‘I was targetted’: Caledon residents fear erosion of free speech as Town fast-tracks new dumping bylaw; police attend public meeting

What should have been a routine autumn open house on Caledon’s new Site Alteration Bylaw instead laid bare the mistrust consuming the town. 

Residents, given only days to study a dense and technical draft, pressed for answers about vague wording, concentrated powers and the risk of dumping fill into bodies of water, were met by uniformed and plainclothes OPP officers at the Caledon East Community Complex doors Monday evening. 

The officers were caught in the tension of a community’s growing rift with its own municipal government.

When Caledon residents showed up on September 29 to learn about the introduction of a new bylaw, they didn’t expect to be greeted by security personnel and the OPP officers.

“This is just an open house! Why is there security here? This is just non-democratic,” resident Mira Budd exclaimed as she walked toward the entrance of the community centre Monday just as the afternoon was bleeding into the evening.

She was one of a few dozen who came out to the Town of Caledon’s public information session on a proposed Site Alteration Bylaw, which would repeal and replace the Town’s 18-year-old Fill Bylaw (2007-059). The proposed bylaw is designed to regulate the placement and removal of fill, topsoil, vegetation and drainage changes on private land. It sets out rules for permits, studies, public notice and enforcement in line with provincial legislation. A Town statement said the goal is to reduce nuisance impacts and better protect natural features. Staff insisted the bylaw is a “modernization” effort, something technical, overdue and necessary.

Security guards outside the Caledon East Community Complex on September 29.

(Anushka Yadav/The Pointer)

The frustration in Caledon can be traced back to the day Mayor Annette Groves took office, and quickly reversed her stance on a key campaign promise to protect the town’s unique rural character and natural environment.

On November 14, 2023, Integrity Commissioner John Fleming found Groves had breached the Council Code of Conduct by interfering in two bylaw enforcement matters. 

The investigation revealed Groves tried to influence enforcement at an asphalt plant site on Coleraine Drive and at a private property on Highway 50 where contaminated soil had been illegally dumped. In both cases, she asked staff to halt the enforcement, despite active compliance orders, and in one instance, caused a contractor to be dismissed mid-operation, incurring costs to the Town. 

Fleming imposed a four-week pay suspension, citing political overreach and Groves’ lack of recognition of the seriousness of her actions.

Then, on June 25, 2024, Groves pushed through 12 controversial zoning by-law amendments that rezoned nearly 5,000 acres of land across Caledon, paving the way for the construction of 35,000 new homes, almost three times the town’s provincial housing target.

Just weeks earlier, Groves had assured residents that the vote on the massive rezoning would be postponed until after summer, promising more time for public review and consultation. That promise was broken, and the vote was held, leaving many of her former supporters feeling betrayed. 

Then, on December 5, Democracy Caledon filed a notice of application with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, seeking to quash the 12 by-laws, arguing that the rezonings are inconsistent with the Town’s Official Plan, the Region of Peel’s Official Plan, and were approved without the necessary environmental and infrastructure studies.

Despite objections from the Region of Peel, the Toronto Region Conservation Authority and even Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Groves and a majority of council approved the zoning changes. 

Only councillors Dave Sheen, Lynn Kiernan, and Christina Early voted against the amendments; Councillor Nick de Boer abstained.

Groves’ change of stance on land use mirrors her evolving position on Highway 413. In February 2022, as Ward 5 Councillor, she introduced a motion opposing the highway’s construction. That commitment carried into her successful mayoral bid later that year.

“The Highway 413 corridor will be a big help for our villages… It will also spur the extension of Highway 427 and reduce the number of heavy trucks travelling on Highway 50,” she said on August 27 last year, standing next to Ford at a press conference for the beginning of Highway 413’s “early works”.

“This announcement marks a key step for the town towards achieving its goal and vision, and town staff will make every effort to support and work in partnership with the province to ensure the successful delivery of Highway 413 and mitigate any impacts to our community.”

“The Highway 413 corridor will be a big help for our villages by supporting the extension of Highway 410 and easing truck congestion on Highway 10, Caledon village and is a welcome addition to the folks in Valleywood. It will also spur the extension of Highway 427 and reduce the number of heavy trucks travelling on Highway 50,” Caledon Mayor Annette Groves said. Public opposition to Highway 413 remains strong. A February 2024 Pointer poll of 88 Caledon residents found 86 percent opposed Highway 413, with only 14 percent in favour.

(Premier of Ontario/YouTube) 

In November 2024, Caledon council voiced its opposition to the PCs’ Highway 413 strategy under Bill 212, after Ward 3 Councillor Doug Maskell tabled a motion rejecting the legislation. But the Mayor’s recent actions suggest a growing alignment with provincial development interests. 

And now, the recent changes to the in-fill bylaw have many residents worried that hidden in the bureaucratic language, the draft allows loopholes and weak protections that could open the door to large-scale fill dumping across Caledon, especially in exhausted pits and quarries like Swan Lake, a rehabilitated pit site at the heart of recent controversy. 

Swan Lake neighbouring farm owners Jean-François Morin, Jennifer Casu-Morin, Karl and Anna de Langley in conversation with Town of Caledon deputy solicitor Paula Boutis.

(Anushka Yadav/The Pointer)

The draft bylaw suffers from ambiguous language, frequent use of “may” and “shall,” and a fragmented public notification process, all of which undermine clarity and public engagement, residents expressed during the meeting.

"There are times when 'may' is appropriate and times when 'shall' is appropriate, and the by-law terminology would reflect that,” Domenica D'Amico, Town of Caledon’s commissioner of engineering, public works and transportation, told The Pointer.

“All public comments, especially those regarding wording, are being considered. All input received will help inform revisions. If approved, the by-law will be supported by appropriate oversight, from both our municipal enforcement officers and technical experts." 

Additionally, the potential for tipping fees to become a municipal revenue source, without regulation, raises fears that financial gain could be prioritized over environmental stewardship and community well being.

Power under the new bylaw is heavily concentrated with the commissioners of engineering, public works and transportation, who will be given the ability to approve permits, decide if public meetings are required and override Council approval for large projects, raising concerns about transparency and public accountability.

Under the proposed Site Alteration Bylaw, the Commissioner has the authority to approve, amend, or revoke permits and site alterations, decide when public meetings are needed and determine the status of applications. They oversee remediation works, approve changes to management plans and application forms, set requirements, and ensure bylaw compliance. The Commissioner can appoint experts, authorize others to perform duties, and hire contractors as needed. They also decide if large applications over 10,000 cubic metres require Council approval.

(Town of Caledon)

Public consultation is optional and limited, with exemptions that developers could exploit, and enforcement relies on constrained municipal resources; vague fill quality standards risk allowing contaminated materials to slip through. The bylaw leans heavily on provincial environmental policies, which are already weakened under the current Doug Ford government, without instituting stronger local protections, residents claim. 

The Commissioner has sole discretion to decide whether a Public Open House or Council approval is needed for a permit, based on factors like potential impacts, truck traffic, or prior hearings. If a Public Open House is held, it is the applicant, not the Town, who must collect and address public concerns, which are then submitted back to the Commissioner for review.

(Town of Caledon)

The timeline for public consultation on the draft Site Alteration Bylaw is also unsettling for residents and community advocates. 

Democracy Caledon president Debbe Crandall pointed out that the entire process “basically allows only 13 business days from the release of the draft bylaw to the comment deadline,” which is simply not enough time for the public to fully understand and respond to the proposed changes.

The draft bylaw was posted on the Town of Caledon’s website on September 17, providing the first opportunity for residents to review the complex and technical document. 

Less than two weeks later, the Town hosted the public open house, the only event scheduled to gather public input before the comment deadline, set for October 6 at 4:00 p.m.

“One open house with no recording (apart from citizens’ recordings) of people’s questions and responses from experts just isn’t sufficient,” Crandall noted.

The town aims to bring the bylaw forward for Council consideration as early as October 28, which means only 11 business days separate the comment deadline from the potential Council vote. 

Residents were provided with pages to provide their feedback, or they could also scan the QR code (in the image) to have their say in the town’s Site Alteration Bylaw.

(Anushka Yadav/The Pointer)

Residents feel this leaves little time to digest the information, seek expert advice, and formulate detailed feedback. 

Democracy Caledon is calling for an extension of the public comment period and the immediate creation of a Citizens Advisory on Site Alteration. 

“There's a wealth of local knowledge and experience that is not being tapped to create a Made in Caledon Site Alteration Bylaw,” Crandall said.

“And people need more time to understand the huge changes envisioned by this new bylaw. We're going from a restrictive bylaw that caps permits for up to 1,000 truckloads of construction fill on lands zoned agriculture to open ended fill operations in former pits and quarries across Caledon...with one open house” seems “inadequate.”

Normally dismissed as a “snooze fest,” the bylaw open house drew a large crowd of residents driven by growing distrust in Town Hall, especially Mayor Annette Groves who put forward the motion for dumping fill into Swan Lake on behalf of a “prominent developer”, a project that has already raised serious concerns about water contamination and threats to the habitat of endangered species including trumpeter swans. 

Groves has clarified that nothing has been approved yet and a report will be brought forward to council for final approval, for which no date has been set yet, but a belief that public input no longer matters has already been instilled deep in the community with the way the motion moved forward. 

“What an amazing turnout for an open house about a site alteration by-law — can't think of anything drier than that,” Crandall said. 

Even Janet Eagleson, Caledon’s manager of public affairs, was struck by the unusually full room as she kicked off the two-hour session.

“I have to say that I never thought that I will see this many people out at a site alteration bylaw. It just doesn't typically hit the register. And so it is actually really great,” Eagleson admitted during her opening remarks.

The large gathering was partly due to concerns over whether the new bylaw is a vehicle for turning all of Caledon into “another Swan Lake.” 

“Would an application for 0 Shaw’s Creek, what Mr. [Nick] Cortellucci (current owner of Swan Lake) is wanting to do for Swan Lake, be permitted under this Site Alteration By-law?,” Crandall asked. 

“I don’t think we know … we don’t have an application, so we don’t know what the application even is … we need the studies and then Council will make a decision,” D’Amico responded.

When pressed further, Commissioner D’Amico explained, “The only thing the (0 Shaw’s Creek motion) resolution did was authorize an application… your current Fill Bylaw would not otherwise allow even an application to be considered,” arguing she lacked authority under the existing bylaw and required Council’s direction to accept it. 

Crandall countered, “Why did you seem to go that far?” 

D’Amico replied that the bylaw’s limitations had forced that step and that the new draft is intended to correct those procedural constraints.

Swan Lake advocate and Caledon resident Keirstyn Parfitt pressed Town staff on the timing of the new bylaw and its potential connection to the Swan Lake file, raising suspicions many residents shared. 

“Back in May, you suggested that the developer, Mr. Cortellucci, needed this bylaw passed in order to get rid of his fill,” Parfitt said, referring to comments made at the May 20 Council meeting. 

“But then here, you're saying the two have nothing to do with each other. You also said that the Site Alteration By-law work picked up again in June 2024. That’s exactly when Mr. Cortellucci purchased Swan Lake.”

D’Amico clarified that the June 2024 reference was about her own start date with the Town, noting staff resumed work on the Site Alteration By-law around that same time, after it had been paused during the pandemic. She noted the work on the by-law had originally started in February 2020.

“So, it picked back up right after he bought the land? Nobody knows if that’s just a coincidence,” Parfitt asked, but there was no response.

D'Amico says the bylaw is now moving forward as part of the Town's Housing Action Plan and to “support commitments under the Housing Accelerator Fund, in alignment with those existing plans.” 

For Parfitt, the timing has been suspect for months and communication from the Town only deepened her concern. She provided The Pointer with a full email exchange that began on June 3, when she submitted questions about the Swan Lake file and the bylaw process. 

Among the questions she asked was whether a permit application had been submitted to the Town prior to Council's motion authorizing the Swan Lake fill.

“No. The current Fill By-Law does not allow site alteration as a standalone request for lands other than those zoned agricultural,” D’Amico answered in an email to Parfitt.

“As a result, no permit could be issued under that by-law. Council has to authorize it. In other words, submitting an application for a permit would serve no purpose. The Town has been working on new site alteration bylaw which will address site alteration beyond that on agricultural lands. A public hearing is expected in July.”

Parfitt did not receive the response until July 8, the day hundreds of residents packed the town’s council chambers to speak in support of Swan Lake.

“The timeline is important…I asked the questions on June 3, but didn’t get a response until July 8. And that answer came during the contentious Council meeting—when it was too late for me to read it and formulate any questions,” Parfitt told The Pointer.

“I feel very much that was intentional. It gave me no opportunity to be public about what they told me.”

But before the back and forth between residents and town staff, just half an hour before the open house, the OPP held a briefing at town hall on crowd management, with three undercover officers and two in uniform present. But before the session even began, residents had already identified the undercover officers, who had taken seats at the back of the room.

“The three plain-clothed police stood together at the back corner of the room. Some residents were speaking with them before the start. I've never in all my years of being involved in municipal, regional and provincial advocacy ever seen the OPP called to either intervene or to escort rabble-rousers out. I hope they learned something about fill,” Crandall said with a smile.

The three OPP officers spotted at the public open house reaffirmed to residents who approached them that they were not expecting anything serious given it’s an open house for a by-law.

(Anushka Yadav/The Pointer)

“As a taxpayer, I find that a ridiculous waste of resources,” Parfitt told The Pointer.

For Parfitt, it had been a long 24 hours of something she wasn’t expecting.

The day before, she received a call from a “very nice” OPP officer, Erin McMillan, who said she had been instructed by the Town of Caledon to contact her about an “upcoming protest at the open house.”

Parfitt assured her no protest was planned, only efforts to encourage residents to attend. 

“I told her we’d be lucky if 40 people showed. I mean, it’s a by-law open house—a bit of a snooze fest,” she said.

“She understood and wanted to let me know that plainclothed officers would be in attendance. She asked me to meet with her ahead of time at 5:30 p.m. in front of Town Hall so that I would know who she was in case I required her assistance.”

Parfitt was puzzled. “Why would I, as a resident attending an open house, require police assistance?,” she told The Pointer.

She asked why she had been contacted directly. McMillan said she'd been told about a group called Democracy Caledon. Parfitt clarified she wasn’t part of that group. McMillan acknowledged this but said the OPP was reaching out to “all those involved.” 

When Parfitt asked if they had contacted Democracy Caledon directly, McMillan said they hadn’t yet, but were hoping to connect before the evening.

When she met McMillan in person at 5:30 p.m., two other Central Region OPP officers were present. Parfitt asked directly if she was in any danger or if some Swan Lake supporters were doing something behind the scenes that she wasn’t aware of.

McMillan said no, but explained they were there to “protect both sides.”

Standing nearby, residents Sharon Sommerville and Cheryl Conners objected: “There are no sides. This is just the public coming out to attend an open house.”

Conners later asked Eagleson whether the Town had requested the OPP presence. Eagleson responded that the OPP had contacted the Town.

But Parfitt was told something different.

“She [McMillan] confirmed today when I met her in person that the Town of Caledon requested their attendance,” Parfitt said.

Uniformed OPP officers were also present at the July 8 council meeting when hundreds of Swan Lake supporters flooded council chambers and the cafeteria at the Town Hall.

(Anushka Yadav/The Pointer)

The Pointer reached out to the OPP and the Town of Caledon, but did not receive a statement by the time of publication.

Beyond the troubling push for questionable land use and planning decisions, a quieter battle is unfolding in Caledon where speaking out, whether as a resident, advocate, or council member, now comes at a cost.

Caledon resident Keirstyn Parfitt has been spreading awareness through the social media page ‘Swan Lake’ about the contentious Swan Lake motion put forward by Mayor Annette Groves in May.

(Anushka Yadav/The Pointer)

“I found it very evident that I had been singled by the Town of Caledon as a vocal resident who they wished to keep in line, silence and/or intimidate by instructing the OPP to reach out to me specifically and solely. I was the only one the police initially contacted and they requested to meet with me personally before the open house. They didn’t contact DC [Democracy Caledon] until I questioned them on it today,” Parfitt, who started the social media page in support of Swan Lake, said.

“I believe I was targetted as I have been effective in getting the word out to the public. Unfortunately, I believe our current administration finds an informed public a direct threat to their operations.” 

On September 23, councillor Dave Sheen paid the price for comments he made during a May Council meeting regarding the controversial issuance of a Fill Permit for 0 Shaw’s Creek Road, the property at the centre of the Swan Lake debate.

“If staff run into difficulties, it’ll be easy they can come back to Council – it isn’t in the motion. That’s a problem for me particularly in a Strong Mayor Power environment where there is an enormous pressure on staff to give the Mayor what she wants,” Sheen said on May 20.

What came next, he never could have anticipated.

On his daughter’s 16th birthday, Sheen was notified that Groves and Caledon CAO Nathan Hyde had filed complaints against him, triggering two Integrity Commissioner investigations into his remarks. 

The Commissioner found that Sheen’s statements breached multiple sections of the Town’s Code of Conduct, including Sections 5.2 and 5.4, which require members to respect staff professionalism and avoid public criticism that could undermine their credibility, and Section 3.4, which cautions against making disparaging comments about Council processes, decisions, or other members.

“A key finding I made based on Councillor Sheen’s responses and responses to questions I posed to him was that he had no evidence that Mayor Groves had in fact tried to influence or pressure staff to go along with their wishes at any point in time,“ the Town’s Integrity Commissioner David Boghosian said at the General Committee Meeting on September 23 while presenting the findings.

“I didn’t have evidence of inappropriate pressure from the Mayor or unprofessional conduct by staff, because I didn’t have it, and that’s not what I was accusing them of. I was not focused on individual staff members. I was focused on the concept of Strong Mayor powers and the impact that it has on municipal civil servants,” Sheen responded.

Ultimately, it resulted in a 15-day suspension of his pay, which he requested be donated to Kids Help Phone.

Since taking office in 2022, Sheen has faced four Integrity Commissioner complaints, three of which were linked to his attempts to call out the negative consequences of Strong Mayor Powers on democratic governance, transparency and public trust.

With the next municipal election just a year away, some Caledon residents The Pointer spoke with say their voting plans have shifted dramatically since 2022, when less than a third of eligible voters cast a ballot. 

At the time, Groves said, “People say, ‘Why should I even bother voting? It’s going to be the same thing anyway.’ As elected officials, we need to demonstrate to the public that not all politicians are the same.”

She promised things would be different. 

“This next term of Council, we need to show the residents that we have their best interests at heart, that we’re all working for them. I think if we can demonstrate that to the people, you will find better voter turnout.”

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