Guelph Politicast

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Issues, personalities and politics from around Guelph, ON, Canada

Adam A. Donaldson


    • Jul 20, 2026 LATEST EPISODE
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    • 53m AVG DURATION
    • 1,170 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Guelph Politicast

    Open Sources Guelph #578 - July 16, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2026 59:22


    This week on Open Sources Guelph, we... [coughcoughcough]! Ugh! This air is just [cough]! I mean really you can't [coughcough]! without [coughcoughcough]! Yes, the air is bad, but then again, so is the news. We're heading back to Iran, and then we're heading back to Alberta for our first showdown with data centres. And if we can spare the air, we will spend the second half of the show talking to a Farmer who has some Climate Solutions! This Thursday, July 16, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: The Strait Story. It's been almost five months since Donald Trump launched his two-week war against Iran and this week peace seemed more elusive than ever. After reports about a standing threat against Trump's life by Iran, the United States went back to nightly bombings, and Trump began pondering war crimes again like bombing critical infrastructure. How many do-overs does Trump have left in order to stop the war he so foolishly started? Data Centre Stage. Last week, Meta announced that they're building a new A.I. data centre in a small Alberta town. Premier Danielle Smith thinks that this is great news, but an increasing number of Canadians don't like the sound of more data centres opening, or the potentially negative impacts on power and water supplies. Is there a hope that the people might have a say in how much time, effort and energy is put into these data centres, or is this project the first domino to fall? Farming Out Climate Solutions. Notice something strange about the air and sky this week? Once again the signs of the climate crisis are all around us and interest in solving it seems to be at an all-time low, but there are people who's livelihood depends on having an environment in good working order, and the livelihood of all us depends on them too. This week, we're joined by Brenda Hsueh of Farmers for Climate Solutions to talk about how farmers are working the problem, and why they need more help to get it done. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    End Credits #450 - July 15, 2026 (The Best of 2026 So Far)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 17, 2026 58:35


    This week on End Credits, we're doing a clip show! Taking a break from the summer movie madness, we will revisit our reviews for what are objectionably the best movies of the year so far, one is a buddy space adventure to save the world, one is a buddy movie about suffering for your art, and the last one is a buddy film about pushing your buddy too far. Well, sort of. This Wednesday, July 8, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson, Tim Phillips, Peter Salmon and Candice Lepage will discuss: The Best of 2026 So Far. Critics can have different ideas about what does and doesn't make a "Best of the Year" list, but for 2026 so far, there seems to be three picks that just about every critic agrees are the best of this year! On this week's show we will go back to space with Tim for Project Hail Mary, try and get a show at the Rivoli with Peter and Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie, and we will break a One Wish Willow and get obsessed all over again with Obsession. Relax this week as we get mentally ready for the next big thing... End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.  

    GUELPH POLITICAST #534 - Housing: The Bigger Picture (feat. Ashley Schuitema and Matt Whitfield & Gaetan Heroux)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2026 54:21


    Due to circumstances beyond our control, this week's episode of the Guelph Politicast is a combination of two interviews from recent editions of Open Sources Guelph. Housing remains a big issue in this city, as we saw as recently as last night's council meeting, but housing is an Ontario-wide issue too so for this episode of the pod we will open our gaze to areas beyond our borders. Two times now, Waterloo Region has tried to evict a homeless encampment on the site of proposed transit hub project in Kitchener, and twice an Ontario court has upheld the Charter rights of the people living there. Now, the Region and the Ontario government are trying to take things to the Court of Appeals, but will they have any greater success there? In part one, Waterloo Region Community Legal Services executive director Ashley Schuitema, who represents the residents, will tell us why she's holding all the cards. For years, we've been waiting for all levels of government to make substantial progress on getting more affordable homes built, but some advocates are now wondering if maybe working within the present system is worth their while. In part 2 we will be joined by Matt Whitfield and Gaetan Heroux, organizers of the People's Assembly for Housing Justice, who tell us why fighting Toronto's housing crisis may not involve getting involved in the local election this fall. So let's look at some housing issues beyond the immediate Guelph area on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can learn more about the Waterloo Region Community Legal Services, including updates about the fight for the Kitchener encampment on their website. You can learn more about the Parkdale Housing Justine Network on Instagram and you can learn about the Toronto Tenant Union at their website. If you would like to learn more about Guelph's own nascent tenant union will be taking part in Breezy Breakfast this Thursday at 8 am at Uptown Grill. The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #577 - July 9, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2026 57:39


    This week on Open Sources Guelph we're maximizing profit. We're just following in the fine example of Canada's governments with all the money we're putting into pipelines, and all the money were spending supporting big league soccer. We're maybe not so sure if we can make money off of dissecting incel culture, but after a thousand years, it and other regressive positions have got to be showing a profit by now, right? This Thursday, July 9, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: Don't Believe the Pipe! Just before Canada Day, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada is not going to meet it's climate change commitments, which was followed by announcements about two big new pipeline projects heading west and east from the oil sands, all in the same week as extreme weather and heatwaves here hitting parts of Canada and other places around the globe. Have we completely abandoned climate action for pure fossil fuel profit? Cup Half Full? The FIFA World Cup has a couple of more weeks left in it, but they've played all the games scheduled for Canadian venues. So was it a success? Depends on how you mean. The early numbers from hotel stays and restaurant receipts don't show much of an impact, but on the other hand the community investments are paying off and there's been no major impact on traffic flow, transit or city life. So was hosting the World Cup money well spent in the end? Party Like It's 999. A manifesto left behind by the suspect in a shooting last month outside the headquarters of the corporate owners of PornHub in Montreal had a certain familiarity, combining Marxist and incel ideologies in one 104-page document. While the tone is familiar in these modern times, it's also familiar to those who study gender politics in Medieval times. This week, we're joined by University of Guelph history prof. Dr. Jacqueline Murrary who will tell us why the misogyny promoted by the man-o-sphere isn't at all original. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    End Credits #449 - July 8, 2026 (Carolina Caroline)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 10, 2026 55:57


    This week on End Credits we promise you fireworks! If the sparks are flying, then you can probably blame the movie we're reviewing this week, which is the new romantic crime thriller Carolina Caroline, which you can now rent on VOD, Fireworks are also for special occasions, like the 30th anniversary of 1996's biggest blockbuster hit, which we will revisit. This Wednesday, July 8, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss: Independence Day at 30! This past weekend, America celebrated the 250th anniversary of its Independence Day, but we would rather mark the 30th anniversary of the *real* Independence Day, the Roland Emmerich alien invasion movie of the same name. From the iconic special effects to the rising star power of Will Smith to the peak hotness of Jeff Goldblum, we will revisit ID4, and why it's still so totemic 30 years later! REVIEW: Carolina Caroline (2026). Two lovers meet and then go out on the run and commit crimes together on their way to a tragic end. Been there, done that, right? Maybe. Adam Carter Rehmeier's follow up to Snack Shack follows con man Kyle Gallner and his very willing apprentice Samara Weaving as they make their way across the American South graduating from small change cons to bank heists while becoming more and more the focus of the police. So why is a movie that seems so familiar winning so many fans, and are we among them? End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #533 - The Young Ones (feat. Carly Klassen & Ken Yee Chew)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2026 54:26


    Sometimes it seems like municipal politics is an older person's game. Look around at the faces of Guelph City Council, or even Wellington County Council, and you see a lot of wrinkles and a lot of grey hairs. Now, we love our elders, and everyone should be welcome to serve in municipal governance, but as we approach the end of this term of Guelph city council, we will talk to its two youngest members about going where few people their age have gone before. This is the last of three episodes dedicated to the first-term councillors. A lot can change in a term, and for Councillors Carly Klassen and Ken Yee Chew there have been some pretty big personal changes to match the ones they experienced on the job; Chew became a married man while Klassen became a first-time mom. With so many things that are so important personally, it doesn't leave much room for the rapidly changing pace of municipal business. On that account, this last term probably broke speed records. The Ontario government introduced changes to municipal oversite, funding and planning pretty much every six months, and there's also been the increasing centralization of power. Despite the challenges they've encountered, and the changes in their personal lives, Klassen and Chew have both decided to re-up for the next term of council, and with a slate of young people eager to join them, what can Klassen and Chew teach us based on their experiences? Carly Klassen and Ken Yee Chew join us on this edition of the podcast to talk about the things they wish they knew before they ran for office, the learning curve (especially with all the changes mandated by the provincial government), and the ways their personal lives have changed in the last four years. They will also discuss how they've balanced their commitments, what it means to be representative of young people on council, and the challenges in chasing their own agendas. So let's talk about what the young ones have learned on this week's Guelph Politicast! Council business continues, at least until the end of the month, and you can find the agendas on the City of Guelph's “City Government” page here, and you can see all the ongoing coverage here on Guelph Politico. The last day to file nominations for this fall's municipal elections is Friday August 21 when the campaign begins in earnest, and Election Day itself is Monday October 26. Learn more about who's running and important dates here. The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #576 - July 2, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2026 57:27


    This week on Open Sources Guelph, like so many people, we are not going to the fair. As Americans looks for alternative plans to celebrate their 250th birthday, we will use the occasion to create a fake awards show for someone that really, really loves fake awards. In the realm of real accomplishments though, we will talk to one of the people that wants to lead Ontario's third place political party back to the number one poll position. This Thursday, June 25, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: The Trumpies. It's a summer holiday week, much of the news is taking some time off, so why don't we catch up with everyone's favourite political disaster and some of his latest dumpster fires. And, as a bonus, let's make an awards show out of it! As we all know, Donald Trump is retired from annual year-end awards, but what if we make up a mid-year awards show entirely in his honour? For the first, and hopefully last time, we'll hand out The Trumpies (TM)!! Built Fairclough. Lee Fairclough was one of the first people to enter the Ontario Liberal leadership race, and was one of a handful of new Liberal MPPs to return the party to official status in last year's election. While the Liberals are holding their own in the polls, they're still struggling for an identity and struggling to build a team that will carry them back to power, so what's the prescription to the party's problems from the woman who led St. Mary's hospital in Kitchener through the COVID-19 pandemic? Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    End Credits #448 - July 1, 2026 (Jackass: Best and Last)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2026 57:27


    This week on End Credits there's no holiday. While you may be enjoying the show in the midst of a midsummer holiday week, we're still cranking out content but not the way the Jackass gang is still cranking it out! We will review the final (?) entry in the franchise, Best and Last, which you can now seen in a theatre near you, plus, let's talk about Can-Con!  This Wednesday, July 1, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss: The Canada Day Canadian Movie Draft! This week's episode goes live on Canada Day, so is there a better way to celebrate our nation's 159th birthday than to gift us all with a game about Can-Con? Obviously not! We're drafting again with some unique new topics including the covers non-Canadian movies set in Canada, Canadian horror movies, low-budget or indie Canadian flicks. Plus, there's the eternal question: Cronenberg versus Eqoyan as Canada's film king?! REVIEW: Jackass: Best and Last (2026). It's all been leading to this... Sort of. Johnny, Chris, Steve-O, Dave, Wee-Man, Danger Ehren and the whole gang are back for one last ride in Jackass: Best and Last. This fifth entry in the franchise reckons with old age, the guys can't do those same old body breaking stunts the way they used to, so instead they're doing some less traumatic stunts, reminiscing about old times and playing some never-seen-before B-sides. So are we ready to let Jackass go after one more round of genital trauma? End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #532 – The Local (feat. David Deacon and Michael K. Newton)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2026 48:22


    If you're listening to this on Wednesday, then it's Canada Day, and you might expect that we would dig into something of national importance but with a Guelph edge. Instead, we're going to go ultra local. There's a neighbourhood in the City's south end that has concerns about traffic that will be created from over 200 new units that have been long in development. At the same time, one Guelphite is saying that print is not dead! First, in the Hart Village area east of Rickson Road in Guelph's south end, signs have popped up along Carrington Drive, Rodgers Road, and Ryder Avenue, all trying to raise awareness about two new projects coming to the top of the hill on Lovett Lane and their possible impacts on traffic flow in the area. Some might call them NIMBY, but in an election year do these residents have the political capital to use the occasion for their issue? Second, you may have noticed a new print media outlet around town at some of your favourite coffee shops and stores, something we used to call an alt-weekly. It's been a good 15 years since Echo Weekly stopped publishing, but now Net Weekly hopes to fill the void by “trying to help you stay off your phone just a little bit more”. Can an alt-weekly still be a Bible for Guelph arts culture, even if its not really online and printed on regular paper?  David Deacon of the neighbourhood group Plan the Right Access will join us in part one to tell us about all the questions on Lovett Lane, the lack of answers from city hall, and why he and his neighbours are actually excited about the project. In part two, Michael K. Newton, the founder of Net Weekly, will talk about why Guelph has been missing an alt-weekly, how he's building an audience, and why printed paper is the best way to build it!  So let's get local this Canada Day on the Guelph Politicast!  You can learn more about the effort to send the Lovett Lane development back to council at their website or by visiting them on Instagram. Net Weekly releases a new edition every Thursday at locations around Guelph including The Beat Goes On, Red Brick Cafe, The Dragon, and more, plus you can find back issues here. If you have a pitch or are interested in advertising, you can send Newton an email at netweeklyguelph [at] gmail.com. The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #575 - June 25, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2026 58:55


    This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're doing our homework. We've got another pair of interviews for you that will hopefully shed light on issues in the news. First up, we will talk to a verified young person about their thoughts on a matter that could be facing young people soon, and then we will talk to a lawyer who recently won their case in court even though two levels of government don't like it! This Thursday, June 25, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: Youth About Youth. Earlier this month, the federal government announced that they were going to ban social media for anyone under the age of 16, but no one who's a Member of Parliament is that young, so how do the youth feel about it? Why don't we ask one? Joining us this week is Wyatt Sharpe, an independent journalist with his own YouTube channel, which he started long before he was 17. Wyatt will tell us what he thinks about the ban and why he believes it won't work. Appeal Plan. Two times now, Waterloo Region has tried to evict a homeless encampment on the site of proposed transit hub project in Kitchener, and twice an Ontario court has upheld the Charter rights of the people living there. Now, the Region and the Ontario government are trying to take things to the Court of Appeals, but will they have any greater success there? Waterloo Region Community Legal Services executive director Ashley Schuitema, who represents the residents, will tell us why she's holding all the cards. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    End Credits Conversations: Still Seeking Nuance in Criticism (feat. Adam Manary)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 27, 2026 31:26


    If you watch film reviews on YouTube, what do you see? There are a thousand reviews of the biggest releases and the hottest franchises, and it normally comes down to a question: Does it rock, or does it suck? Can anyone do nuance in film criticism anymore? Can nuance stand out in the noise and conflict of influencer culture? You may be surprised that the answer is yes. On this edition of End Credits Conversations, we're joined by Adam Manary, who is a former teacher turned corporate videographer and film critic. His site, Points of Review, does long form written criticism and film festival coverage, and he does video reviews on YouTube too, but he's doing criticism the hard way. He will talk to us about trying to stand out among the critics chasing click bait, the challenges of building your own outlet, and what makes a good film festival. You can read Adam Manary's reviews and film festival coverage at Points of Review. End Credits Conversations returns next month on the fourth Saturday. End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    End Credits #447 - June 24, 2026 (Disclosure Day)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2026 58:20


    This week on End Credits, we're all about disclosure. Having said that, you can probably already guess that the movie this week is a little number called Disclosure Day, an entry from a real up-and-comer named Steven Spielberg, and in other disclosures we will share some of the movies we believe have stood out so far among the 2026 releases. This Wednesday, June 24, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss: The Best of the Year... So Far. It's been a big year at the movies so far with some pretty predictable hits like Super Mario Galaxy Movie, to some out of nowhere game changers like Backrooms. Are these some of the best movies of the year so far? Maybe (well, probably not in the case of the former), but the movies that do make out Best of the Year so far list will have many familiar names, from a fictional Canadian band to a real survivor situation. REVIEW: Disclosure Day (2026). Some of Steven Spielberg's biggest movies have been about aliens - Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., War of the Worlds - so it makes sense that he'd go back to that well as he goes back to blockbuster filmmaking. In Disclosure Day, a group of do-gooders are attempted to release proof that aliens are real and that the government is covering them up, but anything worth doing is going to make you the target of malicious black ops agents. Still, this is Spielberg we're talking about, so this one has to be a winner, right? End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #531 – Slow Election? (feat. Scotty Hertz)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2026 53:56


    Does this one feel a little slow? There's no doubt that there's a lot of passion in the community for a variety of issues from affordability to housing development in this election, and there are a lot of new faces eager to take the reins around the council horseshoe, but a little over halfway through the nomination process, do the races this fall feel exciting, especially the open mayor's race? Is there change in the air? Are people paying attention? Last week, there was finally a break in the mayor's race. Ward 6 Councillor Ken Yee Chew submitted his name to become the next Mayor of Guelph and thus presented a challenge to his colleague, Ward 5 Councillor Leanne Caron. Now technically, there are four people in the race, but if this comes down to past council experience, for now, this is Caron versus Chew to lead Guelph into its post-Guthrie years. But that's just the mayor's race. If you look at the list of competitors in the six ward races, some of them are busier than others, especially Ward 1, which usually attracts a large variety of candidates in every election. There's still a question mark around two seats, one in Ward 4 and another in Ward 5; Councillors Christine Billings and Cathy Downer have yet to announce their intentions. And what about the school board races? Only four people have signed up across the four different school boards, why is that?  To break down some of these questions, and more, we will be joined by Open Sources Guelph co-host Scotty Hertz. We will talk about whether this is a slow start to an election, why candidates need to have those social media accounts ready, and why no candidate can rest on social media alone. We will also talk about the top issues being discussed on the campaign trail, why candidates need to be ready to talk about cuts if they're running against high taxes, and we will make a pit stop to talk about Mississauga politics.  So let's talk about the election, two months down four to go, on this week's Guelph Politicast!  You can see the full list of candidates running in all the races here. You can listen to Scotty and I talk every week, Thursday at 5 pm, on Open Sources Guelph, which airs on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca. We will be ramping up our election coverage there later this summer, and in the meantime, you can stay up to date on election stuff on Guelph Politico and by subscribing to the Tip Sheet newsletter. The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #574 - June 18, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2026 57:39


    anyone under the age of 16 and introducing new regulations around A.I. chatbots including a responsibility to direct people with suicidal ideation to places they can get help. With Australia's own ban struggling to take hold, and Canada's history of chickening out when tech companies push back, is this the answer people have been waiting for? No Big Deal. Nearly four months after promising the war would only take two weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that one of his birthday presents was a deal to end the "skirmish" he started. With still 24 hours left to screw it up before the Friday self-induced deadline, we will talk about what we know about this still unknown (at press time) deal, and whether or not it means peace in our time or peace for short time. The Responsibility Sandwich. It was a busy week last week at city council with a divisive debate about securing more of the Niska property, a new charitable hub project with some big unknown unknowns and the long awaited renoviction bylaw and vacant home tax. To help us talk about how it all went down, and what comes next, is Ward 1 Councillor Erin Caton, who will also join us to talk about the "responsibility sandwich" when it comes to filling gaps in local shelter programs. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    End Credits #446 - June 17, 2026 (Obsession)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 19, 2026 57:46


    This week on End Credits we get obsessed. Finally, about a month after the fact, we will dig into a verifiable summer sensation, that other low-budget horror from a YouTube trained filmmaker.You guessed it, we will be reviewing Obsession, which is still in theatres, and then we will look even further back at the long history of an animation powerhouse.  This Wednesday, June 17, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss: Three Decades of Toy Story and Pixar. It was over 30 years ago that Pixar became a household name thanks to Toy Story, the first fully CG animated movie. The next Pixar movie, which is Toy Story 5, comes out this Friday, so to mark the occasion we will talk about the strange journey of the Toy Story franchise, the creative ups and downs of the studio over the last few years, and why you need to see Pixar's other 2026 hit, Hoppers, if you're an activist. REVIEW: Obsession (2026). It's the box office phenomenon of the summer, a horror movie morality tale about being careful what you wish for. Bear loves Nikki, but he's not so sure that he loves her back, so he foolishly one night makes a wish using a "magical" doodad called a One Wish Willow to make Nikki love him more than anyone else in the world. And that's where everything starts to go wrong. In its fourth week in theatres, Curry Barker's Obsession still sits pretty with audiences, but now our team will offer our two cents about the biggest movie of 2026! End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #530 – What's Next 2026? A City of Attractions (feat. Joanne O'Meara and P. Brian Skerrett)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2026 60:13


    One of the big initiatives in this term of council, especially as we emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, was the effort to promote Guelph as a tourist destination. There are two major projects now in the pipeline that would do a lot to brandish Guelph as regional, provincial and nation destination, but as we look to the next term of council, will there be the political capacity to help make these projects a reality? We've talked about both of these projects in previous episodes of the pod. Royal City Science is an effort to build a science centre in Guelph, and last fall they released their feasibility study, which laid out the plan for a 100,000 square foot facility to be built in three phases and will include exhibition halls, education spaces, a planetarium and an IMAX theatre. (That would be a first for this area by the way.) When it comes to the National Urban Park, we know that infrastructure isn't the problem because the land is already there, and while Guelph City Council has endorsed the idea, three very important people have held back: The Mayor, our Member of Provincial Parliament, and our Members of Parliament. In the meantime though, there's a massive community investment in the project and they're ready to go! So what's happening now with both of these projects?  Joanne O'Meara, one of the organizers of Royal City Science, and P. Brian Skerrett, a heritage advocate and creator of Urban Park Guelph, will join us on this edition of the pod to talk about the latest with these initiatives. O'Meara will talk about the search for a site to build the science centre and whether the drama around the Ontario Science Centre is a drain on this project, and then we will then talk to Skerrett about community versus political support and getting ready to make an updated pitch to Parks Canada.  So let's talk about Guelph as a city of attractions on this week's Guelph Politicast!  To learn more about Royal City Science at their website, or follow them on Instagram. The monthly Science on Top events at Royal City Brewing will return this fall. You can also learn more about the effort to turn the OR Lands into a National Urban Park their website, on Facebook. The Yorklands Green Hub regularly hosts events on the property, and you can find more information about what's coming up here, and learn more about other Guelph tourism events here.  The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #573 - June 11, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2026 59:14


    This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're splitting our time between politicians and activists. On the one hand, we will talk to our local representative at the federal level about matters local and international, and on the other, we will talk to two housing advocates out of Toronto who are taking a break from coping with the World Cup to talk about their uphill climb on the issue that's important to them. This Thursday, June 11, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: Federal Dollars. Unlike their Ontario counterparts, reps in the House of Commons will still be sitting for another couple of weeks, but in the mad dash to finish up before summer vacation, we will be joined by Guelph MP Dominique O'Rourke who will talk to us about recent funding announcements for Guelph Transit, the present economic picture as Canada enters trade talks, and the highly combative discourse over Canada's response to the genocide in Gaza. Housing Advocates Assemble. For years, we've been waiting for all levels of government to make substantial progress on getting more affordable homes built, but some advocates are now wondering if maybe working within the present system is worth their while. We will be joined by Matt Whitfield and Gaetan Heroux, organizers of the People's Assembly for Housing Justice, who tell us why fighting Toronto's housing crisis may not involve getting involved in the local election this fall. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    End Credits #445 - June 10, 2026 (Backrooms)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2026 57:43


    This week on End Credits, there's a chill in the air. No, it's not the weather, because it's finally fairly warm outside, but in the movie theatre, that's not just the air conditioning you're feeling. For the review we will finally check out the Backrooms, which is currently making bank, and we will also go back to 1976, and high school, for a lesson in kindness.  This Wednesday, June 10, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss: 6 For '76: Carrie. Returning to our series about the movies from 1976 we arrive at what might be the scariest. Brian De Palma, still looking for his first hit, took a gamble on the first novel from a new author named Stephen King about a mousy high school student who is pranked one time too many by her classmates. We will talk about the enduring appeal of Carrie, De Palma's trademark style, and the repeated efforts to try and remake perfection. REVIEW: Backrooms (2006). This may be the story of the year: A 20-year-old first-time filmmaker, Kane Parsons, turned the YouTube series he made in high school into a movie starring two Oscar nominees that's presently outstripping a new Star Wars movie at the box office. Not too shabby, so let's talk about the movie itself, which finds a strung out man played by Chiwetel Ejiofor discovering a vast, magical enclosed space beyond the wall of his furniture store. Why does Backrooms work for audiences, and does it work for these reviewers? End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #529 – The Trustee to Council Pipeline (feat. Linda Busuttil & Katherine Hauser)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2026 44:01


    Half of city council is new in terms this being their first term in office, but that doesn't mean that some of those people were politically inexperienced entering this office. For decades, the farm league for politicians has been the local school board, which is about as direct as democracy can get. Looking back at this term, and the rapid pace of change that councillors have had to deal with, have the councillors with that school board experience had a leg up? It was literally the day after the 2022 municipal elections that the Ontario government announced Bill 23 and sweeping changes to local planning policy. Later, Strong Mayor Powers were expanded beyond Ontario's biggest and then the downloading began again. It's safe to say that being a city councillor in 2026 is not the same as it was in 2021, so can you persevere in a job that's no longer the one you applied for? This may be the key question of this election, at least when we're talking about the DNA of local governance. Here in Guelph, two of the first-term councillors are ready to keep going and perhaps unsurprisingly, they were the two formally of the Upper Grand District School Board. They're used to being the underdog in an all too familiar fight for fairness, so as we head into this fall's election, what are the hard lessons they've learned that make them want to take the fight into a second term? Ward 4 Councillor Linda Busuttil and Ward 6 Councillor Katherine Hauser join us on this edition of the pod to discuss how the job has changed in the last four years, how the council experience differs from serving on the school board, and whether or not they had any doubt about running for re-election this October. We will also talk about the three Bs, managing expectations and criticism from constituents, and handling the constant flow of information that's coming in with the weekly council reports. So let's talk again about the last four years on council on this week's Guelph Politicast! Once again, nominations for mayor, city councillor, and school board trustee are open until August 21. You can learn more about how to run, who's running and other important information here. If you're listening to this on Wednesday, there's a city council meeting later today starting at 4 pm, and you can get all the council agendas on the City Government page of the City of Guelph website, and you can follow up with all the coverage here on Guelph Politico! The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #572 - June 4, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 8, 2026 57:45


    This week on Open Sources Guelph we boogey! And yet, there's not much time to celebrate because the news keeps on coming. We will see who won the B.C. Conservative leadership race and talk about what the next steps, and then we will look at a certain prime minister's weak spot when it comes to a very green issue. Closer to home, we have a guest from Guelph city council to talk about, among other things, the next council. This Thursday, June 4, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: Findlay's Wake. Last weekend, Kerry-Lynne Findlay become the new leader of the B.C. Conservative Party, and there's a lot of hope that this former Harper government member and current subject of an Elections Canada probe might be the unifier that this upstart political party is looking for but, as we've seen, unifying a party of made of small 'c' conservatives and fringe-y cranks is easier said than done, so has Findlay got what it takes? Carney, Climate, Catastrophe? In the year since he's became prime minister, Mark Carney has undone a lot of the climate action policies by his predecessor Justin Trudeau, and we were reminded of that last week when all of Trudeau's old environmental ministers were together in the same room, including Steven Guilbeault who just quit the caucus. Does Carney care about his lack of a climate plan, and does he care about the growing number of objectors in his own party? Ward One is Enough. When it was announced that Mayor Cam Guthrie was not running for re-election, many people looked to Ward 1 Councillor Dan Gibson as a potential replacement. He's not doing it, but he is looking to run again for this current seat, and this week we will tell us why he made that call. Gibson will also talk to us about what he hopes to achieve these next four years, the realities of municipal budgeting and his thoughts on council's closed meeting politics. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #528 – The Breezys Vs Big Brother (feat. Steve Cornwell & Jonathan Webb )

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 6, 2026 61:46


    Just this week there were more warning from the federal government about the threats of out malleable information ecosystem, warnings that Russia is targeting Canada with misinformation to sew divisions and erode confidence in democratic institutions. In an era of partisan media and A.I. deep fakes, how do you know that what you're reading or seeing is the truth? Let's talk about it... It may surprise you that the idea of universally objective press is a relatively modern idea. In the past, anyone with the means, money and ability could start a pamphlet or newspaper if they had a point of view, whether that was supporting a political party or candidate, or advancing a business interest. In a sense, our media landscape has gone backwards in the last several years, we have returned to the days of partisan newspapers (in a sense).  When you're doom scrolling on your favourite social media app, how to you know if the post you're seeing has a specific political slant, even compared to the next post you see on the very same topic? Now there's the added complication of artificial intelligence but how do you know that the story you're reading, the video you're watching of the picture you're seeing is even real? The odds are against you, right? Maybe, but that doesn't mean you're alone, or that you can't get smarter on these issues. At a recent edition of Breezy Breakfast hosted at Uptown Grill, Trillium reporter Steve Cornwell, and I took part in a conversation that covers all the bases including A.I. slop, foreign misinformation campaigns, internet anonymity and how these issues impact us on even a local level. This was recorded at the May 21 edition of Breezy Breakfast.  So let's talk about fighting A.I. and misinformation on this bonus edition of the Guelph Politicast!  You can read the reporting of Cornwell and his colleagues at Queen's Park, including their new hire Tina Yazdani, here, and you can sign up for Webb's newsletter “In Other News” here. If you're looking for help when it comes to the ways of combating misinformation, you can find resources on at Canada's Centre of Digital Media Literacy, or the Centre for Information Integrity at the University of Ottawa. Breezy Breakfast happens every Thursday at 8 am at Uptown Grill and you can find out more by sending an email to breezybullhorn [at] gmail.com.  The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    End Credits #444 - June 3, 2026 (Tuner)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2026 57:26


    This week on End Credits, we've got pitch! Our movie this week combines a love and appreciation for both classical music and classical crime in the new indie thrill Tuner, which you can now see in a theatre near you. And for something completely different, we will take the opportunity to mark some our favourite war movies as a new one also enters theatres.  This Wednesday, June 3, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss: War Movies Are Hell. This week marks the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, and not coincidentally there's a new movie in theatres that's about the weatherman who provided the forecast for the invasion (it's called Pressure by the way). So in that spirit, we will talk about some our favourite war movies, but with a twist: each of our picks have to be from a different war! From the trenches of the Great War to the deserts of Afghanistan, we will prove again that war movies are... you know. REVIEW: Tuner (2026). It's a story that's been told several times: Down on his luck guy with a special skill finds success in a life of small time crime until things go horribly wrong and he wants out! In Tuner, that's Niki who's extreme hearing sensitivity makes him an excellent piano tuner... and an excellent safe cracker. From Academy Award winning documentarian Daniel Roher (though it's not a documentary), Tuner is being sold as a crime movie with a heart with a talented new leading man at it's centre, but is this new take on an old story pitch perfect, or does it hit a sour note? End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #527 – A Pratfall in Puslinch? (feat. Justin Wilson)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 3, 2026 40:00


    Remember MZOs. Early on in the Ford government, Ministerial Zoning Orders were the hot thing to cut through red tape and get construction started faster by overriding public planning procedures, like the one being sought now for a one million square foot facility on zoned agricultural land in Puslinch. As upper levels of government accelerate pro-business policies and override environmental concerns and assessments, can one group of activists still win? It's been a while since we've had to deal with the overuse, and maybe the misuse, of the Ministerial Zoning Order. The Ford government issued a record 120 MZOs between 2018 and 2024, which prompted the auditor general to say in December of that year that the process needs an overhaul, not the least of which because only 12 per cent of those projects made it to completion. Some, like the glass plant in Stratford, never even got started. That's why the MZO being sought by Danby and Upper Canada Forest Group for a new headquarters in Puslinch is so fraught. Local residents are concerned about putting something this big on sensitive agricultural land and right next door to the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada, plus there are issues around road access and the more appropriate employment lands zoned nearby. One group has managed to stop the project this far, but are they ready for this fight to go all the way to Queen's Park? Justin Wilson of Help Protect Puslinch will join us on this edition of the podcast to talk about the group's objections to the project, the practical planning reasons why the town council has repeatedly rejected the project, and balancing growth and small town charm in Puslinch. He will also talk about the room for compromise on this issue, whether they've had a chance to talk to Danby CEO Jim Estill directly, and the lessons learned from other MZO fights. Also, are Wilson and his associates NIMBYs? So let's talk about the latest MZO fight in our own backyard on this week's Guelph Politicast!  You can learn about the group Help Protect Puslinch at their website, and you can follow them on social media on Facebook and on Instagram. If you're listening to this on Wednesday and you want to get involved, that public meeting we talked about is tonight at the Puslinch Community Centre at 7 pm. To learn more about the Small Change Fund, you can go to their website. The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #571 - May 28, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2026 57:57


    This week on Open Sources Guelph we get into some trouble, but not the kind that bars you from campus. The strange doings of YouTube pranksters and influencers is one of the topics this week, and so is the reaction to the latest court decision about encampments and their legality. For the interview, we will talk to a transit advocate about a piece of provincial legislation that you might have missed in the news. This Thursday, May 28, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: Cockamamie, Notwithstanding. Last week, an Ontario court said again that the Region of Waterloo can't evict an encampment of unhoused people from the site of a proposed transit hub in Kitchener. To say that Premier Doug Ford was apoplectic about the decision is something of an understatement, and that he's open to using the notwithstanding clause to make the eviction happen, but are we really just this devoid of ideas about how to help the homeless? Off Campus. Last fall, a YouTube prankster came to campus at Ontario Tech, crashed a lecture and made some curry on a portable hotplate before starting a food fight. Probably not a great time for anyone in that classroom, and it wasn't the first time Fique Ayub Fique made a nuisance of himself at Ontario Tech. Now the university is threatening to sue him for damages, but is that the right response to this kind of disruption, and what is the impact on the openness of campus life for everyone else? 98 of the Furious. Have you heard about Ontario's Bill 98, the Building Homes and Improving Transportation Infrastructure Act? The main point was to find new ways to accelerate housing construction, but buried in the act were some incredible new powers for the Ontario government to hold over regional and municipal transit agencies. We will be joined by August Pantitlán Puranauth from TTC Riders to talk about why we should all be concerned about what Bill 98 is cooking up for transit users in Ontario. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    End Credits #443 - May 27, 2026 (Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2026 56:51


    This week on End Credits, for the first time in a while, the Force is with us! If you haven't guessed already, we will be reviewing the 13th entry in the sci-fi adventure franchise, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, which you can now see in a theatre near you. And if we're watching a new Star Wars movie, then what better time is there to hand out The Star Wars Awards?! This Wednesday, May 27, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss: The Star Wars Awards. How can we celebrate the return of Star Wars to theatres everywhere? we could do a ranking of all 12 previous movies in the franchise, but that seems kind of simple, and we have to recognize that Star Wars isn't just a movie series, it's a cultural touchstone. So to mark this week's new release we will hand out the first annual (?) Star Wars Awards in five different categories, from Best Lightsaber Fight to Star Wars MVP! REVIEW: Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu (2026). It's been seven years since we last saw a new Star Wars movie in theatres, and this one is about a masked bounty hunter and his little buddy. Based on the Disney+ series, The Mandalorian and Grogu follows the continuing adventures of Din Djarin and his sidekick sometimes known as "Baby Yoda" as they chase warlords, gangsters and sometimes fellow bounty hunters across a galaxy far, far away, but does this first big screen outing for the franchise re-establish Star Wars former box office and creative glory? End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #526 – What's Next 2026? The Transit Struggle (feat. Steve Petric)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2026 43:23


    This term has presented a lot of challenges to transit and transit users, not the least of which was ridership recovering following the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has, thankfully, not only returned but grown in the last four years. Logistically speaking though, there are other challenges to transit that have stacked up including financial pressures, but what else is coming for transit in the next four years? Coming into this term of council, there was a lot to look forward to with Guelph Transit: investments to modernize transit routes, new real time update signs, new apps and tech, and a new fleet facility that would house this growing fleet of EV buses. The reality though is that whole portions of the Future Ready Action plan were delayed, the OnYourWay app will be discontinued this summer due to ongoing problems, and the construction on that new fleet facility has only just begun. While Guelph has struggled to keep up with its transit promises, there's been a lot of new pressure on transit too from the creation of major transit areas, the lack of new regional transit connections, especially on the weekend, and the passage of Bill 98, which gives a number of new powers to the provincial government that they can exercise over transit authorities and municipalities. Transit cannot be treated as some small issue in this election, but are our local candidates ready to make it a priority? Lending us some insight is to Steve Petric, the co-chair of the Transit Action Alliance Guelph, or TAAG. He will talk about if we're better off now than we were four years ago with transit service, and the reasons why we've seen an increase in ridership. Additionally, he will discuss transit management, and the disconnect between transit's issues and the first-hand experience of council. Also he will discuss the concerns about Bill 98 and what TAAG is planning in terms of advocacy this fall. So let's talk about transit now and the next four years on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can learn more about the Transit Action Alliance Guelph at their website, and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can also subscribe to their Substack newsletter here. You can comment now on the Guelph Transit: Future Ready Action Plan update by visiting the City of Guelph's Have Your Say page. To learn more about the potential impacts of Bill 98 from the transit advocacy group TTC Riders here. The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #570 - May 21, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2026 56:51


    This week on Open Sources Guelph we manage the chaos. Even a simple candidate nomination meeting in the Toronto area did not go as planned for any of the people involved, and that's to say nothing of the reporting of war crimes against Palestinians in the so-called "paper of record". But if you're looking for provincial chaos, look no further that one of our western provinces, and our guest this week is going to lend some of his insights into it. This Thursday, May 21, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: South By Scarborough Southwest. A simple nomination contest in a Toronto riding to fill a vacancy at Queen's Park has turned into a tale of dysfunction and possible skullduggery. For Nate Erskine-Smith, winning the nomination was supposed to be a lift off of sorts to becoming the new Liberal leader, but now he's throwing around accusations that his 19-vote loss for the Scarborough Southwest nomination was a hatchet job. Are the Ontario Liberals okay? From Israel with Lawfare? After long being only the subject of reports from U.N. and human rights groups, allegations of sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners by Israeli Defence Forces finally made the pages of The New York Times, which has prompted Israel itself to cry, "lawsuit". In other news, a group called the Israel Law Center has threaten to sue the Canadian Museum of Human Rights because of a new exhibit about the creation of Israel from the Palestinian perspective. So this is lawfare, right? Wild Wild Rose Country. A couple of weeks ago, we tried to dip into Alberta politics but it was hard for two Ontario lads to make heads or tails of that crazy scene, so now we've brought in a stringer. For this episode, we're joined by Jeremy Appel of The Orchard newsletter, the man who broke the news about the Alberta voters' list and The Centurion Project, to lend his perspective on the state of Alberta politics, what Danielle Smith is thinking, and why Naheed Nenshi can't seem to make a play. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    End Credits #442 - May 20, 2026 (The Devil Wear Prada 2)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2026 56:30


    This week on End Credits we're going to work it. No one would accuse this podcast of being fashionable, but with this episode we head work our way back to style in addition to our usual substance by reviewing The Devil Wears Prada 2, which is now in a theatre near you. And since we're going back, let us also go back in time to the Summer of 2006 for another draft! This Wednesday, May 20, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss: Summer Movies of 2006 Draft. Twenty years ago from this summer, we watched as the Pirates of the Caribbean fought for a dead man's chest. Tom Hanks raced around Paris search for the Da Vinci Code. The X-Men took their last stand (not really). Superman returned, and so did the clerks. The house was a monster, the ex-girlfriend was super and the Devil wore Prada. These are among the movies we might draft as we go back to the Summer of 2006! REVIEW: The Devil Wear Prada 2 (2026). Based loosely on legendary (infamous) Vogue editor Anna Wintour, the original The Devil Wears Prada followed an aspiring journalist played by Anne Hathaway going to work for a demanding magazine editor played by Meryl Streep. Now, 20 years later, Hathaway and Streep, plus co-stars Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt, all return for an encore as Streep's Miranda needs Hathaway's Andy to rescue her reputation, and her magazine, in the midst of PR crisis, but is The Devil still as delicious with the second bite? End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #525 – Election Skullduggery Already? (feat. Dylan McMahon)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2026 33:07


    On Friday, Guelph Politico received a video of someone accessing the website "michellebowman.ca". Michelle Bowman is a candidate running in Ward 2 in this fall's municipal election, so one would think that if you typed in her name with the domain extension ".ca" that it would lead to her website. It doesn't. Barely three weeks into this election, do we already need to have a conservation about the rules and ethics of running for local office? A second source on the weekend then provided Politico with a link to a website set up by someone who was declaring themselves as a council candidate, although they had not yet filed their nominations papers. Concerning here was the inclusion of a donate button when the election rules state that you cannot collect donations, or spend donations on campaigning, until you're a registered candidate in the mayor, council, or school board trustee elections.  So how concerned should we be about these recent develops? Is there already election skullduggery afoot less than a month into this municipal election? That's tough to say. In so much as people are invested in knowing who wants to form the next city council and what they intend to do with that position, people are also invested in making sure they do it the proper way. Should we be guarded for more people testing the system over the next couple of months? To learn more about where the lines are this election, we will seek out the advice of Dylan McMahon, Guelph's city clerk and essentially the chief electoral officer for municipal elections. We turn to him with these two situations that arose over the weekend: Is it improper for someone else to own the domain of a candidate, can you raise money and campaign before you are officially a candidate, and what can you do if you have a cause for concern in the way some candidates are running? So let's talk about election concerns on this week's Guelph Politicast!  If you have questions or concerns about the election or the election rules, you can go to the City of Guelph's website or can call the clerk's office at 519-837-5625 or send an email to guelphvotes@guelph.ca. If you want to learn more about available domain names, or learn what legal recourse you have if someone's using your name as a domain name, you can go to the Canadian Internet Registration Authority website. In one last note, Guelph Politico reached out to Thai Mac, the owner of Caught in Guelph, to get comment about whether or not he owns the domain "michellebowman.ca", but he did not respond before press time. The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #569 - May 14, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2026 56:42


    This week on Open Sources Guelph, things get heavy. We've got back-to-back interviews today with two different guests, both of who are going to get into topics around sexual violence and need to do more for survivors. First, we will talk to an advocate who wants to give survivors more options to get justice for themselves aside from the court system, and then we will talk to a provincial politician trying to improve the criminal justice system we have now. This Thursday, May 14, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: Listener discretion is advised: Today's show contains conversations about sexual violence and the effects of sexual violence. When the Justice System Isn't Enough. Recent high profile sex assault trials involving Hockey Canada players, Jeffrey Sloka, and Frank Stonach have shown that justice is still hard to obtain for survivors using the system as its presently built. To help us mark Sexual Violence Prevention Month, we will be joined by Lola Graham from the Ontario chapter of Survivors 4 Justice Reform about why survivors should have the option to seek restorative justice and not just the court kind. The CONestoga Game(?). Last week, the Ontario government announced that they were putting an administrator in charge of Conestoga College due financial mismanagement, and one of the people caught off-guard by the move was Catherine Fife, who's the MPP of Waterloo. Fife will join us again to talk about the fallout from Conestoga, the impact on students, and her legislative quest to get justice in the legislature for survivors of sexual assault. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    WELLINGTON COUNTY POLITICAST #524 – Ich bein eine Fergusonian (feat. Diane Ballantyne)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2026 40:23


    Centre Wellington is the largest municipality inside the county, and it includes Elora and Fergus. In the literal and figurative middle of Wellington, representing it around the council table, unsurprisingly, is a two-person job. From this vantage point, they must have a unique view of relations between the city and county, and one of those councillors has an even bigger vantage point then that? Diane Ballantyne represents the southern side of Centre Wellington, which is also known as Ward 6. Listeners of this show may be familiar with her previous attempts to become the MPP of Wellington-Halton Hills, but since 2018 she's been the Ward 6 county councillor, and has put some impressive points on the board in the process taking part in several key committees and sitting on the board of Groves Memorial Community Hospital.  More than that, Ballantyne is one of the directors on the county caucus of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and was named an honourable mention in Municipal World's 2024 Women of Influence honours. Can Ballantyne's high profile be attributed to the fact that she's got one? She's one of the only people on county council with a social media footprint, so why aren't more of her colleagues talking about county politics on the socials? That's one of the things we'll talk about with Diane Ballantyne on this edition of the podcast as we get into her background before politics, dividing the civic responsibility for Centre Wellington, and whether or not it's Fergusite or Fergusonian. We will also discuss her role representing Wellington at AMO, her view on the Guelph/Wellington relationship, and why differences don't need to divide us across jurisdictions. Also, we will talk about running for re-election and why social media doesn't have to divide us. So let's head to the middle, or the south part of the middle, on this month's Wellington County Politicast! You can learn more about Diane Ballantyne and the work she does at her website. You can also follow her on social media on Facebook and Instagram. Although there wasn't any time to get into it, you can also check out one of Ballantyne's side projects, Centre Wellington Pride, of which she was a co-founder, and you can find information about that group and its events at their website.  The Wellington County Politicast will return next month!! The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    End Credits #441 - May 13, 2026 (53 Sundays)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 15, 2026 56:36


    This week on End Credits, we get international. The review today comes from Spain, with a universal take of family dynamics that just so happens to be in Spanish in 53 Sundays, which you can now stream on Netflix. Along similar lines, this entire show will be about a language other than English, at least so far as the movies are concerned!  This Wednesday, May 13, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss: Películas en un idioma distinto al inglés. This roughly translates into "films in a non-English language", which might also be called "international movies" or "foreign language films" depending on who you're talking to. Since this week's selection is in Spanish, we will take the opportunity to talk about other non-English films we enjoy, from serious dramas to silly genre fare, we will travel the world cinema in around 30 minutes before the main review... REVIEW: 53 Sundays (2026). The new Spanish film 53 domingos plays out a conversation that probably happens in many families: What do we do about an aging parent that can't fully be trusted to live on their own any more? Writer and director Cesc Gay stages a chamber dramedy about three siblings trying to answer that question, but really they're more interested in twisting the knife and sticking one of them with the exclusive responsibility for their father. Was 53 Sundays the darkly cynical balm we needed for this past Mother's Day weekend? End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #523 – What's Next 2026? Politics and Policing (feat. Chief Gord Cobey and Peter McSherry)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2026 36:33


    Is there a bigger political lightning rod when it comes to the City of Guelph budget than the police budget? For some people, we spend too much on the police and at the expense of expanded funding for social services, and for others we don't spend nearly enough on the police. As we look to the next term at city hall, what challenges around policing will be presented to the new council? In their 2024-2027 Strategic Plan, the Guelph Police Service outlined six priority areas: community policing, investigative excellence, community wellness, organizational health and service effectiveness, road safety, and policing downtown. To help achieve those ends, GPS committed to a Staffing & Service Delivery study performed by KPMG, which said the service needed more investment to bring it up to par with similarly sized cities.  It was hardly the best time for such big budget increases based on the fallout of Black Lives Matter and the affordability crisis, but the budget increases over the last few years have produced results. The challenges though keep multiplying, and so do the funds needed, and while the police are not political, the funding of police is. As we start debating the issues in this election, what are the police leaders thinking about before the next term of council in terms of their priorities?  To that end, we have on this edition both Guelph Police Services Chief Gord Cobey and chair of the Guelph Police Services Board Peter McSherry. Together, they will will discuss the inner workings of the Police Board, balancing affordability and growth over the last couple of budgets and whether the Guelph Police has achieved or exceeded their expectations. We will also talk about the police's role in educating the public about the budget and whether there's an education role for the police in this election.  So let's talk about the future of police and this election on this week's Guelph Politicast!  You can learn more about the Guelph Police Service, and find all its published reports on their website. The next meeting of the Guelph Police Services Board is on Thursday May 21, and you will be able to watch it on the Guelph Police YouTube channel. The agenda for that meeting will be available on Friday on the GPS website. Stay tuned for more reporting and insight about the election on Guelph Politico and the Guelph Politico Tip Sheet newsletter.  The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #568 - May 7, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later May 11, 2026 57:56


    This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're straining to do some explaining. How can you make sense of the news when the news barely makes sense? This is going to be really put to the test this week as we get into the ups and downs of the War in Iran, and then we will turn our attention to this race to referendum in Alberta. Maybe things closer to home will be easier to understand and we have a guest that will help us do that. This Thursday, May 7, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: The Skirmish to End all Mini Wars. It's now been over two months since the U.S. and Israel started a war with Iran, but don't call it a war! If you've been confused about President Donald Trump's justifications and goals for this "skirmish" before, that's nothing compared to the roller coaster in the last week alone. Up first, we will try to make sense of the blockade that's either working or not happening and the war that's either over or just beginning. Separation of Glowers. Take Back Alberta believes that it has more than enough signatures to finally put the question of separation before the voters in the Wild Rose province, but it's not that easy. David Parker, one of the leaders of the movement, is being accused of having inappropriate access to Elections Alberta's list of electors, and there's also reports of interference being stoked from the U.S. and Russia, so can we have a good, decent debate on this without the skullduggery? Summer in the City Hall. The 2026 municipal election is now underway, but that doesn't mean that our current city council isn't putting out any new hits. This week, we will be joined by Ward 3 City Councillor Michele Richardson, who has already announced her retirement, to talk about some the latest business at city hall including construction complaints, fiscal pressures, traffic calming questions, and the upcoming receipt of the renoviction bylaw and vacant home tax. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    End Credits #440 - May 6, 2026 (Undertone)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2026 57:10


    This week on End Credits we're listening. For the movie review today, we will get into a movie you don't just have to watch because it's also a listening experience. Yes, we are going to talk about the new horror movie Undertone, and speaking of not-so-easy listening, we will continue on with our "6 For '76" series with a story about love and music! This Wednesday, May 6, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss: 6 For '76: A Star Is Born. Not for the first time, and definitely not for the last time, director Frank Pierson remade the 1937 movie A Star Is Born in 1976. This one shook up the formula, moving the action from the movie industry to the music industry and telling the story of the ill-fated romance between a falling star played by Kris Kristofferson and a rising star played by Barbara Streisand. Our "6 For '76" series rolls on with the second biggest movie of that year! REVIEW: Undertone (2026). Called "The scariest movie you will ever hear," Undertone has a lot to live up to. Director Ian Tuason, inspired by his own experiences caring for his dying parents, crafted a sonic experience of a movie about a podcaster caring for her comatose mother while slowly coming to the realization that her childhood home might be haunted. Or maybe it's in her mind. This low-budget horror is the latest in a line of successful Canadian movies that have come out so far in 2026 and this week we take our chance to talk about it. End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #522 – The Year at Council... So Far (January to April)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2026 42:05


    Sure, it's an election year, but that doesn't mean that the current city council is coasting in their last year in office. The council calendar has been pretty busy these first four months of 2026, and some of the things that have kept them busy might surprise you. This week, if you don't follow the news, or subscribe to this website, or have heard about it somewhere else, you will get your chance to catch-up on all the latest council business here. In January, the council year got started early with an emergency meeting to respond to the sudden cancellation of a daytime shelter program. No one saw it coming, but that was the case with a lot of the most difficult issues at the council table. From the plan to speed up development downtown, to the crunch over ice time at rec facilities, to the options for traffic calming around town, council had some tough debates and made some tougher decisions.  So let's recap the events at council so far this year on this edition of the Guelph Politicast! Stay on top of council coverage every week by following @adamadonaldson on Blue Sky and by subscribing to the Guelph Politico Tip Sheet newsletter. The Thursday edition is the recap of that week's council meeting.  The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #567 - April 30, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later May 4, 2026 57:03


    This week on Open Sources Guelph, it's a lot. There was another disaster involving guns in America, but this time the target was some of the most powerful people in the country. Here in Canada, the Premier of B.C. seems to have stepped in a deep puddle with Indigenous people, but perhaps we can find some salvation with a good economy news story? Out special guest this week will help us make sense of that last one. This Thursday, April 30, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: My Dinner With Decay. Saturday's White House Correspondence Dinner was broken up by sadly familiar American tradition of its own, an attempted mass shooting. The WHCD, or "nerd prom" is a big deal for a certain upper echelon of Washington, and it was super special this year with Donald Trump himself making an appearance. From the conspiracies about false flags to commentary about the self-importance of the event, we need to ask the question: Will we ever learn? DRIPA-Lash. In the span of a month, British Columbia Premier David Eby went from on the attack to full retreat. After a court found that the government's mineral claim was inconsistent with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. Eby proposed amending the act to allow the project to proceed, but First Nations leaders in the province called it an "absolute betrayal". Eby eventually backed off, but what does this do for the cause of reconciliation? Spring Bling! On Tuesday, the Government of Canada unveiled the spring economic update and it was a good news story! The deficit for this year, and the unemployment rate, are slightly less than what we thought they were going to be. Cool. There were announcements too: more money for skills development in the trades, more investment in national sport, and something called a sovereign wealth fund(?!). David-Alexandre Brassard, chief economist of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada returns to lend his insights. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    End Credits #439 - April 29, 2026 (Michael)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2026 58:05


    This week on End Credits, things get real, which is to say that we're going to put the best face on reality. The prime example this week is the new music bio-pic MIchael, which is about the life of Michael Jackson and getting darts and laurels depending on what side you're on. There's no doubt that Michael is going to be a big hit, but good news, we are entering a season of big hits! This Wednesday, April 22, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss: Summer Movie Preview. It's finally here! Summer Movie Season!! The next few months are reserved for some of the biggest, boldest, blow-up-iest movies of the year from superheros to super troopers, and from ancient Greece to the Met Gala. As usual, we will talk about the summer movies worth waiting for, but we will frame it through a new game. What movies are worth investing in, from the sure-to-be blockbusters to the dark horses with potential. REVIEW: Michael (2026). After years of trying, a bio-pic about Michael Jackson is now in theatres with all the requisite controversy that conjures up. Antoine Fuqua's film looks at the early years of Jackson's life, from growing up under his authoritarian father Joseph in the Jackson 5, to his his breakout solo albums, but then stops the story right before certain allegations emerge. Produced by the Jackson family themselves, and starring Michael Jackson's own nephew, there's reason to wonder if Michael is just all about the music (revenue)? End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #521 – One and Done (feat. Erin Caton & Michele Richardson)

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2026 47:49


    Near the end of every council term, we invite the rookies who were elected in the previous election onto this podcast to talk about their experience. This time it's different because one, there were so many new councillors in 2022, and two, in this case, we have two people who've decided that one term is enough. How can just four years on Guelph city council possibly be enough? The day after Municipal Election Day in 2022, the Ontario government announced Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, and its sweeping changes. It was an early, practical lesson that cities are creatures of the province, and the province was going to reshape them as they saw fit. Over the last four years, Queen's Park has been freely changing the rules and it seems without a lot of consultation with the local political leaders. This was the atmosphere that both Erin Caton and Michele Richardson walked into when they took office in November 2022. Both these councillors have a lot in common: Being a Guelph city councillor was their first gig in politics, they both became wardmates to long serving councillors and succeeded other long serving councillors, and they've both decided that they do not want to run for re-election. Why have they decided to walk away now, and what lessons will they take with them? Ward 1 City Councillor Erin Caton and Ward 3 City Councillor Michele Richardson will share their thinking on this edition of the pod. They will talk about what factors went into their decision to retire, what they wish they had known about the job in advance, and the ways it was tough to adapt to all those changes as a first-timer. They will also talk about advice for their successors, the things they want to finish before October, what they plan on doing next, and whether they might ever run for office again. So let's talk about the city council experience on this week's Guelph Politicast!  The nominations for mayor, city councillor, and school trustee opens this Friday, May 1 and will continue to be open until late August. You can learn more about how to run, who's running and other important information here. Council business continues for the next few months, and the next meeting is on Tuesday May 5 at 2 pm, which is the Committee of the Whole meeting. Get all the council agendas here, and you can get all coverage here on Guelph Politico! The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #566 - April 23, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2026 59:24


    This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're going to have our dessert first. Predictably, we have some thoughts about the Premier of Ontario going plane shopping, but more seriously then that there are some serious issues in the province's jails that we need to talk about. Speaking of talks, there's one being hosted at the Kitchener Public Library on kids and tech, and we will have two of the panelists for a little pre-show chat. This Thursday, April 23, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: Takes on a Plane. Utterly unproductive to Ontario's litany of problems, but still the topic of the week, was the news that the Ontario government bought a private plane for the premier's use. The so-called "gravy plane" was the story of the week, and the reaction was so overwhelmingly negative that it secured a rare Doug Ford reversal. Mischief managed, right? Not so fast because pundits and politicians are now wondering if Ford's plane dreams have cut a fatal wound. Rock House Jail. In more serious news, comes word that over 100 people in Ontario jails may have been "improperly" released in a serious of administrative snafus over a five year period. We've talked before about the dangerous overcrowding in Ontario's jails, and how most of the people there are just awaiting trial, but have the issues with the province's prisons now extend to mismanagement in the Solicitor General's office? Little Minds and Big Tech. What is the effect of our digital culture on young people? How should we teach kids to manage life with artificial intelligence? What can parents do to help kids make good tech decisions? These are big questions with no easy answer, but the Early Language Learning & Literacy Alliance of Waterloo Region (ELLA) will be hosting an event on Monday that will try to answer them. Before that, we will be joined by two of the participants - Media Stamped host Nicole Stamp and executive director of Project READ Literacy Network Waterloo-Wellington Robin Crank - to start thinking about the future. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    End Credits Conversations: What Does a Film Critic Do? (feat. Barry Hertz)

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2026 32:39


    What does it mean to review movies today? How do professional critics stand apart from the pack between Rotten Tomatoes and Letterboxd? Does a film critic even matter when measured against social media publicity and influencers? In this new monthly side series, we will talk to critics, vloggers or podcasters about the state of modern film criticism, why they do it, and why it still matters indeed! To kick off this series, we talk to an old fashioned newspaper film critic. Barry Hertz is the deputy arts editor and film editor of The Globe & Mail, which is just a fancy way of saying his that paper's senior film writer. He's also the author of the definitive book about the Fast & Furious franchise, Welcome to the Family: The Explosive Story Behind Fast & Furious, the Blockbusters that Supercharged the World. Today he joins us fresh off spending the week at CinemaCon in Las Vegas to talk about the fine art of reviewing, what he looks for in movies, and why he's not ashamed of his unequivocal support for Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie! End Credits Conversations returns next month on the fourth Saturday. End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    End Credits #438 - April 22, 2026 (Mile End Kicks)

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2026 57:15


    This week on End Credits, we grow up. The movie this week is another coming of age story about a young person finding themselves but the twist is that it's a Canadian movie about a Canadian in Canada. We will review Mile End Kicks, which you can now (and should) see in theatres everywhere, and we will also talk about *that* festival in France!  This Wednesday, April 22, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Tim Phillips will discuss: Yes We Cannes. In a couple of weeks, Hollywood heads to the south of France for the 79th annual Cannes Film Festival. What makes Cannes different? Well, it's exclusively for people in the industry, and the press, so you can't just line up and buy rush tickets, but in recent years it's been more famous for how long people stand and clap at the end, or whether or not they booed. Instead, we'll talk about some of our favourite Cannes movie premieres. REVIEW: Mile End Kicks (2026). The year is 2011, and the place is Montreal. Aspiring Toronto Burlington music critic Grace Pine is here to find love (or at least sex) and write a book about Alanis Morrisette's Jagged Little Pill, but sometimes important life lessons and the lead singer of an up and coming band have other ideas. Chandler Levack's follow-up to I Like Movies is another coming of age slice from her own life, but can Levack capture that same magic, not to mention a sense of nostalgic early 21st century Canadiana, again? End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #520 – Earth Day Politics (feat. Mike Schreiner)

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 22, 2026 32:26


    Today is Earth Day if you're listening to this promptly on Wednesday, but it's hard to think of a time in the last 30 years where it seems like the environment has been less of an issue. Despite the increasing frequency of dangerous weather events, the rapid loss of farmland, and concerns about ground water, environmental issues seem less and less to be a priority, and few people know that better than the Green Party of Ontario leader. This interview was recorded on Friday, which was coincidentally the same day it was reported that the Ontario government had bought a private plan for the premier's use. It seems unlikely that that Doug Ford was going to be hoping on that private plan to fly to the next COP conference, but if you want to criticize the Ontario government for its environmental record, or lack thereof, there's an embarrassment of riches. According to Mark Winfield, co-chair of the Sustainable Energy Initiative at York University, Doug Ford has “the worst environmental record of any Ontario government of the modern (post Second World War) era," and there's no shortage of evidence to back that up (listen to the episode to hear the list). Good thing there's a Green Party leader in the House, but he rarely gets a chance to opine about the environment. Today though... he gets that that chance Mike Schreiner, MPP for Guelph and the leader of the Green Party of Ontario, is the guest on this week's podcast and he will spend a whole interview talking about the environment! He will discuss what it takes to make environmental issues a priority, and what the people in the government tell him about environmental issues off the record. He will also talk about what we can learn from the pandemic response about solving big issues, and why we need to remain optimistic.  So let's get into Earth Day politics on this edition of the Guelph Politicast!  If you're looking for some Earth Day-slash-Month things to do, you can sign up to join the Guelph Team for the Earth Month Ecochallenge 2026, or you can can go to the City of Guelph website to find some personal environmental challenges you can do at home. The Rotary Club of Guelph and Trees for Guelph will host a tree planting on Laird Road this coming Saturday at 9 am. Seniors for Climate Action are also hosting a number of events around town over the next week. The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #565 - April 16, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 20, 2026 55:31


    This week on Open Sources Guelph, the winds are changing. There's a lot of hot air about the result of three federal byelections this week and what that means for Canada, and there's some good news from eastern Europe where some other election results might paint a positive picture. Closer to home, we will talk to a member of city council about working collaborative with other governments and an election closer to home. This Thursday, April 9, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: Age of Majority. After a year of plotting and scheming and incrementalism, Prime Minister Mark Carney finally secured his majority government. On Tuesday, he promised "more stability" and "less showboating", which seems rich after the Liberals spent the weekend showboating at their policy convention in Montreal with Carney's own celebration of the new Canadian order! So what happens now? Leave, Viktor. On Sunday, Viktor Orbán was successfully deposed as the Prime Minister of Hungary by Peter Magyar, a man who once saw Orbán as a mentor but has now become the face of a more hopeful and European-centric future. For years now Orbán has been seen as example for white nationalist authoritarians across Europe and North America, so has Magyar now shown a path for the pro-democracy movement as the fight against fascism continues? Local Linda. If you've been noticing a bit of friction between the City of Guelph and the County of Wellington when it comes to housing a social services, you're not alone. Ward 4 City Councillor Linda Busuttil, who is the chair of the Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee, will join us to talk about the growing pains in that relationship, working with upper levels of government on housing, and her re-election plans last this year. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    End Credits #437 - April 15, 2026 (Pretty Lethal)

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 17, 2026 57:26


    This week on End Credits, things are going to get dangerous! For the movie this week, we get hardcore with ballerinas that kill as five young women have to take out a bar full of bad guys in Pretty Lethal on Amazon Prime. We will also mark Earth Day (or is it month now?) by talking about some of our favourite environmentally-themed movie... except for the obvious ones. This Wednesday, April 15, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss: Green Movies. Earth Day is next Wednesday, and we are going to get you in the mood to save the Earth with some movies that focus on environmental themes. It would be easy to talk about flicks like The Day After Tomorrow, FernGully: The Last Rainforest, or the Avatar trilogy, but we will dig deep to find some real bangers including monster movies, action classics, hidden gems from the 70s, and political thrillers. REVIEW: Pretty Lethal (2026). Is there anyone tougher than a ballerina? That's the question in Pretty Lethal, which follows five ballerinas lost in Hungary who end up at a mob bar to wait for a ride only to end up having to fight their way out. From David Leitch, one of the creators of John Wick, and his production company 87North, which made Nobody, The Fall Guy and Love Hurts, can five skilled dancers apply their craft to beating a bar full of Euro-trash baddies and crime boss Uma Thurman (?!). Cue the "Swan Lake" suite! End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #519 - Habitat's Silver Anniversary (feat. Sarah Spry)

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2026 39:38


    It's an interesting time for someone new to take on the reins of this organization, and not just because of the housing crisis. This is the 25th birthday of Habitat for Humanity in Guelph and Wellington, so it's a time of celebration, along with a time of tremendous challenge. In the overwhelming crunch of the crisis, how does the brand name in affordable housing celebrate its silver anniversary? You can't say that when Habitat for Humanity became an officially registered charity in 2001 that Guelph didn't have any housing issues but that started changing in the last 25 years, slowly at first and then super accelerated though the pandemic and the immediate aftermath of it. With not just a lack of housing, but a lack of affordable and deeply affordable housing, the community was left scrambling, and that's put a lot of pressure on established non-profits, like Habitat for Humanity. Habitat has been busy for these last few years of the housing crisis with a stacked townhome development on Guelph's eastside on Cityview Drive, a 32-unit project called Garafraxa Village in Fergus and next a new 30-home community on Speedvale Avenue East. At this pivotal moment, Habitat now has a new CEO, and as you'll hear, she brings with her the experience of a business person and someone who's been a part of the fabric of Habitat as its been navigating these difficult times. So what comes next for the new CEO?  On this episode, we're joined by that new CEO, Sarah Spry, who will discuss her background and experience, how Habitat works and how they've been impacted by the housing crisis and the growing need. She will then talk about how the challenges of building non-profit housing are not that different from the for-profit ones, why the Habitat model works, and her vision for the organization. Also, you will learn how you can get involved, and what the next 25 years of Habitat will look like.  So let's celebrate affordable housing builders on this week's Guelph Politicast!  You can learn more about Habitat for Humanity Guelph Wellington, and all the ways you can take part in their efforts at their website, and you can follow them on Facebook and Instagram. You can also visit the two ReStore locations in the region, the one in Guelph is in the north end on Dawson Road and the other is in Fergus on Tower Street South. The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #564 - April 9, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 13, 2026 56:30


    This week on Open Sources Guelph, we recover from the Easter weekend. See the guy in this picture with the Easter Bunny? He made it very hard to relax with some very vivid saber-rattling over the pointless war he started in the Middle East. Closer to home, we will talk about trains and plans for trains, plus the attack on the newest federal leader that might indicate a greater degree of confusion in the discourse. This Thursday, April 9, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: This is the End? If you didn't know what was going on with the War in Iran before the weekend, you're probably really confused now. U.S. President Donald Trump set an arbitrary Tuesday night deadline to end the war or "an entire civilization will die." Trump got a ceasefire instead, which he took, but the exact conditions of it were still unknown 24 hours later, and since no one really stopped shooting, it didn't matter. So does anything matter? Alto Railroaded? The federal government is in the process of developing a high speed rail corridor between Toronto and Quebec City. It's already been in the works for 10 years, and it will be other 20 before its finally finished, at least unless Pierre Poilievre has anything to say about it. As the Alto Train gets closer to finalizing its plans, opposition is consolidating its own plan to stop it, so will the Alto become just another train dream (so to speak)? The Problem with Avi? No sooner was Avi Lewis elected the new leader of the federal NDP, did a campaign begin to call him anti-Semitic. Interesting turn for someone from a prominent Jewish Canadian family, but his stands against Israel's genocide in Gaza and support for the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement hasn't won him many friends in Zionist circles. Is the smearing of Lewis a sign that we're confusing legitimate critiques of the secular Israeli government with very real hate crimes? Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

    WELLINGTON COUNTY POLITICAST #518 - Gently Down the Live Stream (feat. Jeff Duncan)

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2026 52:00


    Wellington County's Ward 9 is the Town of Erin, the eastern most end of the county and it faces a number of issues that might sound kind of familiar to politically tuned in Guelphites. How much do we have in common with our friends from Erin? That is a one of the questions that will guide this first entry in a brand new side story of the Guelph Politicast adventure as we start digging into the politics our our next door neighbours... Erin is caught in the middle in a very real way. It's a rural cushion between the encroaching urbanity of Peel and Halton Regions and it represents the halfway point between Guelph and Orangeville. Like all the municipalities that make up Wellington County, Erin has its own mayor and town council, and it sends a separate councillor to represent them on county council along with the mayor, and since 2018 that person has been Jeff Duncan. In addition to his seat on council, Duncan also takes part in the Information, Heritage and Seniors Committee and the Economic Development Committee, which puts him in a pretty good position on a couple of key issues, like, for instance, the long shadow of water taking for botting purposes. Duncan has also been on top of a radical issue, at least radical so far as the county's concerned: live streaming of council meetings, which sounds easy but comes with a number of challenges that he'll get into.  On this inaugural edition Duncan will describe for us the unique political structure of the county, his own political background and navigating the intricacies of a two-tiered government system. He will also discuss protecting Erin's water from growth and profit, how Erin is sitting at a literal and figurative crossroads, what it's like dealing with Guelph from the county point of view, and trying to play catch-up on live streaming. So let's head out to the east side of the county on this first edition of the Wellington County Politicast!  You can learn about all things Wellington County on the their website, and you can send Councillor Duncan an email at jeffd [at] wellington.ca. Unfortunately you missed the Information, Heritage and Seniors Committee for this month, but the Economic Development Committee is on Tuesday April 21 at 10 am at the County administration building and County Council will hold its monthly meeting on Thursday April 30 at 10 am. The Wellington County Politicast will return next month!!  The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    End Credits #436 - April 8, 2026 (The Drama)

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2026 58:15


    This week on End Credits, things get dramatic. We will skip the blockbuster of the week for the more nutritious meal in the form of the star-studded indie The Drama, which you can, and should, see in a theatre near you. We will also talk about the phenomenon of the video game movie, a kind of sequel itself from our last conversation on the subject nearly eight years ago! This Wednesday, April 8, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Peter Salmon will discuss: Game On! Maybe you were one of the millions of people who spent part of the weekend seeing The Super Mario Bros. Galaxy Movie, probably in the company of your kids. For over 30 years Hollywood has tried to capture the youthful excitement and fun of video games in movie form, but are we getting any closer to making it a unique genre like comic book movies? This week, we will look at video game, and video game adjacent, movies. REVIEW: The Drama (2026). It's probably the most excellent counter-programing to The Super Mario Bros. Galaxy Movie, an A24 romantic dramedy starring two genuine movie stars with a *sick* twist at the beginning of the movie. Considering our spoiler adverse culture, we won't ruin the movie here, but in our review, we will dig into the spoiler-y goodness about seeing a couple played by Robert Pattinson and Zendaya fall apart on their wedding week. Does The Drama deliver on the promise of its name, or is it much ado about nothing? End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

    GUELPH POLITICAST #517 - Pump Up the Volume for Campus Radio (feat. Barry Rooke)

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2026 48:34


    Campus and community radio stations are under pressure from all sides: provincial governments, student governments, activists, advertisers and big tech. There's a growing spectre of doom for campus media, and the people charged with supporting radio stations across Canada are looking to bolster themselves with help from a newly fiscally prudent federal government. So has time run out for your campus radio station? The pressure is real. Last week, the student union of Memorial University in Newfoundland voted to end funding to CHMR, the campus radio station. Why? They determined after one poll that the station is “underutilized” by undergraduates. Last December at the University of Ottawa, the campus radio station CHUO finally stopped producing live broadcasts two years after students voted to cease the special levy through which the station got the lion's share of its funding. Stations at Fanshawe and Algonquin College have become casualties to the loss of funding to Ontario's colleges due the deep cuts in international student enrollment, which was doubly insulting since both radio stations were used as a training ground for students studying journalism and broadcasting. This fall, campus radio stations in Ontario that survived the Student Choice Initiative will face similar changes that were approved in Bill 33 last November. Can campus media survive these pressures?  Barry Rooke, executive director of the National Campus and Community Radio Association, believe it can with help, and he's going to talk about that on this week's show. He will discuss how the NCRA is trying to answer all the various challenges facing campus radio, how some stations are trying to pivot and why it's so hard for some stations to make a change in order to survive. He will also look at the importance of campus media, the plan to protect the stations still standing and his beginnings at CFRU. So let's save campus and community radio on this week's Guelph Politicast!  You can learn more about the National Campus and Community Radio Association at their website. The NCRC 44 RadioDays North America event, which is the annual conference hosted by the NCRA, runs from May 4 till 9 in Toronto, and you can also find information about that on their website. You can also find a link to the Canadian Press story here, and, of course, you can learn more about Guelph's campus and community radio station here! The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, TuneIn and Spotify . Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

    Open Sources Guelph #563 - April 2, 2026

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 6, 2026 58:20


    This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're trying to go for the under-reported stories. First, we will journey to Cuba where somehow things have gotten even worse for the people that live there even without a war (yet). Then, we will consider an important court case out of the United States that might start to generate some accountability for the harms of social media. For more physical harms, like hunger, we have a special guest to discuss those issues. This Thursday, April 2, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss: Crisis in Cuba. While the U.S. is focused on the War in Iran, it hasn't stopped President Donald Trump from pondering his next quagmire closer to home. Since January, Cuba has been facing a growing humanitarian crisis that the United Nations is now calling a catastrophe. Already embargoed for decades, Cuba is now running out of fuel as supplies from Venezuela have been cut off by Trump and there's no sign that the world wants to act. Why is Cuba's suffering being ignored? Social Media's Tobacco Moment. In courts in California and New Mexico last week, social media companies were found liable for getting users addicted to their platforms and refusing to accept responsibility for putting young people at risk. Insulated from consequences by their net worth and a Congress unwilling to regulate, are social media companies finally facing a reckoning in America's court rooms as more governments, attorneys general and school boards file suit? Easter Food Hunt. We know that over 1 million Ontarians now use food banks to fill their daily needs, and we know that more and more working people are accessing food banks for the first time. We also know that the high cost of housing and the ability to pay for one's groceries are tied together in the affordability crisis, but are the upper levels of government doing anything to close the gap this Easter week. Carolyn Stewart, CEO of Feed Ontario, will join us and offer an update on food insecurity issues in Ontario. Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

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