GUELPH POLITICAST #506 – Shelter Questions and a Politico Update

It’s been quite a year so far, and it’s only been about three weeks long. Unfortunately, there’s no guest on this week’s show, nobody seems to want to talk about the biggest issue in town, but that doesn’t mean we can’t chat about it on our own. For this peculiar episode of the podcast, we will talk about the questions left over from the daytime shelter story, how we’ve been trying to cover it, and what’s going on at Politico HQ as we look to an even busier year ahead! Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #506 – Shelter Questions and a Politico Update”

The Week at Council: Two Hours In Camera

Surprise! It’s a surprise meeting, and that means a surprise meeting recap! Following up the first big political controversy of 2026, a special city council meeting was called to figure out what was to be done about the sudden cancellation of the daytime shelter plan out of Royal City Mission and Stepping Stone. The details were mostly in-camera, but you will learn all about what came out of it in this recap of the meeting… Continue reading “The Week at Council: Two Hours In Camera”

RECAP: City Council Meeting for January 13, 2026

Let us wrap up a very busy, and a very difficult 2025 in the council chambers. 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 with the thread below from BlueSky, or you can watch the whole meeting for yourself by watching it on the City’s website here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Meeting for January 13, 2026”

City Moves to Quell Concerns About Daytime Shelter Debacle

It seems as though the City of Guelph is feeling the heat following the sudden announcement on Thursday that a long-awaited daytime shelter program for the unhoused and precariously housed would not open as scheduled on Monday. A demonstration downtown on Saturday seems to have pushed Guelph’s mayor to pencil in a special council meeting this coming week while the City of Guelph is explaining itself in a surprise Sunday post. Continue reading “City Moves to Quell Concerns About Daytime Shelter Debacle”

Daytime Shelter Plans Fall Apart Four Days Before Opening

On Monday, a new daytime shelter service was supposed to begin out of the Royal City Mission, and while it was not going to offer the 12 hours of service per day that was originally intended last fall, it was, if nothing else, a start. But on Thursday there was a sudden turn in this story, separate announcements from both Stepping Stone and Royal City Mission that their collaboration on a new daytime shelter will not be going forward. Continue reading “Daytime Shelter Plans Fall Apart Four Days Before Opening”

GUELPH POLITICAST #448 – Christmas With Kevin (feat. Kevin Coghill)

It makes sense spending Christmas with a Kevin. The Kevin we’re talking to this Christmas though sits at the intersection of fighting poverty practically and fighting a growing spiritual malaise. In fact, he was the first and most obvious choice for this year’s holiday chat by the fireside, and he joins us this week to not only talk about the crisis around homelessness, but also the accompanying crisis of compassion. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #448 – Christmas With Kevin (feat. Kevin Coghill)”

This Week at Council: New Strategic Plan Process Begins, and the 2023 Budget Confirmation

This was a very busy week at city council with three meetings, one of which was a super-long meeting indeed. Obviously, that long meeting concerned the confirmation vote for the 2023 budget, which saw council trying to balance community need with a hopefully smaller tax burden for the public. This balance was also kind of reinforced by another meeting this week, which looked at creating the next Strategic Plan. Continue reading “This Week at Council: New Strategic Plan Process Begins, and the 2023 Budget Confirmation”

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for January 24, 2023

A brief meeting that’s one of two on this Tuesday. 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 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 January 24, 2023”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 24 Meeting?

Not much to see for this regular meeting of city council, at least not much that you haven’t already seen. Council will revisit the new appoints they approved to Committee of the Whole, decide whether to let one of their colleagues ascend to a higher body (if elected), and will also have an in-camera conversation about the CAO’s performance objectives for the year. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 24 Meeting?”

This Week at Council: Funding the Mission and Service Improvements

It feels like we were only just getting started, but Guelph city council wrapped up for the year after taking care of a couple of key pieces of business. Just in time for Christmas, there was some good news for people who want to see more aid for those who are unhoused downtown, and there was also some good news for people who like to complain to City staff with an exciting and interactive new way to make you voice heard! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Funding the Mission and Service Improvements”