The following article appeared in the October 8 edition of the Guelph Mercury:
Incumbent Ward 2 Coun. Vicki Beard took advantage of a live televised debate Thursday evening to apologize for comments she made that morning on a national radio program.
Beard said she “misrepresented” facts during a live conversation about the licensing of body rub parlours.
“I apologize if my comments caused harm to the city’s reputation,” Beard said during a “discussion forum” sponsored by the Guelph Chamber of Commerce and broadcast on Rogers Television.
Thursday morning, Beard was a call-in guest on The Current on CBC Radio One.
She told host Anna Maria Tremonti the city licenses body rub parlours, and defended the practice by saying it is the only way police and health care workers can get into the businesses to see what’s happening.
“Basically you’re telling me you know the sex trade goes on in there?” Tremonti asked. “That prostitution goes on?”
“Yeah,” Beard responded.
Later in the conversation, however, Beard stressed that the city does not license body rub parlours, but rather licenses “holistic practitioners” able to meet a number of stringent requirements.
During the televised debate, the five candidates – including Ray Ferraro, Ian Findlay, Paul Mahony and Andy Van Hellemond – were asked their positions on licensing body rub parlours.
The candidates were unanimous in their opposition to licensing such establishments, with incumbents Beard and Findlay noting the city does not license them and there is no mechanism in the city to do so.
The body rub question was one of 14 fielded by candidates on a wide range of topics.
On a question about the future of downtown, Van Hellemond suggested more residential development is required “and clear some of the older buildings away. We’re saving the Gummer Building for what? I don’t know.”
Ferraro, a former councillor under Kate Quarrie’s leadership, said no progress will be made downtown “until you solve the bar problem.
“This was caused … by the university which closed all its functions,” Ferraro said of Guelph’s infamous downtown nightlife.
The candidates were unanimous, however, in their belief Guelph’s tax base needs to be less reliant on the residential sector.
“This city needs to be open for business,” Van Hellemond said, adding the recent creation of a “business champion” position at City Hall and word this week the first two tenants for the Hanlon Creek Business Park are encouraging signs.
Mahony also praised efforts to attract more business, calling the current situation, which sees 84 per cent of tax revenue coming from the residential sector, “abysmal.”
Findlay said one problem the city has had is a lack of vacant serviced industrial land, adding the Hanlon Creek project will address that as servicing continues. But Findlay noted brownfield sites can find new owners as well, as shown recently by Canadian Solar’s investment in a vacant Speedvale Avenue factory.
Ferraro said there is still two million square feet of vacant industrial space in the city, suggesting the city needs to focus on maintaining financial stability if it wants to attract new businesses.
He noted the city’s epic battle against Wal-Mart, which dragged on for a decade and made headlines internationally, did not help the city’s reputation.
“We still have that stigma, but we can overcome that,” Ferraro said.