District Energy

I have been asked to speak today on our community energy plan at the Canadian District Energy Association in Calgary.

I am part of a panel discussion on City Building - From Planning to Implementation.

I am specifically addressing the opportunity for district energy to act as a catalyst for investment and smart growth to build sustainable communities.

District energy systems take waste heat from a variety of sources to heat homes and businesses. When combined with systems that generate electricity - cogeneration and combined heat and power - huge benefits can be delivered to the consumer and the environment.

One speaker provided a great illustration. By the time coal-generated electricity gets to our home about 76 percent of the total energy is lost along the way mostly as waste heat. Local district energy systems can reduce those losses to 20 percent or less saving energy resources and reducing green gas emissions.

Our community energy plan depends on approaches like district energy systems, combined heat and power, and cogeneration along with renewable energy, conservation and efficiency to achieve our goals for a sustainable energy future.

 

 

National Child and Youth Mental Health Day - May 7th

We are fortunate to have strong local advocacy to improves access to mental health services in Guelph and Wellington County.  On several occassions, I have met with key organizers who tirelessly promote awareness of this issue.

The AD VOX Wellington Project is giving voice to the challenges of individuals, families and organizations in addressing mental health issues.  The Children’s Mental Health Service System Development and Coordination Community Advisory Committee is comprised of 17 local organizations and their goal is to reduce the complexities of our current system and ensure access to services.

The annual financial cost to the federal and Ontario government of youth who drop out of school due to lack of access to mental health treatment is $1.9 million.  Only one child in six in Ontario is getting the help they need.

 

Drive Thrus & Idling

Last night at Council’s regular Planning meeting, we had a discussion around the whole issue of drive thrus.  Council referred the matter to staff to consider whether we should be approving drive thrus given our urban design and community energy planning polices.

I have received a fair bit of correspondence over the years from residents concerned about drive thrus.  They have trouble understanding why they are allowed when climate change and air quality are such significant environmental concerns. 

The broader issue of concern is idling vehicles.  Many cities have launched community-wide anti-idling campaigns to improve local air quality and reduce green house gas emissions.  Municipalities have also launched anti-idling campaigns internally and saved significantly on fuel use by city vehicles. 

Locally, Guelph Transit has developed an idling reduction policy which encourages drivers to shut their bus engines off after only 3 minutes of stop tiem.  City Fleet Services is developing a comprehensive fleet idling plan.

We can do more and I would be interested in your thoughts on this issue.

“Idling Gets You Nowhere”

 

 

Youth look to the future

This weekend, fifteen Guelph youth participated in a final design charette to identify ways to bring new people and business into our downtown.  I was able to drop in and hear their ideas for the future of Guelph.  They tackled the challenging issue of intensification and how it can be done without compromising the unique and treasured aspects of our community.

This opportunity was organized by the provincial MInistry of Public Infrastructure Renewal.  Youth in several communities across the Greater Golden Horseshoe have been involved in design projects in their own cities over the last three months.  The goal of these interactive sessions has been to engage young people in city building and understanding the opportunities that Places to Grow planning legislation offers.

Update: The Province is creating a video about the youth engagement project - once it’s complete, they will post it on www.placestogrow.ca. The youth engagement page is located here - it currently has last year’s information, but once this year’s project wraps up, they will post new pictures, video, etc.  

 

Guelph Day at Queen’s Park

Yesterday we travelled with several community leaders to Queen’s Park.

We met with 5 Ministers. 

We introduced the Ministers of Environment and Energy to Guelph’s Community Energy Plan and our goals for our organics facility.  We will be following up with their staff on potential partnership opportunities.

We also met with the Ministers of Training, Colleges and Universities, Research and Innovation, and Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.  The Chief of Staff for the Minister of Economic Development and Trade was also present.  Joining us were the Presidents of the University of Guelph and Conestoga College along with representatives of industry and business including the Guelph Chamber of Commerce and Guelph Partnership for Innovation.  Our goal was to bring these four Ministries together - all of which have research and innovation agendas - to discuss Guelph’s future in the agrifood and environmental sectors. 

All meetings were very successful. Lunch was brillantly hosted by the University of Guelph.  All the foods featured had a connection to the work at the University.  We even gave away tomato seeds that had been on the Mars Mission.

Finaly, the Guelph delegation attended Question Period where we were recognized by the Speaker of the House and our MPP, Liz Sandals. 

Click here to read the press release.

New Rotarian Forest

Rotarians and residents numbering in the hundreds came out on the weekend to get their hands dirty planting trees.  The first tree was planted (along with hundreds of others) on a 400 hectare field at the Guelph Lake Nature Centre.  The vacant farm field, owned by the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) will be home to Guelph’s newest urban forest, the Rotary Forest.  The Rotary Club of Guelph is preparing to mobilize the community to help plan 65,000 trees over the next 13 years leading up to their 100th anniversary in 2020.

More details about the event can be found at http://guelph.ca/newsroom_display.cfm?itemID=75089

As part of the initiative, the Rotary Club is building a tree inventory to track the growth of Guelph’s tree canopy. Whenever anyone plants a tree anywhere in Guelph, they can register it in the tree registry at http://www.rotaryclubofguelph.com/tree_form.php. 

University & OMAFRA Partnership

On Monday April 28th, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced the signing of a new agreement with the University of Guelph which will provide $300 million over the next five years for ongoing work in research, agri-food and animal health laboratories and veterinary training. The research funding will focus on agricultural production systems, food for health, environmental sustainability, industrial uses for the bioeconomy, agriculture and rural policy, product development and enhancement and emergency preparedness.

As emcee of the event, I offered the following comments regarding the importance of this announcement to the City of Guelph:

Guelph is very proud of its agricultural heritage. We’re also proud of the leadership and innovation Guelph brings to the agri-food sector.

Our city is known across the country and around the world as a leader in agri-food.

We are growing that reputation through our innovation agenda, positioning our city as a centre for commercialization in agri-food and environmental technologies.

We have more than 30 research centres and organizations, 90-plus industries and ventures associated with agri-food and the environment, and more than 100 agri-food associations.

There are more than 6,500 people employed in the agri-food sector in Guelph.

And, of course, we’re privileged to be the provincial centre for agri-food. In addition to being home to OMAFRA, we are also home to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

How important is this to us? Very important.

The City of Guelph, University of Guelph, Conestoga College, Guelph Hydro and local industry leaders will be in Queen’s Park this Thursday.

We will be meeting with several Ministers - five Ministers to be precise and 6 Ministries in total.

Minister Dombrowsky, we are thrilled that you can join us in a special joint session with your colleagues from the Ministries of Economic Development and Trade, and Research and Innovation.

Our simple goal for this session is to advance Guelph’s innovation agenda – an agenda that draws its strength and legitimacy from today’s partnership announcement.

Ideas generate wealth in today’s economy. 

We have witnessed stunning transformations in the advanced manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, communications and electronics sectors.

But ideas – and the opportunities they provide – are not limited to these sectors.

Food, energy, water, bio-resources – the strengths found in Guelph, the strengths that are being recognized today - will be increasingly significant players in Ontario’s economy in future.

And Guelph plans to be at forefront of this new economic transformation.

So not surprisingly, I am delighted to be part of this significant announcement today. 

**Here is a link to the Ontario government page about the announcement, complete with photos and video.

Spring Cleanups

Residents of this community have come out in full force after a very long winter to clean up the litter on our streets and in our parks.  Over 500 people participated in the 5th Annual Guelph Clean and Green Community Clean Up on April 19th.  The Howitt Park Neighbourhood was out cleaning up and planting trees last weekend.  This is a photo of some of the volunteers at the Castlebury Park clean up on Saturday.  This clean up has been organized by Joshua Cameron for 6 years.

 

Welcome

Welcome!

I decided to start a blog to encourage more dialogue about civic affairs in the community. One of the goals of our Strategic Plan is to have the highest per capita municipal election voter turnout of any city in Ontario. Participation in municipal elections is usually very low - much lower than provincial and federal elections. When people are asked why they do not vote in municipal elections, the main reason given is apathy followed by a lack of understanding of the issues. This has always surprised me given how important municipal government is to our day to day lives.

I am hoping this blog will be a great way to share information and ideas, get residents’ feedback about City matters, and generally de-mystify City Hall.

I encourage you to get involved in the discussion. For the ground rules on posting comments, please see the “About the Blog” page.

It’s important to note that the opinions I express on this blog are mine, and don’t represent the positions of the City of Guelph or Guelph City Council.

Enjoy!