With so much to figure out at this meeting, it was maybe for the best that city council had two weeks off to figure it all out. After receiving two special guests specializing in council accountability and transparency, we dug into two ongoing issues. First, council had to figure out the issue of ice time and especially discounted ice time at the Sleeman Centre, and then, even more complicatedly, they had to figure out council pay for the next term. Here’s the recap!
Regular Meeting of City Council – March 31, 2026
Interestingly, not a word was spoken on the mayor’s post to social media a few weeks ago about his decision not to run for re-election. As Cam Guthrie gavelled in the first council meeting since that announcement, it seemed like it was business as usual.
The packed agenda started with the 2025 Annual Report of the Integrity Commissioner. John Mascarin from Aird & Berlis LLP returned for his yearly check-in and noted that they’ve received a decline in the number of complaints and requests since 2024, which is different from other municipalities they cover. It was mostly a good news story about the positive example of council and local boards, though Mascarin advised that there could be some changes to the Code of Conduct that council will have to reckon with if the Ontario government ever brings Bill 9 back for final passage.
Then council heard the 2025 Annual Report from Lobbyist Registrar Suzanne Craig. She also had nothing really controversial to report and talked about the importance of lobbying and how she would deal with inappropriate lobby activities if there were any. Councillor Phil Allt asked Craig about who’s responsibility it is to report lobbying efforts if a member of council feels like they’re being lobbied and she said the ball is in the lobbyist’s court to report themselves.
That brought us to the controversy for the night, the redux debate on the Sleeman Centre Operating Model. As you may recall, there was some disagreement at the Committee of the Whole meeting about ending the youth facilities discount for renting ice time at the Sleeman Centre, and some concern about moving season-long bookings to other City of Guelph facilities. The staff report noted that the reliance on using the Sleeman Centre to answer the need for ice time has prevented the City from booking big events that could cover the costs of running the Centre annually, and with two new ice pads opening at the South End Community Centre later this fall, all league play will be moved there, which will free up the availability of the Sleeman Centre for those big events.
There was no new presentation from staff, but there were four delegates representing various hockey organizations in Guelph who shared their concerns including the increasing pressure for more ice time, the fitness of older facilities like Exhibition and Centennial, and the increasing cost of ice time. Several of the councillors questioned the delegates about developing some kind of public-private partnership like the Cambridge Sports Park since there’s not a lot of new funding for additional ice facilities given the City’s current capital funding restraints. Chris Ste-Croix, VP of Guelph Minor Hockey Association, said that there seems to be some idea around the rink that council would be against such arrangements, but they’re open to it.
After the delegations, DCAO of Public Services Colleen Clack-Bush affirmed again that all leagues currently getting ice time at Sleeman Centre will get the same time at the new pads at the South End Community Centre. She added that there will be even more ice time because presently the Sleeman Centre is only offering 30 hours of ice time per week compared to 130 at the SECC when it opens. She also announced that thanks the green energy build in the SECC, they will be making ice time available in April and May as a pilot project next year.
As for the motions at hand, Councillor Dan Gibson, who was not at the Committee of the Whole meeting when this was first discussed, asked why the City couldn’t pursue a displacement policy allowing teams to book Sleeman Centre for ice time with the knowledge that they might get their time cancelled if something bigger needs to be booked. Clack-Bush said again that it’s staff’s recommendation that council *not* do that because the concern is that they will be going to groups and asking them to move with no where to move them to. It’s also a matter of setting expectations and creating consistency, some events can be booked months in advance, but something like a film shoot might come up with almost no notice.
Council again handily approved the delegated authority to negotiate rents and fees, and the reserve fund surcharge on tickets, but as for removing the youth facility discount that vote failed 3-10. In other words, the discount stays in place.
Council also approved a couple of other motions, one to look at extending the youth facilities discount to other rec facilities like the River Run Centre and Guelph Museums, and another about implementing portions of the Parks and Rec Master Plan meant to create access to recreation for youth from underserviced groups. Both of these staff reports will come back to council ahead of the 2027 budget confirmation process early next year.
After a break, council tried again to land on a decision about the next council’s compensation. They referred a motion to this meeting from February to increase the salary for councillors by 3.95 per cent to $55,000 in the next term, but that was apparently off the table again. Instead, there were two alternatives. One from Councillor Leanne Caron to increase the salary to $59,000, and if that failed there would be a motion from Councillor Rodrigo Goller to have a zero per cent increase.
On her motion, Caron said that she looked at the base salary among comparitors and noted that while places like Brantford paid councillors less, they also represent fewer constituents per councillor too. She added that this is a policy-based proposal she was presenting, so if council doesn’t like it, it’s a problem with the policy and that was a problem they couldn’t solve in one night. Other councillors like Goller and Gibson still struggled with the justification for such a steep increase, but Caron’s recommendation ended up passings by a slim 7-6 vote.
The last item was a motion to support for Bill 21, the Protect our Food Act sponsored by Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner and independent MPP Bobbi Ann Brady from Haldimand—Norfolk to create an Ontario foodbelt that will “ensure the preservation and enhancement of a geographically continuous land base.” In this case, Gibson and Caron were both in agreement about the motion’s worthiness for support, but Guthrie had his doubts saying that he didn’t like inflicting more restrictions on land use. The mayor eventually supported the motion anyway but conceded that it’s “not going to go anywhere” in the legislature.
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
Guelph Politico 