On November 15, five new city councillors are going to formally take their seat around the horseshoe, and they’re five people bringing a variety of skills and experiences to the table. Joining them are eight experienced councillors, so how do all these ingredients gel to immediately form a cohesive unit that will tackle some of the biggest challenges our local government has faced. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #347 – What’s Next? Part 1: The Transition”
Science, technology, engineering and math make up the four letters in “STEM”, which is the subject of a new exhibit at the Guelph Civic Museum. In “Iron Willed: Women in STEM”, you can travel through the history of science and engage with all the great women that have achieved big wins in science while overcoming tremendous social and societal barriers thrown in front of them, even in the 21st century. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #346 – STEM Women’s Work…”
You probably know who all the new members of city council and the school board are, but do you know how it all unfolded on Election Night? Preserved for posterity, and for the edification of those who might have otherwise been busy on Monday night, we’re going to replay nearly two hours of non-stop political nerdiness as we counted all the votes as they rolled. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #345 – Election Night 2022”
You may have heard that there may be a teachers’ strike coming. Another disruption to the learning of Ontario’s students is the last thing anyone – from parents to government to the teachers themselves – wants. Having said that though, it does feel like we’re on a path to inevitable job action as teachers’ demand more resources and Queen’s Park demands moderation. Is there a middle ground? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #344 – Here We Go Again…?”
School board elections don’t normally get a lot of attention, and that’s exactly how some people like it, but what happens when parents organize and start advocating for the kind of school board they want? Will that have a visible impact on the chronically, and criminally, underlooked school board elections? One group of Halton Region parents certainly hope so. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #343 – The Race We Don’t Talk About (Much)”
There was a Guelph man named Matthew Wozenilek who passed away in 2016. He was well-known for his “Stop Ableism” campaign, a one-man effort to make Guelph more accessible one fight at a time, including a case against Elections Canada at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. The awareness raised did make people more mindful of barriers to physical accessibility. So we all lived happily ever after, right? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #342 – A Conversation About Systemic Ableism”
This week, the Guelph Chamber of Commerce posts the recorded Q&As they’ve done with the candidates running in each of Guelph’s six wards, and the mayor’s race, deviating from the live format they’ve done in years past. But today, it’s the Chamber’s CEO and President turn to answer the questions as we dive into the election issues at the intersection of government, business and community. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #341 – Election Economics”
Have you ever stopped to think about all the waste generated in the last 30 months since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic? How many masks, gloves, wipes, syringes and containers we’ve thrown away? It’s an interesting question, and some scientists are trying to get answers about all this extra garbage we’ve created and the effect it’s having on our environment. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #340 – The Post-Pandemic Plastic Problem”
For 20 years, the fate of the old Ontario Reformatory Lands have been a matter of some question, and the answer to that question is complicated by the tangled web of ownership. As successive governments have worked to untangle that web, all that residents and history buffs have been able to do is plan, advocate and educate, but what happens now that we’re so close to revealing the final fate of the OR Lands? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #339 – Too Beautiful to Fail”
Young people across the country are heading back to school this week, and there’s going to be a lot of pressure; pressure to get back to normal, pressure to catch up on lessons after pandemic hiccups, pressure to succeed in a world full of uncertainty… It’s no wonder that four out of five local young people between the ages of 12 and 26 say they’re in need of mental health assistance. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #338 – The Quest for Healthy Young Minds”
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