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."

More Ontario By-Elections on Feb 13

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Because it’s never not election time somewhere, Premier Kathleen Wynne has called two more by-elections for February 13 in the ridings of Thornhill and Niagara Falls. This will be the ninth and tenth by-election for the Province of Ontario since the formation of the last government in October 2011, but unlike last summer’s contentious five-race rally that was all for Liberal seats, this will a showdown to see if the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives can keep their individual seats in Niagara and Thornhill respectively, or if maybe one of the parties will able to make up some ground one place or another. Continue reading “More Ontario By-Elections on Feb 13” →

MacDonald to Go From Weatherman to Waterloo Mayor

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If we can step out of our own municipal race for a second, which already has four people on the ballot for mayor, we can look slightly westward to Waterloo, which, as of yesterday, has one candidate for mayor, and it’s someone you may already know. If you’ve ever watched the news on CTV’s Kitchener station, then you probably at some point got the weather from Dave MacDonald, and now the former weatherman is making his bid to be Mayor of Waterloo. Continue reading “MacDonald to Go From Weatherman to Waterloo Mayor” →

A Farewell to Allt

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If you were listening to “The Gang of Four” yesterday on CFRU, then you know it was the last appearance (for a while?) for “The Philosopher” Phil Allt. Allt has been a staple of the Gang since “Beyond the Ballot Box” began two and a half years ago, but he’s decided to give up political punditry for a shot at being a politician once again by announcing his intention to run for city council in Ward 3. In the already busy election year so far, Allt’s is just one of several knew names who have thrown themselves into the hat. Continue reading “A Farewell to Allt” →

Carlo Lives!

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There have been several instances where news got around on social media that a certain celebrity or other well-known person had died only for that news to turn out completely false once said person retracted their own death notice. But this time, it’s hit close to home. Earlier this week, it was making the rounds on Twitter that Carlo Angelone, a Downtown fixture well known for yelling in Italian up and down Wyndham Street, had died. But don’t eulogize him yet though because contrary reports are saying Carlo is, in fact, alive if not very well. Continue reading “Carlo Lives!” →

Farbridge Gambles on Another Term as Mayor

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Today at City Hall, the woman who currently holds the keys to the Mayor’s office made her bid to hold on those keys by announcing her intention to run for another term. If successful, this would be Farbride’s third consecutive term, fourth overall, but arguably she will have much stiffer competition this year than she did in 2010. Continue reading “Farbridge Gambles on Another Term as Mayor” →

Farbridge Gearing Up for Re-Election?

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There weren’t any new candidates added to the 2014 election ballot today, maybe the crummy weather has something to do with it. But there was still election news, a tease if you will, and it comes from current Guelph Mayor Karen Farbridge. Is Farbridge about to announce her bid for a third consecutive (and fourth overall) term as the leader of the Royal City? Continue reading “Farbridge Gearing Up for Re-Election?” →

Election Year Day 2 – More Names on the Ballot

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Either an indication of how busy the local balllot’s going to be this election, or that there are a lot of eager beavers out there, three more names have been added to the rolls for the 2014 Municipal election. As per the Guelph Votes website, three people have added themselves to October 27 election, including two for mayor and one for city council. Continue reading “Election Year Day 2 – More Names on the Ballot” →

The BTBB Awards for 2013

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I’m writing this both as a way of organizing my own thoughts and encapsulating the year that was according to the criteria of the annual “Beyond the Ballot Box” Awards show. These year end analyses are always tricky; a balancing act of what was important, what was fascinating and what was overlooked. For this year’s awards show, I was very conscious to sidestep around the words “Rob Ford,” as he could have easily taken the prize in two, maybe three, of the categories. The truth is that even without RoFo, there was still a lot of material out there. I’ll be interested to hear what the rest of the gang has to say, and who they give out their awards to (and by the time this article goes live, we’ll all know). For now though, here’s my BTTB Award winners, and my reasoning for their getting the laurels. Continue reading “The BTBB Awards for 2013” →

The Election Year Begins

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If you’re still hung over from the New Year’s festivities. sober up(!) because the 2014 Municipal Election is officially underway as of today. Today was the first day that potential candidates could file papers to run for mayor or city councillor in the October 27th election, and both here in Guelph and in Toronto, some early birds were hoping that they have what it takes to get the worm. Continue reading “The Election Year Begins” →

New Year’s Message from GCL

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Happy New Year! Now let’s talk about the election.

Just kidding. (Sort of.) As you undoubtedly know (and since you’re reading this blog, I assume you do know), 2014 is a Municipal Election year. So the time is right to start a discussion of the important issues facing Guelph this year, and how we’re going to promote greater voter engagement and get out the vote this fall. But where to begin? How about at the Annual General Meeting for the Guelph Civic League. The details for next week’s meeting can be found in the open letter from the GCL below. Continue reading “New Year’s Message from GCL” →