- 1. York Region Development Charges
- (Category)
- Created on 22 April 2017
- 2. Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas wants to house homeless men in York Region’s underused HQ
- (Blog)
- The Mayor of Aurora Tom Mrakas believes in “leadership that gets things done”. Except, I suppose, when it comes to providing shelter for homeless men. On Thursday, at York Region’s Committee of the ...
- Created on 05 March 2024
- 3. Calandra abandons plans to dissolve Peel Region
- (Blog)
- Another screeching U-turn from the Ford Government as Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra abandons plans to dissolve Peel Region. In a news release earlier today Calandra talks about ...
- Created on 13 December 2023
- 4. CORRECTION: Review of Regional Governance
- (Blog)
- My post earlier today (Ford Abandons Review of Regional Municipalities) was factually incorrect. It has been taken down. The Government is, in fact, continuing its review of regional governance. The new ...
- Created on 23 October 2023
- 5. York Region should challenge in the Courts Ford’s decision to open-up the Greenbelt for development
- (Blog)
- ... should be challenged in the Courts. (Photo right: Clown-in-Chief Steve Clark) I’d like to see York Regional Council do this. The City of Hamilton is already testing the waters. And environmental groups are taking ...
- Created on 19 September 2023
- 6. Markham’s Regional Councillor Alan Ho dismisses Land Acknowledgements, asking “What use are they?”
- (Blog)
- Alan Ho was elected last year as one of four regional councillors representing Markham on York Regional Council. Personally, I think he is a disgrace. He is ignorant and talks drivel. He has no self-awareness ...
- Created on 15 September 2023
- 7. The future of York Region and Doug Ford’s Theatre of the Absurd
- (Blog)
- On Thursday (14 September) York Region’s Committee of the Whole will be considering a report from the Chief Administrative Officer, Bruce Macgregor, on the Provincial review of regional government. It ...
- Created on 11 September 2023
- 8. York Region has enough housing approved or in the pipeline to meet Ford's targets without building on the Greenbelt
- (Blog)
- ... land is not needed. Figures from York Region's own Housing Affordability Task Force showed total housing supply of 1,126,960 units across the Province - that's housing approved and proposed. The figure excludes over ...
- Created on 02 September 2023
- 9. Taylor says Del Duca's attack on York Region's planners is unnecessary, derogatory and inaccura
- (Blog)
- Vaughan Mayor and former Leader of the Ontario Liberals, Steven del Duca, today accused York Regional planning staff of trying to create a role for themselves if a much touted municipal reorganisation ...
- Created on 29 June 2023
- 10. Steven Del Duca signals the end of York Region
- (Blog)
- ... in Vaughan to consider the City’s response to Doug Ford’s inchoate plans to shake up municipalities across the GTA. We know that Ford will break up Peel Region but we don’t yet know what he plans for other ...
- Created on 22 June 2023
- 11. Newmarket Regional Councillor Tom Vegh asks for more time to clear his election campaign deficit
- (Blog)
- ... by using his own money to clear the debt himself. It follows he must have maxed out on his self-financing limit which, for candidates for Regional Councillor, was set at $17,241.40 A candidate can only ...
- Created on 17 February 2023
- 12. Joe Li did the right thing in running for Chair of York Region
- (Blog)
- Last week Markham Regional Councillor Joe Li failed in his brave attempt to become Chair of York Regional Council. I say “brave” because it was never really on the cards. But it was important Wayne ...
- Created on 20 November 2022
- 13. Province re-writes York Region's Official Plan but without explaining wh
- (Blog)
- Why did the Provincial Government insert a new category of “special provisions” into the York Regional Plan to allow a high-density development in Aurora (at Leslie and Wellington Street East) that the ...
- Created on 12 November 2022
- 14. York Region: the elephant in the room
- (Blog)
- The population of York Region is bigger than five Canadian Provinces: PEI, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, and it’s rapidly closing on Manitoba. Yet the person who ...
- Created on 19 October 2022
- 15. Prentice vs Vegh for Regional Councillor. Time for a public debate.
- (Blog)
- Yesterday I called on Tom Vegh to meet me on a public platform to debate the election issues. This is what I said: Good morning Tom I hope you are well. I am writing to ask if you would be ...
- Created on 10 September 2022
- 16. Ontario’s Deformed Democracy: York Region Chair Wayne Emmerson seeks a third term
- (Blog)
- The chair of York Regional Council, Wayne Emmerson, tells me he will be seeking a third term in November for the job which paid over $232,379 in 2021 plus generous benefits. "I will be running for ...
- Created on 25 August 2022
- 17. Regional Councillor Tom Vegh takes the developers' money and dances to their tune
- (Blog)
- Running for election shouldn’t be an arms race with the prize going to the candidate who spends the most. The provisional campaign expense limit for the office of Regional Councillor, calculated by ...
- Created on 06 August 2022
- 18. In 13-8 vote York Regional Council rejects recommendation to amend Code of Conduct to stop members from blocking constituents on social media without giving reasons
- (Blog)
- The debate on social media at York Regional Council on 30 June 2022 has received less coverage than it deserves. Background: At issue is whether elected officials whose salaries come out of public ...
- Created on 10 July 2022
- 19. York Regional Transportation Master Plan: Just published but already out-of-date
- (Blog)
- York Region Transportation Master Plan (TMP). updated every 5 years, guides development across the region over the next 30 years. Although it has just been published and agreed “in principle” (with ...
- Created on 08 July 2022
- 20. Confusion Reigns as York Regional Council approves Official Plan in 14-7 vote
- (Blog)
- Yesterday, York Regional Council gave final approval to its Official Plan which guides development over the next 30 years. In a long debate punctuated by profound procedural confusion, pointed remarks ...
- Created on 01 July 2022
- 21. York Region's Transportation Master Plan: "Heavy on roads. What about rail
- (Blog)
- On Thursday (30 June) York Regional Council will formally approve “in principle” a Regional Transportation Master Plan (TMP) that is too timid for words. Markham's Regional Councillor Jim Jones told ...
- Created on 29 June 2022
- 22. Taylor votes against York Region’s Official Plan and slams colleagues for undermining the entire planning process
- (Blog)
- Last Thursday, Newmarket Mayor John Taylor, voted against endorsing York Region's Official Plan (ROP) which guides development over the next 30 years. An angry Taylor said he had never voted against a ...
- Created on 19 June 2022
- 23. Regional Councillor Tom Vegh gets the Developers' Money
- (Blog)
- In 2018 Tom Vegh was elected as Newmarket’s Regional Councillor, serving on the Town council and on York Regional Council. Earlier this month, at a York Region committee meeting, Tom voted for a motion ...
- Created on 26 October 2021
- 24. Richmond Hill Council orders self-promoting Regional Councillor Carmine Perrelli to reimburse an eye-watering $139,623
- (Blog)
- ... The guidelines require councillors to pay for these events through sponsorship or in other ways which do not require public money. A report from the City Manager tells councillors that Regional Councillor ...
- Created on 14 October 2021
- 25. Will York Regional Council ignore its own Integrity Commissioner and allow Carmine Perrelli to continue to block people on Twitter?
- (Blog)
- Background: Carmine Perrelli is a York Regional Councillor representing the City of Richmond Hill. On 15 April 2021 the Regional Council considered a complaint against Perrelli brought by one of his ...
- Created on 08 October 2021
- 26. Taylor pushes (again) for the Direct Election of Chair of York Region
- (Blog)
- This Thursday (22 October 2020) Newmarket Mayor John Taylor will tell York Regional Council that it is time to have a Regional Chair that is directly elected by the voters. Ever since the Region was established ...
- Created on 19 October 2020
- 27. York Regional Council goes virtual for Covid-19 briefing on Thursday
- (Blog)
- York Regional Council will be going virtual at its next meeting on Thursday (2 April 2020) when members will amend the Procedural By-law “to permit electronic participation in meetings during a declared ...
- Created on 31 March 2020
- 28. York Regional Council to review its own form and composition
- (Blog)
- Background: Early last year the Province embarked on a review of Ontario’s regional municipalities. It turned out to be a damp squib. The Government had second thoughts and abandoned the exercise – no ...
- Created on 17 February 2020
- 29. Region decides not to lay charges on Election Signs infringements
- (Blog)
- York Region will not be taking action against candidates in the Federal Election who may have broken the by-law that regulates election signs – where they can go up and when. Conservative candidate, ...
- Created on 11 November 2019
- 30. Former York Regional Councillor Michael Di Biase and his cottage on the shore of Orr Lake
- (Blog)
- The case of former York Regional Councillor Michael Di Biase, who was charged earlier this year with breach of trust and municipal corruption, goes to a Judicial Pre-trial at 9am on Thursday 9 January ...
- Created on 30 October 2019
- 31. Former Regional Councillor Michael Di Biase faces corruption charges
- (Blog)
- ... and on about Di Biase and what he got up to. Besides being a Vaughan councillor he also served on York Regional Council. We wait to see what unfolds in Court. Turning a blind eye But even after Di ...
- Created on 03 October 2019
- 32. Wannabe Liberal MP Tony Van Bynen gets 9 October deadline to say if he objects to details of his $67,068.33 severance pay from York Region being made public
- (Blog)
- Former Newmarket Mayor Tony Van Bynen has been given a deadline of 9 October 2019 to tell York Region if he has any objection to their releasing to me the letter in which he claimed a severance payment ...
- Created on 25 September 2019
- 33. Former Newmarket-Aurora MP Lois Brown removes 8 unlawful election signs but leaves others in place in defiance of York Region By-law
- (Blog)
- ... election signs which were placed on regional roads in defiance of a York Regional Council By-law which states, unequivocally, that election signs on regional roads should not be put up before Monday 23 ...
- Created on 21 September 2019
- 34. York Regional Council tells Ford to delay Homes Bill and start talking
- (Blog)
- York Regional Council is calling on the Ford Government to put a hold on Bill 108 (More Homes, More Choices Act) and pause its progress through the legislature to allow for more consultation with municipalities. ...
- Created on 17 May 2019
- 35. York Regional Council to tell Ford’s Regional Review things are just fine as they are
- (Blog)
- York Regional Council will decide its formal response to the Ford Government’s Regional Review next Thursday (16 May 2019). Bevilacqua: "There is great awareness by the Premier of the great work York ...
- Created on 12 May 2019
- 36. Ford's Regional Review: Should Mississauga leave Peel Region
- (Blog)
- It is Wednesday 8 May 2019 and I take myself down to Brampton for the big debate on whether Mississauga should leave Peel Region. In Ford’s Regional Review this is one of the hottest of the hot potatoes ...
- Created on 09 May 2019
- 37. Ford’s Regional Review: why not kick the Mayors off York Regional Council?
- (Blog)
- This afternoon I wander down to the York Region Administrative HQ where I have been given the opportunity to address the two special advisers, Ken Seiling and Michael Fenn, who were appointed in January ...
- Created on 06 May 2019
- 38. What’s wrong with Doug Ford’s Regional Review?
- (Blog)
- The future of Ontario’s eight regional municipalities and Simcoe County and their lower tiers is under review. The Premier wants our thoughts “on governance, decision making and service delivery functions ...
- Created on 08 April 2019
- 39. York Region’s unelected chair, Wayne Emmerson, promises to do better
- (Blog)
- The unelected Chair of York Regional Council, Wayne Emmerson, last week apologised to elected members for slapping them down in public. He says sometimes he just loses it. Joe Li and Jack Heath have ...
- Created on 25 March 2019
- 40. York Region agrees its crazy Budget
- (Blog)
- The story so far: Last week (Thursday 28 February) York Regional Council agreed a Budget for 2019 that raises taxes by 2.96% excluding an additional 1% tax levy specifically dedicated to speeding up the ...
- Created on 03 March 2019
- 41. York Region’s Draft Code of Conduct is sent back for a re-write
- (Blog)
- York Regional Council needs a Code of Conduct. But, scandalously, the Region’s elected officials have resisted the idea for years. True. They are talking about getting one – but only ...
- Created on 03 February 2019
- 42. Doug Ford’s Regional Review
- (Blog)
- Will York Region and Newmarket survive in their current form following Doug Ford’s review of Regional Government that was announced yesterday? Almost certainly not. The Toronto Star’s Edward ...
- Created on 16 January 2019
- 43. Taylor and Vegh rule out supporting Racco in his bid to become Chair of York Regional Council
- (Blog)
- Newmarket Mayor John Taylor and Regional Councillor Tom Vegh said yesterday they would not be voting for Mario Racco for Regional Chair if he throws his hat into the ring on Thursday evening. Mario ...
- Created on 04 December 2018
- 44. Will Emmerson be challenged for Chair of York Regional Council?
- (Blog)
- The inaugural meeting of York Regional Council could be a moment of high drama - or it could be a damp squib. Emmerson admits he wouldn't have won a region-wide vote. At the first meeting of ...
- Created on 02 December 2018
- 45. Christine Elliott and the cancellation of elections for Regional Chairs
- (Blog)
- Christine Elliott is my MPP. She steadfastly refuses to tell me if she was in favour of the direct election of the Chair of Durham Regional Council when she was MPP for Whitby-Oshawa. It is not ...
- Created on 16 September 2018
- 46. Bill 5 becomes law and the direct election for chair of York Region is scrapped
- (Blog)
- ... to Sarah who is sitting behind a desk. I say I wrote to Christine two weeks ago about the cancelled elections for Regional Chairs and I have not had any response despite a reminder. I say the issue ...
- Created on 14 August 2018
- 47. Ford rules out any public consultation on Bill to cut Toronto Council by half and axe direct elections for Regional Chairs
- (Blog)
- Thursday at 1.45pm. PC Ministers are dancing to their master's tune and opening themselves to charges of hypocrisy. The Ford Government has now ruled out any consultations with the public ...
- Created on 09 August 2018
- 48. Ford races to get Bill 5 through in time to cut Toronto Council by half and axe elections for Regional Chairs: Is it doable? Is it legal?
- (Blog)
- Friday at 2pm. Rob Ford and the chaos of 2013 We learned earlier this week about the “absolutely huge task” facing staff at Toronto City Hall as they struggle to prepare for the October 22 ...
- Created on 03 August 2018
- 49. Christine Elliott and the direct election of the Chair of York Regional Council
- (Blog)
- ... elections for the Chairs of four Regional Councils. How did she vote in 2010 in Durham's referendum? But how did she vote in 2010 when voters in Durham Region were asked if they wanted a directly ...
- Created on 31 July 2018
- 50. What a farce! Wayne Emmerson is back in the running for Chair of York Region
- (Blog)
- Ford’s chaos descends into farce. Wayne Emmerson: 273,000 reasons to smile Yesterday the current (indirectly elected) Chair of York Region, Wayne Emmerson, told us he would be withdrawing ...
- Created on 27 July 2018
- 51. Election for York Regional Chair a two horse race
- (Blog)
- Scarpitti the tease This morning, Wayne Emmerson bowed to the inevitable and withdrew from the race to become the first directly elected Chair of York Region. He was indirectly elected by ...
- Created on 26 July 2018