This Week at Council: MAT Update and Registering Lobbyists

Delayed a day because of the Easter long weekend, Committee of the Whole sat on Wednesday and discussed progress on the development of key policy. On the one hand, there was the Municipal Accommodation Tax and the creation of a cohesive tourism strategy, and on the other there was a question of transparency and knowing who’s lobbying who at city hall and about what. Here’s the recap. Continue reading “This Week at Council: MAT Update and Registering Lobbyists”

POLICE NOTES: Gas and Go, Fake Quick Stop, and Baseball Bruiser Busted

There are 145,000 stories in the Royal City, and this is some of them. Looking at a week’s worth of media releases from the Guelph Police Service, there’s a lot going on in our little city crime-wise speaking, so let’s run down some of the charges, issues, and requests for information from the Guelph Police Service over the last seven days. Continue reading “POLICE NOTES: Gas and Go, Fake Quick Stop, and Baseball Bruiser Busted”

MEETING PREVIEW: Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee Meeting for April 10, 2024

Wait! What’s this?! It’s not everyday that there’s the start of a new committee, or perhaps we should call this a committee reboot, because it’s taking something that already existed, but getting a new twist. In this case, it’s the old Wellington County Social Services Committee, but with the City of Guelph now bringing the regular paramedic updates and new members. So what’s on the agenda for this first meeting of the rebooted committee? Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee Meeting for April 10, 2024”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the April 16 Meeting?

We’re wrapping up the month at council pretty early all things considered. Our first meeting post-Ramadan brings council back to a later start time around the dinner hour, and it also brings back all the items discussed last week at Committee of the Whole. Plus, there’s a new topic in the form of a report from the Integrity Commissioner, and this one’s a little more spicy than the last one. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the April 16 Meeting?”

Abortion Bus Ads Going Back to City Committee for Hearing

Just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in… Just over two years after the Ontario Superior Court of Justice said that the City of Guelph didn’t offer a good enough justification for removing three anti-abortion bus ads from Guelph Transit vehicles, the same group is back with a complaint about the City’s refusal to post a new ad. A meeting of the Advertising Review Panel next Friday will determine what happens next.
Continue reading “Abortion Bus Ads Going Back to City Committee for Hearing”

RECAP: Ticks, Falls, and Vices All at Issue at April’s Board of Health Meeting

There’s a wide variety of interesting topics in the realm of the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Board of Health this April, which is a spring month. With spring here, there was a lot of talk about ticks and mosquitoes and the diseases they carry, but accident season is any season when it comes to the increasing rate of falls in our community. Also, there’s talk about Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer’s thoughts and an update about school suspensions. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Ticks, Falls, and Vices All at Issue at April’s Board of Health Meeting”

LIVE BLOG: Committee of the Whole Meeting for April 3, 2024

No April Fools, it’s time to get back to some council business! 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: Committee of the Whole Meeting for April 3, 2024”

GUELPH POLITICAST #413 – ARCH is Gone But Their Services Remain

HIV/AIDS Resources and Community Health, or ARCH, suddenly announced its closure last week. Losing ARCH impacts a wide variety of people in Guelph and area, whether that’s HIV prevention and care, needle exchanges and harm reduction, or gender affirming and trans healthcare. For these people, ARCH has been the first and only place they could turn for help, so who’s going to fill the void? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #413 – ARCH is Gone But Their Services Remain”

MEETING PREVIEW: Heritage Guelph Meeting for April 8, 2024

This month’s Heritage Guelph meeting will be a trivia bonanza! How many (locally) famous hands held the deed for a particular house Queen Street? How many original features exist on a well-known downtown building that might need a little love? How many loaves of bread came out of building you not be aware was actually a bakery for about three decades, 100 years ago? Oh, and in sadder news, these might be the last days for one house in particular. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Heritage Guelph Meeting for April 8, 2024”

This Week at Council: It Was a Gas!

It was just going to be a quick meeting, 10 minutes in and out max, but a funny thing happened between that time and when the agenda was released a few weeks ago. Mostly, a couple of councillors wanted to have their say about more provincial overreach, in this case when it comes to how Queen’s Park is looking to override the Ontario Energy Board. So did council lay the smack down, and how many of them wanted no part of it? Read on… Continue reading “This Week at Council: It Was a Gas!”