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You can now report vacant homes to city hall

GuelphToday

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Well I don't even know how one can give a thumbs down to someone questioning the legality of something. What are you saying - "don't you dare question that you dastard"? I do think a court challenge is in order. Dictating what a person can do with their own property like that on the basis of "it must be made available to solve a societal problem" is a giant step towards communism and shouldn't be made by the lowest level of governance.

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You can now report vacant homes to city hall

GuelphToday

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Well I think we need a new phonebook, like the one from communist Russia with names like Tanya Frenzin and Tanya Kidzin, if you know the very old National Lampoon reference. Hasn't anyone at city hall watched Dr. Zhivago (or ready any real history on communism), and if they have, why are they emulating the worst socialist policies where a person doesn't have rights to do what they want with their own property. Whatever you do, don't start finger pointing the councilors who voted this by filing random accusations of being vacant landowners.

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Ontario speed cameras to soon be removed after bill passes

GuelphToday

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Regardless of where we go from here, the ban of speed cameras is a reaction to a ridiculously excessive set of rules enforced robotically with automated cameras. When you reduce the limit from 50 km/hr (which most people drove at 60+ km/hr) to 40 km/hr enforced by a big fine if you go a hair over, it’s a big adjustment. Adding a lot more stop signs and long and ridiculous 30 km/hr zones to that has made driving unbearable for good drivers. It could all make sense in neighbourhoods where there are safety issues, but not in almost all. We had zero injuries in five years in our neighbourhood – you can’t improve on that. Yes, probably speed humps are coming, along with their negative impacts all around. Perhaps we should go back and just use the reasonable standards that we started with.

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108-year-old WWII veteran presented with long-overdue medal in Fergus

GuelphToday

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Thanks to you, and to all who served for the Allies in WWII. You can't get enough credit for all you have done to deliver freedom, peace and prosperity for so many people, for so many decades, and in so many countries. We all owe you a great deal.

Mayor urges community to ‘come together,’ ‘take action’ and ‘hold council accountable’

GuelphToday

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1K char allowed and I need a book. There is so much wrong with the city and this Cam-speak it’s sad. Give more money to Cam when he has delivered so little with so much tax! Why? Those who can still give money have been villainized by all levels of government, and now you want more?! Cherry picked charity examples but the ones I go to are way way down in participation and donations, no money left. Everyone giving is 70+, and no one to take over when they’re gone. Spending: $670K for unused bike lane plowing that aren’t plowed or used, just 65 activists. Don’t pick up recyc garbage but 8% increase?! Accountability: 18 sick days/employee and no more reports on efforts and progress for improving for years. 18 days is the tip of the berg, those people don’t care about delivering value. And a speech written by his high priced communications expert with no credentials, and all comments are against it. Grow up, deliver service at value, and then you can ask for more.

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Ontario speed cameras to soon be removed after bill passes

GuelphToday

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In regards to the statement “keeping track of your speed one of your responsibilities while driving, it was necessary before speed cameras were implemented” : Yes, speed control has always been an obligation but it moved from a driver being able to just look around and judge their speed closely enough to having to have your eyes glued to your speedometer to make sure you don’t go 3 km/hr over the posted limit; that’s the hazard that was created. If you can’t see the hazard difference between those two scenarios you shouldn’t be commenting on this issue.

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ICYMI: A whole lot more can now go in your recycling bin

GuelphToday

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I don't know if anyone noticed, but this means that the City is no longer responsible for picking up the vast majority of our garbage. The "new blue bin" is being picked up by private industry now, because they were regulated to do so, that's why the change. Shouldn't that mean that we should have a significant reduction in our property taxes, not the 8% increase that we're facing. This might be the biggest case of paying more for less we have had (although it sure isn't the only one). There's only three things that the city does that is important to me, and now one of them is virtually gone.

OPINION: Canada Day Transit debacle demands a response

GuelphToday

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This topic illustrates bigger issues that we all seem to agree on - I have never seen so many thumbs up. The City (at best) delivers services that are off target to the needs and are very expensive, while the administration focuses on nice but not necessary vanity projects. Nobody is happy, especially the ones who really need the service. It is agreed that transparency and accountability are lacking. Core to the issue is a culture where the staff averages 18 or 19 absences per year of "sick leave". That's not normal, acceptable, justifiable or fair. The sick leave issue used to be reported and tracked to show progress towards correcting it, except the results always trended in the negative direction of more sick days. Demand better.

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Starting Aug. 1, here's where 12 speed cameras in Guelph will be located

GuelphToday

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To reply to Sere1's comment that it "is to reduce the number of traffic accidents and injuries": According to the City's own records, the Gordon/Victoria/Clair/Arkell section had one minor traffic injury (which may or may not be speed related) in the last five years. With that performance, multiple additional stop signs were installed, speeds were reduce to 30 and 40 km/hr, and with the addition of cameras pedantic enforcement was achieved. Add up all the money for the signs, and add up all the money being extracted from our citizens and sent to a for-profit organization elsewhere, and ask the homeless it that's money well spent.

OPINION: Community members shares what matters, and what needs fixing, in Guelph

GuelphToday

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The #1 issue is high taxes. The actions are to spend more money. PSW management: It's managed by Ontario HSCPOA. Proposed more regulation and more costs.Governance: Full time council = higher pay, more cost. The councilors are usually the ones proposing higher spends. Higher developer accountability = more government. I don't see how the proposals help us. The real issue is that everything the City does is just way too much money. The accountability and performance of the administration is what needs to be fixed. I would start by making them address the average of 18 absences/employee per year. With that culture, when they are there, most would be operating at about 25% (with apologies to the good ones). We also need councilors who are focused on affordability not expanding the government but there's nothing we can do about that when there are none on the slate (even if they claim to be so).

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OPINION: Community members shares what matters, and what needs fixing, in Guelph

GuelphToday

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Do you mean like the 60 bikers (0.04% of the citizens) who staged a 10 minute protest and resulted in $300K added to the budget to plow bike lanes when it is infeasible and unwarranted? Is that what you mean by "the few"? There are a few sacrosanct self righteous groups that get anything they ask for and it's political suicide to say no. We have to say no to the nice but not necessary until we get delivery of the core services done in an efficient and affordable way.

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OPINION: Guelph road users - all of them - need an etiquette lesson

GuelphToday

You're right, no one is perfect and everyone needs improvement. That's because people are people and they have always been imperfect, and there’s not much profit in spewing bitter vile about that fact. I’m a driver but I was an avid biker in the past (when there were zero bike lanes and I never got ran into), until parts wore out from the ravages of time. I’m not a villain, I’m just using my car since that’s what I’m able to do. Bikers today have so much more, still without paying any taxes for their share of the essential road infrastructure we all need and still want more. BTW, the picture at the start of the article shows part of the issue; lots of cars and no bikes in the bike lane. Well, perhaps it’s missing the bikes on the sidewalk or the bikes going the wrong way on the lanes or otherwise breaking the law. Bottom line, instead of complaining about each other let’s see how we can work together to come up with a solution that works for us all.

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'I am sorry': Mayor Guthrie backpedal, orders bike lanes plowed

GuelphToday

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Maybe they're doing it in an outrageously inefficient way like they have done for the platforms for the bus stops, for example using a high hoe to remove the snow.

Help shape the future of local news in Guelph

GuelphToday

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I tried the survey and found that it would have been very helpful if they had "not applicable" or "not interested" so opinions on the topic isn't impacted by my response; and so GuelphToday gets feedback on which topics are of interest. No need to post this, just feedback on the survey.

These five things still go in your grey bin

GuelphToday

With my actual personal waste profile, that leaves me with cotton swabs and dental floss for my grey bin. I need a very very small bin for that, maybe one that doesn't need a 2,000 pound hydraulic lift to raise it 12 feet in the air to put it into the truck.

'I am sorry': Mayor Guthrie backpedal, orders bike lanes plowed

GuelphToday

Loud voices are listened to only if they are bike riders or some other protected species. 75% seem to have the time to have time to post on Guelph Today so their voices are amplified way beyond what they actually are. Our city, and all our levels of governments, have lost the ability to say no to spending no matter how bad the finances are, and they're horrible.

Guelph is getting a vacant home tax

GuelphToday

You know, this topic was already covered perfectly in one of the greatest movies ever made, Dr. Zhivago. A clip explaining the importance of sharing ones property was covered exceptionally well, which you can find if you search for “kaprugina delivers a scolding”. It was a clip showing Zhivago’s reaction to arriving home to find that the government had decided to share his home with several other families. I remember the first time I saw it and saying to myself “we’ll get there some day”. When Zhivago came out, we were all appalled, now-a-days it would get a big applause. Find and watch the clip and think about what we are doing.Go Cam Go! We finally made it, we’re finally making a more just society.

OPINION: Guelph's small-town, small mindedness is stifling us

GuelphToday

Well, Adam, you managed to chastise the whole city. It’s always good when a provider lets their customers know what they think of them. Very brave of you to do so. Lots of comments. I’ll give the protesters against the awful way drivers are treated the majority vote here. I think Rotary made a sad choice to force people onto the buses. It looks too contrived, and hard to swallow just after the 30 & 40 Km plus pedantic enforcement with cameras attack on cars. Rotary has a lot of hard-working volunteers and it’s too bad that another political correctness mandate undermined their event. Maybe the bikers will turn out in droves and they won’t even notice the missing drivers.