Budget, Snow Days and Baseball

There Will Be Budget

Opening arguments were made for the 2011 capital and operating budgets last Monday night at City Council. First the good news: revenues are bouncing back and signs point to a recovery in the local economy following the last, great worldwide recession. Because of that, the City’s looking to loosen the purse strings and get hiring. Additionally, there will be no five-day layoffs or shutdowns in 2011, with the City of Guelph being open all 52 weeks this year. Most of the new hiring has to do with the plethora of new city facilities coming on line this year – the transit hub, Market Square, the new Civic Museum and Organic Waste Plant. Additionally, there are new city facilities that were opened in 2010, that will now have to be covered for a full year of operating expenses.

But you can’t have good news without some bad news, and though a lot of the pre-recession spending was returned, not all of it was. There’ll be no 20-minute service for Guelph Transit this summer, and indeed, there may even be a cash fare increase of 10 cents, which could be integrated as early as May. But Transit may not be the only fee increase coming to a city service near you in 2011; parking fees in particular will increase with the additional revenue being put towards transit. As for the number we’ve all been waiting for, the bump in the property tax, which will see an increase by 5.67 per cent. City Staff wanted to make particular note that they were trying to balance sustainability and affordability in going in to this year’s budget.

To learn more about this year’s budget and to follow the process along in the coming month, go to my blog at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

In Reverse

Was everybody else underwhelmed by the “snow-pocalypse” that hit us last week? Certainly, there were a lot of people unpleased initially by the sheer tonnage of snow being forecast, and then later by the fact that we only got a percentage of what was promised. Apparently, there’s no pleasing some people. Too much snow, not enough snow, and on top it, the whole thing went down on Groundhog Day. Cosmic coincidence, or was Mother Nature flipping us the bird for all the whining despite the fact that this was the worst winter storm to hit us in over two years?

But out of that contradiction came an even more interesting phenomenon. For only when the weather threatens to make the Hoth system look like a tropical vacation does the University of Guelph pre-emptively shut its doors. To all our U of G readers, I hope you enjoyed your snow day, because God knows there’s a better chance of a rich man passing through the eye of a needle than the administration of the University deciding to put the kibosh on a day of classes. I went to school at the U of G for four years and worked there for another three, and I can count on one hand the number of times that place was closed. It’s not often that the phrase “Once in a Blue Moon” gets taken so literally.

No Joy in Royal City Ville

The outlook wasn't brilliant for Guelph baseball fans last Wednesday; time had run out and the City’s Intercounty Baseball League team, The Royals, had no more innings to play. The last hope for a lease at Hastings Stadium died first, and the patience of the IBL did the same. A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game. It was a silence that seemed to extend to Royal’s president and managing partner Jim Rooney, who emailed a short news release last Wednesday afternoon to the Guelph Mercury. It said that his team “has not reached an agreement for a long-term lease agreement with the City of Guelph. As a result, the Team will ask the IBL to suspend operations for the 2011 season.”

Big deal, you may scoff, it’s just small town baseball. Well the situation is this: The Royals are one of the IBL’s founding members, now benched for the 2011 season. The difficulty isn’t just in the fact that an agreement on the stadium wasn’t quite able to be reached, but because the matter ate additional time needed to shore up the team’s financials for this coming season. The shame of it is that The Royals are a solid team. They’ve made the playoffs the last 11 seasons in a row, won back-to-back championships in 2003 and 2004, and have made it so far as the semi-finals the last three years in a row. Strange that this winning team shall be forced to stay home for a year, while the Blue Jays continue to fumble all the way to the bottom of the standings… C’est la vie.

Build the World of the Dream

With so much talk the last few weeks about potential construction projects that can radically change the atmosphere of the City of Guelph, perhaps a little waxing and waning about nostalgia and the Royal City’s yesteryears was inevitable. As with all government projects, it never takes long for a strong vocal opposition to make its presence felt, as it was in the case of the proposed student high rises at Gordon and Stone, and now the proposed condominium at Woolwich and Macdonell.

The thing that gets me is with these issues is how people want to have their cake and eat it to. People want lower taxes, but the same (if not expanded) level of service. They want state of the art infrastructure and roads, but complain about the construction that makes it so. They hate having students spread out across the City and having a (perceived?) negative impact on their neighbourhoods, but they also don’t want them in all together in one place if it means building a tower.

These dualities are inherent in human nature. We want to park where we want despite the rules, yet see others punished by them. We want to eat junk food and stay paper thin. We want the exaltation of beating the latest Zelda game, but do so by looking up cheats online. We want a world of improbabilities, but reality has some strict rule about cause and effect. But what if it didn’t? What if you could build the Guelph of you dreams?

BRRRRRRRAAAAAWWWWRWRRRMRMRMMRMRMMMMM!!!

I have conflicting moments myself. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I love the construction-in-progress inter-module transit hub. However, in the process of seeing the darn thing constructed, a couple of the added value items had to be tabled. Items like heated bus shelters and additional public washrooms had to be put on the “We’ll get to those later” list, and though that wasn’t the greatest news, it wasn’t really a deal breaker for me to not support the project. Really, I was more disappointed with the fact that the hub will close the pedestrian tunnel behind the current Greyhound terminal. There’s such wonderful graffiti down there.

As I recently noted on my blog, Guelph Politico, if I could conjure a change to Guelph, it would be to establish another movie theatre. Honestly, it need not be a state-of-the-art monstrosity of seizure-inducing lights and sounds, I’ll take a second run house like the old Three Star, where the popcorn flowed cheap and admission prices more inline with the quality of the Hollywood hogwash on its six screens. And I would get to this theatre by street car, which did actually operate in the Guelph of olden times. Sure, a recent survey conducted by a consultant said that Guelph’s streets were too skinny for light rail, but this is Inception world and I can widen the streets on a whim.

Other dreams, however, are less fanciful and have an actual shot at becoming reality. I refer to Guelph’s bid to become Canada’s Hockeyville. The contest put on by Kraft and the CBC, which closed last Sunday, invited Canadian residents to tell stories and send pictures about their local arena and prove why your community should be deemed “Hockeyville.” The prize is $100,000 in upgrades for the arena, a NHL pre-season game and a visit from Hockey Night in Canada. I’ll admit that last part got me excited because I have a lemon meringue ready for Don Cherry’s face after that “pinko-commie” bike rider comment at Rob Ford’s inauguration.

But aside from my own life goals, Guelph has responded with aplomb to the notion of being named Hockeyville. The amount of stories and photos provided about the arena in Exhibition Park put Guelph in the Top 3 cities in Ontario in terms of responses. (Guelph’s dedication certainly exceeded that of my hometown of Georgetown, which had a total of one story and one photo in support of its local arena.)

Could Guelph have done better though? Certainly an editorial writer in the Guelph Mercury thought so, and they were wondering where exactly the rookie Ward 2 Councillor, former NHL officiator Andy Van Hellemond, was with his vocal, public and sun eclipsing support for making his town Hockeyville. “We suspect Van Hellemond may be wary of jumping on this bandwagon because it could see him regarded anew as the ex-NHLer and not as a councillor with many interests,” said the editorial published on January 11^th. “If that’s the case, don’t sweat such worries councillor. You’ll take a bigger political beating over sitting this one out than by jumping in.”

Call me kooky, but do you think that being a part of City Council for a little more than a month and looking down the maw of pressing issues concerning city development and finances might have Van Hellemond’s head in bigger places than getting Guelph a fake honorific. Besides, Van Hellemond was born in Winnipeg, so I’d wager that he doesn’t have a lot of childhood memories of skating at Exhibition Park, which is the point of this thing anyway.

And I may be dreaming, but considering that Guelph is the Royal City, isn’t winning the title of “Hockeyville” a little like the King of England abdicating and running for Mayor of Leeds. Just sayin’.

BRRRRRRRAAAAAWWWWRWRRRMRMRMMRMRMMMMM!!!

Happy Anniversary

Let’s start this one by saying “Happy Anniversary.” This time last year, the attentions of our sorted little berg were focused on the southern most end of the city, on a little parcel of land which will eventually house the Hanlon Creek Business Park. A group of well-meaning and devoted activists took to the land and settled there in an effort to stymie construction, and to everyone’s surprised, it worked. For a while anyway.

Many thought that the spring thaw would not only mean the beginning of shovels in the ground for the HCBP, but a welcome back for the protestors after the winter break. Yet this has not come to pass. On the HCBP there are signs and security, but aside from a bizarre attempt to grow illicit substances, there’s been neither hide nor hare of disruptive activity. So what’s the deal? Was hating on the HCBP a passing fancy, or have protestors merely admitted defeat in the wake of construction going full speed ahead?

Or is it neither? For those on the left that admire themselves as more active, there was another once in a lifetime attraction that drew their attention this past June. If you have read the papers then you know that the arrests made during the G20 in Toronto rounded up the usual suspects in terms of direct action in Guelph. Trapped in the midst of various states of legality, it’s probably hard to plot further grassroots action when you’re sitting in jail for weeks. Understandable, but the question’s been asked: does Guelph breed troublemakers?

As the Reverend Lovejoy once observed “Short answer ‘yes’ with an ‘if’; long answer ‘no’ with a ‘but.’” So yes if you count aggressive activism as a sign you’re a troublemaker. However, the answer can also be no considering that a small group doesn’t indicate a wide-spread pattern and the fact that all the big names in activism locally come from hometown’s not named Guelph. But the Royal City does seem to be some kind of rally point for these like minded people.

Now normally, finding a community where you can be yourself amongst people who believe as you do is considered a good thing, but some of people in Guelph, it seems, have had enough. A recent post on the subject of Guelph-based political activists on the Mercury’s 59 Carden St blog elicited nearly 100 responses, nearly all of which were of the “down with protestors” variety.

On the one hand you can hardly blame people for the reaction because aside from the disruptive nature of these protestors, is their penchant for using illegal or borderline illegal action to get their point across. Fair enough, but the tenor of some of the discussions goes deeper than a “don’t-be-a-menace” type scolding. The inference instead being that if you can’t work within the system, then you should sit down, shut up and accept the world for how it is. Outstanding advice. They said the same thing to all those people that protested the Iraq War when they said it would be costly and wasteful and not yield a single WMD.

For some reason, we consider our democracy as an entity that’s passive and inactive. Aside from the once in a while sojourn to voting booth, if you could limit your participation to the council chamber or a neighbourhood meeting behind close doors, that would be great. Just so long as we don’t have to see it.

A special on MSNBC last weekend called “Politics Gone Wild” showed debates in parliaments from India to South Korea where matters are settled more with melees than points of order. Say what you want about the practice of chair throwing to silence an opposition member, or eating a bill to stop its passing, but you can’t say that these people aren’t passionate about the government. And I have to tell you, going into election season, I hope that we the people of Guelph are even half that passionate.

Just keep the throwing of office furniture to a minimum.

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.

Green Fleet, Clean-Up & War with Kitchener

City Fleet Going Green

All City of Guelph vehicles and equipment will now be subject to stringent guidelines aimed at reducing fleet operating costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, this coming out of the Emergency Services, Community Services & Operations Committee meeting last week. Mostly, these steps have to do with fuel efficiency: how to use vehicles, how to cut down on idling, and how to choose the right vehicle for the right job. “Lowering the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by our fleet is a win-win situation,” says Mayor Karen Farbridge in a city press release. “It supports the goals of our Community Energy Plan, while saving on fuel costs at the same time. I want to thank Operations staff for their commitment to this program." The new guidelines and accompanying training for city staff is in preparation for the city’s first E3 (Energy, Environment, Excellence) review. E3 is North America’s first green rating program for vehicle fleets, that evaluates, audits and recognizes fleets for their efforts in reducing smog and greenhouse gas emissions, fuel use and costs. The review is expected to be done this April.

Clean-Up Crew Looking for Feedback

The Ontario Public Interest Research Group is looking for feedback from the general public as to how they can improve community support for their annual Speed River Clean-Up program. “The spark has gone out of it,” said Alison Morrison, Speed River Project co-ordinator with OPIRG told the Tribune. “Our numbers are dwindling, and we’re not even sure of the impact of sending 200 people into the river on a Saturday morning.” The Clean-Up, which happens every June, recruits volunteers from the community to wade out into the Speed River, and along its banks, in order to clean-up garbage and debris. Among suggested improvements, Morrison offers the possibility of moving the Clean-Up’s base from Royal City Park to Riverside Park, but Morrison says that no changes will be made without public input. “The neat thing about a clean-up is that it’s so simple and it’s a gateway for anybody who has a little bit of an interest in environmental issues,” said Morrison. If you’re interested in giving OPIRG your feedback, then put this address into your web browser: http://speedrivercleanup.freeforums.org/

It’s War: Kitchener vs. Guelph

Who would have guessed that when a 19-year-old Kitchener woman was charged with mischief in a dust-up between Olympic torch security and anti-Olympic protestors in December, that it was a sign of things to come. That’s right, Guelphites, it’s war and the K-W has been hitting us pretty hard the last few weeks. First, a Kitchener man was charged with mischief after phoning Waterloo Regional Police over the Valentine’s Day weekend and telling them that he planted six pipe bombs inside Polycon Industries in Guelph after they fired him. Guelph Police evacuated the plant and searched it and presumably found nothing since the 51-year-old man was charged merely with mischief. Next there was the case of six Kitchener men charged with a string of electronic store break-ins across Guelph and Waterloo Region. Come on, citizens! I say let’s leave the inter-city rivalry where it belongs: on the ice at OHL hockey games with the Storm and the Rangers.

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.

Washington Bound, Commuters Bronzed, and City Hall Party

Mr. Valeriote Goes to Washington

If you’re anything like me then you were sitting around last week wondering just where the heck our Member of Parliament had gotten away to. The answer was Washington D.C., of course. Valeriote was in the US capital with colleagues on the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food to participate in meetings on issues facing the agriculture industry on both sides of the border. He and the other members of the committee met with a number of Congressional leaders including Collin Peterson, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

“It is basically a fact-finding mission to review the United States’ new Country of Origin Labelling regulations which require the segregation of Canadian and American livestock and meat,” said Valeriote in a press release.

The crux is that American processors are passing the cost of separating Canadian and American hogs and cattle on to Canadian farmers. The press release cited that Canadian farm families are disappearing at the rate of approximately 3,600 per year and that such additional costs, no matter how small could hasten that rate combined with already high production costs and low prices. “Clearly, such protectionist efforts hamper Canada-U.S. trade relations in the agriculture industry,” said Valeriote.

Among Valeriote’s stops were the National Meat Association, the American Meat Institute, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Food Marketing Institute. The Guelph MP added that he was keeping in mind what he considered the three “S”s of agriculture and agri-food, Sovereignty, Safety and Security. He also said that he wants to help ensure the viability of agriculture, not just in and around Guelph, but throughout Canada.

“President Barack Obama’s successful visit to Ottawa demonstrates the importance of in-person meetings,” said Valeriote. “They help to create the foundations for a successful working relationship vital to tackling the biggest challenges facing our two countries and the world. “They also underscore a key theme to Mr. Obama's presidency – multilateralism – working together.”

Guelph gets bronze in commuter challenge

In Guelph, 230 participants used carpools, transit, bicycles or their own two feet to travel during Environment Week May 31 to June 6 and compared to other communities of the same size, the city took third place in the National Commuter Challenge. Commuter Challenge participants in Guelph travelled more than 20,000 kilometres using more sustainable transportation methods, and prevented 3,391 kilograms of carbon emissions by choosing not to drive to work that week. Employers that saved the biggest included Compusense Inc. with 186 kg of carbon emissions spared, Neil Consumer Healthcare with 1,045 kg and the City of Guelph with 547 kg of carbon spared from the air.

Party Hard at City Hall

This Saturday marks the official grand opening of the New City Hall at 1 Carden Street. The celebration will include local artists, performers and community groups and everybody coming out will be able to take a tour of the building, enjoy a barbecue lunch and listen to some great music featuring Funky Mamas, the Suzuki String School, the Royal City Ambassadors and The Over Tones. Activities will include Paint the blue boards in front of old City Hall; sidewalk chalk drawing on Carden and a Guelph Photography Guild exhibition called "What makes Guelph, Guelph." For more information log on to http://guelph.ca/grandopening

When Do We Get to Get On GO?

With escalating gas prices, the average consumer is looking for other ways to get a cheaper commute, mostly through looking at public transportation. For commuters going to Toronto daily, this can be tough but it was announced this past week that the province is looking at making things easier by bringing GO trains back to the Royal City.

"There's a huge pent-up demand for commuter rail service to Toronto," Mayor Karen Farbridge told the Toronto Star. Currently, for rail riders in Guelph, the only option is the thrice daily VIA train to Union Station. GO Transit announced last week that it would be studying the feasibility of bringing GO back to Guelph and whether there’s the “pent-up demand” as the Mayor insists.

Bring the GO train back to Guelph has been a secondary issue in the last municipal and provincial elections. The last time that the train did come as far as Guelph was the year 1993. The NDP government of Bob Rae scaled the service back to Georgetown due a deficit of ridership. GO transit users, however, complained at the time that the service was too limiting and if they wanted/needed to stay late at work, then they had to find another way home.

According to Greg Ashbee, GO Transit's manager of rail expansion programs, trains could start rolling back to Guelph with an initial commitment of two daily trains from Guelph to Georgetown, where passengers could make transfer connections be they a second train or bus. Eventually, this could lead to 20 minute GO train service in a direct route from Guelph to Toronto, both morning and evening.

This would be the second expansion of service after GO started running hourly buses from the University of Guelph to Mississauga last fall. It constituted a significant investment as GO supplemented the bus service by helping to pay for a “Park and Ride” lot near Aberfoyle, as well as a heated shelter at their stop at the University. Meanwhile, a GO bus to Union Station still leaves several times a day from the Greyhound Bus Terminal on Macdonell.

Still, there are logistical concerns to be taken into account that have to do with the train station downtown. A letter to the Guelph Mercury wrote that, in the writer’s opinion, the service failed “because Guelph was the only station other than Toronto Union where GO Transit did not provide free parking.”

Parking, as it is currently at the train station, is extremely limited. The station was constructed in 1911 and is designated a Heritage Site under the Railway Station Protection Act, but being situated on the corner of Carden and Wyndham leaves little room for expansion to make better parking facilities.

One of the ideas thrown around has been to use the Lafarge site in the city’s west end as a new transit hub with particular emphasis on a new rail station that can accommodate increased commuter service to Toronto and possibly, in the future, Kitchener. But the fate of the Lafarge site is an entirely separate debate with its own long and complex history.

The report from engineering consultant R.J. Burnside probably won’t be done until early 2009, but the pressure is on for politicians to meet increased demand for public transportation. “It's something the provincial government should give serious consideration to given our population growth and the increasing number of people making the commute to Toronto,” said Ted Arnott, Wellington-Halton Hills MPP and member of the Opposition.

As for the all-mighty dollar, typically municipalities pay no operating costs for GO service. However, they can contribute to funds for service expansion, as Barrie did when they paid a third of the bill for upgrades to GO rail service. It’s unknown right now if and how much the city might be held to for expanding GO Transit in Guelph.

Still Waiting: A By-Election Non-Update

Since I’ve started working on the Guelph Beat column, I’ve kept the focus primarily on municipal politics and issues within the borders of the Royal City. But wait, I thought, isn’t there some very important Federal politics happening in Guelph? Aren’t we currently without representation in the House of Commons, waiting breathlessly for a writ of by-election to be dropped?

Ah yes, I said to myself, I do remember these things correctly.

Brenda Chamberlain’s resignation as Guelph’s Member of Parliament became official on April 7 as she stepped down after nearly 15 years of service. One month later, there’s still no sign that a by-election is forthcoming even though Canadian law deems that one must be called within six months of a vacancy; meaning that the government has until October 7 to call it.

Certainly local candidates appear ready to go anytime between then and now. As I trolled websites this past week, I found a swipe at Chamberlain and the Liberals published on Gloria Kovach’s website. Kovach is the Conservative nominee for Guelph.

“The Liberal Party wasted no time getting out of town,” the April 20 statement said. “Although responsible to maintain the constituency office, they quickly removed all indications that one continues to exist.” The message went on to say that, “No statement has been issued by the departing MP, or local party officials as to how the people of Guelph are to obtain federal government services.”

Well, either in response to Kovach’s website, or in spite of it, an announcement was made two days later that Kitchener-Centre MP Karen Redman would be acting as Guelph’s temporary representative until a new one can be elected. The constituency office on Cork St. remains open even though, yes, it no longer bares the Chamberlain name on the front or any other signing. Redman told the Guelph Tribune that new singing is not usually put up in these instances.

Still, when you walk past the old Chamberlain office, one can’t help but get the feeling of abandonment. For this reporter, when I went by the office myself the other day, I had to stop and think about what was there (and apparently still is there) previously. But what it does do is draw attention to the fact that Guelph currently has no representative in Ottawa, which makes the need for a by-election all the more apparent. Some don’t seem to see it that way though.

Ken Morgan, a candidate for Ward 6 in the last municipal election and current president of Guelph Conservatives, wrote a column for the Guelph Tribune and told Guelphites to “Have patience, Guelph will have a new MP soon enough. We've gone almost a year without one . . . and no one seemed to have noticed . . .”

Morgan also said that, “If the people calling for an immediate by-election were so concerned about Guelph not having representation in Ottawa, where have they been the past few years? Why wasn't Jack Layton standing up in the house almost one year ago demanding that Guelph MP Brenda Chamberlain step aside?”

Well Layton’s man in the Royal City is standing up now. Writing in response to Morgan, in a letter printed April 22 in the Tribune, King said, “As the NDP candidate in Guelph, I want to see a by-election called as soon as possible. Being without an MP to voice our concerns in Ottawa is, frankly, unacceptable and unnecessary. It's rather like playing hockey without a goalie.”

So far, Kovach and King’s fellow candidates, Liberal Frank Valeriote and Green Mike Nagy, have been silent as to where they stand on the immediacy of a by-election. But the smart money says don’t look for a move on any of this until September at the earliest.