Summer Editorial Series – Part the Second: Skate Punk’d

Sometimes the tenor of a debate is more frustrating than the debate itself, and that’s been happening a lot lately. Not being able to agree is one thing (ask Canada Post), but when the demand for a thing is dismissed outright because one segment of the population views its expense as a luxury and unnecessary, well that’s not democracy, that’s just being a jerk. Or an old fogy, to coin a phrase. That’s the way it seems to anyone following the debate about a new skateboard park, particularly on the message boards of the Guelph Mercury’s 59 Carden Street blog.

Now belligerence is nothing new to the debate process (or the 59 Carden Street blog for that matter), but there was a certain dismissive tone to some of the posts that really got to me.

Example #1: “This is just plain stupid. Why do we need a skatepark? Just because someone says they want one? Because someone over there has one and we don't? Because [sic] the little skulls full of mush will have a place to ply? If these brats need a special park, perhaps they or their parents [sic] should start digging for the cash to buy the land and build one.”

Example #2: “Speaking of downtown, if they give these drunks washrooms after the bars close...I want all the left wing, tree hugging, NDP'S, like Farbridge, Piper, Burcher and Laidlaw to have a shift cleaning these things...it would be hilarious...see how soon these " hopefully on their last term pubic employees" vote to keep these washrooms open for these drunken pigs.”

That second one didn’t have anything to do with a skate park, but little things like topic relevance haven’t stopped people from anonymously sounding off about the politicians they hate in the past. A discussion about washrooms downtown is one best left for another time (or another column), but this is the spirit in which an issue of concern by some of our younger citizens, and their parents, is being discussed.

The history of the issue goes like this: in 2009 there was a skate park in the Deerpath Drive Park, where local skater boys and girls could practice their boarding in a safe, clean and free environment. The project was a pilot with the intention of perhaps opening other skateboard facilities across the city. Unfortunately, the typical hooliganism came to settle in the park, parents rallied, the city responded and long story short, despite promises to the contrary, there’s still no where for youth to skate, discounting the privately-owned (and pay-per-use) Ward Skatepark at Victoria and York.

The wheels of political action do move slowly, and at this rate the kids that used to enjoy the Deerpath Skate Park will be in grad school by the time they get another city-run facility going. I’m just kidding, of course. There are plenty of grad students who still enjoy their skateboards. But the typical issues with any city-run initiative – funding, location, cost, construction – are playing second to the typical misconceptions and stereotyping about skateboarding. And if people aren’t lamenting the few that brought drugs, foul language and noise to ruin the Deerpath Park, they paint those that legitimately want somewhere to skate as “stupid, spoiled and disrespectful.”

Some of that may be true, but here’s what else is true: kids just want somewhere to skate, and maybe can’t afford to do it at a privately-owned and operated facility. There’s the classic argument that a skate park is a kind of extravagance, an elite service that only a few will use, so why should taxpayers pick up the cheque? I don’t know. Do you use every library branch? Get your share of emergency rides in the ambulance? Play in every ball diamond? Swim in all the pools? Obviously not. In the park near my house there’s a public tennis court, and for the life of me I can’t see there being a greater number of tennis players in the city as compared to skateboarders.

But I find these arguments tiresome, not to mention useless without the hard numbers to prove, well, anything. I will say this though, the town I used to live in, Georgetown, has a skate park. If a municipality as bass-ackwards as Georgetown, whose stewards allowed their town to slowly become little more than a bed and breakfast for people from Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, Brampton and the rest of the GTA – in other words a town without a culture or economic signature of its own distinct individuality – then why can’t a progressive community like Guelph move forward on this issue?

An Essay on Civility in Politics (Or, “Don’t be Hatin’”)

So I was thumbing through NOW (like I usually do) and I came across a letter regarding a past issue about Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and his push to privatize the city’s garbage pick-up.

“I read your article on the garbage debate and sensed a little bitterness toward our mayor,” wrote Mike Holt. (Of course where he got an idea like that, I’ll never know.) “I, for one, am very proud of the citizens of Toronto for electing Rob Ford and feel he is doing a wonderful job. I savour every defeat of the socialist councillors and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.”

He continued, “First Ford, then a majority for the federal Conservatives, and in October a landside victory for the PCs in Ontario. I have never been prouder to be a Canadian.”

A couple of things concerned me while reading these words. One is the fact that in order for this man to be a proud Canadian, the majority of Canadians must support his political views, and two is the continuing notion of total warfare in politics that I’ve been seeing ever since the commencement of the last Federal Election.

To bring this back to Guelph, someone posted a comment on my blog, Guelph Politico, shortly after I adjourned for the Victoria Day long weekend. The comment was attached to a story I wrote about Conservative candidate Marty Burke a couple of days after the May 2nd election. I don’t think I had given a second thought to Burke or his disastrous campaign since hitting ‘Post’ on that article, but what was it that Al Pacino said famously in The Godfather Part III…

“Just curious as to what you feel qualifies you as any type of political expert?” asked the anonymous poster. Well there’s this monthly cheque I get from Echo Weekly. But seriously, what? Am I being called out? Because that’s what it feels like. But the poster goes further.

“Have you a graduate degree in political science? Have you worked behind the scenes for any of the parties? Are you a party member?” he or she asks.

First, I do not have a degree in political science. I have a plain old BA in History from the University of Guelph, where I also did take a several political courses. You know who else got a BA in History from the U of G? David Akin, an Ottawa reporter for CTV, Global and now host of The Daily Brief on the Sun News Network. Like me, he cut his journalistic teeth as Editor-in-Chief of the student paper The Ontarion.

As for the other two questions, no, I’ve neither worked behind the scenes for a party, nor have I been a party member. Do I have to be in order to better understand politics? One of the reasons I’ve never signed up for a party is because I enjoy by status as an independent. I find it better to keep my political options open, at the very least to make it easier for me to appear impartial as political reporter and commentator. But honestly, I’ve never in my adult life found myself drawn enough to a particular party to be a member.

“Or have you just taken the five minutes it takes to fire up a new blog through blogger, and viola you consider yourself and therefore implicitly demand others respect your opinion because you’ve actually taken 20 minutes and written an article? [sic]”

Well I’m not sure that sentence entirely makes sense, but I get your gist. And it actually took me 10 minutes to set up the blog and that includes choosing the template, and adding the words “Guelph Politico” to a picture of Guelph’s skyline I took for the banner. Oh, and then there’s the over 500 posts I’ve generated in nearly three years, and the hours I’ve invested in writing and doing research and searching out contacts and going to various events.

And I don’t demand others respect, I just seem to get it. Here are the names of a few people that have treated me like a journalist: Frank Valeriote, Liz Sandals, Mayor Karen Farbridge, the entirety of the 2006-10, and the 2011-14 city councils, Jack Layton, Elizabeth May, Stephane Dion, and numerous candidates in elections at all levels of government. And that’s just politics.

“Sorry Adam I see so much horse shit in your articles, plain lies in fact. You’re actually very lucky no one has decided to sue your ass yet.” Well, if they did decide to “sue my ass” as you say, I hope they enjoy their settlement win of X-Men comics and old Babylon 5 tapes (RIP Jeff Conway, AKA: Security Chief Zack Allen).

I won’t bother to ask Anonymous to point out the “plain lies” I’ve perpetuated. “Lying” has become a blanket term used by people of all political stripes to attack people that disagree with them. My conduct and my credentials have never been called into question until this past election cycle, and I’m sorry to say that it’s because of the growing state of poisonous partisanship.

Speaking on violence after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy said that hatred forces us to look at our brother like aliens, “Alien men with whom we share a city, but not a community.” He asked people to remember that “that those who live with us are our brothers,” and that perhaps “we can begin to work a little harder, to become in our hearts brothers and countrymen once again.”

May the same be said of us after a nasty election.

The Last News of the Year (Probably)

So in a couple of days it’s Christmas, and then a week after that it’s New Year’s. It the time of the season for retrospection and consideration, and with few exceptions it’s also a slow news period. So before we bid adieu to 2010 (next week’s column), let’s look at some lingering news items from 2010.

Frank Valeriote Will Slap a Minister

Local Member of Parliament Frank Valeriote wants answers now, or he wants them eventually in the case of the government’s discontinuing of funding for the faith-based NGO KAIROS Canada. Along with his colleague John McKay (MP for Scarborough-Guildwood) last week on the Hill, Valeriote tried to get International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda to explain why she denied KAIROS Canada $7 million in funding.

“KAIROS is an organization of the highest repute and does remarkable work on behalf of Canada for the world’s poor,” said McKay during last Monday’s Question Period. “The facts show that the Minister was not being honest when asked why KAIROS was cut. To make matters worse, church leaders have asked the Prime Minister for a meeting to get an explanation and as yet have received no response. The Minister and the Prime Minister have some serious explaining to do.”

“Without warning, its funding was mysteriously cut and the explanation given as to why was clearly not the truth,” added Valeriote. “This incident raises the issue of whether Canadians can trust this government to tell them the truth. If they are willing to mislead the House on this issue, what else are they not being honest about?”

So who are these fascists that no longer deserve the funding from our government? Well, KAIROS is made up of about a dozen member churches across Canada and have partners in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East to promote issues of Ecological Justice, Economic Justice, Energy and Extraction, Human Rights, Just and Sustainable Livelihoods, and Indigenous Peoples. A four-year grant of $7 million was requested by KAIROS, and apparently endorsed by the president and vice president of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), but somewhere between them and the Minister Oda, it was decided that the proposal didn’t meet CIDA standards. Or government standards. Or government priorities. One of the three.

Regardless, other aid groups across Canada are joining the two Liberal MPs in questioning how and why CIDA approves and disapproves of funding applications. Meanwhile, Oda says that she doesn’t know how or why the funding wasn’t approved when it came out of committee, even though her signature is on the document. What’s the old Bronson saying, “This ain’t over.”

New Officer to Liaise with Film

The Guelph Mercury reported last weekend that after an internal competition, someone has been selected to serve in the Film Liaison position vacated by Jennifer Peleschak earlier this fall. Christine Chapman will now fill the slot as the person at City Hall who will direct all matters pertaining to film and film shoots in the Royal City. For a while there, those of us in the local filmmaking community had some concern that the City was going to leave the position vacant. Of course, Film Liaison Officer wasn't Peleschak's official position in City Hall, it was something she took up when the City started getting inquiries about shooting films, TV projects and commercials in Guelph. Jen was uniquely qualified for the post because she genuinely loves film and was supportive of all productions, from big international projects like Blindness to local indies like Mind's Eye. So I happily welcome new Film Liaison Officer Ms. Chapman and say that as a filmmaker in Guelph, I look forward to working with her.

Are Taxes High or Aren’t They…?

A report in the National Post last week lit up the blogosphere like the Yule log on Christmas morning TV when it said that Guelph pays the third highest property taxes in Ontario behind Ottawa and Toronto. But not so fast, some are saying, are these numbers the real numbers? City reps point to a BMA Management Consulting in 2008 that says when compared to similar municipalities our size, Guelph has the lowest taxes in Ontario. As well, there could be an oversight in the report covered by the Post as some of the municipalities are two-tier payers, meaning they not only pay property taxes to the town they live in, but to the county as well; Guelph has a single-tier system. Either way, this is fuel for the fire as city council gets ready for budget deliberations next month.

A Week of Drama for The Farmers’ Market

So the weather outside is frightful, and so is the shopping season for vendors at Guelph’s Farmers’ Markets… And speaking of the weather outside, that was where produce vendors of the Market were supposed to be before a last minute reprieve. Yes, the ingenious solution by the City to the sudden need to move the Farmers’ Market before the roof on the building at the corner of Gordon and Waterloo collapsed, was to set up the arts & crafts sellers in the foyer at City Hall, while sticking the produce sellers in the Wilson St parking lot. But then last Thursday, the City said they had more room than they thought, and all venders were moved inside. However due to Echo Weekly’s deadlines, I’m not sure how this whole thing turned out, but the process leading up to it was, to use the correct terminology, a gong show.

It started a couple of weeks ago when vendors at the Market were told that repairs were needed on the roof of the building. Repairs were needed, said the City, but it isn’t so bad that the building would have to be shut down for, say, eight to ten weeks so that repairs could be made. That was Saturday November 27. Precisely one week later came word from Derek McCaughan, the city’s director of operations and transit, saying that if you even breathe on the roof wrong it’ll fall like a house of cards.

Okay, he didn’t actually say that, but the message at a meeting between city reps and the vendors of the Farmers’ Market on Saturday December 4 was that we need to get you guys out of here because this roof will fall with even a hint of snow. This after saying exactly seven days earlier that despite the need for repairs, it would take a “once in 50 years snowfall” to collapse the roof of the Market building. And before you can say that the announcement caused outrage amongst the vendors, the outrage was already on…

The first option presented was to move the Farmers’ Market to an old bus barn on 12 Municipal St., which, apparently, was the closest, biggest and most conveniently located facility which could house the Farmers’ Market. After a health inspection, the bus barn was, surprisingly, deemed unsuitable. As it turned out it would have taken longer to bring the barn up to code in order to temporarily house the Market, then it would take to do the repairs on the Market’s building. The result was the Solomon-like decision that you read at the top of the column. And although meat and cheese were initially shut out, the option to sell frozen meat was made available. But considering most vendors sell fresh that probably wasn’t much of a consultation.

Seriously, if you are a vendor at the Farmers’ Market or a user of the Farmers’ Market, you really have every right to get ticked off. From the City’s changing appraisal of the direness of the situation to the Michael Brown (as in “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of job…”) like response to the problem, there are a lot of questions in the air about just what the heck went wrong. Why did the roof problem get so dire, so fast? Was there no where else that the City could have moved the Market to? There was no contingency plan in the works prior to last week? Especially, since they knew the roof was an issue since last July

Those are serious questions and in an article in the Guelph Mercury even McCaughan conceded that there weren’t enough answers for the questions people have. In the absence of actual answers, the vacuum is being filled by pundits and conspiracy theorists. One person sent a letter to the Mercury saying that they were “convinced that the City of Guelph is undertaking to systematically and methodically disrupt, dismantle and dissolve the farmers market as we know it today.” They added that recent by-law adjustments and a new insurance requirement were also part of that campaign, and now that those didn’t completely work, the City is moving to a more aggressive measure.

Of course, letting air into a conspiracy theory is like leaving the food on your plate to grow more fungus, it’ll keep spreading until you get the dish soap out and disinfect that sucker. Despite the statement in her inaugural address about promoting better communication between the City and its people, this kick-off issue of the new term shows that there’s still a divide, and it’s one of the city’s making. As of the Farmers’ Market only one thing is certain, it will probably never be the same again.

All I Want From this Next Council…

Dear Guelph City Council,

I’ve been a very good citizen of the Royal City this year, and I would like to get a few items for next term. Before I begin though, my Mom says I should thank you for the things I got last term. The new roads and infrastructure was really nice, once we had them assembled, of course. The new City Hall is pretty swanky, but it’s almost too nice to play with. The improvements on the Provincial Court House were pretty cool, but I didn’t like that Hanlon Creek Business Park so much, but my parents say we need it so…

But seriously folks, there are some developments that I wouldn’t mind seeing coming out of council in the next four years (if not sooner). Primary among them is the transit hub.

Such a monumentous undertaking, converting an entire section of Carden Street into a one-stop shop for local and inter-city public transit, was the last item being funded by cash from Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill to be shovel-ready. Are we going to get an extension on that loan, or are we going to have to eat it, which, if I know the city of Guelph and its past actions, will mean transit cuts? The good news is, as of last Thursday, it appeared that no eating would be necessary.

And really, what’s the deal with Ward 1 Councillor Bob Bell wanting to take a minute and edited the plans. In case you missed the Mercury article he said that he wanted to cut the number of bus bays at the hub from 22 to 18, and that those four cut bays “could be accommodated along the Gordon/Norfolk streets corridor.” So it’s a transit hub where there’s an 18 per cent chance that the bus you really want is a couple of blocks and a five minute walk away.

While I appreciate the councillor’s due diligence, I am aghast. I thought the City couldn’t revisit a construction plan once the shovels were in the ground. At least, that seemed to be the argument when the Hanlon Creek Business Park started to get going. Sadly, as I walked from one store to the other last Wednesday in a vain effort to find bus tickets (because apparently stocking up suppliers on the first day of the month so that they don’t run out is too much to ask), I wondered if former Mayoral Candidate Ray Mitchell was right. “Transit is the fallback position to cut when money is needed as it primarily hurts the poor, and we know they don’t vote” said Mitchell in his Candidate Questionnaire for Guelph Politico. “Cutting bus services was probably the meanest thing this council did.”

I know I’ve been harping the transit issue a lot this year, but it really does seem like there’s a concerted effort out there to perpetuate the myth that freedom is a car that you yourself ride in alone and that buses and trains are for poor people and hippies. Parking for the transit hub has been a concern, but I ask, why does one have to drive their car to the bus station? Or the train station? Or at the very least, why is their no encouragement from the City to car pool? If everybody’s going to the same place anyway…

With Rob Ford in Toronto ending “The War on Cars” (Worst. Covered War. Ever.) I wonder how long it will take his thinking to trickle outward from the GTA. Roads are for cars! Bikes are for sissies! Street cars are stupid! If you can’t drive a car, at least have the decency to travel by way of a dark tunnel underground where car people don’t have to look at you! First of all, can we get Clarence Odbody to stop by Rob Ford’s house this Christmas before he turns Toronto into Potterville? And second, if the increasingly long drive to get anywhere hasn’t given you a clue, I’m out of ideas on how to get people to think of transit more positively, and not wrinkle their nose at the thought of taking a bus.

Anyway Council, there’s some milk and cookies in it for you if you figure out a way (not that that’s a bribe or anything). In the meantime, stay cool and good luck with the term ahead.

Signed,
A random lunatic (with his own newspaper column)

Better Know a New City Councillor Part 1 of 2

The October 25th election brought four new city councillors to the horseshoe in Guelph’s City Hall, and on December 6th, the new Gang of 13 will be sitting down together for the first time and begin to sketch out what they’ll accomplish over the next four years. But before they start, I decided to get to them first, beginning with the new councillors for War 4 and 6: Cam Guthrie and Todd Dennis.

Meeting with Guthrie and Dennis last Friday night at the Red Brick Café downtown, it was easy to see their exuberance about their new responsibilities. Both men have talked with Mayor Karen Farbridge, exchanged chats or e-mails with their colleagues and are looking to the immediate concern of the next council: the 2011 budget.

“The main promise is to maintain low taxes,” says Guthrie adding that he made a point of never campaigning on zero tax increases. “I’ve always been taught that if you mind the pennies, you’ll find the dollars, so I can’t wait to get my hands on that 2011 budget so I can start looking for those pennies.”

Dennis is also eager to see the budget. “We know that Fire, EMS, and Police can’t be touched,” he explains, “so we have to get those pennies, as Cam was saying, and figure out how to do things more efficiently. There are some interesting things coming up in conversations with constituents and staff about finding inefficiencies and looking at the whole process, it’s going to be a challenge going in.”

One budget item that has already gotten some traction is Guthrie’s campaign promise to not except the planned pay increase for councillors next year. “No matter what happens, I will be refusing that salary increase. Period. That’s the end of the discussion,” says Guthrie. “I think that’s being effective and I think that’s showing the people of Guelph that I’m looking for efficiencies and if that starts with me, then so be it.”

Dennis, meanwhile, is seeing a change in something he pointed out in his campaign, the perception of his ward as an example of negative growth. “I know it’s a lovely thing to say in the paper, but saying ‘urban sprawl’ and ‘cookie-cutter houses’ you know what? You’ve just offended a whole pile of your population.” observes Dennis who adds that he wants Guelphites to know that Ward 6 is not just commuters, and he says that attitude is changing. “People moved here for a reason, they bought their homes her for a reason, they moved their families here for a reason and you’re insulting them by putting a label or a tag on them.”

Along with that is changing perceptions about the city as someplace unfriendly to business, something that was referenced by both candidates during the campaign. “What I saw in reports was backed up from what I heard from businesses,” says Guthrie, whose day job is selling insurance. “It’s about making sure that the companies we already have here feel welcome to stay, it’s about making them feel welcome when they want to expand, and then attracting new businesses by getting employment lands up and running, and they are, so I’ll give [the City] that credit.” Guthrie also says that we need to rebrand the city and promote business success stories.

Dennis agrees saying that much of council is on the same page in terms of attracting business to the city as a major goal in the next term, and Dennis has some big ideas on how to do that. “We probably have more commercial land in the bank than Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge does, so were in a really good position,” he explains. Dennis says that he’d like to see the tri-cities become a “high-tech triangle” like Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina. It maybe be naïve, he adds, but “Why aren’t we sitting down with Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge, leveraging our land and creating a high-tech corridor?”

In the meantime, Dennis and Guthrie will be making their committee selections and doing other orientation-related items. Guthrie has also begun to realize another campaign promise by turning his website into “Ward 4 News,” which will be dedicated to keeping people informed about what’s going on in the west end.

Tune in next week for an interview with Jim Furfaro (Ward 1) and Andy Van Hellemond (Ward 2).

Election ’10: Lessons Learned

Due to the deadlines for Echo Weekly, I had to submit this piece without knowing the results of the 2010 Municipal Election on Monday, but to get all that be sure to take a peak at my blog, Guelph Politico, at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/ So in the void of not really knowing what the new council now looks like, I look back as I look forward to try and gleam some meaning out of the election that was/is. I will share some of those meandering thoughts now.

1) I Know Who I Am; Do You Know Who You Are?

One of the major minor issues of the election had nothing to do with how council is spending our money, or how mad everybody is at the endless construction, but has everything to do with anonymity on a blog. Cathy Downer, a campaigner for Mayor Karen Farbridge, was caught for posting multiple times, under multiple names on the Guelph Mercury’s 59 Carden St. blog. Later, Ward 4 candidate Cam Guthrie admitted that he was also guilty of multiple personality disorder on the blog. While I think there was something important to say here about the nature of the blogosphere and the blanket comfort of saying what you want and not having to put your name on it, it seems that a lot of that got lost in the conversation. Of course, the human drama over the perception of sneakiness is easier to grasp then the larger issues of how one conducts themselves on the digital soapbox. I suppose discretion has always been half of the internet, but creating imaginary people to agree with you seems a little too All the President’s Men for me.

2) Facebook May Work on Film, But…

When it comes to electioneering on a local level, the results are decidedly mixed. A quick glance on the social networking site shows that the candidates with the most “friends” (or “supporters” I guess), barely top off at about 530. While it’s certainly admirable that many of the candidates went signless and focused on the paperless campaign on the internet, there’s still, obviously, a huge emphasis on traditional communication forms like signs, pamphlets and newspapers. Perhaps it’s because of the enthusiasm gap on a municipal level, but the internet’s still yet to be lit up by the campaign, and even signless proponents like Ward 1’s Allan Boynton had banners in storefronts downtown. For my money, I did find several candidates more responsive to media requests from blogs and websites, that is unless that candidate’s name was David Birtwistle. (Inside joke, sorry.)

3) Sometimes, the “Kooks” Are Right.

The thing about local politics is that it brings out the people that lack the spit and polish of a national-level campaign and it gives them the spotlight. On the Politico blog, a poster called mayoral candidate Ray Mitchell “this is one craaaazy dude,” and said of Mitchell’s fellow nominee Scott Nightingale that he “sounds like he sent his intern application to the wrong department.” Now unless Mitchell’s packing a four-leaf clover, or if Nightingale’s been hording horseshoes, they’re probably not the Mayor-Elect right now. Still, it’s a very rare person that is completely able to write-off Mitchell and Nightingale. Were they unpolished? Sure. Did they take rather non-mainstream perspectives on key issues? Absolutely.

Last week, the internet became fascinated by Jimmy McMillan, a retired postal worker running for the Governor of New York for The Rent’s 2 Damn High Party. While I’ll submit that McMillan’s insistence that cutting rents in New York would create three to six million new jobs and $6 trillion in surpluses is out there, there is a kernel of truth there not really considered: Paying less for rent means more money for other things. You Tube “Jimmy McMillan” and you can see for yourself, that he’s nearly a studio audience away from being an SNL sketch, but his ideas are interesting, and say what you want about him, but he’s engaged. And that’s something you can’t say about the mass majority of people on a municipal level in the City of Guelph. Of course I could be wrong. I’m right now looking at the election as a future event.

Election Day Parts 1 and 2

Better get your voting shoes on because the polls open at 10 am on Monday. To see if you’re on the voter list or to find out when and where to vote, go to guelph.ca/vote. What do you need to bring? Well, according to the Municipal Elections Act you’ll need either one piece of identification that shows your name, qualifying address (where you currently live or own property), and signature, or two pieces of identification, one with name and signature and the other with your name and qualifying address. For a list of what’s cool to count as I.D., go to this site to learn more: http://guelph.ca/vote/index.php/voting/acceptable-identification

But that’s enough about the boring instructions on how you will exercise your franchise this Monday, and let’s talk instead about who you will use it for. There are 37 candidates in all running for positions on City Council; from the big Mayor’s Chair in the centre to one of two seats in each of the six wards. So what drives people to seek out elected office in the City of Guelph? Let’s ask someone running to sit in the highest office of all.

“I ran for Mayor out of a yearning to dig out the pertinent and otherwise nitty gritty bits of information on how our particular council runs,” says Scott Nightingale. “I am finding the minutiae of municipalities to be rather muddled and inaccessible. I have a mind for what may to some seem mundane and boring. As long as I may use this mind to help those around me understand and in some small cases control their environment, then this is truly a good thing.”

But others already know what they’re getting in to. “I was on Guelph City Council for nine years between 1991and 2000 [and] I am not impressed with the direction we are headed,” says Ward 1 candidate Gary Walton. “I feel the spending and the direction the council is taking is not where our city should be going.”

Meanwhile, Walton’s fellow Ward 1 challenger Karolyne Pickett sees a different story coming from last council. “I support the strategic initiatives taken on by last council with respect to reducing our water consumption, developing community energy consumption goals, and looking at how to improve our transit system,” she explains. “My concern rests with development plans and zoning decisions. I want the City to shift to mixed-use zoning, because people want residential areas to include grocery stores, cafés and small local businesses.”

Development is a concern for many candidates, and while most feel that future construction projects are inevitable, we should follow the plan as outlined by the city and not by the developers. “Development has to follow the official plan and be able to integrate into the neighbourhoods it’s going into,” says Paul Mahony, Ward 2 candidate. “It also has to make sense. I saw the last council meeting and a great deal of time was spent around a development just off Arkell Road. The person addressing council made reference to many parts of the development not being in compliance with the city's official plan. Despite this, the developers were going ahead with what he had proposed. This can't happen. If it does if I am elected, I will vote against it every time.”

But everybody has their own idea about what the craziest decision made by this council has been. For Ward 3 candidate Dimitrios "Jim" Galatianos, that decision was made earlier this year when council agreed to a plan to convert the city’s waste management program to a bin system rather than bags. “Really that is what broke the preverbal camel's back for me,” says Galatianos. “We just went through a summer where the city had to turn out the light and put out the ‘closed for business’ sign because they had over spent – I mean failed to generate enough revenue – $8 million and then they go and do this. […] Some hard decisions will have to be made and the previous council has shown they are not the ones to do it.”

Since that budget shortfall is probably going to haunt the next council as it has the last couple of years of this council, the problem at hand should definitely by able to bring out big ideas from the candidates, and one thinks that he’s found a way to save the city some cash. “I'd like to introduce you to the Budget filter that I will use on your behalf,” says Cam Guthrie, a challenger in Ward 4. “It's called the ‘FREE BUDGET.’ I am the only candidate that will ask these tough questions. F - What can we Freeze? R - What can we Reduce? E - What needs to be Evaluated? E - What needs to be Eliminated?”

Others though have ideas on how to improve things that already exist in order to get the maximum benefit for the City of Guelph. “Personally, I would love to see the Italian Festival become as big a landmark as Kitchener’s Oktoberfest,” says Linda Murphy. “Now that would help our tourism problems also. Guelph is a culturally diverse community and we need to embrace that and build on it.”

Murphy’s fellow Ward 1 candidate Tamara Williams also sees Arts & Culture as part of the plan when it comes to tourism in the Royal City. “Guelph is unique because of the large population of artists and musicians within the city,” she explains. “This represents a large group of very talented people giving to the city. We should continue to support the arts and our cultural heritage which would also promote tourism and result in good business for the city.”

Still, there is something to be said for pragmatism. Which is where some of the incumbents come in, like Ward 1’s only returning councillor Bob Bell. “We will have trouble keeping them down next term because of all the money that was spent this past term,” he says. “We need to do a better job here, forecast 3.66 per cent and having expenditures for 7 per cent, then correcting it by cutting transit and garbage collection.”

Still, there is reason to hope, according to Ward 6 incumbent Karl Wettstein. “Although we have made progress in a number of key areas, we need to be diligent in making sure these changes take root,” he says. “This requires a Council and Senior Management team that clearly understand the critical roles that strong financial policy, good corporate governance, positive and constructive teamwork, and the ability to find consensus solutions play in running an effective and efficient $300 million complex corporation.”

But no matter what any of the candidates say, what’s important is that you have your say. Make sure that you get out and vote on Monday October 25th. And for full candidate responses to my Candidate Questionnaire, go to http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

City Putting the Squeeze on Renters

Unless you have eight people living in your two bedroom bungalow, you can probably take a sigh of relief after reading that headline. Yes, as alluded to in previous comments made by councillors in recent months, including ones made in my award-eligible series “Better Know a Ward”, the horseshoe revisited rules governing shared rental housing at their meeting last week.

"Guelph is a wonderfully diverse city and an outstanding place to live," said Guelph’s Executive Director of Planning, Engineering and Environmental Services, Janet Laird in a press release. The problem, she says though, is that in recent years shared rental housing has increased and be concentrated in certain neighbourhoods, particularly neighbourhoods in the Old University area and the south end of the city. The effect is that many long-term residents are moving out, which leaves many neighbourhoods as little more than ghost towns between the months of April and September.

In a marathon meeting last Tuesday, council heard from over 20 delegations on the matter, from student representatives to landlords to neighbourhood groups. One of the most contentious issues was putting new restrictions on rental properties. In the end, council approved a new zoning by-law, a new two-unit house with six or more bedrooms must be at least 100 metres from any other two-unit house, lodging house, group home or emergency shelter. Additionally, a new lodging house must be at least 100 metres from any other lodging house, two-unit house with six or more bedrooms, group home or emergency shelter.

So what does that mean? Well it means a new standard for 20 per cent of the rental units of the city. Councillor Lise Burcher wanted to make an amendment to make it five or more bedrooms rather than six, but city staff said that this would impact negatively on 80 per cent of the rental units in the city, and the proposed amendment was dropped. Still though, staff recommendations take into account lodging houses and restricting them to one kitchen, in order to prevent accessory apartments from being constructed inside them.

Aside from the simple by-law changes, the city is also working with the University of Guelph on an education and awareness campaign. Last Saturday, as part of the U of G’s Right Foot Forward event, teams of students, City Staff, University Staff and community members spent the afternoon knocking on doors in areas with a high number of rental housing units in order to ensure renters understand the responsibilities associated with their property. They also received information about waste sorting and recycling, transit, property maintenance, parking, noise and tips to keep parties from getting out of hand.

Also this month, the City will enhance its by-law compliance and enforcement program to increase compliance with noise and parking by-laws. Residents will see more by-law compliance and enforcement staff in residential neighbourhoods, and increased service levels during peak times, according to a city press release. This combined with “zero tolerance” measures to curb littering, noise, underage drinking, and public urination means that the city is working harder than ever to attack the problems that come back every fall with the student population. Will it work? Well, let’s ask the guy I saw peeing in the alley between Molly Bloom’s and Scotiabank last Wednesday night. On second though….

Nature Wins!

To all my tree-hugger friends out there, here’s a bit of news to make you smile. The demolition of a large chimney at the Trafalgar Building was called off last week on account of a rare species of bird called Chimney Swifts taking up residence in the chimney. The birds were identified as Chimney Swifts by a Canadian Wildlife official who noted that the bird is known to make nests in certain types of chimneys at specific times of the year. Demolition in the chimney, which has been redundant a while anyway, has been postponed indefinitely. I guess it’s a good thing that the bird wasn’t a Jefferson Salamander. Boom! Be sure to tip your waitresses.

http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

Guelph of Tomorrow and Commuter Challenge

Envisioning the Guelph of Tomorrow

For three nights last week, members of the Guelph community were invited to city hall to get a frightening glimpse of the year 2031. Well, it wasn’t so much “frightening” as it was daunting. Several large maps covered the walls of Meeting Room C in City Hall, while several slide cards were on display at the front of the room giving the reader a bullet point breakdown of the plan. On each table were several copies of the revised Official Plan and always nearby was a City of Guelph employee ready to decode an aspect for you educational pleasure.

So what’s in store for the future? Well, to begin with, the fine art of balancing various mandates on all three levels of government. Ontario’s “Places to Grow” legislation says that we’ve got to cram 50,000 more people into our fair city in the next 21 years, but we can’t grow past our set borders. So in short there’s going to be a lot of intensification. In fact, the Official Plan identifies several areas in the City where intensification will be intensified. But what does “intensification” mean? For starters increased residential/employment density since the City is aiming for 57 jobs for every 100 residents. It also means a mix of office, institutional and commercial space with an array services like park land, rec and cultural centres.

By now you’re wondering if you are in a potential intensification corridor. Well, if you live along York Road (between Watson and Victoria), Silvercreek (between Willow and Speedvale), Stone (between Hanlon and Gordon), Elmira (between Delhi and Stevenson) or Gordon (between Stone and Clairfields), you do. Also, look for Silvercreek Junction, the so-called Lafarge site, to move ahead with its redevelopment plan, which includes commercial mixed, high density residential and significant natural areas.

Of course, in the age of great environmental sensitivity, great strains have been made to make the new plan more green conscience. From new bike lanes and trails to methods to decrease light and noise pollution to maximizing energy conservation efforts, the new Official plan pulls out all the stops so far as satisfying those with a slant towards Mother Earth. As well, efforts will be made to preserve the City’s architectural heritage while ensuring that new buildings blend well with the existing ones. Also, an official plan specific to downtown will be drawn up later.

If any of this has got you interested in seeing the official plan for yourself, you can at http://www.guelph.ca/OPupdate.

We accept your Challenge!

I wasn’t sure who challenged us and why, but arrived in my inbox was notice that the gauntlet was thrown down for Guelph to save mass quantities of energy this summer, and it has been picked up. Between now and August 11, the City of Guelph is asking residents to take the Power Pledge and reduce energy use as part of Ontario’s Community Conservation Challenge, said the city press release. “Guelph has participated in this Challenge since the first anniversary of the blackout in August 2003," says Mayor Karen Farbridge. "Guelph is committed to energy conservation and fighting climate change as part of our Community Energy Initiative. The Community Conservation Challenge reminds each of us that we have a role to play in building a sustainable energy future for Guelph."

The Community Conservation Challenge is province-wide. Challenge winners earn “green” awards and the chance to be named Ontario’s most conservation-conscious communities. Last year’s Community Challenge winners were Sioux Lookout for most participation and Kingston for total megawatt reduction. As for who’s putting this on, the Community Challenge is a collaboration of the Ontario Power Authority, the Independent Electricity System Operator, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the Electricity Distributors Association and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and their associated members, according to the same release. Learn more at http://www.powerpledge.ca/cityofguelph.

Run Cam, Run? And Water Day

Cam’s Thinking about Running, Not there yet though

An internet movement’s begun over the last few weeks to push a certain well know Guelphite and politico into the recently initiated mayoral race, but Cam Guthrie says that no final decisions have been made yet. “It’s weighing heavily on me right now because of all the phone calls and e-mails and people stopping me on the street,” Guthrie told me by phone last week. “Whatever decision it is it will be in the best interest of my city and my family.”

The buzz comes from a Facebook group called “Cam Guthrie for the Mayor of Guelph”, which was started barely a week after the city’s present mayor, Karen Farbridge, announced her intention to run for re-election in this fall’s municipal contest. Guthrie calls it an encouragement page, but one that he had nothing to do with. Instead, credit for the group can be given to Karl Morant. “The first time I ever met him was in the [2006] municipal election,” Guthrie recalls. “I’ve probably had four conversations with him on passing over the last four years.”

As of last Wednesday, Morant and his group have collected 239 members and counting. Guthrie admits that he’s recognized a few of the names that joined the group, but there’s also a great many he doesn’t. “I am very humbled by the encouragement and support that’s sprung on this thing in the last couple of days,” he says. “It’s just amazing.”

The question now is whether or not that encouragement is going to translate into a bid for the City’s highest elected post, Guthrie’s still mulling the possibilities and gauging his support. Guthrie says he’s seeking “wise council” in order to make the right decision for himself, the city and his family.

As for a timetable, Guthrie told me that his decision will be coming soon, if only out of practical consideration in running a mayoral race. “Unfortunately, these types of campaigns require money to run, and, of course, the sooner you declare yourself the sooner your able to start bringing in money for the campaign. So I can’t let it go too long.”

You can check out the Facebook group by searching “Cam Guthrie for the Mayor of Guelph.” And for late-breaking news, you can visit my Guelph Politico blog at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

Celebrate World Water Day with Wellington Water Watchers

Do you like water? Do you think the ubiquitous clear liquid should be celebrated and protected throughout the land? Then you’ll definitely want to take note of the Wellington Water Watchers’ festivities for World Water Day on Monday.

The events unfold at the E.L. Fox Auditorium at J.F. Ross on 21 Meyer Dr starting at 7 pm. On the docket is a youth submission project, some spoken word performances and the party-hardy music of Royal City’s own Dancehall Free For All. The main attraction though, entertainment-wise speaking, is a screening of the as-yet-unreleased documentary Tapped. Tapped, made by the producers of the popular Who Killed the Electric Car doc, is a behind-the-scenes look into the unregulated and unseen world of an industry that aims to privatize water resources. You can learn more about it at http://www.tappedthemovie.com/

The WWW will also be unveiling a pilot project called Blue W. Blue W is a not-for-profit program dedicated to promoting municipal tap water as a healthy and waste-conscious alternative to bottled drinks, according to a press release. The project will include a web site and smartphone app that people can use to locate places in the community where you can fill your reusable bottle with tap water. Participating establishments will have the Blue W decal at their entrance. For more on Blue W check out their website at http://www.bluew.org

Guelph Getting Remastered, But Not Without Difficulty

“It’ll be worth it.” That’s what the City of Guelph wants you to think this summer as you struggle to navigate through a minefield of road work that’s going to make last summer’s construction look like a simple road patch job. Hyperbole? Not quite. At a media briefing about the coming construction season last Wednesday, Chief Administrative Officer Hans Loewig said that 2010 will see four-times more road construction than 2009. Or to put it another way, that's five years worth of construction crammed into one calendar year. In all, 25 projects have already or will go under the shovel thanks to $48 million in stimulus from the Federal and Provincial governments, with another $24 million from the city. And all 25 of these projects have to be finished by March 2011.

In some opening remarks, Mayor Karen Farbridge said that Guelph did extremely well in getting stimulus money from upper levels of government and that “sometimes you’re a victim of your own success.” Meaning that now the city has to get down to work at doing $72 million worth of construction in 12 months, which will mean a lot of inconvenience and, potentially, a lot of anger from inconvenienced citizens. Knowing this though, Farbridge said that Guelph was “very fortunate” to be getting this funding saying that “a lot of our infrastructure is at the end of its life span.”

That goes especially for areas of the city that are oldest, like the downtown core, where some sewers and watermains are nearly a century old. Additionally, many cities are behind in the infrastructure construction. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities estimates that there’s a $123 billion deficit in infrastructure nationwide.

So there’s going to be a lot of construction between March and December, but the city wants to make residents and businesses an informed partner in the endeavour and not a hapless victim. “We want to make sure that this is a partnership throughout the community,” said Loewig, “they are stakeholders in the process.”

It begins this week with an information insert will be sent out to Guelph homes via the Mercury and the Tribune newspapers. That will be followed up with regular print, radio and web updates as the city will try to keep citizens informed about changes through local media. Once construction starts there will be rush hour updates on local radio stations CJOY and MAGIC while the City's website will be the main hub for updated information. Along with getting information, people will be able to report a construction problem or submit a question, while affected businesses will be invited to regular meetings to promote information sharing and to get updates. “We’re going to do everything possible to avoid disruption but it’s going to look like we’re not,” resigned Loewig.

So where is it going to be hardest hit in terms of construction? It seems that Carden Street is going to be the focal point as improvements are made in preparation for the possible transit hub to be developed there with the arrival of GO trains next year. The Wyndham St bridge will also be improved necessitating further disruption there come spring. As well the corner of Wilson and Carden will feel the “most impact” according to Loewig, even necessitating the short term use of the civic square as a parking lot. Considering all this, city officials say that the goal of their public relations effort will be to keep things light while still being informational. All the construction in the coming months may represent a short term inconvenience, but these improvements will make Guelph better in the long term. In other words: no pain, no gain.

Fighting Over Budgets and Climate Change

Budget fight begins

With all the deep cuts potentially on the table in regards to the 2010 city budget, it came as no surprise that council’s first look at the document would come with some apprehension. The major areas that got air last Monday night were transit and downtown parking, but considering the variety of cuts proposed, there isn’t a single area under city management that isn’t saved from belt-tightening. The debate should get much more interesting in the next week as public debate is opened up on the matter. It was expected that as many as 26 delegations had requested time to speak to council at the meeting this past Tuesday. But public forums are seeing their share of debates as well.

The Guelph Arts Council was quick to react to potential cuts, sending out a mass e-mail last week asking all its members to speak out in defense of arts funding in the City of Guelph. “We are not at the top of the list but we are on the list – in other word, we are threatened, and we do need to make our case,” said the e-mail. The GAC further asked its members to send letters and e-mails to Guelph city councillors and local media as part of a co-ordinated effort to make it known that the arts matter in the Royal City.

Meanwhile, University of Guelph students are rallying to save the universal bus pass, after it was suggested in the budget proposal that it be eliminated and replaced with a cost per month plan like the one high school students have to pay for. Comparatively, the U of G universal bus pass costs roughly the same per semester what it costs for a high school student to get one student pass for a month. The city feels that that there’s a pretty big gap there where a few extra dollars can be made. “It’s sad that a program that Guelph Transit has won awards for, for innovative ways of getting people out of cars and into buses, is being dismissed without any discussion,” said Brenda Whiteside, the university’s associate vice-president (students affairs) to the Guelph Tribune. The universal bus pass has been part of the student experience at the U of G since 1994, and it won’t go quietly. As of Sunday, the “Save the Bus Pass” Facebook group has over 6,400 members.

For up-to-date blow-by-blows go to my blog at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

McKitrick feels “vindicated”

The recent “Climategate” mess where thousands of e-mails and documents from the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England were hacked and then leaked has cultivated a Guelph connection. No, no one from Guelph was involved in either being hacked or doing the hacking, but a University of Guelph professor has gotten a shot of renewed notoriety out of the fallout. “My phone’s been absolutely ringing off the hook,” economics prof Ross McKitrick told the Guelph Mercury last week. McKitrick has for a long time been a climate change skeptic (or denier depending upon your slant), believing that all the talk about end of the world consequences from global warming was much ado about nothing. “There’s a sense of vindication there,” he added in response to the allegations that the e-mails prove climate change scientists were cooking the books to make the problem seem much worse than it is. But perhaps the real conspiracy here is that all this came out just days before the UN Climate Change conference began in Copenhagen.

Another hurdle for HCBP quietly leapt

Posted quietly on the City of Guelph website Friday was news that funding assistance from Industry Canada for the watermain and utility highway crossing construction for the Hanlon Creek Business Park project had been approved. The city submitted an Environmental Assessment to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, and from that report and the “implementation of appropriate mitigation measures,” the Feds decided to grant the request for funding. According to the city press release, appropriate implementations of mitigation measures included in the Environmental Assessment include: fauna at risk; human health and safety; structure, site or thing of historic, archaeological, paleontological or architectural significance; air quality; noise levels; soil quality; vegetation; and water quality. "We are pleased that this project has cleared this level of environmental review with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency," said Peter Cartwright, General Manager for Economic Development and Tourism.

Budget Details Released and Reaction Will be Mixed

Last Wednesday, officials from the City of Guelph including Mayor Karen Farbridge, Chief Administrative Officer Hans Loewig and Treasurer Margaret Neubauer, outlined to the media budget proposals that were being brought to council this past Monday. The good news first: the City did not send our banking information to the lawyer holding $100 million in trust for the Nubian prince that needs access to foreign banking institutions in order to get his inheritance. The band news is that the 2010 is looking at quite a substantial shortfall of available funds, and its going to take some serious cuts to make up the difference.

Planning for this year’s budget actually started in May with city managers looking towards the fact this was probably going to be a year for cuts rather than spending. Mayor Farbridge said that in a time when families and employers are having to make some tough decisions in regard to their own finances, then the municipality should do its part. She added that although their have been signs of some recovery from the current economic downturn, it will still take about two to three years for Guelph to feel the effects of any recovery. So with a mind on lean times ahead, city staff is presenting a number of options for city council to consider for the 2010 budget.

To begin with the city is trying to mitigate a loss of $8.1 million in revenues as much as possible. What this means is that even without any new spending, and using the numbers from the 2009 budget, there's already a 5.2 per cent increase in the 2010 budget that needs to be covered. Contractual obligations, collective agreements and compensation account for another 4 per cent increase. So when it's all said and done, the City of Guelph basically needs to find another $14.4 million for 2010. So where is much of that money going to come from? Cuts mostly, hope city officials, and their proposed cuts are divided into two categories: Department Reduction Proposals" and "Other Considerations." With the options presented in the "Department Reduction Proposals" the city can save 4.48 per cent or $7.4 million. If all the items under "Other Considerations" are enacted then a further $2.5 million can be shaved off the deficit, bringing the increase down to a more manageable 3 per cent.

If those sound like serious numbers, they are, and the impact will be felt by just about everyone in the city. Biggest of all considerations is the delay of capital projects previously discussed. Basically, anything that hasn’t had started being built is on the back-burner until 2011 at least. As for projects in various phase of completion, their openings will be pushed back by months in order to save money. For example, the east end branch of the library will not open until June 2010. Also, City staff might be asked to take up to 5 unpaid days off and 29 full-time positions could be eliminated, hopefully through attrition such as retirements and resignations. Transit may be hit worst of all with the proposed elimination of stat holidays schedules, a reduced service summer schedule and a 7 per cent fare increase. There could also be a general increase on fees for rentals of city facilities.

Things get worse under the “Other Considerations” category. If councillors decide to accept these further measures to tighten up the deficit then it could mean the closing of the Centennial and Lyon's pools, the closing Centennial rink, eliminating John Galt Day activities, ending two hour free parking downtown, no longer having any special waste collection (like for Christmas trees), shuttering the household hazardous waste facility and adjusting the Industrial and Perimeter transit routes (Note: this does not mean cancelling them). Contingencies if these options should be adopted are being worked out, but it was stressed repeatedly in the briefing that these are merely options and don’t necessarily represent the shape of things to come.

Don’t like what you just read, well you can let your voice be heard by council starting with the meeting on Tuesday December 8 at 6 pm in the council chamber. For more information, check out the meeting schedule on the City’s website here: http://www.guelph.ca/newsroom_display.cfm?itemID=78256 or pay a visit to my blog at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

Woods Closes, Protest Remembered and Bike Lanes Info

Manufacturing Hit again as Woods Closes Down
After 75 years in operation, the W.C. Woods plant on Arthur Road in Guelph closed its doors and put 250 workers out of a job last week after a deal to sell the company fell through. To add insult to injury, those same workers received no official notice from the company and many showing up for work at the plant Monday morning business as usual. A former Woods’ employee told me that he learned about the plant’s closing by trading rumours on Facebook, and showed up early Monday to collect his things before the doors were locked. Other employees not so informed had to make an appointment to come in to the closed plant and collect their belongings.

Ultimately though, the closure of Woods came as no surprise to many of its former employees. The plant’s been on the proverbial bubble for much of the last year with employees having been part of a government work share program in order to compensate for lost hours at the plant. For frustrated workers, the loss of their job was exacerbated by a wall of silence from the company as to the status of their pensions, holiday pay and severance cheques. Before the employees can even get EI, their paper work on the work share program had to be finished, but it appears this at least will give workers some relief. As for the rest, Woods has been mum as to what the people that used to make their factory run can expect.

In an attempt to get some answers, about 75 employees and supporters gathered at the plant Thursday morning. The only one dolling out answers however was a representative of BDO Dunwoody, the firm that’s overseeing the liquidation of Woods’ assets. The business’ creditors will be the first to receive money from the sell-off, but how much that is and how much will be made from the sell-off is not yet known. In the meantime, the workers are getting more information from each other and third part sources then they are from the guys that used to sign their paycheques. For late breaking information head over to my blog at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com

Week of Events Remember HCBP opposition

Local activists have planned a whole week of activities to keep up awareness over the Hanlon Creek Business Park project. Hanlon Creek Celebration Week began this past Monday with HCBP protestor Kelly Pflug-Back serving the Guelph police department with a plaintiff's claim on behalf of herself and Julian Ichim. Pflug-Back and Ichim are claiming that police defamed them while investigating a supposed threatening letter that was dropped off at the home of one of the developers. Events continue today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday) with a protest at Xterra Construction’s Kitchener office, and a lunch hour hootenanny at Guelph City Hall. For more information and a full schedule go to http://hcbpoccupation.wordpress.com/

City wants your notes about bike lanes

The City of Guelph is hosting a public information session to present plans for the construction of bike lanes on Stone Road from Scottsdale Drive to Victoria Road South, and on Gordon Street from Stone Road to Harts Lane. The session takes place between 5 pm and 7 pm Thursday November 26th at the Delta Hotel on the corner of Gordon and Stone. After a presentation at 5:30, attendees will be given the opportunity to ask questions and give feedback to city officials and planners. Construction is set to begin early next summer and will last at least seven months. This is another fine “shovel ready” project brought to you by Federal and Provincial Infrastructure Stimulus Funds.