Council

Who decides, and how you can hold them to account

Norfolk County 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

• MayorAmy Martinamy.martin@norfolkcounty.ca
• Councillor, Ward 1Tom Masschaeletom.masschaele@norfolkcounty.ca
• Councillor, Ward 2Linda VandendriesscheLinda.Vandendriessche@norfolkcounty.ca
• Councillor, Ward 3Michael J. Columbusmichael.columbus@norfolkcounty.ca
• Councillor, Ward 4Chris Van Paassenchris.vanpaassen@norfolkcounty.ca
• Councillor, Ward 5Alan Duthiealan.duthie@norfolkcounty.ca
• Councillor, Ward 5Doug Bruntondoug.brunton@norfolkcounty.ca
• Councillor, Ward 6Adam Veriadam.veri@norfolkcounty.ca
• Councillor, Ward 7Kim Huffmankim.huffman@norfolkcounty.ca

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 adopted 2026 levy operating budget, the 2026 to 2035 capital plan and the 2026 water and wastewater budget are posted as PDFs, with the same for 2020 to 2025. Source

• Yes
  Audited financial statements

  The 2025 statements carry a clean opinion ("present fairly") from Millard, Rouse & Rosebrugh LLP dated July 14, 2026. The 2024 statements are dated July 8, 2025. Audit findings letters are posted for 2017 to 2025, and trust fund statements too. Source

• Unknown
  Council pay and expenses (s. 284)

  We did not find a yearly statement of council remuneration and expenses on the County pages we read. It may be inside a council report on the meeting portal, which blocked us. Source

• Unknown
  Meeting agendas and minutes

  Agendas and minutes are on the County's events portal. A scripted request for the portal returned HTTP 403 (blocked), so we did not read any agenda or minutes. The County says agenda pages are posted the day after a meeting and minutes once approved. Source

• Yes
  Meeting videos

  The County says live and archived videos from 2017 onward are on its YouTube channel, with time-stamped agenda items from February 2025. Source

• Unknown
  Integrity Commissioner and closed meeting reports

  The accountability page names the officers but we did not find any reports from them. Source

• Norfolk County on YouTube

  The County says live and archived videos of Council, Council-in-Committee, public meetings, Board of Health, Committee of Adjustment and Police Services Board meetings are on its YouTube channel, from 2017 onward. We did not open the channel.

• Norfolk County on Facebook

  A page the County links from its meeting videos page. 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

• List of investments held at December 31, 2025

  Note 4 groups $351,752,841 into five types. A list by issuer, amount, maturity and rate shows what the principal protected notes are. Related question: Why did the County's principal protected notes grow from $29,978,132 to $85,330,621, and why did its auditor note how they were accounted for?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the County's schedule of investments held at December 31, 2025, showing for each holding the issuer, type, amount, purchase date, maturity date and interest rate or return basis, the Legacy Fund share of each, and the most recent investment report to Council.

  Copy the wording

• Reports behind the 2025 landfill closure and post-closure cost estimate

  Note 7 shows a change in estimate of $21,645,231 in 2025 and $9,198,366 in 2024. Related question: Why did the County's estimate of landfill and asbestos clean-up costs rise by $20,965,966 in one year?.

  Show the request wordingHide the wording

  Under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I request the engineering report or consultant report, and the staff report to Council, used to set the 2025 asset retirement obligation for the Tom Howe and Canborough landfill sites, including the assumed years of post-closure care.

  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 County says Council appointed Boghosian+Allen LLP as Integrity Commissioner under By-law 2018-33. A complaint needs a $150.00 refundable fee. We did not find any Integrity Commissioner reports on the pages we read.

2. Closed meeting investigator: Ontario Ombudsman

   The County says the Ontario Ombudsman is its closed meeting investigator and links the Ombudsman's complaint form. We did not look for reports about Norfolk.

3. Registry of declarations of pecuniary interest

   The County keeps a public registry page. The text we could read lists 2021 entries by date, member and item. The tab for "2022 and newer" had no entries in the page text we saved, so we could not read any later declarations.