The Wheel and Whisk is open today as of 3 pm. I bought some bread and bagels. They were still warm when I got home.
151a Broadway at Mill St, in the old Blumen location
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to try one of the two new town buses. It's a much needed improvement over the current buses and leaps and bounds beyond the school buses. The bus was impressive but there was issues with the schedule.
I arrived at the bus stop at Broadway / John St at 4:55. The PDF schedule indicated it should be arriving at 5:03. I looked at the Town's transit app. I was happy to see it was working today. It showed an estimated arrival time for 5:17.
This gave me a chance to speak with another rider waiting at the stop. She told me she's happy to see new buses on the road, but unless they're on schedule, it's not going to improve things for her and other riders.
At 5:17, the new bus pulled up. It's everything a modern bus should be. Clean, bright, LED screens showing upcoming stops, automated stop announcements, wheelchair accessible ramp and buttons / cords to request stops.
The one thing which really stood out to me was the familiarity with the driver and many passengers. There was a strong sense of camaraderie between them.
The bus made it's way along Broadway, up to the Hospital, back to Hwy 10, past the box stores. The newly added section along Hansen and into the Veterans Way neighbourhood proved useful for one rider. He was able to exit along Parkinson Cres, close to his home.
Eventually we made our way to First St and Elizabeth St. More route changes occurred here. The bus now travels west along Elizabeth St, stopping directly in front of Jeffers' Pharmacy, proving better access to those people who need to use that building and better access for residents from Lord Dufferin Centre.
I previously pointed out this issue in my presentation in March to council, which the bus stop being on the south side of Elizabeth St. Perhaps I played a role in having this modified to better suit the needs of riders.
The bus arrived at my destination, the ODSS / Tony Rose stop at 5:52 pm. The schedule indicates it's supposed to arrive at 5:39 pm.
I'm glad for the new buses. They will better serve the residents and allow travel within town in a more dignified manner.
The routes and schedule adherence need to come next. I didn't have any time constraints for my ride, but I overheard one person on the bus saying she had to call her work, telling them she'll be late.
I understand there's external factors to keeping the bus on schedule. We need to work on ways to inform residents of delays. Perhaps a text message service can be utilized.
Whatever it is, I hope I can be part of a team which works towards the solution.
Thanks for reading.
(Images are from the New Flyer website. I have not used any town buses)
Provincial police have charged an Orangeville mayoral candidate after he was accused of stealing a lawn sign.
On Sunday, mayoral candidate Lisa Post took to social media to share a screenshot of what appears to be surveillance footage of a man, walking away with a campaign sign.
In the original post on social media, Post says, “Dumb criminals award: Orangeville politics edition.”
“You’d hope the candidate for mayor would know better than to steal my lawn signs from houses with cameras,” she adds, but does not name the accused.
On Monday, 77-year-old Nicholas Garisto was charged by Dufferin OPP with mischief and theft under $5,000.
Garisto is one of five candidates running in the race for mayor of Orangeville.
In an interview with CTV News, Garisto does not deny he was charged but claims the video is not of him.
He tells CTV News he was in the area of Elderberry Street, in Orangeville on Sunday morning, delivering fliers. The alleged wrongful removal took place on that same street.
“Would I put a flyer in the door and take a sign of the opposition out? I’m not a fool,” Garisto says.
Adding, “I don’t have a black jacket,” claiming the man in the video was wearing a black jacket during the incident. He says he was not wearing a black jacket that day.
“I respect every candidate that’s running, either for council or mayor or deputy mayor as I’m very familiar with the process,” Garisto says.
“It is against the law to remove the sign,” he says, adding, “a lot of my signs have been taken, am I going to blame the opposition? It could’ve been kids.”
In response to being asked about Garisto stating the video was not of him, Lisa Post says “I wouldn’t have posted about it if I wasn’t certain about who it was, the video is crystal clear.”
Post opted to leave the social media post up but changed the message attached to it.
“It’s not my style,” she says, “I reflected on it and thought a softer tone was more appropriate. It really was not my intent to shame anybody, I was frustrated.”
“It’s incredibly disappointing, all of us are stepping up to do better for our community, and it’s disappointing when a candidate feels they have to stoop to any kind of dirty politics, whether it’s signs or social media posts, instead of standing on their own merit,” she says.
Both Post and Garisto are expected to attend a candidate debate at town hall in Orangeville on Monday night.
When asked if she plans to talk to Garisto, Post says, “I have nothing to say, the OPP are handling it based on the evidence that they have and I’m going to show up tonight to our debate with professionalism and integrity.”
When CTV News asked Garisto if he plans to speak to Post, he says OPP has instructed him to stay away from her but gave him special clearance to attend the debate.
Garisto tells CTV News he plans to clear his name.
There won't be much of a debate and no questions will be taken from the audience
https://www.orangevillefoodbank.org/2026forum
Who is organizing the Candidates Forum?
The forum is being organized by Orangeville Food Bank as part of an advocacy project funded through a Food Banks Canada Advocacy Grant. The project includes the creation of the Orangeville Community Advocacy Working Group, a temporary group that brings community and lived-experience perspectives into local advocacy activities.
Who is paying for the forum? Are food bank donations being used?
The forum is funded through a dedicated Food Banks Canada Advocacy Grant. These funds were provided specifically for advocacy activities and are restricted to the purposes of the grant.
No funds designated for food purchasing or other Orangeville Food Bank programs are being diverted to fund the forum. Restricted grant funds must be used for the purposes for which they were provided and cannot simply be redirected to another program or expense.
Why is Orangeville Food Bank involved in advocacy?
Advocacy is part of Orangeville Food Bank's mission, which includes providing dignified food assistance, education, and advocacy for solutions to end poverty.
Food Banks Canada and Feed Ontario also undertake advocacy work aimed at addressing the policies and systemic issues that contribute to poverty and food insecurity. As a member of these food bank networks, Orangeville Food Bank receives support and resources for advocacy from both organizations.
Why hold a forum for Orangeville Council candidates if many social services are a County responsibility?
Different levels of municipal government have different responsibilities, and many social services are administered by the County of Dufferin. However, Orangeville Town Council also makes decisions that affect community well-being, including decisions related to land use and planning, recreation, transportation, local infrastructure and other municipal services.
Orangeville is also represented on Dufferin County Council by its Mayor and Deputy Mayor. The forum is focused on issues that are relevant to the role of municipal government and gives Council candidates an opportunity to explain how they would approach those issues within the authority of the position they are seeking.
Why aren't you only speaking with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor?
The Mayor and Deputy Mayor represent Orangeville on Dufferin County Council, but Orangeville's five Councillors are elected to make decisions as members of Orangeville Town Council, on behalf of their constituents. The forum is specifically intended to give residents an opportunity to hear from candidates seeking those Council seats about issues affecting the community.
What is the format of the forum?
Questions will have been collected through anonymous online forms leading up to the event. These questions will be posed by our moderator to each candidate, who will have up to 1 minute to give their responses. There will be no ‘live mic’ questions from the audience, however we will accept in-person written questions until 7:30 pm, which will be considered for the end of the pre-selected questions, if the topic is not already covered.
Will every candidate be asked the same questions?
Yes. Participating candidates will be given the same questions and the same opportunity to respond.
Will candidates receive the questions in advance?
No, candidates will not receive questions in advance.
Can members of the community submit questions?
Questions can be submitted online using the forms on our website at www.orangevillefoodbank.org/2026forum and in-person at the forum, between 6:30 and the 7:00 pm start time. Questions will be reviewed in advance to ensure they are relevant to the forum's focus and appropriate for municipal candidates. There will be no live audience questions during the forum.
Who will moderate the forum?
Bernadette Hardaker has graciously agreed to be the moderator for the forum. The moderator's role is to facilitate the event and apply the forum format consistently to all participating candidates.
Will the forum be livestreamed?
Yes. The forum will be livestreamed on YouTube. There will be no live questions submitted through the livestream.
What is the Orangeville Community Advocacy Working Group?
The Orangeville Community Advocacy Working Group is a temporary group created as part of Orangeville Food Banks Food Banks Canada Advocacy Grant project. It is not a separate organization or permanent committee.
The group was created to bring community and lived-experience perspectives into advocacy activities and help identify issues affecting people experiencing poverty and food insecurity, as well as bring better understanding of the levels of government and what responsibilities fall under which levels.
Who belongs to the Community Advocacy Working Group?
The Working Group includes community members, including people with lived experience. Orangeville Food Bank will not publicly identify individual participants.
Protecting the privacy of people who access or have accessed food bank services is important to us, and participation in an advocacy initiative does not require someone to publicly disclose their personal circumstances.
When was the Working Group established?
The Working Group was established in August 2026 as part of the Food Banks Canada-funded advocacy project.
Is Orangeville Food Bank supporting or opposing any candidates?
No. Orangeville Food Bank is non-partisan and does not endorse or oppose candidates or political parties. The purpose of the forum is to provide an opportunity for participating candidates to discuss issues affecting the community. Candidates are provided with the same format, questions, response time and opportunity to participate.
I made an error when I spoke. I meant to say I've been a volunteer with the food bank for 3 years and a sustainable Orangeville member for 6 years.
_______________________________________________________________________
Here's my speech typed out:
Hi everyone,
My name is Matthew Smith. I am running for the position of Orangeville councillor in the upcoming election.
I have lived in Orangeville for 10 years. I’m very involved in the community. I volunteer weekly at the food bank and have been doing so for the past 3 years. I am on two town committees. Sustainable Orangeville for the past 6 years and the Official Plan committee for the past year. I even built a seed library on my driveway to help residents grow their own food
I’ve attended nearly every council meeting in the past four years. I speak frequently at them and have delegated twice. Once about the need for more pedestrian crossings and the other about transit.
I have a diploma in Environmental Technology, a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and a graduate certificate in Digital Geography and GIS.
For the past 15 years I’ve worked for a municipal government as a GIS technician. . I digitally map the municipal infrastructure and maintain information about it. Watermains, sewers, fire hydrants, light poles, traffic lights, trees and even paint on the road are all part of what I work with
I also review construction drawings submitted by developers to ensure accuracy. I make sure their drawings represent what our construction inspectors in the field observe.
I want to take that knowledge of infrastructure, environmental issues and attention to detail to council if I have the honour of being elected on October 26
In the next term of council, I anticipate discussions to occur around potential land expansion, the future of Tony Rose, both the pool and the building itself and what to do with the money gained from the sale of the railway.
My campaign is based around being realistic. I’m not going to dangle a carrot in front of Orangeville residents in hopes of getting votes based on something which isn’t realistic or financially responsible.
My number one platform is of course taxes. Taxes will never go down. That’s not realistic. Saying we’ll have 0% increases is also not realistic. My goal is to keep whatever the future proposed budgets may be to a minimum.
Money must be spent to run a municipality. Another platform of mine is to justify costs. I want to be convinced whatever is being proposed is what we need. I believe in asking questions, having healthy discussions and being supplied with good data to justify costs
Another platform is to communicate with residents. I believe residents have a right to know all that is going on at town hall. I have already been keeping residents informed for the past few years through social media and its something I will continue to do.
Finally, I will be working for the residents. I am here to represent you. To me, being an elected official isn’t just attending council meetings . It’s also evenings and weekends of answering emails, returning phone calls, meeting with residents all in a timely manner. I am more than prepared to give up my free time to represent the residents of Orangeville.
Please consider voting for me on October 26
Thank you
The topic of transit recently came up and I will share my thoughts about it.
Anyone who has followed my page, is likely aware I’ve spoken at length about various transit issues. Instead of rehashing some of that, I will offer some new thoughts.
Transit is a vital part of a healthy community. It allows residents to live their lives without the financial burden of private vehicle ownership. It gives independence to those who may not be able to drive for health reasons, disabilities or teens who aren’t of driving age.
Full disclosure: I do not rely on Orangeville transit. I will first opt for my bicycle or my two feet for errands in town, however, I recognize not everyone has those options available to them.
Fare free transit:
Our fare free pilot is set to end in the next term of council, which I hope to be a part of. The final date given by the Town is July 21, 2027. It will likely be brought up as a council agenda item before that date.
I am in favour of fare free transit. It helps those who need the most help
A common criticism I hear surrounding the fare free system is “It’s a waste of money”. I’ll try to break down the numbers for it as best I can.
The Province of Ontario provides municipalities with funding from the gas tax. The Province also stipulates the funding must be used for transit-related initiatives. The idea originally behind offering the fare free system was to create a positive feedback loop. The amount of funding received is tied into ridership. If ridership increases, Orangeville gets more funding. If we offer fare-free rides, we increase ridership and get more funding.
That positive feedback loop proved to be successful as ridership greatly increased and the funding increased along with it.
Now for the numbers.
The last rebate from the Province was $294,473. Our latest data available for ridership was 188,700 in 2025, In 2019, which is the baseline the Town uses as it’s the last year before both COVID and fare free, the ridership was 102,898. That same year, the revenue collected appx $143,000.
Some “back of the napkin” math shows we roughly doubled ridership between 2025 and 2019, and if we also doubled our revenue, we’d be right at where the Province is funding us. However, it should be noted there’s also a cost associated with fares. A town report estimates between $60k and $80k to “administer fares, initiate touch free pay systems, security and other fees”. That puts the Town ahead of where we would be if we collected fares.
However, our latest ridership numbers did drop 23% between 2024 and 2025. September 2025 is when new routes came into effect. I am concerned with how this drop in ridership will factor in to the eventual gas tax funding from the Province.
I believe in the fare free system but for it to be viable, we need to ensure our ridership numbers don’t decrease
The Town recently announced new bus stops in the Veteran’s Way community along with new buses. I don’t see mention of major route changes or adding a third route. I hope (though hope is not a plan) there will be an announcement for routes soon.
In my opinion, the ridership decline is due to the September 2025 route structure, not solely because of the buses. Sure, having nicer buses is a bonus, but if they aren’t on time and reaching areas where people need to be, the fanciest of bus won’t solve the ridership decline.
The buses will greatly help with accessibility compared to the school buses. I look forward to them for that reason. At the same time, we also need to have accessible transit stops with concrete pads and very good snow removal. However, I don't want to see concrete pads poured until we finalize a route system. I don't want to see money wasted pouring and removing concrete.
We also need to ensure the AVL (automatic vehicle locating) system is functioning. There have been issues lately on the Town's page with buses not displaying their real time information. I'm not sure if this is a hardware problem or a software problem but regardless, this is another important feature of transit which needs to work flawlessly
Orangeville is at an awkward stage for transit. We’re too big to not have a transit system but too small to have a robust system, but that doesn't mean we have to settle for something which isn't serving our needs.
Thank you for reading.
Please share any comments or questions.
Hi everyone,
My election lawn signs are available. I'd rather put them on the lawns of residents first before spamming the town property.
If anyone is interested in one, please send me a message
On my Facebook page, I like to showcase town history. For a smallish town we have a lot of history
I just shared an article and some photos of a fire from February 1978. I was able to recreate one of the photos with some LEGO
The fire took place currently where the Foxy Face study is located, at 117 Broadway
It's located at 151a Broadway, where Blumen was located, basically Broadway and Mill St on the north side.
Scheduled opening date is Oct 3.
From the Town's social media:
The northern portion of the George Douglas trail between Highway 10/First Street and Canadian Tire has now reopened.
We appreciate your patience as we prepared the trail for our community’s use.
Today members of the Urban Harvest program and myself visited a private orchard in Mulmur.
In two hours, we were able to harvest 888 lbs of apples and deliver them to the Orangeville Food Bank
It's amazing to see how much food can be grown and harvested on one acre.
My deepest appreciation to everyone who donated their time and energy this morning to help provide locally grown fruit to the Orangeville Food Bank
We're very fortunate to live in a community full of caring people.
Thank you.
Traffic calming and pedestrian safety are two topics which are brought up a lot when I speak with residents. People are concerned about safety when simply walking across a street.
Kids should be safe when walking to school.
Fortunately, we have an option to help improve safety in our community: Raised pedestrian crossings. Sometimes referred to as continuous sidewalks.
They're similar to speed bumps; Think of them more of a "table" rather than a bump. They're wide enough for people to comfortably walk on. The height of the crossing is the same as the sidewalk, allowing for a steady flow across a road, from sidewalk to sidewalk.
They are strategically placed on residential streets at stop signs and mid-block crossings, such as for a school (see photo) or a park, or where a trail crossing will exist (see photo), like we will soon see with the rail trail cross Church St.
They prioritize pedestrians on residential streets. They communicate to drivers they are approaching a space for people walking.
A report for the Oregon Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration found a “statistically significant reduction in speeds”
https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi...
They have been approved by the Province for use in Ontario and are becoming increasingly common in North America. The Provincial government offers them as solution as a replacement for speed cameras when that program was discontinued.
https://www.ontario.ca/page/reducing-speeding-real-time
Two main criticisms of these will be snow removal and emergency vehicles.
As I mentioned above, they have already been studied, approved and are in use in Ontario.
One such example is in a suburb of Ottawa, Orleans. It receives more snow than Orangeville does. The crossing is used where a trail meets a road and an elementary school is on the other side (see photo). The Ottawa location took traffic calming one step further by narrowing a lane approaching the crossing.
An interesting note about Orleans; They removed the yellow posts in the middle of the road (which the Town just installed) in favour of the raised crossing (see photo).
We shouldn’t be implementing something other municipalities have already removed.
A study from the Quebec Ministry of Transportation says in 79% of cases, there was no deterioration (damages) from snow removal operation and 71% of cases did not pose any problems with snow removal
https://nacto.org/wp-content/uploads/Berthod-C.-2011.pdf
I’ve had the unfortunate experience of visiting Humber River hospital lately. There are raised crossings within the property and ambulances travel over them (see photo)
The various reports I've read recommend consultation with local emergency services before placement however the reports still recommend their implementation.
I feel this is worth a formal discussion at a future meeting in the next term of council, which I hope to be a part of.
Some of the images used are from Google Streetview. I used Microsoft Copilot AI to draw the crossings for sake of discussion.
I'm happy to chat about this
Thanks for reading.
Tonight I attended the public meeting about the Town of Orangeville Official Plan review.
I was one of two councillor candidates in attendance, not including the incumbents.
I asked a question regarding the recommendation to remove the employment land designation for the lands in the NW part of Town and change them to residential.
My question is at 37 min 15 seconds
https://youtu.be/K8Ct18Dq3kU?t=2235
I asked if it's a normal practice to do so, especially considering we have a shortage of employment land in town.
Staff said it's expected to happen through a process like this. Staff recognized the need for employment land but said the land isn't realistic to achieve the demand of employment. Staff went on to say they can be used to achieve the housing demand.
I don't disagree they can achieve housing however in my opinion, we shouldn't be quick to rezone them.
The employment land discussion from the consultant can be seen starting at 17 min 45 seconds
https://youtu.be/K8Ct18Dq3kU?t=1067
The consultant said there's a lack of highway access as one of the reasons to rezone.
If we look at the large tire warehouse on 2nd Line, they are in a similar situation in terms of highway access. When I commute into the office in the morning on Hwy 10, I often see their trucks headed south; Highway access doesn't seem to be a barrier for them.
Appx 85% of tax revenue is from residential sources, 10% commercial and 5% industrial. If we ever want to take the burden off the residential portion, we need to have more revenue from the other sources.
I'd like to see more discussion around this in the future.
On Monday August 24, a special public meeting will be held to summarize the outcomes of phase 1 of the Town of Orangeville's Official Plan (OP) Review project.
An Official Plan covers policies regarding land use in the present and in the future. It helps to coordinate growth to align with the needs of our community
https://www.ontario.ca/.../citizens-guide.../official-plans
Phase 1 consists of five studies:
•Employment Land Strategy
•Residential Strategy
•Commercial Land Use Strategy
•Natural Heritage System Strategy
•Policy Gaps + Conformity Update
The studies also involved consultation with Focus Group meetings with various stakeholders and a meeting with the Steering Committee, of which I am a member.
Of note, page 8 from the presentation indicates a lack of shovel-ready highway accessible lands to meet the needs of medium or larger scale employers.
Also from the same page, it states when Orangeville's municipal boundary expands, additional employment lands should be designated
The attached Public Meeting Cover Sheet does an excellent job of providing information about the findings
https://pub-orangeville.escribemeetings.com/filestream...
The presentation is available here:
https://pub-orangeville.escribemeetings.com/filestream...
Information about the Official Plan can be found here:
From the Town's social media:
Pump track update:
Grab your helmets and get those wheels ready! The pump track is now open to the public.
There is still some work to be done, including:
• shade structures
• garden (spring 2027)
• signage
• bench (provided by Lions Club)
• bicycle repair station
• bike rack
This park is a shared space—be safe, be respectful and help keep it enjoyable for everyone.
Some rules to keep in mind:
• helmets are required
• adult supervision recommended for children 10 and under
• look before you jump
• follow the arrows to enter or exit the track
Motorized vehicles, including e-scooters and e-bikes are not permitted.
Let’s roll Orangeville
Volunteers with the Urban Harvest program and myself spent around 1.5 hours picking apples from the community orchard. We were able to harvest 173 lbs of locally grown food.
I brought the apples to the Orangeville Food Bank before it closed.
When I got back home, there was even a bag of kale waiting for me at my door. A kind resident delivered it today while I was out.
I made a map showing how Mill Creek was depicted on maps in 1875, 1912 and current day.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit...
The white line is from the 1875 map, blue is 1912 fire insurance plans and the red from data supplied by Credit Valley Conservation
It's interesting seeing the 1875 map showing the flow which used to exist from close to Amelia and College, join up with the main branch of Mill Creek near John and Little York. Two large ponds are visible as well; One in Kay Cee Gardens and the other on the north side of Front St.
The 1912 map shows Mill pond, north of Front St, providing power to nearby industry
I also included the path followed by the Lower Monora Creek. Although it's separate from Mill Creek, it's an important wildlife corridor running through the middle of our town
