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Doug Ford’s PCs hold Milton in hard-fought byelection

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It is despairing to know that in spite of the conservatives crashing our health and education systems by severe underfunding, cancelling initiatives that reduce carbon initiatives, passing legislation that allows rampant conversion of farmland into urban sprawl, and facing constant accusations of corruption, that they still can win anything. Nursing, doctor and teacher shortages can all be laid at the feet of Ford and Co.

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Guelph Storm seeks council support in bid to host 2027 Memorial Cup

GuelphToday

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Given tnat city staff had a number of outlined hesitations, why should they be recommending this donation to a for profit company. There are so many worthwhile ongoing ways to allocate funds this big rather than a two-week celebration of hockey.

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COMMENTARY: On housing, doing better means doing it differently

GuelphToday

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Great idea. Bear in mind that many of Guelph's homebuilders (your members, I suspect) are the holdouts when they refuse to build actual affordable housing;; be they rental or owned. The main issue in moving forward on this is greed and profit. As long as more profit can be made building high end condos and single family dwellings, we will not see progress in creating housing for a growing number of young people, or any renters for that matter, as well as the homeless. What we need is a return to well thought out social housing that isn't ghettoized. Governments used to be involved,and so they should be, but not to subsidize builders creating unaffordable housing.

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City nixes planned Ward to downtown pedestrian bridge

GuelphToday

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Given that this is an urban environment, the best utilitarian way is a straight line between the two areas. While preserving attractive heritage features, surely this issue is simpler than the City makes it out to be. If it's about money, then say so.

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Longtime Guelph teacher taking UGDSB to Human Rights Tribunal

GuelphToday

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I dealt with the UGDSB on a regular basis over working conditions. My opinion is that they fight 'tooth and nail' to oppose any measure that would make it easier for teaching staff to do their job well while maintaining their mental health. Some Board officials went so far as to make a 'game' of giving as little as possible when it came to improving working conditions, including mental health provisions. I recall one particular official during negotiations over wording in a Board document, refer to a tactic to make the wording meaningless as , using "weasel words". Designed to allow the employer to squirm out of upholding the intent of the document. Seems like things haven't changed.

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Staff tells city council it should sell former drill hall

GuelphToday

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The city needs the Arts center to fill a gap between aspiration to be a city that wants visitors and a city that lacks a venue for the visual arts.

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Longfield: Why the latest motion to lower food prices in Canada didn't pass

GuelphToday

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To say that inflation is coming down is misleading. It really means that the already high grocery prices are rising a little bit slower than they were. Significant difference. Canada needs much stronger anti-trust legislation which can break up the three major grocery chains. Especially Westons, which owns Loblaws, Zehrs and other stores, as well as the food chains which supplies them. Comparing grocery prices for basic goods in the UK, the USA and Canada, Canadians are paying from 30%- over 50% more for the food we buy. This cannot go on, while the corporate owners of grocery stores reap huge profits and salaries. Bill C-59 is a meaningless distraction which will do nothing. Anything the Tories suggest will be even less helpful, as both major parties are loath to do anything about the so-called market forces that allow gouging by the food industry. Either vote for an alternative, or become vegetarian and grow your own food.

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U of G expecting record 7,000 first-year students this fall

GuelphToday

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Perhaps due to provincial underfunding, the university has become a 'business' that refuses to take into account local housing needs as well as producing an oversupply of students. If their enrolment has gone up, it surely cannot be that Canada's student population is getting smarter. More likely, the university is accepting more mediocre students in search of filling more seats. Canada is already producing more graduates than is required to meet future employment growth. I allow that a general Arts degree has much value beyond the job market, but tell that to the students who are convinced that a job will be forthcoming if they only go to university. The university recently worried that their first year enrolment would exceed the accomodations available. Given that Conestogo College is also taking in too many students, this will result in even more inflationary pressures on rental housing demand. Capitalism at its best!

Poll: Most favour tariffs on inexpensive Chinese-made electric cars

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What about the quality of these cars? What about the very low wages paid to factory workers in China? What about the risk to a developing Canadian manufacturing base which has to meet Canadian environmental standards? So many questions that go well beyond the sticker price.

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OPINION: Land use debates and the dwindling returns of the housing crisis

GuelphToday

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Using the word "nimbyism" papers over real issues. Home owners have mixed views on densification. As a detached suburban home owner, I don't categorise myself as 'nimby'. All I insist on is enough sunlight to grow veggies and a close park for grandchildren. Densification has many more virtues than perceived costs. It promotes local services, public transit and opportunities for a growing diverse local population. It means walkable streets to services. Neighbourhoods that have no economic stratification (apartments as well as houses), don't stimulate understanding of how the other half lives. Let's leave the parks alone. Let's encourage co-op and social housing, both ownership and really affordable housing. Face it, if my neighbourhood had apartment buildings with people of all income levels, there would be incentive to provide a good transit system. and local shops that can compete with each other because of the larger customer base.

OPINION: The struggle to get a job in Guelph is real; Let's change that

GuelphToday

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Know this; for my first few years in Canada (1970's) , I observed that people such as me had far less chance of getting a job than others who had connections with employers. You needed to know someone to get most jobs. That is still a big factor today. On the other hand years later, as the Head of a teacher department in a local high school, and on a 'interview team' for the school, the most likely candidates for jobs had previous connections to the school, such as having been a student, or the Superintendent's daughter. Yes, nepotism is still a factor. Consider that many jobs that are part-time and in the service or agriculture sectors go to low paid immigrants who may work for less than is legally permitted; often jobs that Canadians cannot afford to take. Who works for less than is needed to live, unless they take multiple jobs at the same time. The system is broken, but looking for someone to blame misses the point that there are multiple causes for the misery.

Suspensions drop in Upper Grand schools, report shows

GuelphToday

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What doesn't seem to be mentioned is the personal decisions of Principals in deciding if suspension is warranted. Over the years, the pendulum between parents' rights and teachers' rights has swayed towards parental rights. Parents and their offspring often intimidate admin; a group that wishes to conceal problems in individual schools. Consider that the number of teachers reporting violence or threats towards them has increased (as reported by independent surveys of teaching staff across the province), whereas the number of suspensions has fallen. I recall, from personal experience, threatening and abusive behaviour towards other students by miscreants led to five minute time-outs for the abusers. Purely a decision by the Principal and other admin. The Board may want the public to believe improvements are being made, while sweeping problems under the carpet We all know where this is going.

Delivering a daily dose of empathy ... and other needed supplies

GuelphToday

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Well, this explains why I don't often see Danny when I pick up supplies at his pharmacy. Danny has been my go-to pharmacist for many years now. He was the guy who would show up on my doorstep with medications on a Saturday when I had failed to pick them up. Thanks Danny, you shine. You and your dedicated team of pharmacists and assistance make life as a patient much, much better.

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Poll: Most favour tariffs on inexpensive Chinese-made electric cars

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that is fantasy. Did you do your own "research"?

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Want to dispute a parking ticket? The process is changing

GuelphToday

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For -profit third party involvement never works out cheaper for the user (in this case the individual disputing a ticket). It might save the government money. Second, if you have been given a parking ticket which you plan on disputing, always, always take a picture... Third, if the ticket issuer doesn't have to go to court, they might just hand out tickets with less seriousness or consequences. Fourth, if you park illegally because you just can't be bothered to do it right, then you deserve the consequences.

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Guelph’s termite problem is back: staff report

GuelphToday

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yes they should tell the public about this one issue. The rest of your screed is just idiocy.

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U of G expecting record 7,000 first-year students this fall

GuelphToday

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and I don't want my taxes to pay for roads you drive on, police who keep your property safe, hospitals that take you when you have a heart attack etc. See where this goes?

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Get pumped about heat pumps

GuelphToday

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My advice about heat pumps? Get one. I bought one in November last year. Throughout the winter, my house was very comfortable and the gas furnace only came on once when temperatures got really low. I suspect that I could have changed the setting on the thermostat to stop the furnace coming on at all, and the heat pump would have done the job. I'm now into summer, and the heat pump has been fine so far, cooling on the hottests of days. The only regret I have is that I got a new furnace to go along with the heat pump, which in retrospect, seems a waste of money.

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Poll: Most favour tariffs on inexpensive Chinese-made electric cars

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Is there any data to support your assertion that many older people prefer SUV's because they have difficulty getting in and out of small vehicles? The SUV drivers I observe on the road are all ages. I would suggest that SUV's are more desirable because that is the type of vehicle the manufacturers are pushing to consumers.

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Ward residents voice concerns after business moves in

GuelphToday

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There's an old saying, "dilution is not the solution to pollution." The company may have done what the Ministry required, which is to reduce contaminants in the surrounding area. But, those releases from the plant are still going into the air, just spreading out farther. Admit it; the company is a polluter. The Sudbury smelter used to have a small chimney which caused all sorts of environmental harms from stack emmissions. So they were told to big a much taller stack, which caused a much larger area to be turned into moonscape. This local operation is the same thing, only on a smaller scale.

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