Council Votes on Key Issues: A Disturbing Pattern
No candidate in the 2026 Caledon election is likely going to agree with a resident’s position on every issue that’s important to her or him. What really matters is that candidates listen to the public, engage with residents, respond to our concerns, and advocate at Town Council for what’s important to the community. Candidates need to have the courage to take leadership on controversial issues.
As voters, we need to look for these qualities in our new Mayor, Regional Councillors and Ward (Local) Councillors:
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Integrity: Honesty, fairness, decency, responsiveness to residents
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Resident focus: Benefits to Caledon residents first, not developers
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Respect for taxpayers: Sound planning and management of Town finances
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Support for public participation: Encouragement of public engagement in the democratic process
Democracy Caledon presents the Council votes on five key issues from the 2022-26 term. It was votes such as these that determined who we support and can’t support in the 2026 election of those candidates who are currently on Council.
Why We Chose These Council Votes
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These are important issues that tell the story of four years in Caledon democracy.
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They are issues in which Democracy Caledon has been closely involved – urging residents to come to Council, presenting delegations to Council ourselves, hosting townhall meetings and webinars, making phone calls and sending emails to Councillors expressing our views.
These four Councillors do NOT deserve your vote! Let's not give them another chance!
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Mario Russo for Mayor
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Doug Maskell, Ward Councillor for Ward 3
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Cosimo Napoli, Ward Councillor for Ward 6
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Tony Rosa, Regional Councillor for Wards 4, 5 & 6 (acclaimed: no challengers)
For more information on each Council vote, click or tap on the cells in the left-hand column.
What the Votes Tell Us
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The votes display a crippling pattern where the nine-member Council has been split on major issues – typically and repeatedly five on one side, four on the other.
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The votes show that four Councillors – Maskell, Napoli, Rosa and Russo – almost always voted with Mayor Groves. Their votes on these five issues did not serve the interests and meet the concerns of Caledon residents.
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This voting pattern demonstrates a lack of commitment on the part of Mayor Groves and her four Council allies to serving the interests of Caledon residents first and foremost.
Who Deserves Your Vote?
There are some excellent election candidates who don’t have Council experience. It’s a real challenge to fairly evaluate each candidate among such a large field of candidates. When deciding which candidates to support, we urge you to consider the qualities shown above – integrity, resident focus, respect for taxpayers and support for public participation. Whenever you get the chance, talk with candidates and attend candidate debates.