This Month at Council: The Budget, Heritage, and Accessory Apartments

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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” →

One Week After Passing Omnibus Bill, Ontario Gov’t Wants to Talk Conservation

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A little over a week after passing a budget omnibus bill that forced some sudden and substantive changes to the Conservation Authorities Act, the Minister of the Environment is now inviting everyone to take part in a working group to get input on developing new regulations for conservation authorities, and how best they should be governed. Continue reading “One Week After Passing Omnibus Bill, Ontario Gov’t Wants to Talk Conservation” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #251 – The Other Pandemic of 2020

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We’ve heard a lot about one health crisis this year, the one tied to a global pandemic that broke the economy, brought healthcare to the brink, and pretty much shutdown society for four months earlier this year. But while COVID-19 has been our preoccupation in 2020, there has been another public health issue in our community at the same time, and it’s one that started before the pandemic and has stayed with us through the darkest days of the last 10 months. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #251 – The Other Pandemic of 2020” →

COVID-19 Outbreak Declared at Guelph General Hospital

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Although vaccines have started going out across the county, there’s still a lot of time left to live in this pandemic before most of us get one, and that case was proven again today with the announcement that there’s a COVID-19 outbreak at Guelph General Hospital. The administration at the General announced today that they’re declaring an outbreak in one of their wards, which has so far affected patients, but not staff. Continue reading “COVID-19 Outbreak Declared at Guelph General Hospital” →

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for December 14, 2020 (Planning)

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Two planning matters for the last meeting of 2020. 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 December 14, 2020 (Planning)” →

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for December 14, 2020

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

It’s the first of back-to-back meetings to end 2020 at council. 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 December 14, 2020” →

By Request*, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Goes Red on Monday

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Earlier this week, our local Medical Officer of Health Dr. Nicola Mercer suggested that Wellington, Dufferin, and Guelph should be moved into the Red-Control level this week due to the increasing rate of COVID-19 infection in the area. Today, the Government of Ontario granted her request as seven different health authorities moved up the ladder of protection, including two that are going into lockdown. Continue reading “By Request*, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Goes Red on Monday” →

City Hall Flags Fly at Half Mast for Former City Councillor David Birtwistle

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The flags at City Hall were ordered lowered to half mast on Friday to honour the late David Birtwistle, a former city councillor, mayoral candidate, and active member of Guelph’s political establishment. Mayor Cam Guthrie in a statement said that Birtwistle “cared deeply” for his community, and that we was an “engaged and active citizen” even after he left formal political life. Continue reading “City Hall Flags Fly at Half Mast for Former City Councillor David Birtwistle” →

WDG Public Health Wants Us to Move into the Red

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No one in Ontario has been saying “Thank God, it’s Friday,” lately because Friday is the day that the Government of Ontario announces who’s moving up, or more likely down, the colour-coded ladder back towards lockdown. In a rare instance of advocating for greater health restrictions, the Medical Officer of Health for Wellingt0n-Dufferin-Guelph is asking the Province to consider moving our area from orange to red this Friday. Continue reading “WDG Public Health Wants Us to Move into the Red” →

Heritage Guelph Rejects Cultural Heritage Action Plan at Meeting

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In their meeting Tuesday night, the committee that oversees heritage issues in Guelph unanimously rejected an endorsement of the City of Guelph’s Cultural Heritage Action Plan (CHAP) and requested that City staff do more consultation work before moving forward. Heritage Guelph outlined a number of issues with the plan as it currently stands, and had a number of suggestions for improvement. Continue reading “Heritage Guelph Rejects Cultural Heritage Action Plan at Meeting” →