GUELPH POLITICAST #164 - The Rookies (OSG Interviews)

Today, students and community groups on campuses across Ontario will go on strike to protest the Ontario government's Student Choice Initiative, which could defund in part, or entirely, a lot of different campus clubs, services, and yes, media. One such impacted group would be CFRU, the community radio station that operates out of the University of Guelph.

This is relevant to the Guelph Politicast because CFRU is where the show is recorded every week. It's also relevant because the Politicast's sister show, Open Sources Guelph, is broadcast every week on CFRU. OSG is more or less the only venue where local politicians - from the mayor, to city councillors, to MPs, and MPPs - are interviewed in long format. These conversations are not just about sound bites, but a wider, more in-depth opportunity to talk to newsmakers about the issues.

So this week on the podcast, two examples of this rarefied art form in the local media landscape are submitted for your listening delight. Specifically, this week you'll hear from "the Rookies", Ward 6 City Councillor Dominique O'Rourke and Ward 2 City Councillor Rodrigo Goller.

Dominique O'Rourke appeared on Open Sources Guelph back before she was sworn in on November 8. From the OSG website:

"Council won’t get sworn in till December, but we’re getting ahead of the game when it comes to having members of the new council in studio! This week, we’ll welcome new Ward 6 City Councillor-Elect Dominique O’Rourke for her first live Open Sources interview as a member of the horseshoe. We’ll talk with O’Rourke about her decisive election victory, how she’s been preparing to take up her role as a city councillor, and what she expects some of her first initiatives will be. Do you have a question for the incoming councillor? We’ll ask those too!"

Rodrigo Goller then appeared on the show on December 20, shortly after the first few meetings of this new term. Again, from the OSG website:

"Guelph City Council has only been back in session for two weeks, but what a two weeks it’s been! From a massive development in the west end, to the approval of cannabis retail locations, to an underpass trail beneath the Speedvale Bridge, there’s been a lot of big calls, and some bigger calls are yet to come. That’s a lot for a rookie councillor to handle, but this week, we’ll check in with Ward 2 Councillor Rodrigo Goller to see how he’s handling it. We’ll talk to Goller about how he’s handling the learning curve, what he thinks of the council experience so far, and what we should expect coming up in the new year."

So let's catch-up with the Rookies on this week's edition of the Guelph Politicast!

Remember: you can listen to each new episode of Open Sources Guelph Thursdays at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca. Or, you can listen to the podcast version on the Guelph Politcast channel every Monday.

The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here.

Remember that the Politicast Podbean channel is also the host for podcast versions of Open Sources Guelph. The previous Thursday’s episode of Open Sources will be posted on Mondays.