Guelph Politicast

End Credits #214 - September 15, 2021 (Pig)

This week on End Credits, we wonder, "Where's our pig?" We're all looking for our own "pig" whether it's a literal swine or whether it's a metaphor for a pet election issue. Speaking of elections, we will talk about some of the good and great political campaign movies, and will also be reviewing the new drama simply called, Pig (which is literally about a missing pig).
This Wednesday, September 15, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
A Movie Campaign. In case you didn't know, there's an election on in Canada right now. As Federal candidates make their last moves before Election Day, we will look, as we always do, to the movies. A lot of movies have been made about elections and political campaigns, and we will recap some of the great ones, and okay ones, including tales inspired by real-life, satirical and dark comedies, and even some supernatural machinations.
REVIEW: Pig (2021). In John Wick, a man mourning the loss of his wife is forced to return to the city and his old life when a prized pet is taken from him. Pig brings that same energy, but instead of a dog, it's a pig, And instead of the east coast, it's the west coast. And instead of Keanu Reeves, it's Nicolas Cage. In Pig, Cage plays a former high-end chef who returns to his old stomping grounds in Portland to find his stolen truffle pig, a Homeric quest that leads to a journey of renewal and self-discovery, but does it lead to a good movie?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

Open Sources Guelph #343 - September 16, 2021

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we reach the epic conclusion of this brief, but fascinating Federal Election campaign. In this last show before Election Day, we are hosting the two candidates from the two parties that will likely form the next government. In the top half, from the red team, we will have Lloyd Longfield, and getting the last word, from the blue team, is Dr. Ashish Sachan.
This Thursday, September 16, at 1 pm*, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Enter the Lloyd. Guelph's incumbent MP, Liberal Lloyd Longfield, has been in office for six years, but a Liberal has been serving as our Member of Parliament for almost 30 years now. Is it time for a change up? Longfield hopes not, and this week he will talk about the work he still wants to do for Guelph in Ottawa, and why he thinks the Trudeau Liberals can be trusted to be active on climate change and the COVID recovery.
From Dusk Till Sachan. Conservative candidate Dr. Ashish Sachan ran to represent Guelph in 2019, and he had so much fun interacting with the community that he wanted to do it again. No, really. That's what he's going to tell you in his election interview this week, and he will also talk about why he feels serving as an MP is a sacred trust, why he chose Canada, and why this is not the Conservative Party you remember.
*Programming Note: Open Sources Guelph is airing at this special time due to Guelph Jazz Festival programming on CFRU. This episode of the show will be available at 6 pm on the Guelph Politicast channel and various podcasts apps.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 1 pm on Thursday.

GUELPH POLITICAST #289 - Guelph Business and the Pandemic: The Movie

At an event hosted by the Guelph Chamber of Commerce next week, a new documentary film project will be screened called Celebrating Guelph. It's a love letter to the Royal City, it’s homegrown businesses, and their perseverance in the wake of the greatest financial and societal test since the Great Depression. This week, we go behind the scenes with the director.
Hard and fast numbers about the effects of the pandemic on the local economy are still being developed, but we can see with our eyes just how much things have changed in the last 18 months. We also know the stories, media reports about how businesses have had to pivot like Danby’s production of freezers for vaccine storage, and Linamar’s manufacturing of ventilator parts.
But Celebrating Guelph isn’t just about the big companies making big swings. Think about a small clothing retailer like Sidonio’s and the Art of Denim downtown, who were sometimes open to the public a few people at a time, but with long stretches where they were closed. It’s the story of a lifetime, but the story isn’t over yet, and Alex Vander Vlugt, the post-production manager of Ward 1 Studios, has caught it all on film, and it will be revealed to the public for the first time next week.
So on this week's podcast, Vander Vlugt will talk about the logistics of shooting a documentary with all the health and safety rules, and shooting a movie with the ever changing conditions of an ongoing pandemic. He will also talk about how the various businesses featured in the film were selected, and the type of story he wanted to tell with the documentary. And finally, Vander Vlungt will talk about how Ward 1 Studios has compiled a pandemic record, and what he hopes people leave the movie with.
So let's talk about putting Guelph business on film in this week’s edition of the Guelph Politicast.
To learn more about the work of Ward 1 Studios, and to see some of their work, you can go to their website here. Enbridge Presents: Celebration Guelph will screen next Thursday, September 23, at 7 pm at the Bingemans Drive In at 425 Bingemans Centre Dr. Admission is $40 per car, and that includes movie snacks and drinks, and to learn more click here.
NOTE: You can hear interviews with all of the Federal election candidates running in Guelph every Monday on the podcast version of Open Sources Guelph, and every Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca!
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, 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 #342 - September 9, 2021

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we've got a great election interview double-header. In this corner, we have a returning champion, the NDP candidate Aisha Jahangir, who wants to be Guelph's first NDP Member of Parliament. And in this corner, we have the new kid, Green Party candidate Michelle Bowman, who will try and make this riding fully Green and not just half-Green. Election Day is almost here! 
This Thursday, September 9, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Nurse Jahangir. In the 2019 Federal Election, NDP candidate Aisha Jahangir finished in fourth place here in Guelph. Obviously, she hopes to do better in 2021. Riding the now-seasoned coattails of Jagmeet Singh, and a general feeling that government needs to be more proactive, the labour leader and experienced nurse hopes that she and her party will be a spoiler this election? We'll ask Jahangir how she intends to do it.
Bowman Holiday. Green Party candidate Michelle Bowman has a lot going on. She's an environment scientist, member of the Green shadow cabinet, and her party placed a strong second here in the last Federal Election. On the other had, she's a new face in local politics, and the Green Party has been through the ringer this summer, so how can Bowman and the Guelph Greens bounce back and paint the town you-know-what?
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #213 - September 8, 2021 (Candyman 2021)

This week on End Credits, we're trying to get some buzz going. Yes, that's a bee pun, which is fitting because bees are all over the movie we're reviewing this week, and while we hesitate to join a hive mind, we're pretty excited about it. This week, we're reviewing the new horror movie called Candyman, and we're getting into the second part of our fall movie preview.
This Wednesday, September 8, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
Fall Preview Part 2. Since we've published the first part of the Fall Movie Preview last week, there's actually already been some changes on calendar, and they won't likely be the last either. Having said that, we will persevere by talking about what's going to be released this November and December, from Nightmare Alley to the House of Gucci, from King Richard to Diana Princess of Wales (that's a reference to Spencer btw), we will talk about the hits to come.
REVIEW: Candyman (2021). Based on a Clive Barker short story (but also not really), the first Candyman movie came out in 1992, and although it was basically about a White woman's problems, the movie stood out with the creepy and enigmatic titular boogeyman played by the legendary Tony Todd. Now, under the supervision of Jordan Peele, Candyman has been realized the way it was meant to be, a story about Black violence and the big 's' Struggle for social equality. Is there room in this space for a horror reboot made with big ideas? Let's find out!
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #288 - Human Trafficking: The Real Story

It was just a few weeks ago that the Joint Waterloo-Guelph Human Trafficking team, which is staffed by members of both police services, arrested a Guelph man for both both trafficking the victim, and assaulting them himself. It’s a good reminder that human trafficking happens in our backyard, and it's not what pop culture and conspiracy theories make you think it is.
According to Statistics Canada there was a 44 per cent increase in human trafficking incidents over one-year from 2018 to 2019. It’s why this summer the Government of Ontario made $2.4 million available for necessary training and resources so that every school board in the province can create a new curriculum that will educate children about the dangers of trafficking, and to create new anti-trafficking protocols.
Having said that, some people have been critical of the Provincial government’s direction to educate young people about the dangers of human trafficking because they say it focuses on one small aspect of gender-based violence. There’s also the elephant in the room, QAnon conspiracy theories that focus on imaginary boogeymen instead of real victims, which not only hurts the cause, but ironically hurts the people they supposedly want to help.
We're joined this week by Jensen Williams, who is the public educator at Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis. She will tell us how human trafficking works, and where our region sits in the the human trafficking criminal ecosytem. She will also talk about the way that trafficking issues get sensationalized, and the impact of QAnon on the real efforts to end trafficking. And finally, she will discuss what trafficking curriculum in schools should look like, and what kind of help the victims of trafficking need.
WARNING: Since we're talking about issues of human trafficking and sexual and gender-based violence, listener discretion is advised.
So let's talk about the real issue of human trafficking on this week's Guelph Politicast!
 You can get in touch with Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis, and their Anti-Human Trafficking Program at their website, or by calling the 24-hour crisis line at 519-836-5710, or 1-800-265-7233 (SAFE). Also, this year’s virtual Take Back the Night event, hosted by Women in Crisis, will be held on Facebook Live on Thursday September 16 at 6:30 pm.
NOTE: You can hear interviews with all of the Federal election candidates running in Guelph every Monday on the podcast version of Open Sources Guelph, and every Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca! For interviews with candidates from Wellington-Halton Hills, tune into special editions of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast here on Saturdays.
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, 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 #341 - September 2, 2021

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we go election crazy by dedicating three-quarters of the show to the Federal Election, which you may or may not know is going on right now. In fact, the 2021 Federal Election is officially half-over now, so let's talk about the events to far, the latest news about Ontario's vaccine passport program, and then we'll welcome our special guest from the newly re-named Animal Protection Party!
This Thursday, September 2, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Half-Baked. Congratulations, you made it to the second half of the election. In the last week, Conservative leader Erin O'Toole has managed to stay on message, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau has become the first party leader to get chased out of Bolton, and everyone else is trying to figure out how to spin third place. We'll talk about the events of the election so far, and why it's possible that no matter who wins, we lose.
Paper Fighter. He didn't want to do it, but Premier Doug Ford announced Wednesday that Ontario will have its own vaccine certification program. With all the enthusiasm of a kid presenting his homework, Ford shared details about how and where all Ontarians will now be required to show they've gotten their shots. We'll talk about the politics of reluctance, and if there are any holes in the government plan. (Hint: There are.)
Takin' Karen Business. This week Erin O'Toole made his message of the day about animal welfare, so at least for a day it was a pretty big election issue. Karen Levenson though wants to make it an issue everyday, which is why she's running to represent Guelph for the Animal Protection Party. Levenson will join us to talk about her love of animals, why the environmental polices of the major parties don't go far enough, and more!
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

WELLINGTON-HALTON HILLS POLITICAST 2021 – Melanie Lang, Liberal Candidate

Wellington-Halton Hills, as a riding, was created in 2004 out of parts from four different ridings. In that first election, Conservative Michael Chong beat Liberal candidate Bruce Hood by a little over four points, but since then Chong has enjoyed double-digit victories including his 2011 general election victory with 63.7 per cent of the vote. So he’s invulnerable, right?
Not so fast. The demographics in Wellington-Halton Hills have been changing in recent years. Exurban areas like Georgetown, Acton, and perhaps even Fergus are seeing an influx of people from Toronto and the areas that immediately around Toronto, people who lean more small ‘L’ liberal than voters in the rural areas of the riding, but is it enough to block Chong from his seventh straight victory?
Melanie Lang hopes so. She’s the Liberal candidate this time for Wellington-Halton Hills. Like Chong she’s a Fergus resident, and like Chong she’s spent years working in the business world but in marketing and consumer studies. Her consultancy business focuses on rural economic development and regional innovation systems, and she's also been a board member for the Centre Wellington Community Foundation, 4-H Ontario, and the Guelph Chamber of Commerce. Can she add MP to her CV?
On this week's podcast, Lang will talk about why she will be a good fit for the area, and why she thinks Michael Chong is vulnerable in this election. She will also talk about her family’s political past, and how the pandemic has changed the way she wanted to campaign. And finally, she will discuss the casual misogyny she’s encountered on the campaign trail, the anger being directed at her and her party, and how she can defend a government she had no part in creating.
So let's talk about Lang the Liberal on this this edition of the Wellington Halton-Hills Politicast!
To learn more about Melanie Lang’s campaign, you can visit his website here.
NOTE: You will be able to hear interviews with all of the Federal election candidates running in Guelph every Monday on the podcast version of Open Sources Guelph, and every Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca!
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, 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. 

End Credits #212 - September 1, 2021 (Annette)

...And we're back! This week on End Credits, we're rested and refreshed from our summer vacation, and ready to get back to talking about the latest in pop culture and reviewing the newest movies (see what we did there), which this week will be the new Amazon Prime offering Annette. Before that, we're going to talk about some of the other movies coming soon.
This Wednesday, September 1, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss:
Fall Preview Part 1. Fall is here! Sort of. The unofficial beginning of fall is just after the Labour Day weekend, but we will start things off post-summer break with a look at all the movies coming out in the next few months (COVID permitting). In part one, we will look at the movies coming out in September and October, from the rise of a new Marvel hero, to the return of Bond, and another lavish adaptation about that sci-fi book no one really understands.
REVIEW: Annette (2021). As this year's opening movie at the Cannes Film Festival, Annette seemed to be practically spoofing the idea of the hot, eccentric art house film festival darling. Starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, Annette is a rock opera featuring the music of Sparks, and follows a celebrity couple who's perfect world starts to fray with the birth of their titular daughter, who's played by a haunting marionette. It's got great music, great actors, and it looks great on screen, but does it hit all the highnotes for the audience (and our critics)?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #287 - Why Not 50 More?

Jim Estill has been a successful entrepreneur, innovator and investor building a number of successful businesses around Guelph, but the thing that made Estill a national figure had nothing to do with business. Through Estill’s generosity, hundreds of Syrian refugees have made a new home in Canada, and now he wants to do it again for 50 families fleeing the resurgent Tabliban in Afghanistan.
Flashback to 2015 for a moment. It was also the time of a Federal election, and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau made a bold promise: If elected prime minister, he would welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada. One of those people prompted to act was Jim Estill who was watching the humanitarian situation half-a-world away and felt he could do something. He put up $1.5 million of his own money and pledged to sponsor 50 Syrian families.
Estill rallied aid organizations in Guelph including numerous churches, social service organizations, and businesses, and with their help nearly 500 Syrians were resettled in Guelph and area, and that, as they say, was that. Or it was until the Americans announced that they were pulling out of Afghanistan and a new refugee crisis was created in the wake of the Taliban retaking the country. Last week, Estill announced that he now wants to help bring 50 Afghan families to Canada.
This week on the podcast, Jim Estill joins us to talk about when he decided to help more refugees, what the process looks like, and how COVID-19 has changed things. He will also talk about his experiences with the new Canadian he’s sponsored, and what he thinks about people who push anti-immigrant sentiments. And finally, he will discuss his ethics as a businessman, how he feels about all the positive press he’s received, and what sort of help he’ll be looking for when people start arriving from Afghanistan.
So let's talk about the refugee assisting business on this week's Guelph Politicast!
Stay tuned for a call out for assistance as the Afghan refugees begin arriving again. For now, you can check out to Estill’s blog here, and you can follow him on Twitter @jimestill.
NOTE: You can hear interviews with all of the Federal election candidates running in Guelph every Monday on the podcast version of Open Sources Guelph, and every Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca! For interviews with candidates from Wellington-Halton Hills, tune into special editions of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast here on Saturdays.
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, 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.