10/15/2026
PUBLIC SAFETY: THE FACTS
WHAT SHOULD THE NEXT COUNCIL DELIVER?
Local 4985 believes this is a pivotal municipal election for East Gwillimbury.
The community is entering a period of significant change.
For generations, East Gwillimbury has been shaped by distinct smaller communities, rural areas and agricultural lands.
That character remains important.
But the scale of the municipality being planned for the future is very different.
Major residential development is coming.
Work on the Bradford Bypass is underway.
A new acute-care hospital is being planned in East Gwillimbury.
New roads, businesses, neighbourhoods and public infrastructure will continue changing the community.
We have talked about those projects before because they demonstrate something larger:
East Gwillimbury is not simply adding houses. It is building the next version of the municipality.
And doing that successfully requires more than approving development.
Roads, infrastructure, recreation, municipal services, emergency services and the other systems residents rely on all have to grow with the community.
That is what sustainable growth requires.
Local 4985’s responsibility is fire protection, so that is where we have focused our advocacy throughout this campaign.
And from our perspective, the principle is the same:
The fire service has to grow with the community it is expected to protect.
East Gwillimbury already has fire-service needs that remain to be addressed, particularly in emergency-response staffing and reliability.
At the same time, the community is continuing to grow around us.
That makes the decisions of the next Mayor and Council especially important.
The next term should not simply be about reacting to growth as it happens.
It should be about putting the people, infrastructure and long-term plans in place so municipal services remain capable as East Gwillimbury changes.
For fire protection, Local 4985 believes that means several things.
Use professional fire-service evidence and recommendations to guide municipal decisions.
EGFES assesses community risk, analyzes performance, plans for future growth and provides professional recommendations based on that evidence.
Set a level of fire protection appropriate for the community East Gwillimbury is becoming.
Not simply the community it used to be.
Provide the capability required to deliver it.
That means ensuring the entire fire service has the people, infrastructure, apparatus, equipment, training and other resources required to perform its work.
Emergency response matters.
Fire Prevention and Public Education matter.
Professional Standards and training matter.
They are all part of protecting the community.
And when professional planning identifies what is needed, follow through.
East Gwillimbury has already learned that identified needs do not disappear when implementation is delayed.
We should not repeat that cycle.
The opportunity now is to plan ahead.
To address the needs that exist today.
And then keep fire-service capability aligned with the community as it grows.
AS YOU PREPARE TO VOTE
This election is about more than the next four years.
The decisions made during the next term will help shape how East Gwillimbury manages a period of significant growth and change.
So when candidates ask for your vote, there are important questions to consider:
Do they understand the scale of the community East Gwillimbury is becoming?
Do they understand that responsible growth requires municipal services and infrastructure to keep pace?
Will professional evidence and recommendations guide their decisions?
Will they support the level of fire-service capability required to protect the community as it grows?
And when professional planning identifies what is needed, will they follow through?
Local 4985’s members want to provide East Gwillimbury with a strong, reliable and professional fire service capable of meeting the needs of the community.
That is our role in this conversation.
Other municipal services will have their own challenges and their own professionals responsible for identifying them.
But the larger principle is the same:
Growth has to be supported by the services that make a community work.
This election will help determine how East Gwillimbury approaches that growth.
THIS IS A PIVOTAL ELECTION.
PLAN FOR THE COMMUNITY WE ARE BECOMING.
BUILD THE SERVICES NEEDED TO SUPPORT IT.
East Gwillimbury Professional Fire Fighters Association
IAFF Local 4985
Ontario's Fire Fighters International Association of Fire Fighters
