This Week at Council: Shareholders Hear that Rail Trail Needs to Be a Priority

June’s council business was concluded with a trifecta of meetings. Yes, there was the usual regular meeting and there was nothing really controversial about that business, so instead the friction fell at the Guelph Junction Railway shareholder meeting. At issue was not the business of GJR, but whether or not the company was doing enough to support the develop of trails adjacent to those tracks. Let’s get into it with this week’s recap. Continue reading “This Week at Council: Shareholders Hear that Rail Trail Needs to Be a Priority”

Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the July 7, 2025 Meeting?

It’s going be a packed Committee of the Whole meeting for July, the last one before summer break! After a lengthy closed session and a roll call of many accomplished city hall staffers, the members of committee will dig into downtown construction (and reconstruction), the collection of fees from local speeders, more accessibility, and even a proposal to push Guelph as a candidate to host a national sports event. Only six more meetings till summer vacation! Continue reading “Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the July 7, 2025 Meeting?”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the July 8, 2025 Meeting?

We open up three weeks of double meetings with Committee of the Whole and this one, which is yet another shareholder meeting for Guelph Municipal Holdings Inc, the holding company the City of Guelph uses  to secure it’s four per cent stake in Alectra Utilities. What is this meeting about? We can’t say, even in preview form, because all information is seemingly confidential, but for what it’s worth, here’s the preview! Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the July 8, 2025 Meeting?”

GUELPH POLITICAST #476 – How to City Council (Special Presentation)

There’s an interesting process underway in Guelph’s south end. One of the two Ward 6 city councillors, Dominique O’Rourke, has moved on to a new job in Ottawa as you might have heard, which leaves her old seat at city council vacant. Nature, and local politics, abhor a vacuum, so next month O’Rourke’s former colleagues will choose her successor. At least until next year’s municipal election… Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #476 – How to City Council (Special Presentation)”

RECAP: City Council Meeting for June 24, 2025

It’s the last meeting of the night, and the last meeting of the month! 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 during the meeting on Blue Sky or recap the complete thread after the meeting below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Meeting for June 24, 2025”

RECAP: City Council Shareholder Meeting for June 24, 2025

If it’s June, then that means it’s time for council to be a shareholder again! You can click here and 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 during the meeting on Blue Sky or recap the complete thread after the meeting below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Shareholder Meeting for June 24, 2025”

This Week at Council: Transit, It’s Electric!

It was a laidback meeting this week at city council as they tucked in around the horseshoe for a workshop meeting. The topic was operations facilities, and the need to lay the infrastructure that will enable the continued electrification of transit. The present bus barn is horribly out of date; not enough space, and not enough capacity to charge more than a couple of buses at a time, but there is a plan! Let’s check out the recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: Transit, It’s Electric!”

GUELPH POLITICAST #475 – Know Your Policy: Flags and Information Access

The City of Guelph is a system, a system that’s built on rules. Or policies, procedures and protocol to be more precise. Some of those systems dictate how city council functions, some of them lay out how local government should engage with the community, and some of them tell you what flags you can fly and when they should be lowered to half-mast. It’s time again to play roulette with the policy wheel and get smarter in the process. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #475 – Know Your Policy: Flags and Information Access”

RECAP: City Council Meeting for June 17, 2025

Get ready to workshop again! 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 during the meeting on Blue Sky or recap the complete thread after the meeting below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Meeting for June 17, 2025”

This Week at Council: The Princess Auto Diaries

At June’s planning meeting, a lot of ground was covered but there were two primary modes. First, there were a lot of heritage files needing some work, including the latest heritage conservation district and a couple of individual designations that were unexpectely controversial. And then there was the Princess Auto file, an interesting confluence of confusing planning rules that nearly scuttled the future Guelph location of that chain. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: The Princess Auto Diaries”