Council

Who decides, and how you can hold them to account

Newmarket is run by an elected council of 9 people. They set the budget, approve big purchases and hire the senior staff who run the town day to day.

Current council

• MayorJohn Taylorjtaylor@newmarket.ca
• Deputy Mayor and Regional CouncillorTom Veghtvegh@newmarket.ca
• Councillor, Ward 1Grace Simongsimon@newmarket.ca
• Councillor, Ward 2Victor Woodhousevwoodhouse@newmarket.ca
• Councillor, Ward 3Jane Twinneyjtwinney@newmarket.ca
• Councillor, Ward 4Trevor Morrisontmorrison@newmarket.ca
• Councillor, Ward 5Bob Kwapisbkwapis@newmarket.ca
• Councillor, Ward 6Kelly Broomekbroome@newmarket.ca
• Councillor, Ward 7Christina Bisanzcbisanz@newmarket.ca

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 yearly statements under the Municipal Act, 2001, s. 284: INFO-2026-07 (2025) and INFO-2025-07 (2024), Appendix A, section 1. "Pay" is the "Remuneration" the Town paid. "Other" is the rest of the Town's total for the member: benefits per T4 (car and communication allowances, life insurance), other benefit costs (OMERS, CPP, employer health tax, group benefits) and other expenses, worked out by us as the printed total less pay. The Mayor and the Deputy Mayor are also paid by York Region (for 2025, $63,623.04 each in remuneration) and the Mayor by Newmarket-Tay Power Distribution Limited ($10,204.00 in 2025); the Town's statement shows those separately and they are not included here. Appointed committee members are not listed.

• Partly
  Budgets posted online

  The Town's 2026 and 2025 budget pages give a summary, the approval dates and links to its meeting portal for the budget documents. The 2026 draft operating and capital budget documents are on the portal, which refused a scripted download, so we did not read them. The 2025 page gives an operating budget of $172.6 million and a capital budget of $74.6 million. Source

• Yes
  Audited financial statements

  The 2025 consolidated statements carry a clean opinion ("present fairly") from KPMG LLP dated June 22, 2026, and the 2024 statements a clean opinion dated June 23, 2025. A plain-language discussion and analysis is posted each year. Source

• Yes
  Council pay and expenses (s. 284)

  The yearly statement is posted for 2025 and 2024, and monthly itemized expense reports for each member are posted from 2022 to August 2026. Source

• Unknown
  Meeting agendas and minutes

  Agendas, minutes and live streams are on an eScribe portal. The portal's home page and meeting pages loaded, but the documents refused a scripted download (HTTP 403), so we did not read any minutes. Source

• Unknown
  Integrity Commissioner and closed meeting reports

  We found three closed meeting investigation reports from 2014 to 2016 and no Integrity Commissioner reports. Source

• Yes
  2022 election candidate financial statements

  The Town posts the Clerk's reports and each candidate's financial statement for 2022. We did not read them. Source

• Town of Newmarket on YouTube

  The Town links this YouTube channel from its council meetings page. It says Committee of the Whole and Council meetings are live-streamed and that links to videos of past meetings are in its meeting portal. We did not check how long videos are kept.

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

• Development charge reserve fund forecast and financing options

  The Town says it is forecasting the long-term effect of the $15,371,335 deficit and exploring financing and deferral of projects. Related question: Why does the Town's development charge fund show a deficit of $15,371,335, and how will it be repaid?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the Town's most recent forecast of the development charge reserve fund balance and cash flow for 2026 to 2030, any report to Council or the Audit Committee on financing options for the deficit, and the list of capital projects considered for deferral.

  Copy the wording

• Automated speed enforcement revenue and costs, 2024 and 2025

  The Town says user charges include speed camera fines and that costs rose partly for the program, but gives no amounts. Related question: What did the speed camera program, legal consulting and a land purchase add to the Town's 2025 costs, and what did the cameras bring in?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request a summary of the revenue received from automated speed enforcement and of every cost charged to the program (staff, vendor payments and other), for 2024 and 2025, and the Town's accounting of where the net amount was recorded or spent.

  Copy the wording

• Mulock Park total budget and spending

  The documents we could read show $26,736,610 spent in 2025 but not the total approved budget or the spending to date. Related question: What will Mulock Park cost in total, and who is paying for it?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the approved total budget and any amendments for Mulock Park and Mulock House, the amount spent to December 31, 2025, and the amount still committed, with the sources of funding.

  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 Town's Code of Conduct page says an Integrity Commissioner (the firm Aird and Berlis LLP is named on that page) can investigate complaints and report to Council. We did not find any Integrity Commissioner reports on the pages we read.

2. Closed meeting investigator: Ontario Ombudsman

   The Town says complaints about closed meetings go to the Ontario Ombudsman. It posts three older investigation reports, about meetings in 2014, 2015 and 2016. We did not find a report about a more recent meeting.

3. Audit Committee

   The Town has an Audit Committee that reviews the auditor's report and the internal auditor's work plan. We did not read its reports.

4. Compliance Audit Committee

   A committee that decides whether to audit a candidate's campaign finances when an elector applies.