Category: Guelph Politicast

GUELPH POLITICAST #530 – What’s Next 2026? A City of Attractions (feat. Joanne O’Meara and P. Brian Skerrett)

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One of the big initiatives in this term of council, especially as we emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, was the effort to promote Guelph as a tourist destination. There are two major projects now in the pipeline that would do a lot to brandish Guelph as regional, provincial and nation destination, but as we look to the next term of council, will there be the political capacity to help make these projects a reality? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #530 – What’s Next 2026? A City of Attractions (feat. Joanne O’Meara and P. Brian Skerrett)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #529 – The Trustee to Council Pipeline (feat. Linda Busuttil & Katherine Hauser)

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Half of city council is new in terms this being their first term in office, but that doesn’t mean that some of those people were politically inexperienced entering this office. For decades, the farm league for politicians has been the local school board, which is about as direct as democracy can get. Looking back at this term, and the rapid pace of change that councillors have had to deal with, have the councillors with that school board experience had a leg up? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #529 – The Trustee to Council Pipeline (feat. Linda Busuttil & Katherine Hauser)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #528 – The Breezys Vs Big Brother (feat. Steve Cornwell & Jonathan Webb )

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Just this week there were more warning from the federal government about the threats of out malleable information ecosystem, warnings that Russia is targeting Canada with misinformation to sew divisions and erode confidence in democratic institutions. In an era of partisan media and A.I. deep fakes, how do you know that what you’re reading or seeing is the truth? Let’s talk about it… Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #528 – The Breezys Vs Big Brother (feat. Steve Cornwell & Jonathan Webb )” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #527 – A Pratfall in Puslinch? (feat. Justin Wilson)

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Remember MZOs. Early on in the Ford government, Ministerial Zoning Orders were the hot thing to cut through red tape and get construction started faster by overriding public planning procedures, like the one being sought now for a one million square foot facility on zoned agricultural land in Puslinch. As upper levels of government accelerate pro-business policies and override environmental concerns and assessments, can one group of activists still win? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #527 – A Pratfall in Puslinch? (feat. Justin Wilson)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #526 – What’s Next 2026? The Transit Struggle (feat. Steve Petric)

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This term has presented a lot of challenges to transit and transit users, not the least of which was ridership recovering following the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has, thankfully, not only returned but grown in the last four years. Logistically speaking though, there are other challenges to transit that have stacked up including financial pressures, but what else is coming for transit in the next four years? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #526 – What’s Next 2026? The Transit Struggle (feat. Steve Petric)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #525 – Election Skullduggery Already? (feat. Dylan McMahon)

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On Friday, Guelph Politico received a video of someone accessing the website “michellebowman.ca”. Michelle Bowman is a candidate running in Ward 2 in this fall’s municipal election, so one would think that if you typed in her name with the domain extension “.ca” that it would lead to her website. It doesn’t. Barely three weeks into this election, do we already need to have a conservation about the rules and ethics of running for local office? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #525 – Election Skullduggery Already? (feat. Dylan McMahon)” →

WELLINGTON COUNTY POLITICAST #524 – Ich bein eine Fergusonian (feat. Diane Ballantyne)

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Centre Wellington is the largest municipality inside the county, and it includes Elora and Fergus. In the literal and figurative middle of Wellington, representing it around the council table, unsurprisingly, is a two-person job. From this vantage point, they must have a unique view of relations between the city and county, and one of those councillors has an even bigger vantage point then that? Continue reading “WELLINGTON COUNTY POLITICAST #524 – Ich bein eine Fergusonian (feat. Diane Ballantyne)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #523 – What’s Next 2026? Politics and Policing (feat. Chief Gord Cobey and Peter McSherry)

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Is there a bigger political lightning rod when it comes to the City of Guelph budget than the police budget? For some people, we spend too much on the police and at the expense of expanded funding for social services, and for others we don’t spend nearly enough on the police. As we look to the next term at city hall, what challenges around policing will be presented to the new council? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #523 – What’s Next 2026? Politics and Policing (feat. Chief Gord Cobey and Peter McSherry)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #522 – The Year at Council… So Far (January to April)

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Sure, it’s an election year, but that doesn’t mean that the current city council is coasting in their last year in office. The council calendar has been pretty busy these first four months of 2026, and some of the things that have kept them busy might surprise you. This week, if you don’t follow the news, or subscribe to this website, or have heard about it somewhere else, you will get your chance to catch-up on all the latest council business here. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #522 – The Year at Council… So Far (January to April)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #521 – One and Done (feat. Erin Caton & Michele Richardson)

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Near the end of every council term, we invite the rookies who were elected in the previous election onto this podcast to talk about their experience. This time it’s different because one, there were so many new councillors in 2022, and two, in this case, we have two people who’ve decided that one term is enough. How can just four years on Guelph city council possibly be enough? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #521 – One and Done (feat. Erin Caton & Michele Richardson)” →