow storm that one time. On the occasion of Mel Lastman's passing, we will dig deep into Mega City Mel's legacy and look at how his mayoralty still influences today.
Cam As You Are. It's the end of another busy year at city council, so we invited Mayor Cam Guthrie on the show for a little year-in-review, and a little where-are-we-going-next. Mayor Guthrie will cover with us a variety of topics from the COVID-19 state of emergency, in-person council meetings, this year's budget, downtown drama, expanding autonomy for cities, and how he deals with online conspiracy theorists.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #227 - December 15, 2021 (The Power of the Dog)

This week on End Credits, we're getting ready for the holidays, and to kick things off we're going to review a movie where the main character is a thoroughly reprehensible cowboy that psychologically tortures his family. For this episode we will check out The Power of the Dog, and before that, we will talk about the year's Top 10 pop culture news stories according to us. 
This Wednesday, December 15, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss:
News of the Whirled. It was a busy year for Hollywood, so we will look at some of the biggest pop culture stories in 2021. There were a lot of potential nominees for our Top 10 stores including how Knives Out is now a major franchise. Also, Hollywood narrowly avoided their biggest strike in decades, and a Marvel superhero decided to sue her business daddy. We'll likely talk about some of that, plus is Armie Hammer a cannibal?
REVIEW: The Power of the Dog (2021). In one of the most acclaimed movies of the year, Benedict Cumberbatch plays a Montana rancher in the 1920s whose gruff and unlikeable demeanour casts a long shadow over his new sister-in-law and her teenage son. Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi Smit-McPhee round out the cast in Jane Campion's beautifully realized dark drama that will test your conventions about who the bad guy is and why, and we will try and convince you to watch what might be the feel-bad movie of 2021.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #302 - A Heritage Moment

One of the first episodes of the Politicast this year was a conversation with Councillor Leanne Caron about heritage issues in the City. It would kick- off a year with a lot of heritage issues on making the front page, from discussion about inadequate communications to the controversy around the demolition of 797 Victoria Road North. So the year ends how it began, with a discussion about Guelph’s heritage issues.
Here in Guelph, we really love our heritage buildings. It’s an interesting character quirk, perhaps born in the 1960s when a big portions of the historic downtown was torn down and replaced with modern buildings. Heritage loving Guelphites are always worried about history repeating itself, and there are many heritage buildings falling into disrepair due to “demolition by neglect.” That concern was a recurring theme this year.
But there was also some good heritage news in 2021. The Drill Hall downtown is in the process of being reclaimed, the Cultural Heritage Action Plan was passed by city council despite some controversy, and the old Ontario Reformatory property was endorsed as a potential heritage district with the backing of the Provincial government. So it was a consequential year for heritage, but how does the head of the heritage committee feel about it?
P. Brian Skerrett, the chair of Heritage Guelph, will join us to answer these and other questions on this week's podcast. Skerrett will talk about how this year has seen a change in the dynamics between his committee and the City staff, and the multiple pressures on local heritage buildings. He will also discuss how neighbourhoods can evolve and change while still protecting heritage assets, and whether Guelph has turned a corner in protecting its own history. 
So let's talk about this year in heritage on this week’s Guelph Politicast!
You can stay on top of the latest meeting information for Heritage Guelph by clicking here, and you can learn more about the City’s heritage plans the City of Guelph website 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 #355 - December 9, 2021

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're getting serious. Once again, December 6 was marked by the nation, but are we doing enough to think about gender-based violence everyday? Can we really get China to start changing course by refusing to play winter sports with them? And, because we're also locally sourced, we will take a look at the ledgers at City Hall with someone who knows them very well.
This Thursday, December 9, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
More Than One Day a Year. On the same week we marked the 32nd anniversary of Canada's deadliest instance of gender-based violence at L'École Polytechnique in Montreal, it's important to note that women live under threat of violence everyday. From a Vancouver woman attacked on vacation in Mexico, to the sad milestone commemorated in Renfrew, ON, we will look at the everyday violence beyond December 6.
The Crying Games. President Joe Biden announced this week that the U.S. will be diplomatically boycotting the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The U.K., Australia and Canada all followed suit, but is it going to prompt China to change it's mind on anti-democratic activities in Hong Kong, or the Uyghur genocide in Xinjiang? We'll talk about that, and whether this will really hit the Olympics and the IOC where it hurts: the wallet.
'22 For the Money. Last week, Guelph city council approved the 2022-2023 budgets. It was a first for the city, a multiyear budget, and it set a levy increase of 4.21 per cent for next year. Not everyone on council voted in favour of it, and we will be joined by one of those 'no' votes his week. Ward 6 Councillor Dominique O'Rourke will join us to talk about the budget process, the result, and the challenges coming in the years to come.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #226 - December 8, 2021 (House of Gucci)

This week on End Credits, we've got style! We're going to put on our best designer duds and head back out to the movie theatre to watch another Ridley Scott movie. House of Gucci is the review this week, and before that we're going to cross our fingers and look further ahead to the future (well, one-month in the future) and talk about the potential great movies of 2022.
This Wednesday, December 8, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
On to 2022! Hopefully, next year we will see 12 months of open movie theatres, and there will be some great movies to check out assuming the doors stay open. This week, we will look ahead to the movies of 2022, but not the sequels, re-quels, remakes, franchises, or extended universes. So what does that leave? Well, Elvis is back and so is Jordan Peele, J.Lo's randomly marrying Owen Wilson, Ethan Hawke is evil, and the Moon wants us dead!
REVIEW: House of Gucci (2021). Lady Gaga is a great musician, a style icon, and a pop culture phenom, so it kind of makes sense that she's the star of a movie called House of Gucci. The new film from Sir Ridley Scott is not so much about style as it is about power, money and murder. The true-life tale about how a small boutique Italian fashion house became a mutli-billion dollar brand is paved with blood and betrayal, perfect fodder for the man behind Gladiator, Hannibal and Thelma & Louise, but is it a story worth seeing, especially in theatres?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #301 - The Town That Dreaded Sundown

It’s not often you pick up a copy of the Globe & Mail and see your sister and her family on the front page, but it’s also not everyday that a town somewhere in Ontario almost blows up. Around dinner time on August 26, two buildings in Wheatley’s downtown area exploded. The source, apparently, is a gas leak, but nobody's sure and dozens of residents were relocated for safety. One of them was my sister.
Let's rewind. In June, people in the downtown area of Wheatley had to be evacuated when area businesses detected a whiff of hydrogen sulphide gas, but residents were allowed to go back home even though they didn't find the source of the smell. The process was repeated again late in July when a gas monitor detected another leak, but the hazmat crews said that the source of the gas was “deep within the earth. A thermogenic gas response.”
The monitors went off again on August 26, and 90 minutes later, while in the process of getting people clear of the area, at least two buildings were destroyed, several more were damaged, and people living in the area around the core were evacuated again, but this time, they haven't been allowed to go back. One of them is Stephanie Charbonneau who is a school teacher, mother of two, and a resident of Wheatley, Ontario. She’s also my younger sister. 
It’s rare that you have a personal connection to a story like this, so I invited Stephanie to pop onto Zoom with me and talk about Wheatley's problems on this week’s podcast. We talk about what happened before, during and after August 26, and we also talk about the information void, and whether the Wheatley disaster has gotten enough attention. We will also discuss the political reaction to the disaster, and how residents are being proactive to stay informed about when they might be able to go home.
So let's talk about what happened in Wheatley this week on the Guelph Politicast!
The Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry is currently exploring the cause of the explosion, and they will likely be the source of any update about what happened last summer. There is a GoFundMe page raising money for people affected, and for a pretty good tick-tock about what happened in Wheatley, check out this piece by Matthew Trevithick, a reporter for 980 CFPL in London.
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 #354 - December 2, 2021

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're taking a dive into the deep end. We've got a new COVID variant and a lot of unanswered questions, and with that sad news, we're also seeing a new wave of COVID skepticism and conspiracy-making, and it's unfortunately coming from Canada's Queen (?). Also, we will talk to some Guelph royalty, the Ward 2 city councillor and local rock star whose got some important issues to discuss.
This Thursday, December 2, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Omicron My Wayward Son. Late last week, we got the worst possible Christmas present, news about a possible more virulent strain of COVID-19 called Omicron, presumably named for maximum scariness. Doctors are advising patience, we still don't know a lot about Omicron, but the world still took immediate steps to lock out South Africa where the new variant was first identified. We talk about the politics of this pandemic hiccup.
Qaribbean Queen. Speaking of the pandemic, it was received as universal good news when Health Canada approved COVID-19 vaccines for children, but there was one person who hated the idea. Romana Didulo, who claims to be the Queen of Canada and is an adherent of QAnon, called for violence on parents and public health officials, and she's 100 per cent serious. How dangerous is Canada's "Queen"?
The Brawler of Money. As you're listening to this week's show, Guelph City Council will be debating the 2022-2023 budget. No easy task given the pressures that council is facing this year. Ward 2 Councillor James Gordon will join us to talk about those pressures, and he will also discus the motion he's co-sponsoring to move the goal posts on the City's climate change mitigation goals and switch to 100 per cent renewable energy.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #225 - December 1, 2021 (Tick, Tick... Boom!)

This week on End Credits, we're in the mood for love. And Christmas. For a bit of fun, we will look at some of the best offerings from that holiday movie subgenre that combines love and Christmas in one delectable package. After that, we will talk about another feel good movie new to Netflix, a musical about the difficult process to make a musical.
This Wednesday, December 1, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
Deck the Hallmark. The U.S. Hallmark Channel cranks out more Christmas movies in a year than all the movies released by all the major studio combined. Who can survive that much saccharine holiday sweetness? Why our own Candice Lepage, of course! This week, she will walk us through her top five Christmas Hallmark movies, from falling in love while designing Christmas window decor, to falling in love with the brother of your ex's new girlfriend.
REVIEW: Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021). Before writing Rent, Jonathan Larson was a struggling composer and he wrote a one-man performance piece about trying to become a Broadway success before he's 30. Tick, Tick... Boom! is the latest version of that story, brought to the screen by someone who knows something about being a Broadway success, Lin-Manuel Miranda. Andrew Garfield leads an impressive cast of young talent, plus an endless parade of cameos by theatre luminaries, but does the musical fun translate over your Netflix app?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #300 - Guelph Politico

For the 300th episode of the Guelph Politicast, there were some grand plans afoot. How about a live show?! With special guests!! Each one more surprising than the last! But who would you invite? How live can you be in the nth stage of a global pandemic? What's the difference between a virtual event and just another Zoom meeting anyway? Well then, forget it! For episode #300, Guelph Politico turns the microphone on itself!
As you may or may not be aware, Guelph Politico started as the "Guelph By-Election Blog '08" in the summer of 2008 when there was a Federal by-election and a lot of special (political) guests coming to Guelph. A six-week campaign, became a 12-week campaign when a full general election was called on the last day of campaigning, and the rest, as they say, is history. Thirteen years later, we're now up to the 300th episode of the podcast.
To play a little "This is Your Life" (ask your grandparents), we're joined by Open Sources Guelph co-host Scotty Hertz for this week's show. In fact, Scotty is technically this week's host asking all the tough questions about the humble origins of Politico, it's naturally random evolution over the years, the fate of local media over the last decade, the challenges of covering Guelph, and the dream guest who might appear sometime in the podcast's future.
So let's talk about the Guelph Politicast on this week's Guelph Politicast!
Obviously, stay tuned for more episodes of the Guelph Politicast. Be here for the 600th episode of the show sometime in fall 2027.
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 #353 - November 25, 2021

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're looking cross country, and mostly about environmental stuff. We will head back to British Columbia where talk about Truth and Reconciliation has hit the proverbial fan again, and speaking of things hitting the fan, WE is back in the news too. For the back half of the show, we welcome back our local MPP to talk about the Ontario government's very bad week on the environment file.
This Thursday, November 25, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Round Up the Usual Suspects. For the third time in three years, the RCMP raided a blockade set up by land defenders in the traditional territory of the Wet'suwet'an arresting, among others, two elders, three legal observers, and two journalists. The police action re-heated the debate at the intersection of Indigenous rights and the abuse of police powers, but is there any appetite to act on either of those issues right now?
Here WE Go Again. A report by CBC's The Fifth Estate has backed up allegations from several people who donated to WE Charities thinking that they were building schools in Africa, but the donations seemed to go to schools that were already built. WE Charities has hit back hard against the press, which is kind of weird because weren't they supposedly out of the charity business last year? We'll talk about the recent developments.
Green Shook. This week, the Ontario Auditor General released a scathing report about the Ford government's commitment to environmental protection and public transparency on matters around the environment. This sounds like a good week to have the Green Party leader of Ontario on the show! We'll talk to Mike Schreiner about the AG report, the fight against Highway #413, and re-introducing his Paris Galt Moraine Bill.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.