Erin Caton

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108

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Conservation authorities to be consolidated under new provincial agency

GuelphToday

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Because the mandate of conservation authorities is somehow housing? We have lots of unprotected land to develop, should the Premier want to invest in actually building affordable housing. Selling off protected land to his developer buddies for more McMansions so the rich can have play space is a terrible move. We are bankrolling a corporate takeover with our taxes.

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Meet Guelph’s newest city councillor

GuelphToday

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Congratulations Katherine! That was a very tense process and there were many great candidates. I know that from your previous governance experience and having already been elected by ward 6 to represent them on the school board, that you will be a conscientious councillor. I feel you bridge some missing experience gaps as a renter and bus rider and I’m happy your voice will now add to the conversations around council decisions. It was a hard choice and I’m happy where we ended up even though the path was unexpected.

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Council puts $1.7M back into 2026 budget; increase hovers at just over 8%

GuelphToday

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Doesn’t include the Region of Waterloo taxes (they are two tier). The region is debating in December with a 4.94% start that doesn’t include the extra $20 million ask for the regional police.

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Council puts $1.7M back into 2026 budget; increase hovers at just over 8%

GuelphToday

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Doesn’t include County of Wellington taxes at 3.5%.

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Guelph to get 8 more speed enforcement cameras, making it 12 in all

GuelphToday

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City staff are considering options on how to best address issues with parking in the no parking zones. Currently they rotate schools much like the camera placement for ticketing. Both are important regulations for pedestrian safety. It’s very easy to not speed. People want safe roads. Studies upon studies show that slower speeds save lives in the event of a collision. This is a proven method to slow drivers down. There is no issue if you’re not breaking the law.

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Council puts $1.7M back into 2026 budget; increase hovers at just over 8%

GuelphToday

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Doesn’t include the Region of Waterloo taxes (they are two tier). The region is debating in December with a 4.94% start that doesn’t include the extra $20 million ask for the regional police.

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Major east side development approved after decades of discussion

GuelphToday

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Plans need to be approved before those commercial tenant agreements can be finalized. I look forward to seeing who they get. The need for a grocery store was heavily emphasized in our talks with them.

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Mayor wants property owners to be responsible for removing graffiti

GuelphToday

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Personally, I’d rather we move the renoviction bylaw forward which has been in the wings. This feels performative and we have bigger things to deal with. In a time when we just had water saving notices I don’t think it’s a good use of natural or staff resources to be power washing or harmful chemical cleaners in our water supply. Bylaw has enough to deal with and my residents have been asking for parking enforcement, not graffiti bylaws.

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Encampments now banned in parks beside schools and daycares

GuelphToday

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We put up speed cameras to catch people who are speeding. We don’t ban everyone from driving just in case they could speed one day. There were no complaints from schools, and there were six locations where the schools border on large green spaces far from schools. We are putting tax money into solving an issue that didn’t exist and creating a new problem. We wouldn’t spend money on speed cameras if there was no speeding. I was responding to the mayor and Councillor Gibson using installing speed cameras as a reason to spend money on expanding this bylaw.

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Council puts $1.7M back into 2026 budget; increase hovers at just over 8%

GuelphToday

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Woodstock is part of Oxford County and their draft budget has a 5% increase of the regional taxes they pay on top of municipal.

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Ford government fails to reach poverty reduction target, report says

GuelphToday

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We have repeatedly asked them to raise OW and ODSP to livable wages, they keep cutting social services budgets, they fund the bare minimum for municipal transit, they haven’t properly invested in healthcare, continual cuts to education and all this has to be made up by municipalities in property taxes to avoid people dying on our streets. Spas, ridiculous tunnels, American ad campaigns and private jets though… Missing this target and making the problem worse at the same time. This is not shocking in the least.

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Parts of north end 'user-generated' trail shut down by the city

GuelphToday

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A lot of our safe biking trails are on GRCA land. They own the land and make the rules. In order to keep having trails on their land, we need to be good stewards of it.

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47-unit townhouse complex to be built in north end

GuelphToday

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Not without proper sidewalks it isn’t.

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St. George's Square redesign calls for moving fountain and self-cleaning washroom

GuelphToday

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The disability community has consistently said that car access is necessary. A multi-use area with heavy pedestrian options, bike lanes and all ability access, is great. What we are trying to do here is create a space everyone can use, not just non-disabled people.

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Council puts $1.7M back into 2026 budget; increase hovers at just over 8%

GuelphToday

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Hamilton is still in draft and won’t be final until February 2026.

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City hits the brakes on allowing five-plexes on low density corner lots

GuelphToday

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Happy to explain my vote. Not having 5 units “as a right” doesn’t stop people from coming forward with those developments. The work that staff did can be used as justification for any development who wishes to bring that forward. The uptake on the four units as a right has been dismally low, but the cost to have the work done was not. There would be a higher cost to finish this work, and I felt that money and staff time was better spent on other efforts that encourage development. We have to weigh efficiencies and I didn’t think the money and staff time on this would result in enough development vs the other programs we have put in place.

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City approves ‘demoviction’ of Victoria Road apartments

GuelphToday

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This was not a city council decision. This was decided by the committee of adjustments, based on the zoning of the area. They were going by what would be legally allowed otherwise it would be struck down by the Ontario Land Tribunal. We are constrained by provincial legislation.

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City council approves only half the funding for proposed downtown drop-in centre

GuelphToday

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You should go volunteer some day at RCM. The clientele in need is varied and seniors are heavily accounted for. The province needs to provide funding across the board for housing and accessible housing for low-income seniors is very much in need. Unsurprisingly, people with substance use issues are making none of these decisions. Point your distain where it belongs.

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Encampments now banned in parks beside schools and daycares

GuelphToday

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This is a false comparison. My kid goes to school at a location that has a border with a park that was listed as allowed to tent. People without money aren’t dangerous to children and no schools complained to staff about it.

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Locals love seeing Heated Rivalry, filmed partly in Guelph, challenge hockey’s exclusionary past

GuelphToday

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So glad Guelph is a part of this story of inclusion and joy!