Winds of change blew through the County this week, with Monday’s (Oct. 26) municipal election catapulting some new people into leadership positions.

In Dysart et al, Greg Bishop scored a comfortable win over Andrew Nowell, securing approximately 87 per cent of the vote. Walt McKechnie returned for a second time as deputy mayor – and fifth term – with 54.7 per cent of the vote, defeating Pat Casey by 488 ballots

Tammy McKelvey has been elected mayor in Minden Hills, receiving 39.7 per cent – enough to defeat Pam Sayne (27.6 per cent), incumbent Bob Carter (18.9 per cent) and Pat Kitcheman (13.8 per cent). Ivan Ingram is the new deputy mayor, earning 58 per cent of votes to defeat Richard Bradley.

Liz Danielsen won another mayoral term in Algonquin Highlands, defeating Mike Lang for a second election cycle. Danielsen improved her numbers slightly from four years ago, scoring 55 per cent compared to 53 per cent in 2022.

Another familiar face will be back in the head seat in Highlands East, with Dave Burton securing a sixth term. He earned 29 per cent of the vote, narrowly defeating Steve Kauffeldt (27 per cent) by 56 votes – 842 to 786. Krystle Anne Pegg came third with 20 per cent, Mike Killingsworth got 16 per cent, and Cheryl Ellis seven per cent.

No incumbents were elected to council positions in Algonquin Highlands, meaning the next deputy mayor will be a novice. Angela Lewis was re-elected in Highlands East, but with three new councillors there, there’s the potential to have up to five new faces on County council next term.

Ryall: ‘the people speak and are never wrong’

That’s significant, said Danielsen, who’s spent 16 years on County council – especially with a decision on a potential amalgamation looming.

“We’ve got some tough decisions and I’m looking forward to taking part in those discussions, asking the tough questions, and figuring out the best path forward,” she said.

After decades of working as a land surveyor, speaking at hundreds of municipal council meetings, Bishop said he has the experience to hit the ground running once sworn in next month.

After a convincing win in Minden Hills, McKelvey said she’s eager to get going. The former municipal staffer, treasurer, CAO-clerk and one-term councillor, does not anticipate a steep learning curve.

“I have a pretty good idea as I’ve worked with a lot of mayors over the years,” she said. Asked about a perception people wanted change, McKelvey added, “there’s a lot to do and I think we have a really good team that’s going to do good things and put Minden Hills back on the map.”

Burton wants to establish an early alignment among Highlands East’s new elected officials before council business gets underway.

“We’ll have an orientation session. We’ll sit out and get everybody’s views and what they want or expect in the next four years, and we’ll just get together and try to harness that and move forward.”

Voter turnout Countywide was 34.8 per cent – up from 26 per cent in 2022. Dysart et al recorded the highest numbers with 5,300 of 13,433 eligible voters casting a ballot (39.46 per cent). Highlands East was next at 33.87 per cent (2,926 of 8,639), with Algonquin Highlands at 31.29 per cent (2,330 of 7,446). Minden Hills numbers aren’t official, but using their rollcall of 12,369 and tallying up 4,280 votes in the mayoral race puts the township at a 34.6 per cent turnout.

Outgoing

Monday was a tough night for Carter, who finished third in voting for mayor in Minden. “The people have spoken and they have a new council that, hopefully, will be able to deliver what they want,” he said.

Ryall, who also sat on County council and the Lakelands Public Health board, said, “it was one of those things where the people speak and the people are never wrong. I hope they take what’s there and separate the wheat from the chaff and add their own spin to it, because that’s what the whole idea of new people is, is to add their own spin to it. But don’t reinvent the wheel.”

Other County councillors from last term, Lisa Schell and Jennifer Dailloux did not run.

One-term councillor Casey was unsuccessful in his bid to become deputy mayor, and Tammy Donaldson lost out in Ward 3 after 12 years on Dysart council. Casey said he was proud of the progress council has made over the past four years. “I feel it was a great start in laying the framework the move the township forward for the future,” Casey said. “I’ll still advocate when/where I can and am always available to talk to resolve a problem or discuss a new idea for the betterment of our communities… I’ll be back.”

Donaldson said, “running for council has been a valuable learning experience and one of the most rewarding aspects has been the opportunity to meet people one-on-one, listen to their concerns, hear their ideas and gain a better understanding of the issues that matter to our community,” Donaldson said. “It has been a privilege to be politically involved for so long.”

Lisa Barry was defeated in Ward 2 in Algonquin Highlands, bringing an end to her 16-year stint on council. “I leave this chapter with gratitude and pride… I advocated for the entire community, the environment, culture, local food initiatives, housing, families and tried to support voices that often go unheard. I listened and did the best I could do,” Barry said. “I will always care about this community. That doesn’t end with a seat at the council table.”

Ruth Strong in Highlands East was the other un-elected incumbent. She served two terms.

After scoring one of the biggest political landslides in Haliburton County history during the municipal election, new Dysart et al mayor Greg Bishop said “the real work starts now” as he casts his eye on issues around amalgamation, aging infrastructure, and outdated bureaucracy.

Bishop earned a mammoth 87 per cent of the mayoral vote, securing 4,506 ballots. His contender, local business owner Andrew Nowell, secured 649 votes, good enough for 13 per cent.

“I’m feeling absolutely great about the result,” Bishop told The Highlander during a celebration at the Haliburton Curling Club. He sensed he’d receive a strong mandate from the community, especially once Pat Casey dropped out of the mayoral race. “I went around and got 40 signatures before I started, and I felt the people signing seemed to be more excited than I was.”

He believes recognition of the Bishop name, and his 40 years of experience in planning and surveying, made a difference. “There’s a level of trust there,” he said.

Once he’s officially sworn in next month, Bishop said his top priority will be revisiting several of the township’s bylaw files and compiling a list of the most urgent infrastructure needs.

“We have to look, overall, at our infrastructure and assets and try to do our best to get them under control and do the best for Dysart,” Bishop said.

He committed to hosting community town halls so the public can be part of those discussions. The mayor-elect also wants to engage Nowell and ensure he remains inpolitics, despite not being elected.

“He’s got some ideas and I like them… he’s got experience and there are things from his past that can help us communitywide,” Bishop said.

Nowell told The Highlander he plans to get more involved despite coming up short, saying, “I look forward to helping in any way I can.”

There will be experience backing Bishop, with McKechnie re-elected over Casey.

“I’m tremendously honoured that the people supported me again… I had a lot of people helping me out, but I did a lot of door-knocking, travelled all over Dysart and listened to the issues and concerns,” McKechnie said. “My job now is taking what I’ve heard and doing my best to improve things and make things a little easier for people.”

There is a mix of fresh and returning faces – Deb Lambe won in her inaugural run, taking Ward 1 with 366 votes (Rob McCaig had 333 and Danny Roberts 251); Mike Waller was elected in Ward 2 over Rob Parish, 807 votes to 689; with Marianne Schlottke taking Ward 3, where she got 270 votes (Tammy Donaldson had 175 and Geoff Webber 111).

Incumbent Carm Sawyer earned a landslide victory in Ward 4, defeating Esther Sipe 930 votes to 226, while Barry Boice held off Kirby Bagg for re-election in Ward 5, winning 536 votes to 436.

Tammy McKelvey is “excited” to be the new mayor of Minden Hills.

She easily won the race Monday (Oct. 26), over runner-up Pam Sayne 1,698 votes to 1,181 – and besting former mayor Bob Carter by nearly 900 votes.

“I’m still overwhelmed. My phone has been blowing up all night long,” McKelvey said during an interview Tuesday (Oct. 27).

“I am honoured, absolutely honoured, that the voters have put their confidence behind me and I don’t want to let them down.”

The former municipal staffer, treasurer, CAO-clerk, and one-term councillor, does not anticipate a steep learning curve stepping into council’s top political seat.

“I have a pretty good idea as I’ve worked with a lot of mayors over the years,” she said.

“I’m just really excited. I think we have a great team. I think we can do good things for Minden Hills.”

By Adam Frisk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

After 10 days of completing ballots by phone and internet, residents of Highlands East voted in a new leadership for the next four years, ending an election cycle that was marked by a crowded mayoral race and a shift in ward representation.

Dave Burton was re-elected with 842 votes in the five-way race for the mayor’s chair, beating out candidates Steven Kauffeldt (786 votes), Krystle Anne Pegg (577 votes), Mike Killingsworth (467 votes) and Cheryl Ellis (208 votes).

Burton ran a campaign focused on balanced budgets, infrastructure, and municipal identity. Speaking to The Highlander the day after his election win, the mayor noted the mix of feedback surrounding the municipality’s remote voting system.

“I was happy with the online voting and the telephone voting, and it does give the seasonal people a chance to vote without having to necessarily drive up,” he said. “But some of our local people weren’t too happy with it. I still have people that like to walk in and put their ballot in a box.”

When asked how he plans to bring a council that is composed of both new and returning faces together, Burton said he wants to establish an early alignment before council business gets underway.

“We’ll have an orientation session. We’ll sit out and get everybody’s views and what they want or expect in the next four years, and we’ll just get together and try to harness that and move forward,” he explained.

After being voted in as mayor in Algonquin Highlands for a second time Monday (Oct. 26), Liz Danielsen told The Highlander she’s eager to get back to work to address challenges lingering from the previous term, as well as new ones raised during the municipal election.

Reflecting on the “bittersweet” results, Danielsen said there’s likely to be some growing pains to begin the next term, given she’s the only elected member with previous council experience.

Jennifer Dailloux, Julia Shortreed and Sabrina Richards did not seek re-election, while Lisa Barry was defeated in Ward 2, bringing an end to her 16-year run in local office. They will be replaced by Karla MacKay, who was acclaimed in Ward 1, Gary Trapp and James Cooper, both elected in Ward 2, and Don Embree, who took Ward 3.

“There are some pretty serious changes this election cycle – in many ways, that’s a good thing because new faces and new ideas are good, but there’s a real learning curve there,” Danielsen said. “No matter how many different skills you bring to the table… it’s a different world and it’ll take some time for everybody to find their footing.”

Danielsen said the affordability and governance structure review ongoing at the County level is top of mind. She’s looking forward to doing a “deeper dive” into the finances, with consultant, the Eastern Ontario Regional Network, expected to deliver more information in December.

Based on what she heard on the campaign trail, Danielsen said a lot of residents don’t want any kind of amalgamation. “A lot of people are very concerned – it’s interesting, even when people know that might be the thing we need to do, there’s no appetite for it,” she said.

She wants to see the issue put on the backburner, at least to start this term, suggesting new councillors be given the chance to get their feet under the table and go through 2027 budgets before digging deeper.

Given the changing political landscape Countywide, Danielsen, Highlands East mayor Dave Burton and Dysart et al deputy mayor Walt McKechnie will be the only returnees to County council.

Trapp was the only other Algonquin Highlands councillor to confirm his interest in the deputy mayor position, which would earn him a seat on County council.

“That is something I would definitely consider… I’m interested in what’s going on at County because of the broader perspective with amalgamation. I would like to be at that table and think I could speak up on behalf of Algonquin Highlands,” Trapp said.

With increasing costs in mind, Danielsen said council may need to revisit things like timelines around municipal fleet replacement, currently set at eight years. She’s also committed to revisiting the licence of occupation file.

“I’m not willing to completely abolish it, but I’ve reached the point where I’m willing to consider the issue of docks… I still don’t agree with somebody building a bunkie or gazebo on land they do not own, though.”

While MacKay was acclaimed in Ward 1, Trapp secured the most votes in Ward 2 (772) with Cooper coming second (656 votes), both earning a seat. Kent Wallace (626 votes) and Lisa Barry (586 votes) rounded out the voting. In Ward 3, Embree scored a comfortable win over Darren Wiebe, 439 votes to 76.

With the economy stagnant and fragile, Krown Haliburton’s Kaitlyn Howe said the Industrial Park Road business has seen its customer base nearly double since opening in 2022 because people want to extend the life of their vehicles as long as they can. They don’t want to have to buy new ones.

“There has been a very large increase of people doing it, especially if it’s vehicles they have had for a few years, when they technically should have started doing it right away. People are trying to keep their cars longer because they’re very expensive. So, as soon as they realize they want to keep their car, they come here. We’ve had a lot more people looking to get their older cars done now. The downside of leaving it for a few years is there is going to be surface rust, so it sucks up the oil as much as possible, and will slow it down, but can’t stop it.”

She suggests the oil spray process begin when someone gets a new vehicle, and every year after.

Howe thinks the best season is spring because when they prewash the bottom, it gets rid of salt. They reapply oil and that benefits from the warm season. “It will move around a lot more.”

There are pluses to the fall, too, “because then it’s all coated before the salt starts flying around, and it will displace as much moisture as possible before the ice and the snow set in.”

Whatever season, “if you get it done yearly at any point, that’s the best thing you could do. It’s a preventative. It doesn’t fix rust, but it slows it down,” Howe said.

Asked about our particular road challenges, Scott Howe said the MTO spreads salt brine mixture on provincial highways which happens to be much worse than salt. “It’s a liquid that sticks like glue. It just corrodes your car.”

Kaitlyn Howe said many people drop their vehicle off and pick them up, but don’t know what happens in the garage. The process involves a pre-wash to get rid of any buildup on the underside. There is silicone spray on seals and under the hood. Then they oil spray inside panels, and under the hood. It goes on the panel surrounding your engine, inside the doors, and on inside the rockers. They apply white grease and plug any small holes they have used for getting into the metal. They hit the undercarriage. It gets another painted surface wash.

One tip they give when leaving is that sometimes oil mists onto brakes. “We always recommend you keep a safe distance behind the person in front of you for the first five or 10 minutes of driving. Once you’ve pressed that brake a few times, it just smokes off.”

Some people get their seasonal tire swaps done at the same time as oil sprays. Because it’s been a warm autumn, we asked Scott Howe if it’s bad to have winter tires on when the temperatures have been in the teens. He said it is not advisable to drive on winters when the temperature is warmer than 5C, but “you won’t be driving on them too long before the weather gets cold.”

As tough economic times catapult many Highlands businesses and non-profits into uncertainty ahead of the busy festive period, the County’s Angelica Ingram said the upper-tier government is helping to connect would-be funders with those struggling most.

A first-ever County of Haliburton Funders Forum is taking place at Sir Sam’s Ski/Ride next week (Nov. 5), providing opportunities for people to connect directly with potential benefactors and learn more about funding avenues available through municipal, provincial and federal programs.

“We’re really hoping to support our businesses and non-profits as much as possible. It goes without saying that it’s a very uncertain economic time right now – everybody is very strapped for resources and not sure about their future,” Ingram said. “This is a really great opportunity to provide more support.”

She attended similar events in Lindsay and Peterborough earlier this year and felt it was a good opportunity to bring something new, and needed, to the County.

There will be 25 presenters speaking at the event, including representatives from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, FedDev Ontario, the Ontario Centre of Innovation, Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, United Way, Community Futures Eastern Ontario, and several branches of the provincial government.

Locally, Ingram said there will be speakers from Haliburton County Development Corporation, the Haliburton Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Fleming Crew to help educate attendees about business loans and how to get them.

“There will also be lots of different funding agencies that might be new to people up here… ones that are maybe a little under the radar,” Ingram said. “I believe there’s going to be information for non-profits, community groups, small businesses, Indigenous groups – it’s going to be a good forum.”

Minden-based entrepreneur Cam Green is the keynote speaker, discussing the success of his family business Fort Treehouse Co. The niche resort offers year-round accommodations to people wanting a unique stay immersed in nature, with Ingram saying they utilized several loan programs to get the business off the ground.

“They’re going to speak about how accessing funds has helped them with their plans and vision – and just how to search and get started,” Ingram said. There will also be a “fun, almost speed dating for funding” type segment, where presenters will provide a five-minute outline of the types of funding and support they have and how people can access it.

There will be information about deadlines, wait lists, and help navigating the application process.

With local municipalities strapped for cash, and no shortage of worthy causes requiring support, Ingram feels the forum is a good opportunity for people to learn about other supports available.

She also feels it’ll be a great chance for networking, believing magic can happen when bringing like-minded people together in one space. She said more than 100 people have already registered for the event, which runs 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and includes lunch.

“The best connections, partnerships and collaborations happen over meals, chance encounters and random interactions… so, we wanted to give people the chance to share their stories, what they’re doing right and where they’re struggling. Often, there are others who have walked in those shoes, so we’re excited about the possibilities,” Ingram said.

To register, visit www.haliburtoncounty.ca/ news/posts/connect-with-funders-at-countyof-haliburton-funders-forum.