One Caledon: Russo formally launches Mayoral bid in Bolton

June 11, 2026 · 0 Comments

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On June 4, Mario Russo officially launched his campaign for Mayor of Caledon with an event in Bolton.

With approximately 400 people in attendance, Russo addressed the crowd, sharing what his upcoming campaign means for both him and for them.

During his speech that evening, Russo said over the past several months he has spoken with residents across Caledon, “different communities, different stories, different priorities, but one message has come through clearly, people love Caledon, and they want leadership that will protect what makes Caledon special while dealing honestly with the challenges we have ahead.”

He added residents want safer roads, traffic addressed, infrastructure, protection of sensitive lands, better enforcement, and more.

Russo says the current term of Council has “not been easy” and there have been several challenges.

“Caledon is carrying the weight of poor planning decisions made in years past,” he said, adding that too many decisions were made without “enough regard to the long-term impacts to the residents, to our farmland, to our roads, to safety, and to the quality of life.”

“We cannot change yesterday, but we can decide to do it better the next time around,” he said. “I am running for Mayor because I believe Caledon needs steady, practical experienced leadership for what comes next.”

Russo said he’s built and operated small businesses for over 20 years, noting he “knows what it means to manage costs, serve people, create jobs, deal with red tape, and keep going when things get difficult.”

He said as Mayor, he would make Caledon “a better place for small businesses and entrepreneurs.”

“We need a Town Hall that says, ‘How can I help you do this properly?’, not come back in six months and we’ll look at it again,” said Russo.

He said bringing 25 years of experience in real estate, property management, construction supervision, and planning-related work is key to future planning decisions and more.

For Russo, reflecting on the campaign launch, he says it represented “a unity of volunteers and support,” and he felt he wanted to make a statement: “We’re here as a united Caledon.”

Although he notes many of the attendees were from the Bolton area, he made a “conscious effort” to have attendees from all areas of Caledon.

To see the many supporters gathered around him that evening, he said, was “very humbling.”

To those in the room that evening, Russo says he had a few main messages.

The first being, “One Caledon.”

“I really want to stress that everybody in every hamlet, every village in Caledon is important,” says Russo. “I want to stress that’s going to be one of my key goals.”

The other message, he notes, concerns Caledon’s expected growth.

“Caledon is changing and it’s not something that I’m necessarily fearful of, it’s something that I feel is important to address but if we do things right, if we do things with thoughtful processes, and that’s what I want to kind of stress is I feel I’m the one that’s capable of doing it because of some of my skill sets and some of my past history and I want people to understand that we’re going to protect Caledon as we go through this process,” he says.

Russo adds he wants to maintain Caledon’s character.

“That’s the reason my family moved here, and I’m raising my family here, it’s no different than anyone else is, we love the Caledon we have and we need to make sure we maintain that character as we go through the growing pains of going to the next level,” says Russo.

Caledon’s future growth, he says, is not just one of the reasons he decided to launch his mayoral campaign, but why he ran for Regional Councillor initially.

“It’s important that people recognize, and the people that are actually running recognize, the task at hand,” says Russo.

As a “greenfield growth community,” he says, mandated growth is coming, and it also needs to be done for Caledon’s own sustainability.

One of his messages, he adds, is infrastructure before growth, as well as “protecting our 80 per cent by growing sustainably and intelligently in our 20 per cent.”

Russo says the urban boundary is where Caledon should grow “intelligently, sustainably and with the proper tools to grow sustainably.”

He says it is about protecting “Caledon through change,” including safer roads, stronger enforcement, protecting rural character, village identity, farmland, water, sensitive lands, respecting taxpayers, and supporting responsible local jobs and small businesses.

His first platform commitment, he announced, is not to use strong-mayor powers.

“I don’t honestly feel it was used that often in our municipality compared to other municipalities but it was contentious, I don’t speak ill about it, I just feel that if and when I’m there my job is to work with the Councillors that are elected to represent their areas and their voices matter so it’s not about me potentially governing above them, it’s governing with them,” says Russo.

Looking ahead to the coming months, he says he is most looking forward to getting to the doors of residents and businesses.

Russo says the information he hears from residents will shape his “final game plan.”

He notes he has ideas for his platform that he will begin slowly rolling out, but he is looking forward to learning which issues people are voicing.

“What excites me is getting out to people, getting out to the doors, and getting out to the community and understanding that it’s what we collectively feel is important, is what becomes important,” says Russo.

“I make one promise to you all,” Russo said towards the end of his speech. “When you call, when you reach out, I’ll be there.”