“Safe and secure online voting” was the pitch from Mayor Cam Guthrie and several other candidates running for city council during the campaign, and why not? Over 100 municipalities in Ontario had online voting this municipal election, and though Guelph had it in 2014, council decided in a 7-6 decision not to try it again. So were we being too cautious? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #143 – Dr. Aleksander Essex, Cyber Security Expert”
The Guelph Film Festival begins this week, and it’s bringing documentaries from around the world to various venues around town. Occasionally though, the Guelph Film Festival highlights a Guelph project through a series called “Hidden Histories”, and this year it takes us all the way back in time to the year 2000. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #142 – Bry Webb, Musician and Video Maker”
We may not really know what democracy is, but we certainly know it’s in danger. This week, we’ve seen that first hand with the case of the #MAGABomber, but there’s the more fundamental problem of the fact it feels like we’re losing our democratic values and institutions. Perhaps to understand the situation, we need to go back to the beginning. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #141 – Astra Taylor, “What is Democracy?” Filmmaker”
So what’s left to be said about the 2018 Municipal Election in Guelph? Who can say? But if you would like to flashback to what might have already been said, then this is the podcast for you. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #140 – Election Night in Guelph!”
There’s been a lot of discussion about regional this year with elections at the two government levels most directly responsible for creating it. Transit within the city is important, but unless you’re going to Toronto, public transit out of Guelph is somewhat limited. Perhaps private industry can fill the void? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #139 – Jason Hammond, Wroute”
Is graffiti an art form in its own right, or is it a nuisance, a sign of urban decay and increased crime? Depends on who you ask. For some people graffiti is gang-related, or done by hooligans that deface public property because they can. To others though it’s about frustrated artists looking for a canvas, and then they grow up to become successful artists. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #138 – Arthur Kerrey, Professional Graffiti Artist”
Here in Guelph you’ll always find someone that will tell you government’s all wrong. It’s filled with the corrupt and the opportunistic, and no one that cares about the day-to-day issues of concern to citizens. Well, imagine living in an Ontario city where voters turned over 11 of 14 council seats, plus the mayor, and still couldn’t get out of actual scandal. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #137 – Megan Stacey, London Free Press Reporter”
If you know what sex education is going to look like when school starts on Tuesday, then you’re either the education minister, or one of several teachers that’s going to defy the provincial government and teach the 2015 health curriculum update anyway. Can anything good come from all this confusion? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #136 – Lyndsey Butcher, SHORE Centre”
Is the rapid state of development making Guelph lose its character? This is a question more and more people have this election year as plans for bigger and bigger residential buildings keep coming to city council. Meanwhile, Clair-Maltby lies in wait in the south end for an official plan. So how do we know we’re developing right? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #135 – On Development, Part I: “The Big Picture””
A few weeks ago, the new Ontario government cancelled $93 million of funding for something called the Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling (OMCC) program. The money, which was raised from the cap and trade agreement, was for cycling infrastructure in towns and cities across the province, and the move is proof of just how hard it is to make cycling a priority for governments, but there is hope! Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #134 – Building the Cycling City”
