Guelph Politicast

End Credits - March 25, 2020 (Repeat - Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker)

This week, as we continue our COVID-19 lockdown, we will once again play an End Credits classic, this one from January, and our review of the last of the Skywalker sage, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now available of VOD, and will be available on Blu-ray this coming Tuesday!

GUELPH POLITICAST #214 - Food Security and Sick Pay

It’s been noted frequently that the COVID-19 pandemic is touching just about every aspect of our society, but aside from healthcare, perhaps no two areas of everyday life have been more affected than how we shop, and how we work. How fortunate then that the University of Guelph has two experts to help us out with understanding that!
The first half of this edition of the podcast will feature Dr. Evan Fraser, who is a Professor and Director of the Arrell Food Institute and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security at the University of Guelph. The second half will feature Professor Nita Chhinzer, who is an Associate Professor of Human Resource Management and Business Consulting at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics.
Dr. Fraser is going to talk about food security and why we’re not on the verge of running out of groceries. He will also talk about how COVID-19 has been a shock to our “just enough, just in time” supply system, and how we need to work harder to build resilience by supporting more regional food distribution and eliminating food deserts. And Fraser also discusses how COVID-19 might be a dress rehearsal for how we deal with future issues that can affect food production, like climate change. 
In the second half, Professor Chhinzer will tell us how COVID-19 reminds us about the importance of sick days and sick leave in modern business. She'll explain how this is a problem across the corporate culture, from employees unwilling to take time off from work when they’re sick, to the bosses that sometimes expect you to “suck it up” in the name of being a good employee. She also discusses what she teaches her students about looking out for their wellbeing at work, and how employees need to use the language of management to get their point across about sick leave.
So let's talk about the potential long-term effects of COVID-19 on food and work on this week's edition of Guelph Politicast!
For background reading on these topics, you can head over to The Conversation. You can read their Dr. Fraser's piece, "Coronavirus: The perils of our ‘just enough, just in time’ food system" here, and you can read Professor Chhinzer's piece "Employers need to give paid sick days to fight the coronavirus" 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 - March 19, 2020

What do you do when there's so much news you can't possibly fit it all into a single hour? Who can say, but on this week's special edition of Open Sources Guelph, you're going to see a couple of guys try their damnedest to fill your brain with the maximum allowable amount of current events coverage. Grab your favourite snack of self-isolation, because it's time for the social distance version of OSG!
This Thursday, March 19, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Good Coviddance (The Time of Our Lives). It's pretty much the only thing that anyone is talking about right now. The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting all areas of life from politics, to the economy, to education, to entertainment and sports, and, of course, healthcare. Events are moving fast and furiously, and its hard to keep up with all the latest developments from right here in our own backyard to the broader implications and actions at the provincial, national and international level. We will do our best to bring you the latest information on all the COVID-craziness.
Speaking of the latest, Scotty Hertz has been running an emergency daily news show on COVID-19. You can listen to excepts from Monday and Tuesday's show here.
And you can listen to Wednesday's show, which featured interviews with Mayor Cam Guthrie and Guelph Mercury Tribune reporter Graeme McNaughton, here.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 4 pm on Thursday.

End Credits - March 18, 2020 (Repeat - Hobbs & Shaw)

As the show is affected by the COVID-19 lockdown, End Credits, for the time being, will be running repeats every Friday. This week. it's last summer's action franchise hit Fast & Furious Presents Hobbs & Shaw.
Hobbs & Shaw is now available on Blu-ray, and VOD, and it will start streaming this weekend on Crave.

Open Sources Guelph Bonus Episode - March 18, 2020

In this edition of CFRU's emergency news show on COVID-19, Scotty Hertz talks about the latest news, and interviews Mayor Cam Guthrie and Guelph Mercury Tribune reporter Graeme McNaughton.
Originally aired on Wednesday March 18 at 4 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #213 - Community Reporting on COVID-19

As of Tuesday night, there have been almost 200,000 worldwide cases of novel coronavirus and nearly 8,000 fatalities. In Canada, there are 424 confirmed cases, another 16 suspected cases, and so far only one death. The details are changing hourly, and all levels of government are scrambling to find the best way to respond. What we need right now is some community radio.
Open Sources Guelph co-host Scotty Hertz had the idea to use the reach of CFRU as a source of daily COVID-19 information for Guelph and area, and he's leaned on the local reporting and expertise of Guelph Politico for the first two editions of this emergency local news show. This week's podcast will feature clips from the show, which demonstrates the need for just such a program, and also demonstrates just how fast information is changing when it comes to COVID-19.
As you're listening to this week's show, be aware that some of the details have changed since they were recorded between 12 and 48 hours ago. It’s not that the information is incorrect, but rather it’s a matter of the cancellation of some services has become the cancellation of all services. For instance, it was announced that the City of Guelph is closing City Hall after we finished our Tuesday edition.
Along the way you're going to get some information about the ongoing reaction from the Federal and Provincial governments, and some of the economic and healthcare mitigation efforts they’ve been introducing. There are also as many local details as possible including what’s open, what’s definitely closed, and what services are out there for people looking for help and answers about COVID-19, and the prevention of its spread here in Guelph.
So let's recap the local, provincial and federal angles so far in responding to COVID-19 on this week's Guelph Politicast.
CFRU's emergency daily COVID-19 news show will be running every day in the late afternoon at either 4 or 5 pm depending on available timeslots. You can listen on 93.3 fm or cfru.ca. In the meantime, you can follow all the latest developments here at Guelph Politico.
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 - March 12, 2020

This week on Open Sources Guelph, it's time to look at Ontario politics again. We've got a new Liberal leader to talk about, and while the current Ontario government's definitely got 99 problems, Steven Del Duca is definitely one. In other news, we'll also talk about the global and local effects of our newly-minted pandemic, and we'll head to Europe where there's new concerns about the treatment of migrants at one particular border.
This Thursday, March 12, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
All About Steve. Surprising no one, former Vaughan MPP and Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca has been named the new leader of the Liberal Party of Ontario. Del Duca now has the unenviable task of trying to rebuild the party, even while the Liberals are out front with the advantage in popular support, but Del Duca was part of Kathleen Wynne's team and he also has to find a way to overcome those lingering negative feelings about the previous government. Can he do it?
Ford Rough. Speaking of the present Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, it's not like he's having a good time right now either as a leader. Between the concerns over the spread of COVID-19, the ongoing labour strife with teachers, starting a fight with Ottawa over transit funding, and the unforced snafu involving license plates, these are tough times for the the PC government, and that's before the budget drops on March 25. We'll talk about how it's going for our old friend Doug.
The Big Sick. The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, is now officially a pandemic according to the World Health Organization, and the outbreak is touching all areas of life from commerce, to politics, to entertainment and sporting events. The Canadian government is trying to create a feeling of determined calm, while the American government is divided between the advise of health experts and positive thinking through flagrant self-promotion by the President. But seriously, how concerned should we be about COVID-19?
Border Patrol. Violence has been escalating along the Greco-Turkish border in recent weeks as Turkey has opened their side of the for migrants to cross over and enter Greece, mostly out of spit because Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the EU owes Turkey money. Greece, meanwhile, has been trying to stop the migrants with extreme severity, and that hasn't helped the long-standing tensions between these two countries. So how does all this border friction get resolved?
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits - March 11, 2020 (The Way Back)

This week on End Credits, we're going to discuss the healing power of basketball in the new drama The Way Back. In the news, things are much spicier with discussion about pandemics, representation, and why the Rob Ford movie might not be able live up to reality. Somewhere in between, we're going to talk about porno! So now that we have your attention...
This Wednesday, March 11, at 2 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:
My Corona! The Coronavirus, or COVID-19, is having an impact on many aspects of the economy, but Hollywood is starting to feel the hit with the cancellation of South By Southwest, and the postponement of the release of No Time to Die. Plus, some of the biggest international movie markets have been affected the worst - China, Japan, and South Korea - so how will the movie business cope with this big sick?
The Porn Identity. PornHub - yes, that PornHub - has picked up the streaming rights to the documentary Shakedown, and while it deals with the L.A. strip club scene in the city's queer community, it is not an adult film. In fact, the PornHub launch for Shakedown is a stopover for the film between the Whitney Museum and the Criterion Channel, so is PornHub, and its 42 billion visits per year, making a play to enter the streaming wars?
Run Out This Town. Infamous before even a minute of footage was shot, Run this Town, the film very loosely based on the Rob Ford mayoralty, is now in limited release. This should be a highly anticipated film given the level of interest in Ford and his scandals, but all anyone can seem to talk about is the film's mistakes. Did film fantasy ever have a chance of standing up to reality?
#KneeJerkToo? The live-action version of Mulan is scheduled to hit theatres in a couple of weeks, but it's already generating controversy. A producer has said that a beloved character from the animated original has been removed because of #MeToo issues, but others are calling B.S. because that character is also a well-loved queer icon. Is there no pleasing anyone?
REVIEW: The Way Back (2020). Most people are probably, at least, vaguely familiar with Ben Affleck's real-life battles with alcoholism. The actor pours all that angst and self-reflection into his new film, The Way Back, which is about a former high school basketball star recruited to coach at his old school while battling his deeply-run personal conflicts, and his coping mechanism at the bottom of the bottle. So what do we think of "Courtside by the Sea"?
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 2 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #212 - The Clash Over Clair-Maltby Part 2: All About Parks

Last week, the Committee of the Whole heard about the Clair-Maltby Secondary Plan Open Spaces Systems Strategy, staff's proposal for how parkland and open spaces will be mapped out in the development of Clair-Maltby. Just about anything Clair-Maltby related is controversial, especially the debate about parkland placement, so how did the members of city council navigate this minefield?
The original plan for this week’s podcast was an interview with Mike Marcolongo, whose eponymous farm property has been a recurring point of concern in these deliberations, but he unfortunately had to postpone at the last minute. Instead, we will set the table for that future discussion with a kind of play-by-play of last week’s committee meeting, which was almost three-and-a-half hours long. Don't worry, this podcast is only about 90 minutes.
The point of the report was to share with Committee where staff envisions the placement of trails, neighbourhood parks, and a 10-hectare community park in the Clair-Maltby area. The plan, Option #2, was controversial because the location of the community park would have taken a not-so-insignificant piece of the Marcolongo property. Committee eventually decided to go with Option #1, which places the park at the north end of the Marcolongo farm, so how did Committee reach this conclusion?
This abridged version of Committee debate starts with the City of Guelph’s senior policy planner Stacey Laughlin, who will lay out the open spaces strategy. After that, you will then hear from a select group of delegates including Dana Anderson and Daniel Gur of Options for Homes, Mike Marcolongo, and Robin Lee-Norris who’s an agent for another property owner in Clair Maltby. After that, you will hear some of the questions asked of staff by members of council.
So let's recap the debate from last week's Committee of the Whole on this edition of the Guelph Politicast!
You can recap the whole meeting here on Guelph Politico. The final vote for the open spaces plan will be at the regular meeting of council on March 30, and the complete Clair-Maltby Secondary Plan will come back to council later this year.
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 - March 5, 2020

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we want to focus on the nice things in life, like the crossover team-up of two young female activists, but instead there's some grimier stuff we have to deal with, like a certain disgusting sticker that depicts one of the ladies above. We're also going to talk about the rise in hate towards Canada's First Nations' people, the latest from the Democrats, and the official ballot for Canada's own leadership race in the Opposition Party.
This Thursday, March 5, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Blood, Threat and Tears. With a deal reached between the Wet'suwet'an hereditary chiefs and the government, it seems like we might be getting back on the road to Reconciliation, but it seems like some people are finding it harder to forgive and forget than others. Indeed, there are reports that anti-Indigenous racism has gone up in the weeks since the blockade began, which is only going to make progress on key issues harder to achieve. How can we resolve to do better?
Re-Greta. An Alberta energy company released a sticker that appeared to feature teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg being raped. After making the rounds on social media, X-Site committed to getting back all the stickers, and making amends with a code of conduct for employees, but the damage was done. Like with the t-shirts that suggested hanging the prime minister was a good idea, why do Canada's energy companies feel like it's okay to threaten violence if they don't get their way?
Joe-mentum? What else are you supposed to call it now that former U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden has created a two-man race between him and Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic Presidential nomination. The once nearly two-dozen large field is now basically down to Biden and Sanders, one represents centrism and the establishment, and the other represents progressiveness and revolution, but which one has enough juice to take on Donald Trump in November?
Eight is Enough. Marilyn Gladu, Rudy Husy, Jim Karahalios, Leslyn Lewis, Peter MacKay, Erin O’Toole, Rick Peterson, and Derek Sloan. One of them will be the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada after the official nominating period closed this past weekend, but does anyone have the right stuff to pose a significant threat to Trudeau? We mean aside from MacKay, who's already calling for an election this October.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.