Category: Guelph Politicast

GUELPH POLITICAST #478 – Breaking Down the Grocery Code (feat. Karen Proud)

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The grocery industry in Canada is the epitome of monopoly; the Competition Bureau in 2023 reported that 75 per cent of all grocery purchases are made at one of the five major chains in Canada. In the wake of high grocery prices, which has been one of the pinchiest of pinch points in the post-COVID economy, people have wanted to see changes in the industry, so does that start with a more level playing field? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #478 – Breaking Down the Grocery Code (feat. Karen Proud)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #477 – Buses and Brant (feat. Steve Petric and Daniel Kaufman)

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There’s no rest for the weary on this Canada Day week, especially if you’re engaged on housing and transit, and there has been some interesting news on those fronts in the last couple of weeks. No matter your holiday status this week, we’re not going to load you down with a policy deep dive, but we’re going to stop with two special guests to re-calibrate ourselves and remember: Progress is slow, but we need to be in this for the long haul! Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #477 – Buses and Brant (feat. Steve Petric and Daniel Kaufman)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #476 – How to City Council (Special Presentation)

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There’s an interesting process underway in Guelph’s south end. One of the two Ward 6 city councillors, Dominique O’Rourke, has moved on to a new job in Ottawa as you might have heard, which leaves her old seat at city council vacant. Nature, and local politics, abhor a vacuum, so next month O’Rourke’s former colleagues will choose her successor. At least until next year’s municipal election… Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #476 – How to City Council (Special Presentation)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #475 – Know Your Policy: Flags and Information Access

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The City of Guelph is a system, a system that’s built on rules. Or policies, procedures and protocol to be more precise. Some of those systems dictate how city council functions, some of them lay out how local government should engage with the community, and some of them tell you what flags you can fly and when they should be lowered to half-mast. It’s time again to play roulette with the policy wheel and get smarter in the process. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #475 – Know Your Policy: Flags and Information Access” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #474 – Running on Empties (feat. Karen Wirsig)

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When Doug Ford and the Ontario government announced that they were expanding alcohol sales to grocery and convenience stores it was seen as a positive move to break up a government monopoly, but The Beer Store still has one important piece of that monopoly: returns. It was an effective example of what we now call the circular economy, but in making alcohol more available, has it cost us the most successful recycling program we’ve ever had? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #474 – Running on Empties (feat. Karen Wirsig)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #473 – Can A.I. Make Public Health Better? (feat. Michael Whyte and Justin Angevaare)

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Data is key to guiding health policy, and health units collect a lot of it, but formatting it, organizing it, and looking for patterns in it can be time consuming, meaning that you’re doing a lot of labour that has nothing to do with creating the actual health policy or solving a public health issue. If you’re thinking to yourself that this sounds like an ideal solution for artificial intelligence, you’re right! Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #473 – Can A.I. Make Public Health Better? (feat. Michael Whyte and Justin Angevaare)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #472 – The Burnout is Real, and Now There’s Data (feat. Anouk Bertner)

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Last week, Future of Good released their first ever Changemaker Wellbeing Index, which highlights the pressures facing the workers in the non-profit sector and the results paint an increasingly bleak picture. They also paint a coherent picture, putting together the various pieces that we’ve been hearing about these last few years: Organizations are struggling for money, staff and volunteers, and now we have the data!
Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #472 – The Burnout is Real, and Now There’s Data (feat. Anouk Bertner)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #471 – The Year at Council So Far Part 1 (January-April)

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This week Guelph city council is taking a holiday break, and perhaps understandably, because it has been a very busy year in the chambers so far. The first four months of the year brought a lot of change, a lot of drama, and some pretty big decisions that tested the fiscal and political capacity of a rapidly growing Ontario city. Now, we will pause and take stock of just how far we’ve come so far… Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #471 – The Year at Council So Far Part 1 (January-April)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #470 – The Poverty Elimination Gut Check (feat. Dominica McPherson)

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We have a weird situation: We’ve elected two new governments at both upper levels in the last four months and the hope is that they can turn things around, and yet, these are also, essentially, the old governments. How can we possibly expect better results from the new old people in charge, and are we even more alone than ever here on the local level? We’ll put this to one of the people whose job it is to advocate. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #470 – The Poverty Elimination Gut Check (feat. Dominica McPherson)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #469 – Whatever Happened to “Sunny Ways”? (feat. Mustafa Zuberi)

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The recent federal election was the formal turning of the page from the premiership of Justin Trudeau to the one led by Mark Carney. For long-time political observers, the difference between the two men in both style and substance is stark, but there’s no doubt that the change in leadership in March is at least half the reason the Liberals got a near majority last week. And yet, the question remains: What happened to Trudeau-mania? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #469 – Whatever Happened to “Sunny Ways”? (feat. Mustafa Zuberi)” →