SERIES FINALE - Election Results, Quarry Matters and Bus Drama

Sandals Still the Word in Guelph

The news may be a week old, but it’s still worth reiterating. In last Thursday’s Provincial Election, incumbent Liberal MPP Liz Sandals walked to victory in a very competitive race with 19,734 votes, a loss of barely 450 over her total vote load in 2007. Beating her nearest competition by nearly 7,800, it seems that opposition strategy to cast Sandals as Queen’s Park’s cat’s paw in Guelph didn’t seem to carry much water. And the argument for strategic voting doesn’t hold much water either because Sandals easy victory in Guelph was the closest thing to a blow-out in a region full of tight races.

But the real story in Guelph was the number 802, as in the number of votes that separated PC Greg Schirk and NDP James Gordon. Schirk won 11,950 votes to Gordon's 11,148. For Schirk it was a marginal 308 vote loss over what Bob Senechal brought in for the PCs in 2007, but for Gordon it meant a 63 per cent improvement over Karan Mann-Bowers, who ran for the NDP in the last election. Sadly for local Greens, Steve Dyck was only able to collect 3,234 votes, or barely a third of the votes of Ben Polley's third place finish in 2007.

Province-wide though the results for the Liberals weren’t so clear cut, as they won a 53 seat minority government, which is one seat short of securing their third straight majority. But will a minority McGuinty government in Ontario be under the same kind of attack recent minority governments federally were? Unsure. For one thing, McGuinty has a much closer margin than either Paul Martin or Stephen Harper enjoyed, and with so many close races, not to mention an exceedingly low voter turnout, a redo, impromptu election sometime in the next couple of years might work in McGuinty's favour. Then there's the Hudak factor. There are some grumblings about how much the PC leader didn't help the cause with comparisons to the increasing unpopular Rob Ford and commitment to potentially xenophobic and homophobic policies on the campaign trail. In an election where everything seemed in his favour to win, the reasons for Hudak's fortunes are multiple choice.

Either way, it's a new day, (almost) the same as old day in Ontario. Where will go to next?

Sandals Calls Mega-Quarry ‘Bizarre’

In a move that would have scored her points during the campaign (like she needed the help as it turns out – see above), Sandals came out strong against the proposed “mega-quarry” in Melancthon saying that “I think it’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen,” while talking to the Guelph Mercury Editorial Board the day after her re-election.

The word “bizarre” is kind of putting it mildly for advocates against the quarry. An American-backed company is petitioning to build a colossal limestone quarry on 930 hectares of farmland in Melancthon Township in the Hills of Headwaters, about 80 kilometres north of Guelph. The eventual pit will reportedly be as deep, if not deeper than Niagara Falls. The Ministry of the Environment ordered a full environmental assessment of the proposal under the Ontario Aggregate Resources Act. Sandals said that the government couldn’t just say ‘no’ to the plan without a clear, technical reason why the project shouldn’t go forward, and she thinks the assessment will provide such a reason.

“At the end of the process of digging out this great huge pit is that they are going to pump out the ground water in perpetuity and grow potatoes at the bottom of the pit,” Sandals said. “How can you possibly guarantee that somebody is going to pump out anything in perpetuity?” he added before quoting Prince. “That is forever. That is a very long time.”

Bus Hiccup

Regular Guelph Transit users who were eagerly awaiting new routes and new schedules on November 6^th are going to have to put their excitement back in a box. Due to circumstances they should have foreseen, the City of Guelph has had to push back the start date till the New Year.

“Over the past couple of months, we’ve worked hard at planning and communicating the introduction of new routes and improved service anticipating a start on November 6,” says Michael Anders, General Manager of Guelph Transit and Community Connectivity. “We are ready to implement the changes, but because of collective bargaining agreement obligations, we have to move the implementation date to January 1, 2012.”

I can see the new signage running late, but some fine print in the collective bargaining agreement of Transit employees? Isn’t that something that should have been checked first off? Combine this latest incident with thrice delayed transit hub and constant yo-yoing of transit funding, the slogan of Guelph Transit should be “In Your Way” instead of “On Your Way.”

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.

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)