We’re red! Or we will be. Since it was announced on Monday that most of Ontario’s health regions would be returning to the colour-coded restriction system next week, we’ve all be wondering where Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph will sit on the scale. In a Friday announcement from Queen’s Park, it was revealed that like those final days before the province-wide lockdown, we’re going back to red. Continue reading “It’s Official: On Tuesday, We’re Re-Opening Red!!”
In mid-January, there was a super-spreader event on the University of Guelph campus where over 50 people had gotten together in the townhouse of East Residence for a Frost Week party. A couple of days before that though, there was another serious public health matter related to the pandemic, a case of one of the COVID-19 variants had infected a Guelph resident, and the public never knew it… Until now. Continue reading “Guelph Had a Case of the U.K. COVID Variant. A Month Ago.”
Ontario school students and their parents will likely remember last year’s March Break as the last time that there was in-person learning until this past September. The pandemic hit our shores on the same week as March Break in 2020, and with school only recently going back to in-person learning here in Ontario, the Minister of Education has decided that March Break will happen, just happen a month later. Continue reading “March Break is Actually Going to be April Break This Year”
People aren’t using public transit the way they once did thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Federal government isn’t planning for transit this year, but transit in the years to come. An announcement this morning with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna promised $14.9 billion in new transit funding for the next eight years, but we’re not going see most of that till 2026. Continue reading “Federal Government Announces New Permanent Funding for Transit… in 2026”
As this week started, the 7-day moving rate of confirmed cases is just a few points above the red line of 40 per 100,000, while the test positivity rate is now at 3.6 per cent. This is good news since it was just a month ago that the numbers were over 115 per 100,000 and five per cent. The numbers are going down, but where does the local medical officer think we stand in all this? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #260 – Still COVID [Winter Edition] with Dr. Mercer”
It’s the news everyone wanted to hear! (Sort of.) On the same day that most of Ontario’s school students returned to in-person learning, the Government of Ontario announced their intention to end the state of emergency and start the gradual re-opening of the province this week. Don’t celebrate yet though because all of this is still kind of tepid. Continue reading “Back to the Colour Code: Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph to Reopen February 16”
The extended state of emergency in Ontario comes to an end on Tuesday, which means that businesses across the province might be given a chance to re-open in some capacity as soon as the middle of next week. But while everyone waits for the announcement, some people in Guelph are demanding clear direction for the re-opening rules, and a new commitment to support workers. Continue reading “Issues About Work and Workers Persist Before Potential Re-opening”
The annual State of the City speech by Guelph’s mayor is a chance for to tout the accomplishments of the last year, and promote policy initiatives and goals for the new year. This year, there was a lot for the City to overcome, and while Mayor Cam Guthrie did celebrate that survival success, his simple desire for 2021 is that Guelph’s residents stay the course, and not lose hope. Continue reading “Guthrie Asks Guelph to “Be Kind” in State of the City Address”
The State of the City address is an annual event hosted by the Guelph Chamber of Commerce. It’s part political with a speech from the mayor, and it’s part networking and promotion for Chamber members, a chance for everyone to get together face-to-face. But this is 2021. This year, the State of the City was a virtual affair, and Mayor Cam Guthrie was forced to work harder to find the good news Guelph stories. How did he do? Continue reading “RECAP: Guthrie Finds the Good News from a Pandemic Year in State of the City”
The first Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Board of Health meeting for 2021 offered some hope for the future even if it wasn’t an immediate hope. With vaccine delays out of her control, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Nicola Mercer focused on the swift delivery of what vaccines have been received, and the fact that it looks like the virus has peaked in Guelph and area for this second wave. Continue reading “Outlook Still Positive Despite Vaccine Concerns at Board of Health”
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