GUELPH POLITICAST #533 - The Young Ones (feat. Carly Klassen & Ken Yee Chew)

GUELPH POLITICAST #533 - The Young Ones (feat. Carly Klassen & Ken Yee Chew)

From Guelph Politicast by Adam A. Donaldson

July 8, 2026 · 54 min · Episode 1472

About this episode

The episode features a discussion with Guelph's youngest city councillors about their experiences and challenges in municipal politics.

Sometimes it seems like municipal politics is an older person’s game. Look around at the faces of Guelph City Council, or even Wellington County Council, and you see a lot of wrinkles and a lot of grey hairs. Now, we love our elders, and everyone should be welcome to serve in municipal governance, but as we approach the end of this term of Guelph city council, we will talk to its two youngest members about going where few people their age have gone before. This is the last of three episodes dedicated to the first-term councillors. A lot can change in a term, and for Councillors Carly Klassen and Ken Yee Chew there have been some pretty big personal changes to match the ones they experienced on the job; Chew became a married man while Klassen became a first-time mom. With so many things that are so important personally, it doesn’t leave much room for the rapidly changing pace of municipal business. On that account, this last term probably broke speed records. The Ontario government introduced changes to municipal oversite, funding and planning pretty much every six months, and there’s also been the increasing centralization of power. Despite the challenges they’ve encountered, and…

People in this episode

Host: Adam A. Donaldson

Guests: Carly Klassen, Ken Yee Chew

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Guelph City Council, Wellington County Council

Places: Ontario

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