March closes like a lamb after a very busy month around the horseshoe. The real horseshoe. From the neverending debate over council compensation, to a very controversial new development project, to the latest iteration of the Official Plan, there’s a lot of ground to cover from last month’s four meetings. The recap of March at city council is below. Continue reading “This Month at Council: Pay Cheques, a New Tower, and an Official Plan Amendment”
Every month, Guelph Politico posts the latest inspection results from the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health Unit inspection of local restaurants, hotels, cafes, grocery stores and other businesses that handle food. We call it “Mangez!”, and this column highlights the latest inspections done by WDGPH, and the results they’ve posted. Continue reading “MANGEZ! Dine Safe Guide for March 2022”
The Guelph Public Library has published its annual report from 2021, and the it looks like good news. After a year when the library was mostly shutdown because of COVID-19 lockdown precautions, most branches were open again for business as unusual, and proving to the community, again, that the Guelph Public Library is “an important social connector supporting our community throughout year two of the pandemic.” Continue reading “Library Services Bounced Back From COVID Lockdowns in 2021”
The last time that the Guelph Chamber of Commerce held a State of the City event in-person, COVID-19 was still a topic of local conversation that started with, “Hey, did you hear about that thing happening in China?” More than two years later, Chamber members once again met inside the Delta Hotel and Conference to hear about the State of the City from Mayor Cam Guthrie. A state, he says, that’s all about the fundamentals now. Continue reading “Guthrie Plays Wordle With the State of the City at In-Person Event”
For the first time since 2020, Mayor Cam Guthrie will give an indoor speech to a room full of people. The occasion is the annual State of the City hosted by the Guelph Chamber of Commerce, and just in time for some post-pandemic analysis and an election year. What exactly is the State of Guelph in 2022? Let’s find out! For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s speech, you can follow along on Twitter, or follow the tweets below. Continue reading “LIVE BLOG: Mayor’s State of the City for 2022”
Behold! The statutory planning meeting for the next Official Plan Amendment. You can click here for the amended agenda 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 March 30, 2022”
There is sometimes a cost to volunteering, specifically the police check some volunteer positions require. Criminal Record Checks and Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Checks are requested for some volunteer positions, and to get one of those from the local police service, it requires that volunteer pay out of pocket. Not any more though. The Government of Ontario announced Wednesday that basic volunteer police checks are now free of charge. Continue reading “Ontario Government Taking Fees Off Volunteer Police Checks”
*You might be forgiven to think this whole COVID-19 pandemic is in the bag. It’s been a week-and-a-half since the mask mandates were repealed in Ontario and in the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health region, and like clockwork the number of COVID cases in the public, and in the hospital, are going up. You might be fed up, you might be fully vaccinated and boosted, but that doesn’t mean the pandemic is over. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #317 – Is This the End of the Pandemic*?”
You may have heard that gas prices are going up. International pressures mean that the cost of filling up your car is more expensive than usual, so wouldn’t it be nice if the government gave you a break while doing something positive for the environment at the same time? Guelph MPP and Green Party leader Mike Schreiner has an idea about that, meanwhile, the Ontario government wants you to go faster (in select locations). Continue reading “Schreiner Pushes For Transit Fare Cuts While ONgov Raises Highways Speed Limits”
People are probably pretty aware that Ontario had to struggle to respond to the pandemic when COVID-19 broke out here in March 2020. With the pandemic in recline, it seems appropriate to start talking about the future, and the Government of Ontario announced Tuesday morning their “Plan to Stay Open”, a series of measures meant to make sure Ontario’s healthcare and procurement systems are ready for the next pandemic. Continue reading “Ontario Has a Plan to Stay Open Now, Plus a New Benefits Panel”
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