Good news has been sometimes hard to come by in the last 15 months, but there was definitely some good news on Friday as the Government of Ontario announced that stage 3 is beginning early. Although the original intent was to move to the third and final phase of the economic re-opening on July 21, positive developments on both lower case counts and high vaccination rates means an early jump on stage 3. Continue reading “Ontario Moving on to Stage 3 Next Friday”
Back during last year’s budget deliberations, there was a motion to combine investments from the City of Guelph and the Government of Ontario to hire a third-party auditor to conduct a service rationalization review. Several months later, the review has been complete, and in a special meeting of council, the horseshoe will consider the recommendations and how best to implement them. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the July 19 Special Meeting?”
The regular meeting of city council comes one week early this month, but it is not the last meeting before usual summer break. Still, this should be a very busy meeting with a couple of controversial projects held over from committee, plus discussion about a couple of reports pulled from information items filed with council. Social justice, IMPACT, and likely speeding plus the sign bylaw will all be up for discussion. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the July 19 Regular Meeting?”
Much of the talk on the Federal politics beat lately has been about the likelihood of an election either later this summer or sometime in the fall. Part of running for office is recognizing the talent under your own banner, and it seems like the Green Party of Canada recognizes that the person running for the party in Guelph has potential because Michelle Bowman has officially been announced as a member of the shadow cabinet. Continue reading “Local Green Candidate Joins National Party Shadow Cabinet”
It was a very unusual Canada Day, wasn’t it? In some ways, it was even more unusual than last year’s Canada Day in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic’s first wave, but there was a lot of room for some kind of outdoor festivities, but there wasn’t much in terms of will. In the aftermath of our frightening new understanding of our own history, is there a better way to mark Canada Day in 2021 than protest? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #281 – #CancelCanadaDay”
The Integrated Mobile Police and Crisis Team (IMPACT) program has been widely considered a success in Guelph when it comes to responding to residents suffering a metal health crisis. Despite its success though, IMPACT is still limited by how many hours in the day it can operate, which is why local stakeholders are reaching out to the Government of Ontario for financial assistance to make IMPACT available 24/7. Continue reading “Police and CMHA Formally Ask for Help to Expand IMPACT Program”
Advisory committees, speed limits, and the fate of the Dolime Quarry are on the agenda. 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: Committee of the Whole Meeting for July 5, 2021”
The vaccine roll out continues here in Guelph, around the region, and across Ontario and the rest of Canada. Progress to get the population fully vaccinated is being made swiftly and assuredly, but people still have a lot of questions about the vaccines, they’re efficacy, and what people need to know before they get their first and second shot. Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner reached out to Dr. Nicola Mercer to get some of those answers, and they shared the results in a virtual town hall. Continue reading “RECAP: Mercer Updates Vaccine Progress in Town Hall with Schreiner”
Like school students rushing to complete all their assignments before summer vacation, it feels like the same can be said for city council in this very busy final planning meeting before the summer break. in this session, look for new projects, a great many sign bylaw variance requests, and a decision report on Guelph’s latest housing project. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the July 12 Meeting?”
This Canada Day was one unlike any other as the country reckoned with the legacy of residential schools, and the hundreds of Indigenous youths discovered so far buried in unmarked graves on those properties. At a Cancel Canada Day march here in Guelph on Thursday, Indigenous elder Maani Anne Cheesequay was the first to speak, and presented below, verbatim, are her heart felt words that began an afternoon of anger, mourning and reconciliation. Continue reading “Canada Day Words and Thoughts from an Indigenous Elder”
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