Guelph loves its cultural heritage! As we count down to the 200th anniversary of the city in 2027, we’re seeing more and more of a focus on our local history, but there’s something else happening in 2027… the elimination of the heritage registry. Any property listed, but not designated, on January 1, 2027 will be deleted. The stakes, and the workload, have never been this high! Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #Repeat – The Good Old Guelph (feat. Stephen Robinson & Jack Mallon)”
There has been a lot of heritage news this year, and especially in the last couple of weeks. This should not be surprising because heritage staff in all municipalities have been in a mad scramble these last few years to designate as much heritage as possible before the end of this year due to Bill 23. That changed back in the spring, so it’s probably a good time now to catch our breathe and look at the work done so far, and all the work that is to come. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #446 – The Good Old Guelph (feat. Stephen Robinson & Jack Mallon)”
As we count down to the 200th anniversary of the Canada Company settling Guelph in just three years, you can expect to hear more about how we’re honouring our history in Guelph, both pre- and post-settlement. Between that moment John Galt cut down that first tree and this moment listening to this podcast, there’s been a whole lot of Guelph history, and one man has published a new collection about some of those lesser known bits that you should definitely know. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #417 – Guelph Stories”
“John Galt, novelist, colonial promoter. Galt was superintendent of the Canada Company, a colonization company created to settle part of Upper Canada. During that time, he founded the town of Guelph (1827); the town of Galt was named after him.” That’s what the Canadian Encyclopedia tells you about Galt, but it doesn’t tell you a lot about who he really was. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #384 – The Immortal John Galt”
We’ve talked about a lot of heavy stuff on the podcast this year – the pandemic, sexual violence, trans healthcare, mental health and reconciliation all to name a few. So before we take a summer break* it felt like we needed a safe space, somewhere serene where we can get back to nature and just talk like two people. In other words, we just need someone to tell us a story. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #336 – Story Time”
Excavation work continues in the old Baker Street parking lot, so naturally, the City of Guelph has announced that they’ve found more remains. It was a little over a week ago that the City first announced that the had found remains, not for the first time, and most definitely not for the last time. Now, we will get updates on the matter every two weeks. Continue reading “More Remains Found in Baker Street Lot Archaeological Investigation”
Perhaps predictably, the archaeological consultants working with the City of Guelph crews to excavate the Baker Street Parking lot announced that they exhumed bone fragments from a lost grave. This is not the first time that remains have been found in the Baker Street area over the years, but this time the City is trying to carefully find them all before the redevelopment of the area can begin this coming spring. Continue reading “Bone Fragments Found During Baker Street Excavation”
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”
This week, in honour of Canada Day, we have a repeat of the podcast. That doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it is a holiday, and we could all use a nice break from the routine and skullduggery of the pandemic news cycle. So let’s revisit happier times from the recent and distant pasts. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST REPLAY – A History of Guelph’s Birthdays”
This week’s Guelph Politicast kind of shakes up the format. Typically these are interviews with people, or clips of speeches either partial or whole, but on this pod I wanted to tell you a story, and that story is a tale of Guelph as we start the countdown to the Royal City’s 200th birthday in just 10 years time. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #85 – Celebrating Celebrations of Guelph”
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