Some people love it, some people hate it - but one thing remains true. We all want to see our lakes stay healthy. Our townships recently enacted a shoreline bylaw, and today we're going to talk allllll about it. 

Join us as we figure out what we're doing about shorelines!

You'll hear from some of the supporters and opposition to this bylaw as well as from council and how they reached these decisions! You'll also hear some background on the science behind this project and what we can be doing better to ensure the future of our lakes. 

Relevant Links: 

https://loveyourlake.ca/

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Join our next episode by sending a voice note! Visit: https://anchor.fm/whatarewedoinghighlands/message or email us at [email protected].

Created by Justin van Lieshout in partnership with The Highlander, featuring Mike Baker, Lisa Gervais, and Sam Gillett.

Music by Mackenzie Robinson AKA. Kashaga'. Find his music here: https://linktr.ee/Kashaga 

Artwork by Jason Yates @jy.inc

An aging population + the Covid migration has our health system under duress! And while this is predominantly a provincial issue, our Municipality can still play a large impact in the quality of care we receive. 

So what are we doing about Health Care? 

Join us as Lisa lays out the limits of our local government and speaks with Pat and Sheryl Kennedy, along with Cindy Snider for an inside scoop on how we could improve the Highland's Health Care. 

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Join our next episode by sending a voice note! Visit: https://anchor.fm/whatarewedoinghighlands/message or email us at [email protected].

Created by Justin van Lieshout in partnership with The Highlander, featuring Mike Baker, Lisa Gervais, and Sam Gillett. 

Music by Mackenzie Robinson AKA. Kashaga'. Find his music here: https://linktr.ee/Kashaga 

Artwork by Jason Yates @jy.inc

Behind the million dollar lake homes hides a shameful secret. Haliburton County and Manitoulin Island have been competing for the title of "poorest county in the province of Ontario" for YEARS. Maybe it's time we change that? So What Are We Doing about Poverty? 

Join us this week as we look into how the county became a silent home for the provinces' most under served, and hear from experts who've known how to address this issue long before the pandemic created an even larger rift between wealthy cottagers and minimum wage locals. 

You'll hear from Jaime Schmale, Gena Robertson, Tina Jackson, and Fey Martin, alongside the research and hard work conducted by Mike Baker. 

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Join our next episode by sending a voice note! Visit: https://anchor.fm/whatarewedoinghighlands/message or email us at [email protected].

Created by Justin van Lieshout in partnership with The Highlander, featuring Mike Baker, Lisa Gervais, and Sam Gillett. Music by Mackenzie Robinson AKA. Kashaga'. Find his music here: https://linktr.ee/Kashaga 

Artwork by Jason Yates @jy.inc

Our two-tier municipal structure is under fire! Amalgamation has been a hot word floating around for quite some time in the county, and this isn't the first time. The last time our townships decided to amalgamate was in the 80's, when we reduced from 10 (ish) lower tier governments to 4. 

So What Are We Doing about Amalgamation? 

Join us as we delve into the Highlander's in depth research conducted by Lisa Gervais. You'll hear from Jack Brezina - who reported on our last amalgamation for the Minden times, and Zach Spicer - an expert in all things municipal. We'll walk through the difference between full blown Amalgamation and the ongoing Service Delivery Review and lay out the pros and cons to becoming a single tier government!

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Read Lisa's coverage of Amalgamation in the Highlander! 

Diving into services delivery, Collaboration could save towns $1.18M, County receives service delivery update, Is it time to discuss County governance?, Is it time to change government?, Single-tier government working in CKL, My mind was changed, Amalgamation: not about saving money. 

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What do you think about Amalgamation?! Join our next episode by sending a voice note! Visit: https://anchor.fm/whatarewedoinghighlands/message or email us at [email protected].

Created by Justin van Lieshout in partnership with The Highlander, featuring Mike Baker, Lisa Gervais, and Sam Gillett. Music by Mackenzie Robinson AKA. Kashaga'. Find his music here: https://linktr.ee/Kashaga 

Artwork by @jy.inc

With inflation on the rise, and supply running low - the Highlands have become more and more difficult to live in. For some people, that means looking at purchasing homes out of the county in order to make ends meat. 

So what are we doing about housing? 

Join us this week as we discuss this growing issue, and try to identify some of the solutions the county is working on! This week you'll hear from;  Gord Polhamus, Dianne LePage, Mike Moffat, Jaime Schmale, Jeff Strano, Michelle Corley, and Liz Danielson! 

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Join our next episode by sending a voice note! Visit: https://anchor.fm/whatarewedoinghighlands/message or email us at [email protected].

Created by Justin van Lieshout in partnership with The Highlander, featuring Mike Baker, Lisa Gervais, and Sam Gillett. Music by Mackenzie Robinson AKA. Kashaga'. Find his music here: https://linktr.ee/Kashaga 

Artwork by @jy.inc

Hear our bonus episode breaking down what a municipality is here: https://anchor.fm/whatarewedoinghighlands/episodes/The-Highlands-Municipality-101-e1jqm3e

Welcome to the Highlander's "What are we doing" Podcast! 

Join Justin and the Highlander team (Mike, Lisa, and Sam) as they discuss some of their thoughts on major issues in the county! Setting the stage for future episodes, get to know the journalists that will be bringing you conversations with our community leaders and politicians in anticipation for the municipal elections taking place this fall. 

If you have any questions, concerns, or comments - join our next episode by visiting: https://anchor.fm/whatarewedoinghighlands/message or email us at [email protected].

Created by Justin van Lieshout in partnership with The Highlander, featuring Mike Baker, Lisa Gervais, and Sam Gillett. Music by Mackenzie Robinson AKA. Kashaga'. Find his music here: https://linktr.ee/Kashaga 

Hear our bonus episode breaking down what a municipality is here: https://anchor.fm/whatarewedoinghighlands/episodes/The-Highlands-Municipality-101-e1jqm3e

Other useful links: 

and stay tuned for our next episode on

Homelessness and Housing

From humble beginnings as loggers to a sprawling cottager's heaven. Haliburton county has evolved over time from 23 municipalities to one county and four townships. 

Join us in this bonus episode where we explore the role of a municipality, what councillors do, and some of the important things you can count on the townships to provide. 

You'll also hear some exerts from Fred Dean's candidate meeting which can be found on youtube here: https://bserv.zendesk.com/hc/requests/105868. 

Join the conversation by submitting audio clips to https://anchor.fm/whatarewedoinghighlands/message!