Council

Who decides, and how you can hold them to account

Leamington 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

• MayorHilda MacDonald
• Deputy MayorLarry Verbeke
• CouncillorAnthony Abraham
• CouncillorBill Dunn
• CouncillorHeather Latam
• CouncillorPaul Tiessen
• CouncillorTim Wilkinson

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

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 Treasurer's statements of remuneration and expenses under the Municipal Act, 2001, s. 284: Report FIN-08-26 (2025) and Report FIN-07-25 (2024). "Pay" is the Council Salaries column. "Other" is everything else in the member's total (conferences and per diems, council expenses, and committee and board salaries, conferences and expenses). Appointed (non-council) committee members are in the statements but are not listed here. The 2023 statement is posted in a different layout and is not entered. Read from the PDF text layer; every row and column total adds up.

• Yes
  Budgets posted online

  Final budgets for 2021 to 2026 are posted as PDFs on the Plans, Reports and Studies page. The 2026 budget (adopted December 12, 2025, per the Municipality's news release) includes the full memo and every department. Source

• Partly
  Audited financial statements

  The 2023 and 2024 audited statements are posted. We did not find the 2025 statements on the page as of October 5, 2026. Both posted PDFs are scanned pages with no readable text (the 2024 file has none at all), so we could not read their figures reliably and the pack does not use them. Source

• Yes
  Council pay and expenses (s. 284)

  The Treasurer's statements for 2023, 2024 and 2025 are posted. Source

• Unknown
  Meeting agendas and minutes

  The Agendas, Meetings and Minutes page refused a scripted download (HTTP 403), so we did not read any agendas or minutes. We did not work around it. Source

• Yes
  Conflict of interest registry

  A registry page lists disclosures by date, member and agenda item, with yearly reports from 2019. Source

• Unknown
  Tender results

  The Municipality says information on submitted and awarded bids is available through its online bids tool (eSolutions Group). We did not open it. Source

• Watch Council (live stream)

  The Municipality says it live streams Council meetings, usually Tuesdays at 6:00 PM, and that recordings of past meetings can be reached from its Council Calendar page. We did not check how far back the recordings go.

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

• The 2024 year-end variance report and the Council report on where the 2024 surplus was moved

  The 2026 budget memo says the 2024 surplus would be presented to Council once the 2024 financials and variance report were complete, and lists five transfers. Related question: How large was the 2024 surplus, and where is it going?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the 2024 year-end budget variance report and any report to Council recommending transfers of the 2024 surplus to reserves, including the Contingency Reserve for Council strategic acquisitions, with the date each went to Council.

  Copy the wording

• Payments to outside law firms, 2024 and 2025

  The 2026 budget adds a second in-house lawyer. A list of what was paid to outside counsel shows whether that is expected to change. Related question: Why is the Legal Services budget 45.38% higher in 2026 than in 2025?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request a list of payments to external law firms by the Municipality of Leamington in 2024 and 2025, showing the firm, the total paid in each year and the general subject (for example labour, litigation, planning), without legally privileged detail.

  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. Registry of pecuniary interest disclosures

   The Municipality keeps a public list of disclosures by council and board members, with the date, member, meeting and agenda item, and links to full reports for 2019 to 2025. We did not read the full yearly reports.

2. Mayoral decisions (strong mayor powers)

   The Municipality posts each Mayoral Decision (MD numbers) with its date and a short summary, including budget direction MD-012-2025 and the shortened veto period MD-015-2025.

3. Integrity Commissioner

   The 2026 budget funds Integrity Commissioner training for Council. We did not find any Integrity Commissioner or closed meeting investigator reports on the pages we read.