Sean Pennylegion doesn’t want to see history repeat itself during next year’s municipal elections in Haliburton County, so he’s helped launch a new movement meant to drum up political interest ahead of the Oct. 26, 2026 vote.
The Haliburton Highlands Healthy Democracy Project (HHHDP) is a homegrown initiative that Pennylegion says will educate people about the importance of civic engagement.
Lower-tier elections in Algonquin Highlands, Dysart et al, Highlands East and Minden Hills broke records for all the wrong reasons in 2022 – setting new benchmarks for acclamations and voter turnout.
Dysart et al saw 31.47 per cent of its population cast a ballot – the highest among the County’s four townships. Algonquin Highlands was next at 28.9 per cent, with Minden Hills at 24.76 per cent, and Highlands East at 21.26 per cent. Countywide, the average turnout was 26.59 per cent.
Twelve politicians were given seats on council after running unopposed, including the mayor and deputy in both Dysart and Minden Hills and eight councillors – three in Highlands East, two each in Algonquin Highlands and Dysart, and one in Minden Hills.
“We need to somehow do something to motivate people to become more involved,” Pennylegion said. “That last election is, by far, the least amount of participation I’ve seen at the local level. Which is a shame, because our closest contact with government is municipal.
“When you look out your window, most of what you see and the services we have are controlled by the municipality. People don’t understand what kind of effect they can have on their future, on how their town is run just by speaking up or registering a vote,” he added.
Joining Pennylegion on HHHDP’s steering committee are Jessica Slade, Lauren Hunter, Barrie Martin and former Algonquin Highlands mayor and coun. Carol Moffatt.
The initiative is being run in partnership with the Haliburton County Community Cooperative and is supported by the Haliburton County Development Corporation and Telling Our Stories Speaker Series, which has contributed $5,000 to program development.
Teaching people how system works
Learn, meet and mingle
The group’s first step has been to organize a four-part ‘Voices and Votes’ series that Pennylegion says will inform people about the ins and outs of municipal governance.
The first session ‘partnership in action: community and council’ is being held Sept. 16, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Haliburton Legion. There, Slade, who works as a civics consultant, will talk folks through how they can contribute to community development by working alongside local government.
“It will include some success stories that have happened, things that regular people have done, working alongside council, in each of our four municipalities,” Pennylegion said.
The second talk will feature former MPs Barry Devolin (Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock) and Maryam Monsef (Peterborough-Kawartha) discussing why people should get involved by running for office, supporting a political campaign, or being an informed community member. It will take place Oct. 7 at the Lloyd Watson Community Centre in Wilberforce.
The final two events will take place in spring 2026 and will focus on what it’s like to run for office and serve as a municipal representative, featuring stories from past politicians. There will also be details about what a successful campaign looks like – for a candidate, supporter or voter.
We all play a role
After serving 16 years on Algonquin Highlands council from 2006-2022, one term as a councillor and three as mayor, Moffatt knows what she’s talking about when discussing municipal politics. She discussed being a panelist in one of the sessions with Martin and Hunter late last year, but after learning more about HHHDP decided she wanted to be more involved.
“My years on council showed me that local government is widely felt to be confusing and inaccessible to the average person. They don’t know the agendas are public, that meetings as open and now streamed online, they don’t know they’re supposed to have a relationship with their councillors.
“This is an opportunity to teach folks how the system works so that they can participate. It has felt to me, for years, that people have things to say, ideas to share and perspectives to put forward, but they don’t know what door to knock on to get there,” Moffatt said.
Inspiring the next generation of leaders is just as important – almost every elected official in the Highlands is at least 40, with the average age of County council, made up of mayors and deputies from the four townships, over 65.
Moffatt admitted life in the public spotlight can be difficult – abuse is a lot more common now than 20 years ago, thanks to social media, but said she feels the good drastically outweighs the bad.
“You get to have a say in shaping the future of your community – there aren’t many things [more fulfilling] than that,” Moffatt said.
She and Pennylegion say HHHDP will also talk about the importance of volunteering – whether with a municipal committee or event, or another community organization. In recent years, groups like Haliburton Highlands Health Services, area food banks, churches and legions, Pride in the Highlands and more have seen a marked drop-off in volunteer numbers.
“One of the things that needs to be brought to the fore is that when you have a lot of volunteer-run organizations that have come to provide anchor services in a community, and they’re run by people who are getting older; and you have a younger cohort that is disengaged and perhaps not overly interested, then the burden to continue to provide those services will fall to a municipality,” Moffatt said. “Then taxes go up and people get angry.
“We’re getting close to a breaking point here… we need to find ways to connect with people so they know they are needed, they do play a role in helping make our community run,” she added.
