For the first time since March, council will gather as Committee of the Whole, although they will continue to meet in the virtual format we’ve all gotten used to because of the pandemic. For this month, we will get items from Public Services and Infrastructure, Development and Enterprise with three interesting reports about three different areas of City business. Continue reading “Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the September 8 Meeting?”
The anti-mask movement will hit Guelph on Sunday with a planned gathering at Riverside Park from 1 pm to 4 pm. Seemingly organized by four area residents, a Facebook event page was posted on Monday followed swiftly by an event page for a counter-protest. The moves make Guelph the latest battleground in the intersection between public health orders, conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic, and yes, QAnon. Continue reading “Anti-Mask and Anti-Anti-Mask Protests Happening in Guelph Sunday”
Normally there are no August city council meetings, but as we all know in 2020 what’s normal got up, walked out of the room, and threw itself down the stairs. Having three city council meetings in August is unusual, but it’s hardly the most unusual thing about this political year, and to make sense of everything that’s happened at council so far in 2020, we’re going to do a recap. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #235 – The Council Year So Far”
It’s jam-packed meeting for this last meeting in a very unusual series of August meetings. You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along on Twitter, or follow the tweets below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for August 24, 2020”
The City of Guelph puts 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: The Museum, Feedback, and Money For Small Businesses”
As we inch closer to the school year, parents and educators (and students as well) are wondering what in-class learning will look like when the kids start going back the day after Labour Day. As Guelph and area’s separate school board works out the details, the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Medical Officer of Health is offering her two cents and endorsing the call to have students mask up. Continue reading “Mercer Endorses Mask Mandate at Upper Grand School Board”
For the eighth year in a row, the City of Guelph has secured a AA+ rating from the Standard & Poors global rating agency. This good economic news comes in the midst of a fiscal year where Guelph has been hit with the negative effects of COVID-19 and the economic problems created by the pandemic, and although Guelph is not alone in these conditions, it seems again we’re doing better than some of the others. Continue reading “Guelph Stays AA+ Despite the Financial Fallout of the Pandemic”
The annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference wrapped up on Wednesday with some speeches from opposition leaders including Green Party of Ontario leader and Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner. After Premier Doug Ford’s somewhat rosy appraisal of the current response to COVID-19 on Monday, Schreiner notes there’s still a long, long way to go, and a lot of stuff that’s been overlooked by the provincial government. Continue reading “Schreiner Wants Less Cheerleading More Regular Leading from Ford”
WE has turned into something of a national scandal, but the truth is that there have been a lot of questions about the way WE does business for a long time, and only some of it’s been recently exposed. The little non-profit that could, fighting child labour and promoting sustainability around the world, is now at the centre of the biggest political story in Canada in 2020, but what about the personal story? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #234 – WE: A Personal Story”
At a special meeting of the Upper Grand District School Board on Tuesday night, trustees heard the plans of their staff to ensure the safe re-opening of schools in Guelph and area in just a few weeks time. According to the staff report, the new school year is going to come with big challenges, and a big price tag, but confidence is high that it’s a good plan that will give school kids a taste of normalcy. Continue reading “Masks For Everyone, Says Upper Grand District School Board”
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