At the June Committee of the Whole meeting we spent almost as much time waiting for the meeting to begin as we spent in the meeting. There was some important stuff on the agenda, but it seems that it was pretty straightforward; employee engagement, the review of Community Benefit Agreements, and more on Corporate Asset Management were all topics needing discussion and decision, so how did it all turn out?
Committee of the Whole Meeting – June 3, 2025
The June Committee of the Whole meeting began with a lot of waiting. And waiting. And waiting.
After waiting about 80 minutes into the open session for committee to finally end their closed meeting discussion, Mayor Guthrie apologized and then said that council received information on the three topics and gave staff direction on two of them.
On the open agenda, we started with the Employee Engagement Update presentation. Manager of Talent and Organizational Development Kerry Pletch discussed the difference between the merely satisfied workers and the one’s actively engaged in making their workplace better. The good news is that 75 per cent of staff members took part in the survey, and through them the City of Guelph beat the benchmark in terms of the number of employees who are satisfied (above) and the number of employees unsatisfied (below).
Next, committee tackled the review of the Community Benefit Agreement program. This was a directive coming out of last year’s budget confirmation process, and completed in what seems like record time, which was something that Mayor Cam Guthrie later remarked upon. Among the recommendations, staff pointed to the need to align CBAs with both the strategic plan and the budget, establishing a CBA advisory group, assigning a department liaison, using standardized agreements, creating formal accountability measures, and reframing the agreements to focus on the work and not the organization.
Council had some follow-up questions about whether not council and staff might need to have more influence or collaborations with groups applying for CBAs, and whether staff has considered ways that marginalized groups can be better supported though the CBA process, but there was universal agreement that these changes were a long time in coming.
After that, it was the Corporate Asset Management Plan and Levels of Service, which has to be submitted to the Government of Ontario by the end of the month. This was kind of an information report to council and a bit of prep work for the budget confirmation process later this year.
Staff members acknowledged that council is having a difficult time balancing affordability with increasing capital costs, but they asked committee that, at a minimum, they don’t let the present infrastructure backlog get any worse. It was also noted that the budget for asset management is dependent on the City’s own fiscal resources and though they’re always trying to get more grant funding from upper levels of government Guthrie noted that those funds are always more directed to “flavours of the month” and not something relatively dull like asset management.
And finally, committee approved the Ontario Health Mult-Sector Service Accountability Agreement Declaration of Compliance, which mostly ensures the ongoing operation of the Paramedicine Program. So when it was all said and done, we waited almost as long for the meeting to begin as the actual length of the open meeting itself.
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
Guelph Politico 