Category: News

Conspiracy Theories and Science Denial on Display Downtown at “COVID is Over” Rally

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

They said not to take “hugs over masks” literally, but there was one guy on the corner soliciting hugs. They said it wasn’t an anti-mask protest, but at one point a speaker stopped everything to burn a mask before the cheering crowd. The messages were mixed, but the messaging was as plain as day. The anti-mask movement landed in St. George’s Square Sunday afternoon attracting around 50 people, mostly maskless, all eager to deflect from the reality of the situation. Continue reading “Conspiracy Theories and Science Denial on Display Downtown at “COVID is Over” Rally” →

CITY PAGES: Pandemic News, Newcomer Help, and Snow Plow Names

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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: Pandemic News, Newcomer Help, and Snow Plow Names” →

Anti-Mask Event Planned for Downtown Guelph This Sunday

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Guelph has done pretty well avoiding the kind of anti-mask, anti-COVID restriction demonstrations that have popped in other places. (A mask burning event last weekend in Idaho comes to mind.) But this weekend, the controversy comes to town, and it seems like have a Who’s Who in anti-masking, anti-vaxxing and conspiracy theories are going to be on hand for the festivities. Continue reading “Anti-Mask Event Planned for Downtown Guelph This Sunday” →

Public Health Changing Mask Orders, Still Promoting AstraZeneca

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There was a lot of good news this week about the rollout of vaccines, but on Friday it was clear that there’s still some work that needs to be done to get us to the end of the pandemic. On Friday, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health announced that they are updating mask requirements to address the growing concerns of variants, while also trying to assuage doubts about the efficacy the latest vaccine. Continue reading “Public Health Changing Mask Orders, Still Promoting AstraZeneca” →

Guelph Announces New Money from the Province and Alectra, Plus Budget News

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Last week, the Government of Ontario announced further financial aid for cities for the 2021 fiscal year. The funds are desperately needed as we enter the second year of the pandemic, and the Provincial government wants to be seen as proactive as they get ready to deliver their next budget. So where is the money going to go, and who else just gave the City of Guelph a big cheque? Continue reading “Guelph Announces New Money from the Province and Alectra, Plus Budget News” →

Public Health Opens Vaccine Pre-Registration for Phase 2 Groups

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Thursday will mark the one-year anniversary of the declaration of a pandemic by the World Health Organization, a declaration that will remain in place until the majority of people are vaccinated for COVID-19. That effort is proceeding carefully, but there is cause for a bit more optimism today as Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health is now taking names for the next phase of the vaccine rollout, and getting their lines jammed in the process.

Continue reading “Public Health Opens Vaccine Pre-Registration for Phase 2 Groups” →

Masking Skeptics Take Part in Board of Health Meeting

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On Wednesday, a couple of U.S. states cancelled all COVID-19 restrictions to allow businesses to re-open to 100 per cent capacity and to no longer require mask mandates. That was speaking the language of one delegate at Wednesday’s Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Board of Health meeting who said that mandatory masking at area schools was “abuse” and “violates our basic rights.” Continue reading “Masking Skeptics Take Part in Board of Health Meeting” →

Dedman Moving to Peel, Leaves New Vacancy With City Exec Staff

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The City of Guelph had a solid 18 months there without a high-profile shuffle at the executive level of City of Guelph staff, but the streak came to end Tuesday with the announcement that the current Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Infrastructure, Development and Enterprise Services is moving on at the end of March. The search is now on for Kealy Dedman’s replacement. Continue reading “Dedman Moving to Peel, Leaves New Vacancy With City Exec Staff” →

City Increase Online Access to Information Services

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As we’ve so often heard, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed almost every aspect of our daily lives, and doing business at Guelph City Hall is one of those aspects. Even as we look forward to emerging from the second wave, the City of Guelph is looking to make it easier to access their services online, whether you want public information or whether you want to rent a picnic shelter. Continue reading “City Increase Online Access to Information Services” →

Guelph Library Says It Was a Busy Year Despite the Pandemic

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It was a very busy year at the Guelph Public Library even though they were closed for a big portion of it, and many members of the library staff were laid off. In terms of in-person operations, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the library, and library services, hard, but the newly released annual report from GPL tells a more interesting story, a story about why the library is still an essential community service even though it’s not technically “essential.” Continue reading “Guelph Library Says It Was a Busy Year Despite the Pandemic” →