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."

GUELPH POLITICAST #463 – The End of the CTS, aka: Have a HART (feat. Melissa Kwiatkowski & Jean Hopkins)

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In six days, the doors of Guelph’s Consumption and Treatment site will close for the last time. Unless a Charter challenge in an Ontario court succeeds, the Ontario government’s mandate to close a dozen different CTSes and replacement them with new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment, or HART, Hubs. Or at least that was the plan. Either way, what happens on April 1? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #463 – The End of the CTS, aka: Have a HART (feat. Melissa Kwiatkowski & Jean Hopkins)” →

RECAP: City Council Meeting for March 25, 2025

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Council has the last word for March, but will it go out like a lamb or a line? Tune in and see! 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 “RECAP: City Council Meeting for March 25, 2025” →

This Week at Council: It Was a Planning and Trading Meeting

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Delayed a week because city council gets March Break too, we finally come to the March planning meeting+. Why “plus”? Because this month’s meeting wasn’t just about planning matters, but about trades wars, or rather it was about how Guelph is ready to fight one. As for the actual planning part of the planning meeting, housing was the focus as council got an update about those efforts. To learn more, consult this recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: It Was a Planning and Trading Meeting” →

POLICE NOTES: Brazen Assault, Armed Robbery and More Tundras Taken

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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: Brazen Assault, Armed Robbery and More Tundras Taken” →

Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the April 1, 2025 Meeting?

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April showers brings Committee of the Whole. No fooling, this meeting will have some pretty big financial implications, and some pretty small ones as well when the horseshoe tackles development debt, new development arrangements, and the final update to a tree bylaw, plus the future of the Drill Hall will be determined. Again. For the last time(?). Let’s dig into what to expect at your first council meeting on the first day of the month! Continue reading “Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the April 1, 2025 Meeting?” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #462 – Has It Really Been Five Years? (feat. Dr. Nicola Mercer)

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Maybe you don’t remember, or want to remember, but it was this time five years ago that the world closed down as COVID-19 became so virulent that it required us to be sequestered for months or else keep six feet apart while wearing a mask or other PPE. Many of us have memory-holed those events, some have re-written it as an overreaction or, even worse than that, a conspiracy, but perhaps the time has come to face our trauma about the pandemic. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #462 – Has It Really Been Five Years? (feat. Dr. Nicola Mercer)” →

RECAP: City Council Meeting for March 18, 2025

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March Break is over so let’s get planning! 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 “RECAP: City Council Meeting for March 18, 2025” →

POLICE NOTES: Theft Ring Busted, Arson Investigation, and High Risk Offender Caught Again

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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: Theft Ring Busted, Arson Investigation, and High Risk Offender Caught Again” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the March 25, 2025 Meeting?

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The last meeting for March is a recital of the past. Yes, as usual, we will revisit the (almost whole) agenda from this month’s Committee of the Whole meeting, but there’s also new/old controversy with a returning bylaw that caused a lot of hand wringing last year. The ball will be in the people’s court (so to speak) to see if they have anything new and interesting to say on these matters, otherwise this could be a short meeting. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the March 25, 2025 Meeting?” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #461 – Dispatches From a Quixotic Legislative Quest (feat. Mike Morrice)

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When we talk about the affordability crisis, you sometimes hear the term “legislated poverty”, meaning the state of social assistance rates like Ontario Works and ODSP that assure people can never get ahead because the amounts paid never cover all the real costs of daily life. That’s why Mike Morrice decided to act when he was elected to the House of Commons in 2021, but like all great quests, it hasn’t ended up the way he envisioned. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #461 – Dispatches From a Quixotic Legislative Quest (feat. Mike Morrice)” →