Council

Who decides, and how you can hold them to account

Chapleau is run by an elected council of 5 people. They set the budget, approve big purchases and hire the senior staff who run the town day to day.

Current council

• MayorRyan Bignucolo
• Deputy MayorLisi Bernier
• CouncillorCatherine Ansara
• CouncillorPaul Bernier
• CouncillorAlex Lambruschini

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

• Partly
  Budgets posted online

  The Financial Reports page lists audited statements and provincial returns, but no budget. The draft 2026 budget (July 20, 2026) and the adopted 2026 budget (August 5, 2026) are only inside the PDF agenda packages for those meetings. We did not find the 2025 budget. Source

• Partly
  Audited financial statements

  Statements for 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are posted, as well as 2019 and earlier years. The page has no 2020 statements and, on October 7, 2026, no 2025 statements. The 2024 file is a PDF made of page images, with a text layer added by scanning software. Source

• Partly
  Council pay and expenses (s. 284)

  The 2025 statement is inside the PDF agenda package for the March 9, 2026 meeting. We did not find it, or earlier years, on the Financial Reports page. We did not fill in a pay table because the columns of that page do not read back reliably (see the research notes). Source

• Partly
  Meeting agendas and minutes

  Agendas are posted from the day of the meeting to five days before it. Minutes are posted late: ten sets of minutes from January 12 to May 25, 2026 were all posted on June 8 or 9, 2026. Source

• Unknown
  Meeting video

  On February 9, 2026 council approved recording its meetings and posting them on the website. We did not find recordings on the Council Agenda & Minutes page or the home page. Source

• Partly
  Tender results

  Awards are recorded in council minutes and agenda packages with the winning price. The Procurement of Goods & Services By-law 2020-11 is posted on the By-laws page. We did not find a separate tender results page. Source

• Partly
  Integrity Commissioner reports

  Three reports from January 2022 are posted. We did not find the 2025 report that council received on January 26, 2026. Source

• Unknown
  Registry of conflict of interest declarations

  We did not find a registry on the pages we read. Declarations are recorded in each set of minutes. Source

• Township of Chapleau on Facebook

  The Township links this Facebook page from its website. We did not read it.

1. Send the request in writing to the town clerk (the freedom of information coordinator), on the town’s form or in a letter, with the $5 application fee.
2. Describe the records, not the answer you want. Dates, departments and the kind of record (a list, invoices, emails) make a request quicker and cheaper.
3. The town has 45 business days to answer (the law changed in 2026; older guides say 30 days). It can charge for search time and copies, but must send an estimate first if the fees will be over $25.
4. Some parts can be held back, such as legal advice or personal information about other people. The town must say which part of the law it relied on.
5. If you are refused, or the fees seem too high, you can appeal to the Information and Privacy Commissioner within 30 business days of the town’s decision.

The town's request form (on its Forms page) · The law · Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario

• Total cost report for the Queen, Ash, King, Teak and Minto streets project

  The tender is $7,518,900.00 before HST, the extra engineering fees approved are $450,730.00, and the borrowing by-law lists $8,468,306.00. A single cost report would show the total and who pays for it. Related question: Why did the lowest bid for the Queen, Ash, King, Teak and Minto streets project come in $695,200 over the engineer's estimate, with only two bids?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the most recent cost estimate or cost-to-complete report for the Queen, Ash, King, Teak and Minto streets project (AECOM contract 60773538), showing engineering, construction, contingency and HST, and the funding sources by amount (grants, reserves, debenture), and the engineer's estimate worksheet behind the $6,823,700.00 estimate.

  Copy the wording

• 2026 annual repayment limit calculation

  Council received the calculation on May 14, 2026, but the pages in the agenda package are images that cannot be read as text. Related question: How is the town paying for a 2026 budget about 46% bigger than 2025's, and how much of it will be borrowed?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request a readable copy of the Township's 2026 annual repayment limit calculation updated May 14, 2026, and the financing application to Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation authorized by by-law 2026-24.

  Copy the wording

• Interim budget or interim levy for 2026

  The 2026 budget was adopted on August 5, 2026. We did not find what council used to collect tax and spend before then. Related question: Why was the 2026 budget adopted on August 5, 2026, in a noon meeting that lasted 22 minutes?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request any interim 2026 budget, interim tax levy by-law and the notice given of the August 5, 2026 special meeting of council, including the time of the meeting.

  Copy the wording

• Sale and wind-up of Chapleau Public Utilities Corporation

  The 2023 statements say the sale of specific assets was approved effective July 31, 2024 and that the town had not decided what to do with the rest. Related question: What has happened to the town's electric utility since its sale was approved in 2024, and what did the town receive?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the reports to council and the closing statement or summary showing the amounts received by the Township or by Chapleau Public Utilities Corporation from the sale of its assets in 2024, where those amounts are recorded in the Township's accounts, and any council decision about the remaining assets and the corporation.

  Copy the wording

The wording is a starting point, not legal advice. Narrow the dates if the town says a request is too broad or too costly.

1. Integrity Commissioner

   On January 26, 2026 council received the Integrity Commissioner's report for 2025 from Ironside Consulting and passed a by-law hiring that firm for 2026 to 2029. We did not find the 2025 report posted. The Township's Town Hall Documents page posts three reports from January 2022. Two of them are inquiry reports about one sitting member of council, and each found that the member broke a rule (the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act in one, the Code of Conduct in the other). We did not find what council decided to do about them.

2. Closed meeting investigator

   We did not find a closed meeting investigator named on the pages we read.