It’s the holiday season, and along with the usual need to give presents, food, and other festive delights is the life-or-death need to give blood. The hospital is still in business treating more than just COVID-19, and there are a myriad of medical emergencies that require blood from millions of generous donors from across Canada, including Guelph. ‘Tis the season for giving after all, so why not give blood? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #253 – Give Blood.”
When you woke up this morning, it was two days till Christmas and three days till the start of a province-wide lockdown, and on this morning there was some good news and some concerning news. While the Government of Canada has approved the second vaccine for widespread distribution, there’s still no news about when our region might start getting the vaccine, but Public Health says they’re prepared when it happens. Continue reading “Countdown to Lockdown: The State of COVID in Guelph on December 23”
Looking back at 2020, one recalls the loft aspirations for the year that Mayor Cam Guthrie articulated at his annual State of the City speech. That was the first week of February. Less than six weeks later, the world was closed and Guthrie had to lead the city through what might be the most complicated and multifaceted crisis that Guelph has ever faced in its 193-year history. So how did it go? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #252 – Christmas With Cam”
January 31 is the end of the calendar year, and the end of the City of Guelph fiscal year, but it will also mark the end of more thing, the end of the memorandum of understanding between the City and other parties for 200 Beverly Street, aka: the former IMICo Site. This big empty brownfield in the middle of the Ward has been the subject of much concern and interest for over 20 years, but there will be progress in 2021. Continue reading “The Next Phase of Reclaiming IMICo Site Coming in 2021”
After weeks of speculation, the Government of Ontario formally announced on Monday that the province will be going back into lockdown on Boxing Day this Saturday. The province-wide increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases has prompted the Provincial government to give the gift of staying at home the day after Christmas even as new areas in the GTA entered grey-level lockdowns on Monday. Continue reading “Ontario Locking Down on Boxing Day, City of Guelph Responding with New Measures”
Before we literally and figuratively blow up 2020 (as depicted above), let us take a minute to remember some of the major news stories in Guelph over the last 12 months. Leaving behind the pandemic and the renewed call for social equality (both of which will be covered separately in their own pieces), let us consider the news that made this year one for the eternal annals of the City of Guelph. Continue reading “Top 10 (Non-COVID, Non-Social Justice) Guelph News Stories of 2020”
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 December 1-18, 2020”
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: Rinks Open, Artists Wanted, and Holiday Hours”
During the pandemic, almost every business has been touched and affected by COVID-19, but if we were to make a list of the *most* affected businesses, meat packing plants would be in the Top 5, if not the Top 3. After weeks of increasing concern about the extent of an outbreak there, the Cargill meat processing plant on Dunlop Drive in Guelph has been temporarily shut down after approximately 200 people there have been tested for the virus. Continue reading “Guelph Cargill Plant Shutdown Temporarily Due to COVID-19”
Four meetings of city council took place this month, and there was a lot of action on a lot of different files. The big one was the 2021 budget, and there’s always lots of friction around those issues, but there were also some contentious debates on heritage matters and accessory apartment policy too. So let’s look back at what happened this past month at city council, and the last batch of council meetings for 2020. Continue reading “This Month at Council: The Budget, Heritage, and Accessory Apartments”
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