Tag: Cam Guthrie

This Week at Council: Fireworks Strike Back Before Budget

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After a two week break, council returned with back-to-back meetings that generated some conflict, including one surprising topic of controversy. Fireworks were back on the agenda, essentially so that council could ratify the direction they approved at Committee of the Whole, but things ended up going in a very different direction. Also, the 2025 budget with special edits directed by the mayor was introduced for the first time. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Fireworks Strike Back Before Budget” →

RECAP: City Council Meeting for October 30, 2024

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The budget season begins! 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: City Council Meeting for October 30, 2024” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the October 30, 2024 Meeting?

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It’s the most wonderful time of year for the Excel spreadsheet and fiscal discipline crowd: Budget Time! As with last year, this is the mayor’s budget, and his fingerprints are all over it after a directive earlier this year to shave the 2025 increase down to something around four per cent. Did City of Guelph staff do it, and what all ended up shaved in the end. Your budget season begins with this council preview! Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the October 30, 2024 Meeting?” →

Provincial Changes Mean Guelph’s CTS Will Be Gone By April

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The Consumption and Treatment Site (CTS) at Guelph Community Health Centre will have to close by the end of March. This decree comes from the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference today where Minister of Health Sylvia Jones announced that the provincial government is banning supervised drug consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and child care centres. Continue reading “Provincial Changes Mean Guelph’s CTS Will Be Gone By April” →

RECAP: Mayor Guthrie Answers Tough Questions at Breezy Breakfast

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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” →

This Week at Council: This Hour Has Lobbying, Tourism and Integrity

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The last meeting of the month at council was mostly about the recap, but it also had some traps that could have lead to controversy. Yes, there was a report from the integrity commissioner regarding complaints about the mayor’s social media, but there were also some pointed critiques made to the mayor around the lobbyist registry too. In other unfinished business, council had more notes about the Municipal Accommodation Tax. Continue reading “This Week at Council: This Hour Has Lobbying, Tourism and Integrity” →

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for April 16, 2024

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Strangely, we’re getting the regular meeting at mid-month. You can click here for the amended agendas 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, 2024” →

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

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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?” →

Guelph Gets $13.5 Million for New Main Library Building

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One could make an inappropriate joke about a government funding announcement in front of a giant hole in the ground, but Baker Street was only filled with the laughter that comes from joy on Monday morning. The mood was celebratory at the site of the Baker District Redevelopment, future home of Guelph’s 88,000 square-foot new main library building, which just got easier to build with a $13.5 million cheque from the federal government. Continue reading “Guelph Gets $13.5 Million for New Main Library Building” →

Calandra Touts Guelph Housing Success with Novelty Cheque (But Real Money)

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Pomp was in the air of the courtyard at Guelph City Hall Thursday morning. The special guest was Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra, and the order to the day was celebrating Guelph’s success on housing starts in 2023. The what was a giant novelty cheque, a symbol of the very real award for Guelph starting construction on 1,287 new housing units last year, nearly $4.7 million in “reward” money! Continue reading “Calandra Touts Guelph Housing Success with Novelty Cheque (But Real Money)” →