What is Council Watch?
Council Watch is a key volunteer group that tracks how councillors vote on specific issues and then shares the information with the community. This is always important, and particularly so at election time. Guelph had an active Council Watch during the era of the Guelph Civic League that was very influential in the 2006 municipal election, and we’d like to bring it back now.
Council Watch volunteers:
- Identify an issue that has come to the city council for decision
- Review the minutes and video of the meeting
- Summarize what took place, using a prepared format that explains what the discussion was about, why it was important, and how each councillor voted
- Share the council watch report with the community, following review. (It’s then posted here on our Council Watch page) The entire process for one review takes about two hours.
For an example of an active Council Watch, see Ecology Ottawa’s Council Watch.
Why is Council Watch important?
An active Council Watch helps Guelph citizens understand how councillors have acted on their behalf in the past so they can vote accordingly. As an election approaches, the council watch team creates a council watch report card so that voters have a quick and easy way of determining how their councillors voted on issues and, based on this, whether they want to vote for them.
For example, if you are interested in active transportation you can see how councillors in your ward have voted on transit issues in the past, and make an informed decision about who to vote for in an upcoming election.
Local media has decreased dramatically and so has the coverage of what goes on at city hall. A Council Watch helps fill that gap. Council Watch volunteers provide an important service to the community by keeping voters informed.
Read the report cards
Ahead of the 2026 election, Council Watch reviews are being written up as report cards. Each one takes a single council vote, explains what was at stake, and lists how every councillor voted.
- Council Watch report cards 2026: what the report cards cover, how to read the vote records, and how to prepare one for an issue you work on.
- Undermining Expensive Planning: the December 2023 vote on the Innovation District Lands secondary plan, prepared by Get Involved! Guelph.
- Public Space Use By-law: the August 2024 vote affecting encampments, prepared by Basic Income Guelph.
- Environment / Climate Action: votes on the Enbridge gas subsidy, biodiversity restoration, and bike lanes, prepared by Guelph Climate Action Network (GCAN).
- Urban Forest: the April 2025 votes on the Private Tree Protection By-law, prepared by Guelph Urban Forest Friends (GUFF).
The values in each report card are the writing organization’s, not ours.
How can you get involved?
If you are interested in participating in Council Watch, or in learning more, send us an email.