The race is officially on in Haliburton County, with 57 political hopefuls vying for 23 council positions in Algonquin Highlands, Dysart et al, Highlands East and Minden Hills.
Nomination deadlines for municipal council candidates passed on Friday (Aug. 21). It’s a much different picture from four years ago, when exactly half of all available positions in the Highlands were filled by acclamation – meaning only one person registered for the seat.
After seeing 12 acclamations across the four townships in 2022, we have just one this election cycle. Karla MacKay will serve as the Ward 1 representative in Algonquin Highlands, replacing two-term councillor Julia Shortreed who didn’t seek re-election. There are contests for every other position, including five people vying to become mayor in Highlands East and four in Minden Hills.
Beginning this week, TheHighlander will be publishing a series of Q&As with council hopefuls. We asked them about their qualifications, the biggest issue in their township – and how they’d go about tackling it, and their overarching vision for the community.
Our hope was, by presenting vague and open-ended questions, we’d get a wide range of responses. That should, in theory, give readers the opportunity to decide for themselves which candidates fit their values and vision best.
I feel like there’s a nice spread of candidates this time around. We have the older, more experienced heads looking to give back to their community, but there’s also a good number of working professionals who have stepped up to the plate. Ballots include those who were born and raised in the Highlands, as well as recent imports, full-time residents and seasonal.
Having read most of the answers, folks seem much more engaged and aligned on the key issues facing County townships over the next four years.
That’s important, because these next councils are going to have to hit the ground running once they’re sworn in. The affordability and governance review, prepared for the County by consultants the Eastern Ontario Regional Network, is arguably the biggest, most significant file in this community’s history. Essentially, our next councils will decide whether or not to amalgamate Haliburton County.
Four options have been presented: maintain the status quo; have the County take on the bulk of municipal services and maintain the lower-tiers to handle bylaws and recreation; maintain the upper-tier County and merge Dysart et al with Highlands East, and Minden Hills with Algonquin Highlands; or a full single-tier amalgamation.
Each township also has its own challenges maintaining infrastructure, retaining staff, and keeping on top of major files such as the short-term rental and shoreline preservation bylaws.
Make no mistake about it, the 2026-30 term could be the most pivotal in this County’s history. We know all townships are struggling financially; change is desperately needed.
So, while it’s a positive that we have a strong number of candidates, it’s imperative voters get it right when hitting the polls in October. Our councils need analytical minds, the best of the best around the table to crunch the numbers and do a deep dive on everything presented by EORN, while also doing more of their own homework, too. We’ll only get one crack of the whip to get this right.
There are other options for you to learn more about each nominee. The Haliburton Highlands Healthy Democracy Project has organized all-candidates meetings in all four townships, happening in September and October.
Average voter turnout in 2022 was a pathetic 26.59 per cent. That number must increase this time around. Social media pages I regularly frequent have been filled with complaints about rising costs, service reductions, lack of recreational events and opportunities, and more. Just know, if you don’t vote, you do have to forfeit your ‘right to complain’ badge.
So, get on it. Do some research, folks – election day is just 60 days away.
