What a year! A lot can happen in 12 months, and 2019 was no exception. Along with the usual business of city council, there were two different budget processes this year, plus all kinds of special meetings on issues like the strategic plan, the main library, and a City operations campus on Dunlop Road. That was just the tip of the iceberg, and the podcast. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #201 – Guelph Stuff (2019 Year in Review)”
When it came time to look at who should be featured on the landmark 200th episode of the Guelph Politicast, there was really only one answer. It’s been almost 20 years since Norm Jary left city council, and it’s been almost 35 years since he left the mayor’s office, but it’s hard to deny that the 37th Mayor of the City of Guelph still enjoys high approval ratings. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #200 – Mayor Norm Jary”
At Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis, they deal with issues of violence against women all year round, but for everyone else, at least one day of year makes us all stop and think about femicide and gender-based violence. It’s the anniversary of the worst mass shooting in Canadian history, and it was all directed at women because the perpetrator, in his own words, was “fighting feminism” when he killed 14 and injured 10 others at L’École Polytechnique on December 6, 1989. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #199 – The World Since December 6, 1989”
Early this month at Committee of the Whole, there was a presentation on the idea of a youth wellness hub, which has attracted the interest and participation of over 40 different groups in Guelph and Wellington County. Such a big project deserves a particularly thorough discussion, and that’s what this week’s podcast is all about. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #198 – What’s in a Youth Wellness Hub?”
This past weekend, it was the 45th edition of Fair November, the annual craft show at the University of Guelph that takes over two floors of the University Centre with a wide variety of hats, jewelry, pottery, edibles, and other handmade goods. But who are these people, and how did they go about turning their passion into a small business? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #197 – A Fair to November”
This past Monday’s commemoration of Remembrance Day memorializes those that fought and served in the armed forces, but last week at the University of Guelph, there was a week long remembrance of those that lived though the horrors of a war, and like so many veterans, there aren’t too many more chances to hear their stories first hand. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #196 – The Weight of Freedom”
This weekend, the new Transit Action Alliance of Guelph (TAAG) will be holding their first annual Transit Summit and Town Hall. It will be a chance for the transit users and the transit curious to engage with City of Guelph employees and transportation advocates about how to make a transit-friendlier future. But why wait to get started? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #195 – Marshall on Transit”
This week, after a five-month long hiatus, it’s finally “Back to School” time for the Ontario Legislature. Observers have been wondering if the extended break might allow for a more collegial tone to fall on Queen’s Park, especially as the government faces a number of pressing and challenging issues. Who better to ask if this is the case than our own MPP Mike Schreiner? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #194 – “Back to School” with Mike Schreiner”
Monday was Election Night, and the end of a long campaign that was only 40 days long, but was a tough-fought slugfest that took no prisoners on the hustings, or in the radio booths, of the nation. It’s much to the relief of a nation that it’s over (for now!), but there was some great stories and insights on CFRU on Election Night that demand to be preserved. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #193 – Election Night (Abridged)”
Over 4,000 people take their own life every year. That’s an average of 10 per day, and 90 per cent of those people are living with a mental health issue of illness. For one suicide death, there are five people hospitalized with a self-inflicted injury, another 25 to 30 attempts, and 7 to 10 people who are left behind affected by suicide loss. It seems like this a huge problem that we never really talk about, doesn’t it? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #192 – World Mental Health Day at Guelph City Hall”
