MEDIA RELEASES
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1
Caledon Mayor and CAO Crowing About Protecting Greenbelt Lands is Just Greenwashing
CALEDON, ON (October 6, 2025) - In an October 1 announcement, Caledon Mayor Annette Groves and Chief Administrative Officer Nathan Hyde took credit for actions to “protect” almost 380 acres of land that are already protected from development under the provincial Greenbelt Plan. It is standard practice for developers to transfer ownership of protected Greenbelt land to a public body, in this case to the Town of Caledon.
“This announcement is just greenwashing,” says Debbe Crandall, president of Democracy Caledon. “Mayor Groves is once again attempting to distract the public with highly misleading announcements. And for the Mayor to put a price tag of $38 million on these lands is absurd, given that they are already protected from development, are therefore undevelopable, are considered surplus and are of no value to developers.” However, they have great ecological value, which is why they are in the Greenbelt.
A Town staff report, to be presented at the Oct. 7 General Committee of Council meeting, links these land conveyances to the 12 zoning by-laws approved by a majority of Council in June and July 2024. In fact, they are linked to only five of those zoning by-laws.
“It is categorically wrong for staff to imply that this ‘gratuitous conveyance’ of land could not have been achieved if the Mayor had not pre-zoned 12 parcels of land in advance of proper land use planning,” Crandall added. “Furthermore, this continued reference by staff to ‘gratuitous conveyance’ and the misleading statements regarding the 12 zoning by-laws are unprofessional and could be construed as being politically biased, considering staff are expected to be politically neutral.”
It is standard practice, under Ontario’s Planning Act, for public agencies such as the Town of Caledon to acquire Open Space Lands (natural heritage features, floodplains, valley lands) at no cost as a condition of approving a subdivision plan. In 2024, during public outreach on the 12 zoning bylaws, Town staff reported that conveying protected lands would be at no cost to the Town.
In March 2024, Mayor Groves used her Strong Mayor Powers to bring forward a motion to pre-zone 5,000 acres of land to build 35,000 homes in advance of infrastructure, community and financial planning, environmental impact assessments and community input. In December 2024, Democracy Caledon launched court action against the Town, alleging that these 12 zoning by-laws are illegal as they do not conform to the Town and Peel official plans. The matter is still before the courts.
Contact:
Democracy Caledon
Email: info@democracycaledon.org
For additional information and to arrange interviews, please contact Debbe Crandall at
info@democracycaledon.org Please provide your phone number for Debbe to call you.
About Democracy Caledon - democracycaledon.org
Democracy Caledon is a collective of proactive people deeply committed to restoring good
governance in the Town of Caledon. We believe that strong communities are built on a foundation
of transparency, accountability, and engaged citizenry. Our focus is on advocating for responsible
local and regional governance that serves the best interests of all residents.
Democracy Caledon appalled over snow job on by-laws open house
CALEDON, ON (August 20, 2025) - Democracy Caledon is appalled that a public open house originally set to discuss only the proposed new by-law on site alteration has morphed into a snow job that covers a blizzard of five proposed by-laws, all in two hours on Sept. 3.
The Town of Caledon has decided that information displays at the open house will now cover these proposed new or amended by-laws, all between 5 and 7 pm:
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Site alteration
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Property standards
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Clean yards
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Tree preservation
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Entrance permit
In adding four more by-laws to the open house, the Town is violating its own procedural by-law that requires 20 days’ notice of a change to a public meeting or open house. The Town back-dated its notice of the change to give the impression it had met the 20-day requirement.
“Heaven help the Caledon resident who wants to truly understand, in two hours, what the Town is planning for even one of these by-laws, let alone people who want in-depth information on several of them,” said Debbe Crandall, President of Democracy Caledon. “We see this as a strategy to divide and conquer by severely limiting the ability of residents to understand the Town’s intentions with each by-law. This is not just public consultation at its worst and its most limited, it’s a complete sham.”
Crandall made a comparison to the one public meeting in April 24 on 12 zoning by-laws to fast-track urban development on some 5,000 acres of land in southern Caledon. “We’ve seen this kind of major erosion of public consultation before – and look where that landed. Democracy Caledon launched a legal challenge to those 12 by-laws.”
Democracy Caledon calls on the Town to revert to the original plan – devote Sept. 3 to the proposed site alteration by-law ONLY. This by-law will likely have wide-ranging implications for land use and landscape change across Caledon, for example at ‘Swan Lake’ in Ward 1. The Town should schedule separate open houses for each of the five by-laws.
Contact:
Democracy Caledon
Email: info@democracycaledon.org
For additional information and to arrange interviews, please contact Debbe Crandall at
info@democracycaledon.org Please provide your phone number for Debbe to call you.
About Democracy Caledon - democracycaledon.org
Democracy Caledon is a collective of proactive people deeply committed to restoring good
governance in the Town of Caledon. We believe that strong communities are built on a foundation
of transparency, accountability, and engaged citizenry. Our focus is on advocating for responsible
local and regional governance that serves the best interests of all residents.
Democracy Caledon Raises Alarm Over Council’s Proposal to Give Town's CAO Blank
Cheques for Spending up to $500,000 per Contract
CALEDON, ON (February 21, 2025) - Democracy Caledon expresses grave concern over
Caledon Council's recent decision to dramatically increase the Chief Administrative Officer's (CAO)
spending limit from $50,000 to as much as $500,000 without Council approval. This move,
proposed in an amendment to a Purchasing Bylaw and set for ratification by Council on February
25, 2025, represents yet another example of the significant erosion of democratic controls and
fiscal accountability in the Town of Caledon.
Democracy Caledon calls on Caledon residents to voice their concerns to Council members before
and at the February 25 (7:00 pm) meeting. The non-profit community organization warns that this
decision, if ratified, sets a dangerous precedent for unchecked spending and reduced Council
oversight in Caledon's future and other Ontario communities.
"This is an alarming surrender of Council's fiscal management responsibilities to staff" said Debbe
Crandall, President of Democracy Caledon. "Council allowing the CAO to approve
procurements up to half a million dollars without Council review is a dangerous concentration of
power that undermines transparency and accountability to Caledon taxpayers".
The proposed amendment to the Purchasing By-law was initially tabled with a $1 million limit. This
was reduced to $500,000 after numerous questions and concerns were raised by Councillors
DeBoer, Early, Kiernan and Sheen, which resulted in an amendment at the General Committee of
Council meeting on February 4. Democracy Caledon maintains this permission for procurement
spending by staff is still excessive, especially when compared to neighbouring municipalities. The
Region of Peel, with a population of 1.5 million, caps such spending at $250,000, while King
Township requires Council approval for contracts over $100,000.
Democracy Caledon contends that this move contravenes the Municipal Act, which lays out
Council's role in ensuring accountability and maintaining financial integrity. The group recommends
a more reasonable limit of $100,000 for CAO-approved non-standard procurements.
Democracy Caledon also questions the justification provided for this change, citing insufficient
background information and analysis provided to Council before the Feb. 4 vote. The community
group asks why Caledon’s CAO Nathan Hyde needs up to $500K of taxpayers’ money available to
him to spend without oversight. Mayor Annette Groves' unsubstantiated claims of staff frugality
and savings are not enough to warrant such a dramatic increase in staff’s spending authority.
"Council is abdicating and outsourcing its responsibility to oversee significant expenditures of
taxpayer money" Crandall concluded. "This decision, along with the lack of transparency regarding
the CAO's employment contract and performance review process, raises serious concerns about
governance in Caledon.”
Contact:
Democracy Caledon
Email: info@democracycaledon.org
For additional information and to arrange interviews, please contact Debbe Crandall at
info@democracycaledon.org Please provide your phone number for Debbe to call you.
About Democracy Caledon - democracycaledon.org
Democracy Caledon is a collective of proactive people deeply committed to restoring good
governance in the Town of Caledon. We believe that strong communities are built on a foundation
of transparency, accountability, and engaged citizenry. Our focus is on advocating for responsible
local and regional governance that serves the best interests of all residents.
