An automated phone survey has been doing the rounds in Haliburton for the past week, asking people questions about current Dysart et al council members and potential future candidates – with one of those singled out distancing himself from making another run for public office.
Mayor Murray Fearrey confirmed in a Jan. 26 interview he will not seek re-election this fall, instead calling time on a political career that has spanned almost five decades.
“If I told you there’s unfinished business and I was going to run again, you’d kill yourself laughing,” Fearrey told The Highlander. “Look, I’m 84 years old… I’ve had a good run, but I can definitively say I won’t [seek re-election].”
Fearrey was one of four elected officials mentioned in the survey, alongside deputy mayor Walt McKechnie, Ward 1 coun. Pat Casey and Ward 5 coun. Barry Boice. The question was a general one, asking people what they thought about each of them and the job they’ve done since being elected in October 2022.
Haliburton resident Sean Pennylegion said he learned about the survey from Barrie Martin, a fellow volunteer with the Haliburton Highlands Democracy Project, at a Jan. 15 Telling Our Stories Speaker Series event. Pennylegion ignored three automated calls the night before but picked up and stuck with it when they called back Jan. 16.
“It started with federal, asking people to pick the most favourable person out of, I think, five options – Jamie [Schmale, current MP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes] was mentioned, as was Nell [Thomas, the Liberal candidate in the April 2025 federal election]… then there were questions about provincial politics and municipal,” Pennylegion said.
“It was interesting though that it only asked about Dysart et al, and only four names were mentioned from the current council… it seemed pretty targeted,” he added.
Pennylegion wondered if the survey was focusing on incumbents in leadership positions and those considering a run for higher office. He said this was the first time he had ever received a robocall for municipal politics.
Robocall wants to know Dysart favourites
McKechnie said he heard about the survey last week. He told The Highlander that, while he hasn’t made a final decision he’s leaning towards running again in October’s election, though is unsure in what capacity.
“It’s still a long ways away, but the way my mind feels right now I definitely feel like I’d like to contribute,” the deputy mayor said.
Coming up to the end of his first term on Dysart council Boice indicated he wants to run again, though hasn’t decided for what role.
“At the very least I think I would run again for my ward,” Boice said. Asked for his thoughts on the robocall, he added, “it’d be interesting to know where it came from.”
Online records via YellowPages indicate the phone number used in at least two calls is operated by Iristel Inc., a Markham-based telecommunications company. The landline is located in the Ottawa-Hull region. Efforts to reach Iristel were unsuccessful as of press time. Casey could also not be reached for comment.
Dysart’s three other elected officials not mentioned in the survey – Ward 2 coun. Nancy Wood-Roberts, Ward 3 coun. Tammy Donaldson and Ward 4 coun. Carm Sawyer – weighed in, with Donaldson and Sawyer confirming they intend to seek re-election in their wards, while Wood-Roberts is unsure.
“I got the call and so started asking around to see if others had heard about it – I’d love to know what it’s all about,” Donaldson said. Sawyer said he, too, received a call. “The first time I got it, I hung up on it. Then it comes through again and again, so I answered and went all the way through… it was interesting the local questions were strictly Dysart but only mentioned half [of the current council]. I don’t know who got it started, if it’s some special interest group, or what the deal is.”
Wood-Roberts was the only councillor to say she had not heard about the survey.
Soliciting candidates
Pennylegion said the last question in the survey named two prominent community members not currently serving on council – Andrew Hodgson and Greg Bishop.
“It just asked how I would view them in terms of a political run – it didn’t mention whether they were thinking about municipal, provincial or federal. It was just looking for my reaction to the names,” Pennylegion said.
While Hodgson, a local realtor with Century21, has a history in provincial politics – he was executive director of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario from 2002 to 2004 and chief of staff to the leader of the official opposition from 2004 to 2006 – he told The Highlander he has no aspirations to run in any capacity.
“I’m not running for anything – I have no plans to seek election in Dysart. I like the group we currently have. I like the additions of Pat, Barry and Carm this term, I think they’re trying their best,” said Hodgson, who says he hadn’t heard of the survey before The Highlander reached out to him.
It was the same for Bishop, who expressed surprise at his name coming up. While he said he’s always wanted to get involved in local politics, his busy career as a civil engineer and Ontario Land Surveyor prevented him from making a run. Recently retired, he said he’s undecided on running this fall.
