A look back on Season 3, the year and ahead on the podcast for 2022. You can listen at the link below on your favourite podcasting platform.

You can listen here.

Kingsville Mayor Nelson Santos was first elected to Municipal Council in 1997 where he served two terms as a Councillor before becoming Kingsville’s first Deputy Mayor to be elected at large following the municipal amalgamations of Kingsville with the former Townships of Gosfield North and Gosfield South.

Nelson Santos was elected Mayor of Kingsville in 2003 and is now serving his fifth term as the Chief Executive Officer for the municipality. In his 24 years of municipal office, Mayor Santos was elected by Essex County Council to serve as Deputy Warden (2018-Present) and previously (2003-2006). Mayor Santos also served as Essex County Warden (2006-2010).

In representing the interests of his community and region of Windsor-Essex County, Mr. Santos has held portfolios involving regional economic development, physician recruitment, poverty reduction, heritage preservation, tourism, county library service, policing, emergency planning and communications and others

Prior to entering politics, Mayor Santos worked on his grandfather’s family farm for several years. He served as a journalist and editor for 29 years for community newspapers and retired as an active Realtor after 10 years. Today, his active lifestyle keeps him wearing many hats as a photographer and continues to work as a Real Estate Assistant with his wife Stephanie. Together, they are parents to three children Emelia (13) and twins Jaxson and Madelyn (6).

Teaser

Tune in Thursday night at 7pm for the full conversation

The first half of the show is standardized (more or less) with each guest talking through these themes.

• The first part begins with you, as we introduce you as the guest. Who are you? What is your day job (if not a full time politician)? How do you engage the community? Why did you run for council? What drives you?
• Who are your people? If you represent a ward/whole community what does it look like (urban, suburban, rural)? Who are your constituents – what do they do for a living, what are the issues you see in your inbox or talking to people week in and out. 
• Describe your municipality as a whole. Paint a picture for someone who has not been to your town or community before or has only seen it as a sign on the side of a road. What is working, and what is not, what are you building towards? .
• What is your region, what is in common/different between your community and your neighbours? Most municipalities are a part of some upper tier government, how does your community fit into that upper tier?
• Finally, how does your community and constituents fit into SW Ontario as a whole? Why should someone in Kitchener or London (as examples) care about your community? What should a Torontonian know about your community and why it is important?

The second half of the show is a bit more political/policy related. We may not get to all of these topics and this might not be the order we discuss them in.

• COVID Impacts on Kingsville? How did it impact the municipality and community? 
  • Migrant workers and the outbreaks in those facilities 
•  If COVID didn’t happen what would we be talking about? 
• Agri-sector is a major employers and driver of local economic activity but there are challenges – Light pollution by-law
• A reliable electricity supply – power flickering etc. ELK Power Issues. 
•  HWY3 widening is moving forward and going to impact Kingsville. 
  • Won’t a widened highway make it easier for people to commute to Windsor for employment thus negatively impacting climate? 
• Magic policy wand – change one thing to improve your community, the lives of people in it, what do you change and why?

Amy Martin is a 33 year old, first term, municipal councillor for Ward 6 (Port Dover) in Norfolk County. Amy campaigned on being accessible and communicating with constituents and won with over 50% of the vote in her community. She’s the first female representative for ward 6. 

Teaser

Tune in for the full conversation Thursday at 7pm

To frame the conversation below are some topic areas.The first half of the show is standardized (more or less) with each guest talking through these themes.

• The first part begins with you, as we introduce you as the guest. Who are you? What is/was your day job (if not a full time politician)? Why did you run for Council? What drives you?
• Who are your people? Who are your constituents – in Ward 6. Paint a picture of you ward. What do they do for a living, what are the issues you see in your inbox or talking to people week in and out. 
• How does your ward fit into Norfolk County. Is your ward the outlier urban ward or is it one of many rural? 
• Norfolk County used to be Halimond-Norfolk. How has decoupling impacted things? 
  • Now a single tier municipality. 
• Finally, how does your community and constituents fit into SW Ontario as a whole? 

The second half of the show is a bit more political/policy related. We may not get to all of these topics and this might not be the order we discuss them in.

• COVID Impacts over the last year? 
  • Budget, Community etc. 
  • What would be a story people would be talking about if COVID didn’t happen?
• Appointment of the Acting Medical Officer Appointment Controversy. 
• The Agri-sector in Norfolk has been called by some as “too powerful”. Putting profits before people and migrant workers? 
• Port Dover Official Plan Amendment 
  • Housing Affordability – all that anyone talks about. 
• Where do you see Norfolk to be in 10 years? What are the  Challenges/Opportunities to achieve that outcome? 
• Magic policy wand – change one thing, what do you change and why?

Aakash Desai moved to Canada in 2006 at the age of 15. Since then he has been a proud resident of Grey Highlands. He got involved in the public sphere in 2011 when he was elected to the Grey Highlands Chamber of Commerce Board. He was elected Vice-President in 2013. On April 29, 2014 Aakash became a Canadian citizen and soon after filed his nomination papers to run for council in the 2014 elections. He was sworn in as a councillor on Dec 1 – his 24^th birthday. In 2018 he successfully ran for the position of Deputy Mayor and defeated the incumbent. He lives in Markdale with his fiancée and (still) dreams of someday playing for Manchester United.

@deputydesai

Teaser

Tune in Thursday night at 7pm to hear more!

The first part begins with you, as we introduce you as the guest.

• Who are you? What is your day job (if not a full time politician)? Why did you run for council? What drives you?  How do you engage the community?
• Who are your people? If you represent a ward/whole community what does it look like (urban, suburban, rural)? Who are your constituents – what do they do for a living, what are the issues you see in your inbox or talking to people week in and out.
• Describe your municipality as a whole. Paint a picture for someone who has not been to your town or community before or has only seen it as a sign on the side of a road. What is working, and what is not, what are you building towards? 
• What is your region, how would you describe the region as a whole and the City’s relationship with the region? What is in common/different between them? 
• Finally, how does your community and constituents fit into SW Ontario as a whole? Why should someone in Kitchener or London (as examples) care about your community? What should a Torontonian know about your community and why it is important?

The second half of the show is a bit more political/policy related. We may not get to all of these topics and this might not be the order we discuss them in.

• COVID Impacts on Grey Highlands?
  • Budget Impacts? Community Impacts?
  • What would we be talking about if COVID didn’t happen?
• Can you talk about the Beaver valley development and council’s decision to move it forward.- It seems like there is some tensions between development and community/environmental preservation.
• Next year is a provincial election and news from smaller communities like yours often do get heard during campaign,
• Magic policy wand – change one policy at a local, provincial or federal level that will make things better in your community, what do you change and why?

Rapidly improving our quality of life through local government innovation is Jason’s passion. As a lawyer and Chief Administrative Officer, he navigates through a haze of policy and regulation to find practical – sometimes disruptive – ways to deliver services, such as a public transit system powered by a ride-sharing app. Jason currently leads a team of over 3,000 dedicated public servants at the City of Windsor, Ontario, and is responsible to City Council for its nearly $1B annual operating and capital budget.  He strives to create an organization and community that is authentic, collaborative, creative and resilient.

Jason’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Criminal Justice and Public Policy from the University of Guelph, a Bachelor of Laws and Masters of Law (Municipal Specialization) from Osgoode Hall Law School, and a Masters of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business.  Jason is an Accredited Director with the Chartered Governance Institute of Canada.

Teaser

Tune in Thursday night at 7pm to hear the full conversation!

The first part begins with you, as we introduce you as the guest and your perceptions on the community/region you reside. 

• Who are you? How did you end up CAO of the City of Windsor? 
• You are somewhat new to the community so what are your “first-ish” impressions?How would you describe the municipality as a whole? 
  • What is working, and what is not, what are you building towards? 
• What are your impressions about the region? 
  • How does the relationship work with Essex County administratively? Do you feel there is a right level of engagement, could be more or less? 
• Finally, how does Windsor in your opinion fit into SW Ontario as a whole? 

The second part of the show we dig into more specific discussions. 

• What is the role of municipal administration? 
  • You receive direction from elected officials but you (admin)are the experts. How does that direction get prioritized? 
• Recently Windsor scored poorly on a democracy index for Ontario. Some of this is beyond administrative control – like the make-up of the council etc. How can administrative processes help impact local democracy, trust, and engagement?
  • Locally in Windsor there have been some issues that some in the community feel are rushed, or not properly engaging before a decision is made. 
• I believe Windsor just passed a work from home pilot process. What does work from home look like for a municipality? Certainly some taxpayers might say “You are public servants, why aren’t you at your desk?” 
  • Does this open the door to work from anywhere? Is this a pathway to a new round of municipal outsourcing?
• Can municipal administrations keep up with a rapidly changing world? The speed in which the world is change, is getting faster, and the relatively risk averse space that is municipal government makes it hard to innovate.
  • There seems to be a feeling that Windsor is playing catch up in this space where other SW Ontario municipalities – From this podcast conversations:
    • London’s multiyear budgeting that was credited with a $10M surplus that could be invested with affordable housing; 
    • Collaboration networks in Guelph-Wellington and the municipal leadership that is driving it is allowing them to Leverage Smart Cities funding to realign their economy. 
    • City of Kitchener repurposing an existing tax levy to fund a $100M+ small business/venture capital accelerator.  
• If you could wave a policy magic wand, and change policy at the municipal, provincial or federal level, what would you change? 

Megan Stacey is the city hall reporter at The London Free Press. When not live-tweeting political debates or covering local government decisions, she also writes about social issues. She’s picked up Ontario Newspaper Awards for reporting on healthcare serial killer Elizabeth Wettlaufer, as well as the explosion that rocked London’s Old East Village. She lives in London and loves to explore the best of the Forest City, including new restaurants and the beautiful Thames Valley Parkway. 

Teaser

You can listen to the full episode here on Thursday at 7pm!

The first half of the show is standardized (more or less) with each guest talking through these themes.

• The first part begins with you, as we introduce you as the guest. Who are you? What was your journey to becoming City hall reporter for the London Free Press 
• Describe London from a reporters point of view. What are some of the community stories that people don’t hear about unless they are from there or know where to look?  Paint a picture for someone who has not been to your town or community before or has only seen it as a sign on the side of a road. 
  • What is working, and what is not, what are you building towards? 
• What is your region, how does the relationship look like with Middlesex County? What does the county think about London? 
• Finally, how does London and Middlesex County fit into SW Ontario as a whole? 

The second part of the show we dig into more specific discussions. 

• You are one of the only City hall reporters in SW Ontario to my knowledge. What is that like? 
  • How has/did COVID change your reporting? 
• What would you say are the issues around the Council Table right now and where is Council landing on them? 
  • We are less than a year away from the municipal elections. What issues are going to be top of mind do you think? 
• There are two vacant seats on London City Council they will be filled before the election next. How will those seats being filled change council dynamics? 
  • Additionally two Councilors – Helmer and Salih have announced they aren’t running. This means open seats, and different voices is there something to watch there? 
• What about the provincial election? You have high profile candidates like Kate Graham/Monte Mcnaughton in your region? How do you see the provincial race shaping up 8 months out? What issues are you hearing will be important? 
• If you had to think about the next decade for Middlesex Centre, what are the biggest opportunities and challenges for your region?
• If you could wave a policy magic wand to solve a problem that you are hearing in London what would you change? 

Dave Cassidy is Unifor Local 444’s President representing 20,000 active and retired members in 31 workplaces that range from Automotive, Gaming, Energy, Transportation, Administrative, Waste & Recycle Management, Policing and Retirement Living.  As a certified electrician, Dave is the Unifor National Chair of Trades, representing those working in the trades from the Pacific  to the Atlantic in Canada. Dave is also a member of Unifor’s distinguished National Executive Board. Dave has handled many key negotiations and collective bargaining with major employers in Windsor, including Chrysler/FCA/Stellantis, Caesars, Integram and GFL.  Dave was elected by the people for his “Membership First” attitude, bringing in an open-door policy and an excellence in communication initiative which takes full advantage of the social media platforms in which Dave can better be in touch with his members. Though Dave holds many important positions and elected titles, the members know him as just Dave.

Twitter @dave_cassidy444

You can listen to the full episode Thursday at 7pm or on your favourite podcast platform.

Below are the questions/themes for our conversations next week. You are more than welcome to suggest a topic or question. To frame the conversation below are some topic areas.The first part begins with you, as we introduce you as the guest. 

• Who are you? What was your journey to becoming President of Unifor 444. 
• For those that do not know, who does Unifor 444 represent? From my understanding both Auto and Casino workers are there other groups
  • Does it create challenges representing two very diverse groups of workers? Needs of autoworkers are different from the needs of casino workers. 
  • How has COVID Impacted them?
• How does Labour fit into SW Ontario today? This is a long history of labour in this region but arguably the sectors and industries that i was more 

The second part of the show we dig into different groups:

• Single sports betting – this was a long process. What has it been and where did it land?
  • I can’t turn on a TV from the US without seeing a michigan gambling app, is there concern that apps will just get rolled out and few workers will be needed? 
• Obviously the news on Oct 15 wasn’t good with layoff notices 1,400 from the Assembly Plant in Windsor. For those not from Windsor, what does that mean and what is the path forward? 
• Automobility has been pegged as the future of Windsor Essex region. I am curious about your thoughts on that?
  • UAW report points that few workers are needed to assemble EV Vehicles 
  • Economist Mike Moffatt said on this podcast that “manufacturing is increasingly becoming a ‘white collar’ profession” as there is a shift occurring to engineering and coding from physically building/assembling. 
  • Conversations about “Just transition” seem to be absent in Windsor-Essex
• There is a provincial election and municipal election next year, what issues are you seeing percolate that you think people will be talking about? 
• If you could wave a policy magic wand, change one policy (local, provincial or federal) what would you change and why? 

Barbara Swartzentruber is currently the Executive Director of the Smart Cities Office at the City of Guelph. As winners’ of the Canada’s Smart City Challenge, the City and County of Wellington, are collaborating with public and private sector partners to create a data and technology enabled Circular Food Economy. Building on the principles of a circular economy and leveraging the power of data and technology, they are re-imagining a sustainable regional food system that increases access to healthy nutritious food for all, prevents food loss and waste and creates circular businesses for a regenerative economy.

Barbara is a public sector innovator with work at the local, provincial and national levels in the areas of public policy, smart cities, citizen engagement, digital economy, rural broadband, open government, data and technology. She has taught public policy, community development and advocacy at several Canadian universities. She was appointed to the Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel on the Circular Economy in Canada.

You can learn more at Our Food Future.

Teasers

You can listen to the full episode Thursday at 7pm

To frame the conversation below are some topic areas. The first half of the show is standardized (more or less) with each guest talking through these themes.

• First we begin with you, the guest, allow you to introduce yourself as the guest and share your story. Who are you? How did you end up ED of Smart Cities in the City of Guelph? 
• Describe the City of Guelph as a whole. Paint a picture for someone who has not been to your community before or has only seen it as a sign on the side of 401. 
  • At a high level, what is working, and what is not, what are you building towards?
• How does it fit into the local region (Wellington County)?. Your roll oversee a project for both Guelph and Wellington County (from my understanding) how do you balance those competing needs/wants?
• Finally, how does your community fit into SW Ontario as a whole? 

The second part of the show we dig into more specific discussions. 

• For those listening who may not know, what is the role of municipal administration? Can the administration advocate for the “right decision”? Do you put out materials impartially, or if your (and other admin) expert opinion is that X is the best solution do you advocate for that? 
• What was the Smart City Challenge, what did Guelph-Wellington put forward as their challenge? How is it measurably going to hopefully improve people’s lives in Guelph and beyond? 
• How important was community consultation to the success of your Smart City Challenge proposal? You hear a lot about Smart City projects/proposals getting bogged down in trying to get to the shiney “tech solution” – skipping engagement then facing resistance, wanting to get the exciting announcement before work has been done or just wanting the branding of being a “smart city”, how did Guelph not fall into this trap? 
• Looking more broadly, Guelph’s proposal built on existing food sector strength and the research strength of academic institutions in your region. Although food is universal, is there a risk for some communities looking to leverage smart city solutions and attempting to double down on their strengths of falling into a Sunk Cost Trap? Where smart city solutions don’t lead to economic diversification or solve a social issue rather develop a narrower more niche specialized economic base or an inability to transition workings from existing modes of production to smart modes? 
• You just launched a new and innovative incubation program called COIL can you break what it is, why it is exciting for the listeners? 
• If you had to think about the next decade for Guelph and Wellington County, what are the biggest opportunities and challenges for your region? What will the legacy of the challenge be? 
• If you could wave a policy magic wand, change one policy (local, provincial or federal) what would you change and why? 

Bil was born and raised in Kitchener. He is a lifelong resident of Ward 7 where he currently lives, along with his wife Laura and his two children. Bil holds a degree from Carleton University and worked as a financial advisor with Investors Group where he specialized in retirement planning before turning his attention full-time to serving the citizens of Kitchener on City Council. Bil was first elected to council in 2010.

In addition to his official duties as a councillor, Bil remains active in our community, supporting initiatives like Movember, organizing events for the Food Bank and actively supporting and promoting Kitchener’s music and film industries. He also works with the Leejay Levene Art Calendar project – an organization dedicated to remembering the life and legacy of Leejay Levene by raising funds in his name for local non-profits.

Twitter

Teaser

You can hear the full episode Thursday night at 7pm

To frame the conversation below are some topic areas.The first half of the show is standardized (more or less) with each guest talking through these themes.

• The first part begins with you, as we introduce you as the guest. Who are you? What is your day job (if not a full time politician)? How do you engage the community? Why did you run for council? What drives you?
• Who are your people? What does your ward look like (urban, suburban, rural)? Who are your constituents – what do they do for a living, what are the issues you see in your inbox or talking to people week in and out. 
• Describe your municipality as a whole. Paint a picture for someone who has not been to your town or community before or has only seen it as a sign on the side of a road. What is working, and what is not, what are you building towards? .
• What is your region, what is in common/different between your community and your neighbourhood?
  • Waterloo region seems to be unique as the Cities are a part of the regional council unlike in Essex County (Windsor) or Middlesex (London)
  • As an outsider Waterloo (with the universities) seems to get all the attention? 
• Finally, how does your community and constituents fit into SW Ontario as a whole? 

The second half of the show is a bit more political/policy related. We may not get to all of these topics and this might not be the order we discuss them in.

• COVID Impacts on Kitchener? 
  • What would be a story people would be talking about talking about if COVID didn’t happen?
• Over the next year, what really needs to be accomplished to build back from COVID-19. 
• Housing Affordability – How is it impacting Kitchener? Is Kitchener being a suburb of Toronto a good thing? 
• Where do you see Kitchener to be in 10 years? What are the  Challenges/Opportunities to achieve that outcome? 
• Magic policy wand – change one thing, what do you change and why?