City Council Ratifies CUPE Deal; Full Details Still Not Known

Monday night, city council ratified the new contract between the City of Guelph and three Canadian Union of Public Employees locals that was reached on April 3. The motion was passed unanimously with all councillors and the mayor voting in favour, but they know what’s in the deal. We, among the general public, still do not. Continue reading “City Council Ratifies CUPE Deal; Full Details Still Not Known”

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for April 11, 2016

Time again for the monthly planning meeting at Guelph City Council. You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here to read Politico’s preview of tonight’s meeting. For the complete blow-by-blow of tonight’s council meeting, you can follow me on Twitter, or follow along below via Storify. Continue reading “LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for April 11, 2016”

GUELPH POLITICAST #34 – Bryan Munn, Royal Cat Records

Next Saturday is Record Store Day, an annual occasion for people that still like to buy their music in person, on a physical medium, at a brick and mortar location. It sounds weird, but it still happens, and it happens in Guelph everyday at Royal Cat Records, one of the small independent record stores that Record Store Day aims to celebrate on a yearly basis.  Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #34 – Bryan Munn, Royal Cat Records”

Gordon and Allt Eat Success with First Breakfast Town Hall

Set in the middle of Breezy Corners on Macdonnell were four tables arranged together for a unique new civic engagement event. Ward 2 Councillor James Gordon and Ward 3 Councillor Phil Allt had put out an open invitation to the Guelph community: Thursdays at 8 am, come to Breezy Corners, have some breakfast, and talk about whatever you want to talk about politically. For this inaugural town hall, the councillors got around 20 people first thing in the morning for some frank political talk “over-easy.” Continue reading “Gordon and Allt Eat Success with First Breakfast Town Hall”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for April 11’s Meeting?

It’s the first city council meeting of the month, and you know what that means: planning, zoning, and rezoning. New buildings will be built, some buildings will be torn down, sewers will be replaced, and the council will receive a report about that one contentious night back in January… Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for April 11’s Meeting?”

RECAP: Longfield Townhall on the Federal Budget

In his first townhall as Guelph’s Member of Parliament, Lloyd Longfield kept a pretty strict time regiment while covering a lot of ground as a full house came out tonight to Innovation Guelph to get an insider’s look at the 2016 Federal Budget. Longfield was joined by Vaughan-Woodbridge MP Franceso Sorbara and CPA Fred Richardson of BDO Canada, to talk about how the budget will affect the average, everyday Guelphite, and answer questions from the audience. Did you miss my live-tweet out or couldn’t make it to the townhall? Check out the recap below: Continue reading “RECAP: Longfield Townhall on the Federal Budget”

Ontario Gov Looking at Changes to Municipal Elections

Even as the provincial government tries to scramble to reform their own fundraising activities, they will be considering changes to how municipal elections will be run in 2018. Queen’s Park has announced today proposed changes to the Municipal Elections Act (MEA), that will, if passed, “modernize municipal elections and provide the option of using ranked ballots in future municipal elections.” Continue reading “Ontario Gov Looking at Changes to Municipal Elections”

City Reaches Agreement with CUPE Unions

Despite the issuance of a “no board” report a little over a week ago, and the inference that there may have been issues in reaching a deal between the City and three key CUPE locals, it seems that a four-day weekend of negotiations has wiped away all concerns. Tonight, as city plows hit the roads to deal with an early spring winter storm, the people of Guelph are assured that there will be no lockout of, or strike by its office employees, outside workers and librarians. Continue reading “City Reaches Agreement with CUPE Unions”

This Week in Press Releases – March 28-April 1, 2016

Every week, the City of Guelph and other groups send out notices to announce new events, imperatives, and information that you need to know. Here is this week in press releases. Continue reading “This Week in Press Releases – March 28-April 1, 2016”

GUELPH POLITICAST #33 – The Neighbours of Glasgow Street North Community Action Group

Imagine coming home from work one day and finding the home next door to yours being torn down without any advanced notice to you. That was the scenario in the minds of the people that live in the area of Glasgow Street North between London Road and Suffolk Street, and they were so concerned that they formed a new neighbourhood group called the Neighbours of Glasgow Street North Community Action Group. Even though the decision had been made to approve the demolition of the historic home, the members of this new group were determined to have their say, better late than never. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #33 – The Neighbours of Glasgow Street North Community Action Group”