Guelph has been sitting on an unfulfilled cycling master plan since 2012 and there's still not even a single safe bike route to get you from one side of the city to the other. I've been biking with my five year old son a lot this summer and it's insane how often we need to go on the sidewalk just to get from trail to trail. The plan itself is not even a good plan (no five year old should be riding on a bike lane with painted lines) but most of the city doesn't even have that. Maybe the City needs to worry more about building the trails they've promised to build and worry less about people who are taking matters into their own hands.
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You're not kidding. With phrasing like "we all know that this rule would be enforced selectively," "the left was conveniently silent" when comparing the actions of two different city councils thousands of miles apart (as if there's some monolithic "left" !), and gratuitous virtue-signalling by insulting a certain celebrity target-du-jour (not once, but twice!) it's clear that this is not a serious report written by serious people.
The report is self-contradictory. In their introduction they claim to only focus on bylaws targeting the content of expression, and not "time, place, and location" -- and then both Guelph bylaws they complain about are the latter. And neither law is unreasonable.
Buried under the mountains of editorialized excrement there are some sound criticisms of some municipal bylaws in this country, but it's clear the publication is meant to be a polemic to enrage the true believers and not a nuanced discussion of policy worthy of an article in GuelphToday.
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Yes, tax dollars are supposed to be spent to make society better, to mitigate future harms, and to support the next generation. That's a really good point you make.
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Thank you for writing this thoughtful letter. Everyone should be putting thought into how to adapt their buildings to mitigate the damages from these repeated climate emergencies, but especially the schools that are full of our most vulnerable people.
Heat pumps and ventilation units are a requirement for schools in the 2020's.
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If a group of twelve people come out to your public meeting, the least you can do is find out why. I'd love to know what's so hard about raising either a motion to amend the agenda, or a motion to offer speaking rights to a delegation? On the other hand, was the delegation expected? Did anyone on the board know they were coming? Has this group been offered a chance to speak to a properly-announced agenda item at the next meeting?
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Can we please get some real transit and some real bike routes so that Guelph actually provides viable alternatives? Nobody is using what we have now because it is so badly broken, but every time you mention that, a very vocal minority just gets angry about the mere idea that we might want to buy something other than roads for cars.
We need to build a viable alternative. This obsession with cars is not working.
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I think we disagree about the fundamental role of a city councillor. We have twelve of them for a reason, and that reason is that they're expected to do the job on a part time basis. It's not rare to have one or two absences at any given meeting already. We also already have a process to account for up to six members being absent from a meeting: quorum rules require a majority of councillors to be present.
There is one full time role on council: the mayor. If a mayor takes leave, I would absolutely expect the remaining council to appoint an interim replacement (under section 242 of the municipal act). But for a councillor? The system is designed already for them to be part time, and it's robust enough to let up to six council members sit out a few months without causing serious problems.
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Per the Municipal Act, councillors can take a leave of absence of up to three successive months without approval, for any reason. The act also allows up to 20 weeks for pregnancy, birth, or adoption.
@Adam Cloet: you're right to recognize that a city councillor is in a position of privilege who owes a duty to constituents, and having an absent councillor will always be a concern. But in case of close votes or contentious issues, the councillor can still come to the meeting, even during their "leave of absence." It's not like they're forbidden from participating at all. In my opinion this is the right compromise: rather than forcing the member out by formal procedure and replacing them with an unelected surrogate, we're better served by letting the councillor decide to contribute as they can.
After all, it's a ten hour a week part time job being set aside for a few months. If a season's absence from a part time job is that serious, then perhaps it's not a part time job after all.
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Council's unanimous support of this parental leave policy is a clear signal that the remaining twelve members of council are willing to shoulder the slight extra burden of additional constituent support, to in turn support their colleagues through parenthood.
Future members of council should also expect there may be times where their load is slightly increased, and the residents of the city should expect that there may be times they have to reach out to somebody different. That's the cost of allowing diverse voices a meaningful seat at the table of power, and it's not a significant cost to bear.
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GRCA land represents some of the biggest gaps in our accessible trail network. Hanlon Creek is not friendly to anyone except the fittest and most able-bodied bike riders: trails dead-end into bumpy single-track paths less than a foot wide, turn into mud bogs, and are crisscrossed by twisted roots. They're not "safe" for all.
This story is evidence that there's a whole community willing to build trails and enhance outdoor recreation activities in Guelph. But unfortunately the city and the GRCA are only interested in saying "no" and have seemingly no interest in providing alternatives.
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