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Not the full picture. Built from public records, which leave things out.Read by hand, Oct 2026DetailsThis is built from public records, which leave a lot out, and some of it may be wrong or out of date. Check the sources, and tell us if you spot a mistake. What this site can't tell you
Read by hand. We read Amherstburg's own documents for this site in October 2026; the Sources page lists which ones. The comparisons with other places still come from the Province's yearly reports.

Council

Who decides, and how you can hold them to account

Amherstburg is run by an elected council of 7 people. They set the budget, approve big purchases and hire the senior staff who run the town day to day.

Current council

Names and official email addresses from the town's council page. None of the members lists a public social media account there.

What council is paid

Every year the town has to publish what each council member was paid, and what was spent on their benefits and expenses. These are the totals from those statements, 2023 to 2024.

In 2024, the whole council cost $252,103 in pay, benefits and expenses, about $25 per home. The mayor's pay went up 20% from 2023 to 2024; prices went up 2% over the same years.
Pay, and benefits and expenses, for each council member by year
Member20242023
Michael Prue
Mayor		$73,221+ $0$61,169+ $0
Chris Gibb
Deputy Mayor		$35,213+ $0$33,384+ $0
Donald McArthur
Councillor		$25,529+ $0$26,335+ $0
Molly Allaire
Councillor		$30,236+ $0$29,594+ $0
Peter Courtney
Councillor		$27,211+ $0$27,915+ $0
Linden Crain
Councillor		$29,353+ $0$28,002+ $0
Diane Pouget
Councillor		$31,339+ $0$27,756+ $0

Top number: pay. Second number: benefits and expenses together, such as health cover, mileage, conferences and training. Exactly what goes in it differs a little from town to town; the note below says what this town’s statement includes. Some members take the town’s health plan and some do not, so a higher second number is not a problem by itself. The statements give only totals; the receipts behind them can be requested from the clerk.

Each year links to the town's statement. From the summary table in each yearly Treasurer's Report under the Municipal Act, 2001, s. 284 (2024 and 2023). "Pay" is the single total printed for each member; the Town does not split it in the summary. Each total includes salary, communication allowance, public receptions, conferences and travel, and for the mayor and two councillors also fees from outside bodies the table names (the mayor's, Essex Power; Councillors Allaire and Courtney, the Essex Region Conservation Authority). "Other" is left at zero. The detailed appendix has a text layer too scrambled to read reliably, so we did not use it. We did not find a 2025 statement.

How open is Amherstburg?

What a resident can find online without asking, as of October 5, 2026.

  • Yes
    Budgets posted online

    The approved 2026 operating budget and 2026 seven-year capital budget are posted as PDFs, with the 2025, 2024 and 2023 budgets on the same page. Source

  • Yes
    Audited financial statements

    The 2025 statements carry a clean opinion ("present fairly") from MNP LLP dated August 10, 2026. Statements for 2022, 2023 and 2024 are also posted. The 2024 statements carry a clean opinion dated July 14, 2025. Source

  • Partly
    Council pay and expenses (s. 284)

    The Treasurer's Reports on remuneration are posted for 2012 to 2024. We did not find a 2025 statement on the Financial Reports page, although the Municipal Act asks for one by March 31. Source

  • Unknown
    Meeting agendas and minutes

    Agendas and minutes are on a calendar page (calendar.amherstburg.ca) and in a SharePoint records folder. We did not read any minutes. The 2026 budget book lists 33 regular and special public council meetings and 12 in-camera (closed) meetings, without saying which year that counts. Source

  • Partly
    Integrity Commissioner reports

    A periodic report (June 2026) is posted. It gives counts of complaints and advice requests but not details, as the law keeps most of this confidential. Source

Where the town speaks for itself

Amherstburg's official channels, as linked from its own website. Council members may also post on their own pages; we link only to official municipal channels.

  • Council and committee livestream

    The Town links this live video page from its Agendas and Minutes page. It says meetings are livestreamed and that recordings may be available later, and that closed ("In Camera") meetings are not livestreamed. We did not check how long recordings are kept.

How to raise a concern

From the gentlest step to the most serious. Start at the top.

  1. Integrity Commissioner

    The Town's Integrity Commissioner is Principles Integrity, retained since August 1, 2025. The Town's page lists advisory bulletins and a periodic report dated June 2026. We did not find any investigation reports on the pages we read.

  2. Registry of declarations of interest

    The Town says it keeps a registry of declarations under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, with a spreadsheet for each year from 2019 to 2026 and the original forms available at Town Hall. We did not open the spreadsheets.

  3. Stronger mayor powers: list of mayoral decisions and directions

    The Mayor has had special powers under the Municipal Act since May 1, 2025. The Town lists three Mayoral Decisions (June 16, 2025) and two Mayoral Directions (October 30, 2025), one on budget preparation and one shortening the mayoral veto period for the 2026 budget.