Fact or Fiction?

If the material contains charges against a candidate or group of candidates that makes your jaw drop, then work on the assumption that it’s garbage, because it probably is…

Property Tax Increases


Let’s take a deeper dive into the claims relating to overall property tax increases:

  • Voted for an increase of property tax of 5.8% in 2019
  • Voted for an increase of property tax of 3.7% in 2020
  • Voted for an increase of property tax of 1.08% in 2021
  • Voted for an increase of property tax of 2.8% for 2022

Fact or fiction?

The claims are misleading and do not give an accurate assessment of the final impact to the taxpayer, nor do they correspond to the information as released by the Town of Caledon in their Budget press releases. Click the numbers in the Fact column to see the official Press Releases.

  Fiction Fact* What does that mean
in dollars and cents for
a typical Canadian

household?*
2022 2.8% 1.97% $104
2021 1.08% 1.13% $59
2020 3.7% 2.25% $114
2019 5.8% 2.66% $131.82
*Source: Town of Caledon Budget Press Releases

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Wilson Land Donation


The Wilson land donation for an urgent care facility and seniors housing has been an ongoing discussion for the last several years.

The “how” and the “why” it has taken so long for a “donation” to come to completion is something only those who were part of the legal and in camera sessions will ever know. But there is noise in this campaign talking about which Councillors did or didn’t support it on a particular date.

Here’s the thing.

Why does it even matter how our Caledon Councillors voted at Peel Regional Council on this matter in October 2020?

In any negotiations… whether buying a house… getting a divorce… settling an insurance claim… there is back and forth. That’s called negotiations. What matters is what is in the agreement when the deal is finally signed. And on February 11, 2021 when the final agreement came to the Region of Peel Council meeting, the offer as negotiated and finalized was approved. 

Unanimously.

See for yourself.

Source: Peel Regional Council Meeting Minutes, February 11, 2021

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Support for Nurses


Do our Caledon Councillors support nurses?

Support for nurses and Bill 124 has become one of those distraction issues this election. It’s a distraction because all legislation governing them – including Bill 124 – falls under the responsibility of the provincial government. A local municipality simply doesn’t have the jurisdictional authority.

So my question is: why is anyone talking about which Councillors did or didn’t Support Bill 124 on February 1, 2022? Shouldn’t the question be who supported our frontline workers?

Source: Town of Caledon Council Meeting, February 1, 2022 (pages 4 and 5)

Bill 124: In support of the nursing profession in Ontario, Council passed a motion supporting frontline health care workers and requesting the provincial government to review the cause of the shortage of staff when they meet with the Ontario Nurses Association.

Source: Council Highlights, February 1, 2022

How did the final vote go?

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Bolton Residential Expansion Study


The claim:

Mayor Thompson went to the Province to change the zoning of the Bolton Residential Expansion 6 (BRES), in the south end of Bolton. Then voted on it to be changed to warehousing instead of houses.

The facts:

For anyone who has been following our Caledon political scene the Bolton Residential Expansion Study (BRES) has been on the Council table agenda and in the news for many years now. (See Additional Reading, below). The statement from a document in circulation this election seems to suggest the Mayor singlehandedly undertook this initiative.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

After many, many years the very lengthy process finally ended with a legal settlement agreement for mixed use land use between all the landowners, the Town of Caledon and the Region of Peel. To formalize the legal agreement it was brought forward for approval at each the Region of Peel and the Town of Caledon Councils.

It was approved at both.

Additional Reading:

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Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZOs)


There is a complexity to the myriad of legislations governing local municipalities that is often confusing and sometimes politically weaponized.

One of the tools in the legislative tool box that is getting a bit of a bad rap this election is the use of Ministerial Zoning Orders, commonly referred to as MZOs.

MZOs could be described as a peer review, as they are extensively reviewed by the province to ensure all the necessary requirements are there, including public consultation.

They are also a mechanism a lower-tier municipality can use to preserve and protect their local planning autonomy if their planning is not being respected at the upper level of government.

For a community such as Caledon that is facing unprecedented growth at a time when they will have fewer representatives at the Regional Council table, they are an important tool for a lower-tier municipality such as Caledon to have.

Question: Have any of the Caledon MZOs been issued on farmland and environmentally-sensitive lands?

No. The only MZOs that have been issued are for lands already designated as in the “whitebelt”.

The line separating and identifying lands for protection (greenbelt lands) and those lands identified for urban expansion (whitebelt) was drawn with the Places to Grow Act (2005) under then Premier Dalton McGuinty.

The lands may still be actively farmed today, but their future as a place for the future growth was sealed by the government of the day 17 years ago.

Question: Have any of the Caledon MZOs been issued on Greenbelt lands?

No.

Background

It is important to understand the population numbers assigned to Caledon will be focused in the 20 per cent of the Town, the lands designed as urban expansion (whitebelt). 80 per cent of Caledon is under multiple layers of protection to preserve their uniqueness and prohibit such mass development, such as the Greenbelt, Oak Ridges Moraine and Niagara Escarpment protections.

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