Guelph Politicast

End Credits #204 - June 23, 2021 (In the Heights)

This week on End Credits, we will try and lift spirits. How? Through the transformative power of song and dance, of course! We're going to review the [theoretically] big screen adaptation of the Broadway musical In the Heights, and we will also talk about the movies from the summer of 1990, where there were hardly any musical numbers at all (save for a horrid Leonard Cohen cover.)
This Wednesday, June 23, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
Summer Lovin’ Part 7: 1990. As we proceed with our review of summer movies seasons of the past, we leave the 80s and we enter the 90s. As we discussed last week, 1989 changed the game with more emphasis on sequels and franchises, and 1990 tried to move that ball upfield, but there were some hiccups. So this week, we will talk about how Dick Tracy wasn't Batman, the existence of RoboCop 2 and Another 48 Hrs., plus two movies with "Ghost" in the title.
REVIEW: In the Heights (2021). In 2015, Lin-Manual Miranda blew up when he launched a new musical Off-Broadway about American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. About a decade before that though, Miranda made his first Broadway splash with a musical about his New York City neighbourhood. It was called In the Heights, and after a stint in Development Hell and a release delay caused by COVID-19, the movie version directed by Crazy Rich Asians helmer Jon M. Chu is finally ready for release, but does this musical have what it takes to raise spirits?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #279 - Now We're All Working for 2050

We’ve heard a lot about the City of Guelph’s intention to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. That is the corporate goal of the City of Guelph, and while it's a laudible, City Hall doesn't generate power. So isn’t there a key partner they need to bring on board to reach net zero by 2050? Like the company that provides all our electricity? Well, there was recently some good news on that account.
Last month, the largest municipally-owned energy company in Canada, who just so happens to be co-owned by the City of Guelph, announced their intention to cut their own emissions to net zero by 2050. Alectra joins countries like South Korea, Japan and Canada, and companies like BP, Ford, American Airlines, and Facebook in drawing that red line to go net zero by 2050. Of course, setting lofty goals is easy, actually achieving them is the hard part.
Not only is Alectra working to get to net zero by 2050, and they’re aiming to reduce corporate emissions by 38 per cent of their 2016 baseline by 2025. That translates to an annual reduction of greenhouse gases by just 4.2 per cent every year, which sounds easy, but most of that is Alectra's vehicle use. If you want to replace your family vehicle with an electric car, it’s no big deal, but can you buy an electric version of one of those big work trucks with the cherry picker?
That’s one of the challenges we explore on this week’s podcast with Caroline Karvonen, the Manager of Sustainability at Alectra Utilities. She will talk about how Alectra’s efforts intersect with Guelph's, and how they’re also co-ordinating with other electricity-providers in Ontario. She will also take us through the process to reach net zero, how Alectra came up with their targets, and what they have to do in order to reach them. And finally, she will discuss how all these changes might affect your energy bill.
Let's talk about the work to go greener on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!
To learn more about Alectra Utilities and their sustainability efforts, you can visit their website. You can also stay on top of the City of Guelph’s own efforts to get to 100 per cent renewable and net zero emissions by 2050 at the City’s website.
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 Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, 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 #331 - June 17, 2021

This week on Open Sources Guelph, there's friction. In this province, the friction is around the use of constitutional tools for legislation ruled unconstitutional, but on Parliament Hill, the friction is between members, and former members, of the Green Party. Local friction? Got that too! We will talk to a member of city council about the latest business around the horseshoe involving two controversial topics.
This Thursday, June 17, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Clause: The Revenge. On Monday, after a long weekend of debate, the Government of Ontario passed legislation limiting third party election spending for the second time. They use the notwithstanding clause of the Constitution to do it, which prompts all kinds of questions about the authoritarian leanings of Doug Ford, and the priorities of the government who recalled the legislature to make it happen. Will Ford pay a price?
Better Not Call Paul. Last week, Jenica Atwin crossed the floor and joined the Liberals, which instantly reduced the Green Party caucus in the House of Commons by a third. Atwin's victory in 2019 was seen as big breakthrough for the Greens, and a potential beachhead for future east coast expansion, so what happened? In two words: Annamie Paul. What is behind this schism in the Federal Greens, and is it really Paul's fault?
Return of the MacKinnon. On Monday, Guelph City Council approved a part V heritage designation for the Ontario Reformatory lands. Next Monday, council will decide what it's going to look like in the 2022 Municipal Election and beyond. So that's two pretty big issues in the span of two weeks. We need to talk to a member of city council about these important issues, so this week we're joined by Ward 6's Mark MacKinnon.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #203 - June 16, 2021 (My Octopus Teacher)

This week on End Credits, it's summer, and that means we're off to the deep end, but the movie this week is no afternoon at the neighbourhood pool. We're going on a ocean dive in this episode with the award-winning doc My Octopus Teacher, and before that, it's another look back at the days when we could whittle away the summer in an air-conditioned movie theatre.
This Wednesday, June 10, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss:
Summer Lovin’ Part 6: 1989. By the time we got to the end of the eighties, the summer movie season had been more or less set as the time for ambitious (and not-so-ambitious) blockbusters. Still, the Summer of 1989 represented its own shift as Hollywood saw the big bucks and benefits in exploiting pre-existing I.P. and even bigger tentpole projects, and it all started with a man dressed in rubber bat suit fighting a clown.
REVIEW: My Octopus Teacher (2020). This year's Oscar-winner for Best Documentary is a story about a diver and the octopus that he loves. It's just that simple. My Octopus Garden had a 10-year journey to the big (and small) screens, a romantic journey in the classical sense of the word. It's about how one man came to rethink his life above the surface by taking in the peace and serenity below the surface and living vicariously through his new eight-tentacled friend. Still, is this movie a sweet nature doc, or is it just too sweet?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #278 – A History of Violence

The discovery of 215 young Indigenous people buried on the property of the old Kamloops Indian Residential School re-opened a great many old wounds in this country, and just in time for National Indigenous History Month. Nation-wide, there may be between 11,000 and 15,000 missing children unaccounted for, which means this story is only going to get worse before it gets better.
It's safe to say that no John A. Macdonald statue or effigy in the country will be safe, but the destruction and beheading of statues is an expression of anger by Indigenous people and their allies. It’s anger directed at government inaction, the Catholic Church's indifference, and those who say that this is the distant past, and that Indigenous people just need to “get over it.” This is an emotional issue, and it requires someone that can look at it with an analytical perspective.
Fortunately, such expertise is readily available at the University of Guelph with Dr. David MacDonald. His book, The Sleeping Giant Awakens: Genocide, Indian Residential Schools, and the Challenge of Conciliation, came out in 2019 and made a case for calling the Indian Residential School system a genocide in Canada. It’s hard to think of a more essential topic for this National Indigenous History Month, so let's talk about it on this week's edition of the podcast.
MacDonald joins us to talk about how Canadian education is lacking when it comes to Indigenous history, and how we need to be able to talk about Canada’s darker chapters, He will also talk about how he became interested in residential schools, and why he’s comfortably calling it a genocide despite hesitation to do so in other quarters. And finally, he will discuss what the government and church should be doing right now in regards to residential schools, and how we can find the many missing Indigenous kids.
So let's talk about the study of Canada's dark history on this week's episode of the Guelph Politicast!
You can read MacDonald’s most recent commentary at The Conversation, and you can still buy his book, The Sleeping Giant Awakens: Genocide, Indian Residential Schools, and the Challenge of Conciliation, in paperback and e-reader wherever you buy your books. National Indigenous Peoples Day is Monday June 21, and if you’re a survivor of a residential school, or a family member of a survivor, and need to talk, call the crisis line at 1-866-925-4419.
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 Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, 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 #330 - June 10, 2021

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we tackle complexity. Even though everybody apparently agrees that we need more action on Indigenous issues, there hasn't been much, and then we will have a personal health moment to talk about all our vaccine options. Then, we fill focus on simpler things, like the friction between the government and teachers, with the head of one of the province's four teachers' unions.
This Thursday, June 10, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Egerton of Tomorrow. After over 130 years, Egerton Ryerson no longer stands on the campus of the university that bears his name. The statue was torn down this week as the latest example of growing frustration about inaction on systemic racism against Indigenous people, and there's a promise of more to come. We will recap this week's inaction and also talk about the latest in hate crimes from London, Ontario.
Two Dose For Comfort. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) released their advice on vaccine second doses, and while they said that it's probably okay to mix and match different vaccine types, for now they're recommending to stick to the vaccine you got for the second dose. We will talk about the great inner monologue most of us are having: Get two vaccines of a kind or wait for that data about different doses?
Mad Teachers. It's the end of the school year, and despite a last minute invite from Doug Ford (and Arthur) to hold outdoor, in-person graduation events, Ontario's students are still going to finish the year at home. Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation president Harvey Bischof will join us this week to talk about the pressure on teachers this past 15 months, and the help they need when schools hopefully re-open in the fall.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #202 - June 9, 2021 (Monster)

This week on End Credits, we come back to reality. The movie this week will feel very familiar to everyone paying attention to the news, or just familiar with long term issues of systemic racism in the criminal justice system. We will get into all the messaging with this week's review, Monster, and we will also talk about the hits and (many) misses in the Summer of 1987.
This Wednesday, June 9, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
Summer Lovin’ Part 5: 1987. The movies released in the summer of 1987 didn't exactly represent big money, and it didn't exactly represent a lot in the way of consistency. This was the summer of Ishtar, and Jaws: The Revenge, but it was also the summer of Robocop, Predator, The Untouchables, and The Lost Boys. It was also the summer of the most consequential Bigfoot movie ever made, and did the Care Bears go to Wonderland? They did...
REVIEW: Monster (2021). Sitting on the shelf for over three years since it premiered at Sundance, time has caught up with Monster. This drama, based on a novel of the same name, follows 17-year-old film student Steve, who is accused of being the lookout in bodega robbery-turned-murder, and finds himself a pinball in the criminal justice system despite his status as a sheltered kid of upper class parents. So it's timely, but is it any good? Can a good cast and a talented director make this more than another ripped-from-the-headlines courtroom drama?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #277 – The Transit Pass with TAAG

We used to have these quarterly check ups about transit issues, but the pandemic hit last March, and suddenly transit service was limited. Buses are still running on a reduced schedule, but now the City of Guelph is looking to the future, first with the Transportation Master Plan, and now with the review of a new 10-year plan for transit expansion. But how is all this sitting with transit fans?
Last time we had a Transit Pass, it was about this time last year and buses were still operating with only 10 people at a time. In the weeks that followed, masking allowed more people to get back on the bus, but the almost non-existent number of in-person classes at the University of Guelph drove a big whole in ridership and revenue. Staff has said that it could take Transit about two to three years to recover ridership post-pandemic.
Having said that, the City and Guelph Transit are looking to the future. There was the revelation of the draft Transportation Master Plan a few weeks ago at council, and now the City is collecting feedback about a proposed multi-year expansion and realignment of transit routes. The City wants 19 per cent more trips on modes of transportation other than single-occupancy vehicles, which sounds easy enough, but are these plans the best way to get more people on the bus?
Steve Petric, chair of the Transit Action Alliance of Guelph or TAAG, will join us to pursue this, and many other pressing transit questions. He will also talk about the the good news in the 10-year plan, the parts of the plan that still present challenges, and whether city council is going to be willing to proceed with all the ambitious changes. Also Petric will talk about what it’s like to take the bus these days, and whether we’ll need those two-to-three years to get ridership back on the proverbial track.
So let's strap in for the latest edition of the Transit Pass on this week's Guelph Politicast!
To learn more about the Transit Action Alliance of Guelph, go to their website. The City of Guelph is collecting feedback about the proposed changes to transit routes, and you can see those maps and documents at the City’s Have Your Say page. There’s also a town hall about the changes next Wednesday June 16 at 7 pm and you can follow along on the City’s Facebook page.
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 Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, 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 #329 - June 3, 2021

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're at the anger stage of grief. The anger is directed at our bloody, complex past and the discovery of more crimes against Canada's Indigenous peoples, but it's also directed at some politicians in the United States who want to forget the recent past. After working through our grief, we will talk to Ontario's Liberal leader, and the fight he's getting ready for one year from today!
This Thursday, June 3, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Uncover Story. The news that a mass grave of Indigenous youths was discovered on the property of the old Kamloops Indian Residential School shocked the nation, and put Truth and Reconciliation back on the proverbial front burner. Now, more than six years after the TRC delivered its 94 recommendations, we're still lagging dangerously behind in creating equity with out Indigenous communities. So what happens next?
Court Authority. Last week, a vote to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the Capitol insurrection on January 6 failed in the U.S. Senate. It's just one of several signs over the last few months that the American right isn't just moving towards authoritarianism, but are wholeheartedly embracing it. Can American democracy be salvaged, or are we doomed to watch the slow-motion coup from afar?
All About Steve. Wednesday marked the official one-year countdown to the 2022 Provincial Election, and although all the parties have a lot on the line, the real test will be for our special guest this week, Liberal leader Steven Del Duca. On the show this week, Del Duca will talk about what's at stake with the next election, his opinion of the government's latest pandemic moves, and his enthusiasm to win Guelph again for the red team.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #201 - June 2, 2021 (Army of the Dead)

This week on End Credits, we start the next two hundred episodes. Appropriately enough, our first movie back with #201 is a zombie movie, and the author is our old friend Zack Snyder. This week, we're going to enlist in the Army of the Dead, and before that, we will get back to re-living summer movie seasons of the past with a blast back to the 1980s.
This Wednesday, June 2, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
Summer Lovin’ Part 4: 1986. After taking a break, we're back to re-visting the great summer movies of the past by traveling back in time 35 years to the Summer of 1986. It was a jam-packed four months at the box office with fighter jocks, alien attacks, rogue robots, serial killers, a surprising amount of martial arts mayhem, and don't forget the sequels. Once again, we will live vicariously in the multiplexes of yore and revisit happier summer memories.
REVIEW: Army of the Dead (2021). Zack Snyder's been a busy man, not only did he re-assemble his edit of Justice League this year, but he finished his next magnum opus, a return trip to the end of the world. The man who launched his movie career with the remake of Dawn of the Dead, rallies the zombies again for Army of the Dead. It's part gore-fest/part heist movie starring Dave Bautista as a soldier of fortune leading his team into zombified Vegas searching for $200 million in cash. So is this a return to form for Snyder, or is it just the cinematic living dead?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.