"Journalist" from "Online" Disrupts Horwath Event

A man claiming to be a journalist injected himself into the Andrea Horwath campaign event today at the Boathouse on Gordon Street. After heckling Horwath during her prepared comments, the man said he was a reporter for "online" and asked the NDP leader about her party's stand on Ontario becoming a sanctuary province.

GUELPH POLITICAST #123 - Canadian Federation of Students Ontario

The provincial election has finally begun! It doesn't feel like it, but the campaign is just now getting underway as we count down to the election on June 7. If you're looking for interviews with the local candidate, those will be heard on Open Sources Guelph starting next week. For the next few weeks on the Guelph Politicast, we're going to talk about the issues!

MTO Approves That Daily Bus From and To Owen Sound

If you religiously listen to the Guelph Politicast (and why wouldn't you), then you will recall March's episode on Regional Transit, which included an interview with Chris Hughes, Manager of Contract Services for the City of Owen Sound. Hughes talked about a proposed daily bus to Guelph from Owen Sound sponsored by some start up money from the Ministry of Transportation Ontario. Follow-up: the MTO has approved it.

Province of Ontario Makes Another Deal with Nestle, Not Water Related

The word Nestlé is the source of much controversy in our area, but one can't deny that there are a number of people in and around Guelph, and across the province, that owe their livelihood to Nestlé. And so we're reminded of this again today with the Government of Ontario's announcement that they are partnering with Nestlé to support new jobs, and to keep old ones, up the road in London, Ontario.

Never Mind the Smell, the Air is Fine

If you live in the south end of the city, and the air smells vaguely like "dill pickles and burnt plastic" (as one person on Facebook describe it), the good news is that you're in no danger. The bad news is you might have to live with aroma for a couple of days.

High Speed Rail Coming to Guelph, and Heading on to Windsor

Toronto to Windsor in under two hours? That's the promise in this morning's announcement that high speed rail is coming to southern Ontario and the Golden Horseshoe by 2031 at a cost of just over $20 billion. But can it be done in the timeline proposed and for the amount of money suggested, or is the Province of Ontario reaching beyond its grasp?

Metrolinx Building New Bus Storage in Kitchener, But What Else?

Today Metrolinx and the Ontario government announced that it was building a new bus storage and maintenance facility to "improve transit service for commuters in the Kitchener-Waterloo region, and help meet current and future growth." The new space will house 20 single and double-decker GO buses, and will replace the current leased bus storage space in K-W, but you know what we could really use in the area? More bus service to and from Guelph.

Province Initiates [Some] Action on Water Bottling Companies

That splash you heard this morning was the Province of Ontario finally answering the call of thousands of community activists to finally doing something about companies taking millions of gallons of water per day for a pittance and shipping it out of town.

Horwath Hears Concerns About Local Water Taking

On the third floor of 10 Carden Street this afternoon, Guelph's water advocates continued the push to protect area aquifers from water bottlers by meeting with Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath. For Horwath, the goal of the closed door meeting was to work with community members to draft a "broad water strategy" as opposed to a "knee jerk reaction."

Deal Between Metrolinx and CN Paves Way for All-Day GO Train

The Province of Ontario has announced this morning that they've vaulted the biggest hurdle in getting all-day, two-way GO Train service going between Toronto and Kitchener. Metrolinx and CN Rail have reached an agreement, in principle, that will allow those green and white trains to start moving through the region on a more regular basis.

Stone Rd. ServiceOntario Office Closing in October, Says CBC

A report on the CBC today is saying that the ServiceOntario office at 1 Stone Road is closing this October. The Guelph office is one of nine being closed over the next year including offices in Milton and Mississauga, all part of what the provincial government is calling a move "within a framework of fiscal responsibility."

Ontario Gov Looking at Changes to Municipal Elections

Even as the provincial government tries to scramble to reform their own fundraising activities, they will be considering changes to how municipal elections will be run in 2018. Queen's Park has announced today proposed changes to the Municipal Elections Act (MEA), that will, if passed, "modernize municipal elections and provide the option of using ranked ballots in future municipal elections."

Sandals and Moridi $23 Million for Renos at the OVC

Today at the Lifetime Learning Centre at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College, the Government of Ontario announced it was spending $23 million to renovated the present OVC building, and build a new one. The cheque is part of the provincial government’s pledge to spend $160 billion over 12 years on infrastructure improvements across Ontario; $3 billion of which is capital grants to improve postsecondary institutions over the next 10 years.

Green Party Enters the Niska Road Debate

Development and construction is always a contentious issue in Guelph, but the fate of the bridge on Niska Road and what it might be replaced with has proven to fairly controversial. Shall the bridge be updated to accommodate modern traffic patterns, or is the bridge, as it is now, what's best for the area? Into this debate, a new political voice has emerged.

Sex Ed Protestors Try Again to Get Sandals' Attention

It was a hot and sunny day, perhaps too hot and sunny to spend an hour standing on the scorching sidewalk outside your local Member of Provincial Parliament's office, but that was the scene in Downtown Guelph today as several concerned parents once again tried to lodge their displeasure with Ontario's revamped sex education curriculum.

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. 

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.

My Picks for the BTBB Awards 2015

It's that time of year again. Christmas! And the Beyond the Ballot Box Awards. Fitting for the final episode of the Gang of Four, we salute the real heroes: the politicians and news stories we talk about weekly. If you were listening to the radio, you will have heard my picks already, but in case my justifications weren't clear, I decided to write them out in long form below. It was a very busy year in politics, and there were a lot of darts and laurels (mostly darts) to go around, but after considering all the factors and contenders, here are my choices for Best Politician, Worst and Dumpster Fire of the Year. 

Local Youth Runner-Up for Citizenship Award

And they say young people are too apathetic/don't care about politics. Pshaw! Tia Carey blows all those theories away, and she can't even vote for another six years. The local office of the Green Party of Ontario, also known as the home base of GPO leader Mike Schreiner, sent out accolades today for young Ms. Carey, who was an active volunteer for Schreiner in this past spring's Provincial Election and has now been recognized for that volunteerism with a silver medal in Samara Canada's Everyday Political Citizen Youth Award. The finalists were announced the other night on Rick Mercer Reports.

Sandals Stays Put as Education Minister

Kathleen Wynne's new majority government revealed it's starters yesterday, the front bench as it were, or in other words, she revealed the members of her new cabinet. Obviosuly, with a lot of new talent following the June 12 election, Wynne has some exciting prospects, not to mention some fresh blood, but it seems that instead she's relying mostly on experience. For example, Guelph MPP Liz Sandals will remain the Minister of Education when the Legislature sits again next week. What other highlights can Ontarians look forward to with their new governement?