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.
As predicted, or rather leaked, we’re now in a federal election and Election Day is April 28. Prime Minister Mark Carney has opted to run in a nice, safe Ottawa riding.
Meanwhile, here in the riding of Guelph, your declared candidates so far are: Janice Folk-Dawson (NDP), Gurvir Khaira (Conservative), Dominique O’Rouke (Liberal), Jeffrey Swackhammr (PPC), and Anne-Marie Zajdlik (Green).
It’s important to remember that if you live south of Arkell Road, you are now in the riding of Wellington-Halton Hills North where your candidates presently are: Michael Chong (Conservative) and Ian Smith (Centrist).
Guelph Police say that reports of human trafficking have gone up 50 per cent, not because of more trafficking necessarily but because of more reporting.
Guelph Deputy CAO Trevor Lee has been promoted to full-CAO… in Orillia.
Striking CUPE Local 1656 workers in Waterloo Region say there was a chlorine gas leak at the Mannheim Water Treatment Facility while they were off the job; the Region says no there wasn’t.
Waterloo Region now has its fist confirmed case of measles.
In one of their last moves before calling the election, the federal government announced that soon more Canadians will be eligible for the Canadian Dental Care Plan.
The WDG Public Health COVID-19 dashboard says that while the latest wastewater signal has lost the thread on the two flu strains, it does show that COVID has regained its supremacy at 0.47 while RSV strain B is 0.36 and strain A is 0.2. The rate of emergency room visits has remained practically unchanged at 17.55 per cent, and in terms of how that shakes out in actual numbers that’s two people with COVID and one with RSV. Plus, just to show you that the flu isn’t completely gone, there are 11 people in the hospital with it.
OUTBREAKS: It’s still just respiratory going around outbreak-wise speaking, and while it’s cleared up in a couple of units at Homewood and Wellington Terrace, it’s still there in other wings, just like it’s still there at the Village of Riverside Glen, the Village of Arbour Trails, and Caressant Care in Harriston.
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Here’s last week’s Police Notes entry.
Contrary to the rumours, the Guelph Pizza Review Guy is *not* dead.
The integrity commissioner of Centre Wellington says that complaints about a conflict around Mayor Shawn Watters business interest with Riverfest Elora are unfounded.
Protestors have started gathering in front of the Tesla dealership in Kitchener as part of the global blowback against Elon Musk and his politics.
A Waterloo Catholic District School Board trustee plans on bringing a motion to ban Pride flags and *other* political symbols from school property.
Pioneer & Legend Canada, an Ontario-based mattress company, says they’re considering a move south of the border to avoid tariff drama.
The Little Prince Micro-Cinema in Stratford is apparently among the world’s most beautiful.
The liquidation of the Hudson Bay Company begins today after which only six stores nationwide will remain.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is in dutch after an interview with Breitbart surfaced this weekend where she says she asked the U.S. administration to cool it with tariff talk… at least till after the election.
If you are planning on traveling to the U.S. for more than 30 days after the end of the month you will have register with the U.S. government first.
The RCMP unit in charge of safety for the prime minister and other public officials is on the brink of burnout they’ve been so busy.
Coming up this week on the Guelph Politicast, we will talk to Guelph Community Health executive director Melissa Kwiatkowski and Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy manager Jean Hopkins. The topic: The closure one-week today of the consumption and treatment site. What will the impact be? Why do we need one? And why will the launch of the HART Hub, while important, not entirely fill the gap?
Get the latest edition of the Guelph Politicast on Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, tune in to CFRU at 3 pm for another episode of End Credits. This week, Peter Salmon co-hosts as we head undercover to talk about spies who love each other while loving their country in Steven Soderbergh’s new thriller, Black Bag. Want some dumb fun? We will hop into the wayback machine to celebrate 30 years of Bad Boys!
Listen to all these shows any time by subscribing to the Guelph Politicast channel on your favourite podcast app at Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
The Transit Advisory Committee will meet at the special day of Monday March 24 at 5:30 pm in the committee rooms of city hall and online.
Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner will be hosting a town hall at the Victoria Road Recreation Centre on Tuesday March 25 at 7 pm.
There will be a rare meeting of the Municipal Property and Building Commemorative Naming Committee both online and in the committee meeting rooms at city hall on Wednesday March 26 at 5 pm.
Hear from some great Guelph authors about the art of writing at Guelph Writes on Wednesday March 26 at 7 pm at the main library downtown.
The Property Standards Committee will be meeting again on Wednesday March 26 at 7 pm both online and in the committee meeting rooms at city hall.
The next meeting of Committee of Adjustment will take place in the council chambers on Thursday March 27 at 4 pm.
Take the Mental Health First Aid Standard course at the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo-Wellington office in two sessions on Thursday March 27 and Friday March 28.
The next meeting of Heritage Guelph is on Thursday April 3 at 12 pm in the committee rooms at city hall and online. (The agenda will be posted soon on the City’s website.)
The Guelph Tool Library will be holding its Free to Read Book Sale on Saturday April 26 from 10 am until 3 pm to support literacy programs in local jails.
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!