Open Sources Guelph #356 - December 16, 2021

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're concerned with a matter of mayors. In our interview segment this week, we will talk to Guelph's Mayor for a year-end chat, and before that we will talk about the passing of another mayor, one of Toronto's most historic and colourful. Before that, we will cover a little philosophical ground by asking if the time has come for Canada to seek a trial separation from the U.S.

This Thursday, December 16, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

Yankee Doodle Cranky. Human rights advocate and Green Party leadership runner-up Dimitri Lascaris published an op-ed suggesting that the time has come to undo Canada's long-standing, multifaceted relationship with the U.S. Why? America's slide into authoritarianism, their refusal to enact democratic reforms, and they're unwillingness to pass policy in the greater public interest (like gun control). Do we agree?

Nooobody! He was the founder of a chain of furniture stores built with great advertising and a memorable tag line, he was the long-running mayor of North York, he was the first mayor of the "Mega City" Toronto, and he famously called the army to deal with a snow storm that one time. On the occasion of Mel Lastman's passing, we will dig deep into Mega City Mel's legacy and look at how his mayoralty still influences today.

Cam As You Are. It's the end of another busy year at city council, so we invited Mayor Cam Guthrie on the show for a little year-in-review, and a little where-are-we-going-next. Mayor Guthrie will cover with us a variety of topics from the COVID-19 state of emergency, in-person council meetings, this year's budget, downtown drama, expanding autonomy for cities, and how he deals with online conspiracy theorists.

Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.