City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 31 Meeting?

After a surprisingly busy January at city council, we come to the last meeting of the month. On the agenda is one last crack at the economic plan for the next four years, a couple of new appointments to local boards, and what will surely be an interesting discussion about whether the City of Guelph should stick its nose in Quebec’s business even if it’s in the cause of human rights.

NOTE #1: Delegates will be able to appear at this meeting via telephone or video, but you do have to register with the clerks office before 10 am on December 17. You can also submit written delegations and correspondences for agenda items.

NOTE #2: The meeting will be closed to the public, though it will be live-streamed on the City of Guelph’s website here.

CLOSED MEETING:

January 2022 Public Appointments to the Downtown Guelph Business Association Board of Management and Guelph Public Library Board of Trustees – Council has to approve the new appointments in closed session before having a formal vote on them in the open session.

January 2022 Public Appointments to the Downtown Guelph Business Association Board of Management and Guelph Public Library Board of Trustees – One new person will be added to the Downtown Board of Management, and two new people will be added to the Library Board.

Motion to Support Bill 21 Challenges – Following the lead of Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, Mayor Cam Guthrie is proposing that Guelph’s city council pass a motion that will ask the House of Commons to support a legal challenge to the Supreme Court of Canada of Quebec’s Bill 21. The controversial Quebec law prohibits public service workers from wearing religious symbols, whether that’s a headscarf, or a crucifix. Several people in Quebec have had to make a decision in the last few years about whether or not they’re going to lose their religion while on the job, or just lose their job.

The mayor’s motion declares that, “The City of Guelph recognizes that Bill 21 is discriminatory and does not uphold equality of all citizens, regardless of their religious affiliation, as protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” and, if passed, will send that declaration to the Prime Minister, the House, Federal and Provincial leaders, Guelph’s MP and MPP, the National Council of Canadian Muslims, the World Sikh Organization, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and Ontario Big City Mayor’s Caucus.

Consent Agenda items from the Committee of the Whole meeting on January 10. (Items can be pulled by a councillor seeking additional information, otherwise all items will be voted on as a slate without further debate.)