The last meeting of the month at council was mostly about the recap, but it also had some traps that could have lead to controversy. Yes, there was a report from the integrity commissioner regarding complaints about the mayor’s social media, but there were also some pointed critiques made to the mayor around the lobbyist registry too. In other unfinished business, council had more notes about the Municipal Accommodation Tax.
Regular Meeting of City Council – April 16
Can you get all of city council’s monthly business done in less than an hour when three consent agenda items have already been pulled in advanced? You bet you can!
In closed session, Jordyn Foster and Kristel Manes were appointed to the Downtown Guelph Business Association’s board of directors and staff were given direction about downtown land disposition. In the open session, almost all the reports from Committee of the Whole this month were approved without any further discussion.
Without new staff information, debate on the other two committee items would be generated from the delegates. John Fisher from the Guelph Hiking Trail Club said that he was impressed with what had been presented under the Municipal Accommodation Tax Update and Administration Policy, but he wanted to put in a good word for downtown revitalization saying it was key to generating some tourism by making the core Guelph’s tourist destination hub. GM of Economic Development and Tourism James Goodram was asked about this by Councillor Carly Klassen and he said that MAT funds could go to those projects but he added that council should keep in mind that only $100,000 from the MAT is put in reserve for infrastructure every year.
In terms of other council points, Councillor Dan Gibson urged his colleagues to keep in mind the things that are actually driving tourism, especially overnight stays in hotels, meaning sporting events and tournaments. MAT funds, in other words, should be reinvested into the sources from which we’re getting the MAT. Councillor Dominique O’Rourke confirmed the amount for grants was $50,000 and asked when applications were going to open, since there was so much eagerness in the community. The answer to that question: Sometime in May.
The MAT recommendations were approved unanimously.
Next was the Lobbyist Registry Review. Same deal, no new info, but one delegate. Susan Watson almost missed her chance, but she arrived just in time to recommend some stronger penalties for the violation of lobbying rules saying that this registry is even more important given Mayor Cam Guthrie’s adoption of Strong Mayor Powers and the decision of council late last year to “put the GID Secondary Plan in the shredder.”
“Someone made millions and they didn’t even have to show up,” Watson said.
Council was unanimous in its praise for more transparency, and while no one directly addressed Watson’s barb about the Official Plan change to remove employment lands from the Guelph Innovation District several councillors agreed that they would like it to be more transparent about what counts as lobbying and who’s a lobbyist, even if that person is lobbying in a public forum like a planning meeting. Some on council even want the proposed regulations go beyond those lobbying efforts that have a direct pecuniary interest and to include a list of those lobbying for a policy in council reports.
The recommendations for the Lobbyist Registry Review were approved too.
That just left the Code of Conduct Investigation Report into complaints about some social media posts on the mayor’s account last holiday season. There was one delegate listed in the agenda, but it seems like they weren’t attending, so the report itself was received swiftly, unanimously, and without additional comment from the mayor.
There were, however, some supplemental motions raised by Councillor Erin Caton coming out of the report; one to review the Election Policy and Code of Conduct about the use of personal versus corporate social media accounts as part of the 2025 Governance Review, and the other to direct the GM of Strategic Communications to develop some social media training for council.
There were some questions about the meaning of a “corporate” social media account versus a personal account and whether or not this was being taken as a direction from the integrity commissioner. Councillor Christine Billings asked to separate the Code of Conduct and Elections Policy reviews into two separate motions, which was weird considering that she’s the only member of council with *no* social media presence at all. Still, all of Caton’s recommendations were approved unanimously, with the mayor himself noting that he intends to avail himself of the social media training.
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
Guelph Politico 