Word list
Council and government use a lot of special words. Here is what they mean in everyday language.
- Accumulated general deficit
- The total of past operating losses not yet made up. It is counted separately from the value of the buildings.
Used in: The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Ammonia
- A pollutant in sewage that harms fish; plants must remove most of it before releasing treated water.
Used in: Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Annual repayment limit
- The province's cap on a town's yearly debt payments: 25% of the town's own revenue.
Used in: How much the town owes and borrows - Asset management
- Planning how to look after and replace town property like roads, pipes and buildings.
Used in: Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - At large
- Elected by voters across the whole town, not just one ward.
Used in: Guide to the 2026 Deputy Mayor candidates - Audited financial statements
- The town's yearly money report, checked by outside accountants.
Used in: How much the town owes and borrows - Automatic captions
- Computer-made text of what is said in a video; it can get words and names wrong.
Used in: Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - Bill 40
- A 2025 Ontario energy law; as summarized in the report, a data centre cannot be connected to the grid unless rules set by regulation are met.
Used in: The data centre plan for 700 Adair Blvd - Bunker gear
- The heavy protective coat and pants firefighters wear at fires.
Used in: Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - Campaign financial statement (Form 4)
- The form every candidate files after an election showing money raised and spent.
Used in: Guide to the 2026 Deputy Mayor candidates, Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - CAO (Chief Administrative Officer)
- The town's top staff member.
Used in: How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Change order
- A signed change to a building contract, often adding work or cost.
Used in: The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Clean (unmodified) audit opinion
- The auditor's statement that the financial statements are fairly presented, without reservations.
Used in: The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Closed session
- A private part of a Council meeting, allowed by law for things like legal advice and lawsuits.
Used in: Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Closed session (in-camera)
- A part of a meeting the public cannot attend, allowed only for certain topics like legal advice or personnel.
Used in: How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office, Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - Consolidated
- Added together with the town's own figures - here, the housing corporation's mortgage is counted in the town's debt.
Used in: How much the town owes and borrows - Construction loan
- A loan drawn bit by bit to pay for work as it is done, then turned into a regular long-term loan at the end.
Used in: How much the town owes and borrows - Contingency
- Extra money set aside in a contract for unexpected costs; it is only spent if needed.
Used in: Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Copy provided to this review
- A document someone gave the author privately; the public cannot check it.
Used in: Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - County Council
- The Middlesex County council, where the town's Mayor and Deputy Mayor also sit.
Used in: Guide to the 2026 Deputy Mayor candidates - Court of Appeal
- The Court of Appeal for Ontario, the highest court in the province. Only the Supreme Court of Canada is above it.
Used in: Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Court-supervised debt restructuring (CCAA)
- A court process that lets a company in money trouble keep running while it reworks what it owes.
Used in: Paper ballots vs. online voting - Declaration of interest
- A member saying at a meeting that they have a conflict on an item.
Used in: How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Declared conflict of interest
- A member saying they have a personal stake in an item, and so not taking part.
Used in: Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - Declared interest (pecuniary interest)
- A member saying they have a money stake in an item, and so not taking part in the vote.
Used in: Guide to the 2026 Deputy Mayor candidates - Decontamination
- Cleaning harmful dirt and chemicals off people and gear after a fire call.
Used in: Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - Deductible
- The part of each insurance claim the town pays itself before the insurance company pays.
Used in: Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Delegation
- A resident or group speaking to Council at a meeting.
Used in: Guide to the 2026 Deputy Mayor candidates - Depreciation
- An accounting charge that spreads a building's cost over its life. It is a cost on paper, not cash spent that year.
Used in: The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Eligible voter
- A person on the voters' list who is allowed to vote, whether or not they actually vote.
Used in: Paper ballots vs. online voting - Environmental assessment (EA), Schedule C
- A formal provincial study of a project's effects and of other options, with public meetings; Schedule C is the most detailed kind.
Used in: Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Environmental assessment (Schedule C)
- A formal provincial study of a project's effects on land, water and neighbours. Schedule C is the most detailed kind.
Used in: Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
- A study of how a project could affect the natural features on a site.
Used in: The data centre plan for 700 Adair Blvd - Extended aeration
- A treatment method that pumps air into tanks so bacteria can break down sewage; the rebuild switches the plant to it.
Used in: Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Future Development (FD) zone
- The zone this land has now, before it is rezoned for a specific use.
Used in: The data centre plan for 700 Adair Blvd - General Industrial (M2) zone
- An industrial zone; the request was for a site-specific version with extra uses added.
Used in: The data centre plan for 700 Adair Blvd - Green Municipal Fund (FCM)
- A fund run by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities; it approved a grant and a loan for the Mount Brydges plant.
Used in: How much the town owes and borrows - Housekeeping by-law
- A general clean-up and update of the town's zoning rules.
Used in: The data centre plan for 700 Adair Blvd - Integrity Commissioner
- An independent officer who gives council members ethics advice and looks into complaints about them.
Used in: How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office, Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - Interim agreement
- A short-term deal that applies while a longer-term agreement is worked out.
Used in: Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Internal loan from reserves
- The town borrows from its own savings (reserves) instead of from a lender.
Used in: How much the town owes and borrows - Land tribunal (OLT)
- The Ontario Land Tribunal, a provincial body that hears land-use and planning appeals.
Used in: Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Lawsuit / claim
- A document filed in court by the people suing, saying what they think happened and what they want. Nothing in it is proven until a judge decides.
Used in: Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Leachate
- Polluted water that seeps out of a dump.
Used in: Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Legal costs award
- A court order that the losing side pay part of the winner's legal bills.
Used in: Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Local board
- A body the law treats as part of the town, so rules on open meetings, conflicts and records apply to it.
Used in: The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Machine transcript
- Computer-made text of a recording; the exact words may be slightly off.
Used in: Guide to the 2026 Deputy Mayor candidates - Mayoral Decision
- A written order the mayor issues using strong-mayor powers; it must be published.
Used in: How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Money interest (pecuniary interest)
- A financial stake in how a decision turns out; under the law a child's money interest counts as the member's own if the member knows of it.
Used in: How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Mortgage guarantee
- A promise by the town to pay the lender if the corporation cannot.
Used in: The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Moving and seconding
- Putting a motion forward, and backing it so it can be debated; neither one shows how a member finally voted.
Used in: Guide to the 2026 Deputy Mayor candidates, Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety, Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - Natural heritage
- Natural areas that planning rules protect; the northern part of this site is mapped this way.
Used in: The data centre plan for 700 Adair Blvd - Net long-term debt
- What the town owes on long-term loans at year end, as shown in its audited statements.
Used in: How much the town owes and borrows - Non-profit corporation
- A corporation with no owners or shareholders. Any surplus stays in the corporation.
Used in: The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Off-gassing
- Chemicals from used gear getting into the air.
Used in: Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - Penetration test
- A security test in which testers try to break into a system to find weak spots.
Used in: Paper ballots vs. online voting - PIN letter
- The letter mailed to each voter with a personal code used to vote online or by phone.
Used in: Paper ballots vs. online voting - PPE
- Personal protective equipment - gear that protects the person wearing it.
Used in: Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - Pre-consultation
- Talking with town planners before filing an application; a town by-law requires it.
Used in: The data centre plan for 700 Adair Blvd - Proactive inspections
- Fire inspections the department schedules on its own, instead of waiting for a request.
Used in: Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety - Quorum
- The smallest number of directors needed to hold a meeting and make decisions.
Used in: The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - RBC (rotating biological contactor)
- The plant's original treatment units: large, slowly turning discs that grow the bacteria that clean sewage.
Used in: Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Recorded vote
- A vote where the minutes list how each member voted.
Used in: The data centre plan for 700 Adair Blvd, Guide to the 2026 Deputy Mayor candidates, Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety, The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place, Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026, Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit, How much the town owes and borrows, Paper ballots vs. online voting, Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - Recorded vote and voice vote
- In a recorded vote the minutes list each member's vote; in a voice vote members answer aloud and the minutes do not show who voted which way.
Used in: How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Recount
- Counting the votes again. With online voting it re-runs the same computer count, because there are no paper ballots to count by hand.
Used in: Paper ballots vs. online voting - Rent geared to income (RGI)
- Subsidized rent based on what a household earns, normally 30% of its gross income, instead of a set rent.
Used in: The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place - Reservation of rights
- A notice from an insurance company that it will help with a lawsuit for now, but may refuse to pay later if the claim is not covered.
Used in: Lawsuits against the town, 2022-2026 - Retainer
- A standing arrangement that lets staff hand a firm work without a separate Council vote each time.
Used in: Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Rezoning / zoning by-law amendment (ZBA)
- A change to the town's rules about what a piece of land can be used for.
Used in: The data centre plan for 700 Adair Blvd - Sole source
- Giving a contract to one firm without inviting competing bids.
Used in: Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit - Sole-source
- Hiring a supplier directly, without asking others to bid.
Used in: How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office, The town's housing corporation and Caradoc Place, Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - Statutory public meeting
- The public meeting required by law before Council decides a zoning change, where residents can speak.
Used in: The data centre plan for 700 Adair Blvd - Strong-mayor powers
- Extra provincial powers held by the Mayor, not the Deputy Mayor, such as proposing the budget.
Used in: Guide to the 2026 Deputy Mayor candidates, How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Tabulator
- A machine that counts paper ballots.
Used in: Paper ballots vs. online voting - Tender
- A request for companies to bid on a job; awarding the tender picks the winner.
Used in: Brian Derbyshire's record on firefighter safety, Paper ballots vs. online voting - Turnout
- The share of eligible voters who actually voted.
Used in: Paper ballots vs. online voting - Veto
- The power to block a decision; Council can overrule a strong-mayor budget veto with a two-thirds vote.
Used in: How Mayor Grantham used the powers of office - Voice vote
- Members answer aloud and the minutes just say 'Carried' or 'Lost', so individual votes are not shown.
Used in: Guide to the 2026 Deputy Mayor candidates, Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - Waiving the purchasing by-law
- Council setting aside its own buying rules, for example to hire a company without asking for competing bids.
Used in: Paper ballots vs. online voting - Ward
- One area of the town that elects its own councillors; Ward 2 is the former Caradoc Township.
Used in: Guide to the 2026 Ward 2 council candidates - WWTF / WWTP
- Short for wastewater treatment facility or plant - the sewage treatment plant.
Used in: Mount Brydges sewage plant: costs, votes and lawsuit