Council

Who decides, and how you can hold them to account

French River 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

• MayorGisèle Pageau
• Councillor, Ward 1Roger Landry
• Councillor, Ward 2Bob Prévost
• Councillor, Ward 3Willy Schneider
• Councillor, Ward 4Dean Wenborne
• Councillor, Ward 5David Viau
• Councillor, Ward 6Renée Carrier

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

• Yes
  Budgets posted online

  The Finance Services page links the adopted budget by-laws for 2022 to 2026 and a draft public budget presentation for each of those years. Source

• Yes
  Audited financial statements

  Audited statements for 2022 to 2025 are posted. The 2025 statements carry a clean opinion ("present fairly") from Baker Tilly SNT LLP dated May 20, 2026. The 2024 statements carry the same kind of opinion, dated May 21, 2025. Source

• No
  Council pay and expenses (s. 284)

  The Council Remuneration page quotes section 284 of the Municipal Act and links the 2023 pay and expenses policy. We did not find a yearly statement of what each member was paid on that page. It may be in a council package on the meeting portal, which we could not read. Source

• Unknown
  Meeting agendas and minutes

  Agendas and minutes are on a CivicWeb portal. The portal's robots.txt disallows every automated reader from every path, so we did not open it and read no minutes. The town's own page says meetings are live-streamed there and the video is posted afterwards. We did not check that. Source

• Partly
  Conflict-of-interest registry

  The page links registries for 2019, 2020 and 2022. We did not find ones for 2023 to 2025 on the page. Source

• Unknown
  Tender results

  The Public Tenders page says its list is for information only and points to Biddingo for the full list. The list on the page did not load for us, so we could not check whether contract awards are posted. Source

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

• Final cost, interest and transfer terms for the seniors complex

  Note 5 says the building and a $9,477,213 loan were transferred on February 19, 2026. A request shows what it cost and whether the Municipality still guarantees the loan. Related question: What did the seniors complex cost the Municipality, now that it and its $9,477,213 loan have been handed to a non-profit?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the final cost report for the seniors complex, the agreement transferring the asset and long-term loan to French River Non-Profit Senior Housing Corporation, any guarantee or indemnity given by the Municipality on that loan, and a record of the interest paid on the interim construction loan since April 2024 and who paid it.

  Copy the wording

• Treasurer's s.284 statements for 2023 to 2025

  The Council Remuneration page links no yearly statement. This asks for the statements the treasurer gave to council. Related question: Where are the yearly council pay statements and the conflict-of-interest registries for recent years?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the itemized statements of remuneration and expenses paid to members of council that the treasurer provided to council under section 284 of the Municipal Act, 2001, for 2023, 2024 and 2025.

  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

   The Municipality says it has appointed Cunningham, Swan LLP as its Integrity Commissioner, who oversees the Code of Conduct for council and for local committees and boards. We did not find any Integrity Commissioner reports on the pages we read.

2. Declaration of Interest Registry

   A page explains the registry of conflict-of-interest declarations. It links registries for 2019, 2020 and 2022 only. It says the forms and minutes can be inspected at the Municipal Office.