What do you want for Wainfleet? Ask me. Tell me.
I'm not running to tell you what to do. I'm running to find out what you want and need as residents — and then to go get it. Every position on this website exists because Wainfleet residents asked for something and didn't get it.
Scott William Wilson for Wainfleet
I started this campaign by asking people what they want. Well over 100 Wainfleet households so far, and more every day. The same answer kept coming back: our taxes are out of control compared to every township around us.
I could see why people felt that way — so I did what I do for a living. I pulled the Township's own budget documents and read them line by line.
What I found should disturb everyone in Wainfleet.
Compound interest is wonderful in your RRSP. It's brutal on your tax bill.
Here's what four years of this council never explained to you.
When your taxes go up “about 6%,” that increase isn't calculated on what you paid years ago. It's calculated on last year's bill — which already contains every previous increase. Each hike stacks on the one before it. That's compounding. It's the same force that grows your RRSP or TFSA — except here, you're the one paying it.
Five increases — 5.92%, 7.20%, 8.14%, 6.99%, 5.92% — don't just add up. They compound. The Township's levy is up 31.4% in the last four budgets alone: from $7.8 million in 2022 to $10.25 million in 2026. That's $2.45 million more, every single year, from the same residents. Meanwhile West Lincoln — twice our population, same region, same cost pressures — held their 2026 increase to 3.98%. When their staff proposed 7.58% in 2025, their council pushed back and cut it. Ours passed 8.14%.
What does that look like on a real bill? Take a household paying $6,000 in property tax in 2021, growing at the Township's own published increase rates. Watch it climb:
Illustration: a tax bill growing at the Township's published levy increase rates (2026 Final Budget). Individual bills vary with assessment and include Regional and education portions.
That's $2,349 more every year — a 39% increase in five budgets.
Paying $12,000 a year? Same math, double the pain: your bill is now $16,698 — $4,698 more, every single year, forever. And here's the kicker: if those same five increases had been calculated on your original bill instead of stacking on each other, you'd be paying about $600 less. Compounding isn't a rounding error. It's the design.
And the compounding never stops. Every future increase — under any council — is calculated on today's inflated baseline. The only way to fix a compounding problem is to reset the baseline. That means an actual cut, not a smaller increase.
That's my commitment: a professional, line-by-line review of where your $10.25 million goes, a measured elimination of waste, and a lower levy — without touching core services. And if I go through the budget and the waste isn't there, I'll show you the line items and say so publicly. That's what “every figure sourced” means.
A platform you can check
Every figure on this site links to a Township of Wainfleet document or a neighbouring municipality's budget. If you find a number I got wrong, tell me and I'll correct it publicly. And every position on this site started the same way: a Wainfleet resident told me about a problem the Township wasn't fixing.
Cut taxes. Not “slower increases.” A cut.
Five compounding increases have pushed Wainfleet's levy 31.4% higher in four years. I'll conduct a professional, line-by-line elimination of waste and reset the baseline — without cutting core services. Every finding published.
Property taxesMake the Township easier to deal with
Residents told me they are afraid to call the building department. A published service standard, a plain-English permit guide and mediation before enforcement.
Building and by-lawGrow a little, so the burden is shared
A few hundred homes across 217 square kilometres won't change the feel of Wainfleet. It will change who is paying for the roads.
Smart rural growthRedirect savings to roads and safety
The Township's own engineers say roads need $5.4M a year. We reinvest at a third of target. Every dollar found goes to infrastructure and traffic calming.
Roads and speedingBurlington to Wainfleet, five years ago, on purpose
I came here for the space, the lake and the quiet, and I have no interest in turning Wainfleet into a suburb. I have spent 25 years running Geek Certified, a digital marketing and applied-AI company, and I teach at McMaster University's DeGroote School of Business. My job, in both places, is to take a pile of numbers and make them say something true.
I've now spoken with well over 100 residents — on porches, at fence lines, at the mailbox — and I'm adding more every day. The number one issue, by a wide margin, is taxes that keep climbing while neighbouring townships hold the line. Close behind: a building department people are afraid to call, and drivers doing 100 on a 50 road. Every position on this site comes from those conversations. Nothing here is my pet project.
More about ScottWainfleet votes by mail this year
There are no polling stations. Every eligible voter receives a ballot kit in the mail. Make sure you are on the voters list now, watch for your kit in early October, and mail it back in time to count.
- Check the voters listConfirm your address at Elections Ontario's voter information service.
- Watch the mailBallot kits go out in early October.
- Mark, seal, returnFollow the kit instructions and return it before the deadline.
Tell me what's on your mind
I'm not running to be a councillor who tells you what to do. I'm running to be the one who finally asks what you want — and then shows you, in writing, what I did about it.
Every position on this website exists because residents asked for something and didn't get it. So keep them coming. Every question a Wainfleet resident sends me gets answered publicly on the Questions page, whether or not I like the question.
Your name, phone number, address and email stay private. I use them only to verify you are a Wainfleet resident. Once verified, I publish your question and my answer.