Welcome to the Guelph Politico Tip Sheet, a twice-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 Tuesdays and Fridays.
The official English-language leader’s debate was last night, and I did some live tweeting while watching it, and working on today’s newsletter. The “too long; didn’t read” of it? It probably didn’t change anyone’s mind, so it was a lot of sound and fury where none of the party leaders where on their best, most cordial behavior. On the bright side, I did enjoy Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet being gangster.
Closer to home…
Did Conservative leader Andrew Scheer stop by Guelph and not tell anyone? It certainly seems like it.
Meanwhile, People’s Party candidate Mark Paralovos seemed to be bounced from Twitter for unknown reasons (and not for the first time).
Green Party candidate Steve Dyck got name-checked in new article on PressProgress, and probably not the way he would like. The article talks about Green Party candidates who’ve flirted in the past with 9/11 trutherism, which Dyck apologized for a few weeks ago in a Guelph Mercury Tribune article. Meanwhile, the federal Green Party has filed a complaint with the National NewsMedia Council over alleged misleading reporting on another story. PressProgress, of course, is tied to the Broadbent Institute, which was founded by former NDP leader Ed Broadbent.
And finally, several election signs belonging to Christian Heritage Party candidate Gordon Truscott were spray-painted with swastikas some time overnight Monday in the area of Edinburgh Road between Speedvale Avenue and Woodlawn Road, according to GuelphToday.com.
Less than two weeks to go till E-Day, and advanced polls start this weekend.
Remember, there’s an election coming. For all the latest coverage of the 2019 Federal Election from the Guelph angle, you can go directly to that Politico page by clicking here.
Also in the News…
Crisis averted! Life at Ontario schools was back to normal today as CUPE workers and the Government of Ontario reached an 11th hour deal on Sunday night. Politico has the details here, but before you celebrate peace in our time, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) was holding a strike vote with its 78,000 members yesterday.
The Retail Council of Canada is pushing Ontario’s Minister of the Environment Jeff Yurek to step in with a province-wide ban on single-use plastics, but it’s not for altruistic reasons.
Kitchener and area climate strikers took part in an Extinction Rebellion-organized demonstration that blocked traffic at the roundabout at Bridge Street and Lancaster Street, which slowed access to the very busy bridge there. About a dozen people shut down local traffic for an hour at 8 am Monday morning in solidarity with similar protests in Halifax, Toronto, and Vancouver.
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Ward 1 Councillor Dan Gibson celebrates his birthday on Wednesday! And you can check out the first episode of the Dan Gibson-hosted Royal City Stories featuring Bryan McNeill below:
Listen to the OSG interviews with Gordon Truscott and Mark Paralovos now.
One week until this…
October 7 – Committee of the Whole.
Servicing Policy for Properties Located Outside of Guelph Municipal Boundary – Mayor Cam Guthrie asked if there was any possibility of appeal for property owners if the City finds that a service agreement is not to the mutual advantage of everyone involved. Staff took that away as a note.
Natural Heritage Advisory Committee Terms of Reference – What should have been a simple consent item became a procedural donnybrook when delegate Susan Watson expressed concerns that the terms of the NHAC were undemocratic given that the two committees that it is replacing – the Environmental Advisory Committee and the River Systems Advisory Committee – both allow delegations, and the new NHAC does not.
Staff made the argument that the NHAC is not designed to be a committee in a similar fashion to the previous committees, as it will be more of a “focus group” that will offer feedback on big ideas, but not make any actual recommendations to council on any specific proposal. Councillor Leanne Piper tried to offer an amendment to make delegates part of the NHAC terms of reference, but it failed. Piper had three more amendments that made some changes to language in the terms for clarity, and staff will work with Piper on this before bringing forward the final terms at this month’s regular council meeting.
Before the final vote, Guthrie took the chance to unload some frustration about the way the debate was phrased. He said that he’s tired of council and staff being accused of diminishing democracy, and taking nefarious actions behind the backs of citizens.
Planning Our Future: Growth Plan Conformity Project Initiation – The City is undertaking a provincially mandate review to see if we’re going to meet our “Places to Grow” targets, and many of the questions had to do with the effects of Bill 108 on raising the money to cover the most of that growth. Staff will be brining forth an interim report in 2020 that will outline the impact of those changes, and the new regulations for the Community Benefit Charges should be coming any time now…
Comprehensive Zoning By-law Review Discussion Paper and Guelph Parking Standards Review Discussion Paper – The discussion papers were discussed in terms of the directions they offered, especially the desire on the part of people to see more leeway on accessory apartments and tiny houses. November will see a series of meetings that will discuss the directions and get feedback on where to go next.
October 16 – Planning Meeting. This may be a special Wednesday meeting because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but this is an otherwise ordinary Planning Meeting. There’s a final decision report on a big apartment development, an extension request for a big subdivision, a request to endorse the construction of a new house in a heritage area, and the City’s response to changes in Provincial policy. You can read the full Politico preview here.
If you want to delegate on any of the items, you have until 10 am on Friday October 11 to get in touch with the Clerk’s Office. Here’s how.
Also coming up at City Council:
October 21 – Special Council Meeting on Standard Assets/Facility Needs Assessment
October 23 – The first meeting for the 2020 Budget. Presentation and Public Delegations for the Capital Budget and Forecast.
October 28 – Regular meeting of council.
October 30 – Budget Meeting, Public Delegations for Non-tax Supported Operating Budget.
November 4 – Committee of the Whole.
This Wednesday is the Guelph Chamber of Commerce debate at Guelph City Hall at 6 pm. (Get their early if you want a seat.) Also, since that debate only includes the five major party candidates, independent candidate Kornelis Klevering is organizing his own all-candidates debate at the Royal City Mission at 50 Quebec St. at 7 pm.
City Hall will mark the 20th annual World Mental Health Day with Mayor Cam Guthrie hosting three speakers to talk about this year’s theme, “Preventing Suicide: Let’s talk about it.” The event takes place Thursday from 1 to 3 pm, and you can get your tickets here.
The fall session of Living Better on Less will begin on Tuesday October 22 at 10 am, and will run every Tuesday morning until December 10 at the Church of the Apostles at 86 Glasgow St N. To learn more, go to livingbetteronless.ca, or email livingbetteronlessguelph@gmail.com.
Coming up this week on the GuelphPoliticast, we talk about an issue that should be getting a lot of press, but isn’t because of black face, citizenship, and who’s an insurance broker or not. Dr. Wendy Cukier of the Coalition for Gun Control will talk about her fight on the issue, and the wrong ways the gun control debate is portrayed in Canada.
Get the latest edition of the GuelphPoliticast on Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, tune in to CFRU at 2 pm for another episode of End Credits. This week, Tim Phillips co-hosts as we’re reviewing the highly-controversial new film, Joker, and we’re also talking about trademark law, new trailers, and we’ll kick-off our 25 for ’99 series with Tim’s Top 5 picks for the best movies of 1999 (the best year for movies?).
Then, Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU, it’s another all-new edition of Open Sources Guelph. Scotty Hertz and I will have back-to-back candidates again, as we’ll welcome back to the show independent candidate Kornelis Klevering, and Green Party candidate Steve Dyck.
Listen to all these shows any time by subscribing to the Guelph Politicast channel on your favourite podcast app at iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, and Spotify.
Another edition of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast is coming this weekend.
Who is Michael Wassilyn, the 9th person running to be Guelph’s Member of Parliament? I’m meeting him tomorrow.
There’s a long weekend coming up! You should check out what city services will be impacted.
And finally, feel free to reach out to be by email at adamadonaldson [at] gmail [dot] com, or find me on Facebook, Twitter, and, of course, GuelphPolitico.ca!