Online Town Hall

As many of you will recall, one of the primary issues in the recent municipal campaign, and indeed some of the strongest promises made by those elected to City Council this time around was… a return to professionalism at City Hall.

We had all grown really tired of the dysfunctional behaviour around the horseshoe; the bickering, attitudes, egos, block voting… the list went on and on. Some of us were so distressed by what we saw that we threw our hat in the ring and ran for office!

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I recently recieved an email from a concerned citizen who wrote:

As a homeowner and taxpayer in your Ward, I feel strongly that the regulation of pesticides should remain the jurisdiction of the Federal and Provincial governments, and that it has no place on the municipal agenda. In my opinion, the City of Guelph has spent an inordinate amount of taxpayers money and Staff’s time in addressing this issue over the last number of years. Please leave pesticide regulation in the hands of the scientists at Health Canada, who have the expertise and the resources to regulate this issue from a scientific and not an emotional perspective.

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The Mayor and a number of Councillors together with the Director of Economic Development met with senior staff at Cargill Meat Solutions (formerly Better Beef) to explore opportunities to further stimulate employment and business development in Guelph.

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The Ministry of Transportation announced this week that it is moving forward with plans to build a new, four-lane highway between Kitchener and Guelph to reduce traffic congestion, improve safety and accommodate growth.

Ironically, while the Ontario government committed to supporting improved transit system to run through the urban cores of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo… the more than 21,000 commuters who travel daily between Kitchener and Guelph will be encouraged to drive their cars.

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The United Way of Guelph & Wellington hosted their Annual General Meeting (AGM) last Wednesday evening. Rather than simply a ‘wine and dine event’, the attendees at the modest dinner were expected to participate in a strategic planning exercise to help guide the future direction and efforts of the organisation.

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City councillors recently received an anonymous email from a resident suggesting that one or two “women from the University” call all the shots at City Council. In addition to being an absolutely absurd proposition, the email was inflammatory and condescending in nature, nevertheless, I believe that it is incumbent upon councillors to be responsive to the electorate.

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