Old Grey Mayors

It's an oddly forgotten part of Waterloo Region history. In 1989, there was a discovery of contaminants in the aquifers under the town of Elmira. Those contaminants were linked to a plant that was then Uniroyal Chemical. The contaminant was identified as the carcinogenic NDMA (nitrosodimethylamine) and it was in the town's only supply of drinking water. Gerry Thompson joins Rob for an insightful c...

We've got Mike Murray back for the last episode of season 2. Mike came to the Region of Waterloo from private business in 1992. After having worked alongside municipalities, and realizing that he wanted to be one of those guys involved in making significant decisions impacting the community, he jumped right into the thick of it initially as the manager of engineering, planning, and water resource...

Rob welcomes Gerry Thompson back to the podcast. Gerry has a history of service in Waterloo Region that could fill many podcasts. He came to the Region to work as a transportation planner in 1973 and stayed with the Region of Waterloo in various management positions until 2004. The latter part of his time with the region was as the CAO, the chief administrative officer from 1991 until 2004, the bi...

This episode, Rob welcomes Bob Williams to the show. While Bob was not an elected politician, he's dealt with a lot of them.  He earned a doctorate in Political Science from the University of Toronto and then was a tenured professor at the University of Waterloo from 1971 to 2006.  His research and teaching interests included municipal government, Ontario politics, and electoral systems....

Former City of Waterloo Councillor and current CityNews 570 broadcaster Brian Bourke joins us to talk about his time on council.

Bryan Stortz returns to the podcast to talk about his time running the Kitchener This Week newspaper. This is one of our favourite episodes — full of great anecdotes about running a paper, local politics and the media, and more.

Rob sits down with former Waterloo Region CAO Gerry Thompson to talk about developing the central transit corridor, pushing the ION light rail transit project forward, and that A-word — amalgamation.

On this episode, Rob is joined by Linda Terry, a community organizer and former executive director of the the Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries. Linda has spent her career working to solve poverty-related issues including affordable housing, living wages, and age-friendly communities.

Mike Murray joins Rob to share his journey from engineer to Chief Administrative Officer for Waterloo Region.

Bryan returns to the podcast to talk about his time as an alderman for the City of Kitchener and shares his Seven Secrets for electoral success.

Joining us for his first appearance on the podcast is Don Travers. Don served on City of Kitchener council in 1979 and the Waterloo Regional Council from 1981 to 1989. A lawyer by trade, Don has made giving back part of his mission through support for many different community organizations. Don shares how he managed serving as an elected leader and growing his law firm at the same time.

Our guest today hasn't held public office – yet. Fauzia Mazhar has been an active and vital member of our community for over 20 years. Fauzia has worked with The Working Centre, House of Friendship, the Kitchener Downtown Health Centre, and more. In part of one of our interview, Fauzia shares her and her families journey to Canada, how she got her start in helping people find work, and working wit...

Rob welcomes Jean Haalboom back to the podcast to talk about the history of saving and renovating the Waterloo County Gaol , the oldest Waterloo County buildings in existence.

Wayne Roth joins Rob on the podcast for the first time. Wayne was the Mayor of Wilmot Township from 1997 to 2010. During his 13 year run as Mayor, he oversaw a number of civic projects for the fast-growing township. Most importantly, the amazing Wilmot Recreation Complex and Aquatic Centre. On this episode, Wayne shares the story on what it took to build the complex – and how the township used som...

Bryan joins Rob to talk about how the Region of Waterloo's emergency plan from the SARS outbreak in Toronto helped shape how the Region responded to welcoming Syrian refugees and the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Jane Mitchell returns to the (virtual) Old Grey Mayors studio to talk about two topics that have been top of mind for Waterloo Region residents in the last few months – daycare and conservation authorities.

We're kicking off season 2 with our good friend Bryan Stortz. Bryan r ecently retired after twenty years at the Region of Waterloo as Director of Communications. He sits down with Rob to share stories on the birth of the ION, negotiating to get GO train service and how he got into public service.

Todd Cowan returns to the podcast for another great episode. Last time he was on, Rob and Todd discussed casinos. This time, they're digging deeper to discuss the in's and out's of gravel pits in Waterloo Region.

Jean Haalboom was the first councillor elected to the newly created Doon Pioneer Park area in Kitchener in 1997. In 2000, she was elected to the Waterloo Regional council and ended her political career with 20 minutes to go before the deadline in 2014. Rob and Jean served as council together from 2010-2014 and worked together at the Grand River Conservation Authority. Haalboom has been committed t...

Former Waterloo Region Chair Ken Seiling makes his record third appearance on the show with a great discussion about police services in Waterloo Region.

Rob welcomes Richard Christy back to the podcast to talk about his path to being Mayor of Kitchener.

We're joined by Ken Seiling (on a physically-distance safe Zoom call) for another great conversation with Ken Seiling.

Doug Craig makes his record-setting third visit to the Old Grey Mayors podcast to talk Cambridge's place in the region, the size of Regional government and more.

Jane Mitchell started her career in public service as a Waterloo Region District School Board from 1990 to 2000. She was then elected to the Region of Waterloo Council representing the City of Waterloo from 2000 to 2018.  Jane was also the first women chair of the Grand River Conservation Authority from 2010 to 2015.  Jane joins Rob for a chat about how she got into politics, her experie...

In this episode, Rob talks with former Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig about taxes and infrastructure. Craig's focus is on how municipalities can't provide services and repair infrastructure when property taxes kept at or below rate of inflation.