This Week at Council: We Meet in August Over the New DC Plan from Queen’s Park

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water… circumstances forced us all back to the council chambers, or the live-stream page of the City of Guelph website, for a midsummer council meeting. The topic? A new plan to supercharge housing by cutting DCs and funding housing enabling infrastructure courtesy of the federal and provincial governments, but with an election coming timelines are getting tricky. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: We Meet in August Over the New DC Plan from Queen’s Park”

RECAP: City Council Meeting for August 12, 2026

We interrupt your summer vacation for a council meeting. 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 during the meeting on Blue Sky or recap the complete thread after the meeting below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Meeting for August 12, 2026”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the August 12, 2026 Meetings?

Wait, aren’t we in the middle of summer vacation?! For the third time in four years, Guelph City Council will be gathered for a last-minute midsummer meeting, this time due to the bad timing of the Ontario government who have yet another scheme to get housing development going in the province. Get ready to talk about the Development Charge Reduction Program as local governance interrupts your August plans! Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the August 12, 2026 Meetings?”

This Week at Council: Trail Talk, and the Bridge Stays in the Picture

It was a long one this week at city council with three meetings and several potential issues of controversy. One shareholder meeting went by with zero controversy, but the other one literally packed the gallery with concern about trails along the railways. At the regular meeting, the Committee of the Whole ratification still had some juice, especially around a (for some reason) controversial bridge. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: Trail Talk, and the Bridge Stays in the Picture”

RECAP: Third City Council Meeting for June 23, 2026

Get ready for a busy one! 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 during the meeting on Blue Sky or recap the complete thread after the meeting below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “RECAP: Third City Council Meeting for June 23, 2026”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the June 23, 2026 Regular Meeting?

The third of three meetings on this Tuesday is the regular council meeting. On the agenda for this one includes all the stuff – controversial and otherwise – from the Committee of the Whole agenda, plus three new items. What’s new? The consolidated financial statements and audit from last year, concerns around the availability of overnight heating and cooling centres, and a need to take some additional measures to support downtown businesses. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the June 23, 2026 Regular Meeting?”

GUELPH POLITICAST #486 – The Year at Council So Far: Part 2 (May-July 2025)

School kids and teachers aren’t the only ones that get a summer vacation. City council, and those that cover them, also get a summer break, at least when it comes to the monthly meeting schedule. We now have a couple of weeks of meetings under our belt since August ended, but for this week’s podcast we’re going back in time to business at council before summer vacation. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #486 – The Year at Council So Far: Part 2 (May-July 2025)”

GUELPH POLITICAST #420 – The Year at Council So Far

Time flies when you’re having fun in the council chambers, which brings us to the first recap podcast of the year. We started off slow with one meeting in January, and then things go really busy in February and March, including one meeting that was really two meetings, but all together they were 12 hours long. Remember what that one was about? Remember what any of them were about? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #420 – The Year at Council So Far”

GUELPH POLITICAST #415 – Doors Open Preview

Doors Open Guelph is one of dozens of similar events across Ontario that celebrates local history and heritage by throwing open the doors to buildings that are typically pretty inaccessible to the general public. There’s no shortage of history and heritage nerds in Guelph who all have their favourites so how are the sites chosen, why are they chosen, and why are these buildings on the 2024 tour? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #415 – Doors Open Preview”

GUELPH POLITICAST #366 – The Other James Gordon

James Gordon decided last year that eight years on city council was enough and that he would step away to return to his first love, music. Of course, Gordon never really left music to take part in local politics; all the while he was on council he was still touring and still releasing new music as a city councillor, but can he now quit politics so easily? We’re going to find out… Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #366 – The Other James Gordon”