Author: Adam A. Donaldson

When he’s not the main/only contributor to Guelph Politico, Adam A. Donaldson also contributes to GuelphToday.com as their city hall columnist and co-hosts a political and current affairs show on CFRU 93.3 fm called “Open Sources Guelph" as well as the movie review show "End Credits."

RECAP: Committee of Adjustment Dispatches 12 Applications in Marathon Meeting

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Like one of those old episodes of Night Court where they have to get through 100 cases before midnight, Guelph’s Committee of Adjustment had to parcel through a dozen different applications over the course of a meeting that took nearly three hours to complete. Some of the applications were more difficult to parse than others, but there was an eclectic mix of projects and requests, to let’s dig into the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Committee of Adjustment Dispatches 12 Applications in Marathon Meeting” →

Conestoga Coming to Downtown by 2025 After Buying Co-operators Building

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Conestoga College is making a $90 million bet on downtown Guelph, and in the process answering the great economic development conundrum for the next few years: What happens to the Co-operators’ building when they move to their new south end headquarters. Business and government dignitaries were drawn to City Hall today to hear the news, the culmination of years of planning and advocacy. Continue reading “Conestoga Coming to Downtown by 2025 After Buying Co-operators Building” →

MEETING PREVIEW: Accessibility Advisory Committee for April 18, 2023

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After taking a scheduled month off, the Accessibility Advisory Committee gets back to business with their regular meeting, and the agenda will cover matters coming in the immediate future and the sort of far future. Feedback will be sought about a permanent patio policy, accessibility of playground equipment, traffic calming, community engagement and the 2026 municipal election. Once again, there’s a lot to cram in to the two hour running time.  Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Accessibility Advisory Committee for April 18, 2023” →

RECAP: Social Services Committee Looks Over Childcare and Social Spending

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Wellington County’s monthly Social Services Committee will be remembered for its lengthy in-camera session that took up about half the total meeting time. As for the non-in-camera stuff, the committee looked at quarterly financials, housing states, discretionary funding, and they took a very high overview of the County’s childcare service. Let’s recap this month’s meeting… Continue reading “RECAP: Social Services Committee Looks Over Childcare and Social Spending” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #368 – The Realtor’s View of the Housing Crisis

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When we’re talking about the housing crisis we frequently talk to activists or government representatives. This is understandable, but there are a lot of pieces to the housing puzzle and we don’t lean on all of them equally, and in so much as we want to vilify the people who take part in the open housing market that so many of us are priced out of, we still need them if we’re going to have a hope in developing solutions to the crisis. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #368 – The Realtor’s View of the Housing Crisis” →

RECAP: Heritage Guelph Looks at OR Land Contamination and Next Designation

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This month’s Heritage Guelph meeting covered a lot of ground. Two more properties are now on their way to city council for final approvals, but one property in the east end was de-listed from the heritage registry after being unable to put a birth date on an old barn, and there are some doings on the Ontario Reformatory Lands that might mean at least one building gets torn down. Let’s recap this month’s meeting… Continue reading “RECAP: Heritage Guelph Looks at OR Land Contamination and Next Designation” →

This Week at Council: Water Talk and Transit Changes

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April’s Committee of the Whole meeting was short on controversy, but loaded with insightful information about a couple important City departments. This week’s those topics of conversation were built around the annual water quality report, the Stormwater Master Plan, and the transit fare review for Guelph Transit. There were a lot of facts and figures coming at us this week, so let’s recap them the best we can! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Water Talk and Transit Changes” →

CITY PAGES: Easter Hours, Transit Changes, and Baker Street Debrief

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The City of Guelph, and it’s various partners and agencies, put out a lot of information on a weekly basis, and while it all ends up on the City’s website somewhere, wouldn’t it be easier to just scroll through it all on one easy-to-read article on Guelph Politico here…? Continue reading “CITY PAGES: Easter Hours, Transit Changes, and Baker Street Debrief” →

POLICE NOTES: $3,400 Perfume Theft, Child Porn Bust and Another Pokemon Heist

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There are 145,000 stories in the Royal City, and this is some of them. Looking at a week’s worth of media releases from the Guelph Police Service, there’s a lot going on in our little city crime-wise speaking, so let’s run down some of the charges, issues, and requests for information from the Guelph Police Service over the last seven days. Continue reading “POLICE NOTES: $3,400 Perfume Theft, Child Porn Bust and Another Pokemon Heist” →

MEETING PREVIEW: County Social Services Meeting for April 12, 2023

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April’s meeting of the Wellington County Social Services Committee has three items on the agenda covering daycare, housing, and social spending. Not the biggest agenda, but one with a lot of information if you’re interested in how child care in Guelph and Wellington works, plus the number of units and types of housing currently in the region’s social housing stock. Let’s learn more… Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: County Social Services Meeting for April 12, 2023” →