Apples and Oranges

The budget deliberations have sparked a lot of emotion across the board. On the one hand there are increased parking rates and bus fares that have people incensed, and on the other hand there’s the proposed 5.67 per cent property tax hike that comes along with the budget presented to council a few weeks ago. Admittedly, that’s a tough hit for people on fixed incomes seeing as how we’re barely coming out of the worst economic downturn since the soup lines and dust bowl era. But if there’s one thing we can all agree on, we’re better being in Guelph than anywhere else, right? Right?

Well I found a conscientious objector on Ian Findlay’s Ward 2 Blog as I was scouring the net looking for Guelph-related political topic material last week. A letter was posted entitled, “What Guelph Really Needs,” and for the most part it was the typical plebiscite about how Guelph doesn’t have enough shopping and how the City is apparently unwilling or unable to do anything about it.

If I sound harsh towards the letter writer and his intentions, that’s only half true. Mining underneath there’s a truth that parts of Guelph look dangerously like bedroom communities, and in general our city needs more balance in its commercial space, but that’s not what got me. It was this, the second line from the letter: “You say we should take BMA’s suggestion and compare ourselves with Barrie – there’s no comparison, nor is there with places like Cambridge, Norval, Halton Hills, and shortly Fergus. We are falling that far behind the times.”

The letter writer’s right, there is no comparison between Guelph and places like Norval and Halton Hills, but he does seem woefully misinformed as to why. Of course, if the writer, who only identified themselves as “BA,” was really informed on the subject he or she would then know that Norval is technically part of Halton Hills and not a community that stands apart from it. Now that I’ve had my snooty moment, let’s look deeper at why BA (Baracus?) is wrong. What makes me know better? Why I’m from Georgetown, of course. DA-DA-DA-DUM!

(Georgetown is the biggest part of Halton Hills, a community of nearly 55,000 made up of Georgetown and surrounding districts like Acton, Stewarttown, Limehouse, Hornby, Glen Williams, and yes, Norval.)

To kick off, let’s start where BA started: transportation. “Massive sections of this city have no grocery store within any type of reasonable area – and these areas do not have bus service,” writes BA. “The closest corner store, also not within walking distance may not have what they require. And, heaven forbid they don’t drive – cab fares are in excess of $30.00 to get them to Guelph’s ONLY 24 hour grocery store.”

BA raises a good point, and it’s a point that would be further solidified if it hadn’t been for the previous mention of Halton Hills. You know what passes for public transportation in Georgetown? The GO Bus that leaves from Guelph for Brampton every three hours and the GO train that leaves Georgetown for Toronto twice a day. And B.A. may complain about four grocery stores being centralized in the south end of Guelph, well there’s only four in the whole of Georgetown. And if you live in the west end of town you’re screwed because all but three of those stores are in the far east end, and the other one is practically in Milton.

So if you’re a senior, a person of limited means or a person with limited mobility, you’re screwed if you want to do a little thing like go grocery shopping or go to Zellers to get a new pair of shoes, you might be out as much as a $30 round trip by taxi, or at least $15 if you don’t mind the 45 minute to an hour walk one way. You would think an area where services are spread so thin (Halton Hills covers 275 square kilometres), would adopt some kind of public transit service, but the truth is they don’t want it. You see, public transit matters most to two types of “undesirable people”: the poor and the immigrants. No one will tell you that to your face, but it’s understood that that’s the reason.

Mobility is a large issue in terms of making sure that we have a vibrant and liveable community, and I think that’s the point that BA is trying to make. However, the answers to Guelph’s problems won’t be found in Halton Hills, and on the surface of it, I’d rather that Guelph did not look like big box havens like the outlining areas of Cambridge. There’s room from improvement, but the backwards slide in making Guelph another bedroom community is a slippery slope.

I’ve Got Issues (For you to think about this Fall)

So it’s officially summer and you’re just about ready to put politics out of your head for a couple of months. Who can blame you? Well, before you check out, or heck, even if you have no intention checking out, I thought it’d be corking if we ran down some of the issues that might make the grade in this fall’s municipal election. (Or at least the top five issues that are important according to my own meandering experience.)

1) Transit

With the bright, shiny transit hub ready for groundbreaking and the Guelph’s Transit Growth Strategy revealed earlier this year, why does transit in this city still suck? And if you’ve been taking the bus lately, you will have noticed that it sucks just a little more. The so-called summer schedule has been pock-marked by longer waits, late buses and only the vaguest hope that you might make it downtown on time to get your transfer. Plus, people that use city buses are left holding their bag on Sundays this August, when Sunday is put on hiatus. Oh, and if you’re having trouble with the new normal, don’t look for support from city management.

In this day and age, in a city this size, it’s irresponsible and short-sighted for Guelph to be cutting back on transit as a stop-loss measure for budget deficits. And the fact that they talk about the future of transit while cutting it in the present makes city council and staff seem hypocritical. When the TTC strikes for a day the Provincial government comes in on a Saturday to order them back to work. In Guelph, a day without transit is cost effective.

2) City Finances

It was the worst of times and it was the even more worst of times at budget meetings last fall as councillors’ deliberations veered more towards what not to cut as opposed to what can we cut. As previously discussed, transit was a big victim of the proverbial machete, but even if you don’t take the bus, you would have surely enjoyed the first of five so-called “Karen Days” this past Monday. While the complete closure of the city for five days this summer has numerous people’s fingerprints on it, there’s still something odd about a city that threatens facility closures, yet still has cash money for indulgences like pissoirs and downtown beautification.

3) Development

It’s an ongoing issue, and one that will keep going in every election from here till eternity. Still, I think there are a lot of questions people have regarding the city’s growth strategy, as well as issues regarding specific corners of the city in their own wards. Generally speaking, I would love to hear about the city’s brownfields and any plans on making these spaces viable rather than mowing down more green space.

4) Downtown

There’s no question that there are still a lot of issues to be worked out in the core. For one thing, there’s a whole block that stands near empty with nothing but a vague promise that it may one day be developed into a swanky new anchor for culture in our downtown. But how about finishing works-in-progress like The Gummer Building, which has stood in a state of half-finishedness for over a year now? Plus the semi-artificial clash between day-downtown and night-downtown needs to be rectified. There’s something wonderful about how the same space can mean two different things depending on the time of day, but still there are concessions to be made on both sides. And for the record, I’m still against having people pee in the street in a big plastic can, not matter how French you make it sound.

5) Arts & Culture

Since the last election, Guelph has lost one movie theatre, several small art spaces and more or less hung a condemned sign on the largest music venue in the city not called The River Run Centre of Sleeman Centre. Combined with the postering flap a few weeks ago and what I see is a trend city hall double speak: we love our artistically vibrant city, so long as you have a Trillium grant. Saying that you love the arts isn’t enough, it means accepting that indie artists are going to put up posters because they have no other means to advertise and that they need spaces they can afford in order to do their work in. Lip service only counts if your name’s Ashley Simpson.

For more on Election 2010 go to http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

Temple Debate, Farbridge 3-Peat & Valeriote's Guests

Temple debate gets more heated

Even before the city council planning meeting this past Monday, the heat was already turned up on the proposed construction of a Sikh temple in the southend of the city. The proposal to develop a four acre site along Claire Rd between Victoria Rd and Tolton Dr has been highly controversial with neighbourhood residents due to potential increases in noise and traffic to the area, as well as the temple’s planned size and height. Initial community feedback at a meeting in December highlighted these concerns especially, but in that time a new element has emerged in the debate: The Race Card.

A website called Stop The Temple went online last month as a way for people against the construction of a Sikh temple to organize. However, if you go the site (found at http://stop-the-temple.info/) and register, it’s not just the power of community organizing you’ll be struck by. Charges of racism and, indeed, hate crimes have been levied against some of the people posting on Stop The Temple. Here’s a sample:

“So any middle eastern minority wants something, they’d better get it! If we oppose we are all racist, and discriminating! God forbid we offend these people. Last I checked, they are suicide bombers, child molesters, they kill their kids because they go out after dark, rapists, Con artists, Scammers. Sorry no offence I don’t want to take the risk of hundreds more moving to this community, and opening hundreds of corner stores, pizza pizza's and subways. Enough is enough. You have Brampton. Move there, stay there, and leave our city alone.”

And then there’s the next comment entitled “Next a mosque”

“First it’s a Sikh Temple. Next it will be a Mosque. Both are violent cults and next it will be a memorial to martyrs aka terrorists. We must stop this eastern influence.”

In 1964, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart tried to explain the definition of "hardcore" pornography and obscenity. I think his words, in relation to the two quotes above, should be considered in our discussion today about what racism is: "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced . . . [b]ut I know it when I see it…"

Head over to Guelph Politico at guelphpolitico.blogspot.com for an update on the debate.

Farbridge set to run for third term

Mayor Karen Farbridge announced to a small group of supporters and the media last Wednesday that she was indeed embarking on a bid to win the City’s top job for a third term. “I am excited at the opportunity to serve my community as mayor,” said Farbridge in a City press release. “Our city requires experienced leadership to meet the challenges that are ahead of us, build on successes, and continue the good work we have begun.” Farbridge was first elected as mayor in 2000, but lost to Kate Quarrie in her 2003 re-election bid by 4,000 votes. She then defeated Quarrie by over 5,000 votes in the 2006 election. The Municipal Election will take place on Monday October 25, 2010. To hear Farbridge’s announcement speech head over to Politico.

More Special Guests Courtesy of Valeriote

Our local MP Frank Valeriote has been going out of his way in the bringing of special guest to town in the last couple of weeks. First there was Liberal leader Michael “Iggy” Ignatieff and the week after that it was Justin “You Know My Name” Trudeau. Coming up on Saturday, Guelph will welcome MP for York West Judy Sgro for a townhall on seniors and veterans issues at the Evergreen Seniors Centre. Sgro is the former Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the current Liberal critic for Seniors and Pensions. She’ll be taking audience questions and discussing your concerns starting at 10 am. For more information, get in touch with Valeriote’s constituency office at 519-837-8276 or valerf1@parl.gc.ca

A Week in the Life of a Protest

I got the call at 6:30 am on Monday morning; I was half asleep as I answered the phone. Typically people don’t call me in the “wee hours,” so it surely must have been important, right? Well, while I didn’t remember the details of the conversation, I did remember the context: a small group of about two dozen protestors had taken to occupying the grounds of the future home of the Hanlon Creek Business Park. But this story isn’t just about occupied land it was about occupied time, as the story garnered province-wide attention all last week.

The story started back in January, when new, grassroots opposition to the HCBP started to get louder in the town. The property located in the city’s south end between the Hanlon Expressway and Downey Rd. has been on the books to be the place for new business development for sometime. Concerns have been growing though amongst the Green-minded as the site is home to an old growth forest, which coupled with the possible presence of the endangered Jefferson Salamander makes the HCBP site highly sensitive.

The occupation began at 7 am on Monday. The protestors made camp and proceeded to disrupt workers from Drexler Construction who were hired by the city to construct a four-lane road. The workers were sent home and their equipment moved to avoid damage. Meanwhile, the protesters prepared for the long haul. Their intention, as I was told later on Monday, is to stay on the site until forcibly removed or the date of September 15^th, when it would be too late in the season for construction to begin. It wouldn’t be until Wednesday afternoon when the city responded officially to the protest.

I first visited the protest site on Monday afternoon and I was greeted by two individuals who identified themselves as "Faren Carbridge" and "Keter Partwright." The talked about how they weren’t surprised that the “bureaucratic process” had failed, meaning the pursuit of stopping construction on the site through direct interaction with stakeholders and advocacy through awareness. “Faren” added that she was disgusted by the City’s promotion of its green roof and other environmental initiatives at the new city hall even as they planned to plough over such a huge tract of land for development. While the number of people on-site increased to anywhere between 40 and 60 at any given time, “Faren” and “Keter” said that many more are with them through letter writers to demonstrations put on in the city.

Wednesday afternoon saw delivery of an eviction notice by Peter Cartwright, the city’s Manager of Economic Development Services. It ordered that all protestors must vacate the land by 4 pm Thursday or be charged with criminal trespass. Come Thursday afternoon, the group had become literally entrenched on the site; blockades were put up along the farm path to the protesters camp and roads in and out of the area had ditches dug in front of them to prevent vehicle entry. Numbers at the camp had also swelled, as the protesters were prepared to stand their ground. "Everybody's decided what their own response is going to be," is all "Keter Partwright" would say in terms of the group’s plans in the event of forced eviction by police. Mostly though, he said that they were trying to focus on the positive experiences.

By 5:30 pm it seemed that the police weren’t coming, at least not that day. No further communication from the city was received until Friday when the protesters were served with notice that the city was seeking an injunction in court on Tuesday to force their removal. By that point though the occupation will have been eight days, and already a powerful point’s been made by a small group of dedicated local citizens. It should be noted for those occupying the HCBP land are not affiliated with the group Land Is More Important Than Sprawl (LIMITS) or other groups. They are individuals acting on their own in common purpose. For updates on these and other stories go to Guelph Politico at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com

The Last Stand of a Family Thrift Store

Along the aisles of this store is a veritable haberdashery of knick-knacks and articles. A certain Echo columnist once completed his set of McDonalds collectable Batman Returns cups here.

But on this Thursday, you can walk past tiki heads, Buddha statues, convenience store candy racks, old sports jerseys, and stacks of VHS tapes and books. There’s no shortage to the treasures and oddities you’ll find at the Family Thrift Store on Wyndham; be it a valued record or some random guy’s head x-ray.

And that’s to say nothing of all the hundreds of people of limited means that have been assisted by the store since Ray Mitchell took it over 16 years ago. But now it seems increasingly likely that future generations will not have this resource to draw upon.

A council meeting on February 17th seems to have sealed Mitchell’s fate, and that of his store. The city approved the concept calling for the construction of a new 90,000 square-foot building face, the centrepiece of which is the new main branch of the Guelph Public Library. Open space, new parking and a re-development of Baker Street to include new commercial and residential space is also part of the plan.

“This concept for the Baker St. site offers upwards of 20,000 square feet of commercial space, mixed residential development a minimum of 400 public parking spaces,” said Peter Cartwright, Guelph’s General Manager of Economic Development and Tourism Services in a press release. “More details about the types of housing and the distribution of parking spaces will become clearer as we develop our project plan.”

Another aspect that isn’t clear is the timetable. For development to move forward, the four buildings currently sitting on the block – from the Cowboy Bar to the Old Post Office – will have to be torn down. But when? “Somebody should have been here Wednesday morning to give me a time frame, even if the time frame is ‘we don’t know for sure,’” says Mitchell. “At least I’d know, do I have a month? Do I have a year? There’s no common courtesy at all.”

What bothers Mitchell is not so much the city’s slow reaction to giving him firm deadlines to move out, but that they’ve know it’s been coming for a while now. “They spent a million dollars on a search process when they already knew where it was going to be,” says Mitchell. “They pretended that they were going through the process. […] Two years ago, they put a chill on this whole block and that’s why all the buildings are empty.”

Mitchell does have support on council though, despite the overwhelming vote of 10 to 2 for approval of the plan. The two were Ward 6 Councillor Christine Billings and Ward 4 Councillor Gloria Kovach. Amongst their concerns is the loss of commercial space and affordable housing units, as well as taking on the huge cost for construction in the midst of the global economic recession.

“Finance has not conveyed how we are going to pay for it,” explains Billings, who adds that she also has questions about the full extent of the downtown’s parking needs. “The downtown has on numerous occasions requested more parking than they have in the Baker St lot. This current proposal, with the number of residential units identified would not achieve this. When I asked staff at Council if there was enough parking, the response was that they didn’t know.”

“I fully support branch libraries and feel the main branch could use some upgrades, however we don't need to spend $55 million, which will be over $70 million by the time their done for this project,” adds Kovach. “Council needs to be realistic when it comes to spending and realize what is happening economically and to our City.”

Economics are foremost on Mitchell’s mind, both the economics of losing the store that provides his livelihood, and the optics of the city’s desire to remould downtown into something more appealing to a certain type of resident. “What you’re going to get is a downtown full of rich people and the first thing they’re going to do is complain about the noise at night, and then there’s no more night life,” he explains.

“They want it to be ‘family-friendly,’ but my store’s the Family Thrift Store. How much more family-friendly can you get?”

Further, Mitchell accuses city staff of playing a shell game with the announcement of this important vote. “They weren’t even going to let us know about the meeting. They sent out the notice the Friday before the long weekend and we had about three hours to respond on Tuesday morning; we should have had at least two week. They’re really trying to keep opposition to a minimum.”

And the opposition is quite substantial. Mitchell not only donates furniture and other items to local charities, but he donates cheap studio space to local artists and musicians. Even the store itself has become an impromptu musical venue.

Right now, five University of Guelph arts students are using Mitchell’s space, and he considers it a worthy investment because every successful artist needs helping starting out. A fact that the bands Magic and the D’Urbervilles know all too well having owed a degree of their success to Mitchell’s graces.

“I’m only one person, so I won’t be the big loser in the whole thing,” says Mitchell. “It’s going to be my thousands of customers and the kids that come to the concerts and the artists that paint next door. They’re going to be missing me more than I’m missing them.”

Mitchell’s sanguine about his fate. On an above average busy day at the Thrift store the one thing on many of the customers’ minds is “What’s next?” The Guelph Downtown Business Association has said that they will assist businesses and tenants in finding a new location and moving costs, but looking out at the expanse of curios and furniture that stretch across two floors, one’s forced to wonder where such a space downtown can be found. The truth is, and Mitchell agrees, that it probably won’t.

Wyndham Arts Supplies used to be sandwiched between the Cowboy Bar and Family Thrift Store, but it moved across the road and down the street last Fall. Other store fronts on the block have been empty for over a year, with no new renters because of the perception that any store wouldn’t be operating on that site for very long.

Mitchell, and the other tenants that have stayed, now feel the pinch especially. “If I had a lease, they’d by me out of the lease,” explains Mitchell. “But because the fix was in two years ago, my landlord hasn’t given me a lease in two years and now he wants to put my rent up because if it goes to expropriation he gets more money.”

Despite his steady business, and a grassroots effort for a reprieve, Mitchell sees the writing on the wall. “I’m completely screwed,” he says flatly, adding that the only compensation he could get is in the seemingly unlikely event he could find a new location for his store. In the meantime though, “My sales go down, my rent goes up and if I leave then he gets rent relief from the city because he lost his tenant. So at the end of the day he can end up with no tenants and more money.”

But what happens to the vast array of items in the actual store? “It goes to the dump or maybe a big free sale,” says Mitchell. “Or maybe we’ll get a chain gang together and take it all down to city hall and dump it out front. I’m not really sure.”

Lafarge, Valeriote and Heritage

Lafarge deal good, but not for all

A deal reached between the City, the Howitt Park Neighbourhood Residents' Association (HPNRA) and Silvercreek Developments was formally approved by council last Monday allowing development at the Lafarge site to proceed, and shorten the hearing process at the Ontario Municipal Board. Only Armel Corp, the fourth party involved in the mediation process, has refused to endorse the deal, which was reached after nearly half-a-year of negotiating. Mayor Karen Farbridge was pleased, saying that this will save taxpayers money at the OMB. “At the very least we’ll be able to reduce the length of the hearing, which will reduce the cost of the hearing to taxpayers,” Farbridge said Monday.

The key components of the deal include: A main street area for restaurants and other services along Silvercreek Parkway between Paisley and Wellington streets; a business park, residential community and park on the east side of Silvercreek Parkway; and retail/commercial uses on the west side of Silvercreek on lands bounded by the Hanlon Expressway. Farbridge said that she was grateful that an agreement could be reached given the fact that this brownfield is a “difficult site for development.” She added, “I think we’re really impressed with how hard everybody worked on it, and there was a lot of give on all sides,” she said. She also commended representatives of the Howitt Park Residents’ Association, whose members voted 61 to three in favour of the deal at the end of January, according to HPNRA president Ron Foley.

Valeriote to represent farmers and foodies

Our local MP, Frank Valeriote, has been appointed to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food in the House of Commons. This Committee focuses on bills, expenditures and activities of the organizations that are part of the Agriculture and Agri-Food portfolio, including issues such as farm income, food safety, pesticides and the wheat board, says a Valeriote office press release. The position’s a natural fit for Valeriote who advocated heavily during the campaign in favour of expanding the opportunities in investment of the Agriculture sector and how it relates to creating a greener economy. “It’s an exciting opportunity for me to focus on Canada’s agriculture industry and our nation’s food supply,” said Valeriote. “There’s no doubt that Canada’s farming industry is facing enormous challenges but is also presented with an exciting range of opportunity with constantly evolving advances and innovation in technology.”

City Hall on Doors Open tour

If you’ve been sitting around, waiting with bated breath to see the inside of the new City Administration Building (AKA: City Hall), fear not because you’ll get your chance on Saturday April 25. The building was announced last week as one of the stops on the eighth annual Doors Open Guelph Tour sponsored the Guelph Arts Council, Heritage Guelph and the city’s tourism office. This will be the first time that the new City Hall will be open to the public before its official grand opening which will hopefully be held in May once the exterior portion is complete. Currently, the interior is expected to be done in March for staff move-ins at the end of the month. The Doors Open event is considered a celebration of the city’s architectural heritage and was started in 2002 as part of Guelph’s 175 anniversary.

More Heritage to celebrate

Stone Road Mall is ready to welcome the pillars of local heritage with its annual Heritage Day celebrations. The main corridor of the mall will contain displays from such groups as Guelph Historical Society, Wellington County Historical Society, Heritage Guelph, Heritage Guelph/Eramosa, Architectural Conservancy – Guelph and Wellington, Guelph Public Library, Hammond Museum of Radio, Guelph Historical Railway Association, Locomotive 6167 Restoration Committee, Guelph Arts Council, Norfolk Street United Church Archives, St. George’s Church Archives, Wellington County Museum and Archives, and Guelph Museums. This year’s celebration is called Spotlight on Heritage, and the exhibits, which are all organized by Guelph Museums, will be on display from 9:30 am to 5 pm. And just so you know, about 30 years before it became known as “Family Day,” the third Tuesday of February was known in Canada as Heritage Day.

Year in Review - 2008

As the wicked pre-New Year weather endures, I find it oddly fitting as a way to describe Guelph politics of this year’s past: it doesn’t rain but it pours. There was no shortage of stories to fill a year end recap, but here, presented, is my humble opinion of the Top 5.

5) Development Wars Continue

On the east end, there was still no movement on a much requested grocery store. Councillors Farrelly and Bell told me last month that it’s because the two grocery companies that own land there are reconsidering the size of their proposed projects. In the north end, Wal-Mart saw its expansion plans defeated in July only to have them approved in September. The big elephant in the room though continued to be the Lafarge Site. A council meeting back in February called to determine the fate of the site was standing room only, but in the months to follow, things got quiet as affected parties went into mediation.

4) Hydro Merger Nixed

Swallowed up by the hoopla over the By-Election (see below), a lot of people missed the debate over a possible merger between Horizon Utilities and our own Guelph Hydro. Those that opposed the deal saw this merger with Horizon, which already covers Hamilton and St. Catherines, as a backdoor to privatization meaning concerns about rate increases, a loss of regulatory authority. On September 28, the merger was defeated in council by a vote of 8 to 5.

3) (Still) Under Construction

Guns N’ Roses was able to release Chinese Democracy this year, but the brand new city hall isn’t done yet. After already numerous delays, the construction company, Urbacon, missed the planned fall opening of the new civic administration building. Exacerbating the problem was the fact that the lease was coming due on city offices all over downtown. So while the new city hall was sitting there waiting to be completed, a number of city workers found themselves working out of boxes, that is if they still had an office. Urbacon was canned and a new company, Alberici, was contracted. Still no word on an end date.

2) Transit Upgrades

At the start of the year, Transit users had to suffer through 40 minute turnarounds. But with the approval of extra city money, and a quarter more per trip from riders, the bus schedule was upgraded to a 20-minute rotation – from first light to the dinner hour every weekday. Meanwhile, GO Transit committed to bring its trains back to Guelph by 2011. Further, council recently endorsed the VIA train station as its preferred site for the GO stop. Though the final decision lies with GO, it’s the hope of some members of city council to create a transit hub where out-of-town buses, trains and Guelph Transit converge downtown. In the meantime, GO’s already increased the frequency of buses on the weekend service of the Acton-Georgetown-Brampton line.

1) The Never Ending By-Election

Brenda Chamberlain had arranged to resign as of April 1, and as the date drew nearer, pressure for an immediate by-election increased. Jack Layton and Stephen Harper showed up in town within a week of each other, several days before Chamberlain’s retirement. In the subsequent months Stéphane Dion and Elizabeth May popped in, and on July 25, the race was on. A veritable cavalcade of special guests came through town, from Tony Clement to Bob Rae to Naomi Klein and Olivia Chow. But the summer by-election fun was cut short one day before the finish line when a full-on national election was called.

In round two, Guelph had to spread the wealth in terms of attention, while the attention of the electorate itself was divided amongst a total of 10 candidates including nominees from the Marijuana, Libertarian and Communist Parties. On Election Day, it took a while to get results, but when the smoke cleared Liberal Frank Valeriote won with about a third of the popular vote and bucking the Blue trend of the region. But Conservative Gloria Kovach stood her ground only three percentage points behind Valeriote, while the Green’s Mike Nagy more than doubled his 2006 take with 21 per cent of the vote.

So that was 2008 in a nutshell, and we eager few that cover the Guelph Beat can’t wait to see what the Royal City will throw at us in 2009.

The Word on Lafarge is Still, “Shhhhhh.”

A small, but highly informed group of local advocates gathered at the Guelph Bible Chapel last Thursday for a meeting of the Howitt Park Neighbourhood Residents' Association. The purpose of the meeting was to let the group’s membership know that they’re still in mediation with the City, Armel and Silvercreek Development, and that they still can’t tell them anything substantive about the fate of the triangular patch of brownfield bordered between the Hanlon, Paisley Road and Waterloo Street. Still with an Ontario Municipal Board Hearing slated for early January, the executive felt they had to say something to the membership, said HPNGA exec member Ron Foley.

To recap, here’s how we got to this point. For years now, there’s been a question about what can be done with the track of land known affectionately as “the Lafarge site” for the cement factory that once stood on that spot. The factory was closed in the mid-90s and subsequently torn down, since that time the land’s been used for biking, jogging, dog-walking and numerous other functions by neighbourhood residents. Recently Armel and 6&7 Developments, the peeps behind the Wal-Mart on Woodlawn, wanted to build a 400,000 square foot retail park on the land. There was some disagreement on that point.

On June 3^rd at a city council meeting, the city unanimously denied the application to rezone the area, which would have paved (pun intended) the way for the beginning of construction on shopping centre. With council’s disproval, it seemed to be full-steam ahead to the OMB, a process that’s always costly and would be nearly repetitive after the Residents for Sustainability’s decade long fight against Wal-Mart. But in the days following, Silvercreek Developments, the City and HPNRA hammered out a “wish list,” a detailed account of what each group would like to see. The next step was mediation, a process that’s moved forward in good faith since late-September and continued through to last Friday, December 12.

While mediation is taking place, a media blackout’s been in affect, so news as to how the talks have been progressing, whether that news is good or bad, has been unavailable. Foley says that members should know by this week what the outcome of the last two months of negotiations have been and more importantly, whether its onward and upward to the OMB hearing on January 12. In the meantime, HPNRA felt they owed their members something, and despite the difficulty in getting people out to a community meeting in the midst of the Christmas rush, they decided to bring the update, such as it was, to the group.

On the books for HPNRA now is the recruitment of new members and fundraising. The current roster of 107 was joined by some new inductees at the meeting, but the neighbourhood group is reaching out to include members from the entire city to join them in the fight against the proposed development. As for fundraising, the costs the group is currently incurring is the retaining of a lawyer from the firm Smith/Valeriote and a couple of urban planners from the Davidson Group. If the mediation fails and the OMB hearing proceeds, both these costs will increase because, according to Foley, the OMB will take you more seriously with the infrastructure backing you up. Only one thing is for certain though, and it has to do with the most controversial part of the development: the underpass connecting the south and north sides of Silvercreek Parkway. The money for the underpass is listed D.C., or “Development Charge” in November’s draft of the 2009 budget. Going along with this is pre-existing concerns in the area over traffic and the desire for calming measures to be implemented.

Undoubtedly, there will have been developments since the time I wrote this piece and when this issue of Echo was published. For any updates that may have broke, head over to the old blog at http://guelphbyelectionbeat.blogspot.com/ for all the details.

Winegard Walks, Lafarge Talks & City Haggles

Winegard speaks out on Harper

By the time you read this, either Stéphane Dion has seized power in a bloodless coup that undermines our democracy or Stephen Harper did the right, Canadian thing and ask the Governor General to put Parliament on hold till cooler heads prevail. Hopefully, whatever’s going down it’s not another election, but I can tell you one thing: Mr. Harper hasn’t made any friends after current events with at least one high profile Guelph Conservative. In an article for the Guelph Mercury, former Guelph Conservative MP (1984 – 1993) Bill Winegard told the paper that a coalition government is “a slap on the wrist” for Prime Minister Stephen Harper “and in my opinion one he deserves.”

Winegard, who’s still active in the local wing of the party, went on to say that the situation stems from people’s belief that Harper was going to put aside partisan politics for the good of the nation, out response to the global economic crisis. This did not happen though when Jim Flaherty gave his financial update to the House two weeks ago. “I think it's a most unfortunate situation, but regretfully Mr. Harper brought it on himself,” Winegard said. “People wanted assurances they would be protected financially … and what they got was a rather fighting document, which didn't address any of those things and instead addressed only party politics.”

Lafarge talks remain secret

Things might be moving forward on the Lafarge front, although to what extent we have no idea because there’s at present a media blackout on the top level negotiations between a number of players. Apparently talks resumed between the city, 6&7 Developments, Armel Corp., the Howitt Park Neighbourhood Group and the Lafarge developer last week in an attempt to resolve the development stand still through mediation. The hope is to have a deal in place before the Ontario Municipal Board hearing on January 12; if mediation fails, the OMB is the next hope to resolve the matter.

In case you can’t remember, the debate is as to whether or not a 400,000 square foot retail part will be built on the land at Silvercreek Parkway South. The city and the HPNG are against the current plan, but the debate is fairly open as to what sort of things could possibly be built there instead. The media blackout will continue through the mediation, although the HPNG will be holding a meeting tonight at Guelph Bible Chapel, 216 Silvercreek South, to discuss the outcome of mediation talks. Everyone is invited to come.

Council haggles over budget

After last Monday’s council meeting, the budget, as presented in its current form, calls for a 5.3 per cent tax increase for the 2009 fiscal year, but that might not be the end of it. The 5.3 per cent increase translates to about an extra $12 per month for the average taxpayer, but that might not be the end of it. Ward 2 Councillor Ian Findlay put forward a motion to direct city staff at seeing if that increased tax burden could be reduced to 3.75 per cent, in order to respond to his constituents’ concerns. The motion was passed unanimously, and options will be presented at the December 15 council meeting where the budget will hopefully be voted upon. Chief administrative officer Hans Loewig, while promising to look at options, stressed that given the turbulent economic waters, it’s important for council to pass a budget before the end of the year.

Amongst the items already modified from previous budget discussions is the deferment of the purchase of land for the new library and Baker Street redevelopment project until 2010 and the air quality monitoring project from the Hanlon will be spread over nine years rather than two. Basically, new and future services projects will be targeted for money saving initiatives. The city’s also looking at increased user fess, delaying capital projects and using reserve funds in order to make ends meet. The Guelph City Council - 2009 Operating & Capital Budgets Deliberation & Approval meeting takes place on Monday, December 15 at 7 pm in the main council chamber in City Hall.

Ward 2: Always Stable, But Ready for Change

Welcome back to part two of my six part series, “Better Know a Ward.” This week: Ward 2 – St. George’s. Located in the northeast corner of the city, Ward 2 pretty much covers everything east of Woolwich and north of Eramosa and Eastview Roads. Amongst its attractions are Riverside Park and Goldie Mill, the oldest saw mill in the city established the same year as Guelph: 1827.

Vicki Beard and Ian Findlay, both elected in 2006, are the councillors responsible for speaking for the residents of Ward 2, which boasts the highest number of long time residents, including seniors and young families, and is home to a lot of Guelph’s post-war development. On the cutting edge of innovation as well, Ward 2 also has the world’s first “Pollination Park,” which lies atop the old Eastview landfill and is a research project commissioned by the University of Guelph for which Beard is an excited and passionate advocate for.

“It’s probably the most established ward in the city in that there’s not a lot of new development,” says Findlay when I meet up with him and Beard at the Cornerstone, downtown. “There are not a lot of infill opportunities either; it’s pretty much built up. There’s a little bit happening on Woodlawn and Victoria, but I would certainly suggest it’s the most stable.”

Stable, except for the fact that Ward 2 is “ground zero” as Findlay describes, for the city’s termite problems, although their number have gone down in the last few years. A repurposed and dedicated city department has been exceptionally helpful in tackling the problem, explains Findlay. “One of the first things we did when we got on council was retain Dr. Tim Myles from the University of Toronto. He’s one of the pre-eminent termite experts in all of Canada.”

Another change that Ward 2 residents have been positive about is the expansion of service on Guelph Transit and the new “Downtown on the 20” schedule. Beard and Findlay say that they’ve heard from poeple a desire to do more for the environment and conservation on a local level, and giving more support and money to buses was a good, first step. “We’re not done fixing transit, but this was a big step, a huge commitment on the part of the city but we’re not suggesting that all the problems are solved yet,” says Findlay. “And we need a strategic transit plan and that’s coming up in the next little while,” added Beard.”

Less pleased, were Ward 2 residents, about their councillors’ votes over the recent proposed expansion of the Wal-Mart at Woolwich and Woodlawn. A vote that both Beard and Findlay say has been mischaracterized. “I did not vote ‘No’ on the Wal-Mart expansion,” says Beard emphatically. She was in favour of the expansion as presented in a city staff report, which called for numerous environmental and energy friendly benchmarks, but what she ended up voting against was the 6&7 Developers plan as presented to council at the July 7 meeting which didn’t include any of those things. “Their answers did not match that report,” she adds.

“A final decision has not been made, I think we need to make that clear,” continues Findlay. “The motion was to approve [the proposal] as was, and that was defeated. We still need to give formal direction to city staff, but this will be coming back to council for further consideration.”

“We represent people in our ward that want that expansion, we see it as a non-issue – it’s going to happen, we want it to happen,” says Beard, who adds that other developers in Guelph have gone out of their way to meet the city’s commitment to sustainability and environmentally friendly alternatives. “We have to get this straight,” adds Beard, “It’s not the developer; it’s how we want the development to happen.”

The vote certainly got people talking which was good news for Ward 2’s biggest act of transparency: the Ward 2 blog maintained by Findlay and contributed to by both councillors. Findlay says the blog serves multiple purposes: not only can he and Beard talk directly to their constituents, and they respond back, but serves as a paper trail, so to speak, in highlighting residents concerns before the council. Plus the blog has a pretty liberal open door policy. “Any letter that comes in, providing that they’re not too personal, I will post,” says Findlay. “Critical: absolutely. But if they start identifying people and getting derogatory then they don’t get posted. I don’t filter it in any other way.”

To keep up-to-date with the goings on in Ward 2, you can visit the blog at http://ward2guelph.wordpress.com/

Lafarge Plan Approved, Wal-Mart Wants to Expand

Council Takes Charge of Lafarge

The development debate has geared back up in the last couple of weeks, with breaking news in terms of the planning for a couple of controversial sites.

At a council meeting on June 3, a plan endorsing the large scale commercial development of the Lafarge lands in the city’s west end was unanimously rejected in a 10-0-1 vote. The triangular shaped land is currently an open green field bordered by the Hanlon Expressway and two sets of CN Railway tracks that run parallel to Paisley Rd. and Waterloo St., respectively. The land is owned by the Lafarge company, which formally had a plant on the property until it closed in the 90s.

Plans for the Lafarge lands have been the biggest development controversy in the Royal City since the fight to stop the construction of Wal-Mart at the corner of Woodlawn and Woolwich. Many residents in the area of the Lafarge site, most of whom are part of a group called the Howitt Park Neighbourhood Residents' Association (HPNRA), have been fighting against the proposed commercial development on the land out of worry of the drastic effect such a facility would have on the neighbourhood.

Ward 3 Councillor Maggie Laidlaw has been one of the strongest voices in City Hall for the con side of the commercial development. “From beginning to end, several delegates have said (big box stores are) unanimously opposed by the neighbourhood, yet big boxes are still in the proposal,” said Laidlaw. “So much for neighbourhood input. This was mere lip service by the developer in my opinion.”

But the game was not over however. Silvercreek Guelph Developments Ltd, the developers behind the push to rezone the Lafarge site, pre-emptively took the case to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), who has the ability overturn council’s decision. A pre-hearing was set for late last week, but details were unavailable before deadline. Steve Zakem, a representative for Silvercreek said that no matter the decision, his group is still prepared to work with the city, but HPNRA appears intractable saying that any reworking of the site is like “fiddling around with the application and is like putting lipstick on a pig,” according to Susan Watson, an area resident.

While a few of the councillors weren’t opposed to development of the site per se, the vote came down to a matter of logistical problems with the proposed plan. Chief among those was access to any commercial shopping centre on the land that would that would draw more traffic to already congested arteries on Paisley and Waterloo. As well there’s some question as to who would be responsible for the construction of an underpass where the CN tracks divide Silvercreek Pkwy, north and south.

Expanded Service for the Smile?

Mark your calendars for July 7, because that’s when a development oldie but goldie comes back to council: Wal-Mart, who this time is looking for approval to expand.

Scott Hannah, the city's manager of development and parks planning, says look for planner’s recommendations to be released prior to that meeting, but basically it comes down to this: 6&7 Developers want 195,000 square feet of new space. Of that, 65,000 will go to Wal-Mart to add a grocery store while the remaining 130,000 will be up for grabs to other retailers.

The not-entirely unexpected expansion proposal was brought forward just over a year ago and was immediately met with strong opposition from Wal-Mart’s arch-nemesis Residents for Sustainable Development. “Given that this site's location is in one of the least populated areas of the city, and that the vast majority of residential growth is to the west, east and south, allowing more commercial development on this site now would only delay or even stop commercial development in areas where shopping and services are more needed,” wrote anti-Wal-Mart crusader Ben Bennett in a letter to the city’s planning department last summer.