I Know What You Did on National Truth and Reconciliation Day
Trudeau's third term is getting off to a heckuva start...
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 Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is being rightfully criticized for going on a family vacation to an upscale resort on Vancouver Island in lieu of taking part in National Truth and Reconciliation Day activities.
Meanwhile, local leaders offered their thoughts on the first every National Day for Truth and Reconciliation through social media posts and statements.
Parents of students at École élémentaire Catholique Saint-René-Goupil are concerned about the number of COVID cases there.
The Guelph Police Service released a full list of 46 charges coming out of Homecoming last weekend.
In other police news, there was a tractor-jacking on Wednesday morning. Two Kubota tractors with a combined value of more than $60,000 were stolen from a Wellington Street West business, and police are looking for a white Ford Explorer and a brown Ford pickup pulling a flatbed trailer.
The number of active COVID-19 cases, and the long-term indicators, continue to trend down in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph. There are now 83 total cases of COVID-19 in the region, including seven new cases confirmed on Friday. The 7-day rate of confirmed cases lost another point-and-a-half to 26.3 per 100,000 while the test positivity rate is now just 2 per cent.
On the local vaccination rate, a handful more people born in 2009, or before, have joined the ranks of the fully vaccinated. That number across the region is 82.5 per cent, while the number of eligible people with one shot has gone up to 86.7. In Guelph alone the numbers are now 88 per cent and 92.5 per cent respectively.
In Ontario in the last few days, the number of new daily cases is back to oscillating between 600 and 700. On Thursday there were 647 new cases, and on Friday there were 668 to bring the current number of active cases province-wide down just below 5,000. The 7-day average of new cases, meanwhile, is 597, which is another indication of a downward trend in COVID cases after being at 655 last week, and 724 the week before.
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County of Wellington meetings will continue to not have a territorial acknowledgement.
By a slim 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court of Canada has said that the Government of Ontario’s vote to slash the size of Toronto City Council mid-election was constitutional.
One member of the Kitchener Rangers was out before training camp even began for refusing to follow OHL health guidelines (aka: not being vaccinated).
The Sudden Garden art installation near the Farmers’ Market building (aka: the deer) has one doe missing after it was nearly toppled due to unknown reasons.
The York Soaring Association in Arthur is fighting the placement of two new telecom towers saying that the placement near an airfield will put pilots and passengers in danger.
The pharma company Merck has announced that they’re seeing good results from a pill that halves the chances of being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19. Dr. Fauci is reportedly, “impressed.”
The wall lizard invasion of Vancouver Island is real and it’s happening.
From KW Oktoberfest Friday, the Return of the King!
RECAP: Emergency Meeting of City Council – September 27
Early on Thursday afternoon, an announcement went out that Mayor Cam Guthrie called an emergency meeting of city council. The topic was the old farmhouse at 797 Victoria Road North, and a potential vote of reconsideration on Monday’s decision to [carefully] demolish it after it was reported to the City as a potential fire hazard.
None of this was known to the public as it was all debated and decided in closed session at Monday’s meeting. Council had the final vote in open session more than 90 minutes after the rest of the open meeting agenda was discussed, but in the haste, it seemed that council missed a step, which is why Guthrie called for the emergency meeting.
So, council went into closed session for over an hour, and when it emerged the motion for reconsideration of Monday’s vote was put on the floor. A nine-vote majority was needed to re-open the motion, and with 11 people present, it was going to be a tight vote. It failed 7-4.
After the vote Guthrie and CAO Scott Stewart explained the situation saying that there was an “injury to life” threat at the property, and while City staff did their due diligence in consulting with the Fire Department, they did not consult with Heritage Guelph. Stewart said that the lack of consultation was not an intentional slight or oversight to the committee, but a fulsome review of what happened will be coming back to council.
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
Committee of the Whole Meeting – October 4, 2021.
Committee will review the new public petitions policy for council. They’ll hear updates to real estate assets, and environmental policies, plus they’ll hear again the appeal of the property owners at 649 Scottsdale who really want to remove those trees. You can see the Politico preview of the meeting here.
Planning Meeting of City Council – (Tuesday) October 12*, 6:30 pm.
There are couple of decisions needing council’s rubber stamp, plus the Urban Design Awards! You can see the Politico preview of the meeting here, and you have until Friday October 8 at 10 am to register with the clerks office as a delegate or to send a correspondence.
(*This meeting is delayed a day because of the Thanksgiving holiday.)
Workshop Meeting of City Council – October 18, 6 pm.
The agenda for this meeting will be posted on the City of Guelph’s website on Thursday October 7.
Special Meeting of City Council – October 20, 6 pm.
The agenda for this meeting will be posted on the City of Guelph’s website on Thursday October 7.
Regular Meeting of City Council – October 25, 6:30 pm.
The agenda for this meeting will be posted on the City of Guelph’s website on Thursday October 14.
For more information on Guelph City Council meetings, from agendas to live-tweets to recaps, you can visit that page on Guelph Politico here.
This weekend at the Mustang Drive-In, check out the animated Addams Family 2, and the adventure classic Jurassic Park.
The Bookshelf Cinema is back in business, and they will wrap up the Towards Truth film festival, run this year’s Palme d’Or winning horror Titane, and the Anthony Boudain documentary Roadrunner.
This next tour in this year’s virtual Doors Open Guelph program is the Guelph Sikh Society’s new temple, and it’s available today!
The Ghost Walk of Guelph will be hosting another tour tonight, and next Friday!
Local historian Ed Butts will read some letters written home in World War I online on Tuesday October 5 at 7:30 pm.
This year’s Mayor’s Talk on Mental Health will take place online on Wednesday October 6 at 11 am, and will feature Helen Fishburn and Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik.
Heritage Guelph will meet again virtually on Tuesday October 12 at 12 pm.
Committee of Adjustment will next get together on Thursday October 14 at 4 pm.
The Ward Night Market is Thursday October 14 from 6 to 9 pm at Laza Food & Beverages.
And 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!