Open Sources Guelph - February 7, 2019

This week on Open Sources Guelph, the state of the union is deeply cynical with a hint of despair. We'll talk about Trump's latest attempt to pivot to presidential, and we'll talk about the Ford government's latest pivot away from transparency. After the break, we'll consider if a serial killer can teach us something about the present tolerance for the queer community, and if a city councillor not taking the bus can tell us something about our transit system.

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

Stealthcare. Although we're still over a week away from the return of the Ontario Legislature, the press room has been very busy lately with a couple of NDP document dumps from a government whistleblower about plans to overhaul the healthcare system. Official Opposition leader Andrea Horwath called it a doorway to privatization, experts are concerned about a loss of oversight by creating a "super agency" to oversee several specialized health agencies, and the guy that leaked it all is concerned about finding a new job. But what's with all the secrecy, and should Ontarians be concerned?

Day at the Speech. After a brief delay because of the government shutdown he caused and got absolutely nothing for, President Donald Trump made his way to Capital Hill to deliver the State of the Union. Scuttlebutt before the speech was that Trump was going to strike a more harmonic tone, reaching for some more of that bipartisanship we've heard so much about. It was also the first State of the Union for Trump literally in front of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But how well can Trump unify, especially in front of Congress, which is less than two weeks away from another shutdown over the, sigh, wall?

The Lost Village. Bruce McArthur has plead guilty to the murder of eight gay men, and is in the process of his sentencing hearing this week. McArthur's plea allows some closure for friends and family of his victims, and spares them from having to sit through a lengthy trial and the disposition of the horrid details of their loved ones' death. But what about the Toronto Police? Does McArthur's plea also let them off the hook in term of the mistakes they've made as a serial killer stalked the Village undetected. How are the Toronto Police going to win back the trust of the LGBTQ+ community?

Transit Pass. Guelph Transit has some issues, and now the whole country knows about it. Ward 3 Councillor Phil Allt tried taking the "Transit Challenge", where one tries to get everywhere they need to go in a week using the bus, but he gave up part of the way through because, apparently, it's impossible to take the bus in Guelph and keep a full schedule. After Allt did an interview with the CBC, the story got picked up by other CBC outlets, which is probably not the story the City of Guelph wants out there a week after the completion of the service review. We'll talk about why a first-hand perspective matters when talking about transit's issues.

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