District of Muskoka receives mid-term report card for Strategic Plan progress
The District of Muskoka received a mid-term report card on progress for the Strategic Plan, in the January 20, 2025, meeting.
CAO, Julie Stevens, summarized District priorities, which include environmental, community, service, and team.
She suggested that the plan be based on “what was the outcome that would create the best value to meet the strategic objective, and what were the measures we wanted to hold ourselves to, to be able to tell Council and the public that we hit the mark.”
Staff reported a total of 26 action areas, 81 actions, and 55 measures split between the above priorities. They added that 8% or 6 actions were completed, 80% or 65 are in progress, and 12% or 10 haven’t been started.
Environmental actions included adopting the Climate Action Plan, advancing the New Leaf Climate Strategy, initiating 100 outreach events, a collaboration between the Muskoka Watershed and Steamship Discovery Centre, and 1,825 increased subscriptions to service alerts (Voyent Alert).
Community included transit, housing, workforce and childcare. Staff said,” There was a significant investment of up to $35.125 million over 5 years.” Initiatives included 88 affordable housing units, introducing Demand-Responsive Transit, creating a workforce committee, and adding 181 childcare spaces.
Service involved enhancing paramedic services with the Glen Orchard station, 109 services delivery improvements, increasing social media engagement by 30%, continuing the volunteer income tax program that helped 524 seniors in 2023 and completed a total of 906 tax returns.
Team included a 15.5% annual reduction for long-term care homes, ongoing efforts to build partnerships, and create a think tank for ideas.
Although Council agreed that the priorities are still relevant moving forward, there was still work to be done, including communicating the results with the public.
Staff advised that they are working on a public version of the highlights that will be “user friendly, plain language, and not as detailed.”
Although staff suggested they should get an “A” for the measures taken so far, Council members expressed concerns about some areas.
Councillor, Ruth Nishikawa, said that Council needs to “be bolder” moving forward regarding rural housing. She said, “We’re not taking big enough steps, and we should.”
Chair Jeff Lehman, agreed with her, adding that municipalities tend to focus on “staying in our lane to the exclusion of doing things differently.”
Councillor, Don Smith, expressed concern about the environment, indicating “there’s no specific target approved,” especially within the community.
Staff suggested that the community aspect of GHG emissions would be a challenge. They said, “It is going to take a colossal effort, not only by the District but by all levels of government, and of course the community members to invest in and support a reduction in GHGs.”
They added that the plan would include creating more outreach initiatives “to grow this community part to make a difference.”
Smith referred to is as a “massive job.” He added, “It’s important to focus on that part of the commitment we agreed to do.”
Lehman suggested putting “a blank spot beside some areas,” rather than an “A” or otherwise. He explained, “We aren’t yet making the impact. For example, community emissions on delivering the Climate Change Strategy out in the community.” He urged Council to focus on delivering the Climate Change plans from the environmental agenda.
He also warned about the potential of positive or negative things happening which can affect the municipality, such as an increase in the US dollar driving tourism here or impacts to manufacturing if tariffs are imposed.
He warned, “We’ll need to be agile in the way we adapt to that,” in addition to continued ongoing planning and progress.
