RECAP: Social Services Committee Tackles Ambulance and Housing Pressures

This month’s Social Services Committee meeting at Wellington County took place against the backdrop of the budget discussion at the City of Guelph. Appropriately, two of the key topics directly affecting Guelph business includes (obviously) the 2024 social services budget, which also connects to a presentation from Paramedic Service Chief Stephen Dewar about ambulance response times. But that’s only how the meeting begins, so let’s gt into the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Social Services Committee Tackles Ambulance and Housing Pressures”

MEETING PREVIEW: County Social Services Meeting for November 8, 2023

It’s a jam-packed Social Services Committee agenda at Wellington County this month. Budget? Yes, there’s some budget stuff to get done, both for this year and for next year. There are some updates on current and pending construction projects, some concerns about staffing at the childcare centres, and some notes about funding key endeavours under social services. Let’s get into the details with this meeting preview… Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: County Social Services Meeting for November 8, 2023”

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

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

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”

RECAP: Social Services Tries to Find a Way to Keep Sanguen Health Van Going

It’s not quite budget time yet, but there was a big budget ask at this month’s Social Services meeting at Wellington County. Staff members from the Sanguen Health Centre’s Community Health Van were special guests, and they are looking for support to keep that service going past March of next year. How the committee coped with that, and how they handled other social services business is the subject of the recap below… Continue reading “RECAP: Social Services Tries to Find a Way to Keep Sanguen Health Van Going”

MEETING PREVIEW: County Social Services Meeting for October 11, 2023

At October’s Social Services Committee meeting of Wellington County things will be relatively more laid back than September’s packed agenda. This month there will be mostly discussions about spending and the funding of programs, plus there will be a visit from the gang that runs the local health van who are on the look out for some funding of their own. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: County Social Services Meeting for October 11, 2023”

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

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?”

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

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”

RECAP: Stacked Meeting Reveals Pressures on Most Social Service Areas

The Social Services Committee of Wellington County got together again for the first time since July, and a lot of the agenda was taken up by the pressing matters or housing and fighting homelessness. Less than 24 hours after a Guelph City Council meeting dedicated to that subject, there was still somehow lots of new ground to cover, but then there are also the pressures on childcare. Let’s recap this month’s meeting in the Guthrie Room… Continue reading “RECAP: Stacked Meeting Reveals Pressures on Most Social Service Areas”

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for September 12, 2023

This is a meting all 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: City Council Meeting for September 12, 2023”