RECAP: Board of Health Focuses on Innovation and STIs in May

The word of the month at the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Board of Health meeting was “innovation.” Many of the reports this month focused on how technological and digital tools are changing the way that public health, for want of a better term, does business, and that includes artificial intelligence. For some old school public health news, there was a report about sexual transmitted infections in the region last year. Let’s recap…! Continue reading “RECAP: Board of Health Focuses on Innovation and STIs in May”

MEETING PREVIEW: Board of Health Meeting for May 1, 2024

The first day of May falls on a Wednesday, and since the monthly Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Board of Health meeting is held on the first Wednesday of the month, we’re getting this one done early. At this meeting, prepare to learn about public health’s progress integrating new tech and processes into their procedures, plus how well they’re communicating and the regional picture when it comes to sexually transmitted diseases. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Board of Health Meeting for May 1, 2024”

Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the May 7, 2024 Meeting?

Committee of the Whole this May will have what’s expected to be one of the spiciest debates of the term, and it’s all about how the next city council will be elected. The staff from the clerks’ office will be presenting the options for voting in the 2026 municipal election, and one of them is *not* internet voting, which is where the results of a year-long debate at one of our provincially-mandated advisory groups come in. Let’s get into it…! Continue reading “Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the May 7, 2024 Meeting?”

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

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”

Organizers Say There’s Forward Momentum After Health Housing Symposium Day #3

“We either succeed together or we fail together,”Luisa Artuso said to kick off day #3 of the combined Guelph and Wellington County Health and Housing Symposium. Two days were held at the end of January with an invite-only crowd of local service providers, government staff and election officials, but this third day was open for the media to observe, and while a lot of ground was covered, this remains, if anything, only the beginning. Continue reading “Organizers Say There’s Forward Momentum After Health Housing Symposium Day #3”

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for April 16, 2024

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”

This Week at Council: The Four Unit Problem

This month’s planning meeting of city council was all about four, and despite what you’ve heard it’s actually the loneliness number. That was the impression you might have gotten watching what happened when staff deliver their draft report about allowing fourplexes and four units as-of-right in Guelph. It looks like this policy might have an uphill climb, but staff have until June to make a case, in the meantime, here’s the recap…. Continue reading “This Week at Council: The Four Unit Problem”

RECAP: Panel Hears Appeal of Latest Anti-Abortion Bus Ads

On Friday, it was a rare meeting of the Advertising Review Panel. At issue was a complaint by Guelph and Area Right to Life who want to buy a couple of new bus ads and the City of Guelph who did not want to sell them. The two parties met in the council chambers to hash out their differences, and then it was left in the hands of the panel to render a decision about whether the ads will be taken, or whether the bus will leave the station without them. Let’s recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Panel Hears Appeal of Latest Anti-Abortion Bus Ads”

RECAP: First Meeting of New Combined Social Services Committee Painted Bleak Future

It was an historical day at the Administrative Centre on Wednesday as members from Wellington County and Guelph councils sat down for the first Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee. Most of the meeting was in the realm of reviews, reviews of how all the key services work and reviews of projects in progress, but there were some flashing warning signs about the impact from using Strong Mayor Powers in the Royal City. Let’s recap… Continue reading “RECAP: First Meeting of New Combined Social Services Committee Painted Bleak Future”

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”