Fireworks Fights!
Plus, grounded snowbirds and SPORTS!
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 Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.
NOTE: Because there’s no council meeting this week, there will be no Thursday newsletter.
Regular Meeting of City Council – Tuesday May 26, 2026 at 6 pm.
Council will revisit the committee agenda and then consider sending the Ontario government a request to push the deadline to delist non-designated heritage properties at the end of the year. You can see the agenda on the City’s website here, and you have until Friday at 10 am to delegate or write a correspondence on any of those agenda items.
Committee of the Whole Meeting –Tuesday June 2, 2026 at 2 pm.
The agenda for this meeting will be posted on the City’s website on Thursday May 21.
Planning Meeting of City Council – Tuesday June 9, 2026 at 4 pm.
The agenda for this meeting will be posted on the City’s website on Thursday May 28.
Special Meeting of City Council – Tuesday June 10, 2026 at 4 pm.
The agenda for this meeting will be posted on the City’s website on Thursday May 28.
For more information on Guelph City Council meetings, from agendas to live-tweets to recaps, you can visit that page on Guelph Politico here.
The trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of Reid’s Heritage Properties thinks it’s possible that some investors will get their money back but they will need more money of their own to continue the investigation.
The University of Guelph looks to be finally moving out of chronic annual deficits thanks to increased government fundings, new grants, and the elimination of the tuition freeze starting this fall.
The Erin town council chambers were packed with people who were all part of the organized resistance to the controversial remediation plan for the Hillsburgh gravel pit.
In other Erin council news, their proposed short-term rental bylaw has people concerned about who will be doing the enforcement.
A tale of two cities with the same story: In Kitchener Monday night, Victoria Park was shut down after hundreds gathered there and some people started using fireworks as projectiles. In was more or less the same story around Chinguacousy Park in Brampton.
Halton police seized 24 handguns in the largest seizure of its kind in the service’s history.
There are more questions about the economic case to expand Billy Bishop airport with new accusations that the background provided by the Ontario government is incomplete.
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The honorary Italian vice-consulate is returning to Guelph and will now be based in Old Quebec Street.
A new two-track rail rider, which is kind of like a zipline, will be coming soon to Exhibition Park.
The OPP call that resulted in Guelph Lake Conservation Area being shut down briefly last week? It was because of a drunk camper with a pellet gun.
A new kite festival is coming to Clifford next week.
An appeal’s been filed by the Crown in Kitchener over the acquittal of Jeffrey Sloka, a former doctor credibly accused of assault nearly 50 of his female patients.
Tourism promoters in Waterloo Region say that they’re ready to take advantage of the FIFA World Cup bump. In other World Cup news, the Ontario government will be extending last call till 4 am during the tournament.
Early Monday, a crash crashed into a fireworks store in Rexdale causing a five-alarm fire, and an impromptu and dangerous fireworks display.
Three off-duty Toronto Police officers have been arrested in Barcelona, two of them are accused of the sexual assault of a sex worker.
Inflation was up 2.8 per cent in April according to Statistics Canada, but the War in Iran is only affecting the price of gas… so far.
The Snowbirds squadron will be grounded after this year until sometime in the 2030s when new planes are acquired.
Before the long weekend, Wesley Harris, a licensed veterinary technician, became the second person to hop into the race in Ward 5.
See the full list of candidates who’ve filed so far here.
This week on Open Sources Guelph, Scotty Hertz and I will talk about the messy drama developing around the Ontario Liberal leadership race, and we will also talk about the legal actions involving Israel and Israeli based groups against The New York Times and Canada’s Human Rights Museum. We will also talk to Jeremy Appel from The Orchard about the latest in Alberta politics and how he gets into all the rooms they definitely don’t want him in.
Tune in to Open Sources Guelph Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm!
Listen to Open Sources Guelph, as well as the Guelph Politicast and End Credits, any time by subscribing to the Guelph Politicast channel on your favourite podcast app at Apple and Spotify.
Guelph Royals (IBL): Tough start to the season for the Royals. The first game on Friday in Chatham-Kent was what could only be described as a bloodbath with the Barnstormers storming right over the Royals 2-16, and then a stop in Welland Saturday saw a less dramatic drubbing by the Jackfish 1-10. The team will be in London on Friday and then be home on Saturday for the first Guelph game of the season to face the Brantford Red Sox, who are also having a tough start to the season. In other news, right-handed pitcher Kyle Thomas has resigned with the Royals for his fourth season with the team.
Guelph Gryphons (OUA): There were a couple of key distinctions for Gryphon athletes at this year’s OUA Honour Awards banquet last Wednesday. Olivia Rizakos was named the female OUA Athlete of the Year as a standout from the soccer team’s silver medal in the OUA finals and her own status as the top scorer in all of Canada last school year, while the rugby team won Team of the Year in the male category for securing their fifth consecutive championship.
Guelph Regals (Junior B Lacrosse): The Regals showed some life on the road last week starting with a trip to Earl Nichols Arena in London on Thursday, and although they had a comfortable 7-3 lead going into the third period, they eventually lost in overtime against the Blue Devils 9-10. In Prince Edward on Friday, the Regals were able to flip the script after falling 1-4 to the Pacers in the first before they got out a head in the third to finish the game with a 12-8 victory.
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!