Guelph Politico: February 2017

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

MANGEZ! Dine Safe Guide for February 16-28, 2017

Twice-monthly, Guelph Politico posts the latest inspection results from the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health Unit inspection of local restaurants, hotels, cafes, grocery stores and other businesses that handle food. We call it "Mangez!", and this column highlights the latest inspections done by WDGPH, and the results they've posted.

Earlier this month, when the Canadian job numbers for January were released, there was a lot of congratulating from all levels of government about the unexpected increase in the number of private sector jobs created in the first month of 2017. In all 48,000 people got new jobs, but what wasn't discussed as much was that less than a third of them got good paying full-time work, and this has been a trend for a long time now.

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for February 27, 2017

Filling some board vacancies and fostering commercial growth in the east end of the city are the items up for bids at this week's council meeting. You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here to read Politico's preview of tonight's meeting. For the complete blow-by-blow of tonight's council meeting, you can follow me on Twitter, or follow along below via Storify.

March brings Spring, St Patrick's Day and March Break, but it also brings a lot of great political and cultural events to our city. Here's the rundown of all the events, gatherings and meetings for the third month of the year.

U of G: One Strike Averted, Another Pending

All signs pointed to dicey first day back from Reading Week for the students at the University of Guelph, but a deal was struck last night to keep teaching assistants and sessionals working on through the rest of the semester.

Electoral Reformers Try to Convince Longfield to Promote a Guelph-Made Proposal

Phase two of Democracy Guelph's charm offensive to get Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to put electoral reform back on the national menu began tonight at eBar by appealing to a necessary member of Trudeau's caucus, Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield. The official launch of Local Proportional Representation was meant to appeal beyond the audience of one though, it's a kick-off to a city-wide campaign to make push reform forward by convincing people that LPR is the best way to make it happen.

GUELPH POLITICAST #68 - Ted Drewlo, The Coldest Night of the Year

This is probably not the type of weather you want when you're holding a fundraiser called "The Coldest Night of the Year," but on the other hand, if you want to rally people to come out and walk between two and ten kilometres to raise money for charity, this is maybe just the kind of weather you want.

That's That! Poole Lawsuit Resolved, and Emails Returned

All's well that ends well is the message from City Hall today as the lawsuit brought by former chief building official Bruce Poole has been settled through a mediated resolution. What that means, or how much the City paid, has not been disclosed, but on the bright side, we got the emails back!

City Council Preview - What's on the Agenda for the February 27 Meeting?

February closes with a a meeting that looks to fill some board vacancies, accelerate commercial development in the east end, and look at the possibility of making Guelph a Sanctuary City.

The "Made in Guelph" Electoral Reform Solution Workshopped

In the basement of St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, as the music from the rehearsal organ echoed nearby, about two dozen people gathered to parse the so-called "Guelph Model", an electoral reform proposal that's meant the thread the eye of several different needles in order to meet a whole lot of different expectations. But does it work?

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for February 15, 2017

The future of Guelph Hydro will begin to be decided at tonight's Special City Council as Shareholder of Guelph Municipal Holdings Inc. Meeting. You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here to read Politico's preview of tonight's meeting. For the complete blow-by-blow of tonight's council meeting, you can follow me on Twitter, or follow along below via Storify.

Two protests in two weeks. Guelph hasn't been this riled up about something since the anti-Walmart days! But the passionate demands of Guelphites for electoral reform seems to have not been silenced by the apparent disinterest of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to keep his campaign promises. In fact, the PM's dismissal of the issues seems to have created a new urgency.

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for February 13, 2017

Guelph City Council tackles its first full planning meeting of the year tonight with the contentious development of a 12-storey apartment building on Yarmouth front and centre. You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here to read Politico's preview of tonight's meeting. For the complete blow-by-blow of tonight's council meeting, you can follow me on Twitter, or follow along below via Storify.

Enjoy driving over the Niska Rd Bailey bridge while you can, because at the end of the month you'll be able to drive across it no more! In an announcement today, the City of Guelph's own engineers are saying that there are safety concerns about the bridge's abutments due to high spring water flows and heavy rainfall. As a result, the bridge will be closed on February 28 whether you walk, ride or drive.

Protest Closes Cork Street and Pushes MP for Electoral Reform

Justin Trudeau may be over electoral reform, but nearly 30 communities across Canada today wanted the prime minister to know that they've not forgotten a promise he supposedly made over 1800 times. Here in Guelph, which has taken the idea of reform to heart, well over 200 people showed up in front of the constituency office of MP Lloyd Longfield to keep pushing him to push the issue in the House of Commons.

Amorosi Fired in Fallout of Email Release Snafu

The swinging door at City Hall doth swing again as Deputy CAO of Corporate Services Mark Amorosi has taken the fall for the accidental release of over 50,000 confidential emails to legal council representing a former employee suing the City of Guelph.

City Council Preview - What's on the Agenda for the February 15 Meeting?

After months of consultation online, by phone, and in person, Guelph Hydro is read to present whether they're going to buy, sell, merge, or stay exactly the same. It turns out that focus is on options two and three.

City Council Preview - What's on the Agenda for the February 13 Meeting?

The first official planning meeting of the year will deal with matters both big (12-storeys big), and small (some light clerical work).

LIVE BLOG: Committee of the Whole for February 6, 2017

It's back to our regularly scheduled Committee-of-the-Whole meeting this month. You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here to read Politico's preview of today's meeting. For the complete blow-by-blow of today's committee meeting, you can follow me on Twitter, or follow along below via Storify.

Electoral Reform Advocates Give Trudeau a Hot Take on a Cold Guelph Day

Considering that they were feeling like Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government was giving them the cold shoulder, the chilly air and lightly falling snow provided the perfect atmosphere for a demonstration on electoral reform today at Market Square. Although bitter, angry and disappointed that the Liberals will not be following through on a campaign promise to reform the electoral system, between 60 and 70 protestors promised to not give up the fight.

Hydro Talk Energizes the Weekly Breezy Breakfast

It had been almost a year since I attended the first "Breezy Brothers" breakfast, a now weekly town hall at Breezy Corners, and what was once a single large table of concerned citizens had now turned into three. Perhaps it was the subject matter. With all the present concern about hydro, perhaps the timing worked out that the people were eager to hear from the CEO of Guelph Hydro Pankaj Sardana on a Thursday morning.

GUELPH POLITICAST #66 - The State of the City 2017

If you haven't already read the article, recapped live blog, watched the video, or learned about it somewhere else, you can now download the State of the City right to your device and listen to it via whatever podcasting platform you prefer.

The Committee-of-the-Whole meeting moves back to its usual first Monday time slot with three different issues coming before the horseshoe covering the areas of park planning, fuel use, and outstanding motions.