Lobbying is generally defined when an individual or group who represents a business or financial interest communicates with a public office holder in an attempt to influence a decision on governmental matters outside of normal processes, such as the creation, development, amendment or termination of any motion, bylaw, policy or program. In Ontario, the Municipal … Read more
Here are questions we’ve collected over time from candidate interviews, surveys and email conversations which can be used as a reference or as inspiration when asking your local candidates or elected officials about their stances on issues or action plans to address them. If you do end up contacting your local candidates to ask questions, … Read more
Open Council put together Wikipedia-like profiles of all of Belleville’s election candidates including the public school board trustees. These profiles collected all of the publicly available facts about the candidates from their own websites and social media, as well as from trusted third-party sources such as local news websites and linked to the source of … Read more
As part of their financial plan, municipalities set the capital and operating budgets each year by taking into consideration their government-mandated responsibilities, maintaining service level standards and their community’s priorities. These documents are the blueprint that outline the where money will be collected and spent in line with the municipality’s priorities and level of service … Read more
Every 4 years on the fourth Monday of October, voters across Ontario decide who will represent their interests and lead their communities by electing the members of their municipal councils and school boards. Who is eligible? To be eligible to hold office for a position as councillor or mayor, you must be: as of the day … Read more