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: Heritage Guelph Cranks Out Several Designation, and Are Looking for More

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November’s Heritage Guelph meeting was largely straightforward, but at least three more designations are on their way to council for final approval at some point in the future, and now there are a couple of more items are on the drawing board, But as we reach the end of 2023 it seems like heritage staff are running our of work, which is why they queued up the committee to start thinking about 2024. For right now though, this is the recap of this month’s meeting… Continue reading “RECAP: Heritage Guelph Cranks Out Several Designation, and Are Looking for More” →

This Week at Council: Mad Money, Madder Residents

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It was a very busy 30 hours at council this week with three meetings. First up, there was Committee of the Whole with one item main item about governance. Next, a special meeting of council that determined the fate of one development, it was a big development but it was still just about the one. And then, speaking of big items, we dug into the 2024-2027 multiyear budget and it’s big tax levy increase. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: Mad Money, Madder Residents” →

POLICE NOTES: Knife Crimes, Obstruction of Justice, and a Big Trafficking Bust

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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: Knife Crimes, Obstruction of Justice, and a Big Trafficking Bust” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the November 21 Meeting?

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In the midst of all this budget madness, we don’t want to forget about the usual business of city council like the monthly planning meeting. This November meeting will be pretty straightforward with a couple of new designations from the Heritage Guelph factory, plus a couple of new applications for council’s consideration. A nice planning break before diving back into budget business so let’s see what’s on the agenda. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the November 21 Meeting?” →

MEETING PREVIEW: Transit Advisory Committee Meeting for November 16, 2023

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November’s Transit Advisory Committee meeting will look to the future. That means looking at the budget and some of the best laid plans in the 10-year route and schedule strategy that are now delayed, and that also means looking at potential changes to a south end bus route. That’s under new business, and aside from then there’s also the usual business like the monthly update from staff and rider feedback. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Transit Advisory Committee Meeting for November 16, 2023” →

RECAP: Couple of Tough Applications for Committee of Adjustments Consideration

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It was a packed agenda for Committee of Adjustment this month, but it wasn’t necessarily a complicated agenda. Only a couple of files offered anything even a little controversial including a very well-known property that was once a hotel and is now a student residence where the owner wants to make even more room for students. Along with that, there’s a couple of severances, a couple of accessory buildings, and a house at the end of a dead end street. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Couple of Tough Applications for Committee of Adjustments Consideration” →

RECAP: Social Services Committee Tackles Ambulance and Housing Pressures

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This month’s Social Services Committee meeting at Wellington County took place against the backdrop of the budget discussion at the City of Guelph. Appropriately, two of the key topics directly affecting Guelph business includes (obviously) the 2024 social services budget, which also connects to a presentation from Paramedic Service Chief Stephen Dewar about ambulance response times. But that’s only how the meeting begins, so let’s gt into the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Social Services Committee Tackles Ambulance and Housing Pressures” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #396 – Un-Forgetting the Korean War

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This Saturday is Remembrance Day, our annual opportunity to stop and remember Canada’s war dead who made the ultimate sacrifice and the ones that came home. But not all wars are remembered equally. For instance, the Korean War has long been characterized as “the forgotten war”, so on this 70th anniversary of the unofficial end of the Korean War, how can we make sure that the forgotten war gets remembered? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #396 – Un-Forgetting the Korean War” →

MEETING PREVIEW: Accessibility Advisory Committee for November 14, 2023

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Take two! This meeting was originally supposed to take place last month, but the Accessibility Advisory Committee was unable to achieve quorum. So the meeting was rescheduled following October’s regular meting and this is where they landed, in the middle of November at approximately the same time that an AAC meeting might normally take place. With that kind of regularity, the meeting will have to happen this time! Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Accessibility Advisory Committee for November 14, 2023” →

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for November 7, 2023

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It’s budget presentation day! You can click here for the amended agendas 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 November 7, 2023” →