D Redmond

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Doug Ford triggers provincial election

Another earlier-than-necessary election at the taxpayers' expense.

- D Redmond

Council formally opposes use of notwithstanding clause

GuelphToday

A self-congratulating mayor who is overwhelmingly opposed for promoting use of the "notwithstanding" clause should be re-examining who and what he actually represents. Well done council members!

- D Redmond

OPINION: 'Guelph has become a cold and mean place in recent weeks'

GuelphToday

A reporter for the LA Times in 2021 explained why homeless people tend to not leave their communities. If you read about the deaths of homeless people in Guelph-Wellington County, it's common to find that they have relatives who also live here and grieve their loss. (https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-07-27/homeless-people-leave-their-communities)When charitable people help those in need of shelter, clothing and food downtown, they are met with gratitude not threats to personal safety. Not everyone can be helped or 'saved' from the adversities of severe poverty, but giving up is not acceptable to me.It took me 20 minutes of conversation with a panhandling woman in her late 50s on a -20C day in December six years ago to recognize I could no longer ignore homelessness. The woman's hands and feet were wet in non-winter wear, white and numb with prefrostbite. (I bought her dry woolens to put on.) A turn of events could bring anyone of us to a state of homelessness.

- D Redmond

City names builder, operator for affordable seniors' housing project

GuelphToday

Excellent that this housing will provide some much needed residences for low-income seniors.

- D Redmond

OPINION: Does Guelph have power issues, the political kind?

GuelphToday

Thanks for speaking to these issues, Adam. I find it unspeakable that the City claws back funding to The Mission putting more pressure on volunteer groups to fill the social, humanitarian gap they help create. And now those very groups are punished for their service not to mention those being serviced. Has the City made an effort to mitigate the stress placed on these groups by exceptionalized their parking access? No.Are they aware of the boxes, bags and tables of food, hygiene supplies and clothing required to service this community gap? I doubt it. Have counselors met the people (including elderly,and/or cognitively and physically impaired) who provision and use these services to hear their stories? Nah. And where do they believe these CITIZEN service users live? They don't care. Would City Hallers like them to just disappear? I think they would.If all Guelph's uncomfortable realities could be just whisked away so simply, right?

- D Redmond

OPINION: Housing solutions? All quiet on the Wellington County front

GuelphToday

Thank you Adam Donaldson for keeping the spotlight on this massive issue. The worst thing Guelph politicians and concerned citizens could do now is "give up". Failures or not we have to keep chipping away at homelessness and the pressures resulting from the housing shortage.

- D Redmond

Downtown parking enforcement frustrates poverty relief groups

GuelphToday

I hope you will never experience the extreme poverty and day-to-day living like the people who frequent these downtown voluntary services for support. Come by The Bench or Rachel's Table, volunteer to help and listen to the ppl they serve. It is eye and heart-opening.

- D Redmond

OPINION: Canada Day Transit debacle demands a response

GuelphToday

Every city councilor and manager at City Hall should be required to take transit for a week to all their destinations. I'm saddened to learn that 30 years has not made a positive dent in the city's performance on transit. Back then, it would take me 1.5 hours to do a return trip to my son's daycare. Once I wa able to afford a seond-hand vehicle, the return trip was 20 minutes. This scenario is being played out for thousands in Guelph, once to several times every day - people who are a blip on the city's transportation radar.

- D Redmond

OPINION: Despite the attention, we're still nowhere on housing

GuelphToday

It's a combination of factors that pushed the housing shortfall over the cliff. Immigration has shifted down. The why matters less at this point than getting off the pot and addressing the issue from many angles. It strikes me that all levels of government are settled into accepting their preferance for desirable, familiar issues over scary, unfamiliar ones. A hour-long, over-discussed heritage property issue is an avoidance tactic. The expertise on resolving housing shortages is in the wider community but is not being consulted to get achievable results. Major Guthrie and counsel are not demographers or crisis planning experts, so why are they behaving like "we've got this"?

- D Redmond

OPINION: Canada Day Transit debacle demands a response

GuelphToday

Students tend to endure and do not to complain easily, especially as their time in Guelph is relatively short.

- D Redmond

OPINION: Was 2024 the year politics stopped working for the people?

GuelphToday

I'm not sure whether the "new politics" are entirely intentional cruelty or a reflection of fearfulness and ineptitude in handling complex problems that are beyond a single leader's ability to resolve. Our governments don't like historical reflection, slow processes, correcting errors due to novelty and community inclusion. All of these values/factors require the long term view with enough humility to loop feedback into making revisions that improve circumstances for the majority. Many people are holding their breath, waiting for the next great political wizard. We could all listen better using constructive criticism, but that would mean developing real collective conscious over individualism.

- D Redmond

Council has introduced concierge service for parking concerns

GuelphToday

Thanks for pointing out these unfair practices, again, of applying or tweaking municipal laws in Guelph. "Side door chats" to benefit the anonymous few isn't just poor use of strong mayor powers but straying down the path of corruption.

- D Redmond

Eight-hectare parcel of Niska land declared surplus by GRCA

GuelphToday

This is why I didn't purchase a GRCA annual pass this year: short-sighted governance, not stewardship.

- D Redmond

Lloyd Robertson, one of Canada's most recognizable news anchors, dies at 92

Lloyd was sheer dedication and inspiration in Canadian journalism. Sad we've lost him.

- D Redmond

Schreiner calls for moratorium on AI data centres

GuelphToday

We are facing rapid climate change worldwide - see Hungary's recent shutdown of its only nuclear generator due to water sheds drying up. Not studying data centres that currently use massive amounts of water for cooling would be irresponsible to current and future Ontarians. That IS NOT progress to surge ahead without considering consequences.

- D Redmond