It’s been a fairly action-packed couple of weeks a city council, and there are at least a couple of action-packed meetings left on the schedule for 2024, so maybe it’s nice that we got an easy week in the chambers with a couple of laid back, fairly administrative items that we get this time every year. So let’s sit back and relax and take in a lazy week at council with this Committee of the Whole recap!

Committee of the Whole Meeting – December 4, 2024

If you’re hoping for a complicated or controversial debate around the council table, perhaps with a few ad hominem attacks, this is going to be a fairly disappointing post.

It was notable for having someone sing “O Canada” live and in person though. Githmi Illamperuma, a bio-med student at the University of Guelph, did a lovely job with an English/French mixed medley and later said that she usually performs with her sister in their hometown of Vaughan.

Committee also celebrated lives saved at the Guelph YMCA where staff, volunteers and residents were all feted for their quick response to two different people who had heart attacks while taking part in physical activity at the Y. Councillor Cathy Downer noted that it was a good example of why knowing CPR and having public defibrillators available is so important. Trista Di Lullo, Council and Committee Coordinator/Secretary-Treasurer for Committee of Adjustment was also honoured for her appointment as the President of the Ontario Association of Committees of Adjustment and Consent Authorities.

In terms of committee business there was a presentation of the 2024 External Audit plan from KPMG’s Matt Betik, which was pretty standard when compared to the what’s been presented in years past. A couple of committee members had questions about process or some element of examination the audit team would be doing, but the plan was received rather swiftly after Betik’s presentation.

The only other item was the 2024 Third Quarter Budget Monitoring Report, which was on the agenda as a consent item. Councillor Dominique O’Rourke remarked that the favourable variance of $850,000, or 0.16 per cent, showed how sharp financial staff were when forecasting the budget expenditures despite whatever comments other people make about the efficacy of municipal staff. Committee then voted to receive the report and approved the allocation of $448,000 for Paramedics Facility Renewal to finish renovations at the Clair Road Emergency Centre.

And that was all there was to it. Just two more meetings before Christmas break!

Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.

The next meet of city council is the planning meeting on Tuesday December 10 at 4 pm. You can see the agenda on the Politico preview here.