GUELPH POLITICAST #451 – The State of the City 2024

Guelph Politicast

The 2025 State of the City is coming up soon - Thursday February 6 to be precise - and as we always do at this time of year, we’re going to roll the audio from the previous year’s State of the City as a refresher course. The goal is to remember where we were at the time, where the mayor wanted to take us, and where we ended up now before Mayor Cam Guthrie starts looking to the future again!

Do you really need to listen to this to be reminded of the most salient point of last year’s State of the City address? Here’s the most relevant quote: “When cities are faced with strong issues, it requires a strong team to tackle them. However, to set the tone and the pace, you need a strong mayor. Therefore, effective today, I am announcing that I will use the Strong Mayor powers throughout the rest of this term.”

That was the moment Guthrie changed the game, and it came as a really big surprise to his council colleagues, many of whom were sitting front row or centre at the speech. Beforehand, the mayor gave away no hints that he was going to drop this bomb despite years of reticence, if not opposition, to the existence of such powers, but that was the headline coming out of the State of the City in 2024. Was that the end of the story though?

Of course it’s not, and on this week’s edition of the podcast you will hear the whole speech, including a Q&A afterwards, where Guthrie saluted outgoing CAO Scott Stewart, talked about the success securing Housing Accelerator Funding, and promoted the then-theoretical Public Spaces Use Bylaw. He also announced the formation of the Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee, and gave out the annual volunteer awards.

So let's flashback to last year's State of the City on this week's Guelph Politicast!

The 2025 State of the City will take place on Thursday February 6 at 7 am at the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre hosted by the Guelph Chamber of Commerce. Learn more by clicking here. There will, of course, be full coverage on Guelph Politico when it happens.

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