May is usually the time where the weather is nice enough for people to finally start their gardening without fear of a late season snow fall, or frost. Of course, these are not usual times, and the idea of a community garden made the government a bit weary in these days when we’re supposed to socially distance ourselves. That is until now. Continue reading “Community Gardens are Now Essential in Ontario”
Yesterday, the City of Guelph announced that their buildings would be closed so long as the state of emergency is in effect. One lingering question from that news release is the status of future city council meetings, which were only cancelled up till the end of May, and now we know that there will soon be another future special council meeting, and there is the promise of more meetings to come after that. Continue reading “Next Council Meeting Set for May 11, New Council Meeting Schedule to Follow”
After almost seven years of pushing by the student advocacy group Fossil Free Guelph, the majority of the Board of Governors at the University of Guelph voted Wednesday to divest the institution’s endowment from companies that hold fossil fuel reserves. After a debate, and a few amendments, all but three board members followed the lead of Vice-President of Finance Don O’Leary, and voted to divest over the next five years. Continue reading “After Years of Advocacy, the U of G Board of Governors Approves Divestment”
From time to time, the Guelph Politicast likes to do a sit down with a member of City of Guelph staff to talk about their job in detail with all its day-to-day demands, challenges and rewards. This podcast is in the mode of one of those past explainers, but with a COVID-19 twist because what is possibly affecting City business more these days than the global pandemic? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #218 – COVID Administrative Officer”
The City of Guelph had been looking to reopen its facilities and get back to some sense of normalcy at the beginning of May, but as we itch closer to the end of April that plan was starting to seem less likely to come to fruition. On Tuesday, the City confirmed that facilities will remain closed until the state of emergency is lifted, and they will only open on the best advice of public health and the Province. Continue reading “City Will Stay Closed till the End of the State of Emergency”
Nearly eight months after their contract expired, and after who knows how many lost hours in the classroom due to rotating strikes, the Ontario government has closed its fourth and final deal with the teachers’ unions. With a month’s time, a year of labour strife at Ontario’s schools has come to an end with a tentative deal with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF). Continue reading “A Year of Labour Strife Concludes with a Deal for OSSTF”
Over 200 more City of Guelph employees are out of a job because of COVID-19. In an announcement made Friday afternoon, the City is temporarily putting 127 full-time employees on declared emergency leave temporarily. On top of that, most of the library’s staff is also being put on temporary leave, which all told means that about half to the City’s staff is now out of work because of the pandemic. Continue reading “City of Guelph Puts Some Full-Time Staff on Emergency Leave”
It was just a few months ago that Mayor Cam Guthrie was telling everyone in his State of the City address about getting the Task Force on Homelessness together again to discuss supportive housing. Circumstances have changed rather quickly though, and now Mayor Guthrie is looking to explore another type of support for Guelph in the form of economic action post-COVID-19 with a whole new task force. Continue reading “Mayor Guthrie’s Economic Task Force Officially Announced”
Been missing city council as much as Guelph Politico? Tonight, you can get your fix! 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 April 16, 2020”
On Thursday night, city council will meeting its second special session in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and a big portion of the conversation is going to be about the City of Guelph’s financial picture in the near and long term. According to the City’s Treasurer and General Manager of Finance, she’s confident that Guelph’s balance books are in good shape to ride out the storm. Continue reading ““We’re Okay.” Treasurer Confident that Guelph Can Weather the COVID Challenge”
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