✅ 2026 Mayoral Candidate Questionnaire — The Blue Mountains | The Shulman Report
The twenty-two questions, and where to read what each candidate said.
Why this exists
Turnout in this region runs near 30 per cent. In The Blue Mountains in 2022, roughly 4,000 people voted and the mayor’s race turned on 480 ballots — a handful of votes steering close to $30,000 per household in obligations. Most residents who do vote cannot name what the candidates on their ballot actually stand for. That is not the voters’ failure. It is a failure of transmission.
On 30 August 2026 the three candidates for mayor of The Blue Mountains were each sent the same twenty-two questions — on water and wastewater, the $19.7 million overrun, the tax levy, development charges, housing, long-term care, regional government, recreation, and how they would run the Town. Not a survey. Written answers, in their own words, at length, against a deadline.
The Collingwood candidates received a parallel questionnaire the same day. The first fourteen questions are identical in both towns, so the same question can be read across two municipalities.
The ground rules
Every completed answer is published in full and unedited. Nothing is summarised, trimmed or characterised. Candidates appear in alphabetical order. Box marks are reported exactly as they appear on the returned questionnaire — including blanks, double marks and anything a candidate wrote in instead of ticking. No answer is rated or scored. That is the reader’s job.
Peter Bordignon, Marni Moreau and Paul Reale all returned a questionnaire, and all three answered every question.
How to use this document
Below are the twenty-two questions as they were put to the candidates. Under each one is the link to the post carrying the answers to it. Questions were published in groups, so several questions share a link.
Election day is Monday 26 October 2026. Voting in The Blue Mountains runs 16 to 26 October, by internet and telephone only — there are no paper ballots. You may vote at your principal residence and at a seasonal home. The voters’ list is at thebluemountains.voterservices.ca.
Every post in the series: https://shulmanr.substack.com/archive
1. Priorities
Rank your top three priorities for the 2026–2030 term, 1 to 3. For each of the three, outline what you would actually do, and by when. If they compete for the same dollar in the 2027 budget, say which one gives way.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/2026-mayoral-candidate-questionnaire-571
2. The tax levy
Over the 2026–2030 term, the average annual levy increase I will work toward is [below inflation / at inflation / inflation + up to 3% / more than inflation + 3% / I will not commit to a number]. Non-residential property makes up roughly 8 per cent of the Town’s assessment base. Over the term I would work toward [a stated numeric target / growth without a target / no change]. Outline your fiscal platform. Name at least one specific service, programme or project you would reduce, defer or eliminate to hold that number — or state plainly that you would raise the levy instead, and by how much.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/2026-mayoral-candidate-questionnaire-571
3. A municipal services corporation — and, if not, then what
On a municipal services corporation for water and wastewater, my position is [actively pursue membership / complete the analysis, then decide / oppose / undecided]. If The Blue Mountains were invited to join a regional corporation anchored in Simcoe County, I would [join / negotiate terms first / decline]. If you would NOT join a corporation: do you expect the Province to fund this town’s next major water or wastewater project? Outline your platform.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/2026-mayoral-candidate-questionnaire-4c8
4. Capital cost control, and who is accountable when it fails
The reporting threshold at which a cost variance must come to council should be [any variance over $100,000 / over $500,000 / over 10% of budget / set by staff]. Outline what you would change in procurement, estimating, contingency and staff-to-council reporting so that a nine-figure programme cannot drift by half before council hears about it. Be specific about mechanisms, not intentions.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/2026-mayoral-candidate-questionnaire-4c8
5. Strong mayor powers
As mayor I would use strong mayor powers [yes, where useful / only in a defined emergency / no, never]. I will delegate authority over the CAO back to council [yes / no]. Outline your position on how this town should be governed, and what you would commit to in writing on day one.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/2026-mayoral-candidate-questionnaire-a4b
6. Development charges — who pays for growth
Residential development charges in this town should be [increased / held / reduced further to unlock grants / undecided]. Development charges on attainable and affordable housing units specifically should be [eliminated / reduced / deferred / unchanged]. Outline your platform. Development charges fund growth-related capital. If they fall, name what fills the hole — the levy, the rate base, debt, or projects that do not get built.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/2026-mayoral-candidate-questionnaire-a4b
7. Housing
Would you commit to a numeric target for affordable and attainable housing units, including rental, created during the term? If yes, state the target and the definition you are using. Outline your housing platform: which tools you would actually use — municipal land, development-charge deferrals, zoning, public–private partnerships, incentive programmes, strong mayor powers — and how each is paid for.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/2026-mayoral-candidate-questionnaire-a4b
8. Asset management and the renewal gap
Do you accept your town’s asset management plan’s estimate of the annual funding gap? Outline how you would close the gap between what this town owns and what it is setting aside to replace it — and if you would not close it, say so and say what fails first.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/2026-mayoral-candidate-questionnaire-a4b
9. Council, staff and professional governance
The Blue Mountains budgeted 191.74 permanent full-time equivalent positions in 2026, up from 185.61, for roughly 9,000 households. Fully-loaded compensation rose about 10 per cent in a year with no new hires, with the cost-of-living adjustment set at 5 per cent. Over the term, the permanent staff complement should [grow / hold flat / shrink]. Reliance on outside consultants should [increase / stay the same / decrease]. I will support publishing closed-session subject matter and voting records to the fullest extent the Municipal Act permits [yes / no]. Outline your platform on how this town is run: the mayor–CAO relationship, where council’s role ends and staff’s begins, what you would change in the first hundred days, and how residents will be able to see what the town spends, owes and owns in a form a non-accountant can read.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/mayoral-candidate-questionnaire-the
10. The region, and the structure of local government
Collingwood, The Blue Mountains, Wasaga Beach, Clearview and Meaford share one economy, one labour market and, increasingly, one set of pipes. Existing arrangements include the South Georgian Bay Mayor and CAO Forum, transit, regional economic development, water servicing and mutual-aid fire agreements. Amalgamation of Collingwood and The Blue Mountains has been publicly proposed — see the disclosure on page one. Which would you actively pursue as shared or regional services? Check all that apply. On amalgamation of Collingwood and The Blue Mountains, my position is [support / study it formally / oppose / undecided]. Grey County has proposed transferring roads to the Town. On that transfer my position is [accept / accept only with a permanent revenue transfer / decline / undecided]. Outline how this town should work with its neighbouring municipalities — and name one thing you would give up local control over to get a better result.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/mayoral-candidate-questionnaire-the
11. A joint services group with Collingwood
Question 10 asks about co-operation in principle. This one asks about a specific vehicle: a standing joint services group between this town and Collingwood, with shared staff, shared procurement and a single management structure for the services placed inside it. Would you support creating a joint services group with Collingwood [yes / yes, if a business case supports it / no / undecided]? If yes, which services would you support being run jointly? Check all that apply. Outline your platform. Name the savings or service improvement you would expect, how a joint group would be governed so neither town is captured by the other, and what you would not put into it.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/mayoral-candidate-questionnaire-the
12. Regional government for South Georgian Bay
Beyond shared services and the amalgamation of two towns, a further proposal has been raised. A single regional government for South Georgian Bay, drawn on its natural geographic boundary, at a population of roughly 100,000. It would be responsible for water and wastewater, transportation, and other services now delivered separately by each municipality. Which of these benefits do you believe such a regional government would actually deliver? Check all that apply. Weighed against the loss of local control, those benefits are [clearly worth it / worth it only on conditions I will state / not worth it / undecided]. If you believe this is a good idea, explain the strategic benefits in your own words. If you do not, explain why.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/mayoral-candidate-questionnaire-the
13. Contracting out municipal services
Municipalities deliver some services with their own staff and buy others from contractors. This question asks where you would draw that line. Would you support contracting out services currently delivered in-house [yes / yes, where a business case supports it / no / undecided]? Which would you be prepared to contract out? Check all that apply. Others you would contract out. Services you would never contract out. Outline your platform. Say what test you would apply before contracting a service out, what you would do about the staff currently delivering it, and how service quality would be held to account once it sits with a contractor.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/the-blue-mountains-questions-13-through
14. Performance management
Ontario discontinued the Municipal Performance Measurement Program effective the 2014 reporting year. Since then no province-wide requirement has obliged a municipality to publish what it achieves for the money it spends, though some measures survive inside the Financial Information Return. Residents can see what this town spends. They cannot easily see what it delivers. This town’s present ability to measure and report service performance is [adequate / inadequate / I have not reviewed it]. Within the term, the Town should publish a scorecard of service standards against results [annually / quarterly / no]. Building a culture of performance measurement in this town would require: check all that apply. Performance measurement should be owned by [council / the CAO / an officer reporting to council independently of the CAO / it is not a priority]. Building this capability costs money and staff time. You would [fund it as new spending / reallocate from within the existing budget / require it within current resources / not proceed]. Set out how you would build performance management into this town. Say what you would measure first, who answers for the numbers, and what happens when a measure shows a service is failing.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/the-blue-mountains-questions-13-through
15. New water and wastewater infrastructure
The Town carries roughly $57 million in water and wastewater debt. The Thornbury plant is approaching fifty years old. A $66 million new water-treatment programme has been carried to the Ministry of Infrastructure. The Town’s own servicing allocation policy concedes that growth has been outpacing completion of the projects meant to serve it. On the proposed new water-treatment programme [proceed as planned / proceed only with senior-government funding / pause and pursue regional supply / cancel]. Outline your platform for new water and wastewater infrastructure: what gets built, what gets deferred, the fixed water charge trajectory you will accept, and where the money comes from.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/the-blue-mountains-questions-13-through
16. The overrun, and whether anyone is ever held to account
Three bundled projects — the Craigleith lift station, the Mill Street pumping station and the Bay–Grey Street linear works — went from $34.79M to $53.56M. Council learned of the full variance in November 2025. Staff report ADM-26-015 found the bundling obscured individual cost pressure and that escalation should have been triggered at the Craigleith tender. Council spent $150,000 on value engineering, declined to spend more, and on 2 April 2026 asked for a performance audit from a body that does not review municipal matters. Thornbury came in 92 per cent over budget; Craigleith 54 per cent. An independent third-party performance audit of these projects should be commissioned [yes, in the first 90 days / yes, later in the term / no]. Its findings should be [published in full / received in closed session]. Outline what you would do. Name who would conduct it, by when, and what consequence would follow from an adverse finding.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/the-blue-mountains-questions-13-through
17. The two bills every household pays
Reserves fell from roughly $82 million in 2021 to a projected $6.7 million by the end of 2026. Audited long-term debt at the end of 2024 was only $5.24 million, because the capital programme was paid by draining reserves rather than borrowing. Roughly $99 million of projects is committed and under way with more than $150 million further planned, about 90 per cent of it water and wastewater — which lands on the water bill, not the tax bill. On a no-intervention path the municipal tax on a $1 million home rises about 69 per cent by 2030 and the fixed water charge more than doubles. Separately, section 290 of the Municipal Act forbids an operating deficit, and closing the projected $10.3 million operating gap by 2028 implies a further 42 per cent. Do you accept these projections [yes / no — I will supply my own figures / undecided]? Which of the $150 million in planned projects would you defer or cancel [none / some / most]? Outline your platform. Will you commit to a cap on the combined increase a household faces, and name specifically what you would cut to stay under it?
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/questions-17-and-18-the-blue-mountains
18. Thornbury, Craigleith and the Campus of Care
The Town bought 32 acres at 125 Peel Street, Thornbury in February 2021 and selected peopleCare with Skyline/SkyDev to build 160 long-term care beds, seniors’ retirement living and attainable staff housing, to be delivered by CIHA order approved in April 2023. Negotiations were terminated in November 2024; servicing and the Peel Street reconstruction were cancelled; the Town kept the land and the beds moved to Craigleith. Meanwhile Thornbury West Phase 2 is suspended and the Thornbury plant nears fifty. The 32 acres at 125 Peel Street should, in the next term, be [brought back to market for seniors’ and attainable housing / used for another municipal purpose / sold / held undeveloped / undecided]. Long-term care, attainable housing and higher-density rental should be built in Thornbury as well as in the Craigleith corridor [agree / disagree]. State plainly what position you took on the Campus of Care at the time, and what you would do differently now. Then set out how a permanent base of roughly 9,000 households pays for a service load sized for visitors.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/questions-17-and-18-the-blue-mountains
19. Grey Road 19, and long-term care capacity
Two separate projects sit on Grey Road 19. The first is a 192-bed peopleCare long-term care home on roughly 3.2 acres of municipal land the Town is selling, beside the new Craigleith fire hall. The second is a private proposal of approximately 612 rental units on a 9.95-hectare site at 796060 Grey Road 19, up to six storeys, being sought by Minister’s Zoning Order rather than by Official Plan and Zoning amendment. Separately, Errinrung is currently the only licensed long-term care home in Thornbury, with 60 beds. Please answer on each project separately. On the 192-bed long-term care home [support / oppose / undecided]. On the 612-unit rental proposal [support the units and the MZO route / support the units but oppose the MZO route / oppose the proposal / undecided]. If Errinrung closes or enters redevelopment before replacement capacity opens, the Town should [secure interim local capacity at municipal cost / accelerate the Craigleith home and accept a gap / reopen a Thornbury site / treat it as a provincial responsibility]. Outline your platform on long-term care and seniors’ housing, and explain your view of using a Minister’s Zoning Order to deliver housing in this town.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/the-blue-mountains-questions-19-and
20. Shared recreation and cultural facilities
Collingwood is weighing a multi-use recreation centre and an arts and culture centre, both of which have been dealt with in closed session. Residents of The Blue Mountains would use either facility, and Collingwood candidates are being asked in the parallel questionnaire whether they would build them in partnership with this town. Would you support The Blue Mountains partnering with Collingwood on a multi-use recreation centre [yes / yes, if the cost share matches the usage share / no / undecided]? Would you support The Blue Mountains contributing to a regional arts and culture facility [yes / only in-kind or land / no / undecided]? Alternatively, The Blue Mountains should build its own recreation facility [agree / disagree / undecided]. The maximum capital contribution I would support toward a shared facility is: ____. Before any Blue Mountains contribution, a full public business case — total capital cost, annual operating subsidy and this Town’s share — should be published [yes / no]. Outline your platform on recreation and cultural facilities: build alone, build jointly, or buy access. State the test you would apply, and what this town would want in return for its money.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/the-blue-mountains-questions-19-and
21. What you should be judged on
Name up to three commitments you are prepared to be held to at the end of the term. Each must carry a number and a date. Outline how you believe a mayor’s performance should be measured, and what you would consider a failed term.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/the-blue-mountains-mayoral-candidate
22. Leadership and accountability
A mayor has one vote. What distinguishes mayors is not their platform but how they work — with council, with staff, and with residents who disagree with them. Council’s only employee is the Chief Administrative Officer. The CAO is responsible for all other staff. Any accountability a mayor wants in the professional ranks has to be built through that relationship. Five situations. Choose one answer in each. A major decision has the support of a bare majority of council. A staff recommendation is competent but less ambitious than what you campaigned on. Council votes against your position on a significant matter. By the end of your first year, the organisation should feel. The larger share of your time in the first year belongs. Accountability for professional staff work should be strengthened by: check all that apply. When a major project fails on cost or on schedule, the person publicly accountable should be. In your own words, what is the job of a mayor? Say what you would do to build accountability into the professional staff role. Then name a decision in your working life where you took a position that was unpopular with the people around you, and say what it cost you.
https://shulmanr.substack.com/p/the-blue-mountains-mayoral-candidate
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