Tag: 2026 Municipal Election

GUELPH POLITICAST #532 – The Local (feat. David Deacon and Michael K. Newton)

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If you’re listening to this on Wednesday, then it’s Canada Day, and you might expect that we would dig into something of national importance but with a Guelph edge. Instead, we’re going to go ultra local. There’s a neighbourhood in the City’s south end that has concerns about traffic that will be created from over 200 new units that have been long in development. At the same time, one Guelphite is saying that print is not dead! Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #532 – The Local (feat. David Deacon and Michael K. Newton)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #531 – Slow Election? (feat. Scotty Hertz)

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Does this one feel a little slow? There’s no doubt that there’s a lot of passion in the community for a variety of issues from affordability to housing development in this election, and there are a lot of new faces eager to take the reins around the council horseshoe, but a little over halfway through the nomination process, do the races this fall feel exciting, especially the open mayor’s race? Is there change in the air? Are people paying attention? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #531 – Slow Election? (feat. Scotty Hertz)” →

Mac Responds to Politicast Episode, Not About Buying Domains

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The May 20, 2026 episode of the Guelph Politicast began as a message from a concerned citizen who noted that a couple of domain names connected to candidates running for city council this fall were redirecting to the Caught in Guelph site. Before publishing the episode, Guelph Politico sought comment from Caught in Guelph’s owner Thai Mac who didn’t respond, but he did respond the day after the podcast was posted, and he demanded some retractions… Continue reading “Mac Responds to Politicast Episode, Not About Buying Domains” →

Chew is Running for Mayor in a Now Four Way Race

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For the last month it’s been pretty stagnant in the mayor’s race. Despite the open seat from Cam Guthrie’s decision not to run again, there have only been two declared candidates since the early part of May, one with a lengthy and long-term community profile and one who’s relative new to Guelph, but on Wednesday a couple of familiar faces made it a four way race, one is already on city council and the second is well known for holding a sign. Continue reading “Chew is Running for Mayor in a Now Four Way Race” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #530 – What’s Next 2026? A City of Attractions (feat. Joanne O’Meara and P. Brian Skerrett)

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One of the big initiatives in this term of council, especially as we emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, was the effort to promote Guelph as a tourist destination. There are two major projects now in the pipeline that would do a lot to brandish Guelph as regional, provincial and nation destination, but as we look to the next term of council, will there be the political capacity to help make these projects a reality? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #530 – What’s Next 2026? A City of Attractions (feat. Joanne O’Meara and P. Brian Skerrett)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #529 – The Trustee to Council Pipeline (feat. Linda Busuttil & Katherine Hauser)

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Half of city council is new in terms this being their first term in office, but that doesn’t mean that some of those people were politically inexperienced entering this office. For decades, the farm league for politicians has been the local school board, which is about as direct as democracy can get. Looking back at this term, and the rapid pace of change that councillors have had to deal with, have the councillors with that school board experience had a leg up? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #529 – The Trustee to Council Pipeline (feat. Linda Busuttil & Katherine Hauser)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #526 – What’s Next 2026? The Transit Struggle (feat. Steve Petric)

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This term has presented a lot of challenges to transit and transit users, not the least of which was ridership recovering following the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has, thankfully, not only returned but grown in the last four years. Logistically speaking though, there are other challenges to transit that have stacked up including financial pressures, but what else is coming for transit in the next four years? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #526 – What’s Next 2026? The Transit Struggle (feat. Steve Petric)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #525 – Election Skullduggery Already? (feat. Dylan McMahon)

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On Friday, Guelph Politico received a video of someone accessing the website “michellebowman.ca”. Michelle Bowman is a candidate running in Ward 2 in this fall’s municipal election, so one would think that if you typed in her name with the domain extension “.ca” that it would lead to her website. It doesn’t. Barely three weeks into this election, do we already need to have a conservation about the rules and ethics of running for local office? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #525 – Election Skullduggery Already? (feat. Dylan McMahon)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #523 – What’s Next 2026? Politics and Policing (feat. Chief Gord Cobey and Peter McSherry)

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Is there a bigger political lightning rod when it comes to the City of Guelph budget than the police budget? For some people, we spend too much on the police and at the expense of expanded funding for social services, and for others we don’t spend nearly enough on the police. As we look to the next term at city hall, what challenges around policing will be presented to the new council? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #523 – What’s Next 2026? Politics and Policing (feat. Chief Gord Cobey and Peter McSherry)” →

Mostly Familiar Faces Sign Up on First Day of Election Nominations

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The 2026 election got underway today at city hall as prospective candidates arrived throughout the day to file their papers for mayor, city councillor and school board trustee. By the end of the day, there were seven candidates on the ballot and while only one of them were an incumbent, it doesn’t mean that they’re new faces to the Guelph political scene. Let’s look at the keeners that couldn’t wait for the campaign to begin (for real). Continue reading “Mostly Familiar Faces Sign Up on First Day of Election Nominations” →