With near-unanimous support, city council stands behind a proposal to turn the former Ontario Reformatory property into a national urban park … at least in principle, and not at the expense of other public uses of the land, such as a hospital.
The motion, put forward by Coun. Erin Caton, was approved 11-1 during a Tuesday afternoon council session, with Mayor Cam Guthrie opposed. Coun. Michele Richardson was absent from that part of the meeting.
“We have an opportunity to support an idea today, a good idea,” Caton said while introducing her motion, which was seconded by Coun. Rodrigo Goller. “Guelph wants this and our Indigenous partners want this.”
“We have heard this conversation in the community for months, well beyond a year, two years,” added Coun. Leanne Caron. “There is significant community momentum.”
Guthrie said he stands by a letter he co-signned with MP Lloyd Longfield and MPP Mike Schreiner earlier this year indicating they don’t support the urban park concept for the former reformatory lands “at this time.”
“It’s more of a political statement that‘s being proposed right now,” Guthrie said ahead of the vote. “I do not want to engage anything else until I know that land is not going to be used for other very important issues that our community is needing.
“I think we would be doing a disservice to our community if we did support this.”
The motion, as Caton explained, doesn’t call for the use of staff time or resources to be applied. Nor does it preclude council from supporting an alternative use for the site at a future date.
Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, council received an email from city staff recommending a cultural heritage designation plan for the site be put on hold until the site's fate is known.
“From our perspective, there’s really no point to advance this work,” said Walkey, noting both the provincial and federal governments are exempt from heritage policy. “While it’s under consideration, it’s really not the best use of staff resources to create policies that may not go forward or be used by the future owner.”
No one on council put forward a motion to pause the CHD work, meaning it will move forward.
The words “in principle” were added to the motion of support at the prompting of Coun. Dan Gibson and unanimously supported by the rest of council present for the vote.
Urban Park Guelph, a coalition of local groups and individuals, is proposing the former reformatory property on York Road be declared a national urban park – an initiative announced in the 2021 federal budget to create a network of 15 urban parks throughout the country.
That plan previously received endorsements from the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Ontario Regional Committee of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Ontario Parks Association, Grand River Environmental Network, Trout Unlimited Canada, Wildlands League, and the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, as well as numerous Guelph-based businesses and organizations.
Caton’s motion makes mention of support from Six Nations of the Grand River as well, though efforts to confirm its stance weren’t immediately successful.
