Stop Waste • Demand Accountability • Restore Transparency

Re-enfranchising citizens. Protecting taxpayers. Giving residents their city and their voice back.

A clear and accountable Day-One platform to restore trust, transparency, and fiscal responsibility at Pickering City Hall.

01

Responsible Growth vs. Developer Overreach

Growth in Pickering must benefit the people who live here, not just the developers who build here. Currently, our community faces two massive, irresponsible development plans that threaten our environment, our infrastructure, and our quality of life. As your Mayor, I will use every power available to the office to reject, downsize, and correct these projects.

A. The Northeast Pickering Development

The Issue: City Council rushed through an approval framework to develop roughly 1,600 hectares of vital agricultural land for up to 72,000 new residents. Shockingly, this was approved before the critical environmental, traffic, and fiscal impact studies were even finished. This steamroller approach ignored deep opposition from local residents, environmental advocates, and the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

What I Will Do As Mayor:

  • Halt and Review: I will immediately move to pause further implementation of the Northeast Secondary Plan until all environmental and financial impact assessments are fully completed, made public, and independently verified.
  • Demand Fiscal Accountability: I will enforce a strict "growth pays for growth" mandate. If the servicing and infrastructure costs put an unfair financial burden on Pickering's existing taxpayers, I will use executive budgeting powers to withhold municipal funding for the expansion.
  • Protect the Greenbelt and Farmland: I will work alongside conservation authorities to downsize the development footprint, preserving critical natural habitats and prime agricultural fields.

B. The Annland / Liverpool Road Waterfront Proposal

The Issue: A massive, high-density residential development has been proposed at Liverpool Road close to the waterfront — an area already burdened by significant traffic, narrow corridors, and ecological sensitivity. Rushing a high-density complex into an active waterfront zone threatens to overwhelm local infrastructure, block public access, and forever alter the character of the bay.

What I Will Do As Mayor:

  • Enforce Zoning and Scale: I will vote down amendments that attempt to bypass existing community density caps. Any development on Liverpool Road must be strictly downsized to match the low-rise, accessible character of the Nautical Village.
  • Infrastructure-First Mandate: I will reject approvals for this project until an independent, comprehensive traffic and emergency-access study is conducted. If the infrastructure cannot safely handle the capacity without choking Liverpool Road, the project will not proceed.
  • Protect Public Access: I will ensure that any modified proposal guarantees unobstructed, permanent public access to the water's edge, ensuring our shoreline is never turned into a private enclave.
Note to Voters: On June 24th, 2026, I personally submitted formal freedom-of-information requests with the City of Pickering to secure Council-conduct and integrity costs, Security and meeting format costs, Council and Mayor expenses, Northeast Pickering servicing, Elexicon, and naming rights agreements. We are committed to building a fully detailed and transparent report on verified facts rather than guesswork. We will post an update here and on our social media accounts as soon as we receive and analyze this data. — Shaun Rickard
02

Protecting Our Waterfront, Frenchman's Bay & Green Spaces

The Problem: Frenchman's Bay and the Pickering waterfront belong to the community, yet they face continuous pressure from massive, out-of-scale development proposals. For years, the City has offered nice words about public ownership while failing to secure a permanent solution, leaving residents to fight off high-density projects on their own. I don't just talk about transparency and accountability — I have fought for them, and delivered results.

As a passionate outdoorsman who has spent years enjoying Lake Ontario, Frenchman's Bay, our trails, conservation lands, parks, and natural areas, I will fiercely protect the places that make Pickering unique. Future generations deserve the same natural treasures we enjoy today. I will fight to ensure that our waterfront and Frenchman's Bay are secured and preserved for the people of Pickering.

A Proven Track Record of Action:

  • Stopping the 23-Storey Towers: When an irresponsible proposal emerged to build two 23-storey condominium towers beside our protected waterfront, marshlands, and public beach, I refused to sit on the sidelines. I organized residents, led community opposition efforts, and demanded transparency.
  • Uncovering the Truth via FOI: Through Freedom of Information requests, our team uncovered documents that raised serious questions about discussions involving city officials and Ontario Power Generation regarding the nuclear emergency planning zone and the proposed development. We brought those discussions into the public eye where they belonged.
  • Elevating Our Community Voice: This fight attracted significant provincial media attention, shining a critical spotlight on the safety concerns of local residents and ensuring broader public scrutiny.

Together, residents stood up, spoke out, and ultimately stopped that project. That victory proved something important: when residents are informed, engaged, and united, they can hold government accountable and achieve meaningful results.

Our Plan:

  • A Fully Funded Acquisition Plan: We will shift from empty rhetoric to a concrete, funded plan to bring privately held portions of Frenchman's Bay into public hands, permanently protecting it from predatory development.
  • Preserving the Nautical Village: We will strictly enforce zoning limits to stop the creeping expansion of high-density projects that threaten the character and delicate ecology of our shoreline.
03

Expanding Healthcare & Local Medical Access

The Problem: Finding a family doctor in Pickering has become an exhausting challenge. While hospitals and medical licensing are primarily provincial responsibilities, municipal leadership has sat on the sidelines for too long. A lack of primary care clinic space forces residents into overcrowded emergency rooms for minor ailments, cutting across every demographic in our city.

Our Plan:

  • Doctor Recruitment Incentives: We will design a municipal physician recruitment program, offering local incentives and streamlined zoning to attract primary care doctors and family practices to Pickering.
  • Community Health Hubs: We will look into leveraging city-owned land and facilities to establish dedicated spaces for community health clinics, making it easier for medical practitioners to open up local offices.
  • Provincial Advocacy: We will actively partner with Lakeridge Health and the provincial government to ensure Pickering's rapid growth is matched by a corresponding increase in healthcare funding and hospital capacity.
Note to Voters: Access to primary care is a highly complex issue tied directly to provincial funding and regional health networks. Because we refuse to make vague or unachievable campaign promises, our team is currently gathering data on local clinical shortages and space availability. We will update this section with specific, costed targets as our research is finalized. More to come as we gather more data.
04

Public Safety & Crime Prevention

The Problem: Keeping our neighbourhoods safe is a top priority, but it requires honest leadership. Pickering does not have its own municipal police force; we are policed by the Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS). True public safety means working effectively within our regional system rather than making empty promises about services the mayor does not run.

Our Plan:

  • Advocating for Our Share: I will use Pickering's seat at the regional table to demand our fair share of frontline DRPS resources, specifically targeting auto theft, fraud, and property crime.
  • Public Crime Dashboard: We will collaborate with regional police to introduce a localized, accessible public safety dashboard for Pickering so residents have transparent, up-to-date data on neighbourhood safety trends.
  • Community-Led Prevention: We will expand city support for grass-roots neighbourhood watch programs and community safety initiatives.
Note to Voters: On June 24th, 2026, I personally submitted formal freedom-of-information requests with DRPS to secure localized, year-by-year Pickering crime statistics. We are committed to building our fully detailed public safety strategies on verified facts rather than guesswork. We will post an update here and on our social media accounts as soon as we receive and analyze this data. — Shaun Rickard
05

Restoring Democratic Transparency

The Problem: Over the past several years, City Hall has become increasingly disconnected from the people it serves. Decisions impacting thousands of residents are rushed through behind closed doors, and the elimination of regular in-person council meetings in 2025 severely restricted public debate.

Our Plan:

  • Reopen City Hall: On day one, I will restore regular, in-person council chambers to ensure residents have a direct, face-to-face voice in local government. Public delegation opportunities will be fully restored to their full 10 minutes, along with all Q&A sessions.
  • Plain-Language Budgets: We will replace confusing, thousand-page financial reports with clear, plain-language annual budget breakdowns so you can see exactly where every dollar goes.
  • Strict Developer Accountability: We will introduce rigorous transparency measures for all planning applications, ensuring public consultations occur before frameworks are approved, not as an afterthought.
06

Property Taxes & Fiscal Responsibility

The Problem: Property taxes continue to outpace household budgets, driven by a "growth at all costs" mentality where existing residents are forced to subsidize major new developments.

Our Plan:

  • City Tax Cap: As Mayor, I will use municipal executive powers to cap the City of Pickering's portion of the property tax levy (which makes up roughly 30% of your total bill). While a mayor cannot directly cap regional or school board taxes, I will aggressively fight for fiscal restraint at the Durham Region table.
  • Growth Must Pay for Growth: We will end the practice of taxpayers footing the bill for developer infrastructure.
  • Independent Fiscal Audit: Within my first 100 days, I will order a full, independent financial audit of City spending and legal costs to ensure your tax dollars are being spent with absolute transparency.
07

Re-enfranchise Pickering Residents & Restore Your Right to Be Heard

Fully restore public delegation opportunities at council meetings to their full 10 minutes, along with all Q&A sessions, and ensure residents always have meaningful access to their elected representatives. No resident should ever be prevented from bringing forward concerns, ideas, questions, or grievances. You deserve to be heard openly, respectfully, and fairly.

Restore meaningful public participation in municipal government. Residents should not feel excluded from decisions that affect their communities. City Hall must become more accessible, more responsive, and more accountable. Local government works best when citizens are informed, engaged, and empowered.

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