This Week at Council: A Whole in the World

Money! Much of this month’s Committee of the Whole meeting was about it, but there was also some new climate change policy, a formal farewell to a city councillor with a new job, and, yes, some controversy. What was supposed to be consent item about seeking permission for a request for proposals for daytime shelter services opened a potential kettle of fish when it comes to council at the end of the month. For now, here’s the recap of May’s CoW meeting!

Committee of the Whole Meeting – May 6, 2025

Among the usual recognitions at the beginning of Committee of the Whole there was a particular one. Councillor Dominique O’Rourke returned to the chambers for the last time before taking up her new role as Guelph’s Member of Parliament. Mayor Cam Guthrie praised her for seven years of dedication and hard work on council, and then O’Rourke thanked council, staff and her constituents before pledging to carry on the work of housing and climate action in the House of Commons.

Getting down to committee business, the horseshoe first heard the year-end financial numbers from 2024. Among the highlights was the City’s success in securing more grant funding from upper levels of government, which is good because provincially mandated exemptions to development fees are digging a big hole in the budget, and finance staff may be looking at other capital project deferrals starting as soon as 2026 because of it. The City took a 0.1 per cent operating deficit last year, largely due to $5.2 million in additional spending under social services, but new treasurer Shanna O’Dwyer noted that the 2024 actuals largely bore out the considerations staff built into the multiyear budget in 2023.

Committee asked a few follow-up questions but passed a slate of motions receiving the statements and making some transfers between accounts.

Next, committee revisited the Code of Conduct update, which they deferred back in March after council took numerous exceptions to some of the new policy around social media management. Staff altered the new code to allow councillors to post about their work on council during an election, but they still can’t use their title in their handle or account name. Acting City Clerk Dylan McMahon also noted that the new Municipal Accountability Act has been reintroduced in the Ontario Legislature and will override the local Code of Conduct, but Guelph needs to implement changes now to see us through the 2026 election since the provincial bill won’t go into effect until the 2026-2030 term.

The changes weren’t perfect though. Councillor Erin Caton still had concerns about stopping online abuses, even on private accounts used by councillors. McMahon explained the standard is creating a public forum; if a councillor is talking about a matter of public interest like issues before council then they have to be cautious when blocking, but if they have, say, a Blue Jays fanpage and that’s all they talk about on it, they have a little more latitude in deciding who gets to take part. Caton said that they have to work on an amendment and ultimately voted against the recommendation while their wardmate Councillor Dan Gibson made an odd remark by saying that he had wanted these changes five years ago and council balked, so he’s glad that his colleagues saw the light even if he had to take his name off it.

Next, committee discussed a report called Addressing Gaps in Daytime Sheltering Options for Persons Experiencing Homelessness. Staff were seeking leave from committee to have a formal procurement process to look for a provider of daytime shelter services like showers, laundry, storage, 24/7 washrooms, food, activities, and warming and cooling, but Councillor Rodrgio Goller had a very specific caveat: put it somewhere that’s not directly downtown.

The Ward 2 councillor explained that he heard from both his own constituents and the Downtown Guelph Business Association that they don’t want a new shelter on the “main strip” but merely in the vicinity of downtown if not somewhere else in the city. Goller’s wardmate Councillor Carly Klassen concurred saying that council had to be a good neighbour and not burden the area with more social services, plus they need to look to ensuring the area’s safety and security.

Guthrie added to the pile on by saying that downtowns everywhere are facing this same struggle, and that these areas are meant to be economic and tourism drivers. No additional motion was put on the floor, but other councillors expressed concern about creating exclusions, the definition of a “main strip”, limiting the process before it even begins and even making it harder to access social services by spreading them out across town instead of keeping them relatively close in one area. There was also mention of a letter from the DGBA that was sent to councillors directly and not included as part of the council agenda.

That left one item on the agenda, the Guelph Community Call to Climate Action. Manager of Energy and Climate Chane Bryan Ho-Yan explained to committee that it’s a call to collection action by showing the Guelph community changes they can make to eliminate the approximate three tonnes of carbon per person we all need to lose if Guelph is get down to the goal of 416,245 tonnes by 2030.

David Douglas of Guelph Climate Action Network was the one delegate and said that the city’s environmental groups are eagerly standing by to help the City with the effort. He also noted that people are concerned that Guelph is falling behind in the area of climate action and how they could use some more direction from local government.

Some on council had doubts though. Councillor Phil Allt said that he felt the targets were overly ambitious given the five-year timeframe. Councillor Leanne Caron essentially agreed saying that the call’s aim to get the “low-hanging fruit” was pointless since the City’s already picked most of that fruit. Ho-Yan said that there are a lot of community members in the middle of the spectrum between denier and treehugger, and it’s those people his staff are hoping to reach. Regardless of any reservations, council approved the plan and supported the staff actions to set it in motion.

Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.