Eighteen months from the $1.725 million purchase of 91.5 acres along County Road 21 in Haliburton – and Dysart et al mayor, Murray Fearrey, admits the township has “been slower than we should have been” in preparing the land for development.

Council authorized the purchase in July 2023, with Fearrey claiming the parcel represented the last chance to meaningfully expand Haliburton village. He said the property is ripe for residential, commercial and recreational use.

The mayor said much of last year was spent meeting with potential developers to get a sense of what can be done. While the township hasn’t yet identified how many new housing units could be created, Fearrey said it will likely be a mix of single-family homes and multi-unit apartment-style builds.

County-based developer Paul Wilson, who owned the property from 2018 to 2022, previously told The Highlander he believed the land could accommodate up to 200 new homes.

Fearrey hopes 2025 will be the year for real progress at the site, noting township staff are working to amend the official plan to facilitate future development.

“It’s [zoned] all rural right now… it will have to go through a comprehensive process to make sure we can do almost anything on the property. There will be more than two or three zones and they’ll be interchangeable depending on what we do with the layout,” Fearrey said, noting any change will also have to be ratified by the County of Haliburton.

Dysart CAO Tamara Wilbee said staff have identified what studies need to be completed before land can be rezoned and development can begin, with a report and estimated quote to be tabled at a special council meeting Jan. 10.

Extendicare visiting potential sites

Swimming pool

While housing remains the priority, Fearrey said council is also earmarking land for a new arena, curling rink, swimming pool and outdoor playing courts.

“Everybody wants these things – that’s what we’re hearing. It’d be a huge financial cost and it’s a number of years away if I’m being realistic, maybe 10 years, maybe more. But we feel it’s important we dedicate space and allow for the opportunity,” Fearrey said. “A new arena is probably $20 million today – and then you add in all the rest. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, there would need to be a lot of help, but we don’t want to limit the potential of that site.”

Fearrey noted discussions with Extendicare over housing a new long-term care facility on the site is at an impasse. In 2022, the company announced it would be adding 68 new and 60 upgraded beds to a new building in the County, with the Ontario government committing $41 million to the project.

At the time, Extendicare president and CAO, Michael Guerriere, estimated the project would be complete within three years.

In an email to The Highlander Jan. 7, Extendicare spokesperson Owen Saull said, “our development team has visited a number of potential parcels of land and we continue to work closely with municipal officials as we identify a suitable site. We also continue to work with our partners at the Ministry of Long-Term Care, whose support is required to ensure the project is feasible given the unique challenges and costs related to building new homes in rural and remote communities.”

Fearrey believes the CR 21 site to be the best fit. “We’re pressing them.”

Sewage expansion

Dysart council will also discuss plans for the expansion of the township’s sewage treatment facility on Friday (Jan. 10). Fearrey said he expects they will decide how best to proceed with engineering and design.

“Ultimately, we would like to double the size, but if we don’t get the [provincial and federal] funding we’re looking for, then we’ll have to scale it down. It all depends on what’s available,” Fearrey said.

Council has spent more than a year investigating its options – a proposed public/private partnership to help fund a $17 million expansion was considered, though Fearrey said “that hasn’t worked out as well as we thought.”

He said any upgrade is likely at least three years away – though he believes there’s enough capacity remaining to accommodate most, if not all, of what’s built on the CR 21 property.

Public works director, Rob Camelon, said the plant has close to 20 per cent capacity remaining, which is enough for approximately 300 dwellings.

After saying in December 2023 that he’d like to see ground broken at the CR 21 site within two years, Fearrey said he thinks that timeline is still achievable. He reiterated it’s council’s intent to sell the land for development once the prework is complete.

“I do think things will come together fairly quickly. There are some outstanding items we have to figure out, but a lot of the heavy lifting is done. The road is already in, we’ve got people working – a surveyor is laying out portions of the property for residential, commercial and recreational, so we’re making progress,” Fearrey said.

“Interest hasn’t gone away – we still have parties we’re meeting with. It’s a very developable property and is probably going to be pretty reasonable [price wise] to service. Nobody is going to have to go in and blast rock everywhere, so there will be no shortage of takers, I’m sure,” he added.

Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MP Jamie Schmale said the only surprising thing about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation announcement Jan. 6 was that it took the three-term leader so long to make it.

Trudeau, who has been the federal Liberal leader since 2013 and prime minister since 2015, said he will step down once the party has chosen a successor. Governor General Mary Simon has prorogued Parliament until March 24 to allow for that process to unfold.

An election is to take place by Oct. 20.

“I think most people were expecting something to happen, just based on the fact a number of Trudeau’s caucus in different regions – notably Quebec and Atlantic Canada – came out and said he needs to resign,” Schmale said. “Despite every attempt to hang on, I think it was inevitable he took this step.”

It’s been a tough month for Trudeau, who saw his deputy PM and finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, suddenly resign Dec. 16. Freeland said she and Trudeau “found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada” in recent weeks.

This came after the federal Conservatives, NDP and Bloc all said they had lost confidence in the prime minister.

“I think there were a number of things stacked against him, and this was kind of his only option left,” Schmale told The Highlander Jan. 7.

With an election on the horizon, the local MP confirmed he is seeking a fourth term in office – this time under the new Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes banner. It was announced in 2023 Brock township would split from its usual running mates to join the new riding of York-Durham, with Peterborough County, Trent Lakes and parts of North Kawartha added.

Schmale said he’s excited to speak with constituents about their concerns ahead of the fall vote. He expects the cost-ofliving crisis, housing and crime to be key themes.

“Our first priority is going to be fixing the budget – we’re now paying more in interest payments on the national debt than some provinces are receiving for health care,” Schmale said.

He believes the Conservatives’ plan to eliminate the federal carbon tax will help to make life more affordable for Canadians.

“It’s responsible for food prices going up, for fuel prices going up. Anyone that manufactures something or receives a product made by something that is impacted by the carbon tax will see an increase in prices across the supply chain. We want to cut that to bring down the cost of living,” Schmale said.

The Conservatives are also pitching a revamped housing initiative, eliminating “bureaucratic red tape” to make it easier for developers to build; new measures to ensure violent repeat offenders receive longer jail sentences; and supports for businesses in the oil and gas, mining and lumber sectors to help reignite Canada’s economy, Schmale added.

He also wants to see more money invested at the Canadian and U.S. border and additional focus on enhancing energy-related trade with America.

“The border is just like Swiss cheese for drugs, automobile thefts, weapons smuggling, human trafficking… we want a safe country for Canadian citizens,” Schmale said.

On the threat of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump imposing tariffs on Canadian imports, Schmale said, “Canada has a lot of what the U.S. and the world is looking for – a good partner with lots of natural resources that has responsible extraction and some of the toughest labour laws anywhere. We can provide that energy – we have the ability.”

After Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) reported an $8 million surplus for the 2023/24 school year, Bill Campbell, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 997, said that money should be invested to improve safety and provide greater supports for students inside the classroom.

Speaking to The Highlander, Campbell said he was dismayed to hear the school board reporting such a large surplus while some of his unionized employees were complaining about a lack of resources – including personnel – to effectively do their jobs.

A survey conducted in October by CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) revealed 88 per cent of CUPE employees at TLDSB say staffing must increase to meet the needs of students.

CUPE 997 represents approximately 800 members across 56 TLDSB schools who work as educational assistants and clerical, maintenance, custodial and technical staff – Campbell said 263, or just under 33 per cent, participated in the survey.

Of those who did respond, more than 75 per cent said they are exposed to a violent incident on school property at least once a month, with approximately 33 per cent exposed to violence daily. Over half say their workspace is evacuated at least once a month due to violent and disruptive behaviour.

There were no specific details provided about violence in Haliburton County schools. Campbell said EAs generally bear the brunt of the behaviours.

“When most of our people got into this job, the role was much more focused on helping students with their educational needs. Whereas now, it’s almost all about being a bodyguard and protecting other students and staff,” Campbell said. “The job has definitely changed over the last 15 to 20 years.”

He puts that down to a lack of funding from the Ontario government – according to the union, TLDSB has consistently received less money year-over-year since 2012.

Campbell argued that if funding had kept up with inflation, the school board would have received an additional $27.3 million for the previous school year, which could have hired an extra 365 fulltime education workers.

Based on local EAs earning $29.05 per hour and working approximately 1,435 hours per year, TLDSB could hire an additional 191 classroom supports with its $8 million surplus. The board currently has 246 full-time EAs.

“A lot of kids today act out because they don’t feel heard, they don’t feel they can communicate their feelings and some of that is because they’re ignored because there just aren’t enough people to support them,” he said.

Campbell believes the issue is worse than it appears – he said many staff have told him they don’t report incidents because everything needs to be logged digitally and EAs don’t have access to board-provided devices at work. He said there are some students who require assistance but don’t get it, with EAs told to focus on those with behavioral issues.

“Students come to school to get a good education, but in some cases they aren’t getting it because everybody is focused on the high-priority students,” Campbell said.

Carolynne Bull, TLDSB director of communications, said the board has invested in additional training for staff in recent years to help support students with social emotional learning skills and managing conflict and stress effectively.

She said in-class staffing is “based on the identified specific student supports required to thrive in the classroom.”

Bull noted TLDSB will reinvest its surplus funds, with senior administration reviewing priorities. She said improvements to special education programming and investing in new technology for skilled trades programs are being considered.

Weather zones

TLDSB has introduced a new zoned approach for inclement weather days, effective Jan. 7.

If transportation is cancelled in one or more zones due to inclement weather, no buses will travel to any schools within the cancelled zone. Schools will remain open, but parents and guardians will be responsible for drop-off and pick-up.

All County schools – Archie Stouffer in Minden, J.D. Hodgson, Stuart Baker, Hal High and the Adult and Alternate Education Centre in Haliburton, and both Cardiff and Wilberforce elementary schools – will fall in Zone 3.

Bus cancellation information can be found on the TLDSB website, mybustoschool.ca, or through local radio stations.

Bill Campbell, president of CUPE local 997 representing school support staff in Haliburton, says more money needs to be spent supporting students in the classroom.

Octogenarian County coun. Murray Fearrey has raised the idea of increasing councillor salaries to attract municipal candidates in 2026.

During a Dec. 11 County of Haliburton budget discussion, Fearrey said, “it’s not my nature to advocate more spending, but I have asked the CAO to get some comparators for us. Our average age here is over 70 and we’re not attracting younger people because they can’t leave their jobs and come to work and do this job. And it is a job now. It’s not like it was.”

In the 2022 election, half of all candidates in Haliburton County were acclaimed; Mayor Bob Carter, deputy mayor Lisa Schell and coun Bob Sisson in Minden Hills; Fearrey, deputy mayor Walt McKechnie and councillors Barry Boice and Tammy Donaldson in Dysart et al; deputy mayor Jennifer Dailloux and Julia Shortreed in Algonquin Highlands; and deputy mayor Cec Ryall and councillors Cam McKenzie and Ruth Strong in Highlands East.

Coun. Liz Danielsen agreed with Fearrey, saying, “75 per cent of us are seniors, which is not representative of our constituents, despite us having been elected to the positions we have.” She said if council was to consider a pay increase, “we could do it over a period of a couple of years, so there’s less impact on the budget overall.”

Carter said he supported Fearrey, but unlike Danielsen, thought it would be difficult to phase in a pay increase. “Because one of the notions of why we would have an increase is to try to attract people to the job. And we almost need to have that determined up front at the time of the next election.”

He said potential candidates would need to be able to determine if it was financially possible to be a councillor. “As coun. Fearrey says, this is no longer a part-time job for the most part. And if we’re going to ask for people to dedicate all of their time to this and do it right, I think that they have to be compensated for it.”

Fearrey noted there was unspent money in reserves. He asked if there was a reason they could not take $80,000 from that to give each councillor a $10,000 raise. “I think if we bumped it once or twice, people would start to think ‘okay, maybe now I can work two days a week, or three days a week, and I can go to council.”

He said he finds the job today “takes a lot of time.” He said the budget documents he received from Dysart would take him a full day to go through.

He added he is not personally looking for a pay rise.

“I’ve been one of the worst down here to say it’s a community job. We shouldn’t get paid. Well, you know what? Things have changed. Over the last few years, it’s much more complicated. If we don’t get it (the pay) up so it’s attractive, and wait to the very last minute to do it, people won’t (run). People need to think about this if they want to change their life. They need to start thinking about it a year ahead if they are going to run.”

Less than a living wage

CAO Gary Dyke said there were a couple of ways to address the council pay issue.

He said staff could do a review, bring the information back to council, and council decide if it’s appropriate to raise pay and make it effective for the next council. That way, it wouldn’t look like the current council is giving itself a pay increase.

He said staff could then modify the election packages along with lower-tier governments, “where all that information is made available well in advance of the election, so if you’re considering running it would talk about remuneration, obligations, those types of things going forward.” As such, he said anybody considering running in 2026 would know how much they’d be making.

Danielsen said they’d have to encourage the lower-tier, since that is where most of the salary comes from.

“I don’t think a lot of people realize that members of council make less than a living wage,” she said.

As an example, Highlands East council has voted to increase council pay effective Jan. 1. The mayor will now be paid $32,500 a year, the deputy mayor $26,150 and councillors, $22,025. Eight councillors also get paid more for being on County council.

CAO/treasurer Brittany McCaw said there had not been an increase since 2018 and she was proposing “fair remuneration” after reviewing other salaries across Haliburton County, Hastings County, and Peterborough County.

The average salary in Ontario in 2024 is estimated to be $67,588.04 per year. However, the actual amount earned can vary widely by area.

Council asked Dyke to prepare a review of County council compensation levels for consideration at a Feb. 12 meeting.