Welcome to the Guelph Politico Tip Sheet, a thrice-a-week newsletter meant to “tip” you off about some of the important stuff going on in the Royal City. It arrives directly in your inbox on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Publisher’s Note: Due to the Family Day holiday there will be no Tip Sheet on Monday.
A winter storm caused closures and rough going across the region on Thursday!
We know have a list of confirmed provincial election candidates for Guelph and Wellington-Halton Hills.
Guelph:
ROBERT COOLE, PC Party
CARINA FRASER, New Blue Party
MIKE SCHREINER, Green Party
CAMERON SPENCE, NDP
MUSTAFA ZUBERI, Ontario Liberal Party
Wellington-Halton Hills:
ALEX HILSON, Liberal Party
SIMONE KENT, NDP
STEPHEN KITRAS, New Blue Party
JASON MEDLAND, Ontario Party
RON PATAVA, Consensus
JOSEPH RACINSKY, PC Party
BRONWYNNE WILTON, Green Party
Provincial party leaders will take part in their first debate today hosted by the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities and live-streamed on all Village Media websites.
The NDP are asking the integrity commissioner and Elections Ontario to investigate a PC Party campaign ad that used footage shot during Premier Doug Ford’s visit to Washington, which was official government business.
If you were looking for news about school closures on X, the Upper Grand District School Board says they’re not using it anymore, even for emergency messages.
The flu is hitting Ontario emergency rooms hard! Meanwhile, Norfolk County has found 11 additional measles cases.
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Here’s some timely advice from a Guelph matchmaker.
Cutten Fields will serve as a local qualifying site for the 125th U.S. (Golf) Open in May.
Jayden Parker, a fourth-year biomedical student at the University of Guelph, has received the rare distinction of being named a Rhodes Scholar.
If you tried to enjoy the snow in Foote Park in Elora yesterday, you probably saw some “no tobogganing” signs that the township says were posted as a matter of safety.
Thieves stole copper and fibre optic cable from a utility pole in Hillsburgh on Tuesday, costing 200 area residents phone and internet service for hours.
Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett is courting controversy by inviting an American “anti-woke” crackpot to her event about families dealing with mental health or addiction issues.
Doug Ford says he was just joking at a police chief gala in London in January when he said that he wanted to empower judges to "send 'em right to sparky", meaning bringing back the death penalty.
York Centre Liberal candidate Sam Nestico went a little off script by promising to "jail corrupt politicians", which not so obliquely included his opponent from the PC Party. That social media post was obviously deleted.
The NDP candidate in Eglinton-Lawrence is dropping out of the race and throwing their support behind the Liberal candidate to avoid vote-splitting that could be exploited by the PC candidate.
A Chilean kayaker was accidentally swallowed briefly by a humpback whale in a real-life Jonah story (see below).
Orientation Meeting of City Council – Wednesday February 11 at 6 pm.
Staff will lead council through the Construction Improvement Plan. You can see the agenda on the City’s website here, and but since this is an orientation meeting there will be no opportunity for the public to delegate.
Regular Meeting of City Council – Tuesday February 25 at 6 pm.
Council will revisit committee business and then receive reports from the integrity commissioner and information about the lobbyist registry. You can see the agenda on the City’s website here, and you have until next Friday at 10 am to register with the clerks’ office as a delegate or to send a correspondence.
Committee of the Whole Meeting – Tuesday March 4, 2025 at 9:30 am.
The agenda for this meeting will be posted on the City’s website on Thursday February 20.
Committee of the Whole Meeting – Tuesday March 5, 2025 at 9 am.
The agenda for this meeting will be posted on the City’s website on Thursday February 20.
For more information on Guelph City Council meetings, from agendas to live-tweets to recaps, you can visit that page on Guelph Politico here.
Here are the Family Day weekend hours for the City of Guelph, the Guelph Public Library, the University of Guelph, WDG Public Health, and the YMCA of Three Rivers.
There will be free skating and/or swimming for your enjoyment at either the West End Community Centre or Victoria Road Recreation Centre on Family Day Monday February 17.
The Ontario government is letting everyone fish for free this weekend without buying a fishing licence or Outdoors Card.
The City of Guelph has created a landing page to answer questions about the impact of Trump’s tariff war on the Royal City.
Construction is expected to begin on the new high school in Guelph’s south end in a couple of weeks.
The Guelph Public Library has honoured Friends co-founder Virginia Gillham.
There’s an information series coming up for parents and families of students in grades 7-12 with intellectual and developmental disabilities and/or autism about transitional to adulthood.
Thinking about spring? Rotary is planning a tree planting and an Environmental Fair on Saturday April 26 at the Hanlon Creek Forest.
Over $43,000 was raised for Guelph charities through the Downtown Guelph Business Association’s Spirit of the Season in December.
Laurie Lantaigne has won the Peter Moore Vocational Services Award from the Rotary Club of Guelph Trillium for her charitable fundraising.
Current “Have Your Say” opportunities: The Blueprint: Guelph's One Water Plan, Downtown Heritage Conservation District, Downtown Infrastructure Renewal, Downtown Height Study, Exhibition Park neighbourhood infrastructure improvements, Guelph’s Bicentennial, Housing Accelerator Funding, Levels of Service, the naming of a park at 106 Beaumont, and the Ward West Heritage Conservation District Study.
Transit Detours/Notices:
Nothing to report.
Upcoming Construction:
Omar Street will be closed between Alma Street North to Raglan Street for one week starting on Monday February 24 for the installation of new sewer and water pipes.
Dawn Avenue will be closed between Clairfields Drive West to Lowes Road West for three months starting on Monday March 3 for the installation of new sewer and water pipes.
Finally, feel free to reach out to me by email at adamadonaldson [at] gmail [dot] com, or find me on Facebook, Twitter, and, of course, GuelphPolitico.ca!