Fly Like the Eagles...
Or dig like a Ford.
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 now on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.
Baby Huey in the White House is threatening to take another boom boom on international trade, this time with a 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, including from Canada and Mexico.
Meanwhile, Justin Trudeau says we should take the 51st state threats seriously and literally.
The Liberals have announced the time and place for two leadership debates at the end of this month, one in English and one in French.
Doug Ford has elevated his plan to build a tunnel under the 401 into an election promise.
The Kansas City Chiefs realized too late they were in the Super Bowl losing 22-40 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The WDG Public Health COVID-19 dashboard says the wastewater signal numbers are unchanged from a week ago, which was 0.62 for Influenza A, 0.39 for RSV A, 0.33 for COVID-19, 0.031 for RSV B and 0.02 for Influenza B. There has, however, been a big jump in the number of people hospitalized in the region with the flu; there were 12 last week and now there are 16, plus there are seven with COVID and two with RSV. The rate of emergency department visit has stayed practically the same week-over-week.
OUTBREAKS: COVID-19 is back in a big way in our local institutions. There are now five different outbreaks at the Village of Riverside Glen, the retirement and long-term care homes at Eden House, Strathcona in Mount Forest, and Headwaters Hospital in Orangeville. Enteric is a little less of a problem now with only two outbreaks, both in Guelph, one at Wellington Park and one at Village of Arbour Trails. The really big issue though is respiratory with six outbreaks across the region from St. Joe’s and Village of Riverside Glen in Guelph to Caressant Care and Highland Manor in Fergus to Lord Dufferin in Orangeville and Birmingham in Mount Forest.
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Here’s last week’s Police Notes entry.
A timely crime, a Fergus man was charged by the OPP for not cleaning all the snow off his car during a traffic stop.
A majority of people in the riding of Kitchener Conestoga oppose the super mysterious assembly of plots of farmland to create a future industrial site in Wilmot.
More than $1 million in product was stolen somewhere in transit between Montreal and its destination. The haul? More than 100 pallets of olive oil.
One of the people running to lead the Manitoba PC Party joked about unleashing polar bears on homeless people in downtown Winnipeg (as one does/s.)
Buffy Sainte-Marie has been relieved of her Order of Canada as questions linger about her Indigenous heritage.
Health Canada confirms that this is the worst flu season since the last one, which was previously the worst.
On Wednesday, tune in to CFRU at 3 pm for another episode of End Credits. This week, Peter Salmon co-hosts as we mark Valentine’s Day with one of several themed movies being released, which in this case is an action comedy called Love Hurts. The movie stars Ke Huy Quan, who was once one of the young stars of The Goonies, which marks its 40th anniversary this year. So we will talk about other great movies starring Quan’s fellow Goonies!
Listen to all these shows any time by subscribing to the Guelph Politicast channel on your favourite podcast app at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
The all-candidates meeting for the provincial election candidates hosted by the Guelph-Wellington Coalition for Social Justice will be held at the Italian Canadian Club on Tuesday February 11 at 7 pm.
There will be an in-person open house to talk about the future design of St. George’s Square in the galleria at City Hall on Wednesday February 12 from 6 to 8 pm.
The next meeting of the Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee will be at the County Administration Centre on Wednesday February 12 at 1 pm.
Committee of Adjustment will meet in-person in the council chambers and online on Thursday February 13 at 4 pm.
The 80’s Retro Royale to support Hospice Wellington is on Thursday February 13 at the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre.
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 Heritage Gulph will meet for a second time this month both online and in-person on Thursdays, February 20 at 12 pm. (The agenda will be posted soon on the City’s website.)
The next Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting will happen online and in-person on Tuesday February 18 at 3 pm. (The agenda will be posted soon on the City’s website.)
There will be a panel discussion on the theme of “Wrapping Around: Mobilizing Our Community to Support Survivors of Human Trafficking” on Wednesday February 19 from 12-1:30 pm at 10C.
There will an open house for the Ward West Heritage Conservation District project on Thursday, February 20 between 4:30 and 6:30 pm at the Italian Canadian Club.
The Guelph Museums Advisory Committee will next get together on Thursday February 20 at 5:30 pm in the meeting room of the Guelph Civic Museum. (The agenda will be posted soon on the City’s website.)
The next meeting of the Transit Advisory Committee is online and in-person at city hall on Thursday February 20 at 5:30 pm. (The agenda will be posted soon on the City’s website.)
The Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser is on Saturday February 22.
Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis and others are hosting a screening of Viveka Melki’s Trafficked Voices at Silence on Saturday February 22 at 7 pm.
A panel discussion on human trafficking in the Guelph-Wellington region will take place at the Salvation Army citadel on Monday February 24.
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!