It’s an interesting time for someone new to take on the reins of this organization, and not just because of the housing crisis. This is the 25th birthday of Habitat for Humanity in Guelph and Wellington, so it’s a time of celebration, along with a time of tremendous challenge. In the overwhelming crunch of the crisis, how does the brand name in affordable housing celebrate its silver anniversary? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #519 – Habitat’s Silver Anniversary (feat. Sarah Spry)”
Wellington County’s Ward 9 is the Town of Erin, the eastern most end of the county and it faces a number of issues that might sound kind of familiar to politically tuned in Guelphites. How much do we have in common with our friends from Erin? That is a one of the questions that will guide this first entry in a brand new side story of the Guelph Politicast adventure as we start digging into the politics our our next door neighbours… Continue reading “WELLINGTON COUNTY POLITICAST #518 – Gently Down the Live Stream (feat. Jeff Duncan)”
Campus and community radio stations are under pressure from all sides: provincial governments, student governments, activists, advertisers and big tech. There’s a growing spectre of doom for campus media, and the people charged with supporting radio stations across Canada are looking to bolster themselves with help from a newly fiscally prudent federal government. So has time run out for your campus radio station? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #517 – Pump Up the Volume for Campus Radio (feat. Barry Rooke)”
There’s no escaping just how crushing the increasing cost of groceries is, and it’s even been affecting the people we might consider affluent, so how tough is it for the organizations we depend on who are trying to level the playing field, and can they overcome those same economic pressures themselves? On this holiday week, we tackle the essential questions on local food security with two people who know about it. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #516 – A Snapshot of Food Insecurity This Holiday Week (feat. Carolyn McLeod-McCarthy and Dawn Wheeler)”
Last Saturday, the group Resistance and Resilience Guelph gathered over 50 people on the fourth floor of 10C to cook up possible directions for a union to represent renters in the city. Over one-third of Guelph residents rent the place they live, and those residents are under incredible pressure with some of them under a very real threat of losing their homes. Is unionizing Guelph’s renters the best way to fight back outside of government action? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #515 – To Form a More Perfect Tenant Union (feat. Janice Folk-Dawson)”
It was something of a surprise last week when Niagara Region chair Bob Gale announced his sudden resignation less than four months after being appointed by the Ontario government, but it was even more surprising when we found out why: He purchased a signed original copy of Adolf Hitler’s memoir and manifesto, Mein Kampf. Gale said he was a history buff, but anti-racism activists saw an entirely different explanation amidst the growing boldness of white supremacy in the region. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #514 – White Nationalism in Our Own Backyard (feat. Saleh Wazirudden)”
On Open Sources Guelph, we try our best to condense a week’s worth of news into a couple of topics to allow for some in-depth discussion, but when it comes to the work of covering the provincial government, sometimes that almost needs its own weekly show. As we gear up for the return of Ontario’s MPPs to Queen’s Park in a couple of weeks for the spring sitting, we will tee up the issues that await Premier Doug Ford, his cabinet, caucus and opposition. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #513 – We Got 99 Problems But Doug Ford’s Got 10 (feat. Scotty Hertz)”
In this space and others, we’ve talked a lot about the effect of misinformation and conspiracy theories on our political culture, but there’s a growing and pronounced impact on our legal system as well. From local missing person’s cases to crimes so heinous that they capture the consciousness of a country, can our online culture be trusted with their role in law and order matters? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #512 – “Do Your Own Research” Comes For Local Crimes (feat. Dr. Ahmed al-Rawi)”
Breezy Breakfast has been one of the primary venues for local political discussion and information for the last 10 years. Now, not everyone can take time out first thing in their busy day to have a sit down breakfast and chew the fat about the doings at city hall, so presented here thanks to the miracle of digital recording tech is all the hot goss and chit chat that you missed when maybe you were on your way to work, or were maybe already there… Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #511 – Gab Fest and Scrambled Eggs (feat. The Breezy Breakfast Gang)”
Last week’s discussion at city council about the City of Guelph buying a portion of the old Kortright Waterfowl Park lands on Niska Road captured a lot of attention from the community and community activists. No one’s going to debate the need for more parks and open space, but it’s hard to get a full sense of the history of *this* because it goes back before the internet, so can we ever really have a firm sense of that background and the stakes? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #510 – The Unknowable(?) History of the Waterfowl Park (Real Audio News)”
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