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- Update October 27, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Added how rents at Parkview Manor changed after its government agreement ended in 2017: since 2024, units that become vacant are re-rented at 80% of market rent instead of rent geared to income. Prompted by a reader's question. - Promise tracker October 27, 2026
Colin Grantham - promise tracker - Baseline recorded at the start of the term. - Promise tracker October 27, 2026
Mike McGuire - promise tracker - Baseline recorded at the start of the term. - Promise tracker October 27, 2026
Kevin Morrison - promise tracker - Baseline recorded at the start of the term. - Promise tracker October 27, 2026
Donna Pammer - promise tracker - Baseline recorded at the start of the term. - Promise tracker October 27, 2026
Steve Pelkman - promise tracker - Baseline recorded at the start of the term. - Promise tracker October 27, 2026
Brad Richards - promise tracker - Baseline recorded at the start of the term. - Promise tracker October 27, 2026
Sheri Faccenda - promise tracker - Baseline recorded at the start of the term. - Promise tracker October 27, 2026
Sandi Hipple - promise tracker - Baseline recorded at the start of the term. - Promise tracker October 27, 2026
Greg Willsie - promise tracker - Baseline recorded at the start of the term. - Update October 26, 2026
The data centre plan for 700 Adair Blvd - Added that on October 19, 2026 Council removed the housekeeping zoning item from its agenda with no reason stated and left By-law 100-26 out of the by-laws motion (as heard; minutes not yet posted), and that data centres and 700 Adair were not mentioned. - Update October 26, 2026
Guide to the 2026 Deputy Mayor candidates - Added the October 19, 2026 extension of the interim servicing agreement with Adelaide Metcalfe, the August 24, 2026 housing corporation meeting McGuire chaired, and his October 19 motions and County report, as heard because the minutes were not yet posted. - Update October 26, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Added that in August 2026 the board told staff to work towards a budget by the end of October 2026, and that the chair was to speak with the property manager about 'tenant lockout issues'; the no-budget finding still stands. - Update October 26, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Added that Council dealt with extending the Centre Road interim agreement on October 19, 2026 (as heard on the video; minutes not yet posted), and added law-firm and 'Insurance Deductible' payments from the August-September 2026 payment list; the four lawsuits are unchanged and none has been decided. - Update October 26, 2026
Paper ballots vs. online voting - Added a $39,294.90 payment to Intelivote dated August 14, 2026 ('Voter Letter Services'), from the payables list on the October 19, 2026 Council agenda, and added what it covers to the list of records not public; no finding changed. - Update October 26, 2026
Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - Added Greg Willsie's October 5, 2026 notice of motion asking for a report on changes at the Caradoc Community Centre, staff's answers, and its withdrawal. - Original publication October 25, 2026
The data centre plan for 700 Adair Blvd - First release. - Records request October 25, 2026
Records request: Housing Corporation and the Caradoc Place building - Request 1 of 4 (form and letter) emailed to the Clerk. - Records request October 25, 2026
Records request: Mount Brydges sewage plant: consultants, contracts and funding - Request 2 of 4 (form and letter) emailed to the Clerk. - Records request October 25, 2026
Records request: Town lawsuits, legal costs and insurance claims - Request 3 of 4 (form and letter) emailed to the Clerk. - Records request October 25, 2026
Records request: Senior staff, fire department pay and accessible council meetings - Request 4 of 4 (form and letter) emailed to the Clerk. - Records request October 25, 2026
Records request: Records that may already be public (informal ask) - Informal email asking for 9 records sent to the Clerk. - Update October 24, 2026
Guide to the 2026 Deputy Mayor candidates - Added a 'Debt' item to Mike McGuire's record: his June 15, 2026 internal-loan motions and his seconding of the August 4, 2026 Infrastructure Ontario loan applications, with the town's end-2025 audited debt for context. - Original publication October 24, 2026
How much the town owes and borrows - First release. - Original publication October 20, 2026
Guide to the 2026 Deputy Mayor candidates - First public release. - Minor change October 19, 2026
Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - The publication logo was replaced with the new approved Council Watch logo; no text, findings or sources changed. - Minor change October 19, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - The publication logo was replaced with the new approved Council Watch logo; no text, findings or sources changed. - Minor change October 19, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Replaced the publication logo with the newly approved Council Watch logo; no text, findings or sources changed. - Minor change October 19, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Replaced the publication logo with the newly approved Council Watch logo; no text, findings or sources changed. - Minor change October 19, 2026
Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Replaced the publication logo with the new approved Council Watch logo; no text, findings or sources changed. - Update October 19, 2026
Paper ballots vs. online voting - Added the Clerk's October 19, 2026 answers on IP and phone-number logging, ballot encryption and the August 2026 security test, and updated the audit statements; no finding changed. - Original publication October 19, 2026
Paper ballots vs. online voting - First release. - Minor change October 19, 2026
Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - The publication logo was replaced with the new approved Council Watch logo; no text, findings or sources changed. - Correction October 18, 2026
Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - The About box had described his campaign statement as not public; that was inaccurate, because a matching public Facebook post under his name was found. - Update October 18, 2026
Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - The four privately supplied items were added to the sources with issuer, form and date where known, each marked as a copy provided to this review and not independently authenticated. - Minor change October 18, 2026
Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - Council Watch branding, the standard About box, clickable citations and timestamp formatting were added; findings and the research cutoff did not change. - Update October 18, 2026
Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - Recording references now give approximate caption time ranges, the speaker where identified and caption status, and new recording references were added. - Correction October 18, 2026
Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - Wording on the fire-inspector hire was corrected to say he seconded a proposal to delay it, which is not a final vote; the finding did not change. - Update October 18, 2026
Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - The budget section now says which evidence each budget vote rests on: an official recorded vote for 2024 and a myFM report for 2025. - Update October 18, 2026
Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - Each Station 1 vote is now labelled as an official recorded vote, and his opposition to the advisory board is labelled as reported by myFM, with the minutes showing only 'Carried'. - Update October 18, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Added his February 19, 2025 and March 31, 2025 radio statements about when the interim CAO's agreement was signed, side by side; the record does not show that either statement was inaccurate. - Minor change October 18, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Council Watch branding, an 'About this review' box, clickable citations and fuller recording references were added; findings and the research cutoff did not change. - Correction October 18, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - A recording time range for the February 17, 2026 meeting was corrected because the quoted reply fell outside the printed range. - Correction October 18, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Wording about the dropped full-time firefighter plan was corrected: it was dropped in a 6% budget trim moved by Councillor Brennan, seconded by Deputy Mayor McGuire and carried without a recorded vote, so the Mayor's own position is not known. - Minor change October 18, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Added Council Watch branding and publication details, clickable citations, and timed video and radio references; findings and research cutoff unchanged. - Update October 18, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Added a note on how votes are known: no recorded vote was found on any housing corporation decision, so no one's individual vote is stated; also added how recording times are given. - Correction October 18, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Reworded the April 2025 loan item: instead of saying Council 'voted' to formalize the loan, it now says Council passed motions 'proposing' it, minuted only as 'Carried' with no recorded vote. - Correction October 18, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Fixed the order of events in 'On the other side': the $500,000-a-year request was removed from the budget in January 2025, and the outside review recommended against it later. - Correction October 18, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - In the Southside contract row, replaced statements that had been cited to documents that did not contain them with what was said at Council meetings, cited to the meeting videos. - Correction October 18, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Fixed two quotes from the February 18, 2025 meeting captions: BDO's 'no specific allegations' and 'no allegations of wrong doing', and the Mayor's 'concerns myself about propriety in some of the transactions'. - Correction October 18, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Reworded the Integrity Commissioner point: the advice was relayed orally at Council, the Deputy Mayor referred to a written opinion, and that written opinion is not public. - Update October 18, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Added more on what the two councillors' October 2025 emails covered and on the December 1, 2025 exchange between the chair and Councillor Derbyshire, with two possible readings and no conclusion on whether any rule was broken. - Minor change October 18, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Added Council Watch branding, a page-1 correction notice about the October 16 lawsuit count, clickable citations, timed video references, and a note that named votes are recorded votes; findings and research cutoff unchanged. - Correction October 18, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Corrected the councillors' wording: they said they had at times expressed views consistent with some of the neighbours' positions (not that they had 'publicly agreed'), and the emails went to the CAO and the Clerk (not the Deputy Clerk). - Update October 18, 2026
Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Added a new part on the December 1, 2025 meeting, where the chair raised a possible conflict with a councillor, based on automatic captions, the minutes and the two councillors' step-aside emails; it reaches no conclusion on whether any rule was broken. - Correction October 18, 2026
Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Changed the wording on why Councillors Derbyshire and Willsie stepped aside from the lawsuit: it had said they 'publicly agreed' with the neighbours, but their emails only say they had at times expressed views consistent with some of the neighbours' positions. - Minor change October 18, 2026
Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Applied Council Watch branding, publication details, clickable citations and standard time ranges for video and radio references; findings and the research cutoff (October 17, 2026) unchanged. - Correction October 18, 2026
Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Fixed meeting-video times to match the caption files and corrected a Sifton quote to match the captions ('buys the municipality time...'). - Correction October 18, 2026
Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Corrected the summary of Mayor Grantham's votes, which had overstated the record: he does not appear in the April 2023 recorded vote, the April 2024 tally does not count the proxy vote, Councillor Hipple was added to those who voted the other way, and it now says Kennes moved and Grantham seconded the January 2024 motion; his recorded positions are unchanged. - Minor change October 18, 2026
Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - Council Watch branding, clickable citations and meeting-video time ranges were added; the research cutoff did not change. - Correction October 18, 2026
Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - Greg Willsie's departure from the housing corporation board is now dated to mid-December 2024 as reported at the time, with the board's later record showing it taking effect February 25, 2025. - Correction October 18, 2026
Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - The guide had said moving or seconding a motion showed a councillor's vote; it now says it does not, and Greg Willsie's 2025 budget vote is labelled as reported by myFM because the minutes say only 'Carried'. - Update October 18, 2026
Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - Changed 'no debate was held' to say there was no formal debate, but three meet-the-candidates events were held and not recorded, and added an organizer's recap of the October 8 night. - Original publication October 18, 2026
Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - Published at the current Google Drive link and shared in local Facebook groups. - Update October 17, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Added an About box and a 'What the record also shows' list on the front page; those points were already in the body of the report. - Correction October 17, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - The share of new calls that were medical was qualified: a 2022 county chart counts calls differently, so the exact share is uncertain. - Update October 17, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Added the 2023-2024 medical-call decisions, call and pay patterns by station, the dropped 2023 plan for full-time firefighters, the Fire Chief's comments on keeping volunteers, and the by-law saying Council sets volunteer pay. - Update October 17, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Added firefighter pay figures for several years, including a March 2024 plan that projected 2026 pay within 1% of the budgeted $770,000, and the rise in fire calls. - Update October 17, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Rewrote section 11 as a dated chart of Mayor Grantham's motions and statements, and added a matching section 12 for Councillor Derbyshire, so both officials' records are shown the same way. - Update October 17, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Added the 'Issues at a glance' chart of 16 issues and an 'On the other side' paragraph, summarizing findings already in the report. - Update October 17, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - After a second search of the public record, showed the $5.5 million exit cost as the board Treasurer's own spoken estimate, explained how the February 2024 reports were dropped, added the property manager's December 2023 quote and why there was no tender, and made section 13 a table of what is still not public. - Original publication October 17, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - First shared publicly at the current Google Drive link on the evening of October 17, 2026. - Minor change October 17, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Changed 'the Mayor' to 'Mayor Grantham' throughout and added an 'About this report' box, including the AI-assistance disclosure; findings unchanged. - Update October 17, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Added that the Ministry's June 2025 letter did not require the rebuild, that staff slides listed possible sunk costs, that the December 1, 2025 staff reports do not mention the lawsuit, and a new section on insurance. - Update October 17, 2026
Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Added a 'Mayor / Reeve at the time' column to the 1958-2022 background timeline, with a note explaining Reeve versus Mayor. - Update October 17, 2026
Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Added newly read details: the $80,000 contingency on the short-term fix, the unexplained gap between CIMA+'s written proposal and the amount in the minutes, River Birch's 2023 'nearly double' finding, and a paragraph on CIMA+'s environmental study bid. - Update October 17, 2026
Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Added the 'About this review' box on page 1, naming the author, the kinds of sources, the use of an AI tool, and the report's limits. - Original publication October 17, 2026
Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - First public release, shared in local Facebook groups on the morning of October 17, 2026. - Minor change October 16, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - The report was rewritten in plain language with a 'Words explained' list; no figures, quotations, sources or findings changed. (dated October 16-17, 2026 in the report) - Update October 16, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Added that the value of a pay point is not published and that Council gets briefings the minutes do not record; a privately supplied account added that evening was removed because it is not in the public record. - Correction October 16, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - The report had said his 2026 budget raised station firefighter pay 17%; it now says the 17% is the rise in the total pay pool over the reduced 2025 budget, and the record does not show any firefighter's rate rose. The conflict question stays open. - Original publication October 16, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - First public link posted on Facebook on October 16, 2026, at about 4:17 PM. - Update October 16, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Rewrote the technical edition 'Legal Actions Involving Strathroy-Caradoc' as the plain-language guide 'Lawsuits Against Strathroy-Caradoc' (posted about midnight, October 16-17); findings unchanged, though some earlier detail is no longer in the text. - Minor change October 16, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Added a pointer in the notes to the companion report on the Mount Brydges plant; findings unchanged. - Correction October 16, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Corrected the interim agreement vote: no vote count is recorded, and the reported 7-2 count cannot be right as reported because the minutes list Councillor Pammer as absent; also said Adelaide Metcalfe's $150,000 legal-reserve moves were staff recommendations whose adoption could not be confirmed. - Update October 16, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Added the December 1, 2025 exchange at Council from automatic captions, a February 2026 motion seeking CIMA+ disclosure (lost, no recorded vote), and the Mayor's August 2023 remark about spending on lawyers. - Correction October 16, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Corrected the tribunal and agreement details: the 106 Front St W appeals were settled and allowed in part on March 26, 2026, and the interim agreement expires October 26, 2026, not October 27. - Update October 16, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Expanded the four-page list into a revised edition, adding the families' December 1, 2025 offer to pause the lawsuit, the councillors' October 2025 emails, a court timeline, the Mayor's recorded votes on Mount Brydges, and what is public about legal costs. - Correction October 16, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Corrected the lawsuit count from two lawsuits claiming $55.2 million to four claiming $73.2 million, after copies of the statements of claim were provided that evening. - Correction October 16, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Added that Strathroy-Caradoc lost its court fight with Adelaide Metcalfe at the Court of Appeal in March 2025, which the first edition had missed. - Original publication October 16, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - First released as a shorter, more technical four-page edition titled 'Legal Actions Involving Strathroy-Caradoc', shared in local Facebook groups on the evening of October 16, 2026. - Original publication October 15, 2026
Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - First public release; the PDF was produced October 14, 2026.
Corrections only
Mistakes we found or were told about, and what was fixed.
- Correction October 18, 2026
Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - The About box had described his campaign statement as not public; that was inaccurate, because a matching public Facebook post under his name was found. - Correction October 18, 2026
Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - Wording on the fire-inspector hire was corrected to say he seconded a proposal to delay it, which is not a final vote; the finding did not change. - Correction October 18, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - A recording time range for the February 17, 2026 meeting was corrected because the quoted reply fell outside the printed range. - Correction October 18, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Wording about the dropped full-time firefighter plan was corrected: it was dropped in a 6% budget trim moved by Councillor Brennan, seconded by Deputy Mayor McGuire and carried without a recorded vote, so the Mayor's own position is not known. - Correction October 18, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Reworded the April 2025 loan item: instead of saying Council 'voted' to formalize the loan, it now says Council passed motions 'proposing' it, minuted only as 'Carried' with no recorded vote. - Correction October 18, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Fixed the order of events in 'On the other side': the $500,000-a-year request was removed from the budget in January 2025, and the outside review recommended against it later. - Correction October 18, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - In the Southside contract row, replaced statements that had been cited to documents that did not contain them with what was said at Council meetings, cited to the meeting videos. - Correction October 18, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Fixed two quotes from the February 18, 2025 meeting captions: BDO's 'no specific allegations' and 'no allegations of wrong doing', and the Mayor's 'concerns myself about propriety in some of the transactions'. - Correction October 18, 2026
The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Reworded the Integrity Commissioner point: the advice was relayed orally at Council, the Deputy Mayor referred to a written opinion, and that written opinion is not public. - Correction October 18, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Corrected the councillors' wording: they said they had at times expressed views consistent with some of the neighbours' positions (not that they had 'publicly agreed'), and the emails went to the CAO and the Clerk (not the Deputy Clerk). - Correction October 18, 2026
Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Changed the wording on why Councillors Derbyshire and Willsie stepped aside from the lawsuit: it had said they 'publicly agreed' with the neighbours, but their emails only say they had at times expressed views consistent with some of the neighbours' positions. - Correction October 18, 2026
Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Fixed meeting-video times to match the caption files and corrected a Sifton quote to match the captions ('buys the municipality time...'). - Correction October 18, 2026
Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Corrected the summary of Mayor Grantham's votes, which had overstated the record: he does not appear in the April 2023 recorded vote, the April 2024 tally does not count the proxy vote, Councillor Hipple was added to those who voted the other way, and it now says Kennes moved and Grantham seconded the January 2024 motion; his recorded positions are unchanged. - Correction October 18, 2026
Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - Greg Willsie's departure from the housing corporation board is now dated to mid-December 2024 as reported at the time, with the board's later record showing it taking effect February 25, 2025. - Correction October 18, 2026
Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - The guide had said moving or seconding a motion showed a councillor's vote; it now says it does not, and Greg Willsie's 2025 budget vote is labelled as reported by myFM because the minutes say only 'Carried'. - Correction October 17, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - The share of new calls that were medical was qualified: a 2022 county chart counts calls differently, so the exact share is uncertain. - Correction October 16, 2026
How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - The report had said his 2026 budget raised station firefighter pay 17%; it now says the 17% is the rise in the total pay pool over the reduced 2025 budget, and the record does not show any firefighter's rate rose. The conflict question stays open. - Correction October 16, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Corrected the interim agreement vote: no vote count is recorded, and the reported 7-2 count cannot be right as reported because the minutes list Councillor Pammer as absent; also said Adelaide Metcalfe's $150,000 legal-reserve moves were staff recommendations whose adoption could not be confirmed. - Correction October 16, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Corrected the tribunal and agreement details: the 106 Front St W appeals were settled and allowed in part on March 26, 2026, and the interim agreement expires October 26, 2026, not October 27. - Correction October 16, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Corrected the lawsuit count from two lawsuits claiming $55.2 million to four claiming $73.2 million, after copies of the statements of claim were provided that evening. - Correction October 16, 2026
Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Added that Strathroy-Caradoc lost its court fight with Adelaide Metcalfe at the Court of Appeal in March 2025, which the first edition had missed.