Tag: Housing Crisis

Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the July 3, 2024 Meeting?

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A lot of municipal policy is going to come to a head at July’s Committee of the Whole meeting. From demolition by neglect to light pollution to lobbying, there’s a lot to cover in what is appropriately the mid-season finale of the 2024 year at council, and that includes the biggest issue of all, the housing crisis. So for the last time before summer vacation, this is what’s on the committee agenda this month… Continue reading “Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the July 3, 2024 Meeting?” →

Calandra Touts Guelph Housing Success with Novelty Cheque (But Real Money)

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Pomp was in the air of the courtyard at Guelph City Hall Thursday morning. The special guest was Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra, and the order to the day was celebrating Guelph’s success on housing starts in 2023. The what was a giant novelty cheque, a symbol of the very real award for Guelph starting construction on 1,287 new housing units last year, nearly $4.7 million in “reward” money! Continue reading “Calandra Touts Guelph Housing Success with Novelty Cheque (But Real Money)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #408 – Greg Dorval Has Things to Say

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One of the problems covering issues of homelessness in the media is that it’s hard to find people to be the face of those issues. You see this in just about every news story, “person X is experiencing issue A”; it’s a way of personalizing the issue and making it relatable to the audience, and it’s one of the reasons why the homelessness crisis is so unrelatable. That’s where Greg Dorval entered the picture a few weeks ago. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #408 – Greg Dorval Has Things to Say” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #407 – Mike’s Homes

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When the Ontario Legislature resumed sitting this week, Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner wasn’t sitting alone as the only Green member. The fact that Aislinn Clancy won handily in Kitchener Centre might be a sign that people are interested in listen to Green ideas, and the Legislature will get a chance to show they they’re listening next week by sending Schreiner’s private member’s bill to committee and naturally, he thinks they should! Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #407 – Mike’s Homes” →

Trudeau Comes to Town to Announce Guelph’s Share of Housing Accelerator Fund

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It’s not every day that the Prime Minister of Canada comes to town, and it’s not every time that he’s bringing millions of dollars to help tackle the housing crisis. But both of these things came to pass on Friday as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the in-progress Kindle Communities project on Shelldale and announced that the City of Guelph’s share of the House Accelerator Fund is $21.4 million. Continue reading “Trudeau Comes to Town to Announce Guelph’s Share of Housing Accelerator Fund” →

This Week at Council: Housing, Heritage and Hesitancy in Double Header

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It’s tough to summarize a nine-hour council meeting, but it kind of helps that this one came in two parts. In the first half, council tried its best to use the limited tool kit they have to generate some housing solutions amidst the crisis, and then, in the second half, it was the usual monthly planning meeting with some big new applications, big decisions, and some big heritage designations. Here’s the (lengthier than normal) recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: Housing, Heritage and Hesitancy in Double Header” →

LIVE BLOG: Special City Council Meeting for October 17, 2023

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It’s another special meeting about housing. 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: Special City Council Meeting for October 17, 2023” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the October 17 Special Meeting?

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The first entry in a packed day at City Hall (which also includes an Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting and the planning meeting of city council) is all about housing. Following up on other recent meetings about the subject, city council will offer some further and firmer direction on how to combat the local housing crisis. Will Guelph City Council be finally able to make an impact? Let’s see what the plan is… Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the October 17 Special Meeting?” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #389 – It’s In the Code

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Have you heard there’s a housing crisis? It’s pretty much all anyone can talk about, which is understandable, and the causes of the crisis are many. But have you thought about the Building Code? Chances are you haven’t, but this important document meant to govern our health and safety indoors might have some holes in it, and it might be causing complications that are getting in the way of desperately needed new units. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #389 – It’s In the Code” →

This Week at Council: Housing is Exactly as Complicated as You Think

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After several weeks of hype, Guelph City Council held a meeting meant to rake out most of their concerns about housing, homelessness, social services, addictions and mental health. A substantial agenda requires a commensurate meeting length, and council tackled seven hours worth of facts, figures and insights into all those issues to find the gaps, and hopefully start to find some solutions. Here’s the recap from this week’s council meeting… Continue reading “This Week at Council: Housing is Exactly as Complicated as You Think” →