Category: Guelph Politicast

GUELPH POLITICAST #536 – The Year at Council… So Far (May to July)

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Guelph City Council is now on summer break, a long break and then just a few more meetings before the municipal election campaign can really get underway. Perhaps you can’t handle anymore council talk, maybe you just want to be free to think about getting an ice cream at the Boathouse, or plan to visit all your favourite vendors at Ribfest, but after this you will be free… The recap of May, June and July’s council meetings! Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #536 – The Year at Council… So Far (May to July)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #535 – The State of Local News in a Local Election Year (feat. Mirko Petricevic)

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It seemed to pass by without much commentary earlier this year, but January 29 marked the tenth anniversary of the last edition of the Guelph Mercury. Recently, with the closure of 570 News in Kitchener, a discussion about the shrinking state of local news is timely again, and as we head into municipal election season, shouldn’t it be more top of mind as we get ready to elect a new mayor and council? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #535 – The State of Local News in a Local Election Year (feat. Mirko Petricevic)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #534 – Housing: The Bigger Picture (feat. Ashley Schuitema and Matt Whitfield & Gaetan Heroux

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Due to circumstances beyond our control, this week’s episode of the Guelph Politicast is a combination of two interviews from recent editions of Open Sources Guelph. Housing remains a big issue in this city, as we saw as recently as last night’s council meeting, but housing is an Ontario-wide issue too so for this episode of the pod we will open our gaze to areas beyond our borders. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #534 – Housing: The Bigger Picture (feat. Ashley Schuitema and Matt Whitfield & Gaetan Heroux” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #533 – The Young Ones (feat. Carly Klassen & Ken Yee Chew)

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Sometimes it seems like municipal politics is an older person’s game. Look around at the faces of Guelph City Council, or even Wellington County Council, and you see a lot of wrinkles and a lot of grey hairs. Now, we love our elders, and everyone should be welcome to serve in municipal governance, but as we approach the end of this term of Guelph city council, we will talk to its two youngest members about going where few people their age have gone before. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #533 – The Young Ones (feat. Carly Klassen & Ken Yee Chew)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #532 – The Local (feat. David Deacon and Michael K. Newton)

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If you’re listening to this on Wednesday, then it’s Canada Day, and you might expect that we would dig into something of national importance but with a Guelph edge. Instead, we’re going to go ultra local. There’s a neighbourhood in the City’s south end that has concerns about traffic that will be created from over 200 new units that have been long in development. At the same time, one Guelphite is saying that print is not dead! Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #532 – The Local (feat. David Deacon and Michael K. Newton)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #531 – Slow Election? (feat. Scotty Hertz)

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Does this one feel a little slow? There’s no doubt that there’s a lot of passion in the community for a variety of issues from affordability to housing development in this election, and there are a lot of new faces eager to take the reins around the council horseshoe, but a little over halfway through the nomination process, do the races this fall feel exciting, especially the open mayor’s race? Is there change in the air? Are people paying attention? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #531 – Slow Election? (feat. Scotty Hertz)” →

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)” →