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Background and Full Disclosure: I ran against Tom Vegh for Newmarket Deputy Mayor and Regional Councillor in 2022. I did so because I was appalled by his behaviour in the 2018 election when developers bankrolled his campaign. 

Vegh won easily by 9,396 (63.2%) to my 5,455 (36.7%) votes, outspending me by $20,000. No complaints from me. It was my choice to limit my spending to a figure I considered reasonable. For his part, Vegh borrowed $27,800 from the bank to finance his 2018 campaign (along with a tsunami of donations from developers) and a further $26,500 from CIBC and Scotiabank for his 2022 campaign. Vegh also reported interest charged on the loans. In 2022, every vote for Vegh cost him $2.91 to my $1.34. (Calculated by dividing the reported expenses by the number of votes received.) 

Vegh’s Election Deficit

Running for election for Mayor or Deputy Mayor can be very costly. In 2022 Provincial Election rules placed a cap on Deputy Mayor campaign spending at an eye-watering $57,153. That’s a big chunk of change for a private individual - even with a prescribed limit on self-funding aimed at preventing well-heeled candidates paying for their entire campaign.

In the event, Vegh spent $27,312 or 47.8% of the amount allowed. I spent 12.8%.

Vegh chose not to return the candidates’ questionnaire to Newmarket Today in 2022. But the paper’s campaign coverage on 30 September 2022 revealed that he would no longer accept donations from developers. In fact, he said he wouldn’t take money from anyone doing business with the Town which is a nuanced variation. 

Vegh told Newmarket Today:

"I respect that (there are) people who would prefer you don't accept donations from anybody who's doing any business of any kind with the town. I just got to respect that." 

He ended his campaign with a deficit and informed the Town Clerk he needed extra time to pay it off. This is allowed by election rules.

Vegh and his wife spent $28,615 of their own money in the two campaigns. The figure of $16,305 for 2022 includes $3,995 in reused lawn signs from 2018.

I am surprised Tom Vegh is running for a third term. I saw hundreds of “Re-elect Tom Vegh” signs dumped at York Region’s Waste Transfer Station at Warden Avenue in Georgina when I was dropping off my own for recycling four years ago. The workers there told me he wasn’t running again. I am left wondering why he changed his mind. (Photo: Top right. Discarding expensive - and reusable - lawn signs)

Is Tom Vegh worth $168,368+ a year?

In 2025 the Town reported that Tom Vegh received a salary of $78,355 plus $63,623 from York Region totalling $141,978. In addition he received $26,389 in benefits bringing the overall total of salary plus benefits to $168,368. He also gets a car allowance of $7,340. He claimed $6,393 in reimbursable expenses from the Town in 2025 and $4,975 in expenses from York Region. He gets per diem remuneration for attending Board meetings of the Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority which in 2025 amounted to a modest $750.

People should get the rate for the job but what does that mean in the context of the Deputy Mayor if “work” involves posting thousands of photos on Instagram and turning up at a zillion Board meetings and saying nothing?

The Deputy Mayor is, on the face of it, a full-time job. He says being Deputy Mayor is evidence of a leadership role. But what does Vegh do all day? How does he spend his time?

ChatGPT tells me that over the past eight years Vegh assumed the chair for two items when Taylor declared a conflict of interest (on 25 February 2019 and 24 August 2020). (The downtown parking review of 24 August resurfaced at Council on 31 August where Vegh again took the Chair just for that item.) Vegh doesn't do much deputising. Taylor never takes a day off.

Spectator of events 

Tom Vegh’s glitzy new campaign website, packed full of endorsements, gives the impression of a man on a mission, bubbling with ideas, claiming credit for a thousand and one projects.

The Tom Vegh I know is different. I see him as a spectator of events rather than someone who gets stuck in with his own distinctive agenda, who leads and persuades others. He runs away from serious argument and debate. He is more at home posting selfies on Instagram than advancing major new policy proposals. Pretty much everything he writes about in his new website was initiated by someone else. He “supports” projects brought forward by others. There is a striking photo of Tom Vegh with the Mayor, John Taylor, suggesting he is a key part of the team running Newmarket and York Region. He is more the passenger, riding on Taylor’s coat tails. (Photo right: With the Mayor. From Vegh's campaign website)

It is a rare thing for Vegh to challenge Taylor on any important issue. It occasionally happens. (Photo below bottom right: In a 2021 vote on an amendment to York Region's Official Plan, Vegh voted to allow the redesignation of the Protected Countryside portions of the Greenbelt in Vaughan from Prime Agricultural to rural against the advice of the Region’s Chief Planner.)

Despite these ups and downs, and after more than two decades on the Town Council, Vegh now seems content to coast along in his comfortable role as Deputy Sheriff.

Over-promising and under-delivering

That said, Vegh’s habit of over-promising and under-delivering goes back years. In the 2018 campaign he said he wanted to see a new library and a co-located new Seniors’ Centre on the Town owned Hollingsworth Arena site at Patterson and Davis. He said the existing Seniors’ Centre was too small and a new library was long overdue. He famously told us:

“The debate over the need for a new public library is long over. The only question now is where and when.”

And in his own 2018 Newmarket Today questionnaire, Vegh wrote:

"The existing Seniors' Centre is too small to accommodate the growth and a new library is long overdue." 

Seven months after the election he had given up on the Hollingsworth Arena site telling his colleagues the location of any new library was, in the first instance, a matter for the Library Board.

By February 2022 he was wondering aloud why the Library’s new Strategic Plan did not contemplate a new building. He was still pointing to the physical limitations of the existing building. But typically, he folded and didn’t make an issue of it. In recent years Vegh has said nothing about a new library which, for him, was once “a priority”.

In the same cavalier way, Vegh ditched his eight-year old proposal for a new Seniors’ Centre. He now stresses the importance of seniors' housing and services – laudable but different.

Signature achievements 2022-2026

I hope the 2026 election campaign will flush out policies and initiatives that can be fairly attributed to Vegh personally. So much of what happens at the Town Hall is driven by staff recommendations. Vegh frequently moves consent items, minutes and routine reports. But how often – and on what issues – does Vegh propose a substantive change to a staff recommendation or bring forward an important issue under “new business”.

ChatGPT tells me Vegh’s motion on Fairy Lake:

“…is probably the clearest Vegh example of self-generated policy.

The minutes actually say:

“Deputy Mayor and Regional Councillor Vegh shared a potential initiative…”

He then presented Council with a motion to consider a pilot project. The motion proposed reintroducing catch-and-release fishing at Fairy Lake and constructing a fishing dock, subject to approvals and fundraising.” 

ChatGPT throws out a few other examples such as the Municipal Accommodation Tax in June 2024 and the windrow (snow clearing) resolution of June 2025 where Vegh moved the motion directing staff to provide winter windrow opening to qualifying households, capped at 100 households, with a report back to Council. But anyone watching the on-line videos posted on the Town’s website would immediately recognise Taylor’s primary role in shaping the agenda and pushing these initiatives forward.

The Quiet Man 

Vegh’s challenger in this election is the thoughtful academic urban planner, Dr Mohsen Alavi, who says

“We should have an expert voice at the table not a quiet one.”

An astute observation. Vegh is quiet to a fault.

I have lost count of the number of times I’ve waited for a killer intervention from Vegh but nothing materialises. He keeps his thoughts to himself. Even, unbelieveably, on the financing of the Inn from the Cold which he used to run as Executive Director.

In 2018 Vegh left the charity during a period of significant financial and organisational pressure and in the election campaign later that year he described himself this way:

“I am currently an independent business management consultant, helping small and mid-sized organizations meet their revenue goals”

emphasising his experience in executive and consulting roles in the non-profit and career-transition sectors.

So it is beyond weird that he chose not to speak when John Taylor brought forward a motion at York Regional Council on 29 September 2022 calling for funding for the IFTC. Vegh remained silent throughout the long debate. What was all that about? Saying nothing.

I wrote at the time that Aurora’s Mayor, Tom Mrakas, seconded Taylor’s motion. But at the end of the debate Mrakas told the meeting he thought it more appropriate for Vegh to be the seconder. The meeting agreed and Vegh became the seconder having been mute throughout.

Policy Making and Strategic Priorities

Although candidates running for Office at Newmarket make all sorts of promises during the campaign their ability to deliver is constrained. They must persuade other Council members to back them and support their campaign promises during the strategic planning exercise that takes place after every council election.

The Town hires consultants to distil all the promises made by the newly elected (and acclaimed) councillors into a manageable set of “strategic priorities” for the 2026-2030 term of council. For council members this involves a lot of give and take and a willingness to fight your corner to get a key pledge into the list of top priorities. Over the years I’ve watched Taylor, as Captain of the ship, expertly steer the discussion taking it to where he wants it to go. Vegh never presses his case but gives up at the first whiff of grapeshot.

Of course, during any four-year term new issues arise which must be addressed and new priorities emerge. For example, the highly consequential purchase of Mulock Farm was not on the map in 2015 when the Council was looking at its 2014-2018 priorities. The acquisition in 2017-18 was slotted into a previously agreed strategic priority framework to acquire properties along Davis Drive and Yonge Street “to create vibrant and liveable corridors”. 

Vegh’s Key Priorities

Vegh’s campaign website tells us he is committed to working closely with residents, local businesses, community organizations, and members of Council to keep Newmarket moving forward. His priorities include:

  • Keeping taxes among the lowest in York Region while delivering high-quality, efficient municipal services
  • Investing in parks, trails, and recreational facilities
  • Improving safety in our neighbourhoods
  • Supporting responsible and sustainable growth
  • Advancing affordable housing options

Nothing to frighten the horses there. All very vague. 

I'd like to see some specifics emerge during the campaign and in any election debate – should there be one. What does Vegh personally want to achieve?

You know, the kind of things that used to appear in campaign platforms.

The last thing we need is another content-free election.

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 From the FB site "Canadian Memes"

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Last month, I filed three Freedom of Information requests with the province’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development that had been written by ChatGPT in line with my instructions. This was a first for me. 

AI is already with us. It combs through minutes and agendas in seconds, work that would have taken hours. It can craft Freedom of Information requests with the skill of a first-class lawyer. It can make mistakes but so, too, can lawyers.

What happened to the reform of the law on Non-Disclosure Agreements? 

Almost three years ago, on 22 November 2023, Newmarket-Aurora’s PC MPP, Dawn Gallagher Murphy, told MPPs at Queen's Park the Governmemnt planned to reform the law on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). (Photo right) 

NDAs are often used to gag employees who have suffered, for example, sexual harassment or bullying at the hands of their employer. In 2023, the Canadian Bar Association called for a change in the law 

“to discourage use of NDAs to silence victims and whistleblowers in cases of discrimination, abuse and harassment”. 

 Gallagher Murphy said the Government would be consulting on restricting the use of non-disclosure agreements: 

“… to help end workplace misconduct and hold abusers to account, our government is proposing to conduct consultations and detailed analysis on the use of non-disclosure agreements—NDAs—in the settlement of cases of workplace sexual harassment, misconduct or violence. The consultation would identify legislative options to restrict the use of NDAs while protecting the rights of victims and survivors. Ninety-four per cent of Canadian Bar Association members recently voted in favour of discouraging the widespread use of NDAs in settlement of cases of harassment and discrimination.”

She continued:

“There are concerns within the legal and survivor communities about the adverse impact of using NDAs. Signing an NDA could prevent survivors from talking about their experience and protect perpetrators unjustifiably. However, prohibiting or limiting NDAs could be a disincentive to settlement, forcing more matters of this nature to litigation. Consultation with the legal community, survivors and employers would support a more complete assessment of risk and benefits.”

Since then all we hear is radio silence.

Bullying and Harassment

In January 2025, Newmarket Today published an explosive piece detailing the bullying and harassment dished out by Gallagher Murphy to her office staff.

The action against the MPP brought by former Office Manager, Teena Bogner, was settled before the matter came up before the Ontario Labour Relations Board at a meeting scheduled for 9.30am on 25 February 2025. 

All this begs the question, why has the proposal to reform the law on NDAs stalled? I am trying to find out. But I have no way of knowing what I’ll get and how much will be redacted.

Information is power

A cliché but true, nonetheless.

Our ability to get information from the state is fundamental to our democracy. Openness and transparecy promote good governance. Freedom of Information (FoI) requests can reveal maladministration and misconduct. They can show how important policy decisions are made – after careful consideration or on the fly. With supporting evidence or without.

I have been filing FoIs for decades. My most consequential FoI, filed in the UK in 2007, unmasked Michael Ashcroft, then Vice Chair of the Conservative Party, as a tax cheat. He entered the House of Lords in 2000 after promising to pay UK taxes on his worldwide income – not just the portion generated in the UK. He never did. (Photo right) 

The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 now prohibits membership of the UK Parliament (meaning in this context the House of Lords) to anyone who does not pay UK taxes on the entirety of their income.

Secret Newmarket

Here in Newmarket, FoIs have also revealed facts the powers-that-be would have preferred to stay hidden. In 2015 we learned the Town of Newmarket had considered - in closed session in 2008 - an offer to buy the 144-acre Glenway Golf Course. It was the bargain of the century. But it was rejected by the then Mayor, Tony Van Bynen. He has never spoken about this decision in almost 20 years. In 2010, the developer, Marianneville, bought the Glenway lands for $9.9M (about $14.3M in today’s dollars).

Bob Forrest’s plans to demolish sections of the Town’s historic Main Street and build an out-of-place 9 storey condo triggered a cascade of FoIs from a number of concerned residents. The Town rejected Forrest’s proposal with only the then Mayor, Tony Van Bynen, voting in favour.

Freedom of Information requests revealed Southlake’s plans (since changed) to build its second Acute Hospital on protected Greenbelt land north of Davis Drive West and Bathurst.

Other FoIs directed at the Town’s Library exposed a dysfunctional organisation whose Chief Executive was making it up (the membership statistics) as she was going along.

Getting these FoIs answered sometimes comes at a price. I have been quoted an eye-watering $450 by the Ministry of Labour to answer (in whole or in part) just one of my three FoIs on non-disclosure agreements.

Can our Freedom of Information laws be made to work as intended?

There has been a long debate on how we can make our Freedom of Information laws work as intended. The Ford Government is doing everything it can to restrict their scope and applicability.

Earlier this year, the Ford Government used the budget Bill (Bill 97, the Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures) 2026) to make consequential changes to the Province’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).

This omnibus Bill removed whole categories of political office records from the scope of FIPPA – and made the change retroactive. Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commission said the practical effect of the change takes things back to 1988, the beginning of the province’s access-to-information regime. And the new exclusions shield the records of parliamentary assistants like Dawn Gallagher Murphy.

The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Patricia Kosseim, objected but was unable to feed her views directly into the legislative process. The Bill had no Committee stage.

Because of this, the Commissioner and others with interest and expertise in the subject had no opportunity to voice their concerns face-to-face with MPPs before Ford's highly controversial changes became the law of Ontario. 

The Commissioner - an officer of the Legislative Assembly no less - couldn't have been more blunt:

“Taking away Ontarians’ access rights — retroactively and into the future — denies them the information they need to understand government decision-making at the highest levels and hold their governments to account. Such a change would not modernize access laws, strengthen privacy, or enhance security; it would weaken transparency and accountability for generations to come. This should be concerning for all Ontarians, regardless of political affiliation. We urge the government to reconsider its proposal and keep public trust onside.”

Ford carried on regardless, bulldozing his changes through the legislature with the unwavering support of Newmarket-Aurora’s PC MPP, Dawn Gallagher Murphy.

Pretty predictable, I'd say.

It's not as if she has anything to hide.

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It was a comment deliberately designed to make everyone sit up and pay attention.

When Doug Ford said out loud that Donald Trump can "kiss my ass" he knew it would (a) make headlines and (b) get a round of applause from Canadians totally fed up with the so-called "leader of the free world".

But in that moment Ford put an unwanted image in my head.

I was reminded of an exhibition on political satire at the Art Gallery of Ontario that I visited in 2019.

Back then, it was Trump's ass on display.

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Nominations close at 2pm this Friday (21 August) for the elections to Newmarket Council on 26 October 2026. 

As I tap this out, there will be elections in five of the seven wards and for the Deputy Mayor. It looks like Mayor John Taylor, Bob Kwapis (Ward 5) and Christina Bisanz (Ward 7) will all be acclaimed and will be returned unopposed.

Why is there so little interest in municipal elections?

Pitiful turnout

At the last election in 2022, when I ran unsuccessfully against the incumbent Deputy Mayor Tom Vegh, the turnout was a pitiful 24.8%. But we were no worse than many others in Ontario.

The municipalities with populations over 50,000 that had the lowest voter turnout are shown in the table (right).

Where are the Political Parties?

Political parties are forbidden by Statute to contest municipal elections in Ontario. (But see note below.)

Of course, candidates don’t leave their politics at the door when they run for election to their local council and because they all run as “independents” it is difficult for the voters to get a handle on where they are coming from. Party colours and Party labels give voters an easy way to place candidates on the ideological spectrum. 

Newmarket’s Mayor John Taylor ran for the Liberals in the 2003 Provincial Election in York North against the PC incumbent Julia Munro and lost by 3,463 votes. Ward 7 councillor Christina Bisanz ran for the Liberals in Newmarket Aurora in 2007 narrowing losing by 1,355 to the incumbent PC MPP, Frank Klees.  She ran again, unsuccessfully, in 2011.  Ward 3 councillor Jane Twinney ran for the Progressive Conservatives in the 2014 Provincial Election and Tom Vegh tried to get into Queen’s Park as a Progressive Conservative but wasn’t selected as the Party's candidate. On 5 December 2016 Vegh told residents in Ward 1 that he was ready for a bigger challenge.   (see graphic right)

Newmarket’s former Mayor, Tony Van Bynen, was forever droning on about being "steadfastly bi-partisan" but as soon as he retired he joined the Liberals and was selected from a shortlist of one and elected as the Liberal MP for Newmarket Aurora.

Institutional memory

At their best, Parties provide an institutional memory, recalling significant political events that most of us forget after a few weeks. They provide campaign finance and a ready-made band of volunteers to help in the campaign. (At their worst, they corruptly legitimise campaigns and elections that can be bought through signing up thousands of new Party members who are committed only to a particular candidate and not to the Party.) 

Fighting an election as an independent costs money and for many excellent aspiring candidates this can be a real disincentive. 

Election spending shouldn't be an Arms Race

In the 2022 Newmarket Election Tom Vegh spent $27,312 against my $7,292, a difference of $20,000 and approximately 3.75 times greater than my spend.

I took the view that running for election shouldn’t be an arms race and I did everything I could to minimise my spending – in retrospect a big mistake.

After the election I returned a surplus of $1,495 to the Town of Newmarket which was money I had raised for the campaign but did not spend.

Tough Call

As an “independent”,  taking on an incumbent can be a tough call. He or she (the incumbent) has name recognition and four years to build support in the community – backed by the Town Hall machine. The Deputy Mayor, for example, has an Executive and Community Relations Assistant who

“reviews and analyzes social media channels, as well as Committee reports and decisions and alerting the Deputy Mayor on operational or emerging issues, and initiating the action required to respond.”

The assistant’s duties are wide ranging and include:

“monitoring activities related to social media channels and recommends options to improve social media content, outreach to the community and businesses, as well as support design elements that best serves the purposes of various audiences.”

This is from the Job Description:

Non-incumbents running for election do so, almost by definition, from a standing start.

So, how do candidates break through and get their message across to the voters?

Election Debates should be a key part of every election

Personally, I believe election debates are the great equaliser and they can break though into the public’s consciousness when reported by the local media.

In 2003, for example, when John Taylor ran against the PC incumbent, Julia Munro, the ERA newspaper reported that Taylor had put in a strong debate performance and this had narrowed the gap between the two in a Conservative leaning riding.

So, debates do matter.

Unfortunately, in 2022, neither the local Chamber of Commerce here in Newmarket nor the local media organised a debate for the contested Deputy Mayor position. For me, this was incredibly frustrating. You have no idea how much time and effort I put into trying to get a debate.

Three Choices

I gave Vegh three choices of dates with an offer that he could also select the debate moderator but he simply wasn’t interested. So I organised my own. The last thing he wanted to do was defend his disgraceful practice of taking money from developers to fund his election campaigns.

Over the years, I’ve stood in many elections in the UK and there has always been a candidates’ debate. Indeed, in my many years as an MP at Westminster, I used to do three or four across the constituency during each campaign.

Here in Newmarket the whole experience of running for election without a debate left me feeling profoundly dissatisfied. It was an election where, for me at least, there was still unfinished business.

I shall be blogging on these and other themes as the election campaign gets under way.

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Correction on 18 August 2026:  I said in my original post that Toronto was an exception to the rule that political parties could not contest elections at municipal level. The Ontario government confirmed in 2006 that the Municipal Elections Act did not prohibit candidates from working together or forming civic parties. This was reiterated during the 2016 legislative debate over municipal-election reform.

Civic parties may organize politically, but cannot obtain the formal electoral status, ballot designation and financial framework enjoyed by provincial and federal parties.

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