GUELPH POLITICAST #449 – 2024: Year in Review (feat. Mike Ashkewe)

Guelph Politicast

If you’re listening to this on New Year’s Day then you might be welcoming 2025 with relief, or maybe even trepidation. If you thought last year was a rough ride it may be an hors d'oeuvres compared to what comes next, but before we get into all that, we’re going to formally say goodbye to 2024 by talking about the year that was, and the year we wanted it to be!

There was a lot going on in Guelph in 2024, did you hear that we’re having a housing crisis? There was the use of Strong Mayor Powers, the push to make the OR Lands a national urban park, and the closure of the old Nestle bottling plant in Aberfoyle. There was also almost a transit strike, not to mention a weeks-long strike out on Dunlop Road at the Cargill Plant. A lot can happen in 12 months, and it did.

But what was 2024 really about? That is a difficult question, but Mike Ashkewe was a pretty good person to ask. He’s a member of the Accessibility Advisory Committee and an Indigenous activist, and he’s a regular at the weekly Breezy Breakfast gatherings downtown, which makes a triple threat when it comes to local politics. Perhaps he can help us make sense of this tumultuous year...

Ashkewe will join us talk broadly about what we learned in the year 2024, what we will take with us on into 2025, and why he’s decided to get more active in local politics. He will also talk about finding community, and what it takes to make the hard choices even if they’re not the most popular. Also, we will make some pop culture references to our current predicament, and talk about why where you live matters.

So let's talk about the year that was yesterday on this week's Guelph Politicast!

Mike Ashkewe, who has his fingers in many pies and you can find links to all those pies at his personal website. You can find his podcast This Week in Geek on all the major podcast platforms, and you can follow the Guelph Storm Trackers "@guelph_storm_trackers" on Instagram.

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