Scheduling miscue gives contender Mlynarz the stage for first half of mayoral debate

Cam Guthrie almost didn't make it to the third mayoral candidate debate Tuesday afternoon.

An apparent scheduling miscue by his re-election campaign team meant Guthrie arrived half an hour late to the one-hour event hosted by the Village By The Arboretum.

Guthrie and challenger Aggie Mlynarz were scheduled to be on stage at 2 p.m. and a Ward 5 councillor candidate town hall was scheduled for 3 p.m.

Guthrie thought he was on stage at 3 p.m.

He rushed into the room at 2:30 p.m. and quickly joined Mlynarz on stage, apologizing profusely to the 100 or so people gathered for the event, both for being late and for showing up in blue jeans because he hadn't had time to change into his usual suit.

The miscue gave Mlynarz 30 minutes of solo stage time.

She used it to outline her stance on a variety of issues, pointing out that she was "not representing a political party."

Mlynarz told the crowd that she had friends on city council who were connected to her NDP roots and had mentored her when she ran for the NDP party in last summer's provincial election.

But she said that when she decided to run for Mayor of Guelph at the urging of many, she made it clear to those councillors that separation was needed.

"We decided that's where the relationship ends," she said of her ties to certain left-leaning councillors.

She again expressed concern that Guthrie's overt campaigning with certain council candidates sent the wrong message.

"What if a candidate that (Guthrie) didn't support gets in?" she said, later accusing the mayor of creating a "hostile framework," particularly in Ward 4.

Guthrie was not yet on hand to respond.

When he did arrive, and was again asked about campaigning with certain candidates, he referenced Mlynarz' connections to certain councillors, and that at least he was transparent about what he was doing, an apparent dig at Mlynarz.

Mlynarz pointed out that prior to his arrival, she had outlined her involvement with certain councillors during the provincial campaign and how that changed in the municipal election.

Guthrie shot back that it was good to see that Mlynarz had "changed your answer from the last couple of debates."

Mlynarz used her time before Guthrie arrived (the event started without him) to detail her stance on eliminating single use plastics in Guelph, educating people on the big recycling picture, her displeasure with the proposed Clair/Maltby design plan and the need for stable funding for affordable housing.

After being seated, Guthrie was asked what he was most proud of over the last term of council. He responded with the pending merger between Guelph Hydro and Alectra.

The Ward 5 hot topic of Homecoming-related issues was also brought up during questions from the floor.

Guthrie said the city might have to look at having the University of Guelph help pay for the cost of policing and cleaning up Homecoming parties.

"It's very unfair that the taxpayer base is having to accommodate the costs of these types of parties," Guthrie said.

Mlynarz said the plethora of house parties are becoming "extremely dangerous" and said she'd like to see Homecoming become more of a festival than private parties.

One more mayoral debate is apparently being planned, although no details have been made available.