This could be the last COVID-19 response meeting… For now. 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: City Council Meeting for August 12, 2020”
For the fifth and (perhaps) final time, council will hold a special COVID-19 response meeting before returning to a more normal council schedule in September. There isn’t much in the way of new initiatives, but there are some interesting insights into how the City of Guelph is still managing the effects of the pandemic, and what the immediate future looks like for City Hall. Continue reading “Council Preview Update: What Else is on the Agenda for the August 12 Meeting?”
There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the new school year, but one of them was answered on Wednesday, and if you’re among the likely few University of Guelph students who are coming back to Royal City in September, you will have to get around town without your usual universal bus pass. The move not only leaves students in a transit lurch, but it blows a big hole in the City of Guelph’s transit budget. Continue reading “No Student Bus Pass for U of G Students this Fall, How Will That Effect Transit Budget?”
City council is one of those things that has more less operated the same way for decades, You’ve got your elected officials, and the relevant City staff around the big central table, media covers the goings on from their appointed desk, and there’s a gallery full of spectators and supplemental staff who will take part in the meeting when called upon. It’s simple, and it’s how things have always been done… at least until COVID-19. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #232 – Behind the Scenes of the Remote Council”
For the fifth and perhaps (hopefully) final time, city council will gather to talk about the effects of COVID-19 on the Royal City, and the municipal corporation that runs it. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the August 12 Meeting?”
This was a jam-packed July at city council even while everyone was physically distant. Along with the usual meetings, there was a shareholder meeting for two City-held companies, and a workshop on multiyear budgeting, which added a lot on the plates of councillors who already saw full slates on a myriad of different issues. Here’s the recap of this past month’s activities in the virtual horseshoe. Continue reading “The Month at Council: No Tower, COVID Update, and a Budget for the Future”
On Thursday night, the Ward 6 city councillors hosted a virtual town hall after a very busy month around the digital horseshoe. The post-pandemic world in Guelph, future budget concerns, upcoming changes to policy and development, and even a small dive into the world of conspiracy theories was all part of this special, from home edition constituency meeting! Continue reading “RECAP: Ward 6 Councillors Talk Virtually About South End Concerns”
COVID-19 has ravaged long-term care homes here in Ontario and across Canada, and a lot of people have been wondering why. A report from the Canadian Forces back in May started pointing some fingers, but now the Provincial government is going to start a more formal process. Ontario is finally launching its independent long-term care COVID-19 commission, but some people think we should already know the answer. Continue reading “Ontario Government Finally Announces Plans for Long Term Care Review”
This week, we’re going to talk about small business, and we’re going to talk about it from two sides: the nation-wide trends on how entrepreneurs are trying to survive the pandemic, and a unique local example from a small business owner who has loudly and publicly asked for more help as we’re entering this important recovery phase of the crisis. How’s business? It’s complicated. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #231 – Big Concerns for Small Business”
As we enter midsummer, and the fifth full month living in a COVID-19 world, it seems like some of us are forgetting first principles about stopping the spread of the virus. A joint statement from Mayor Cam Guthrie and Medical Officer of Health Dr. Nicola Mercer is asking Guelphites to remember that there is such a thing as the “new normal” and that everyone still has to follow the advice of public health to slow the spread of COVID. Continue reading “Guthrie and Mercer Ask for Help to Hold the Line on COVID”
Guelph Politico 