Guelph mayor connects with students for National Youth Week

St. James town hall had the mayor talk about a variety of issues from Uber, to refugees, to development in Guelph’s south end

Guelphmercury.com
May 10, 2016
By Andrew Goulart

Mayor Cam Guthrie held a town hall meeting at St. James Catholic High School on Wednesday, May 4.

After a short speech the Mayor opened up discussion with more than 150 students, even taking questions over Twitter.

“This is an opportunity for me to come in unscripted and hear feedback from the students, and get questions about what’s going on in our city,” said the Mayor. “That actually helps better inform me when I go back to City Hall and try to make decisions.”

The meeting was held in honour of National Youth Week May 1-7.

Students had the Mayor talk about a variety of issues from Uber, to refugees, to development in Guelph’s south end.

“I absolutely embrace the shared economy, and I think it’s perfect for competition,” said the Mayor when asked about online transportation service Uber. “The end consumer is the person who wins.”

However, the Mayor was not a fan of Uber’s entrance to Guelph. He feels that ribbon-cuttings and similar events help him keep track of what’s going on in the city.

“I was not impressed when Uber just sort of came in, I’ll give you that,” he said. “Uber sort of said, ‘forget you, we’re just coming in,’ and that part I didn’t really like because it’s kind of polite to give people a heads-up.”

During the meeting the Mayor revealed that Guelph has been asked to prepare and plan for a total population of 175,000 citizens by 2031.

“All of our planning documents about growth in the city have to reflect that population goal that the province has sent down to us,” said the Mayor.

When a student asked about Bill C-51, the Mayor stated that when it comes to anti-terrorism there needs to be a conversation about what freedoms people are willing to give up in order to be protected.

For less serious issues though, the Mayor was open about his dislike of the government getting involved.

“I don’t like a lot of government intervention,” he said. “I think the more the government keeps out of my life, the better.”