This synthesis has been structured to follow as faithfully as possible the actual proceedings. The synthesized discussions follow the order laid out in the agenda to permit the material to be used easily by the consultant and the Marketing and Economic Diversification Committee in their later deliberations. The synthesis is based on notes provided by the facilitators and the reporters for each small group, as well as on notes taken by the consultant and Tamara Williams. Forty participants took part in the small group discussions during the course of the afternoon.

As participants arrived, they picked up a package of documents which included:

1. an outline of the agenda;
2. the 1997 vision statement, which was adopted by Council at that time; 
3. a draft of the Milestones statement, which is a statement constructed from the input received from citizens in responding to the on-line survey and questionnaires that had been E-mailed to others; this is a statement that is in the process of construction, and others are invited to complete the on-line survey in order to fill out this Milestones statement; 
4. a copy of a report on the status of the different recommendations made in the 1997 Strategic Plan; this report was compiled by Andy Campbell, General Manager of the Haliburton County Development Corporation.

Introduction & Welcome

Andy Campbell, General Manager of the Haliburton County Development Corporation and member of the Marketing and Economic Diversification Committee which is managing the overall process of updating the Strategic Plan for the County, welcomed everyone and introduced Warden Ross Rigney.

Warden Ross Rigney in turn welcomed the participants. He outlined what participants should expect to get out of the afternoon’s discussion. This would be an opportunity to provide critical comment on how things have been developing in the County and to contribute to the county's strategic directions. He suggested that it would also be part of an on-going effort to develop new partnerships between citizens, various community organizations and associations and county, and local, government. He stressed that everyone would be able to review the synthesis of this session early in the coming week, and they would see how their ideas were contributing to developing the next series of consultations.

He then introduced the facilitator, Chris Bryant, a well-known expert on sustainable local and community economic development. He was Director of the University of Waterloo's Economic Development Program for 6 years before moving to Montreal in 1990. He chairs an international Commission on sustainable rural and small town development involving about 50 countries and over 400 members. He has had extensive experience in consulting on community-based strategic planning, leadership development and community capacity-building.
 
 

• strategic planning is about setting appropriate directions for action to achieve a vision

• the importance of citizen input – setting the vision, source of creativity, understanding needs, taking responsibility, implementing actions, monitoring

• the importance of process and being involved, and regular monitoring

• strategic planning is essential BEFORE one even talks about $$$

• $$$ alone do not resolve economic, social, cultural or political issues related to development

• the importance of integrating the different segments of the community (even for business development)

• capacity-building has become an essential part of local & community economic development

• leadership, in relatively decentralized forms, represents one key indicator of success

• communication is essential (not just pushing information)

• the importance of having up-to-date data on the key orientations is critical for an on-going process of strategic planning and action

The County Of Haliburton – What Has Taken Place Since 1997?

The vision adopted by the County in 1997 is repeated below:

A County with a co-operative environment within which the different players and population groups have worked together to achieve: a sustainable natural environment; a more stable, diversified and year-round economy based on clean, small to medium sized economic activities; residential development, both seasonal and permanent, in keeping with maintaining a small town atmosphere, environmental integrity and adequate accessible services; and a strong sense of regional identity with a more inclusive and tolerant community with all it takes to provide a high quality of life for families and individuals.

The strategic orientations that were retained in order to focus actions aimed at achieving the vision are listed in Table 1. 
 
 
 

Table 1 The Main Strategic Orientations Retained in the 1997 Strategic Plan

Those developed in the 1997 Strategic Plan itself Economic Diversification Natural Environment and Resources Transportation Youth Seniors and Retirees Marketing the Community County-wide Management and Planning Those that were acknowledged in the 1997 Strategic Plan but which were being dealt with by other planning groups at the time Health Education

Chris Bryant called attention to the summary report recently prepared by Andy Campbell in which he detailed the different recommendations that accompanied the 1997 Strategic Plan. Chris Bryant noted that the ‘current status’ of these different recommendations does not, of course, explicitly deal with the question of how far the County and its population have moved towards achieving the vision adopted in 1997.

Chris Bryant called attention to a number of ‘highlights’ in the structure and recent profile of the County of Haliburton. These were posted on flip-chart paper on one of the walls (Table 2). He invited participants to review these highlights during the afternoon.
 
 
 

Table 2 Highlights of the County of Haliburton’s Profile
Population	- A small and dispersed population (15,321: 1996; 15,085: 2001) Rapid growth in the early 1990s (plus 6.2% 1991-1996) Recent change from census negative (-1.5% 1996-2001) but contested by local leadership - A huge seasonal population - Households increasing ( +1.3% 1996-2001) - Average size of household decreasing (2.42 in 1996 to 2.35 in 2001) - An ageing population % population Haliburton County % divided  of Haliburton County by Ontario % 2001 1991 2001 55-64 years 15.7% 1.64 1.69 65-74 years 15.0% 1.84 2.08 > 74 years 9.0% 1.40 1.58
Incomes	- Household incomes relatively low but increasing Household incomes < $20,000 Household incomes > $50,000 1996 28% 24% 2001 23% 31% reflecting general increases, but movement in of somewhat more affluent households - Income dependency levels high Source of income 1996 2001 % income from government transfers 25.3% 23.2% % income from employment 55.4% 54.9% % income from ‘other sources’ * 19.4% 21.8% * includes retirement incomes
Business establishments*	- Number of business establishments registered increasing Haliburton County: 1991-2001: 14.7% Ontario: 1991-2001: 12.9%
Business sectors with more than 50 establishments* in Haliburton County*	Number of establishments 1999 2001 Trade contracting 117 134 Prime construction 97 111 Real estate 72 100 Professional, scientific & Technical services 58 78 Food / drinking places 58 71 Accommodation services 53 59

*Based on Statistics Canada, Business registrations

It was noted that many comments had been received regarding directions from the surveys. The intention was to share the results of this input with the participants when they have completed the first round of their discussions. It was hoped that this would represent a partial validation of the discussions.
 

Where Have We Come From and Where Do We Want to Go?

The tasks for the first set of discussions were set out as follows:

Review the 1997 vision and validate it or suggest modifications

What strengths of the County does this vision statement build on?

Are there any holes in this statement? Is it still generally acceptable?

Do you want to add anything to it?

What progress has been made towards achieving the vision?

From the Milestones statement (everyone will get one), and from your personal knowledge of the County, is the County closer to achieving this vision?

If not, why not? What has been missing?
 
 

Confirm existing directions, suggest new ones or new emphases

Do the orientations initially identified respond to significant challenges, issues or opportunities that are still important to tackle in the County?

Are there new ones that should be added?

Conclusions from the small group discussions

Main conclusions

Groups were asked to report on their conclusions regarding the 1997 vision statement and on the pertinence of the strategic orientations identified in the 1997 Strategic Plan and on any changes including new orientations that they felt should be included in the update. They reported on each of these questions (1. the vision statement, and 2. those orientations they felt were the most important) in cumulative fashion, with each group contributing its ‘most important’ point.

The 1997 Vision Statement

The following summary comments were made:

1. One group felt that the County and the community were better prepared to cope with new changes than they were in 1997.
2. The 1997 vision is still relevant, but there should be more focus on developing cooperative relationships, social services and housing.
3. The 1997 vision is still relevant but it was suggested that the mention of residential development should be modified to refer more to ‘managing residential development . . . more effectively’.
4. The relative isolation of the County, or at least many parts of it, contributed to the community’s identity, but it also reflects an important set of issues related to communications.
5. Another group felt that the term ‘growth’ should be substituted for the term ‘stable’.
6. It would be important to incorporate into the vision an emphasis on marketing and education.
7. It was felt that the whole issue of trade-offs between different aspects and consequences of development were not yet effectively tackled, and should be addressed.

The following sets of issues, challenges or opportunities (broadly, the orientations) that the groups put forward as representing their most important conclusions were:

1. Health and Education
2. Health, Seniors, Youth, Education, Housing
3. Communications (strategy) (high speed / broadband access, broader newspaper and radio coverage geographically, communicating with the seasonal population, . . . .)
4. Benchmarking and producing an annual report card for the County
5. Retirement, Housing, Associated Activities
6. The Arts
7. Managing the Trade-offs between Business, Development and the Environment
8. Recreation (in the broadest sense)
9. Community Education and Capacity
10. The Built and Natural Heritage
11. The Restructuring of Council’s Sub-committees, . . . 
12. Attraction of Permanent Residents
13. Single-tier Government

The Detailed Reports from Each of the Discussion Groups (these comments are based on notes handed into the facilitator at the end of the proceedings; five of the groups handed in detailed notes)

Group 1 (highlights of its discussions):

It was felt that the terms ‘sustainable natural environment’ and ‘environmental integrity’ needed to be better explained, as does ‘adequate accessible services’.

In relation to the ‘cooperative environment’ in the vision statement, it was felt that special interest groups are often able to block initiatives that could benefit the community as a whole. ‘Communications and the participation of all groups’ could be added. The term ‘residential development’ might be better replaced by ‘managing residential development and changes to our community effectively’. The suggestion was also made to delete the reference to ‘small town atmosphere’.

Questions were raised about the conditions under which ‘sustainable natural environment’ can be referred to without having in place restrictions on specific types of activities, such as asphalt plants, or without having an effective waste management plan.

It was pointed out that while many of the recommendations of the 1997 Strategic Plan were indeed adopted, many subsequently fell by the wayside. The Randolph report was similarly adopted, portions of it have been implemented but others have not been implemented because of a lack of resources.

Many of the initiatives need a ‘champion’ to implement them, rather than continuing to just talk about them.

Group 2 (highlights of its discussions):

In relation to the vision statement, this group felt that the real strengths of the County lay in its forests and landscape, and also in the high level of community involvement. However, the vision statement as adopted was very general, and there have been many contradictions experienced. On the one hand, the vision statement might appear too general, while on the other hand, it is possible to produce more detail in the context of each of the strategic orientations.

This group felt that some reference to ‘growth’ was necessary in the vision statement, but that whatever was said should be ‘distinctly Haliburton’. We also must recognize that the County is very much a retirement community.

In terms of movement towards the vision, it is important to understand that the Province has undertaken certain actions that have affected certain areas. 

Infrastructure improvements have brought more people to the region, which many people see as positive. The library system has remained under funded which is a downside. All the action on the 911 project and broadband access can be considered very positively.

In terms of orientations that should be highly profiled, this group identified: communications, retirement (housing and associated activities) and the arts.

Group 3 (highlights of its discussions):

In relation to the vision statement, the strengths that were build upon include: an unspoiled environment; small business dominant (with small business ‘footprints’) and many small businesses which contribute to diversity; the flavour of a small (and friendly) rural community; more opportunity for community involvement because of this smallness. However, while the sense of isolation contributes to a feeling of (common) identity, that same isolation also has its negative aspects.

It was felt that there was a need to enhance the emphasis placed on communications, including: high speed access to the Internet; bridging communication between the permanent and seasonal populations; communications between the Townships and the residents; establishing a better defined Haliburton ‘identity’; and ensuring we have an accurate data base in order to measure where we are and where we have come from (benchmarking).

In terms of a revamped vision statement, this group made the following suggestions: stress the positive; recognize the important economic engines (e.g. tourism); make a more definitive statement regarding attracting more permanent residents; find ways of reducing the ‘tyranny of distance’ or the isolation experienced by certain parts of the County.

The group also thought that the terms ‘cooperative’ and ‘environment’ needed to be clarified.

In terms of moving towards achieving the vision, the group noted the Randolph report, the funding that was secured for the trails and tours initiative, and the development of the two hospitals.

The group also felt that the vision statement could represent a continual ‘lens’ through which progress could be seen and measured.

The group also felt that adequate performance measurement (e.g. through an annual report card) was missing and should be considered in the Strategic Plan. The also felt that the County lost the initiative when it did not follow through on parts of the Randolph plan, notably in relation to economic development.

A dedicated staff person was still very much needed in the economic development domain.

Group 4 (highlights of its discussions):

This group felt that some progress had been made in achieving the vision. Plans and by-laws were being updated, there had been progress on issues related to wetlands, and special note was made of the trails and tours initiative. Some new economic development falls squarely into what the vision suggests should be promoted, e.g. Limberlost. Also, the restructuring of the Chamber is considered to be a very positive step. Also, generally, there is an enhanced sense of identity in the County.

However, movement has been too slow in other areas, such as waste management, environmental conservation and septage. The appropriate decisions are not being made. Part of the problem has been downloading from the Province – more responsibilities but without the necessary tools. The County needs more economic development year round in order to support the services for the population.

This group also felt that health services should most definitely be part of a strategic plan. Furthermore, the restructuring issue still needs addressing, particularly with respect to Countywide waste management, septage, and health needs.

Recreation also needs to be build into the Strategic Plan, particularly because of the persistent issues involving youth in the County. Transportation still needs to be included – the earlier efforts failed but the issues remain.

Finally, there is a need for a communications strategy, linking in with education.

Group 5 (highlights of its discussions):

This group felt that the vision statement of 1997 was still generally timely and acceptable. In terms of modifications, it was suggested that the residential development component could be emphasized (both residential affordability and accessibility). It might also be important to address specifically the needs of different segments of the population. Also, it was suggested that we should add a reference to ‘families and individuals of all ages’.

It was also noted that there was a lack of a social issue emphasis in the 1997 vision statement. Also, a suggestion was made to incorporate heritage and ‘pride in our heritage’ into the statement.

The feeling was expressed that it was not too late to sustain the natural environment in the County. There were many actions that could be undertaken to enhance this, e.g. through the Official Plans, through recycling and many grassroots efforts. More effort could be made to enhance cooperation between community organizations and local and County governments.

In terms of moving towards the vision, this group suggested that the most positive steps towards this include: the development of the County Official Plan; local government re-organization; implementation of the Randolph Report; and the amalgamation of health services.

However, what is missing that could have helped more are: the loss of the HUB committee from the 1997 Strategic Plan, the reduced support eventually given to the implementation of the Randolph Report, a social planning ‘council’, and the whole domain of heritage.

The group felt that the existing orientations of Marketing, Economic Diversification, Health, Seniors, Youth, Natural Resources Management and Transportation remained valid. However, in addition, they felt that a new orientation labelled something like ‘Social Services’ should be included incorporating health, seniors, youth, education and housing.
 
 

Chris Bryant then briefly commented on the broad directions that had been given by people responding to the on-line survey and questionnaires. They are:

• The political process and the management of the strategic planning process
• Communications and information (including such issues as the role of a community forum, mobilization of different segments of the population (e.g. youth, seniors, retirees, excluded segments of the population), the infrastructure for communications technology, capacity and leadership, vision and identity)
• Environmental issues (including waste management issues, lake development, lake capacity and water quality)
• Economic development issues (including tourism and recreation, Arts and Heritage, development of the downtown areas, especially Minden’s, looking for alternative forms of business development)
• Social issues and fabric (including health, education, youth and children’s issues, seniors’ issues, meeting places for groups and organizations)
• Transportation
• Youth and children issues
• Housing, especially for seniors

Before moving on to the break, Chris Bryant explained to the participants the activity they were going to undertake during the break. Each participant would be given some coloured stickers, each colour being worth a different amount of money. (The total amount for each person was $5,000 (2 green stickers worth $1,000 each, 2 blue ones each worth $1,500, and 3 red ones each worth $500). Based on the discussions, the facilitators and members of the Marketing and Economic Diversification Committee present determined 8 sets of major challenges, issues and opportunities (or orientations). These were then posted and participants were asked to distribute their ‘ $5,000’ between the orientations according to which orientations they felt should receive the most attention. Of course, there is inevitably a certain amount of overlap between the different orientations as identified.

(The results were commented upon at the very end of the afternoon, during the synthesis, but they are summarized here in the order in which the 8 orientations were prioritized: 1. Communications (communications infrastructure, communicating with people, benchmarking, information, capacity for communication): $45,000; 2. Environment and Development (waste management, development, water quality, the build and natural heritage): $43,000; 3. Political process and managing the strategic planning process: $20,500; 4. Social and People Services (including health, education, understanding needs (e.g. housing)); 5. Youth: $15,750; 6. Recreation: $14,000; 7. Seniors/retirees: $10,500); 8. Transportation: $5,850.)

The facilitator then regrouped with the small group facilitators, and other members of the MED present, to discuss the set of issues for discussion, taking into account both the discussions of the afternoon and the other inputs received from the surveys and questionnaires. Some of the orientations that emerged out of the first discussions during the afternoon were therefore merged, while it was also decided that it was imperative to include the economic diversification orientation as well. The six issue sets retained for the following discussions were: 

1. Environment and Development
2. Communications (including with youth and seniors)
3. Recreation
4. Social and People Services (including transportation, health, education, . . .)
5. Economic Diversification
6. Managing the Process of Implementation of the Strategic Plan

Small group discussion tasks for the given issue set (orientations, challenges, opportunities):

1. Why do you think it is important to tackle this issue set?
2. How do you think it will contribute to achieving the County’s vision if we tackle it?
3. What sort of vision – or broad set of objectives – do you think could be set for this issue set? (e.g. if the issue is reducing poverty, what sort of realistic vision could you develop for tackling this in, say, 5 years time?)
4. What types of actions do you think should be taken?
1. Are there any actions that can help involve the appropriate people in planning and action for this issue set?
2. What sort of information do you think would be needed in order to plan and implement realistic actions?
3. Are there any actions that are needed in relation to infrastructure (hard or soft) to help move us along on this issue set?
4. What potential concrete actions can you think of? (Realizing that ultimately, the different actions would have to be prioritized and their feasibility analyzed.) (e.g. if the issue set is dealing with youth, one action might be to set up a Youth Centre – if so, what might it look like? What activities might it cater for? Etc.)
5. Who should be taking the lead in these actions? How should planning and action be organized and managed for this issue set?

Small Group Conclusions

Each group’s conclusions are presented here in note form.

Environment and Development

The following points were stressed by this group:

1. The importance of achieving a balance between development and environment
2. Environmental concerns and values represent the foundation of the community of Haliburton County
3. The implication is that ‘clean’ industry is what should be encouraged, and we should welcome them
4. This also implies the need for clear criteria, throughout the County
5. There should also be easier access to building permits, and other procedures in the townships; there should be a user friendly system for both businesses and seasonal residents
6. Part of this orientation should deal with encouraging visually appealing industrial parks
7. Development should include the Arts (Haliburton as ‘A Natural Work of Art’)
8. A feeling was expressed that any environmental by-lays should be enforced
9. Enticing new, clean business should be added to the Marketing Plan for the County
10. All downtown areas need to be developed according to some basic principles
11. Some concerns were expressed regarding the movement of large trucks through the County
12. For youth, a suggestion was made to develop apprenticeship programs to cater to more of our youth

1. Rejuvenate the BIAs
2. Consider a ‘beautification’ by-law
3. Undertake zoning with environmental concerns in mind (particularly in relation to wetlands and forest areas) – forest health is a major issue for the County. The managed forest could be zoned. Some questions were raised regarding the Managed Forest Plan.
4. Waste management represents a huge set of issues, e.g. the need to engage in education regarding recycling, dealing with septage lagoons, inspection of septic systems . . .

The following points were stressed by this group:

1. Communications is important because if we fail to communicate effectively, we cannot expect people to understand what is happening
2. There is a need to understand the needs of the seasonal population better; one way to better understand their needs is to work more closely through the cottage associations, e.g. through cottage association websites
3. In relation to achieving the vision, it was pointed out that if people were more aware, this process might help in the inventorying and mobilization of resources
4. Generally, it was suggested that in all domains, benchmarking should be pursued, and that more effective use should be made of the County website; this raises the question of who should collect and process the information
5. A communications policy and strategy needs to be developed at the County level, including how to get residents to contribute more on an on-going basis and contribute to greater political accountability
6. There is a need to understand the different means of communicating effectively with the community, e.g. the constraints placed on communicating news of events through the local newspapers
7. It is essential to understand that simply placing advertisements in newspapers and elsewhere does not constitute a communications strategy
8. In terms of actions, a communications infrastructure is essential, e.g. high speed internet access, cellular phone technology infrastructure, getting particular places linked in to the outside world, getting all newspapers to go on-line, getting cottage association websites linked centrally
9. It was felt that the Chamber could take the lead on much of this with the support of the County and the municipalities
10. There should be a Communications Steering Committee set up to determine a communications strategy and follow up with close monitoring, and develop an evaluation process for progress in this area
11. A Community Newsletter could be issued by the County
12. In monitoring progress on any of the orientations, it will be important to determine exactly (and therefore being more explicit about our objectives and time-frames) what we want to measure 

The following points were stressed by this group:

1. Developing recreation as an orientation would:
1. help limit the burden on existing infrastructure
2. contribute to a healthy lifestyle (and thus to a healthy economy)
3. have minimal environmental impact (depending upon type of activity of course)
4. contribute to people’s mental health
5. involve a wide variety of activities
2. Needs that should be considered should include those of different ‘cultures’ as well as of different generations; this implies it is important to understand the different needs of different segments of the population
3. Recreational facilities and activities help raise awareness about communities and contributes to diversifying the economy 
4. There is also year round potential in the development of recreational activities 
5. Recreational infrastructure and activities fosters community cohesiveness
6. In developing appropriate recreational facilities, it is important to ensure effective communications in order to coordinate and promote the recreational events throughout the various communities in the County
7. The vision for this orientation suggested by this group would be based on the following types of actions:
1. the construction of more recreational facilities and develop more opportunities on an on-going basis
2. securing community involvement in the on-going process of identifying needs and developing programs and activities (not necessarily involving new facilities) (would involve a needs survey and analysis)
3. developing a clearinghouse over the next two years relating to recreational information was suggested, e.g. put on-line a calendar of events in the County, and make an inventory of what is available and make that accessible too
4. identifying year round opportunities
5. developing partnerships between private and public actors to realize these opportunities
6. developing activities to highlight healthy living, e.g. a Walk for Water, Terry Fox run, etc.
8. The group posed the question whether recreation centres could also serve effectively as community centres (broadly defined) given the pull-out of schools in many villages and hamlets
9. The group also suggested that some consideration might be given to the potential linkages between certain types of recreational centres / activities and their potential to attract housing development, e.g. skiing and golf courses
10. They also suggested there is a need to consider recreational facilities in relation to accessibility
11. The County could facilitate these actions in cooperation with the Chamber and Family Services
12. This group also suggested there could be quarterly reports on progress on this orientation

The following points were made by this group:

1. It was important that a whole set of interrelated issues be recognized, e.g. housing, health care, safety, isolation, healthy social and economic existence (not assistance!), 911, . . .
2. These issues constitute the backbone of the community
3. A holistic view of community ‘health’ be communicated and utilized in planning and moving to action – we need to make sure that everyone shares a common perspective on what makes for a ‘healthy’ community
4. Examples of the holistic nature of community health are the links frequently identified between housing and health, or that between transportation and isolation
5. Thus, a healthy community is not just about ‘hospitals’, but really about a network of services that support and are part of a healthy social and economic existence
6. We need to know what has already been accomplished, e.g. the transportation CTAP study
7. There is a need to have a central repository for information on who has expertise in the County on various issues and on what research is being undertaken currently on various issues
8. The community-based research as encouraged at U-Links needs to be better known and utilized
9. In terms of process, there should be some form of regular forum in which politicians should participate and work together with existing groups on the identification of issues
10. Rather than re-inventing the wheel, it was considered more important to work with existing groups in the different domains to identify what the gaps are, and to work on those
11. These are not really County government responsibilities, but they are actions which are needed (and which important players such as County government could encourage and even facilitate)
12. Yet at the same time, the group suggested that it is important for the different groups to work together, and with local government; when each approaches local government independently, it is very difficult to promote a holistic perspective and get local government fully involved
13. One of the first steps would be to summarize the different domains that make up this orientation, and then to network with the specialists to ensure that appropriate change takes place
14. One suggestion was that a Social / People Forum might make more sense than a Social Planning Council at this point

The following points were stressed by this group:

1. It is important to continue to focus on getting more year round business, and this development should be supportive of youth and the environment
2. Economic diversification was also suggested as being important because of its contribution to safety nets of various types, wealth creation, helping people make choices, creating opportunities for employment
3. Economic diversification was also central to achieving the County’s vision because it would contribute to stabilizing the employment base, giving people more choice and improving the tax base
4. Objectives for this orientation could be set in terms of stabilizing the unemployment rate, retaining more youth in the community, improvements in the tax base, providing one stop shopping for business development
5. This group also felt an inventory of skills available in the County was needed
6. The group felt that a greater effort was needed to attract economic development, e.g. by setting up an economic development / diversification department devoted to that
7. A county-wide GIS information base would be a very useful tool in managing economic development; better use could be made of the County web site in this respect and in terms of providing access to information more generally
8. Various by-laws need updating in order to encourage appropriate business development
9. A need was identified for orchestrating more business seminars
10. It was felt that the County should partner with other organizations, including the BIAs, to make this work, and that to do this, staff allocated to this were needed

The following points were stressed by this group:

1. It was difficult to get political buy-in to the process of strategic planning, and that it was important to obtain progress on this
2. As an example, only the municipality of Algonquin Highlands was represented by having several councillors and the Reeve present during this public consultation
3. This group suggested it would be important to have one person at the County level responsible for implementing the strategic plan; the suggestion presented was to advocate that the position of Warden be one that was elected at large, so that the Warden would be responsible for fulfilling the vision and also to reduce potential conflicts of interest
4. This group also tackled the challenge of getting more public participation, and one suggestion was that everyone interested in participating should also convince their peers (friends, family members, colleagues) of the value of their participation
5. Ultimately, it was felt that implementation (encouraging, initiating, monitoring, etc.) would be helped substantially if there were a paid staff person responsible for this
6. It was also felt that Council members were probably not paid enough to encourage them to get out and participate in the different Orientation Committee meetings.

Chris Bryant stated that the Marketing and Economic Diversification Committee will receive a synthesis of the afternoon’s discussions by Monday evening. As soon as it has been reviewed, it will be made available to participants – by E-mail or as hard copy. A copy may be posted on the web site of the County as well.

The next series of meetings will be held on August 14^th. . The time and place will be determined on Tuesday, and announcements will be sent out and a notice placed in the newspapers in time for the end of week press-run.

Closing Remarks
Andy Campbell, representing the Marketing & Economic Diversification Committee, thanks everyone for their attendance, and stressed that the updating of the strategic plan has been initiated by the County Council and that is was actually a partnership between the Council and the various organizations represented on the MED.

A vote of thanks was given to the staff of the Council for their efforts in organizing the event (notably Tamara Williams and Gary King, CAO of the County), and to the facilitator.

The afternoon session ended at approximately 6.00 p.m.