RECAP: Committee of the Whole Meeting for September 17, 2024

Another committee meeting for those who just can’t get enough! 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 “RECAP: Committee of the Whole Meeting for September 17, 2024” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the September 24, 2024 Meeting?

The last meeting of September will present you, the Guelph resident, the opportunity to revisit just about anything previously discussed at this month’s two Committee of the Whole meetings (at least one of them hasn’t happened yet as of the publishing of this preview). From downtown renewal to second quarter financials to a possible renoviction bylaw, here’s your second bite at the apple! Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the September 24, 2024 Meeting?” →

Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the September 17, 2024 Meeting?

It’s another one of those times when we’re getting two Committees of the Whole in the same month (is that the proper pluralisation?). At this second committee meeting, there’s an audit of the City’s bid to electrify the transit fleet, an update about the fiscal 2024 finances, and, perhaps most importantly, a discussion about developing a renoviction bylaw and a scan of the City of Guelph’s efforts to create more affordable housing. Continue reading “Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the September 17, 2024 Meeting?” →

RECAP: Mayor Guthrie Answers Tough Questions at Breezy Breakfast

The Breezy Breakfast crowd was probably not going to the most friendly of audiences for Mayor Cam Guthrie, but it was hardly like he was walking into the lion’s den Thursday morning either. The mayor took questions for an hour on a whole host of topics from Strong Mayor Powers to the City budget and from bicentennial concerns to making the OR Lands a national park. Check out the full recap below… Continue reading “RECAP: Mayor Guthrie Answers Tough Questions at Breezy Breakfast” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #427 – The Squeeze

The housing and affordability issues are massive, and to think that one action at one level of government is going to have a measurable impact is not understand that. This week at city hall, Guelph council will talk about proceeding with a tiny homes encampment, but that’s one finger in one hole of a dam that needs a lot of repairs. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #427 – The Squeeze” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #414 – Tiny Homes, Big Impacts

We’ve heard a lot about tiny homes lately as the housing crisis has gotten worse, but they’ve been a thing for a while. Somehow, it’s both a niche real estate trend, and a new innovation in accommodating Canada’s unhoused population, but it’s the latter that we’re interested in today because we’re going to talk about one of Guelph’s two tiny home projects meant to tackle homelessness. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #414 – Tiny Homes, Big Impacts” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #393 – You’ve Got Mailbag!

This week’s podcast is dedicated to you, the people, who sent in questions for this Guelph Politicast mailbag over the weekend. Guelph is filled with lots of curious people who are deeply concerned about issues and politics, and some of you came up with some very deep and probing questions for this first mailbag edition since well before the start of the pandemic. Get ready for 45 minutes of one annoying person talking! Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #393 – You’ve Got Mailbag!” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #389 – It’s In the Code

Have you heard there’s a housing crisis? It’s pretty much all anyone can talk about, which is understandable, and the causes of the crisis are many. But have you thought about the Building Code? Chances are you haven’t, but this important document meant to govern our health and safety indoors might have some holes in it, and it might be causing complications that are getting in the way of desperately needed new units. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #389 – It’s In the Code” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #383 – The Housing Guru

As you may know, Ontario has set the goal of building 1.5 million houses by 2031, and Guelph’s share is 18,000, but there’s a difference between setting a goal and having the means to reach it. One of the people that’s been trying to promote that idea is a man named Mike Moffatt. You might have heard have him. Certainly everyone concerned about housing in Ontario has! Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #383 – The Housing Guru” →

This Week at Council: Planning and Housing 101

It’s been a couple of months since we’ve had something really juicy at a planning meeting to chew on, and boy was there ever something juicy at this planning meeting. Everyone’s favourite proposed student development was back at council again for the planning meeting, and after that, there was a council workshop that promised to be the first of many steps that will help council get their heads around the housing crisis. Continue reading “This Week at Council: Planning and Housing 101” →