Podcasts about politicast

Gazeteciler Savaş Kerimoğlu ve Seat Bozkurt, İsrail ve İran arasındaki savaşta Türkiye'nin rolünü konuşuyor: Türkiye ne yaptı, ne yapmalı? İki usta gazeteci aynı zamanda suların durulmadığı CHP'ye de merceklerini tutuyor ve Kılıçdaroğlu'nun İmamoğlu ziyaretinin şifrelerini açıklıyor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Doug Ford and the Ontario government announced that they were expanding alcohol sales to grocery and convenience stores it was seen as a positive move to break up a government monopoly, but The Beer Store still has one important piece of that monopoly: returns. It was an effective example of what we now call the circular economy, but in making alcohol more available, has it cost us the most successful recycling program we've ever had? Next time you buy beer or wine at the grocery store or the quick stop, look at your receipt: You're still paying the 10 or 20 cent deposit on every can and bottle. If you take your empties back to The Beer Store, you can get that money back, but it's becoming more convenient to get rid of your empties by dumping them out in the recycling. That undermines what's been an incredibly successful recycling program through The Beer Store, which, at its peak saw an 80 per cent return rate.  Large grocery stores that sell alcohol and are more than five kilometres from a Beer Store are supposed to be accepting returns but the words “supposed to” are doing a lot of work because, as you'll hear, this is being treated as more of a suggestion than a rule. In their own investigation, Environmental Defence only found one grocery store in Ontario meeting this criteria that is actively accepting empties, and this is only going to get worse as more Beer Store locations close.  One the people raising the alarm on this is Karen Wirsig, who is the plastics program manager of Environmental Defence. She joins us this week to talk about why The Beer Store's recycling program has been so successful, and why maintaining it has been such an afterthought for the government. We will also talk about why grocery retailers are fighting the effort to expand the return program to their stores, the coming danger in 2026 with Beer Store closures, and what you can do to keep getting your deposit back.  So let's talk about your empties on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can learn more about Environmental Defense at their website, or follow them on Instagram. You can follow Karen Wirsig on Twitter @ Karen_Wirsig where she posts about her advocacy efforts on reducing waste and plastic pollution. And if you want to support The Beer Store's recycling program, take your empties back no matter where you bought them. You're paying the deposit anyway. 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.

Data is key to guiding health policy, and health units collect a lot of it, but formatting it, organizing it, and looking for patterns in it can be time consuming, meaning that you're doing a lot of labour that has nothing to do with creating the actual health policy or solving a public health issue. If you're thinking to yourself that this sounds like an ideal solution for artificial intelligence, you're right! At May's Board of Health meeting, staff members discussed “Innovative Public Health with AI and Automation”, meaning the ways that Public Health is using artificial intelligence to enhance their work. The report offered examples of success like using A.I. to process vaccine records, generate immunization notices, and process lab results. You might have interacted with A.I. yourself if you've clicked on the “need help” icon on the Public Health website. The staff at Public Health are very bullish about the possibilities of artificial intelligence, but for a lot of people there are no two scarier initials right now than "A" and "I". In the realm of public health, there are even more pronounced concerns around privacy and the sharing of information, and there's also an important need to share accurate information as well. So how are Public Health staff managing these big considerations?  Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health's Manager of Data & Analytics Michael Whyte and Data Scientist Justin Angevaare will tell you all about those considerations on this week's pod. They will talk about the work that public health is using A.I. to achieve, and how they've decided the best ways to use it. They also talk about the ways that public health is governing the use of A.I. with policy, how they determine which programs they want to use and why, and what they're working on right now. So let's get some good A.I. news on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!  You can learn more about what Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health is up to in the realm of artificial intelligence by reading the staff report from last month's Board of Health meeting, or Guelph Politico's coverage of that meeting. You can stay up-to-date on everything to do with public health at their website, or on social media at @wdgpublchealth on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. 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. Photo courtesy of Disney/Lucasfilm.

Gazeteciler Savaş Kerimoğlu ve Sedat Bozkurt, Gezi eylemlerinin iktidar ve toplum için anlamını, CHP'de neler olduğunu, kongre tartışmalarını ve sonu gelmeyen operasyonları konuşuyor.... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Future of Good released their first ever Changemaker Wellbeing Index, which highlights the pressures facing the workers in the non-profit sector and the results paint an increasingly bleak picture. They also paint a coherent picture, putting together the various pieces that we've been hearing about these last few years: Organizations are struggling for money, staff and volunteers, and now we have the data! The Changemaker Wellbeing Index surveyed 1,100 Canadian non-profit workers, from frontline staff to senior leaders. Future of Good worked with GreenShield, ATB Financial, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, WES Mariam Assefa Fund, Definity Insurance Foundation and United Way Centraide Canada, while Environics Research did the heavy lifting with the surveying. What they learned was kind of shocking. Of the 1,100 people surveyed, 36 per cent said that they "often or always" feel burned out or exhausted, 31 per cent said that they experience food insecurity, and that rises to 48 per cent for frontline staff,  and one-in-three non-profit workers said that they're ready to quit. At issue is low wages, and half of entry-level workers say they're struggling because of it, so what lessons can we take from this survey and what solutions can be put in action? Anouk Bertner, who is the executive director of Future of Good, will join us to talk about those lessons and more on this edition of the podcast. She will talk about how they put together the Index, and the methodology they used to get the most accurate picture possible. She will also talk about the perceptions of non-profit work, why arts and culture workers are being hit the hardest, why compensation is not the end of the story here, and why more money may not be the answer. So let's talk about the state of Canada's non-profits in this week's Guelph Politicast! You can learn more about Future of Good at their website, which is where you can find a direct link to their Changemaker Wellbeing Index and get all the information and statistics that we talked about on this pod. If you're interested in helping out local non-profits here in Guelph and Wellington, you can can see the list of various community services at 211 Ontario, and you can see a list of volunteer opportunities through the United Way 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.

This week Guelph city council is taking a holiday break, and perhaps understandably, because it has been a very busy year in the chambers so far. The first four months of the year brought a lot of change, a lot of drama, and some pretty big decisions that tested the fiscal and political capacity of a rapidly growing Ontario city. Now, we will pause and take stock of just how far we've come so far... January began with some unfinished business from last year, quite literally. Council heard the budget of the local boards and shared services, which accounts for one-third of the total annual city budget. That seemed to go pretty smoothly, but it was a reminder that Guelph's fiscal picture, while stable, is facing tremendous pressures, which was a recurring theme through talk of debentures and risk management later. Housing continued to be a big theme in the first trimester of 2025. There weren't a lot of new housing development proposals, but there were a few big ones, and there was a few discussions about how hey can use the tools to make more affordability housing options happen, and make them happen faster, but the options are still fairly limited. Plus, council revisited the Public Space Use Bylaw in the process. Although it doesn't make the headlines, council also shook up itself. One councillor went on maternity leave and another took a leave of absence to run for higher office. There were also changes approved to council governance and a re-launch of the advisory committees of council, and at least one of them caused some blowback on city council before April was over. All this just constitutes the tip of a very big iceberg, can we cover it all in one pod?! So let's get into the event of city council in 2025 so far in this week' Guelph Politicast! Council is taking this week off, but will meet again on Tuesday May 27 at 6 pm. You can get all the previews, recaps and follow-ups on this website, 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.

Usta gazeteciler Savaş Kerimoğlu ve Sedat Bozkurt, süreçte gelinen aşamayı, Lozan tartışmasını ve Erdoğan'ın tarihi çarpıtmasını konuşuyor. Ekonomideki gelişmeler de ikilinin gündeminde... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have a weird situation: We've elected two new governments at both upper levels in the last four months and the hope is that they can turn things around, and yet, these are also, essentially, the old governments. How can we possibly expect better results from the new old people in charge, and are we even more alone than ever here on the local level? We'll put this to one of the people whose job it is to advocate. This week, the Ontario government announced something novel: changing municipal planning rules and fees to make the construction of housing faster. Despite the numerous regulations rolled back and the growing amount of money deferred from municipal coffers, Ontario is at the bottom in Canada in terms of housing starts. As for the federal government, well, it remains to be seen what exactly Mark Carney can deliver over and above his predecessor. One of the groups designed to help co-ordinate the needs of fighting poverty locally is the Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination, whose goal is to work collaboratively, and informed by diverse voices of experience, to take local action and advocate for system and policy change to address the root causes of poverty. It's a worthy mission, but one that's getting harder to accomplish as community frustrations about higher costs and limited options. So, can we still fulfill the project of eliminating poverty? Dominica McPherson, who is the director of the Task Force for will talk about the current state of advocacy with all three levels of government and whether or not things have gotten better or worse on the poverty file in the last few years. She will also talk about why the focus needs to be on permanent housing solutions, how Guelph and Wellington have actually done well on developing those options and how we can keep that momentum going forward. Also, what are the efforts the task force is undertaking right now? So let's stay on mission with this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast! You can learn more about the Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination and get involved at their website. After recording this interview I did get an update that the Wellington-Guelph Health and Housing Community Planning Table will be releasing a report about the work that's been done since the Health and Housing Symposium next month, so stay tuned for more information sometime mid-June 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.

MHP Genel Başkanı Devlet Bahçeli'nin açıklamaları ile başlayan süreç, baş döndürücü bir hızla sürüyor. PKK kongre sonuçlarını açıkladı. PKK, "fesih" ve "silahlı mücadeleye son verme" konusunda Abdullah Öcalan'ın çağrısına uyacağını açıkladı. Peki bundan sonra ne olacak? Bu kararın sonuçları ne olacak? Politicast'te deneyimli gazeteciler Sedat Bozkurt ve Savaş Kerimoğlu anlatıyor... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The recent federal election was the formal turning of the page from the premiership of Justin Trudeau to the one led by Mark Carney. For long-time political observers, the difference between the two men in both style and substance is stark, but there's no doubt that the change in leadership in March is at least half the reason the Liberals got a near majority last week. And yet, the question remains: What happened to Trudeau-mania? The date was February 7, 2013. The location was the Brass Taps, the pub on the second floor of the University Centre at the University of Guelph. Packing them in that day was Justin Trudeau, then a candidate for federal Liberal leadership. At this point, the Liberals were in the political wilderness, but there was a new kid on the block who had different ideas. The pundits didn't really take Justin Trudeau seriously, but the young people in the Brass Taps that day did. They really, really did. How did the excitement about Justin Trudeau and his “Sunny Ways” sour so completely that his mere removal from the ballot made the party he revived competitive again? Was it the right-wing smear job? Was it the rise of Trumpism and anti-woke sentiment? Was it the lingering social and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic? It could be all three and it could be none of it, but it's one of the great questions of this political era, and this episode of the podcast. To answer it, we're joined by Mustafa Zuberi, who was, for a time, the president of the Young Liberals at the U of G and served as the Liberal candidate for Guelph in the recent provincial election. Zuberi was one of the thousands of young people drawn to politics by Trudeau and his idealism, so he will help us understand how he inspired so many young people, why that youthful energy started to move to the right in recent years, and how Trudeau might have been more of a victim of circumstance than ability. So let's talk about the rise and fall of Justin Trudeau on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can follow Mustafa Zuberi on Instagram. You can check out the coverage from Justin Trudeau's stop at the Brass Taps in 2013 on the original Guelph Politico Blogspot. And obviously, we will be keeping up with the latest developments from the new Canadian Prime Minister every Thursday at 5 pm on Open Sources Guelph on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca 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.

Sırrı Süreyya Önder'in vefatı 'Terörsüz Türkiye' çalışmasını nasıl etkiler? Önder yerine heyete yeni bir isim girer mi? Özgür Özel'e saldırı ve siyasetin dili İktidar her ne olursa olsun ekonomi konuşulmasın istiyor! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time you're listening to this you know how it all turned out: Carney's the PM, a plurality of voters went Conservative though not enough in Carleton to send the leader back to the House. The NDP are decimated, the Greens are down to one seat again, and the Bloc have called a truce in the name of "national unity"(?). What an election! Let's live through it all again!! From 8 pm to midnight on Election Night, the tag team of me and Scotty Hertz, plus CFRU programming director (and renowned Wikipedia editor) Christopher Currie, were live to air covering the results as they came into the CFRU newsroom... through the CBC's live vote tracker page. The focus was local, with coverage of the two Guelph ridings, but our view was nation-wide from coast to coast to coast. And there were some special guests as well! Over the course of the night we heard from Emily Blake, the associate editor of Cabin Radio, a Local Journalism Initiative reporting on the Dehcho region and the Northwest Territories' housing crisis that's funded in part by the Government of Canada. We also heard from Kim Siever from The Alberta Worker, an independent media outlet that focuses on labour and politics founded in April 2020. So let's relive the 2025 Canadian Election on this week's Guelph Politicast! Keep tuning in to Open Sources Guelph Thursdays at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca! 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.

Gazeteciler Savaş Kerimoğlu ve Sedat Bozkurt, Politicast'te İBB'ye yapılan ikinci dalga operasyonun yaratacağı sonuçları, Erdoğan'ın planını ve CHP'nin tutumunu ele alıyor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you listen to this show promptly on Wednesday then it's just five more sleeps till Election Day! About a quarter of us have been so excited that we just couldn't wait to vote; 7.3 million Canadians made voting part of their Easter weekend festivities, a new record. What's been driving all this excitement? What about the party platforms? The manoeuvres of the national party leaders? And what the hell happened at those post-debate scrums? Once you might have been right saying that the electorate was eager to replace an old and tired regime under Justin Trudeau for the slick sloganeering of Pierre Poilievre, but as he usually does, Trump changed everything. Not content to make himself the main character of American politics, the U.S. President's large shadow has been cast over the 45th Canadian general election, and that means it could be Mark Carney's game even more than Poilievre. But this is the Guelph Politicast, so let's talk about Guelph, which is a riding, but not the only riding with Guelph in it. Guelph is now carried over two ridings: Guelph and Wellington-Halton Hills North. That means when the election is over, about 20,000 Guelphites will have an entirely different MP from the rest of the city, and if the polls are to be believed, they will each be represented by two different parties. Perhaps the post-election period is going to be even more interesting than this whole election... But that's a conversation for a later day. This conversation is with Open Sources Guelph co-host Scotty Hertz, back by popular demand, to talk all about the election. We'll discuss the added level of difficulty of covering two local races, the impact of splitting Guelph between two ridings, and the considerations being made by local voters. We will also talk about how people seem to be embracing stability, the politics of independent media, and why you shouldn't move your stuff using a Cyber Truck(?).  So let's talk about the Canadian election campaign in 45 minutes or less on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can tune into election night coverage on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca on Monday starting at 8 pm, and if you're interested in hearing interviews with the candidates running in Guelph and Wellington-Halton Hills North, tune in on Thursdays on CFRU or download OSG on Monday on this feed. You can also watch the interviews on Open Sources new YouTube channel. I will also be appearing at this week's Breezy Breakfast at DeBar to talk more about the election, assuming that you haven't had enough already 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.

We're at the end of another school year, and while some students are looking forward to summer, they're also looking forward to next fall. Or perhaps even stressing over it. Housing is a big issue in Guelph, and it's somehow even bigger when it comes to student housing. Last summer, the largest first-year student enrolment ever weighed on students and the greater Guelph community, but relief may be coming if city council doesn't get in the way(?). So what, city council doesn't want student housing in Guelph? Let's just say it's complicated. This is about phase two of the Alma, which is on the site of the former Holiday Inn at Stone and Scottsdale. The renovation of the old hotel was phase one, and phase two will add another nearly 600 beds, but there's a snag and it's whether or not Forum Asset Management has to pay over $15 million in development fees. The Ontario government has made student residences exempt from DCs, but there's some question about how you define “student residences”; does that apply only to student residences owned and operated by a post-secondary institution itself, or can it also apply to a private for-profit development like The Alma that just so happens to be on land owned by a university? This will be a question that council will have to answer on April 29, and this week, we will hear about the stakes. Owen Ellis, who is the president of the Real Estate Students Association at the University of Guelph, is the guest this week to talk about the current state of student housing in the city, and what options that students would like to see when they're looking for a place to live in the Guelph. We also talk about the expectations and responsibilities for the University of Guelph, private developers, and why we all need to organize to do better for student renters. So let's dig into another great housing debate on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can check out the website for the app he's working on here. City council will look at the appeal of the development charges for phase two of the Alma on Tuesday April 29, and that agenda will be published on the City's website this Thursday. Remember: If you're interested in hearing interviews with the candidates running in Guelph and Wellington-Halton Hills North (which includes parts of Guelph), tune in to Open Sources Guelph on Thursdays on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca, or download OSG on Monday on this feed. 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.

These are busy days at Politico HQ. There's a federal election on right now, and Guelph has become so big that it's spread over two ridings with so far a dozen candidates vying to be the next Members of Parliament. If one candidate in particular is successful then that means there will be a vacancy on Guelph city council. What happens then? In the rare event that the City of Guelph has to fill a vacant council seat in the middle of a council term, for whatever the reason, the City Council Vacancy Policy goes into effect. It sets out the options for what the mayor and council should do if the there's an empty seat at the council table, or what a council should do if they suddenly find themselves without a mayor. This week's episode of the podcast is dedicated to a reading of the City Council Vacancy Policy. Consider it an educational experience, and what can be more essential as we battle misinformation and look to resolve long-running blind spots in our civic awareness because while we love to complain about government many of us don't really know how it works. With this entry of the pod, we will start to aim to change that.   So let's dig into policy (for a change) on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can read the City Council Vacancy Policy here, and you can check out the list of other City of Guelph policies here. Remember: If you're interested in hearing interviews with the candidates running in Guelph and Wellington-Halton Hills North (which includes parts of Guelph), tune in on Thursdays on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca, or download OSG on Monday on this feed. 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.

These are some heady political times. We've already made it through one election this year, and we're now in the midst of another. As we're going to air, the consumer carbon tax is gone, the major parties are duelling to see who can be the most moderate, and it appears that things like environmental stewardship and compassion are just not affordable. Maybe it's time to re-calibrate. Let's talk about the last few weeks at city council for a moment. This week's Committee of the Whole meeting tackled the new Private Tree Bylaw and the potential use of the Drill Hall as an art and cultural centre, which the staff report made it clear that these are things we can't fully afford now. And last week, the Public Space Use Bylaw was amended so there's definitely message emanating from inside the halls of city hall: We're now in a time of austerity. It's a dirty word that activists don't like hearing, especially if they're on the progressive side. Not wanting to get lost in the mishegoss of the federal election happening right now, we're going to re-calibrate and focus on city hall stuff, and regular council observer and a semi-regular council delegate Morgan Dandie is going to help us with that. She's often been a fly in the ointment at city council on all kinds of issues, so how is she feeling about the current political moment as a council observer? Morgan Dandie will answer that and other questions as she talks about the state of city council, the state of Mayor Guthrie's perceived relationship with the other members of council, and how “Gotcha moments” are in the eye of the beholder. She will also talk about whether or not she thinks her delegations have an impact, being open to learning new things, her own successful efforts to improve herself as a speaker and a politician, and what keeps her hopeful as an activist.  So let's get into some Guelph Politi-Chat on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can follow Morgan Dandie on Instagram. You can see what she said at Committee of the Whole yesterday and get other information about what's coming up at city council meetings on the City of Guelph's website. And a programming note: If you're interested in hearing interviews with the candidates running in Guelph and Wellington-Halton Hills North (which includes parts of Guelph), tune in on Thursdays on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca, or download OSG on Monday on this feed.  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.

In six days, the doors of Guelph's Consumption and Treatment site will close for the last time. Unless a Charter challenge in an Ontario court succeeds, the Ontario government's mandate to close a dozen different CTSes and replacement them with new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment, or HART, Hubs. Or at least that was the plan. Either way, what happens on April 1? It was kind of a surprise last summer when the Ontario government announced that they were closing several consumption and treatment sites. The justification? Safety. Any CTS within 200 metres of a school or daycare has to close down and in their place is a HART Hub, which will provide primary care, mental health services, shelter and transition beds, supportive housing and more. Looking at the numbers, the success of the Guelph CTS is clear; 41,000 visits, 1,000 referrals to primary care, 44 people per month referred to treatment, 311 drug poisonings reversed - only 12 requiring a follow trip to the hospital - and zero fatalities. While activists and advocates welcome the nearly $400 million in new funding, especially for the housing, but there's still a lot of concern about what's going to happen April 1. To learn more, we're joined this week by Guelph Community Health Centre executive director Melissa Kwiatkowski and Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy manager Jean Hopkins. They will discuss the anxieties and concerns about the pending closure of the CTS, the impact on the services Community Health can offer, and what exactly will change on April 1. They will also discuss what the Guelph HART Hub will offer, how it's not a replacement for safe consumption services, and how they're planning on filling the gaps between the two. Let's talk about these last days for the CTS on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can learn more about the CTS at the Community Health website and you can find the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy website here. There will be another drug poisoning and overdose response skills training on Tuesday April 29 at 6:30 pm at Art Not Shame downtown, and you can find direct links to more information about the transition from the CTS to the HART Hub 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.

Maybe you don't remember, or want to remember, but it was this time five years ago that the world closed down as COVID-19 became so virulent that it required us to be sequestered for months or else keep six feet apart while wearing a mask or other PPE. Many of us have memory-holed those events, some have re-written it as an overreaction or, even worse than that, a conspiracy, but perhaps the time has come to face our trauma about the pandemic. Here are some of the headlines from the March 20, 2020 edition of the Guelph Politico Tip Sheet newsletter: “All City of Guelph facilities are now closed to the public including City Hall", “The two remaining city council meetings for March have been cancelled”, and “The Guelph General Hospital, as well as other area hospitals, have initiated more stringent measures on who can visit the hospital and when”. There was a lot going on, and no one knew how it was all going to shake out in the end. It may not seem like it, but on this fifth anniversary of the pandemic, COVID-19 is still around. Even once diligent maskers don't mask anymore, even when they're sick, fewer people are getting their booster shots, and when you talk to people about their pandemic memories it's about how we took it too seriously and spent too much in response. Is that how you remember it? What should we be thinking about following our COVID experience now half-a-decade later? The perfect guest to answer these and similar questions is Dr. Nicola Mercer, who is the Medical Officer of Health for Wellington, Dufferin, and Guelph. She's going to talk about the warning signs she saw in advance, what she and Public Health got right about the pandemic response, and what she thinks they might have done better in hindsight. We will also talk about the lessons learned, the current state of COVID-19, and how our experiences might inform the response to the next pandemic. So let's rewind to 2020 on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can learn more about Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health at their website, where you can find links to information about immunizations, health alerts, data dashboards, and agendas for the Board of Health meetings. You can also follow them on social media @WDGPublicHealth on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. 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.

When we talk about the affordability crisis, you sometimes hear the term “legislated poverty”, meaning the state of social assistance rates like Ontario Works and ODSP that assure people can never get ahead because the amounts paid never cover all the real costs of daily life. That's why Mike Morrice decided to act when he was elected to the House of Commons in 2021, but like all great quests, it hasn't ended up the way he envisioned. Can one person make a difference? This is the question when you elect anyone, but without a party whip or a legislative agenda, an MP pretty much has to follow their own north star and Kitchener MP Morrice followed his star to a private member's bill called the Canada Disability Benefit Act. The goal was to offer low-barrier, additional assistance to people with disabilities to help get them out of legislated poverty, but as always happens, reality couldn't live up to aspirations. When finished, the act proposed that people with disabilities in Canada will receive *up to* $200 per month once they've been approved for the Disability Tax Credit and all the requisite forms have been filled. On top of that, there was even doubt for a while that disabled people would even start getting their $200 this summer because the Treasury Board hadn't approved the regulations until last week, which wouldn't have happened at all in the event of a snap election. So how does the man who sponsored the Canada Disability Benefit Act feel now that he's on the other side? Morrice will talk about that, why he fought so hard for the act, and why, even though it's watered down, it's still going to be a game changer for people with disabilities in Canada. He will also talk about the ins and outs working with the government to get the bill done, fighting for key provisions to make the bill better, and the marathon the last few weeks to get the regulations finished before any potential election.  So let's talk about how the proverbial sausage gets made on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can learn more about the Canada Disability Benefit Act on the Government of Canada's website. You can also check out Mike Morrice's ongoing advocacy on this and other issues at his 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.

Although housing and homelessness has been THE issue for the last few years, it feels like they didn't make a dent in the recently completed provincial election. As the news obsessively tracks the tariff war and Doug Ford's response to Donald Trump's latest drama, the struggles of growing unaffordability and homelessness seems to have taken a back seat., So now that the election is over, does anyone in authority still care about these issues? Back in December, Premier Ford held a media event at Queen's Park. In the company of several mayors he announced the Ontario Restoring Safety to Parks and Public Spaces Act, a bill that expanded police powers in dealing with encampments and offered stiffer penalties for people who repeatedly break trespass laws and use illegal drugs in public. But just before the election call there was a turnaround, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing said that maybe it wasn't needed after all. Not wanting to take chances, the Ontario Coalition for the Rights of Homeless People's tried to rally the political parties to all make the same campaign promise: A clear public commitments against criminalizing homelessness. Three of the four major parties signed up in common cause, but guess which one did not. With a new four-year majority for the Ford government secured there are now a lot of questions about what will happen next on the homelessness file. There many questions to ask, and this week we're asking  Diana Chan McNally, who is a community and crisis worker in Toronto and co-ordinator of the Ontario Coalition for the Rights of Homeless People. She will talk about her expectations before the election, how issues of poverty got overshadowed by tariffs, and her concerns about another attempt at criminalizing homelessness. She will also discuss what the action plan is now, and why the next fight with the provincial government will be through municipalities. So let's talk about where we go no on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can learn more about The Ontario Coalition for the Rights of Homeless People at their website. You can follow her on social media on Twitter and Blue Sky and you find links to her activism, op-eds and other work at Link Tree. At present there's no word on when the legislature will return or when and if the government will table the Ontario Restoring Safety to Parks and Public Spaces Act again. 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.

It's been four weeks since Doug Ford asked the Lieutenant-Governor to dissolve the legislature and it really hasn't felt like anything has changed. Now, we will go to the polls on Thursday to decide who will form the provincial government for the next four years and despite all the issues, it feels like it's still going to be the people who've run it for the last seven years. So what have we missed this election? Early voting last weekend registered a six per cent voter turnout across Ontario. Not great. Accessibility activists have noted that this winter campaign generally, and the last week of wicked weather specifically, have thrown up big barriers to participation for anyone that's not able bodied, and wasn't that the point? It sure seems like it was and the impact has been pretty visibly felt: How many election events have you been to? Out of the campaign trail it's been rough going. The two likely successors to Doug Ford - Marit Stiles and Bonnie Crombie - have been straining to get attention. The Greens, led by Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner, have been pragmatic: They will not form a government, but they might be able to secure a few extra seats. And as for the big man himself he's been playing fast and loose with election rules, and going back and forth as candidate and premier. Now, there's 24 hours left till Election Day. What will happen? Scotty Hertz, co-host every week on Open Sources Guelph, appears today for a pre-game show. We will talk about what six per cent early voter turnout means, the ins and outs of winter campaigning, and why this didn't end up being a change election. We will also talk about the leaders' campaign, the various party strategies, and why Ford's been allowed to slide on all the domestic failures while failing in Washington on trade. Also what questions do we have going into our election night coverage? So let's get into this election that almost was on this week's Guelph Politicast! This Thursday, February 27, we will be going live to air for results and analysis starting at 8 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca. For the interviews with the candidates running in the ridings of Guelph and Welligton-Halton Hills, you can check out previous episodes on this feed. To find where and how to vote this Thursday, go to elections.on.ca to find the polling location nearest you.  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.

According to the latest polls, the governing PCs might be in minority government territory, and the spoiler might be a revitalized Liberal Party. In Wellington-Halton Hills it will be a big climb because while this seat is open, the Liberals finished fourth in a close race for second in 2022. Is there the possibility that without Ted Arnott on the ballot that voters might be willing to take a closer look at the man from Acton? When he was last elected in 2022, Arnott won more votes than the NDP, Greens, Liberals, and New Blue combined. Incumbency has its advantages, but so does longevity. How many people in Wellington-Halton Hills were voting for Arnott out of sheer habit? For 34 years at the Ontario legislature, Ted Arnott was always there. In fact, for some people living in Halton Hills and some parts of Wellington, Ted Arnott is the only MPP they've ever known Alex Hilson is one of those people. It's interesting to note that two of the people running to replace Arnott are Halton Hills councillors. Hilson represents Ward 1 in Acton, and has been running a pretty solid social media campaign during this election. He's a people person, as his background working with youth and the Acton BIA might imply, but will the people be willing to take a chance on him as part of a new Liberal dynasty? Hilson join us to answer that question and more. He will talk about his background, why youth matters right now in Halton Hills politics, and how his experience as a city councillor informed his desire to run for provincial office. We will also talk about the Liberal comeback under Bonnie Crombie, and what the Liberals need to do in order to earn the trust of the electorate again. Plus what issues is Hilson personally concerned about? So let's talk about a Liberal comeback on this episode of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast! You can learn more about Alex Hilson and his campaign at this website. For the interviews with the candidates running in the riding of Guelph this provincial election, you can check out Open Sources Guelph. Election Days is this Thursday, February 27, and we will be going live to air with the CFRU News Team that night with election results and analysis starting at 8 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca. 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.

In 2022, the three major Ontario opposition parties finished very closely together in Wellington-Halton Hills with the Liberals finishing 804 votes short of the second place NDP, and 82 votes short of the third place Greens. It shouldn't be much of a surprise then that the Green Party of Ontario sees Wellington-Halton Hills as prime target for an upset this election, but can the party be that upsetting with so much on the line? If you follow Mike Schreiner's campaign schedule, you will note that he's oscillating between four different ridings: Guelph (obviously), Kitchener-Centre, Parry Sound-Muskoka, and, as you might have guessed, Wellington-Halton Hills. Whether the Green Party can win this riding will largely depend on their candidate, and in this case it's a councillor from the literal and figurative centre of Wellington-Halton Hills. Wilton was first elected to Centre Wellington council in 2022 after growing up in the area, going to the University of Guelph and starting her own business in Fergus. She's one of three municipal councillors in this race, which might speak to an inherent frustration with our political system. So what happens if the Green Party makes a breakthrough here? What does it mean if the voters there reject over three decades of PC control?  Those are just a couple of the questions that Wilton will answer on this week's podcast. She will also talk about why she wanted to run for provincial office, why she's running for the Green Party, and why Schreiner is so confident that the odds are in her favour. She will also talk about why the environment needs to be a bigger issue, what the Ford government's impact on rural Ontarians has been, and whether she agrees with Schreiner's assertion that Doug Ford has not made rural Ontario a priority.  So let's talk about going Green on this episode of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast! You can learn more about  Bronwynne Wilton and her campaign at her campaign website or the Green Party website. We will be cranking out another episode of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast this weekend, and, as you're waiting, keep in mind that advanced voting is on February 20 through 22 and you can find out where to go at elections.on.ca. NOTE: You will be able to hear interviews with all of the Provincial election candidates running in Guelph every Monday on the podcast version of Open Sources Guelph, and every Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca! 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.

There are seven people running in Wellington-Halton Hills, but only one of them is a party leader. If you're looking at this election and are thinking to yourself that it's pretty messed up that the premier can just call an election 16 months early and in the midst of several intermingling crisis, and that there should be a better way, then you might be the type of voter that Ron Patava and Consensus Party is looking for. Patava has previously been a guest on this podcast. He ran in Wellington-Halton Hills as one of a dozen Consensus candidates around Ontario, but in between then and now he has risen through the ranks to the leadership of Consensus. Not that Consensus is really focused on leadership, or course. It's meant to be a stirring call to have " a decision-making structure that involves and takes into account as broad a range of opinions as possible." Patava learned from this 2022 campaign: It's not enough to be about building a new system, it's about trying to do more to promote the types of change people are looking for everyday. As you will hear in this interview, he's got three policy ideas in addition to creating a new consensus-based government. It's compelling and slightly outside the box thinking, but even in an open riding like Wellington-Halton Hills, can a candidate like Patava get ahead? He's going to talk about that, how he was elevated to the role of leader, and whether or not the last few years at Queen's Park have proved him right when it comes to needing a new way of doing government business. He will also tells us again about how a consensus government model would work, what he can do for the riding as a one man band, and why voters should take a flyer on him in this moment where a 34-year incumbent has left the field. So let's build consensus on this edition of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast! You can learn more about the Consensus Party and his candidacy at their website. We will be cranking out another episode of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast this weekend, and, as you're waiting, keep in mind that advanced voting is on February 20 through 22 and you can find out where to go at elections.on.ca. NOTE: You will be able to hear interviews with all of the Provincial election candidates running in Guelph every Monday on the podcast version of Open Sources Guelph, and every Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca! 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, Stitcher, Google, 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.

In some respects, Wellington-Halton Hills is the riding to watch this year because, for the first time in three decades. it's competitive. Ted Arnott announced that he would not be seeking re-election at the end of the last term, and while the PC Party would like to hold on to this one, opportunity is knocking for the other major parties. Today, Ontario's official opposition will make their case for the riding next door! Of the four major party candidates in Wellington-Halton Hills, only one of them is not presently a politician with a municipal council. Between those four, there's also an even split between candidates representing the urban side of the riding, and the more rural parts. Simone Kent is the from the rural side, and she's the one major party candidate who's not presently in a political office, but that's not to say that she doesn't keep busy. Kent has a unique resume being both a dairy farmer and an education worker. She's stayed active in organizations like Centre Wellington's environmental committee and Jersey Ontario, a non-profit association for Jersey cow owners and breeders. Farming, education, the environment, grassroots organizing: that's about as good as it gets for a resume for an NDP candidate, but what does Kent think of the issues, and what does she want to do as the first MPP in nearly 35 years whose not Ted Arnott? We will get an answer to that and other questions on this week's edition of the podcast as Kent talks about why she's running and being the only major party candidate not already in politics. She will also talk about what an NDP-led Ontario government will do for Ontarians, and what kind of premier Marit Stiles would be. Also, she will discuss, whether Doug Ford has been ignoring Ontario's farmers, and the issues she wants to put front and centre in these last two weeks of this very truncated campaign. So let's dig into the NDP case on this edition of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast! You can learn more about the Ontario NDP, their candidates, and their platform at the party's website. We will be cranking out another episode of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast this weekend, and, as you're waiting, keep in mind that advanced voting is on February 20 through 22 and you can find out where to go at elections.on.ca. NOTE: You will be able to hear interviews with all of the Provincial election candidates running in Guelph every Monday on the podcast version of Open Sources Guelph, and every Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca! 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, Stitcher, Google, 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.

ACORN is on the frontline of fighting the housing and affordability crises for low and moderate income people and in Ontario they've invested a lot of attention lately on one bad guy, Michael Klein. If that name sounds familiar, it's because he's the so-called "King of Renovictions". Last week the two sides came face-to-face, sort of, at the Landlord Tenant Board, but don't think this is the end of the fight! On January 21st, Hamilton tenants living at 221 Melvin Avenue went to the LTB for the first of 20 such board hearings around a single respondent who's bought apartment buildings around the Golden Horseshoe, Michael Klein. Klein's pattern is clear: He buys a building, issues N13s, people move out of their rent controlled units, and jacks up the rent after some cosmetic change. He's even doing it here in Guelph with three buildings on Brant Avenue.  At the heart of Klein's scheme is a misunderstanding on the part of tenants about their rights. An N13 is meant to be used when you need to demolish the rental unit, do extensive repairs or renovations, or convert it into a non-residential use. ACORN argues that this is purposeful, it's a strategy to take affordable housing and squeeze more profit out of it, which is why they want the LBT to consider all 20 cases as one. It's one way ACORN is taking on what might be its biggest and boldest protest yet!  Jacquie Wells, who is one of the organizers of Waterloo Region ACORN, will join us this week to talk about who Michael Klein is, how deep the issue with renovictions in Ontario goes, and how many Michael Klein types are out there. She will also talk about the strategies Klein uses to lean on tenants to get them to leave, and the difficulties that  ACORN and other activists have experienced trying to organize against him. And finally, she will discuss what comes next in the fight against renovictions.  So let's talk about taking down The King on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can learn more about ACORN at their website, where you can find their 2024 Michael Kein report. You can also follow ACORN Waterloo Region on Facebook and Instagram. There's also an article that was published on Guelph Today over the holidays that's worth reading because it features rare commentary from Klein himself 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.

It's hard to think of any aid agency busier these days than the Guelph Food Bank these days, and to prove it, they went to city council last November during budget delegation night to ask for help. It might come as a surprise to learn that the Food Bank has never received any government funding, but it's proof that food insecurity is now outside their control, and it's the reason for changes that they've started to undertake. According to Feed Ontario, over one million people accessed a food bank in Ontario between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, which is an increase of 25 per cent over the year before and an 86 per cent increase since 2019-2020, the last year before the pandemic. To put that in context, one out of every 16 people in Ontario have been to a food bank lately, and if you think Guelph has escaped this deluge you would be wrong. That's why the Guelph Food Bank went to city council last fall. With 4,000 individuals using the Food Bank each month, which is more than double since before the pandemic,  the Food Bank needs government help for the first time. Its main location at 100 Crimea Street will now serve as a kind of distribution centre from where the food will flow to 10 satellite locations around the city. The Food Bank is adapting, and while they can't do it alone, they do have a plan Carolyn McLeod-McCarthy, Managing Director of the Guelph Food Bank, will join us this week to talk about that plan, and the pressures that they've been dealing with over the last few years that are unique to them. She will also talk about working with food pantries, co-ordinating with all local groups to fight food insecurity and going to city council to ask for financial help for the first time. And finally, she will talk about what the fight against food insecurity might look like in a few years.  So let's dig into the changes at the Food Bank on this week's Guelph Politicast! To learn more about the Guelph Food Bank, what services they provide, how you can volunteer, or how you can donate, you can visit the Food Bank website. You can also call the Food Bank at 519-767-1380 during their office hours, which is Monday through Friday 9 am to 5 pm. You can also follow them on the socials @guelphfoodback on Facebook and Instagram. 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.

The CAO position is the highest ranking official in local government that doesn't have the job title of either mayor or city councillor, and it's the only staff position at city hall that's hired by a committee made up of the mayor and councillors. So yes, it's a pretty important job, and it's not like there's any shortage of issues or needs for the new woman in charge as she enters her first full year in charge. It was about this time last year that Scott Stewart announced that he would be retiring by the summer. Stewart had been the CAO for five years, and they were probably the most challenging five years any CAO has experienced in the history of Guelph. (Well, so far.) He got a lot done, but there also ended up being a lot of work for Tara Baker to do once she picked up the baton in mid-September. Fortunately, she had something of a head start.  Before becoming the CAO, Baker had spent 13 years at Guelph city hall, including the last eight as the City Treasurer and the General Manager of Finance. If the emphasis is to be put on affordability now, as it was with the last budget she worked on as Treasurer, it puts even more pressure on Baker as she's managing all the spinning plates in her new office. On this edition of the podcast, she will tell us what comes next.  Yes, Baker joins us this week to talk about why she wanted to be the CAO, why she thinks she stood out from the other applicants and the changing role of the CAO position after the introduction of Strong Mayor Powers. She will also talk about the search for a new City Treasurer, and the greater emphasis on affordability when it comes to City business. Also, she will discuss the changes she's making to the job, and what she wants her legacy to be when it becomes her turn to retire from the role. So let's get the 4-1-1 on the new CAO on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can see Baker's plan for goals and objectives for the coming year as part of the council agenda package for the January 28 meeting here, and you can just learn more generally about the CAO office here. And speaking of podcasts, you can check out Baker's appearance on Breezy Breakfast from last October and you can find that pod on whatever platform you listen to his one on. 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.

The 2025 State of the City is coming up soon - Thursday February 6 to be precise - and as we always do at this time of year, we're going to roll the audio from the previous year's State of the City as a refresher course. The goal is to remember where we were at the time, where the mayor wanted to take us, and where we ended up now before Mayor Cam Guthrie starts looking to the future again! Do you really need to listen to this to be reminded of the most salient point of last year's State of the City address? Here's the most relevant quote: “When cities are faced with strong issues, it requires a strong team to tackle them. However, to set the tone and the pace, you need a strong mayor. Therefore, effective today, I am announcing that I will use the Strong Mayor powers throughout the rest of this term.” That was the moment Guthrie changed the game, and it came as a really big surprise to his council colleagues, many of whom were sitting front row or centre at the speech. Beforehand, the mayor gave away no hints that he was going to drop this bomb despite years of reticence, if not opposition, to the existence of such powers, but that was the headline coming out of the State of the City in 2024. Was that the end of the story though? Of course it's not, and on this week's edition of the podcast you will hear the whole speech, including a Q&A afterwards, where Guthrie saluted outgoing CAO Scott Stewart, talked about the success securing Housing Accelerator Funding, and promoted the then-theoretical Public Spaces Use Bylaw. He also announced the formation of the Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee, and gave out the annual volunteer awards. So let's flashback to last year's State of the City on this week's Guelph Politicast! The 2025 State of the City will take place on Thursday February 6 at 7 am at the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre hosted by the Guelph Chamber of Commerce. Learn more by clicking here. There will, of course, be full coverage on Guelph Politico when it happens. 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.

Last year was very busy for Guelph City Council, and the last four months of the year were perhaps the busiest. In fact, the business of council has gotten so busy to properly cover it all this "Year in Review" podcast now has to be done in three parts, splitting the year into three near equal sections for over two hours of combined content. So now, at the end, the final part of this trilogy. The big thing from the back third of 2024 was the confirmation vote for the 2025 budget. Earlier in the year, Mayor Cam Guthrie used Strong Mayor Powers to direct staff to get the budget down to an overall four per cent increase, and there was a great deal of consternation about what that would mean. Council didn't get all the way to that four per cent mark, but it was a heck of a ride getting there! And speaking of rides, there was a lot of drama over, of all things, fireworks. Guelph tried to rework its fireworks bylaw only to get burned when many people felt that it went too far. There were also metaphorical fireworks in the form of Mayor Guthrie's advocacy outside the council chambers, the eventual fate of the OR Lands, and a certain greenhouse on the campus of the University of Guelph which still may or may not be demolished. That's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this recap covering all the council action from September through to December. That's 17 different meeting (well, 16 when you consider that one meeting took place over two nights) and countless hours of back and forth over motions, counter-motions, concessions and compromises. Culled from the files of Guelph Politico, and a couple of thousand tweets, let's remember where we're going before we decide where to go next. So for one more time, let's recap what happened at city council in 2024 on this week's Guelph Politicast! Everyone will be back around the horseshoe again on January 14 for the first Committee of the Whole meeting of the year, and you can keep following all those developments at Guelph Politico and through 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.

If you're listening to this on New Year's Day then you might be welcoming 2025 with relief, or maybe even trepidation. If you thought last year was a rough ride it may be an hors d'oeuvres compared to what comes next, but before we get into all that, we're going to formally say goodbye to 2024 by talking about the year that was, and the year we wanted it to be! There was a lot going on in Guelph in 2024, did you hear that we're having a housing crisis? There was the use of Strong Mayor Powers, the push to make the OR Lands a national urban park, and the closure of the old Nestle bottling plant in Aberfoyle. There was also almost a transit strike, not to mention a weeks-long strike out on Dunlop Road at the Cargill Plant. A lot can happen in 12 months, and it did. But what was 2024 really about? That is a difficult question, but Mike Ashkewe was a pretty good person to ask. He's a member of the Accessibility Advisory Committee and an Indigenous activist, and he's a regular at the weekly Breezy Breakfast gatherings downtown, which makes a triple threat when it comes to local politics. Perhaps he can help us make sense of this tumultuous year... Ashkewe will join us talk broadly about what we learned in the year 2024, what we will take with us on into 2025, and why he's decided to get more active in local politics. He will also talk about finding community, and what it takes to make the hard choices even if they're not the most popular. Also, we will make some pop culture references to our current predicament, and talk about why where you live matters. So let's talk about the year that was yesterday on this week's Guelph Politicast! Mike Ashkewe, who has his fingers in many pies and you can find links to all those pies at his personal website. You can find his podcast This Week in Geek on all the major podcast platforms, and you can follow the Guelph Storm Trackers "@guelph_storm_trackers" on Instagram.  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.

It makes sense spending Christmas with a Kevin. The Kevin we're talking to this Christmas though sits at the intersection of fighting poverty practically and fighting a growing spiritual malaise. In fact, he was the first and most obvious choice for this year's holiday chat by the fireside, and he joins us this week to not only talk about the crisis around homelessness, but also the accompanying crisis of compassion. Yes, the special Christmas guest this year is  executive director and pastor of Royal City Mission, Kevin Coghill. Homelessness is a city-wide issue, but the focus was downtown this year. Not even 50 yards from St. George's Square are the front doors of the Royal City Mission, which offers services to people who are homeless and living in poverty, which also made it a source of contention for downtown business owners and residents. The RCM was often cited as doing good work for the community while being tagged as the cause for the growing encampments in the square due to its proximity. It's the epitome of damned if you do, damned if you don't, so Coghill and his team decided to do everything could. But Royal City Mission doesn't just deal with corporal needs, they also deal with spiritual ones, which is why Coghill is going to help us reflect on a difficult and dispiriting year. Coghill will join us to talk about how he ended up at Royal City Mission, how the mission has changed over the years, and why change is not always a bad thing for the volunteers and staff at Royal City. He will also talk about the crisis in compassion, the difference between gathering and service, how he deals with disappointment, and the ways he tries to stay optimistic. Coghill will also explain why his doors will remain open to everyone in the community.  So let's spend Christmas with Kevin on this week's Guelph Politicast!  To learn more about Royal City Mission, it's programs and services, and how you can help them out by visiting their website. You can also follow them on social media at rcmguelph on Facebook and Instagram. If you're interested in learning more about the people helped by Royal City Mission, you can get a copy of the book, Stories From the Mission, for a suggested $25 donation. The proceeds go to help fund the Royal City Mission. 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.  

What do you think this year will be remembered for in the annals of Guelph history? Will it be the debate over the Public Space Use Bylaw? Was it the announced closure of the consumption and treatment site downtown? Was it when the mayor re-opened the 2025 budget to try and shave off two-thirds of the proposed levy increase? In any event, all roads lead back to one place, or rather, one person. In a sense, the first day of the political year was February 8. That was the date of the State of the City speech at the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre where Mayor Cam Guthrie said that he was going to use Strong Mayor Powers in three specific ways: To find a place for a tiny home encampment, leverage City-owner property for affordable housing and to cut the Guelph 2025 budget down to something more affordable. It was a surprise move by Guthrie, but it would not be his last this year. The Strong Mayor Powers were the first of a couple of different pivots: He joined the Government of Ontario demanding that CTSes no longer operate within 200 metres of schools or daycares, he joined other mayors demanding that the Province use the notwithstanding clause, and he joined Mike Schreiner and Lloyd Longfield in dumping cold water on the community effort to declare the OR Lands a national urban park. So to help close the year, we're going to go inside the mind of... ...Mayor Cam Guthrie! He joins us this week on the podcast to hear about why he might have some regret about the way he announced his use of Strong Mayor Powers, how he might use them again, and how he's tried to rebuild trust with the members of council. He will also discuss why he's not totally against CTSes, why he's hedging on support for a national urban park, and balancing criticism and collaboration with upper levels of government. Also, what is he thinking about for the 2025 State of the City? So let's dig into this Strong Mayor Year on this edition of the Guelph Politicast! You can follow the mayor at CamGuthrie on Twitter and at MayorCamGuthrie on Facebook and Instagram. You can also check out his website for news and updates, or send him an email at mayor [at] guelph.ca. Council will not be back in session until Tuesday January 14 for the first Committee of the Whole of the Year, and that agenda will be published on Thursday January 2.  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.

There has been a lot of heritage news this year, and especially in the last couple of weeks. This should not be surprising because heritage staff in all municipalities have been in a mad scramble these last few years to designate as much heritage as possible before the end of this year due to Bill 23. That changed back in the spring, so it's probably a good time now to catch our breathe and look at the work done so far, and all the work that is to come. You may recall that November's planning meeting was super-sized over two different days, and that was largely due to two heritage matters: The proposed designation for the old conservatory on the University of Guelph campus, and the draft policy for the Heritage Conservation District at the Ontario Reformatory lands. That's a lot of pressure to put on the heritage planning staff, but the pressure was being felt before last month's meetings. Back in 2022, the Ontario government passed Bill 23, which made a great many changes to municipal planning policies, including the direction to delist any properties on the heritage registry not already designated by the end of this year. Now, thankfully, our undesignated heritage assets have a reprieve until the end of 2026, but that doesn't mean the workload is any less lighter. Stephen Robinson and Jack Mallon, who are heritage planners at the City of Guelph, join us this week to talk about what kind of year it's been for heritage, the status of all the heritage conservation district studies and the special controversy around the recent presentation about the OR Lands HCD. They'll also talk about public engagement, why development is not a bad word, what's coming up in 2025, and why we maybe need to start loving architectural brutalism(?). So let's dig into the very busy heritage file on this edition of the Guelph Politicast!  The next scheduled meeting of Heritage Guelph is on January 13, and in the meantime you can visit the heritage planning page on the City's website to get the lowdown on various plans and strategies. For your information, you can see the Municipal Register of Cultural Heritage Properties here, and stay tuned for future engagement opportunities on the OR Lands, Downtown and Ward West Heritage Conservation District studies. 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.

As you may have heard, there are changes coming to your blue bin starting in January, and if you're confused about what that means when you put the bin out on the curb in 2025, you're not alone. You probably want to know what's going on, and how you should react, so due to popular demand, this podcast will ask all the questions about blue box changes you wanted to know, and some of the ones you didn't. Guelph has a history of making history when it comes to the blue box: We were one of the first cities to get one, and we were one of the first cities to make the transition to three streams of waste, and we were one of the first to make the transition to the new bin system. What's next is the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, which is moving the responsibility of collecting recyclables to the producers of those materials. Starting on January 1, 2025, Waste Management Corporation of Canada (WM) will be collecting residential recycling and providing related customer service in Guelph. As you will hear today, you probably won't notice a lot of change to start, but 2025 will be a transition year for not only who collects your blue bin, but what you will be able to put inside it and who else might now get service as WM takes over for the City of Guelph. To understand all this, we're joined by Cameron Walsh, the Division Manager of Solid Waste at the City of Guelph, who will tell you what happens on January 2 when you put your recyclables out on the curb. He will also talk about the process the City has been undertaking to facilitate these changes, what will happen over the course of 2025, the ongoing review of collection downtown, and the impacts on the City's fiscal bottom line. Also, what will the future of waste collection in Guelph look like after 2025? So let's dig into the blue box on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can learn more about the changes coming to the collection of recyclables next year at guelph.ca/waste, where you can also find links to the Solid Waste Master Plan, and other info. Also, if you have any questions, send emails directly to waste [at] guelph.ca. You can also download the Guelph Waste app from the App Store and Google Play, it not only sends you reminders about garbage day, but it can help you sort your waste. 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.

Community Living Guelph Wellington has been around since 1955 providing support and services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and their families in the communities in which they live, and for the last few years they've faced some serious financial issues. 2024 is no exception, but might the important services of Community Living get lost in the shuffle of all the crushing need out there. This is from an article in the Wellington Advertiser last week: “Community Living Guelph Wellington is facing a $3 million deficit in 2025 and will be closing two of its residential sites to rein in expenses.” That sounds pretty bad, but it sounds even worse when you realize that this is a dance that's happened every fall for the last few years, and that doesn't do a lot for the long-term sustainability of the organization. Another detail from the Advertiser article is that Community Living's funding has only increased four per cent in the last 30 years. If you think about issues around Ontario funding for autism programs, or the severe underfunding of payouts for everyone receiving money under the Ontario Disability Support Program, or ODSP, it's pretty clear that there's a crisis when it comes to supporting people with special needs in this province. This week, we're going to shed some light on what might be the most overlooked demographic in the area of people in need, and how we can all do better on their behalf. So we're joined by Cindy Kinnon, the executive director of Community Living Guelph Wellington, who will talk about how long they've been managing with a budget shortfall, and how they've managed to get across the fiscal finish line in the last few years, and how every one in Guelph can help them out. So let's go inside Community Living on this week's Guelph Politicast! You can learn more about Community Living Guelph Wellington at their website, you can follow them @clguelphwell on Facebook and Instagram, or you can get in touch with them the old fashioned way on the phone at 519-824-2480. If you're interested in signing the petition to help support Community Living, send an email to Pam Howard at howard.march [at] outlook.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.

Kısa Dalga PolitiCast'te bu hafta gazeteciler Berna Can ve Sedat Bozkurt haftanın öne çıkan başlıklarını ele aldı. Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi'nin açılış günü itibariyle MHP lideri Devlet Bahçeli'nin gazetecileri ve CHP Genel Başkanı Özgür Özel'i hedef alan açıklamaları Politi-Cast'in öne çıkan başlıkları arasında... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Its the OG 4 comin in hot to get lightly political amidst dick jokes

Politi-Cast'te bu hafta CHP Tüzük Kurultayı, Özgür Özel ve Ekrem İmamoğlu'nun açıklamaları ana gündem konusu oldu. Politi-Cast'te gazeteci Sedat Bozkurt ve Berna Can Türkiye'nin gündemini ele aldı. Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (CHP) Genel Başkanı Özgür Özel ve Ekrem İmamoğlu'nun açıklamaları gündeme damgasını vurdu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Politicast'te Sedat Bozkurt ve Berna Can, Türkiye'nin öne çıkan gündem başlıklarını ele alıyor. Hazine ve Mali İşlerden Sorumlu Bakan Mehmet Şimşek'in ekonomi yönetimini masaya yatırıyoruz. Bozkurt, Şimşek'in ekonomi yönetiminde yetersiz olduğunu belirterek, "Ekonomi yönetiminde 50. sırada yer alır ancak ekonomi direksiyonunda o var" diyor. Ayrıca, vergi artışlarının vatandaş üzerindeki etkileri, bakanların görevden affı, sığınmacı meselesi ve uluslararası ilişkilerde Türkiye'nin rolü gibi konular da detaylı bir şekilde tartışılıyor. Türkiye'nin gündemini merak ediyorsanız, Kısa Dalga Politicast'i kaçırmayın!

Ankara, yoğun ve hareketli bir siyasi gündemle haftayı geride bıraktı. Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (CHP), haftanın en çok konuşulan partisi oldu. Bayramdan sonra Meclis'e gelmesi beklenen vergi paketiyle ilgili tartışmalar Hazine ve Maliye Bakanı Mehmet Şimşek'i eleştiri oklarının hedefi haline getirdi. İYİ Parti'de ise yeni ayrılıkların gündemde olduğu konuşulurken, partinin akıbeti merak konusu.  Gazeteciler Sedat Bozkurt ve Berna Can, Politicast'te siyasetin gündemini, kulisleri konuştu.

Gazeteciler Sedat Bozkurt ve Berna Can, Sinan Ateş cinayetinin siyasette yarattığı fırtınayı konuşuyor. “MHP ittifak ortağı değil. Olmayan ittifakın dağılma ihtimali yok” "FETÖ'den boşalan yargı kadrolarını MHP mi doldurdu?" "Erdoğan, Sinan Ateş için “Bizim bu cinayeti sırtımızda taşıma ihtimalimiz yok” dedi" "İçişleri'ndeki kavganın nedeni Soylu'nun MHP'li kadroları" Sinan Ateş cinayeti savcısına tenzili rütbe  "Erdoğan, İYİ Parti'yi Akşener'e kurdurdu, Akşener'le dağıtıyor" "Kılıçdaroğlu, Erdoğan'a gitseydi CHP'den ihraç edilmişti" "Erdoğan-CHP yakınlaşmasından CHP grubunun üçte ikisi rahatsız."

Sinan Ates cinayeti ve Ayhan Bora Kaplan davası... Siyaset, mafya, bürokrasi | Sedat Bozkurt & Berna Can - Politicast

Emniyet'te depreme yol açan Ayhan Bora Kaplan soruşturması ve Sinan Ateş suikastı dosyasında düğüm çözülemiyor. Devlet Krizi mi,'iktidar ortaklarına' format mı? 28 Şubat davasında emekli generallere af ve Kobane davasındaki kararlar Sedat Bozkurt ve Berna Can Politi Cast'te...

31 Mart seçimlerinden sonra en merak edilen konuların başında AKP'nin bundan sonra nasıl bir yol haritası izleyeceği geliyor. Seçim sonuçlarının belirlenmesi ile Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan'ın açıklamalarından genel olarak ılımlı mesajlar verdiği sonucu çıkarılsa da otoriterliğin artacağına dair işaretler de az değil. Ankara kulislerini yakından takip eden Gazeteci Sedat Bozkurt ve Çağrı Sarı bu soruların yanıtlarını arıyor. Politi-Cast'te öne çıkan başlıklar şöyle: Kimsenin ikna edemediği yüzde 22'nin beklentisi ne? Seçimin kaybedenleri AKP ve İYİ Parti buluşacak mı? AKP 2017 referandumun ardından kitle kaybediyor. Gelecek Partisi ve Deva ne yapacak? Van'daki mazbata krizinin sonucunda kazanna kim? Van krizi neden AKP'yi gerdi?

Yerel seçimlere son bir hafta kaldı. Tüm Türkiye'nin gözünün çevrildiği İstanbul'da yarış başa baş. Ancak başka şehirlerde de rekabet son sürat gidiyor... Antalya, Eskişehir o illerden bazıları. Yerel seçimler için geri sayım sürerken Yeniden Refah Partisi, yarın Zeytinburnu'nda 'Büyük İstanbul Mitingi'ni yapacak. Aynı gün AKP de Atatürk Havalimanı'nda 'Büyük İstanbul Mitingi' olacak. İki parti arasındaki gerilim sürüyor. Yeniden Refah Partisi ise çok iddialı. YRP, İstanbul'daki oylarını gittikçe artırıyor. Bu nedenle aradaki gerilim de büyük. Pazar günkü mitingi bu rekabet daha da önemli sayıyor...

Yerel seçimlere 21 gün kaldı. Meydanlar gittikçe ısınıyor... Sahaya çıkan siyasetçiler de birbiri ardına polemik yaratan sözler sarf ediyor... Gazeteciler Sedat Bozkurt ve Çağrı Sarı, Politi-Cast'te siyaseti kulislerin görüneni ve görünmeyeni konuşuyor. Burcu Köksal neden DEM Parti'ye ayrımcı ifadeler kullandı? Köksal'ın açıklamaları CHP'nin lider zayıflığının işareti. Ekrem İmamoğlu ve Özgür Özel gerilim mi yaşıyor? YRP adayı İstanbul'da çekilir mi? YRP adaylarını geri çekerse, savaşı kaybeder Erdoğan YRP konusunda neden rahat? Saadet Partisi ve Yeniden Refah Partisi kitlesi nereye tekabül ediyor? Erdoğan İstanbul'da henüz sahaya inmedi.. Meral Akşener seçim çalışmasını adeta tek başına yapıyor. İYİ Parti yerel seçimlerde bir sürpriz yapar mı?

Gazeteciler Sedat Bozkurt ve Çağrı Sarı, Politi-Cast programında siyaset gündemini masaya yatırdı. Siyasette kulis haberciliği değil, bilgiye dayalı gerçekleri öğrenmek isteyenler için... Muhalefete muhalefet eden siyaset biçimi... İYİ Parti Erdoğan'a karşı mı yoksa işini mi kolaylaştırıyor? Siyasette abla- kardeş ilişkisi.. Özgür Özel'in DEM Parti'ye dair iddiaları... DEM Parti'ye yöneltilen 'AKP ile görüşüyor musunuz' sorusundaki ısrar... CHP'de 'akraba, eş, dost' aday gösterildi... Erdoğan karşıtlığı muhalefetin kitlesini konsolide eder mi? CHP 1994 seçimindeki gibi bir süreç yaşayabilir... Tansu Çiller'in normal bir ülkede sokağa bile çıkamaması gerek... Mehmet Ağar yeniden sahnede...

Politicast'in bu bölümünde Ayşe Yıldırım mikrofonunu bir bölümlük Kemal Göktaş'a devrediyor. Göktaş ve Sedat Bozkurt'un gündeminde ise, İmamoğlu'nun Belediye Başkanlığı açıklaması ve ittifak partilerinin yerel seçimlerde alacakları pozisyon yer alıyor. 01:00 Ekrem İmamoğlu'nun adaylık açıklaması 02:00 Özgür Özel genel başkan, İmamoğlu Cumhurbaşkanı adayı formülü mü geliyor? 06:00 İmamoğlu'nun Oksijen tercihinin anlamı  10:00 Zoom toplantısındaki etik sorun 15:00 İmamoğlu, CHP'nin daha sağında… ANAP'ın vücut bulmuş hali 17:30 İBB'yi İmamoğlu değil, bir denklem kazandı 20:20 Cumhur ittifakı yerel seçim çalışmalarına başladı. Muhalefet yine geç mi kalıyor?  23:00 Erdoğan, İstanbul'a kendisi bile aday olabilir 24:00 Akşener 26 Ağustos'ta ne diyecek?  28:00 İBB adayı Bayraktar olur mu?  32:00 İmamoğlu'nun kazanması için HDP'nin aday çıkarmaması, muhafazakar partilerin ise aday çıkarması gerekiyor