By Emily Stonehouse

Highlands East council took the time this past week to discuss the potential development of a new council meeting space.

And while they tossed around the idea, nothing was set in stone in terms of timelines, details, or cost.

So it will likely be a ways down the road, if ever.

But it got the wheels turning for me. It wasn’t that long ago that county council sat around a table, and debated the need for a new meeting space for the upper-tier representatives.

After extensive back and forth, it was agreed upon that they would move forward with the development of a new space for the municipal reps. And I was on board for the expansion of staff working spaces, but the concept of yet another meeting space for county councillors just didn’t sit right.

The way our county is carved up allows each municipality to have a designated space for councillors to meet. And yes, these spaces are open to the public during council meetings. But they also offer venues to the community while wearing other hats. Algonquin Highlands and Dysart share their venues as conference rooms or meeting spaces, Highlands East doubles as their local theatre and community gathering hall, and Minden opens its doors as a court house when needed.

They are community hubs. They carry the energy and the vibrancy of the needs of the communities they were built to represent, as the pulse of the population flowing through their doors.

And I think that’s exactly the way a municipal government should operate.

It should be a place with open doors, with seats for all, with multi-purpose thinking and perhaps unconventional usage.

So why do we need new council chambers, if each municipality already has one?

While many laugh at the arbitrary lines that have been carved by our ancestors between communities, we all know that they’re still there. We use services and stores across the boundaries, but deep down, we know that competition exists between north, south, east, and west.

The representatives established to burn those bridges and blur those boundaries, are our county councillors. What better way to cross the lines than to have county council shift locations for each meeting? Taking time in each municipal council chamber? Feeling the energy, the pulse, the warmth and challenges and culture of each community in their own pride and joy, their own facility.

When the Haliburton Highlands Healthy Democracy Project first formed, they were finding their footing for their priorities, but they knew one thing: they would do four presentations, and would host in each municipality once. That wasn’t a question. Wasn’t up for debate. Each lower-tier needed a chance to showcase on home ice, allowing everyone to feel the pulse of the population.

Council chambers are the core of the community; with the many arteries weaving and winding towards the decisions made there. And while there is value in allowing upgrades and growth, if we are going to continue with a multi-tiered system of governance, each heartbeat in the Haliburton Highlands deserves to be heard.