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.
A swastika was spray painted on the side of the building on Macdonell St. Saturday, and the Guelph Police Service is calling it a hate crime. The incident happened sometime overnight on October 10, and members of the community tried to cover it up with messages of positivity and hope before the graffiti was cleaned up. The police are still investigating, and it’s important to note that this is the second incident of swastika graffiti that’s appeared in Guelph in the last week.
Speaking of threats, it felt like there was a serious shift in the discourse over the weekend when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared at a Mississauga campaign event on Saturday wearing a bulletproof vest under his suit, and with a very noticeable increase in RCMP security, due to an unspecified threat that also delayed the PM’s appearance by 90 minutes. It’s not the first time that Trudeau’s life has come under specific threat, there was some controversy last year when t-shirts featuring a noose around a tree with the words, “Come West Trudeau” started being sold online. Andrew Scheer and Jagmeet Singh both condemned the threats to Trudeau’s life and safety.
Voter turnout from the four days of advanced polling over the Thanksgiving weekend seems to indicate an increase over 2015. According to Elections Canada, turnout was up 25 per cent during the first two days of advanced polling, two million people cast ballots versus 1.6 million in 2015. In the last election, nearly 21 per cent of all votes were made during early voting, which indicates that early voting is becoming an even more vital part of the election process. Election Day proper is Monday October 21, polls will be open in Guelph from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm.
All-Candidates events this week: Tuesday night, there will be a debate in the Monsignor Noon Parish Hall at the Basilica of Our Lady at 7:30 pm. Then, on Thursday night, independent candidate Kornelis Klevering will be hosting his own all-candidates forum at the Royal City Mission at 50 Quebec St at 7 pm.
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…
The Transit Action Alliance of Guelph will be holding their first transit summit and town hall on Saturday November 9 at 12 pm. Speakers will include City of Guelph transportation planner Jennifer Juste, transit blogger Sean Marshall, and Terry Johnson of Transport Action Canada. Get your tickets on Eventbrite here.
Check out the OSG appearance by the Green Party’s Steve Dyck, and independent Kornelis Klevering here. You can also dip into the politics of Wellington-Halton Hills with the latest edition of the Wellington-Halton Hills Politicast and this week’s featured guest, Liberal candidate Dr. Lesley Barron. You can listen to that podcast here.
University of Guelph plant agriculture prof David Wolyn was honored with the U of G’s annual Innovation of the Year award for, and let’s quote this right, “his leadership in the breeding and development of asparagus varieties that have become the most popular kinds grown in North America and that are fast gaining favour in Europe and Asia.” Congratulations to Prof. Wolyn for somehow making asparagus better…
Wellington-Halton Hills Green Party candidate Ralph Martin is launching his new book, Food Security: From Excess to Enough, tonight at the Shepherd’s Crook at 86 Main St. S. in Georgetown. Learn more about the book here.
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The Guelph Police Service is warning the community that fraudsters are calling people, claiming to be from the Canadian Revenue Agency, while the call display says they’re the “Guelph Police Service.” During these calls, the fraudsters tell people that they owe back taxes, and that they need to pay up immediately via either an iTunes card, gift card or electronic wire transfer. This is important: CRA will not call you to demand payment like this, and they will certainly now accept payment in any of the forms mentioned about (or Bitcoin either), which a lot of scammers demand. The police are recommending that if you get this call, hang up, and get in touch with the CRA.
Forest Street will be closed to all but local traffic from Edinburgh to Maple starting on October 23 to install new sewer and water pipes, and to repave the road. Full details here.
An amusing faux pas on Twitter Sunday courtesy of Pope Francis, who tweeted about the canonization of the new group of saints, by using the hashtag #Saints. While the Pope might obviously think that such a hashtag would be used only in the event of talking about the most important Catholic heroes and martyrs, the #Saints hashtag has a much more everyday function for fans of the New Orleans-based NFL team.
For the record, the Saints beat the Jaguars 13-6.
October 16 – Planning Meeting. The planning meeting will take place a couple of days late, but at the usual time of 6:30 pm. You can read the full Politico preview here, and then follow me on Twitter @adamadonaldson on Wednesday.
Also coming up at City Council:
October 21 – Special Council Meeting on Standard Assets/Facility Needs Assessment. Council will be asked to begin the process of preparing and planning a new City of Guelph campus on Dunlop Road that will become the location for a number of City services looking for new space, or a new home. Read the Politico preview here.
October 23 – The first meeting for the 2020 Budget. Presentation and Public Delegations for the Capital Budget and Forecast. This agenda is posted on the City’s website.
If you want to delegate on any of the items, at either of these meetings, you have until 10 am on Friday October 18 to get in touch with the Clerk’s Office. Here’s how.
October 28 – Regular meeting of council.
October 30 – Budget Meeting, Public Delegations for Non-tax Supported Operating Budget.
November 4 – Committee of the Whole.
Are you a senior? Do you know a senior? Why not get some lunch and learn with MPP Mike Schreiner. The event will take place in the Oak Room of the Victoria Road Recreation Centre from 11:30 am to 1 pm.
Curious about electric cars? The annual eMERGE EV Show will take place this weekend at Old Quebec Street from 4 to 8 pm on Saturday, and from 10 am to 3 pm on Sunday. Find more info here.
The annual Guelph Book Bash, not to be confused with the annual Book Sale (which is next weekend), will take place on Sunday October 19 from 2 to 4 pm at Harcourt Memorial Church at 87 Dean Ave. Come out and meet some great local writers and publishers!
Committee alerts! Heritage Guelph meets Tuesday at 12 pm, and the Transit Advisory Committee will meet Thursday at 5:30 pm.
Coming up this week on the GuelphPoliticast, we’ll play the speakers from last week’s World Mental Health Day forum at City Hall called, “Preventing Suicide: Let’s talk about it.” The speakers dealt with their own harrowing and emotional experiences, and offer lessons about talking better, and with less stigma, about suicide.
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, Peter Salmon co-hosts as we’re reviewing the new action flick Gemini Man starring Will Smith. We’re also talking about the latest criticisms of Marvel movies, a possible Joker sequel, and Peter’s Top 5 of 1999.
Then, Thursday at 5 pm on CFRU, it’s another all-new edition of Open Sources Guelph. Scotty Hertz and I will do our last interview of the current election cycle with the incumbent Liberal candidate Lloyd Longfield. In the second half of the show, we’ll talk about the election that was, and what the deciding factors will be going into Election Day.
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.
The first October edition of Mangez!, the Politico Dine Safe guide, will be posted this week.
CFRU will be going live on Election Night for coverage of the cross-country races, and a focus on the results in our immediate area with insight and analysis from myself and Scotty Hertz. Tune in from 7 pm to midnight on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca!!!
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!