Hamilton’s city councillors are required by legislation to sit on local conservation authority boards. Sitting on municipal committees has always been part of the job.
Now, Hamilton’s councillors are double-dipping by collecting extra pay for attending Hamilton Conservation Authority (HCA) meetings.
Councillors Maureen Wilson (Ward 1), Matt Francis (5), Brad Clark (9), Jeff Beattie (10), Craig Cassar (12) and Mike Spadafora (14) all collected extra pay in 2025 for showing up to HCA meetings.
Ward 13 Councillor Alex Wilson refused to participate in the double-dipping.
The payments were disclosed this week in an annual disclosure required by the Conservation Authorities Act.
Clark took an extra $10,000 in compensation as Chair of the HCA. Cassar collected $1,125, Maureen Wilson $1,050, Beattie $600, Francis $375, and Spadafora $300.
The provincial government announced last week that it will be disbanding local conservation authorities and replacing them with nine regional conservation authorities under the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency.
The HCA will be merged with the Credit Valley Conservation Authority, Halton Region Conservation Authority, and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority to form the new Western Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority.
It is likely that only one seat will be allocated to Hamilton on the new regional authority.
Hamilton is the largest single-tier municipality in Ontario in which council members engage in double-dipping. Both the City of Toronto and City of Ottawa prohibit municipal council members from collecting additional pay while fulfilling their elected duties.
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Published: March 18, 2026
Last updated: March 18, 2026
Author: Joey Coleman
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