Pints & Politics

When the Ontario Health Coalition warned last spring leading into the provincial election that the Ford government was planning to privatize surgeries and diagnostic services, Ford repeatedly denied that was his plan. Those claims are now shown to be totally false with Bill 60; the Ford government's hospital privatization legislation passed into law on May 8th. This […]

...funding for the arts in Peterborough needs to be managed by an independent body or agency -- a professional arts council -- that is, at arm's length from elected officials.

If this country evolves to fulfill its potential as an open and diverse democracy that welcomes people of all backgrounds and from all countries of origin, we wouldn’t need to celebrate Black History Month. Both newcomers and longtime residents, especially Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) would feel welcomed and valued every month of […]

Expressions of hate have been exploding over the past year.  Whether it's on the news, on social media or in real life, now we hear almost daily accounts of antisemitism, anti-Black racism, anti-trans slurs, anti-LGBT+ attacks, poor bashing and anti-immigrant outbursts. Even in Peterborough. What is going on? And why now? And why these target […]

Peterborough city councillor Stephen Wright explains why he is running for mayor in October's municipal election and what he hopes to achieve in office.

With this episode of the Pints & Politics podcast, we mark another step in our tradition of taking a critical look at what it means to live in this county every July 1st. There are many gaps between the polite and progressive social personas we like to display to the world and the frequently angry […]

The future is always a secret cache of promise and menace. But Spring 2022 finds us in Peterborough awash in a unique flood of unknowns.  We are facing two elections:  the Ontario provincial vote on June 2 & the municipal election on Oct 24.  The ongoing war in Ukraine is upsetting markets and adding to […]

On March 21, 2022, the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) was in Federal Court on behalf of Citizens Against Radioactive Neighbourhoods (CARN — https://www.nopellets.ca/).  CARN has asked the Federal Court to reconsider a decision by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). This Judicial Review has attempted to prevent nuclear fuel pellets from being made in […]

As we look back at the recent pro-vax and anti-vax demonstrations, the trucker convoys, the blockades, the protests in Ottawa and elsewhere (including the slow-roll convoys in Peterborough) and the Emergencies Act invoked then revoked by Justin Trudeau, what do we see? What does our country look like?  The Ottawa Occupation started on January 28th […]

While Pints & Politics usually sticks to its lane by commenting on contemporary politics in Peterborough, Ontario and Canada, we like to go exploring occasionally and leave the maps behind. Author Kate Story’s latest novel, Urchin, was published by Running the Goat Books and Broadsides of St. John’s in October of 2021. According to the […]

This podcast examines two issues: (1) How is Doug Ford’s government in Ontario doing in their management of the pandemic? (2) What level of instability might emerge in the US as a result of the mid-term elections and what might be the impacts of this putative instability on life in Canada? As the pandemic rolls […]

What has happened to Peterborough’s City Council over the past 4 years?  What narrative could explain how we went from the top-down approach of the Bennett years to the optimism of a new, “progressive” council in 2018 to the apparent dissolution of the current season?   Of course, there are many narratives that could take us […]

Normally, I host a panel discussion in these episodes in which we explore all things political with a focus on life in Peterborough, Ontario & Canada.  But this episode is quite different.  Instead of a panel discussion about political issues, I'm going to indulge in a few memories. I'll read an article from the Peterborough […]

This post examines the impact of the September 2021 Canadian federal election on the citizens of the Peterborough-Kawartha riding. This post also examines the national results.

Where are you from?  What do we really mean when we say, “I am a Canadian”?  Or do we even say those words? Except for those of us who are not citizens, the rest of us could say, should we choose to, “I am a Canadian”.  Or are we?  If you are Indigenous, what do […]

The staggering news about the graves found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School broke across the country on the May 24 long weekend. The impact of this news continues to echo across the country as non-Indigenous citizens continue to listen, try to understand and for some, try not to look at what has happened. Indigenous […]

As the pandemic drags on, the suffering of Peterborough’s homeless population intensifies; the pandemic has magnified the inequality of resources throughout our community. Add to this the impact of the escalating real estate market on rental rates; adequate housing is moving further out of reach from more and more people. While several large housing projects […]

Three core members of our politics panel — campaign manager Lauren Hunter, Curve Lake Band Council Member Sean Conway & Property Manager Jenny Lanciault — commend Peterborough’s City Council for deciding to invest the profit from the unpopular sale of PDI. The panel looks at the high level of poverty in Peterborough during this grim […]

Steve Guthrie is a videographer and media professional who has just retired from 41 years with Global CHEX TV in Peterborough. Steve shares his experience with the progression of technologies in his career, what it takes to thrive in a small-market media environment and his thoughts about the current news world as it affects local […]

Our veteran politics panel — consultant Lauren Hunter, journalist & former mayor Sylvia Sutherland, businesswoman Jenny Lanciault, editor Donald Fraser and Curve Lake Council member Sean Conway — starts the new year by unpacking the seismic political events of the first week of January in the United States. They assess what the surprising victories for […]

Peterborough’s mayor and current City Council have 23 months left in their mandate before the next municipal election in October of 2022. What should Council’s main priorities be as their mandate winds down? What should they be sure to get done? Our guest panel from across the city representing a wide cross-section of interests and […]

Our politics panel — Sean Conway, Jenny Lanciault, Sylvia Sutherland & Tim Etherington — take a look back at the historic US election — still undecided as of this date of posting, November 5th. Are the polls ever to be trusted again? How did the candidates manage to attract the huge numbers of voters who […]

Our local politics panellists — businesswoman Jenny Lanciault, journalist & former mayor of Peterborough Sylvia Sutherland and math teacher Tim Etherington– give their assessments of the September 29th Trump vs. Biden debate. What do the current polls mean? Is the middle-class turning against Trump? Will Trump’s branding of Biden as ‘sleepy Joe’ have any effect […]

Long-time politics panellists Sean Conway and Lauren Hunter catch us up on the political goings-on in Ottawa and in the provincial capitals while the rest of the known universe continues with its obsession about Trump vs. Biden. While we have been gorging on US political news, we learn that several provinces are going to the […]

Three of our veteran politics panellists — Curve Lake First Nations Councillor Sean Conway, consultant Lauren Hunter, and writer & editor Donald Fraser — hop across borders as they share their reactions to the September 23rd throne speech delivered in Ottawa, then catch up with U.S. election campaign and the impact of the passing of […]

Four of our veteran politics panellists — Curve Lake First Nations Councillor Sean Conway, journalist & former mayor Sylvia Sutherland, businesswoman Jenny Lanciault and math teacher Tim Etherington — hop across borders as they share their reactions to the September 23rd throne speech delivered in Ottawa, then catch up with U.S. election campaign and the […]

In this episode, businesswoman Jenny Lanciault, freelance writer Aggie Mlynarz and math teacher Tim Etherington continue to explore the main themes of Episode #94: the importance of this election for the global community and the many varieties of voter suppression currently on offer by the Trump administration. For Canadians, this election will set the tone […]

For Canadians, this approaching US election will set the course for our relationship with our largest trading partner for the next 4 years. But much more than that, it will set the tone for international relations, the advancement of such crucial issues as global warming and of course, measures to control the current pandemic. Our […]

Our panel debriefs the Conservatives' leadership vote and dissects the impact of the Liberals' turbulent summer in Ottawa

One half of our politics panel — business-woman Jenny Lanciault, Curve Lake First Nations Band Councillor Sean Conway and former mayor of Peterborough Sylvia Sutherland — assesses the Conservative leadership vote. Then they evaluate the turmoil in Ottawa as the Liberals change finance ministers, prorogue parliament, and signal major changes in their next throne speech. […]

In less than two weeks, Ontario’s school students and staff go back to class. What are the risks? Will the Ministry of Education and the school boards act responsibly if there is an outbreak? Will the government’s plan work or is Doug Ford rolling the dice? Is the government cherry-picking the medical advice that aligns […]

The arts sector provides significant economic benefits to our community that far outweigh its costs. Festivals, concerts, exhibitions, performances, film showings, readings and presentations attract audiences across our town and throughout the calendar year. All that creative activity came to an abrupt halt with the pandemic lockdown back in March. How are Peterborough’s artists surviving […]

Our veteran politics panel — property manager & businesswoman Jenny Lanciault, Curve Lake First Nation Councilor and Ontario NDP Indigenous Peoples Committee Chair Sean Conway, playwright & math teacher, Tim Etherington, and Peterborough This Week Journalist & former mayor of Peterborough, Sylvia Sutherland — unravels the complex chaos of the last few weeks as the […]

What is the impact of this pandemic on Peterborough’s non-profit sector?  And what changes could individual citizens and the community at large implement that would make the work of our non-profits easier in the future?  Our panel of non-profit leaders – Jonathan Bennett, Founder & Senior Associate of Laridae Consulting, Kirsten Armbrust, Executive Director of […]

As the restrictions on public gatherings, businesses and public institutions gradually lift, what should we do to re-build a healthy local economy? What will be the long-term impact of all the government spending on our future abilities as a country to borrow? What will happen to our taxes? Our panel of 3 business leaders and […]

The current cohort of high school & college students is graduating into a vastly-changed — and drastically diminished– job market when compared with former classes who graduated even just a few years ago. Career planning is suddenly on pause. Summer jobs have evaporated, post-secondary courses have migrated to online-only, and the underlying global economy is […]

How have governments at all levels handled the pandemic so far? Has the game of politics itself been changed by this virus? And what will our world look like after the pandemic? Will we fix what was broken? Will we create something new? Or will we try to return to the safe world of the […]

Has Covid-19 shown us too many weak links in our society and in our community?  As Peterborough opens up again, will we re-create the old normal, or will we embrace this opportunity to make significant changes?  Some changes are obvious: the tragic tactic of cutting costs in private-sector nursing homes by employing inadequate numbers of […]

Has Covid-19 shown us too many weak links in our society and in our community?  As Peterborough opens up again, will we re-create the old normal, or will we embrace this opportunity to make significant changes?  Some changes are obvious: the tragic tactic of cutting costs in private-sector nursing homes by employing inadequate numbers of […]

Since mid-March, most of Peterborough has been on some form of quarantine. For the middle-class and more privileged households, the past 7 weeks have been like two months of Sundays.  Our Medical Officer of Health has told us to stay home, and that is what most of us have done.  Great advice, but what if […]

Our politics panel normally looks at discrete political events in time, things like elections, resignations or scandals. All have a beginning, a middle and an ending. The Covid19 outbreak is not just an event. It is a huge ongoing process for our community, our country and the world. We don’t know what the end will […]

The hearing that will listen to citizen reactions to BWXT’s application to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for a licence to produce nuclear fuel pellets in a Peterborough residential neighbourhood is less than 2 weeks away. On March 4, 5 & 6, CNSC’s commissioners come to town to receive reactions from 170 citizen intervenors, […]

Our veteran hockey panel — playwright, math teacher & current hockey player Tim Etherington, writer, podcaster and loyal Habs fan Donald Fraser, hockey broadcaster, sports commentator and host of the “Mercier ‘n Crew” program on 90.5 fm, Jordan Mercier and sports journalist and hockey program host on CHEX TV, Katrina Squazzin— looks at the Petes (and […]

Our expert politics panel, diminished in number but not in spirit, tackles many of the crucial municipal, provincial and federal issues of the day with characteristic aplomb, penetrating perspicacity and devastating humour. What’s on tap? Restricted lake fountains, radioactive fuel pellets, surging property taxes, widening streets, skinny budgets, class-action law-suits over drinking water quality, teacher […]

Three representatives from BWXT make the case for the safety of their nuclear fuel manufacturing operation in Part 1 of this episode. This plant is located in the middle of a residential neighbourhood. An elementary school is across the road from the proposed plant.

In Part 2 Jim Dufresne, a former GE worker with 42-years of experience, including over 20 years working in the nuclear side of the plant, explains his doubts.

Three member of Citizens Against Radioactive Neighbourhoods or CARN explain what citizens can do to help stop BWXT from manufacturing nuclear fuel pellets in a residential neighbourhood in Peterborough. For more details on taking action, go to: https://www.nopellets.ca/interventions

Three volunteers from Citizens Against Radioactive Neighbourhoods (CARN) explain why they are encouraging a community resistance movement against BWXT’s application for 10-year license to manufacture nuclear fuel pellets in a residential neighbourhood in Peterborough.

Three volunteers from Citizens Against Radioactive Neighbourhoods (CARN) explain why they are encouraging a community resistance movement against BWXT’s application for 10-year license to manufacture nuclear fuel pellets in a residential neighbourhood in Peterborough.

Listen to what 3 international students at Fleming College have to say about how they have been received while pursuing their studies in Peterborough. They find that our local citizens are generally very patient and helpful, our winters are intimidating, and our food is bland. They have some hilarious observations about our legendary Canadian politeness, including our penchant for saying 'sorry' to inanimate objects.

In Part 1, our politics panel assesses the fallout from Andrew Scheer’s resignation as Conservative party leader. In Part 2 , the panel looks back at the performance of Peterborough’s city council in 2019.