GrassRootsGuelph submitted a petition to Linda Jeffrey, the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) on Tuesday, October 1, 2013. This four-page petition details numerous examples of fiscal mismanagement in the City of Guelph. It requests that the province conduct a forensic audit of the City of Guelph’s finances and operations so that our residents can understand why their property taxes increase so much each year.

This petition was signed by over 160 Guelph residents, more than three times the number required by provincial law to get the Government of Ontario to take action.

However, we have been told that it will probably take months to get a response from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The truth is, we are worried our concerns will get shelved, without a forensic audit. We need your help. We need your help to put pressure on the Ontario government to act for taxpayers in Guelph, for taxpayers just like you.

The only “official” response so far is from the Mayor of Guelph. She issued a statement on October 10, 2013 saying that “Our staff (has) reviewed the concerns of GrassRoots Guelph and in their opinion there is nothing that warrants provincial intervention or the use of taxpayers’ money for additional auditing.”

Really? Four pages detailing mismanagement and nothing warrants provincial intervention? We say, let a forensic audit by the Government of Ontario determine the truth of that!

Please sign this petition asking that the Government of Ontario look at our petition immediately. Help us take the first step toward getting Guelph’s fiscal house in order!