It was a very unusual Canada Day, wasn’t it? In some ways, it was even more unusual than last year’s Canada Day in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic’s first wave, but there was a lot of room for some kind of outdoor festivities, but there wasn’t much in terms of will. In the aftermath of our frightening new understanding of our own history, is there a better way to mark Canada Day in 2021 than protest? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #281 – #CancelCanadaDay”
For much of the last year, the Upper Grand District School Board began an investigation into the effect of having police officers in school, especially the School Resource Officer program, after the Black Lives Matter march last June in Downtown Guelph. The task force recommended, among other things, that the SRO come to end, but that was not the easy decision you might have thought it was. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #280 – Deconstructing That Big School Board Decision”
We’ve heard a lot about the City of Guelph’s intention to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. That is the corporate goal of the City of Guelph, and while it’s a laudible, City Hall doesn’t generate power. So isn’t there a key partner they need to bring on board to reach net zero by 2050? Like the company that provides all our electricity? Well, there was recently some good news on that account. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #279 – Now We’re All Working for 2050”
The discovery of 215 young Indigenous people buried on the property of the old Kamloops Indian Residential School re-opened a great many old wounds in this country, and just in time for National Indigenous History Month. Nation-wide, there may be between 11,000 and 15,000 missing children unaccounted for, which means this story is only going to get worse before it gets better. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #278 – A History of Violence”
We used to have these quarterly check ups about transit issues, but the pandemic hit last March, and suddenly transit service was limited. Buses are still running on a reduced schedule, but now the City of Guelph is looking to the future, first with the Transportation Master Plan, and now with the review of a new 10-year plan for transit expansion. But how is all this sitting with transit fans? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #277 – The Transit Pass with TAAG”
We’ve kind of forgotten about paramedics, haven’t we? We’ve venerated the doctors and nurses in our hospitals, hailed the overworked and underpaid staff at long-term care homes, and made celebrities out of medical officers of health. In those terms, our paramedics have been the forgotten spoke in the wheel of healthcare this pandemic, so it’s a good thing that they have a whole week dedicated to their work. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #276 – Paramedics and the Pandemic”
On Monday May 23, 1921, a small group of people gathered in a barn on the outskirts of Guelph to found the Communist Party of Canada. It was three years after the Russian Revolution, and there was already widespread concern about the spread of Marxist ideas, but economic stagnation, a global pandemic, and societal disillusionment post World War I made people hungry for some kind of change to the status quo. Sound familiar? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #275 – 100 Years After the Meeting on Metcalfe Street”
The last time that Dr. Nicola Mercer was on the show, we were on the downward slide from the second wave, the vaccine rollout was moving slowly, and there was a vague hopefulness for a brighter spring. Now, it’s almost summer, the third wave is still strong, but progress is being made to get more people shots, but even that move has had very public hiccups that are crying out for an in-depth discussion. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #274 – Still COVID [Spring Edition] with Dr. Tenenbaum”
These days, more and more people have used the pandemic to discover new creative resources, while professional artists have struggled to earn a living without access to the live venues and events from which they usually collect the majority of their income. From new programs to virtual events, it’s been a long, hard road for the Guelph Arts Council for the last 15 months, and it’s not over yet. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #273 – The Pandemic Arts”
In May 2, 2011, it was the 41st general federal election. That was the day that Stephen Harper won his first and only majority government, and while that did shake up the normal political order, it was not the only thing that happened that day to reverberate in Canadian political culture. Remember Pierre Poutine? Remember Robocalls? Well this is the day for a little political unsolved mystery. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #272 – A Political Unsolved Mystery”
Guelph Politico 