Open Sources Guelph - May 7, 2020

This week on Open Sources Guelph, let's chat about the present and the past. There's still some COVID-19 stuff going on, which includes the status of long-term care homes, and all those proverbial "yahoos" battling imaginary boogeymen in the name of re-opening the economy. In other news, the Federal government is looking to pass new gun laws, and on the same week we mark the 50th anniversary of the Kent State Massacre.

This Thursday, May 7, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

Long Term Snare. As we continue with the COVID-19 crisis, and start looking at re-opening the economy, the question about long-term care homes is cast in stark relief and people are looking again at the decision to privatize these facilities in the 90s as the original sin that lead to the quick spread of COVID in these homes. Meanwhile, four PSWs have died in Ontario being exposed to the virus, will we finally standardize and compensate this industry properly?

Have Gun, Will Outlaw. In the wake of the attacks in Nova Scotia, the Canadian government has introduced new legislation that will ban over a thousand different assault weapons, and initiate a gun buy back program. Gun control is always a third rail in politics, even in Canada, and a lot of Conservative politicians, including Doug Ford and Peter MacKay, are making hay about it. Will politics get in the way of gun safety again, and will this be the path to stop another massacre?

The Perplex Files. In the midst of all the protests to re-open the economy, both here and in the United States, there have been some additionally disturbing elements. From Flat Earthers, to Anti-vaxxers, to QAnon believers, there have been a lot of people who seem just generally paranoid about a lot of different things aside from COVID-19. And, oh yeah, the racism. Why are these protests collecting all the wackos, and how much weight should we give them?

Kent 50. Speaking of protests, it was 50 years ago this week that four students were killed on the campus of Kent State University by National Guardsmen. To this day, no one knows who fired the first shot or why, but the so-called "Kent State Massacre" was the beginning of the end of the Vietnam War. We'll talk about the long-term impacts of what happened at Kent State, and how that affects the modern view of protest movements, especially for student-led protests.

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