Guelph Politico: July 2017

Monday, July 31, 2017

MANGEZ! Dine Safe Guide for July 16-31, 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.

Schreiner Proclaimed Green Party Candidate for Guelph for Spring Election

In an utterly unsurprising result, Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner was acclaimed by unanimous vote as the Green candidate for Guelph in next spring's provincial election. Schreiner becomes the first candidate of any party to be named in advanced of next year's campaign, and from the sounds of the Green Party gathering at Riverside Park Sunday, they intend to make a dent in the province's political culture when the votes are counted June 7.

This Week in Press Releases - July 24-28, 2017

Every week, the City of Guelph and other groups send out notices to announce new events, imperatives, and information that you need to know. Here is this week in press releases.

Any Day Now! A Decade of Waiting for Lafarge Development to Start

It was interesting to see the Lafarge site come back into the news this month. For the most part, nothing has really been happening with it in a good long while, but even in the days before Guelph Politico I had my journalistic eye on it, and given recent developments, I thought a dip into the archives might be advised.

GUELPH POLITICAST #89 - Dr. Hugh Whiteley, "Emeritus Council Delegate"

City council wrapped up this week as the traditional summer break began, and it wound to a close without a distinctive voice... But at least until you'll be able to hear it on this week's podcast.

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for July 24, 2017

This is the last city council meeting before summer vacation, so you definitely don't want to miss it. 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.

Neighbourhood Mourns for the Loss of Greenspace

It was a regular, summer evening on the property known colloquially as the "Lafarge lands", named for the company that once had a gravel pit on the site. Joggers hustled by down the pathways, kids on bikes peddled along the relatively safety of the dead end street, and there was even someone on a skateboard that went sailing by. Sadly, this scene of community activity might represent the last call of such serenity in this reclaimed stretch of natural wilderness in the inner city.

GUELPH POLITICAST #88 - Steve Kraft, CEO of Guelph Public Library

A lot of people probably remember a row between then-Toronto Councillor Doug Ford and vaunted Canadian author Margaret Atwood over supporting libraries, and not closing branches in order to save the City money. Well, six years later Ford is out of council and Atwood is more popular than every because of The Handmaid's Tale TV series. You know what else is more popular than ever?

Forget Baker Street! Co-operators Moving Forward with New South End HQ

A few hours before a council meeting that would discuss the potential redevelopment of the Bakers St. parking lot for a new 200,000 square foot headquarters for the Co-operators, the insurers have reached an agreement with the City of Guelph to develop a new main building in the south end in time for a 2023 move in.

A week from today brings the final council meeting before the August break, and while it isn't the biggest agenda of the year so far, it will have items concerning closed meetings, light pollution, and item that couldn't come forward last week at the planning meeting.

MANGEZ! Dine Safe Guide for July 1-15, 2017

The Annotated Market Squared Column About the "Upside Down" of Guelph

Back in May, I posted a fairly consequential column to GuelphToday.com. Called "We need to talk about Guelph", this piece took on a life of its own and started a really positive and intricate discussion about the tremendous need in our community. When the column was shared on the "Overheard at Guelph" Facebook page, someone said that they had wished that links had been included to some of the things discussed, and I thought, "Hey, I can do that..."

City Council Preview - What's on the Agenda for the July 17 Meeting?

City council is hourly trying to get things wrapped up before the August break, and this coming Monday they'll have to act upon some urgent new business that will affect the fate of the downtown core into the immediate future. That might have been over the top, but if you read on you'll see it's a pretty big deal.

GUELPH POLITICAST #87 - Holly Mastrogiacomo, Guelph's #TamponTuesday

When you think about the essentials, the things that you need on a daily basis, what do you think about? Food, shelter, and clothing are obviously the big three, and once you've got those maybe you start thinking about other essentials: a tooth brush, toilet paper, and if you're of the female persuasion, you're probably also thinking about tampons...

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for July 10, 2017

It's will be a very busy planning meeting before the summer break, with the public meeting for three very contentious new projects. 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.

Celebrating Celebrations of Guelph (The Text Version)

Last week on the Guelph Politicast, I told a story of how the Royal City marked it’s 100th, 150th, and 175th anniversaries. For a half-hour podcast, it was a rather exhaustive trip down memory lane, reaching all the way back to Guelph’s founding in 1827 and coming back around to the 21st century. But if you’d rather take a more leisurely stroll through these remembrances, or maybe you just bristle at the sound of my voice, then you can now scroll freely though the text of that podcast.

Guelph Police Want Doodad to Enforce New Traffic Rules

Would you be surprised to learn that there's been a new law on the books since January that drivers have to give biker rider's a one metre buffer, from the tip of the handlebars to the edge of the passenger side mirror? It's true, but you might be hard pressed to find someone on the road that knows about it, and you might be harder pressed to think of a way that the Guelph Police Service can enforce it. Until now...

GUELPH POLITICAST #86 - C.J. Smith, This Crazy Train

Surely, you've gotten on a train or a bus and been aghast at the bad behaviour of some of the people you were riding with: muddy feet on the seats, somebody crowding the entrance or exit, using empty seats as bag racks... People can be rude, but that doesn't mean you have to put up with it, right? That's what C.J. Smith thought in 2010 when she started "This Crazy Train".

LIVE BLOG: Committee of the Whole for July 4, 2017

It's the last committee meeting before summer break, and it's stocked with infrastructure stuff. 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.

City Council Preview - What's on the Agenda for the July 10 Meeting?

The last planning meeting before a summer break will bring a number of potentially controversial developments to council, and some decidedly less controversial rezoning decisions.

How Guelph Marked 100 Years of Canada

One glance at the front page reminds you instantly of the tumultuousness of the 1960s, even if everything going on Guelph seemed as normal as it ever was. In the days before Canada's centennial, page one of the Guelph Mercury was filled with stories of a world on the brink. From the death of screen legends, to Cold War posturing, to racial tensions in the United States, was it any wonder that the Mercury was asking if this would be the Queen's last State visit?