Listen to the full interview here.

Qualifications 

Tammy McKelvey started in municipal government in 1980 as a receptionist for Anson, Hindon and Minden. She worked her way up to payroll clerk, accounts payable, deputy clerk, treasurer. She was clerk, treasurer, tax collector at one point. She was the first CAO-clerk for Minden Hills. She was the CAO of Dysart et al. She ended her career as treasurer for Algonquin Highlands in 2019. 

Amalgamation 

“I am a proponent. However, the service delivery review is rolling out. I want to see it rolling faster. My first priority would be building and planning departments. It’s ridiculous that a County the size of Haliburton has five official plans, four zoning bylaws … it’s just so inefficient.” Asked how it could be sped up, she said, “I think we need to focus the priorities on it…start putting the staff resources where they need to be to make it a better place, make it more efficient and effective.” 

Health 

“We need to collectively lobby for additional funding. The paramedic service, where they started doing the home check-ins, is wonderful. There’s going to be more need for that sort of thing. We can’t have ambulances going to Lindsay for CAT scans and staying for a whole day because they were sent out on another call there. So, the long-term benefits of providing a CAT scan to our local hospital really will provide us with some financial gains at the other end, but it’s a big expense. It will also help attract doctors. They want that sort of diagnostic equipment. It will be a terrible decision to have to make if one of the hospitals has to close… Having said that, I can see where the cost of running two hospitals is not sustainable.” 

Housing 

She’d like amendments to the zoning bylaw to allow for secondary houses on larger pieces of property. In town, she’d like to see infilling some of the larger lots that are serviced with sewers and water. “I’d like to see opportunities for people to sever those … Change the mindset of what we can do to provide affordable lots for people to build on … Tiny houses is definitely another issue we need to look at.” 

Poverty 

“I would encourage employers to provide a living wage to their workers, starting with the township. The lack of student hiring for the township is a poor image in our communities with the lack of garbage collection and grass maintenance. These young people can’t afford to work for minimum wage and I feel the township needs to be a leader. Paying wages over minimum wage usually results in a wage subsidy from the province as well. We need to encourage the development of community gardens and provide space on municipal property. Lack of housing, and affordable daycare, is adding to the poverty levels.

Shoreline preservation bylaw 

“The entire economic engine of our area is the lakes. If we don’t protect those, we will have nothing here. I am a strong proponent for lake protection. I think the shoreline preservation bylaw needs to roll out. Let’s try it. Let’s see how this is and commit to reviewing it so it is a living document that can be changed if things need to be tweaked, but let’s try it out first before there’s any decision to change.” She also thinks the septic reinspection program has to continue and properties requiring remediation followed up on.

Short-term rentals 

“Short-term rentals have to be regulated. It’s no longer just people renting out their cottages for a couple of weeks to help subsidize the cost of having it. It’s becoming a business. It’s taking away the enjoyment of the lakeside lifestyle. The County’s initiated that process. I think we should probably not re-invent the wheel. Lake of Bays is a good place to start. They have a process in place and we could probably utilize that and put it to work in Haliburton County.” 

Transportation 

“Public transportation in an area so spread out with a limited population – I don’t see it being in the foreseeable future. You can run a bus from Minden to Haliburton, great, how many people are off all of the other hundreds of roads that can’t utilize it? It’s a critical infrastructure that’s needed. Can it be feasible? I question whether we can. The County has tried pilot projects and tried to come up with a solution.”

Vision for the future

 “We really need to work on the government structure and make sure it’s running efficiently and effectively. The decision-making has to set priorities that are going to benefit the majority of the ratepayers. We will never be able to do everything for everyone. We need to make sure people can safely drive down our roads. Long-term, I’d love to see lots of things for kids. I’d love to see a waterpark. I’d like to see a downtown so when people come from the other areas with their kids to the waterpark they’re going to spend some money in town. I don’t like to see how people have to drive to Bobcaygeon to go to a waterpark. Swimming pool…we missed the boat. We are “arena poor” and now we have to make sure it becomes useable and bring events to it.” 

Minden Hills 

“Minden Hills has a lot to offer. The village has water and sewer, which makes for tremendous development opportunities and housing. I think priorities need to be set for our limited financial resources. One per cent on the levy is $97,000 so we need to look at it from that perspective. Roads are going to be my number one priority and housing is so important. It’s affecting everybody here.” As for debenturing for roads, McKelvey said the long-term costs must be offset by the benefits. She does not agree with borrowing money for operational costs. Asked what could be done to expand the tax base, she said they have to help existing businesses, ensure basic garbage collection and grass-cutting downtown so it’s attractive. She said it would be hard to attract industry, so it will have to be residential growth. She wants more diversion at the landfill: hard plastics’ recycling, periodic shredding of confidential documents, and a Beer Store bottle return run by service clubs.” 

Tammy McKelvey the candidate 

“Municipal government has been my passion for most of my life. I have almost 40 years’ experience and think I can bring a lot to the table. I will hit the ground running.” She said she has the experience to ask the right questions and understands the legislation. “I don’t have that learning curve … I think my background, experience and financial strength can really help. I think my team player skills and bringing the council together and making sure there is really good dialogue at the council table and encouraging that discussion” will help.

Listen to the full interview here.

Qualifications 

Janice Dahms worked in the hospitality industry and then at a spa in Eagle Lake. She now works at a service station in Highlands East. “I feel I have a good understanding of our community and our people having that hospitality backing then working in the tourism industry.” 

Amalgamation

 “To some degree, I agree with it. I don’t think every aspect of all the municipalities should be amalgamated. But, for example, shared road maintenance could be something that is taken under one umbrella. So certain services, social services probably would work better as a whole, whereas other things [should be] kept to their own municipalities.” 

Haliburton County, along with all four townships, has been working to increase collaboration on services such as road maintenance and more since 2021. 

Health

 “I believe having the two hospitals is beneficial, given the sheer size of our County… it’s ‘is this person now having to drive 40 minutes instead of 20 minutes to get to the hospital?’ The staffing issue is something that’s common everywhere whether it be healthcare or your local restaurant or grocery store. It is an issue that hopefully as time goes on, will start leveling out. But I really do believe that keeping the two hospitals running is beneficial to most people.”

 Housing 

“I’d like to find out what [Highlands East] can or can’t do. I don’t have access to any of that information at this point in time… In an ideal world, I’d say, let’s take a chunk of land because we have lots of land in this County. Can we not approach developers and create some kind of incentive program to maybe build affordable houses with rent geared to income, like we have a complex in Wilberforce that has been running successfully for a few decades now.” (Information on municipal incentives that can be offered to developers and Ontario’s regulations regarding municipal control over housing developments can be found publicly online). 

Poverty 

“We obviously have our food banks and our heat banks. We need to continue to work with our partners, to have their services accessible to everybody.” When asked to specify what working with the partners would look like, Dahms said she’d like to volunteer or help organizations find other partners in the community to offer services. 

Shoreline preservation bylaw 

“I personally am very supportive of it. I do live on the lake as well. I like to see the naturalized shorelines and their preservation. I have seen the total opposite going on as well. I’ve seen people come in and clear-cut their properties.” She said the bylaw is “a work in progress.” 

Transportation

“I do believe it’s something really neat to have, in what capacity I’m not exactly sure.” As an example, she said at prior jobs, such as Sir Sam’s Inn, “people couldn’t physically get up to Eagle Lake from Haliburton. So, to have just any form of a public transportation system to get from A to B to C would be beneficial for everybody.” She pointed to the TROUT bus in Bancroft, which is operated by Bancroft Community Transit, as an example of a community transportation system.

Vision for the future 

“I want to see our community continue to grow and prosper, get healthy, recover from the pandemic, and everything that happened to it.” When asked about her role in seeing that growth and prosperity come, Dahms said that could include helping organize new volunteer groups. 

Highlands East 

“I feel that there hasn’t been [a connect] between the public and the council. I know council has [meeting] agendas and things that they have to do and follow. But I feel there’s not enough community input into what’s going on in council.” When asked to specify how council could improve community input or communication, she said “I don’t know that… I’ve been watching meetings in the past. But I don’t have enough experience hands-on to know what goes on even behind the scenes of some of the council meetings.” 

Janice Dahms the candidate

 “I was sort of feeling that things do need to change. Everything has to evolve, always, and nothing is going to change or evolve unless changes are brought forward. So, coming in as a new person into the political scene I’m hoping that I can bring some fresh perspectives, concerns and interests of other people… I’m really hoping that people will get to know me and be comfortable enough to call, email or text with any of their thoughts or concerns, and hopefully, I can address them or at least get them answers if I don’t have an answer for them directly.”

Listen to the full interview here.

Qualifications

Angela Lewis managed a maintenance team for 14 years. “With that goes a lot of the inspections, health inspections, fire inspections, keeping up with codes and keeping compliant with all of the codes.” She also served on Highlands East’s fire committee, where she advocated against the closure of the Highland Grove fire hall. Through that process she said she learned about delegations and council conduct.

 Amalgamation

 She said she does not support amalgamating Haliburton County, and said she has spoken with many other locals who echo her views. She said Highlands East has already amalgamated, which negatively impacted the community. “There doesn’t seem to be unity. We have to change that.” 

Health

 “I think we’re doing a pretty good job of it now.” Lewis said the health services may be short-staffed, but she said that’s similar in most industries at the moment. She said attracting healthcare staff may mean enhancing branding of the Highlands as a place to live for nurses or doctors. She did not specify how this could be done differently than the efforts employed by Haliburton County’s doctor recruiter, who currently works part-time to attract doctors to the area. 

Housing

 Lewis said she’d like to look into the possibility of running pilots of tiny houses, and investigating whether the County can attract apartments or more duplexes. “Even where I work, I see young families being told to go to a shelter. That’s sad.” She said she’d vote to approve housing on environmentally-protected areas or near wetlands, “to achieve affordable housing for working families. They need a place to live.” 

Poverty

 She said the local economy is “booming. We just need a sustainable industry. We need extra training for people. A lot of times, it’s seasonal work, and you can’t get ahead.” She said to combat this, the township could look at running training sessions out of its community centres to help equip workers with in-demand skills. 

Shoreline preservation bylaw

Lewis said the bylaw was needed to secure lake health and healthy habitats. “They did their homework… they spent a lot of time on it. It wasn’t just a decision that they made overnight.” 

Transportation

 “There’s a lot of people in the community who volunteer for those things. And, so, I think that it [can’t be] publicly funded unless you can get a grant from the government. I just don’t see that there’s a need for it.”

Short-term rentals 

She said she’d support looking at licensing short-term rental operators. She said housing shortages may be made worse by short-term rentals, but the local economy has benefitted from rental activity. “When I look at it, the economy is great. But I also talk to people that live beside one of them. And it’s not fun for them. But there are already noise bylaws enforced.” A noise bylaw for Highlands East is currently being developed. 

Vision for the future

I would love to see our community with all the same amenities we have and more. I’d like the next generation to have the same opportunities that we did. At one time, we had mills, we had industry, people could walk from Wilberforce to go to work and go home and didn’t even need a vehicle…. it would be nice to see those things come back.” She said a first step to achieving this could be hosting town hall meetings where residents can chat about their hopes for the community. 

Highlands East

 Lewis said she’d like to see the community add amenities and create opportunities for the next generation. When asked to specify how she could help bring industry and more community amenities, Lewis said the first steps to achieve that would be to look at planning for the township. She also said town hall meetings could be a valuable way to bring the community together to talk about its future. 

Angela Lewis the candidate 

Lewis said she’d be a “hands-on” councillor. When asked to specify what that means, Lewis gave an example of getting a complaint about how dark one resident’s street was. She went out there to see first-hand and talked to the resident about the issue. “So, if somebody is saying, the roads are terrible, then I’ll grab a coffee and take a drive, and we’ll see how much slops all over me…” she said. “I still work full-time, and I will continue to work full-time. But it’s really important. It’s four years, it’s a huge sacrifice but I’m willing to do it. And I think everybody, as I said, that has put their nomination [for council positions] knows that.” 

Listen to the full interview on The Highlander’s new podcast: click here.

Qualifications

Bradley worked in labour negotiations and mediations. He said being on council requires similar skills. “My answer to a problem is not no, it’s how are we going to solve this problem? And how are we going to solve it if it’s something that has to go before council? How are we going to actually have a majority of council support something? So, it’s about building bridges, it’s not about building fences.” He unsuccessfully ran for council in 2018. 

Amalgamation

“I’d rather see, first, amalgamation of as many services…shuffling the money around in a way that makes it most efficient. For example, there are three levels of snow plowing, there’s municipal, County, and contracted highway. So, there are three teams of snowplow hours. I’m not sure that’s the most efficient way to do it.” Township staff are currently working to implement certain recommendations in a service delivery review conducted by StrategyCorp. 

Health

“The bottom line is [two hospitals are] here. This is a provincial thing. And you know, tell Laurie Scott and Jamie Schmale and all of the upper levels of government, neither of those two ER’s is up for discussion unless you want to build a Halliburton County emergency room and, if they do, we’ll find out where you’re going to do it, make sure it’s central and make sure it’s funded.” 

Housing 

He said he’d support donating land for housing projects, and collaborating with the province to pave the way for more housing. He said he’d want affordable housing to be centrally located. “Even two people working two jobs can’t afford to rent a whole lot of places around here.” 

Poverty 

He said improving wireless connections would encourage companies to set up base in Minden Hills and provide better paying jobs. “I think the council has a role, whether it’s tourism, in shining a light on the fact that this is a beautiful place to be and live.” 

Shoreline preservation bylaw 

He said he supports the bylaw, but that he’s curious about how it will be enforced, and what exemptions will be honoured. “As long as it is seen to be reasonable and fair to people who are building, modifying, or even developing new lands, it’s going to be fine.” The new bylaw spells out that new staff will be responsible for enforcement of the bylaw at a County level, and specifies what activities are exempt. 

Short-term rentals 

“It’s not new, the fact that people have rented their place for a week a year because they’ve been offsetting the expenses of having a property. It’s just new that you can do it on the internet.” He supports regulating but not “to the point of stifling” short-term rentals. Transportation He said he likes the idea of public transportation in Haliburton County. He said people who may use the service should have a say in the routes and the price should be aimed at lower-income people. “There’s no point in having a bus people can’t afford.”

 Vision for the future

 He said he’d like to see downtown “rejuvenation”, which might mean community safety zones, or more lines painted on parking spots. He said he’d like to see the township take an active role in deciding what to do with vacant land. He said he’d like to engage business owners and downtown residents. “How are we going to make this downtown a place where people want to be from eight in the morning, Monday morning, till eight in the evening, Sunday night?” 

Minden Hills

 He said addressing roads is a main focus for the municipality, and “going back to core services a municipality can control.” He said tax increases are a must in order to finance road improvements and suggested using reserve funds in order to do so. He also said raising taxes more could be difficult due to the current high rate of inflation. 

Richard Bradley the candidate 

“When I talk to people, when people say what is your platform, my platform is to be your voice… To advocate for your needs, whether it’s your roads, whatever it may be. And, again, it comes down to our community’s need.” He gave the example of Bob Lake’s boat launch. “Bob Lake needs a boat launch, somehow, some way. And I’m not saying I have the answer. I’m saying I need the answer from them so we can get it done. Because how can you have a lake without a public boat launch?” He said being proactive is his primary goal. “I worked pretty much my whole career in labour negotiations, certainly have learned about arbitration and litigation when required, but it’s not what I prefer, but I am now retired, I’m here full-time, I was lucky enough to buy the family cottage, where I live, and where I will draw my last breath. I’ve been married for 36 years, I have four kids and two grandchildren. And I think it’s just my time, hopefully to give back now that I have more time. And I want to listen to people and help them with their encounters with municipal government and make positive changes where that’s possible. And reasonable.

Listen to the full interview on The Highlander’s new podcast: click here.

Qualifications 

Mike Grozelle runs his own construction business. He was an executive for the Royal Canadian Legion in Kinmount for six years, and also worked as a firefighter training officer and licensed mechanic. “I’m aware of the issues surrounding planning and building…I drive on these roads, we pay tax dollars here, I have lots of friends and family and I talk to a lot of people in the area.” He unsuccessfully ran for council in Ward 2 in 2018. 

Amalgamation 

He said he heard amalgamation is “well in motion” in Haliburton County. “I want to know how the people of Minden are going to benefit from having just the one level [of government] so if it’s cheaper to run at one level, then we’ll take a look at that. Right now, I think we have bigger issues to deal with just here in town.” [Haliburton County is not in the process of amalgamating, however, specific township services are enhancing collaboration efforts to unify service delivery.] 

Health 

He said amalgamating Haliburton County hospitals would mean too much travel time for patients to receive care, and doesn’t think it’s a good idea. He added that Minden Hills and the County should look at new ways of attracting nurses and staff to work in the Highlands. 

Housing 

Grozelle was on an affordable housing committee. He said there is provincial money available to finance housing projects, but it’s difficult to access or negotiate. He said the County or Minden Hills could look at purchasing land that could be developed. On the question of balancing ecosystem preservation with housing, Grozelle said it’s worth sacrificing certain environmentally protected areas if there is a high return on housing options. 

Poverty 

He said bringing new businesses to Minden is key to increasing prosperity. He said council’s role is to make it easier to develop new businesses. Specifically, he said this could mean encouraging the planning department to devote staff members to speed up business developments. He said that process could start by having an independent review of why certain planning files have taken so long to get processed, such as the Rockcliffe. 

Shoreline preservation bylaw

 “I don’t think it’s clear enough what you can and cannot do.” When asked to specify, Grozelle said he’s worried neighbours will end up calling enforcement officers on neighbours even when they’re not breaking the rules, for example cutting down dead trees. “I don’t think we have to hire bylaw enforcement officers. I think we just need to educate them and most people… they want to comply with the rules.” 

Short-term rentals 

He said property owners should be responsible for controlling noise and other issues surrounding their short-term rentals. According to Grozelle, cottage rentals likely aren’t the reason long-term rental options are so hard to find since cottages are also used by their full-time owners. 

Transportation

 “There has to be something but I’m not sure that we have to do it at the municipal or County level, the problem being I don’t think the ridership is there. So, it would have to be funded by us almost completely.” He said there are “far bigger” issues the township must deal with. 

Vision for the future 

He said he wants “people to trust us again.” He said bringing new industries to town is a must in order to keep Minden Hills’ population from dwindling. He said the first step in streamlining processes in order to attract new businesses would be talking to staff to find out what issues can be solved. Grozelle said he believes councillors are currently not allowed to speak with staff. He has not asked councillors or staff if that’s true.

 Minden Hills 

He wants to see people trust Minden Hills council. He believes there is a lack of transparency around some financial decisions, such as a Wessel Road cattle grate, which was quoted at more than $250,000, but ended up costing around $45,000. Staff delivered a public report on why the grate ended up costing a quarter of the price in spring 2022. Grozelle said that’s an example of when Minden Hills should award tenders to local businesses. “I want to make sure the taxpayers know what we’re spending the money on, where the money is coming from, and why we’re spending it. I want to see those jobs awarded to people here.” He did not specify how he’d communicate capital spending to taxpayers differently than Minden Hills’ 2022 budget did. 

Mike Grozelle the candidate 

“The heart of the campaign is getting transparent and gaining the trust back. That, to me, are the two main things. If we’re going to make a decision as council, everybody in town should know what it is and why we voted the way we did.” He said he has fresh ideas about bringing new businesses and people to Minden Hills.

Listen to the full interview on The Highlander’s new podcast: click here

Qualifications 

“I’m a people person. I love people, I can talk to anybody, anywhere. I’m not afraid to do that. I’ve owned a business. I’ve rented. I’ve been a landlord. I’ve worked in the restaurant business for years. I just feel for the people and want to make Minden the best as we all can.” 

Amalgamation 

“I like [the County and municipal structure] the way it is at the moment. So, I’m not sure. I’ve had people say that they don’t want it. But it’s something I would have to talk to somebody that’s more educated than I am on this.” 

Health 

She said healthcare issues are related to a labour shortage that is prevalent everywhere, including local businesses. “One year we had a lot of kids, but they seem to go back to university and not come back home. There just isn’t anybody looking, wanting to work? I’m not sure what they’re doing. That’s again something I would have to sit down and really talk to somebody about that has education on this.” 

Housing 

She said she favours working with builders to increase housing by adding flexibility to housing options. “Our town is getting bigger. There are lots of people and it seems that people are leaving and coming back, but they don’t have anywhere to go.” She added that long waitlists for housing provide difficulties. “That’s a long time and people are living in tents and trailers that aren’t equipped for winterizing and stuff. I hope that things can get better.” 

Poverty

She said she’s been researching the issue and local organizations seeking to address poverty. “If we can maybe do more fundraising to donate to them, or to other causes.” She said she favours improving education tools and gave examples of fundraising through public art, or relaxing rules around farming on private properties. “It’s really sad to see people living in tents or not being able to afford food because they need heat or stuff like that. So, hopefully we can rise up and do better things all together as a community.” 

Shoreline preservation bylaw 

She said she understands the opposition to the bylaw but said lake and fish health are a priority. “I’ve seen a couple of places where I live in [that have degraded shorelines] and it doesn’t look as nice as it used to. So, I believe that it should be kept, to a certain point, natural.”

Short-term rentals

She said short-term rentals “give people a place to go and maybe help the landlord or the owner,” but said she doesn’t support increased regulations as long as renters are abiding by existing rules and not discarding garbage on roads or letting off excessive fireworks, for example. 

Transportation 

“When I had a business, it was in Algonquin Highlands, and it was hard for people to get to work if they didn’t have transportation.” She said she heard ideas about using school buses for public transportation. “It’s something that I would have to learn.” She said she could imagine supporting a County-wide transport system, but said rentals and affordable living pose a big concern too. 

Vision for the future 

“I’d like to keep some of our history here. Again, just be here for the people and continue with what’s going on, but better things. I think some things have gotten lost over the years and like to bring things back.” She specified things that have gotten lost include roads, communication surrounding the arena construction and issues with the landfill. 

Minden Hills 

Johannessen said roads are a chief concern, as well as boat launches such as the currently non-existent launch on Bob Lake or the currently closed Minden village boardwalk. “People come into town to use it when they come to visit and that’s supposed to be a highlight and [they’re] not able to use it.” She did not provide details on alternative funding models or budget changes which could finance these projects. “Again, that’s something I would need more education on. What I’ve heard is the roads seem to be a tough thing for people. I’m not sure, we can probably cut back a little bit on something, but I don’t know if that’s the answer.” 

Shirley Johannessen the candidate 

“Obviously, this will be a new venture for me and no, it’s not an easy one. I want to be the voice and help people out and communicate with people and work together as a town and as a team and keep going for our town that we love so much….This is where I’ve chosen to continue to live and work and I’ve just had so many people come forward, especially when they saw my name, and thought that I would be good because they know I can talk to people and that I care.”

Listen to the full interview on The Highlander’s new podcast: click here

Qualifications 

Ingram served as parks manager, arena attendant, water and sewage worker and environmental property operations manager in Minden Hills until 2019. He said he learned how to balance spending public money with completing new projects. “Council allowed me throughout the years, through my budgets and grants and other initiatives, to go ahead and do those projects. And we’ve done a lot.” 

Amalgamation 

He said some services, such as roads and bylaw, could be combined, but is hesitant about amalgamating governments. “I really don’t like the idea of a County council as I feel the public’s input will be lessened, they won’t be able to speak out as much. It would mean more work for County-level councillors, which means I would say probably with amalgamation you’re going to see increases in councillors’ and mayors’ wages.” 

Health

 He said he likes the current system of two hospitals. He said Minden Hills has a doctor shortage. “It’s definitely an issue we need to talk about. I know because I’ve hit [the ER] a few times over the years. You wouldn’t believe how many people are coming from Lindsay and further out because our emergency room is so fast…. I know that at a funding level, it puts us at a disadvantage because we’re dealing with people that aren’t actually living here.” 

Housing 

“I’m only one person, but I can certainly bring the thoughts to the table. I like the idea of small homes. They’re affordable. Again, they just need to be regulated.” He said Minden Hills needs provincial help to regulate and increase housing stock. Poverty He said housing and short-term rentals both intersect with discussions about poverty. “We have to bring ideas to the table, like small homes, like encouraging people that have cottages to adapt them for apartments. I know a lot of people in town who have basements that are completely empty.” He said he’d support changing zoning bylaws to encourage secondary suites. 

Shoreline preservation bylaw 

He said he supports the bylaw as it stands but said there’s room for improvement. “I don’t think it’s done. I think we need to spend a little time on enforcement to get some idea of what we’re looking at and what’s happening.” The bylaw outlines plans for multiple new staff to conduct enforcement operations and process applications. 

Short-term rentals 

He acknowledges short-term rentals are important to homeowners but said they could be taking housing from long-term residents. “I’m all for them if they’re regulated. The problem I have is a lot of these short-term rentals are renting them out without the awareness that there are maybe 10 or 15 or 20 people coming to that residence.” He said he’s also concerned about the impact on septic systems. 

Vision for the future 

He said he sees the town growing more in future years, and sees housing remain a concern. “I want Minden to be a place that people want to come and visit and stay, use the local amenities, support local business.” Ingram said he’d like to see the Minden BIA re-formed and have council representation, and maybe open up online surveys to solicit community wishes for the downtown. He said he’d like to see more sidewalk sales and other special events. “I really don’t know what the single answer is to help these people [downtown]. Again, if you make the downtown more accessible and more inviting, people are going to come there, no matter whether there’s a Dairy Queen out on the bypass and liquor or beer store, they’re still going to come in and want to walk [by the river] and interact with the local people. These businesses depend on them.” 

Minden Hills 

He said multiple projects in Minden Hills need attention, such as the water system. He said he does not support using debentures for capital projects, as Minden Hills did with the arena and multiple ongoing road reconstructions. However, he said the work needs to be done, even if it means a rise in taxes. “I don’t think avoiding it is the answer.” He said he feels like Minden Hills can be “more aggressive” with the province for more funding for projects like waterworks. 

Ivan Ingram the candidate

 “I think if you talk to anybody I dealt with, in the 31 years I worked [at the township]… they’d be quite happy with what they received from me or what I did for them. I’m not bragging but that’s what I was paid to do… This town has allowed me to buy a home. It’s allowed me to live here. It paid my wages. I want to give back… I want to help the town grow. I want this County on the map again. And we’re just not doing it right now.”