In some perhaps unsurprising news, the Rotary Club of Guelph has cancelled in-person Canada Day festivities in Riverside Park for the second year in a row due to ongoing concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the news will be disappointing to the thousands of people that usually enjoy July 1 in the park, the City of Guelph has framed the move as a chance for reflection after recent events. Continue reading “Rotary Calls Off In-Person Canada Day Festivities for Second Year”
Almost 24 hours after Toronto Police rousted a homeless encampment in Trinity Bellwoods Party in Toronto, Green Party of Ontario leader and Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner revealed his party’s housing strategy. The goals of the plan focus on creating more affordable housing, more support for people experiencing homelessness, and additional funding to create more sustainable communities. Continue reading “Schreiner Announces Green Party Plan for Housing, One Day After Rousting in Toronto Park”
We’ve heard a lot about the City of Guelph’s intention to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. That is the corporate goal of the City of Guelph, and while it’s a laudible, City Hall doesn’t generate power. So isn’t there a key partner they need to bring on board to reach net zero by 2050? Like the company that provides all our electricity? Well, there was recently some good news on that account. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #279 – Now We’re All Working for 2050”
What’s city council going to look like in 2022 and beyond? Let’s start with the delegates! 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 June 21, 2021”
The final city council meeting of the month will cover the usual ground of ratifying items from the Committee of the Whole meeting, so that might mean re-visiting the Trails Master Plan one more time or something else. In terms of new stuff, we’ve got fresh public appointments, an opportunity to expand voting access, and the first update about achieving the goals of the Strategic Plan. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the June 28 Regular Meeting?”
Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield [usually works a ways from the Royal City, but he’s still working for the people in his riding. So what has he been up to lately? This is “This Week in Lloyd.” Continue reading “This Week in Lloyd: Plastic Research, Infrastructure, and Recipes”
This time next year, the Provincial Election will be complete, and a new government will be in charge of Ontario for another four-year term. For now, it’s kind of like there’s a new government as Premier Doug Ford took part in the regular pre-election tradition of shuffling the cabinet. Some ministers got new gigs, some back-benchers got promotions, and, as always, there were a few surprises. Continue reading “Ford Shuffles Cabinet and Key Ministers in Pre-Election Reset”
An annual tradition at the end of June, Guelph City Council gets to spend a couple of hours not sitting as itself, but sitting as the shareholder of two municipally-owned companies, Guelph Junction Railway, and Guelph Municipal Holdings Inc. What kind of year has it been for both companies, substantively and financially? Let’s find out… Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the June 28 Shareholder Meeting?”
The discovery of 215 young Indigenous people buried on the property of the old Kamloops Indian Residential School re-opened a great many old wounds in this country, and just in time for National Indigenous History Month. Nation-wide, there may be between 11,000 and 15,000 missing children unaccounted for, which means this story is only going to get worse before it gets better. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #278 – A History of Violence”
For the past 30 years or so Guelph has had 12 part-time city councillors. During that time the population of Guelph has increased from roughly 88,000 to 135,000, an almost 50 per cent increase. As such the demands on the 12 councillors have increased significantly and any councillor will tell you it is no longer a part-time commitment that is required to do the job properly. It is expected (and legislatively required by the province) that Guelph grows another 50 per cent to about 200,000 by 2050. These facts among others required the City to conduct a Council Review. Continue reading “OP-ED: Democracy Guelph Still Not Dissuaded from Supporting 12-Person Council”
