It had been almost a year since I attended the first “Breezy Brothers” breakfast, a now weekly town hall at Breezy Corners, and what was once a single large table of concerned citizens had now turned into three. Perhaps it was the subject matter. With all the present concern about hydro, perhaps the timing worked out that the people were eager to hear from the CEO of Guelph Hydro Pankaj Sardana on a Thursday morning. Continue reading “Hydro Talk Energizes the Weekly Breezy Breakfast”
On the third floor of 10 Carden Street this afternoon, Guelph’s water advocates continued the push to protect area aquifers from water bottlers by meeting with Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath. For Horwath, the goal of the closed door meeting was to work with community members to draft a “broad water strategy” as opposed to a “knee jerk reaction.” Continue reading “Horwath Hears Concerns About Local Water Taking”
It was standing room only at city council last night as council debated a motion by Ward 2 Councillor James Gordon asking his fellow councillors on taking a stand against Nestle and their continued water taking at their Aberfoyle bottling plant. Now city council is often compared to a carnival, but there was no denying the carnival atmosphere prior to the meeting as hundreds of people gathered in front of City Hall to sing, speak and make noise, all to push council to support Gordon and his motion. Continue reading “VIDEOS: Hundreds Support Gordon Motion, Outside and In City Hall”
After the previous meeting, a nice quiet productive meeting was on the books as council discussed matters of two planning applications and an endorsement of $5,000 in support for the victims of the wildfire in Fort McMurray and surrounding areas. And then Councillor James Gordon raised a point of order. Continue reading “What’s the Deal with the Gordon/Gibson Twitter Kerfuffle?”
Set in the middle of Breezy Corners on Macdonnell were four tables arranged together for a unique new civic engagement event. Ward 2 Councillor James Gordon and Ward 3 Councillor Phil Allt had put out an open invitation to the Guelph community: Thursdays at 8 am, come to Breezy Corners, have some breakfast, and talk about whatever you want to talk about politically. For this inaugural town hall, the councillors got around 20 people first thing in the morning for some frank political talk “over-easy.” Continue reading “Gordon and Allt Eat Success with First Breakfast Town Hall”
Every week, the City of Guelph and other groups send out notices to announce new events, imperatives, and information that you need to know. Here is this week in press releases. Continue reading “This Week in Press Releases – March 28-April 1, 2016”
Not the most well-known celebration to take place in February, but still no less important, the past few days have marked Freedom to Read Week both here in Guelph and across Canada. Walk into the main branch of the Guelph Public Library today, and you’ll see a Freedom to Read Week display, or you might, assuming that they’ve been able to keep the banned books on the shelves… Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #30 – James Gordon on Freedom to Read Week”
With a little less than a week to go before the election, Fair Vote Guelph and the Guelph chapter of Council of Canadians invited people to come down to a rally against voter suppression downtown in front of Old Quebec Street Mall. There, in front of what Michael Keefer called the “crime scene,” between 40 and 50 Guelphites recalled what happened in the last election, and promised to be onguard for any shenanigans that may occur on Monday. Continue reading “Guelphites Rally Against Vote Suppression Pre-Election”
The year started off with council already contentious about the budget process. Mayor Guthrie had announced his intention to bring a motion to the January 19 council meeting that would state that the city government should set itself the goal of not raising taxes anymore than the rate of inflation for the coming fiscal year. Of the seven councillors out of 12 that responded to the Guelph Tribune‘s request for comment, four were against the motion and three were against. Although the motion has since been delayed, some feel as though the mayor was going too far too soon. Continue reading “Budget 2015 Update – Opening Moves”
October 27 marked a bold new venture for the City of Guelph with the election of seven new councillors and a brand new mayor. But campaigns are one thing, how does our city council, new and old members alike, intend to work together? That’s one of many questions I put to Ward 2 Councillor-Elect James Gordon and Ward 3 Councillor-Elect Phil Allt when we met recently for a series I’m calling “Fireside Chats,” the first of which forms the basis for this latest entry in the Guelph Politicast. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #20 – “Fireside Chat” with Phil Allt and James Gordon”
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