City Releases Proposed Operating Budget for 2015

The city sent out an e-mail this morning that said, "Proposed Operating Budget maintains existing service levels," but naturally, there's some fine print in that very specific statement. 

PRESS RELEASE - Negotiations Begin Again with Local Firefighters

If you're thinking to yourself, "Wait a minute, didn't we just secure a new contract with firefighters a year ago?" you're wrong. It was actually 10 months ago. But since the agreement was backdated to January 2013, that means that by the time the agreement was reached it was about 60 per cent over. So the time has come to arrange a new contract, and the City of Guelph and the Mayor's Office has outlined the process.

Angus Promises Vicious, Nasty Campaign at Bullring Fundraiser

It was a bitterly cold night outside, but inside the Bullring at the University of Guelph, a small crowd of loyal New Democratic Party members stayed warm with good food, good music and more than a hint of partisan politics. Timmins-James Bay Member of Parliament Charlie Angus came to town with guitar in hand, but he also came to get Guelph riled up for this fall's (or sooner) Federal Election campaign. 

More Guessing Games About Guelph and the Election

If you feel like you're being inundated with polls and surveys regarding your thoughts on the upcoming Federal Election, you're not alone. I wrote about a call we received at my house last month that offered numerous choices for the Liberal and NDP fields, as well as a singular potential Conservative candidate. I'm not sure what informs these surveys, how they come up with some of the names they offer, but a couple of new ones have floated to the surface courtesy of a new poll I answered last night. 

Worth Repeating - A Resident's Letter About Transit Improvements

I haven't had much time to record my own ideas here lately, so now I'm resorting to posting other people's ideas. A local writer and activist named Brandon Kidd, whose named I've heard before but I can't recall if we've ever met in real life, sent an interesting letter to the Guelph Tribune that outline a few points for potential improvement for Guelph Transit. 

PRESS RELEASE - City Announces New Water Rates for 2015

As per the recently approved changes by Guelph City Council, there will be changes to the water rates begining on March 1. The bad news is, it's going up; the good news though is that the increase is only coming to come out to less than $3 per month.

Guelph Will Now Get a Fringe Festival Too

Here's a great idea. Guelph is already home to music, dance, comedy, and film festivals, so what's been missing? How about something a bit more theatrical? Prepare to say hello to the brand new Guelph Fringe Festival later this fall.

PRESS RELEASE - Public Invited to Discuss the Capital Budget

The city council has had budget pre-occupations since the beginning of the year, but now we're getting down into the meat of the matter with public delegations and hard decisions as Mayor Cam Guthrie and the new council look to pass their first capital and operating budgets. If you have strong thoughts about the city finances, this is your chance to make them known.

Schreiner Sends Open Letter to Murray to Protest Dolime Quarry

It didn't come up much in last spring's provincial election, but the struggle between the City of the Guelph, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and private concerns over the Dolime Quarry is still very much a concern. Mediation is currently underway, and is scheduled to continue next month, but after two years there's still no sign of progress in resolving the matter permanently. Now Green Party leader and presumptive provincial Green candidate Mike Schreiner has issued an open letter to the Ministry to appeal for the city and environmental protection.

PRESS RELEASE - DeRuyter Promoted to Police Chief

He's been doing the job on a temporary basis since the fall, but the Guelph Police Services Board has made the promotion permanent for Acting Chief of Police Jeffrey DeRuyter. As of March 1, we can just start calling him Chief DeRuyter.

Charlie Angus Coming to Guelph to Warm Up Local NDP

A lot of the local news for the upcoming Federal Election has been in regards to the very busy race for the Liberal nomination, but what of other opposition parties? The NDP hopes to make their presence felt in the suddenly vacant Royal City riding by bringing in a trusted representative to rile up the base. Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus will be at the Bullring at the University of Guelph on Sunday February 22 to do a fundraising concert to “build momentum” for the 2015 election.

New Website Wants to Celebrate Guelph

So I was browsing around the Guelph sub-Reddit the other day, and I came across a post linking to a new website meant to celebrate all things royally awesome about the Royal City. The post spoke to me because four years ago I wrote a post called "50 Reasons to Be Pretty Damn Euphoric You Live in Guelph," which remains one of Politico's most popular posts ever. I suppose we all are looking for a way to share the things we love about Guelph, and now it looks like someone wants to do that on an ongoing basis.

Flashback to Downtown Guelph Circa 1960s/70s

Downtown Guelph (1955)

One of the great treats of seeing photos from Downtown Guelph's past is how immediately evocative it is; it's both familiar and alien at the exact same time. But photos are one thing, seeing the whole place in action, in living colour, on film is a completely different experience, but it's one we can enjoy thanks to the following discovery by Vintage Guelph. The exact time and date the film was taken is unknown - sometime in the 1960s or 70s certainly - but this is definitely a treat for local history buffs (like myself). 

PRESS RELEASE - City Plows to the Rescue After Storm

Not from a current winter. Courtesy of the Mercury.

How are you coping with our first official snow day of the winter? Well, the City of Guelph wants you to know that it's coping okay and that city plows are out, in force, to keep the city going in the midst of the bitter cold and the foot of snow we received here in the Royal City overnight.