Guelph Politicast

Open Sources Guelph - May 7, 2020

This week on Open Sources Guelph, let's chat about the present and the past. There's still some COVID-19 stuff going on, which includes the status of long-term care homes, and all those proverbial "yahoos" battling imaginary boogeymen in the name of re-opening the economy. In other news, the Federal government is looking to pass new gun laws, and on the same week we mark the 50th anniversary of the Kent State Massacre.
This Thursday, May 7, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Long Term Snare. As we continue with the COVID-19 crisis, and start looking at re-opening the economy, the question about long-term care homes is cast in stark relief and people are looking again at the decision to privatize these facilities in the 90s as the original sin that lead to the quick spread of COVID in these homes. Meanwhile, four PSWs have died in Ontario being exposed to the virus, will we finally standardize and compensate this industry properly?
Have Gun, Will Outlaw. In the wake of the attacks in Nova Scotia, the Canadian government has introduced new legislation that will ban over a thousand different assault weapons, and initiate a gun buy back program. Gun control is always a third rail in politics, even in Canada, and a lot of Conservative politicians, including Doug Ford and Peter MacKay, are making hay about it. Will politics get in the way of gun safety again, and will this be the path to stop another massacre?
The Perplex Files. In the midst of all the protests to re-open the economy, both here and in the United States, there have been some additionally disturbing elements. From Flat Earthers, to Anti-vaxxers, to QAnon believers, there have been a lot of people who seem just generally paranoid about a lot of different things aside from COVID-19. And, oh yeah, the racism. Why are these protests collecting all the wackos, and how much weight should we give them?
Kent 50. Speaking of protests, it was 50 years ago this week that four students were killed on the campus of Kent State University by National Guardsmen. To this day, no one knows who fired the first shot or why, but the so-called "Kent State Massacre" was the beginning of the end of the Vietnam War. We'll talk about the long-term impacts of what happened at Kent State, and how that affects the modern view of protest movements, especially for student-led protests.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits - May 6, 2020 (Atlantics)

We're back with another quarantined edition of End Credits, but that doesn't mean we can't go worldwide. For our review this week, we're heading to the west side of Africa for the Grand Prix-winning Atlantics, which has definitely got a flavour we haven't had before. In terms of old news, we've got part two of our comic book movies list.
This Wednesday, May 6, at 2 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss:
The Top 40 Comic Book Movies of the Last 40 years PART 2. In 1978, Superman the Movie was released in theatres everywhere, and since then everyone’s chased that big box office money from superhero movies. For the next four weeks, we’re going to countdown the 40 greatest of the genre in the last 40 (or make that 42 years). This week, we’re doing 21 to 30.
REVIEW: Atlantics (2019). Mati Diop was the first African woman to have a movie at the Cannes Festival, and she took the second prize for this haunting romantic drama. Set in the Senegalese city of Dakar, a young couple are broken apart by cultural and economic circumstances, but supernatural happenings start to set the wrong things right as young Ada launches on a journey of self-discovery. You've probably never seen anything like it, but do we like it?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 2 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #220 - Supporting Our PSWs

There are 130,000 Personal Support Workers (PSWs) in Ontario alone. They are a vital link in the healthcare chain for people that need assistance at home, or in long-term care. They assist people who are seriously ill, and the elderly, and they perform a variety of functions including help with healthcare needs, personal assistance, palliative care, supportive care, and work around the house like cooking and housekeeping. So why do we know so little about them?
This week on the podcast, we're going to dig into the working life, and the challenges faced, by Ontario's PSWs, and we're doing this in the wake of the recent news that the fourth PSW in Ontario has died from COVID-19. Sharon Roberts, a PSW at Downsview Long Term Care in North York, was one of 46 staff members to contract COVID at that facility, and in these precarious times for all employees in the healthcare system, would it surprise you to learn that there are really no rules, safeguards or oversight for these important workers?
An article in the Toronto Star recently covered the Ontario Federation of Labour's call to mandate standardization of the pay, schedules, and other benefits for PSWs, but this is an argument that the Ontario Personal Support Workers Association has already been making for about 10 years now. The OPSWA have seen for years the things that other groups are now finally making note of in the wake of COVID-19, so are we finally going to give this industry the attention it deserves?
This week's guest is Janet Greener, the Director of Education for the OPSWA, and she has some thoughts about that. She will talk about the work of a PSW, their duties, their training, and the variety of work that they do. She will also talk about the OPSWA’s attempts to form a set of standards for PSWs, and to regulate the profession with some universal guidelines for education, training, and oversight. And she also discusses how the COVID-19 crisis has brought the work of PSWs to the forefront, how they’ve been rising to the occasion, and how they hope to make new rules and pay raises permanent post-pandemic.
So let's talk about the essential help that PSWs need both during and after the pandemic on this week's Guelph Politicast!
To learn more about the Ontario Personal Support Workers Association, you can visit their 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 iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, 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 - April 30, 2020

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're going looking for some answers. Is the Ontario government making the right moves in responding to COVID-19? Does the leader of the Liberal Party have any better answers than the ones coming out of the government? And where in the world is Kim Jong Un? We're going to do some investigating, or rather, as much investigating as we can in quarantine.
This Thursday, April 30, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Sufficient Proposal. Premier Doug Ford announced his government's plan to re-open the province in a gradual and responsible way with the feedback of public health officials, all that was missing was a timeline. Meanwhile in Quebec, the government there is looking to open schools two weeks from now even though over half of all COVID cases in Canada are in that province. Is Ontario moving too slow, and is Quebec moving too fast?
Kim Jong Un-dead. There's a lot of uncertainty in the world right now thanks to COVID-19, but the biggest uncertainty in foreign relations presently is the mystery absence of Kim Jong Un. The leader of North Korea has not been seen in public for nearly a month, and the rumour mill's been churning about whether or not the Dear Leader is dead or almost dead. So how do we know what's going on in North Korea, and why should we be concerned?
Steven Unrehearsed. He was elected the Liberal leader right before everybody got quarantined, but Steven Del Duca has been trying to keep up with the rapidly changing situation around COVID-19 like the rest us. This week, we will talk to Del Duca about his own ideas about what the Provincial government needs to do to respond, his first month on the job, and what the future of politics might look like on a social distant campaign trail.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits - April 29, 2020 (Satanic Panic)

This week on End Credits, we're going to engage in some light Satanism, and by light we mean "lighthearted" because the first name in comedy everyone thinks of is the Devil. So we're going to check out Satanic Panic, which is now streaming on Shudder, and we're also going to kick off a new multi-part list that will keep you coming back for more (hopefully).
This Wednesday, April 29, at 2 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
The Top 40 Comic Book Movies of the Last 40 years PART1. In 1978, Superman the Movie was released in theatres everywhere, and since then everyone's chased that big box office money from superhero movies. For the next four weeks, we're going to countdown the 40 greatest of the genre in the last 40 (or make that 42 years). This week, we're doing 31 to 40.
REVIEW: Satanic Panic (2019). There was, of course, a real Satanic panic in the 1980s, but it turned out to be just as fake as the events in this new horror/comedy of the same name. In Satanic Panic, a young pizza delivery girl accidentally comes upon a Satanic ritual and has to spend her night trying to evade the affluent and evil group of suburban Satanists before she becomes a human sacrifice. It's funnier than it sounds.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 2 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #219 - Better Days

As we’re entering this third calendar month under a state of quarantine, we're starting to  feel that it still might be a long time until we get back to what we consider normalcy. It might be a long time before we can sit comfortably again in a room filled with a few hundred people to hear the city’s mayor talk about a grand ambition for Guelph that has nothing to do with responding to a global pandemic.
So let us pause this week to remember what we’re fighting to get back to, let us a take a minute to reorient ourselves to a world without fear of COVID-19. This week on the podcast, we're going to replay the 2020 State of the City address from Mayor Cam Guthrie, which was delivered on February 7 at the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre on Stone Road in an annual event hosted by the Guelph Chamber of Commerce.
The State of the City is part update about current events at city hall, and it’s part wishlist on the part of the mayor as he or she talks about what they want to do for the next year. It’s a victory lap, and a declaration of intent, but there's also the breakfast event around it, which gives city leaders a chance to meet, chat and network. It’s a perfectly innocuous little event, but because it involves a political speech by the mayor, we give it a lot of attention in the media, and in the community.
So let's once again hear the mayor’s pre-pandemic vision for the city, which includes keeping operating fees under control, creating a free transit option for young people, and starting an initiative to create car-free downtown. You will also hear about what the mayor calls a message of hope, and what the City has done to try and address the growing gap in inequality between the haves and have nots. Mayor Guthrie also talked about the clashes between cities and the Province, the tricky balancing act with the budget, and then he answered a few questions from the crowd. 
Let's go back to a pre-COVID-19 world and the State of the City on this week's Guelph Politicast!
City council will be returning to some kind of regular order in the next few weeks; the agenda for May 11’s special meeting will be published later this week. You can also revisit Guelph Politico's original coverage of this year's State of the City 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 iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, 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 - April 23, 2020

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we get a break from non-stop COVID-19 coverage so that we might talk about other tragedies. We're going to dedicate some time on this week's show to talk about the ongoing tragic state of affairs on the East Coast, and then we will talk about the ongoing - could be - tragic state of affairs in the U.S. with some fairly silly protests. We'll have all that to talk about, plus an interview with the Downtown's chief advocate too!
This Thursday, April 23, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
We Are Nova Scotia. In an act of unspeakable violence, a madman ran a bloody rampage across the province last weekend killing two dozen people before taking his own life. There are so many questions resulting from this violence, and not the least of which is the motive for the massacre. On top of that, people are now wondering why the authorities in Nova Scotia didn't let the public know why an active shooter situation was ongoing, and what the Canadian government is going to do in the form of further gun control.
Question, Period. The COVID-19 reaction is going in some strange new directions. In Canada, the House of Commons spent the day on Monday debating the limited re-opening of Parliament with a mix of in-person and virtual sittings. Meanwhile, in the United States, small groups of agitators being driven into a frenzy by right-wing media are pushing for stay-at-home measures to be lifted even as the number of cases keep growing, and worse still, some governors are listening. Are we entering the crazy phase of the pandemic?
Recovery Talk. We've spent over a month in quarantine, and, as mentioned above, some people are eager to get back to work, and back to business as usual. Most people are more rightly concerned about the health crisis, but small business owners are also understandably worried about their immediate financial futures. We'll talk to somebody this week that knows a little something about the business scene in the Royal City, Downtown Guelph Business Association executive director Marty Williams.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits - April 22, 2020 (Emma)

This week on End Credits, let's fall in love. Once again recording from our mutual isolation, we will take a look at one of the last movies to come out in theatres before quarantine, the Jane Austen adaptation, Emma. Before that, with what is normally the summer movie season almost here, we will look at some of the past summer movies that should have been bigger hits.
This Wednesday, April 22, at 2 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss:
Summer Re-Lovin'! A lot has been made about the disruption of the box office by COVID-19. So many of the biggest movies that were supposed to come out in 2020 have had to reschedule, and now the summer movie season is going to start at a time when it should be winding down. We'll look at some of the past summer flicks that should have been hits, but they ended up being flops.
REVIEW: Emma (2020). In what is definitely one of Jane Austen's top three novels, Emma Woodhouse is concerned about everyone else's love life, but she doesn't much care about the state of her own romantic affairs. The story has been re-adapted again by renowned photographer Autumn de Wilde, and starring Anya Taylor-Joy, but is there any joy to be had in this new interpretation or is this another case of been there/done that English Lit cinema?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 2 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #218 - COVID Administrative Officer

From time to time, the Guelph Politicast likes to do a sit down with a member of City of Guelph staff to talk about their job in detail with all its day-to-day demands, challenges and rewards. This podcast is in the mode of one of those past explainers, but with a COVID-19 twist because what is possibly affecting City business more these days than the global pandemic?
The subject of this week's podcast is Chief Administrative Officer Scott Stewart. Stewart hasn’t even held the top job in the City’s administration for a full year yet, but he’s now marshaling the response to what may be the most challenging of circumstances that someone in his position has ever faced. COVID-19 has forced all levels of government to practically drop everything else in order to respond. Guelph is no exception, and everything that the City is doing crosses the desk in the CAO’s office at some point.
You may recognize Stewart as the guy who literally sits on the right hand of Mayor Cam Guthrie in regular order council meetings, but he's probably the person in local government with the most influence right after the mayor. The CAO is the only member of Guelph staff that is directly hired and supervised by council itself, and they often serve as an intermediary between the experts on staff, and the political direction of council. The job requires a certain mastery of all portfolios and departments at the City, but could anything prepare Stewart for responding to COVID-19?
That's one of the questions put to Scott Stewart on this week's podcast, and he will also talk about how his job has changed with the demands of combating COVID-19. He also discusses the co-ordination between Guelph and its neighbouring municipalities, how the City is able to navigate directives from higher levels of government, and how much of the City’s reaction to COVID-19 is proactive versus reactive. Finally, he also talks about how much of the regular business of City Hall is proceeding despite COVID-19, and the most pressing problem that staff is facing at the moment. 
So let's talk about how the COVID response is running through the CAO's office on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!
For all the latest information about the City of Guelph’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, just go to the City’s website, and click on the red banner at the top of the screen. You can also stay tuned to this 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 iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, 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 - April 16, 2020

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're going to do the same thing we do every week, try and take over the world talk about COVID-19. It's not going away anytime soon, and the pandemic news continues to unfold quickly, so we will once again try and fold it up in a tightly wound 25-minute package. In the second half of the show, we're going talk to our Member of Parliament about the ongoing Federal response.
This Thursday, April 16, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Long Term Scare. As we enter the second month of COVID-19 lockdown the primary concern turns to long-term care homes, where nearly half of all COVID-19 deaths in Canada have been suffered. Can we address the systemic ignorance with emergency measures? Meanwhile, south of the border, Donald Trump kicked off the post-Easter period with an off-the-rails press conference that started with propaganda, and ended with authoritarianism. We'll talk about those developments, and many more...
Lloyd Again (Naturally). All eyes on are on the Federal government, from which a lot of the COVID-19 response has been directed. The pressure is on for the Trudeau government to not just deliver virus protections, but to help make sure there's an economy to come back to once the quarantine is lifted. We'll talk to Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield about all those issues, how the government is going to try and address the gaps for students and workers in the gig economy, and about the potential effects on Canadian agriculture.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.