Council endorsed the community-developed Community Energy Plan in 2007.  Since that time we have partnered with local organizations and businesses to forge a new energy future for Guelph.  Combining conservation, efficiency, local generation (both heat and power), renewable energy and smart grids, the initiative will build a more reliable, secure, sustainable and affordable energy future […]

I received the year end report from 211 Central South which services Guelph and Wellington. Of their 77,033 callse for assistance, 770 came from Guelph and Wellington. Callers represented all ages and income brackets.  73% were women and 17% were seniors. Learn more about how 211 can help you find services, watch this short video.

The introduction to last week’s Tribune editorial read: “A lot of city residents were probably scratching their heads last week when reading stories about relatively high absenteeism and relatively low “employee engagement” at city hall. Getting on the city’s payroll is seen by many on the outside as a plum job, with good pay and benefits […]

 Celebrations  for the National Aboriginal Day will take place in Guelph on Friday June, 21, 2013 in Royal City Park from 7p.m.  National Aboriginal Day (Aboriginal/Native Canadian) in 1996, the former Governor General of Canada, Romeo LeBlanc, proclaimed June 21 to be known as National Aboriginal Day.  This is an event growing in importance in […]

The Governor General of Canada, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston has described the Guelph’s Community Wellbeing Initiative as ”a wonderful example of university- community collaboration.”  The Governor General was delivering an opening address at the Community – University 2013 Expo: Engaging Shared Worlds in Newfoundland on Thursday, June 13. The Expo is being […]

I was invited to speak today at the Accelerate: Collaborating for Sustainability Conference. Industry leaders, social innovators, and decision makers from large and small businesses, corporations, higher education institutions, government, non-profits, social enterprises, social venture capital firms, and more are meeting to explore how we can effectively collaborate to create a sustainable future. World class sustainability […]

After the 2010 election, I was interviewed by the Guelph Mercury.  Performance measurement had been a key plank in my election platform and they wanted to know how committed I was to reporting on “the good, the bad and the ugly”.  Doing business differently in the public sector is politically risky but as they say, […]

 Today, I was joined by the Italian community,  MPP Liz Sandals and Frank Valeriote, MP to raise the Italian flag at City Hall in recognition of Italian Heritage month.  Coro Cantitalia sang the national anthems of Canada and Italy.     

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk about our Community Wellbeing Initiative at the Association of  Ontario Health Centres Conference in Toronto. The Conference was about collaborating to promote the best possible health and wellbeing for everyone. I spoke about how our Community Wellbeing Plan evolved, the consultations we had and where we are today. […]

I was happy to participate at the Wurth Canada Limited Groundbreaking ceremony today. These are my speaking notes for the event:  I am very happy to be here today!  Welcome Mr. Ernie Sweeny, President and CEO of Wurth Canada Limited, and your entire team to Guelph.  We are very proud to be welcoming a division […]