Top 10 (Non-COVID, Non-Social Justice) Guelph News Stories of 2020

Before we literally and figuratively blow up 2020 (as depicted above), let us take a minute to remember some of the major news stories in Guelph over the last 12 months. Leaving behind the pandemic and the renewed call for social equality (both of which will be covered separately in their own pieces), let us consider the news that made this year one for the eternal annals of the City of Guelph. Continue reading “Top 10 (Non-COVID, Non-Social Justice) Guelph News Stories of 2020”

CITY PAGES: Rinks Open, Artists Wanted, and Holiday Hours

The City of Guelph puts out a lot of information on a weekly basis, and while it all ends up on the City’s website somewhere, wouldn’t it be easier to just scroll through it all on one easy-to-read article on Guelph Politico here…? Continue reading “CITY PAGES: Rinks Open, Artists Wanted, and Holiday Hours”

This Month at Council: The Budget, Heritage, and Accessory Apartments

Four meetings of city council took place this month, and there was a lot of action on a lot of different files. The big one was the 2021 budget, and there’s always lots of friction around those issues, but there were also some contentious debates on heritage matters and accessory apartment policy too. So let’s look back at what happened this past month at city council, and the last batch of council meetings for 2020. Continue reading “This Month at Council: The Budget, Heritage, and Accessory Apartments”

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for December 14, 2020 (Planning)

Two planning matters for the last meeting of 2020. 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 “LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for December 14, 2020 (Planning)”

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for December 14, 2020

It’s the first of back-to-back meetings to end 2020 at council. 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 “LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for December 14, 2020”

City Hall Flags Fly at Half Mast for Former City Councillor David Birtwistle

The flags at City Hall were ordered lowered to half mast on Friday to honour the late David Birtwistle, a former city councillor, mayoral candidate, and active member of Guelph’s political establishment. Mayor Cam Guthrie in a statement said that Birtwistle “cared deeply” for his community, and that we was an “engaged and active citizen” even after he left formal political life. Continue reading “City Hall Flags Fly at Half Mast for Former City Councillor David Birtwistle”

WDG Public Health Wants Us to Move into the Red

No one in Ontario has been saying “Thank God, it’s Friday,” lately because Friday is the day that the Government of Ontario announces who’s moving up, or more likely down, the colour-coded ladder back towards lockdown. In a rare instance of advocating for greater health restrictions, the Medical Officer of Health for Wellingt0n-Dufferin-Guelph is asking the Province to consider moving our area from orange to red this Friday. Continue reading “WDG Public Health Wants Us to Move into the Red”

Heritage Guelph Rejects Cultural Heritage Action Plan at Meeting

In their meeting Tuesday night, the committee that oversees heritage issues in Guelph unanimously rejected an endorsement of the City of Guelph’s Cultural Heritage Action Plan (CHAP) and requested that City staff do more consultation work before moving forward. Heritage Guelph outlined a number of issues with the plan as it currently stands, and had a number of suggestions for improvement. Continue reading “Heritage Guelph Rejects Cultural Heritage Action Plan at Meeting”

LIVE BLOG: Committee of the Whole Meeting for December 7, 2020

Blue box management, real estate, and COVID response are among the topics for this meeting. You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here (and 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 7, 2020”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 14 Planning Meeting?

In what will be the last city council meeting of 2020, the horseshoe will look at a couple of planning questions before saying “goodbye” for the holidays. On the one hand, will council save a nearly 200-year-old farmhouse in the south end? And on the other hand, is it about to get easier to build an accessory apartment to help tackle Guelph’s housing issue? Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 14 Planning Meeting?”