Tag: City of Guelph

Government of Ontario Announces Further Capacity Restrictions

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It’s starting to feel a lot like… earlier this year. Less than 48 hours after announcing the expansion of booster COVID-19 vaccine shots, and a 50 per cent cap on capacity limits at venues for more than a thousand people, Premier Doug Ford announced some additional caps to capacity on Friday afternoon. In other words, one day after saying he didn’t need to put more protocols on restaurants, the Premier has but more protocols on restaurants. Continue reading “Government of Ontario Announces Further Capacity Restrictions” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #302 – A Heritage Moment

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One of the first episodes of the Politicast this year was a conversation with Councillor Leanne Caron about heritage issues in the City. It would kick- off a year with a lot of heritage issues on making the front page, from discussion about inadequate communications to the controversy around the demolition of 797 Victoria Road North. So the year ends how it began, with a discussion about Guelph’s heritage issues. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #302 – A Heritage Moment” →

In the Face of Omicron, Guelph Cancels the End of the State of Emergency

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For the last few weeks, there’s been an air of anticipation that the City of Guelph might soon emerge from the state of emergency initiated in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Blame Omicron, but the end of the state of emergency has been indefinitely postponed as the City aims to “mobilize City resources as needed” in order to stay on top of this latest COVID-19 variant. Continue reading “In the Face of Omicron, Guelph Cancels the End of the State of Emergency” →

Painting the Town Orange and Other Stories: 2022 in Social Justice

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Nearly one-year on from a seismic shift on equality and social justice felt in the year 2020, the demands for change were still heard loudly throughout 2021. From a very consequential decision made by the local school board, to a major break in the demand for Truth and Reconciliation with Indigenous people, to all the various humanitarian and equity issues in between, this was a very busy year on the social justice file. Let’s recap. Continue reading “Painting the Town Orange and Other Stories: 2022 in Social Justice” →

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for December 13, 2021

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It’s the last planning meeting of the year, and it should be a bit laid back. 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 December 13, 2021” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 20 Meeting?

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A few days before Christmas, downtown at city hall, city council wrapped up the year, with one last Zoom call. Well, Cisco Webex to be precise. Before a much need holiday break, council will spend the last meeting of the year catching up on the business from Committee of the Whole and will consider a request from the Elliott Community. Merry Christmas, indeed! Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 20 Meeting?” →

LIVE BLOG: Committee of the Whole Meeting for December 6, 2021

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Let the last Committee of the Whole of 2021 commence! 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: Committee of the Whole Meeting for December 6, 2021” →

Clark Signs MZO to Make Dolime Residential, Becomes Part of Guelph January 1

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The Dolime Quarry land will become a part of the City of Guelph on January 1, 2022. This announcement comes from Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark who came to Guelph first thing on Monday morning to announce that he’s signing the Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO) that will rezone the quarry once it’s shut down. The struggle to secure the site is over, and the countdown to redevelopment begins. Continue reading “Clark Signs MZO to Make Dolime Residential, Becomes Part of Guelph January 1” →

Gordon Tells Open Sources He Hopes Council Buys New Climate Action Plan

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Last week, most political concerns locally were about the council decision on the 2022-2023 budget. While council was debating, Ward 2 Councillor James Gordon was appearing on CFRU’s Open Sources Guelph through the power of pre-recording an interview in advance, and while he did talk about the budget, he was just as interested in talking about a personal political initiative of his own: the Race to Zero action on climate change. Continue reading “Gordon Tells Open Sources He Hopes Council Buys New Climate Action Plan” →

BUDGET MEETING RECAP: How The First Multiyear Budget Was Made

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Eight-and-a-half hours comes out to a 4.21 per cent increase in 2022 and then a 5.17 per cent levy increase for 2023. Those are top level results from this year’s budget deliberations, the first time that council tackled a multiyear budget. The City of Guelph seems satisfied with the results, but reading between the lines, there were some deep divides on council as some members feel that the City lost the fight for affordability. Continue reading “BUDGET MEETING RECAP: How The First Multiyear Budget Was Made” →