These are scary times, and one would think that showing up at a medical clinic might give one a little bit of hope and safety. Yesterday though, the COVID-19 assessment centre saw a bit of tragedy of its own as a person reportedly passed away Friday morning at the clinic, which forced the temporary closure of the facility. Continue reading “Public Health Issues Statement on Death at Assessment Clinic”
Yesterday, the City of Guelph announced that their buildings would be closed so long as the state of emergency is in effect. One lingering question from that news release is the status of future city council meetings, which were only cancelled up till the end of May, and now we know that there will soon be another future special council meeting, and there is the promise of more meetings to come after that. Continue reading “Next Council Meeting Set for May 11, New Council Meeting Schedule to Follow”
After almost seven years of pushing by the student advocacy group Fossil Free Guelph, the majority of the Board of Governors at the University of Guelph voted Wednesday to divest the institution’s endowment from companies that hold fossil fuel reserves. After a debate, and a few amendments, all but three board members followed the lead of Vice-President of Finance Don O’Leary, and voted to divest over the next five years. Continue reading “After Years of Advocacy, the U of G Board of Governors Approves Divestment”
The City of Guelph had been looking to reopen its facilities and get back to some sense of normalcy at the beginning of May, but as we itch closer to the end of April that plan was starting to seem less likely to come to fruition. On Tuesday, the City confirmed that facilities will remain closed until the state of emergency is lifted, and they will only open on the best advice of public health and the Province. Continue reading “City Will Stay Closed till the End of the State of Emergency”
Nearly eight months after their contract expired, and after who knows how many lost hours in the classroom due to rotating strikes, the Ontario government has closed its fourth and final deal with the teachers’ unions. With a month’s time, a year of labour strife at Ontario’s schools has come to an end with a tentative deal with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF). Continue reading “A Year of Labour Strife Concludes with a Deal for OSSTF”
Over 200 more City of Guelph employees are out of a job because of COVID-19. In an announcement made Friday afternoon, the City is temporarily putting 127 full-time employees on declared emergency leave temporarily. On top of that, most of the library’s staff is also being put on temporary leave, which all told means that about half to the City’s staff is now out of work because of the pandemic. Continue reading “City of Guelph Puts Some Full-Time Staff on Emergency Leave”
It was just a few months ago that Mayor Cam Guthrie was telling everyone in his State of the City address about getting the Task Force on Homelessness together again to discuss supportive housing. Circumstances have changed rather quickly though, and now Mayor Guthrie is looking to explore another type of support for Guelph in the form of economic action post-COVID-19 with a whole new task force. Continue reading “Mayor Guthrie’s Economic Task Force Officially Announced”
On Thursday night, city council will meeting its second special session in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and a big portion of the conversation is going to be about the City of Guelph’s financial picture in the near and long term. According to the City’s Treasurer and General Manager of Finance, she’s confident that Guelph’s balance books are in good shape to ride out the storm. Continue reading ““We’re Okay.” Treasurer Confident that Guelph Can Weather the COVID Challenge”
For the first time since March 11, the Upper Grand District School Board met Tuesday night, and they did it virtually through a publicly available Vimeo link. Some of it was regular business like approval of the calendar for the 2020-2021 school year, but there were at least two controversial motions on the agenda that prompted some debate in the 40-minute meeting. Continue reading “Upper Grand School Board Meets Virtually Like Everyone Else”
This past Monday would have been the monthly Committee of the Whole meeting at the council chambers of City Hall, and this past Wednesday there was a special meeting of council on the schedule. Four previously scheduled council meetings have been cancelled as we’ve been locked down thanks to COVID-19, but a second emergency meeting has now been scheduled for next Thursday. Continue reading “Second Emergency Council Meeting is Called for Next Thursday”
