H Mat
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BREAKING: Mayor Cam Guthrie won't be seeking re-election
GuelphToday
26Maybe he could run once more to show us "respecting taxpayers' dollars". He certainly hasn't done any of that to date. Tax hike Guthrie! That's the guy, 55% tax hike during his time, add in the stormwater tax and it is pushing 60%. Worst mayor ever.
12- H Mat
Meet Guelph’s newest city councillor
GuelphToday 18So the radical lefties vote for a lefty who doesn't live in ward 6. That tells us what we needed to know.
16- H Mat
Guelph's projected tax increase for 2026 currently sitting at 7.66 per cent
GuelphToday 29Adjusted the math from Oct 30: Cam, your 2.85% is simply not truthful. One could call it intentional disinformation, intentional misinformation or outright ..., well, you know. The "city" increase is NOT 2.85%; the ACTUAL increase will be approximately 4.4%, very simple math, AND essentially at your' MAXIMUM dictate of 4.5%! Shocking! Why do you and the city intentionally do this? It is a deceptive practice. The city's public budget is virtually useless, so it is difficult to be precise with the math. Thanks Cam. Another unaffordable tax increase.
3- H Mat
OPINION: Guelph's small-town, small mindedness is stifling us
GuelphToday 14Given that 10 of 13 members of council are left wing and of your ilk Adam, your conclusions are telling!
17- H Mat
Mayor 'wouldn't be surprised' to see tax increase of 6 per cent
GuelphToday 23The 3.17% is "misleading", to be kind and to say the least. It is simply not truthful. One could call it intentional disinformation, intentional misinformation or outright ..., well, you know. The "city" increase is NOT 3.17%; the increase proposed is $11,142,753 FOR THE CITY PORTION ONLY, so the ACTUAL increase will be approximately 4.8%, very simple math, AND even exceeding the mayor's' MAXIMUM dictate of 4.5%! Shocking! Why does the city intentionally do this? It is a deceptive practice. The city's public budget is virtually useless, so it is difficult to be precise with the math. Thanks Cam. Another unaffordable tax increase.
7- H Mat
OPINION: Apparently, the City of Guelph is right and you're wrong!
GuelphToday 19This is the most thoughtful column you have written Adam. Part of the problem, is that very few members of council actually question staff, sure, they ask questions, except they aren't questioning the concept or factuality presented by staff, rather, asking questions for the sake of asking questions and getting air time. Most members of council aren't doing their due diligence, they are pandering to staff. I'll remind readers of the portrayal of this year's tax increase, where the "city services" 2026 tax increase claimed by staff, repeated ad nauseum by councillors and the media, was misinformation/disinformation/outright fabrication, a disgusting manipulation of the truth, for what purpose? In my opinion, it was nothing other than to minimize the tax increase when we had a 4 year increase of 38%. This problem won't change unless councillors are prepared to do their job and hold staff accountable rather than just collecting a pay cheque and commiserating about their pet projects.
2- H Mat
Council puts $1.7M back into 2026 budget; increase hovers at just over 8%
GuelphToday 15There they go again. The "city services portion" of expenses did not increase by "3.36 per cent". The "city portion" of expenses will be increasing by about 5.2%, or over 2.5 times the current rate of inflation. Misinformation, untruth, disinformation, what else can be said. And for Guthrie to belittle the $0.78/month and the $0.31/mo, CAM it is ANOTHER amount piled on top of an ALREADY massive increase you have dumped on taxpayers. Well over 30% for your four year budget. Disgusted!
5- H Mat
This difficult budget actually tells different stories
GuelphToday 14More is never enough for the lefties, and after pouring more and more into "social services"/"affordable housing" every year, it still isn't enough for the likes of Caron who wants to spend more, with no regard to those paying the bills. Or, build these stupid "bike lanes" on roads like Silvercreek then needing a special snow plow for it instead of just plowing the entire road in one go. Stupid. And they want to lie about the increase.
6- H Mat
OPINION: Be honest, you don't think city council is worth paying for
GuelphToday 12Public Health is a horrible eg. They have modest increases compared to police, social services and library. Council appoints a majority to Police board. How often do reports have no "financial implications" when there are. eg Delhi St. Huge social service increases due to council decisions, we just don't get to see detail (the budget we see is pathetic); the library did not need a massive ramp up before opening (we've been paying for, what 2 years?). The OP argument is stupid, Council do your job, and if it gets changed, it gets changed. Has the role of councillor changed that much, or have the socialist councillors and mayor inserted themselves as social activists who don't care about massive spending? The latter. Adam, $100k+ is still a lot of money, much more than most ever see! A 7.87% tax increase, and voting for a 33% pay increase (while receiving annual increases) is just greedy! And they want to spread disinformation claiming the "city portion" only increased by 3.36%.
7- H Mat
A budget fought on the margins has no good decisions
GuelphToday 14"it was going to be a budget about what we can save". Really Adam? The "city portion" of the budget increased by about 5.2%, not the untruthful amount of 3.36% touted by Guthrie & co, so, truthfully, more than 2.5 times the current rate of inflation. "about what we can save"? No, there was only MORE MORE MORE spending, and even MORE isn't enough for many of them. City spending is out of control.
4- H Mat
Enbridge gets to build pipelines on public land for free. Waterloo Region and Guelph want to change that
GuelphToday 14Guthrie says "...So our residents can choose what kind of infrastructure they want their homes and businesses to be connected to.” Maybe Guthrie will tell us who will pay for the massive increase in electricity grid requirements if everybody gets a heat pump/EV. Wasn't long ago Alectra was at council, essentially warning of those costs, without actually saying so. We already know the city had to upgrade just to charge the few electric buses Guelph bought. How much was that? Guthrie seems to think these things are free as long as somebody else pays for it, typical socialist. Worst mayor ever.
3- H Mat
Coun. Leanne Caron confirms she's running for mayor
GuelphToday 13These greedy increases she keeps voting for is ON TOP of the annual increases councillors get, the same annual increase that senior management get. Greedy, greedy greedy. Caron is also on the sunshine list.
3- H Mat
Coun. Leanne Caron confirms she's running for mayor
GuelphToday 12Seems you are the gullible one Matt. There were several years of onerous contracts before Guthrie became Mayor. The capital was all impaired. Even remember the city "buying" more shares in Envida, they already were the sole shareholder so it was just a way to sink hundreds of thousands more into the mess. It was doomed to failure before it even started. Many, many millions wasted. Read the financial statements (the ones that were actually released, many were hidden), and you don't have to read between any lines!
4- H Mat
Guelph's tax hike finalized at 6.78 per cent
GuelphToday 12Absolutely disgusting. Now the 4 year increase is 34.4% and Cam is, what, happy? Anybody who thinks this is acceptable has no conscious. IT IS NOT OKAY!
4- H Mat
Council's now going through the motions on the housing file
GuelphToday 12Adam; why don't you ask staff where the $21.4m "Housing Accelerator Fund" money went. Not the usual high level bibble babble that doesn't reveal anything, not something useless like "to improve processes", where did the money go, where it was spent (and how much is unspent). We might be shocked to learn how little it has done, the usual government throwing money around to say they are doing something.
- H Mat
Reflections on the Guthrie Decade
GuelphToday 8"penny-pinching", really Adam? This is the guy who gave us a 4 year budget with a 38% tax hike! And, if he IS able to bring this year's increase down to 4%, the 4 year increase will be just under 31%. "penny-pinching" is a complete untruth, disinformation at best. 38% increase!
4- H Mat
Councillors to receive nearly 12% pay hike next term
GuelphToday 4Those who think we get what we pay for, or need to pay more for "engaged, prepared, and independent", do you really think the likes of Allt, Busuttil, Caron, Caton, Downer, Hauser and Klassen who are driven by radical left wing ideology would really change their voting if they were paid more? Hogwash, just look at their history and you know they love spending other peoples money at break neck speed.
8- H Mat
City winter control budget $1.9 million over budget due to weather, salt costs
GuelphToday 9Let me get this straight. The city goes to extreme lengths to separate the "city services" portion of the budget from the "outside boards" and now they want to claim the surplus from the "outside boards" to belittle their spending, claiming a minor deficit of $20,000; and they want to take the "city services" deficit out of "city services" reserves and leave the "outside board" surplus with those. Staff also want to increase the 2026 budget! This is outrageous! The budget was just passed and staff CANNOT live within an already insane increase of 7.87% without dipping further into reserves! And, will the city please admit that their "city services" 2026 tax increase was ACTUALLY well above their insistent claim of 3.36%? It was well over 5%. Maybe staff should take the financial literacy course that will now be mandatory in high school!
2- H Mat
Enbridge asks to shut out local environmental advocates from hearing
GuelphToday 2The untruthful rant that "Enbridge is getting free access to use our public lands" needs to stop. It has been reported that they do pay property tax. There is no subsidy. Guelph Today needs to correct this. Just who funds Ferrari and his "eMerge"?
6- H Mat
Guelph's tax hike finalized at 6.78 per cent
GuelphToday 7Very very few will. Inflation just hit 1.8% and seniors on OAS (which is adjusted quarterly for inflation) won't see any increase for at least 6 months, let alone 6.8%.
- H Mat
